Jesse Dean Stanford It has been quoted that; "Singing and breathing are synonymous for any artist who fully understands that singing is purely soul expression." It's been that kind of thinking that has kept 26-year-old vocal stylist Jesse Dean Stanford working hard to develop and hone his craft. At 6-years-old, Jesse sang his first solo, "Oh How I Love Jesus", and has been singing ever since. Even then, Jesse's mother, Reverend Talma Williams, exposed him to music forms varying from Jazz and Rhythm and Blues, to Classical and Broadway show tunes. Though these different genres helped to create his vocal style, Gospel music has always been at the root of Jesse's sound. A vastly experienced and well-rounded artist, Jesse began his formal training in 1986 as a member of the Children's Performing Arts Institute Performing Arts Program and as a student in the Music/Theatre Program of Chicago's Metro High School. Over the next fifteen years, Jesse has performed with and directed countless community choirs, toured the United States and abroad as a featured performer in musical and dramatic theater as well as landing roles in television and films. While the "Consecrate Me" project marks his maiden voyage as a recording artist, Jesse is an experienced session singer and gifted songwriter. "The timing for the project was God's will," Jesse remarks, "I met my producers by chance, and we clicked instantly from a writing standpoint and our ideas meshed wonderfully, so a CD project was a natural progression." Whenever the question is asked about his pursuit of Gospel music as his vocal distinction of choice, Jesse responds, "There is a warmth and purity of heart that comes through when a person sings Gospel music." If it's true that singing is "purely soul expression", then the essence of that expression clearly defines the power, warmth and emotion that Jesse emanates when he opens his mouth and, as Jesse puts it, "allows the Lord to sing through me".