ARMSTED CHRISTIAN LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENTSEARLY INFLUENCES & EDUCATION: Earliest memories and influences of music include a wide variety of genres such as Motown’s Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Jackie Wilson, Etta James, Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Sly and the Family Stone, Carlos Santana, B.B. King, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman. Armsted credits his mother Alma, for introducing him to singing. Works of Bach, Mendelssohn, Chopin, Ravel, as well as Jazz notables Miles Davis, John Coltrane, James Moody, Archie Shepp, Gil Evans, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk, had a great impact on his appreciation for improvisation and song stylization.


LIVE PERFORMANCE/INTERNATIONAL TOURING:

Najee in his international touring ensemble.as a lead and background vocalist, keyboardist, percussionist, and sax and flute player were employed, adding a new dimension to the sound of the band for five years.
Will Downing ~ 10 years as co-writer and vocalist/musician.
‘Peaceful Flight’ - original band for over 25 years.

VENUES PERFORMED WORLDWIDE:

Carnegie Hall, Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center in New York, The Fox Theater in Detroit and Chicago, symphony Hall and The Newport Jazz Festival in New England, the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland and Royal Albert Hall in London, England.

ARTISTS PERFORMED WITH:

Diana Ross, George Duke, Herbie Hancock, Patti Austin, Will Downing, Roberta Flack, K D Lang, Regina Carter, Paul Simon, Gloria Estefan, Phil Perry, Najee, Gerald Albright, Boney James, Angela Bofil, Phyllis Hyman, Freddie Jackson, Gerald Veasley, Gabrielle Goodman, Jonathan Butler, Marion Meadows, Special EFX, Chieli Minucci, Michael Brecker, Marc Egan, Regina Belle, Peabo Bryson, Jeffery Osborne, Vesta Williams, Alex Bugnon.

SONGWRITING/RECORDING:

Co-writing songs for his albums. “Deep Inside Your Love” and “Joy”co-written with Najee on the "Just An Illusion" and "Share My World" CD’s, were well received by the international community and were rewarded by Gold Album status as a result of their popularity. Co-writer with Will Downing and Rex Rideout and on his first big hit single, “Sorry I”, which won him a SESAC Songwriter of the Year Award for Best Adult Contemporary Song of 1999.

Armsted continued to tour and write with Will Downing and Rideout and continued to get recognition for his work. Recorded a song on pianist Bob Baldwin’s CD “Bob Baldwin.com", called “Being With You” co-written with Bob Baldwin and Will Downing. As well as celebrating his own CD “The Wave Is Coming” on SIAM Records. Co-written and produced two songs on internationally known recording artist, Gabrielle Goodman’s new CD entitled “ANGEL EYES” on the Goodness Music Label. His writing credits are featured on internationally acclaimed saxophonist/vocalist Walter Beasly. The song “DON’T SAY GOODNIGHT”, is on the CD “FOR HER”. Mo Pleasure's debut CD "Elements of Pleasure" co-wrote "Now That I Found You".

THEATRE:

Starring role as a cast member of the hit musicals “Dancin’ In The Street”, choreographed by internationally renown director Billy Wilson, whose works were featured in the Alvin Ailey Ballet Company of New York, and “BoBo’s” written and directed by famed #1 Best Selling author, journalist, and musician/songwriter, James McBride.

NOMINATIONS AND AWARDS:

Won a national contest that showcased his band ‘Peaceful Flight’ in Chicago’s Budweiser Songwriter’s Showdown, a nationwide televised event hosted by Lou Rawls and Jayne Kennedy. SESAC Songwriter of the Year Award for Best Adult Contemporary Song of 1999 for Will Downing and Rex Rideout and on his first big hit single, “Sorry I” in 2002, Armsted was co-nominated for a Grammy Award along with Will Downing and Rex Rideout on their collaborative effort on the Will Downing album “All The Man You Need”. In 2003, he was once again rewarded with a SESAC Award for songwriting in the Adult Contemporary Category, with the songs “Almost Like Being In Love” and “Home”. Armsted has collectively written on four of Will Downing’s albums, two of Najee’s, not including a rap single called “Cruise Control”. He was recently nominated for a Grammy for the 2nd time in 2009 for his vocal performance on Julius Williams’ composition, “Somewhere Far Away”.

TELEVISION:

PBS documentary film entitled “House On Fire. Co-writer thematic music for the world famous, long running, daytime soap opera, “The Guiding Light”, which was also featured as the lead vocalist.

AUTHOR:

Participating in the developing of new areas of discovery in music and the spoken word. completing a very powerful work of original poetry, which is to be published and released by his own company Nactivity Publishing Company in 2010.

PRODUCTION:

Presently in production on a new album, combining traditional and contemporary jazz. He is also writing a cantata for two soprano vocalists and a symphony, which he anticipates completing and previewing in the year 2010.

DEGREES: Graduated from Berklee College with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Composition.
AFFILIATIONS: SESAC, SAG, AF of M, AFTRA