CALDWELL PLUS PRODUCTIONS

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Everyone who loves gospel music knows the projects: CeCe Winans' "Throne Room" and her platinum Grammy-winner "Alone in His Presence." Donnie McClurkin's breakthrough anthems "Stand" and "Speak to My Heart." Whitney Houston's "Jesus Loves Me" from the "Bodyguard" soundtrack. There's Patti Labelle's "Always There" from T.D. Jakes' "Leading Ladies" and Angie Winans' jazzy take on "The Lord's Prayer." Other tunes by Yolanda Adams, Andrae Crouch, Take 6 and Darwin Hobbs are just a handful of the armful of projects the Caldwell Plus producing team has birthed.

The sibling team of Cedric and Victor Caldwell haven't left the maternity room they call their recording studio yet. They've just finished producing tracks for Destiny's Child's Michelle Williams' sophomore cd and are back behind the console working on new music for gospel sensation Smokie Norful, Angie Winans' second smooth jazz offering and Bishop T.D. Jakes' "He-Motions" set for his "Manpower" conference.

Over the last decade and a half, the Caldwell Plus production house has established itself as arguably the most sophisticated producing team in gospel music. The Grammy-winning duo takes the traditional gospel idiom and enhances it with flourishes of smooth jazz and the polish of classical music. Therefore, it's no wonder that the duo has received an armful of accolades and gold records over the span of their career. However, it's no surprise because music runs through their veins.

The Caldwell brothers consider their parents, Dr. & Mrs. Virgil Caldwell, significant factors in the creation of Caldwell Plus. Dr. Caldwell was a band director when the two brothers were growing up. Consequently, they were exposed to music and to piano lessons at a very early age.

"Our parents used various means of parental persuasion to see to it that we practiced regularly," recalls Cedric, who began studying classical piano at the age of seven. Victor, five years younger than Cedric, says that a daily practice session was a requirement, and mom made sure of that, with belt in hand. Of course, he adds, "there were times when I would slip by and go outside without practicing." At the church their father pastors, Victor was the Sunday school pianist for several years and Cedric was the church pianist until he went away to attend college.

The two continued their musical studies through high school, and both attended Middle Tennessee State University. Cedric graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and continued on to receive his Masters degree in Education. When Victor entered MTSU toward the end of Cedric's stay, the Caldwell brothers decided to write as a team. Upon leaving MTSU, Cedric moved to Chattanooga, TN where he was a junior high school band and choir teacher for seven years. In 1983, Victor left for Nashville after receiving his Bachelor of Science degree in Audio Engineering. He worked at LSI studio as a staff engineer. Easy access to recording facilities enabled Victor and Cedric to put their compositions on tape. Later, Victor began playing on sessions as a studio musician and as bass guitarist for the contemporary Christian group, The Imperials.

One day, Victor gave a demo of Caldwell Plus songs to Chris Smith, general manager of Morgan Music Group. Smith was so overwhelmed by the tape that, according to Cedric, "he started calling people and carrying the tape around with him." He also signed the brothers as exclusive writers. Shortly after that, they became staff producers for the group's production company. Soon they were co-producing the Spinners, Jane Powell and contemporary Christian artist, Andrea Marcee. Smith communicated his enthusiasm for the Caldwell's music to some key executives at MCA Record's Master Series label. After they landed a contract with the label, Victor and Cedric began planning for their debut album, "As We Bop."

Even though Victor and Cedric are brothers, they approach music from different, though complementary, angles. "I came from the jazz side," says Cedric. "Victor was into recording and the technical aspect." Victor says he will often come up with the form and changes for a tune then will give it to Cedric, who writes the melody and sometimes alters some chord changes. The mix of contemporary jazz and smooth urban grooves on their debut project was well received in the jazz community, but the duo opted not to do another album for the label because they wanted to go into gospel music instead.

After traveling as R&B gospel duo BeBe & CeCe Winans' pianist for several years, Cedric decided to devote himself to only gospel music. In late 1994, he and Victor formed Caldwell Plus Productions. Traditionally, a record company must work through several different organizations in order to produce an album; they rent a studio and hire a producer, an engineer and musicians. Cedric and Victor realized that their talents and abilities enabled them to consolidate the entire production process by producing the songs, engineering the sessions, playing the instruments, and renting the studio. Since the inception of their production firm, they have produced a number of stellar tracks. They produced the B-side to Whitney Houston's mega million-seller "I'll Always Love You," CeCe Winans' gold Grammy-winning album "Alone In His Presence" and Donnie McClurkin's breakthrough singles "Stand" and "Speak To My Heart."

In early 1997, the Caldwells teamed up with Cedric's wife Angie and her sister Debbie to found Against the Flow Records. The first release by Angie and Debbie entitled "Bold" peaked at #3 on Billboard's gospel charts and sold over 100,000 copies. Since then, the label has produced albums by Ann McCrary, a Winans family Christmas project, and solo cds by Mom & Pop Winans. While they have always been open to working with others, it's just recently that the industry as a whole has really caught on to the magic the Caldwells create in the studio. They are now firmly in-demand. In the last couple of years alone, they've produced the Grammy-nominated CeCe Winans Presents the Born Again Church Choir's debut cd, Willie Norwood's premiere project, Brandy's All-Star Game National Anthem and T.D. Jakes' "Follow the Star" Christmas collection and there's much more music on the way. When Victor and Cedric Caldwell get together to make music, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. "Put the two of us together," says Cedric, "and what you come up with is Caldwell Plus."