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 Audio Streaming for Invitation to Worship  Information (click here for list of local appearances) and streaming audio (click here to listen) is provided courtesy of GospoCentric. Sometimes the most profound messages in life are also the simplest and most straightforward. They say just what they mean, and mean exactly what they say. Invitation to Worship, the new release from Byron Cage Gospel’s Prince of Praise— is precisely what it proclaims itself to be. In the wake of his 2003, multi-Stellar Award-winning Gospo Centric debut— including laurels for Male Vocalist, and CD of the Year— Byron is back in a major way, inviting the church —and all of God’s people— to enter a level of praise and worship to Him both higher and deeper than they’ve ever encountered before.  Over more than 18 years, as the worship leader of two of America’s major, mega-churches, and with two previous releases on another label, before joining forces with Gospo Centric, Byron has birthed and grown praise & worship music into traditional Gospel churches where it had been previously unheard. And though 2003’s Byron Cage project may have seemed in some ways to be the perfect culmination of those many years spent on that mission, Invitation to Worship decisively and dramatically proves that it was indeed only the beginning of even greater things to come.Produced by the mega-hit-making team PAJAM— J.Moss, Paul Allen and Walter Kearney ('N Sync, Destiny’s Child, Kiki Sheard) —Invitation to Worship is the perfect meeting place of cutting-edge, contemporary sensibilities and a deep reverence and respect for the traditions of true Sunday morning music of the church. “The one thing I knew for certain going into this project,” says Byron, “is that I didn’t want to just remake the same album I’d done last time. I wanted to do something that was still very much for the church, and that they could lock into, but I also wanted to take them somewhere beyond any place we’d been. The guy’s in PAJAM were great, because they are so incredibly creative, but they understood and respected where I was coming from, and did not try to impose the urban and hip-hop sounds they are best known for. They really poured themselves and their talents into making something fresh, but something that was still very much me, and created for the church. And it worked beautifully. I think people are going to hear aspects of me and PAJAM they haven’t heard before. “I think it’s only natural after all the awards, and a number of big songs (“The Presence of the Lord Is Here;” “Psalms 3;” “There Is A Name;” “It Is to You”) from the last album that people are looking to Invitation to Worship to see if this guy has serious depth,” Byron continues. “Is he for real? Is he going to be around? I feel like we succeeded beyond our highest hopes, and that people are going to hear this and know without a doubt that the answer to those questions is a very definite yes.” Recorded live at Atlanta’s renowned New Birth Cathedral, one of the two mega-churches Byron calls home and in which he still shares his talents in various capacities, one can almost feel the electricity in the air. Byron, who wrote or co-wrote six of the album’s 12 songs, sites several that he feels stand out with particular power and impact. “Medley” comprises four selections, three new (“Majesty,” “Praise the Name of Jesus,” and “This Is the Air I Breathe”), plus Gospel legend Thomas Whitfield’s classic, “In Case You Forgot My Name.” “All of `Medley,’ but particularly `The Air I Breathe,’ is such a fresh and pure expression of worship that I hope it conveys my complete sense of commitment in wanting to create the right kind of worship for Sunday morning service, for Wednesday Night Bible Study, for revival…or even on the treadmill in the gym, or in your car driving. If you want to be in God’s presence, it will help take you there.” “I Will Bless The Lord,” a joyful, up-tempo jam, punctuated by a hot horn section, and featuring dynamic vocals from both Byron and his vocal ensemble, is a powerful, scripturally derived message of hope in times of trouble. “That song is a powerful encouragement to people,” says Byron, “that no matter what comes our way, or what we may suffer at times, we still have to be like David, who wrote: `I bless the Lord at all times and His praise shall continually be in my mouth.’ No matter what we’re going through, the answer is always to bless the Lord.”  “He Reigns” has a lilting, Caribbean groove that connects immediately with listeners in any category of musical taste imaginable, which is precisely Byron’s intention. “We Love You,” is an exuberant, rocking duet featuring Byron and JMoss which Byron also emphasizes “could be sung, and embraced anywhere. It’s a new kind of sound for the church, and it’s not specifically for only the `black church,’ or white, Hispanic, or any one group of people. These are songs that hopefully can bring those groups closer together through the common language of music.”“Broken But Healed,” penned by premier Gospel songwriter V. Michael McKay, is a stately, stirring choral ballad with a special purpose on Invitation to Worship. “That is the song of healing on this album,” Byron says. “It’s a simple but life-changing message, that though I’m broken, I’m healed through Christ. And with all the tragedies of the last few years—9/11, hurricanes, earthquakes—this is a time when, more than ever, people need to hear and know that.” Byron, who currently resides in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C., moved with his family to Detroit when he was 13. His extraordinary musical gifts had made themselves clearly audible and evident literally from the cradle, and he performed his first solo in church at the age of four. Through his youth, Byron studied and played saxophone, later becoming proficient as a self-taught keyboardist as well. As a member of Detroit’s Greater Grace Temple —also the church attended by Fred Hammond and several of the young men who would later form Commissioned— Byron became a vocal soloist and youth choir director. His career direction began to take even more definite shape when he was a guest artist on the third Commissioned album, and starred in one of acclaimed Gospel playwright Michael Matthew’s early productions. He had also become close friends with the late Thomas Whitfield, with whom he toured and performed in the mid-80s, before leaving the road to accept a full music scholarship to Morehouse College in Atlanta. Byron attended a small-but-flourishing church in Atlanta called New Birth Cathedral, and within a short time became its musical director. Now 25,000-members-strong, New Birth grew from 700 members to 16,000 during Byron’s tenure. In 1998, he accepted a position as senior minister of church worship for the largest African-American Episcopal (A.M.E.) church in the existence, Ebenezer A.M.E. in Fort Washington, Maryland, and also continues to serve as director of New Birth’s men’s chorus, known as the Nation of Jesus. Byron recently has become a frequent guest performer with the national and international crusades of celebrated evangelist Benny Hinn, in addition to keeping a busy schedule of workshops, conferences and seminars —all culminating in a concert performance—across America, while still maintaining his presence, grounding, fellowship and accountability at Ebenezer A.M.E., and New Birth Cathedral. As Invitation to Worship stands poised to firmly establish the great gifting that his last album portended and pointed to, Byron Cage is clearly a man on a much greater mission than achieving the accolades and rewards of man. “This music is not about me,” Byron concludes. “It’s about bringing the church, corporately, into worship. I think as we see praise & worship music becoming more and more prevalent in the church, across lines of denomination, and race, and musical genre, we’re truly getting a glimpse of what music is going to be like in heaven. There’ll be none of the barriers we’ve created that separate us, and I think we can see them falling even now, right here on earth. I just want to create songs of true worship that people can and will want to sing in churches all over this country, and planet, in a genuine desire to enter into His presence,” Byron concludes. “I believe that’s the greatest accomplishment for the Lord—and use of the talents He’s given me —that I could ever make.” And that is indeed Byron Cage’s personal, to-the-world, invitation to worship.  Listen to the audio provided below, courtesy of GospoCentric Records. Audio tracks are available in RealAudio format (click logo below to listen.  )
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