(April 9, 2024) Rance Allen was a mentor and major influence on gospel artist John P. Kee. That should not be surprising as Allen and the Rance Allen Group, the gospel music powerhouse band that Allen founded, influenced a generation of gospel artists who fused an explicitly religious message with musical arrangements associated with secular R&B and soul music.
However, Allen’s impact on Kee goes beyond influencing Kee’s art. Kee viewed Allen as a father figure as well as a musical mentor, especially after Kee’s father passed away in the 1980s. So, Kee’s new project, Tribute to A Legend, Rance Allen, Chapter Two, is a labor of love to the gospel singer, pastor, and bishop in the Church of God in Christ, who became a father figure to Kee.
(April 9, 2024) Rance Allen was a mentor and major influence on gospel artist John P. Kee. That should not be surprising as Allen and the Rance Allen Group, the gospel music powerhouse band that Allen founded, influenced a generation of gospel artists who fused an explicitly religious message with musical arrangements associated with secular R&B and soul music.
However, Allen’s impact on Kee goes beyond influencing Kee’s art. Kee viewed Allen as a father figure as well as a musical mentor, especially after Kee’s father passed away in the 1980s. So, Kee’s new project, Tribute to A Legend, Rance Allen, Chapter Two, is a labor of love to the gospel singer, pastor, and bishop in the Church of God in Christ, who became a father figure to Kee.
The album finds Kee interpreting Rance Allen Group classics with the aid of artists like Caleb Sean and SoulTracks favorite Frank McComb. That is the combination that gives us a version of the inspirational “Believe In Yourself” that is a loving rendition of the Rance Allen Group’s original that was released in the 1980s. Kee’s version adds a touch of jazz by way of a saxophone solo, but the mid-tempo groove holds true to the original in that it’s so infectious that it makes the listener want to get up and dance. It would be a holy dance, of course. Check out Kee’s homage to his musical hero and father figure, Rance Allen, here.
By Howard Dukes
John P. Kee, Frank McComb and Caleb Sean
"Believe In Yourself"