Organist, songwriter, producer, and arranger are among the hats that Joel Britton wears in his work in the gospel community in New Orleans. Britton, who is part of a musical dynasty that includes his father and brother, is a member Greater St. Stephens Full Gospel Baptist Church, the largest African American church in the city. He can be found there on Sundays, accompanying one of the church's many outstanding choirs or playing a solo on the organ. Much of Britton's work is done in support of the Music Ministry at Greater St. Stephens, which has produced a number of excellent CDs under the leadership of
Bishop Paul S. Morton Sr. Bishop Morton is the founder of the Full Gospel Fellowship, which has become a worldwide movement in just a few years and has engendered its own
Full Gospel Baptist Mass Choir, with which Britton has collaborated. Among the
Greater St. Stephen's Mass Choir's CDs to which Britton has lent his remarkable talents are
God's Got Those Healing Hands (1991);
We Offer Christ (1993), whose title cut was written by the organist's brother,
Phillip Britton; and
As For Me My House, recorded in 1999.
The close of the 20th century found Britton a busy man. He was at the keyboards for Bishop Morton's 1999 release of Crescent City Fire, a reference to an annual revival held in New Orleans, as well as the 1995 Gospel Night in New Orleans and as producer of the 1999 Blackberry Collection, both featuring various gospel artists. The Women of Excellence Choir, under the leadership of Debra S. Morton, co-pastor of Greater St. Stephens and founder of the Women of Excellence movement, received the services of Britton on its 2001 CD Where There's a Will, There's a Way. Britton also lays down the sound on Blessed's CD of the same name, recorded in 2000.
Britton has sometimes crossed over into the world of secular music, as when he provided the strings for New Orleans RB great Tommy Ridgely on his 1999 CD How Long? But the heart and soul of Britton's music is the gospel tradition out of which he came. ~ Rose of Sharon Witmer, Rovi