"We've always done exactly what our name says, James explains. "People know when they come to a Worship & Praise concert, or buy one of our albums, that worship and praise is just what they're going to get. Lots of great music...something for everyone...and some church along with it. Our music comes from lots of different places, but our message is always the same"

James had shown tremendous, natural talent on the piano as a small boy. His parents recognizing their son's prodigious gifts, started him in formal. Classical piano training at the tender age of five. James avidly pursued his study of classical piano under the strong, nurturing hand of his mother, herself a talented pianist and music lover, until she passed away when he was 12.

The sweet Gospel sound of patriarchs like James Cleveland, the Hawkins Family and André Crouch mingled in the Hall household along with the strains of some of jazz's all~time greats, Duke Ellington, Count Bassie. Ella Fitzgerald and Miles Davis, among them.

James formed the first incarnation of Worship And Praise in 1987, when he was still in high school. The group remained intact after graduation as their popularity grew. Their career exploded in 1993, when "God is in Control," the title song from their debut album, swept the nation. More than just a hit, the song had a strong hand in ushering in a new era of contemporary urban Gospel. Today, the number remains as popular as ever, and has become James Hall's signature.

It was released on a small, independent label, which was unable to meet the demands of retailers for the album, as James' Star rocketed across the Gospel firmamentilt was then, that national Gospel power house Intersound, now CGI, stepped in and took over the task of carrying James' music and message to the masses.

"My prayer and hope is that our music will be a means of breaking down walls...between the races, the denominations, the saved and unsaved." James says. "Christ is the banner under whom we all can come together. Music is a universally spoken language through which we can convey the message about Him, as well as offer Him praise. We want to do music that's broad enough that lots and lots of people can connect with it.

"I would hope it could be said that my music touched people's lives for the
Lord and touched the lives of people with whom I would never have come in contact, were it not for the music"