Executive Producer: Dwight McKee, founder of Neo Gospel Music Group. McKee is an unsung—behind the scenes—heavy-weight; in both the music industry and within the social justice arena. McKee managed Edwin Hawkins and executive produced many of the greatest gospel albums of the 1990’s on his Lection Records (Polygram/Universal) platflorm (one of the first contemporary gospel labels).
McKee provided early mentorship to seminal recording artists including Richard Smallwood, Wintley Phipps and The Emotions. As a social scientist, he is equally revered as co-founder of Operation Breadbasket (now Rainbow Push/Coalition) with Jesse Jackson; and as a close personal confidant and advisor to Rev. Al Sharpton, Dr. Cornel West and numerous other prominent and influencial socio-polictical and religious leaders.
McKee enlisted nine-year Miles Davis collaborator, Robert Irving III as the music producer for the project. Irving comes from one of the largest gospel music families in the country which includes four Prelates. McKee say’s, “as the producer of six Grammy Award nominated projects and several film and television scores, Irving brings richness and depth to the project.
Irving states, “I am excited that Dwight has given me artistic license as an orchestral arranger to fuse together elements of jazz and classical music as an actual component of the story-telling of his songs, in much the same way I’d approach a film score.
Ephiffony
This artist group collective is the brainchild of Dwight Mckee. The spelling is his own rendering of the word epiphany of which the meaning is, “a moment of sudden revelation or insight.” McKee’s rendering attaches the meaning to the phonetic sound of “symphony” and “stereophonic”. McKee explains his own translation as such: “Ephiffony is a group that brings to life inspirational performances of inspired music concepts that are arranged and produced with symphonic elements, jazz and gospel to create the Neo Gospel sound experience.”
The group members of Ephiffony include McKee (mostly on spoken word narratives) along with his curated selection of highly gifted and talented vocalists, including Wanda Hutchinson Vaughn (of the group the Emotions), Sharon Irving (America’s Got Talent semifinalist), Marshall Hatch Jr. (recently recognized by Oprah Winfrey), Laura Walls (Jeff Award nominated actress/vocalist and Chris Murrell (15 veteran with the Count Basie Orchestra).
McKee also introduces new and lesser know up and coming vocalists such as 16 year old Ajene Cooks and Ramel Werner who is featured with Sharon Irving on the Ephiffony single “Time for Change (In Time) which garnered over 100,000 views on YouTube.
Now that the pandemic is winding down, they are plans for Ephiffony do live performances in conjunction with Robert Irving III’s Sonic Portraits Orchestra.