Music / Religion
Thomas Whitfield
1954–1992 · gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, producer, choir director
Detroit gospel innovator whose Thomas Whitfield Company choir blended jazz and classical ideas into gospel, and who produced Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Yolanda Adams and Aretha Franklin.
- Born
Detroit, Michigan- Died
Garden City, Michigan
aged 38- Birth name
- Thomas Anthony Whitfield
- Also known as
- Maestro of Gospel
- Detroit years
- 1954–1992
01 / The Detroit story
The Detroit story
Whitfield was born in Detroit, the eldest of five boys, took piano lessons at five and was playing organ by ten, learning from local church musicians such as Herbert Pickard. In 1977 he and Tyrone Hemphill founded the Thomas Whitfield Company, a choir of Detroit singers and musicians that became the workshop for his elaborate arrangements. Sound of Gospel, the Detroit gospel subsidiary of Armen Boladian's Westbound Records, signed the group, releasing Brand New (1978); its first live album was recorded at St. Paul Church of God in Christ in Detroit. He produced Vanessa Bell Armstrong's debut Peace Be Still (1984), wrote for Shirley Caesar, discovered Yolanda Adams and produced her first album for Sound of Gospel (1988), and served as musical director for Aretha Franklin's live gospel album One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, recorded at New Bethel Baptist Church in 1987. He died of a heart attack in 1992, aged 38, after a choir rehearsal.
Highlights
- Founded the Thomas Whitfield Company choir (1977)
- Produced Vanessa Bell Armstrong's Peace Be Still (1984)
- Produced Yolanda Adams's debut Just As I Am (1988)
- Musical director of Aretha Franklin's One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism (1987)
- Three Grammy nominations
02 / Their Detroit places
Their Detroit places 2
Where they lived, worked, performed and liked to hang out. Closed and demolished places stay here too, because they are part of the city's history.
Worked here · 1987
New Bethel Baptist Church
Musical director for Aretha Franklin's live album One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism, recorded here in 1987.
Recorded here · early 1980s
St. Paul Church of God in Christ
Status being checked
His choir's first live album was recorded at this Detroit church.