CRISPIN - Springtime Records

Heart startin', foot stompin', faith buildin', hand clappin', church rockin', in yo' face with the sound of grace - funky music fo' yo' soul! For the past 8 years Crispin has been reaching the hearts of people through their unique musical style that unites funk, jazz, and neo-soul. DiSilva, leader of Crispin, has performed and recorded on the professional music scene for a number of years before getting the members of Crispin together. His vast experience has brought a wide range of musical styles that synthesize on the stage with Crispin. Crispin can get an audience on its feet with ease, and despite the Christian slant and theological message, the band has been invited to play on secular stages and at annual music festivals around the country. Crowd favorites include "Fishers of Men," and the best renditions of "I'll Fly Away" and "When The Saints Go Marching In" this side of New Orleans.

The band members:

Daniel diSilva

Daniel diSilva is a poet, an athlete, a scholar, a woodworker, an administrator, and a composite musician, all rolled into one. The early years of his professional career took him around the world as a musician on tour with bands and artists of wide-ranging styles from Celtic with fiddler Natalie MacMaster and The Chieftains, to Jazz with Joseph Vincelli and Joe McBride, to Folk with James Taylor, Mark O'Connor and Alison Krauss, and Blues with B.B King. After an impressive career in the music industry, he felt called to take a sabbatical to learn the art of woodworking and returned to school. While earning a B.A. in Literature from the University of Dallas, Daniel began writing songs and poetry about a deepening intimacy with Jesus and Mary that would later become the music of Crispin, the Catholic Funk Band. By the release of Crsipin's second CD, Psalmba, all of Catholic Contemporary Music began taking a whole new direction lead by the groundbreaking (and some would say backbreaking) work of this band, which has performed over 100 concerts every year since their first show on Dec 8th, 1998. During the seven years spent on the road with Crispin, Daniel cut his teeth as a speaker, addressing teens around the globe (in Spanish and English) about abstinence and chastity using his firm grasp of John Paul II's Theology of the Body. These days, while persuing his postgraduate degree in theology, and maitaining a rigourous speaking schedule, Daniel has been tapped to compose musical scores for various productions including a multi-media presentation of the Theology of the Body featuring renowned theologian Christopher West, and a trailer for the Sisters of Life website (see the links page). A daily runner wherever he is, Daniel prefers the trails along the Trinity River in Fort Worth Texas and calls that city his home. From there he has embarked on his newest project for the Kingdom, Springtime Productions, a non-profit organization that helps to support speakers and artists and their work to enrich the culture on the level of the family.

Gary Lee Wooten- Alto Sax/Keyboards

CRISPIN Live CD co-producer Gary has performed all over the world as both a keyboardist for the Wooten Brothers, a band consisting of him and his two siblings. They released 3 albums on A&M Records and hit the Billboard charts several times during their 13 years together, including a No. 58 hit with "Friendz," and a No. 8 hit with "Tell Me." Gary is an accomplished composer and arranger, with musical credits including the "Cosby Show," Paramount television show, "The Party Machine," and the HBO movie, "American Dream." Currently, Gary tours with bands CRISPIN and Watusi, runs a recording studio, and is the keyboard player/director for a Sunday church youth choir.

Rickie "Bongo" Carthen Percussion, harmonica

Bongo has been playing, dancing, and pretty much being his crazy self since age 7. "Before that," he says, "things just really weren't going anywhere. He has performed all over the U.S. and Japan with bands such as the Neville Brothers and Cameo, and most recently with Gospel Music supperstar Kirk Franklin. On Star Search he performed with nine-time winner, Heaven. A write and producer, Bongo has produced projects for Watusi, Roadside Poets, Kavi-R, and even charted on Billboard with Don Diego. He started out as a primitive rhythm dancer with Kathryn Dunnum, a dancer of encyclopedic fame. His favorite gospel? Matthew. Bongo is a native of Saint Louis, and now makes his home in Dallas with his wife Caroline and young son Sabien, and he runs his own studio. "The CRISPIN gig smokes because of what it is. It's rare to have a real percussionist on a gig; here we have two and that is going to always bump it up." Bongo's latest endeavor is a puppet show called "Lamb Kins" in which he gets to feature his hidden talent as a human sound effects machine. The show travels to schools promoting interracial peace and problem solving.