Biography
Singers from the Tampa Bay Area formed the Florida Mass Choir in the 1970s with Rev. Arthur T. Jones at the helm. Its first album, Come Let's Reason Together, appeared in 1979 on Savoy Records after sessions in Tampa. Jesus Will Never Say No followed the next year. Be Encouraged, captured at an Orlando concert, arrived in 1981, and the 1983 release Lord You Keep on Proving Yourself to Me documented a Gainesville, Florida performance while reaching the Top 30 on the Billboard Gospel Albums chart. Still on Savoy, the group issued Storm Clouds Rising two years later. The choir then joined the Malaco roster for The Florida Mass Choir Recorded Live in Miami, Florida in 1987 and Let the Holy Ghost Lead You in 1988. Higher Hope, recorded at a Lakeland, Florida show in 1990, was issued in both audio and video formats, as were the next two live sets, Now, I Can See and Holy. All three appeared on Billboard, with Higher Hope climbing to the Top Five on the gospel chart. After Jones redirected his energies to the growth of Tampa’s Bible-Based Fellowship Church, Fill Us, Lift Us became the Florida Mass Choir’s last recording in 1998. Malaco released the compilation The Treasure the following year.
Albums
