As a child, Richard Smallwood thrived on rich and diverse musical fare, including not only gospel, but classical, R&B and pop as well (though it was well into his adolescence before he worked up the nerve to share his penchant for “worldly” R&B and soul as a “preacher’s kid”). He began picking out melodies by ear on the family piano when he was only 5, and by age 7 he was receiving formal instruction and performing as the regular pianist in his father’s churches. When his mother gave him a recording of a Rachmaninoff piano concerto, Smallwood developed a love for classical music that would later profoundly influence his life and music.

The elder Smallwood’s profession as a Baptist pastor who “seeded” new churches meant the family moved almost yearly, which made Smallwood the perpetual “new kid.” At his mother’s insistence, the family settled in Washington, D.C. when Smallwood was 11. As an eighth grader, Smallwood was taught by a brilliant, fresh-out-of-college music teacher named Roberta Flack.

Not long after settling in D.C., Smallwood, already known for his amazing instrumental and vocal skills, formed his first gospel group, which he now refers to fondly as “The Baby Smallwood Singers.” Three years later, Smallwood was accepted into a program for musically gifted children at Howard University, where he later attended full-time, graduating with a degree in classical piano and voice.

At Howard, Smallwood became a founding member of the Howard Gospel Choir, and a featured member of a contemporary gospel group, the Celestial Singers, taking the place of its previous keyboardist, Donnie Hathaway, one of the great R&B/pop stars of the ‘70s.

That group was the forerunner to the original Richard Smallwood Singers, which, among a long list of firsts in its nearly two-decade tenure, was the first black gospel group ever to tour the Soviet Union.

Smallwood never pursued his formal classical studies any further, although his years of classical training had a profound effect on the derivation of what the world today knows as the “Smallwood Sound”— a fusion of gospel, classical, pop and R&B styles.

“I never try to make my music sound any particular way,” Smallwood explains. “It’s just all my musical exposure and influences filtering through my own creativity. I’m known for gospel with a classical touch, but traditional gospel has also been very much of an influence.

With his latest release, Journey! Live in New York, it’s clear that Smallwood’s musical career is very much a work still in progress. “There are some tangible musical things I still want to do,” he says, “but to continue to grow — creatively and spiritually — has always been my heart.”