GOSPEL LEGACY AWARD: Every year, the Washington DC Gospel Fest will honor members of the Washington DC community with the Gospel Legacy Award. This award will be given to members of the Washington DC metropolitan community that have made significant contributions to gospel music. In this, the First Annual Washington DC Gospel Fest, we believed it to be important to honor a group of pioneers of gospel music from the Washington DC metropolitan community. Accordingly, we have selected Barbara Best & the B.L.&S. Singers. Barbara Best began singing at the age of 10-yrs old in the Washington DC area in a church at the Christian Home Pentecostal Church under the pastorate of the late Bishop Arthur Adams. Out of his church choir came a smaller group called the "Gospel Echoes" with whom Barbara sang for many years. From there, she went on to sing with the "Professional William Hart Singers" of Washington D.C. and the "Famous Davis Sisters" of Philadelphia. Barbara later went further to form her very own group called the "Deliverance Gospel Singers" in 1966 in the District of Columbia. They recorded one record entitled "He's Real" lead by Barbara. In 1978, after having a spiritual conversion, Barbara formed the "B.L. & S. Singers"; a trio composed of herself and two of the former members of the Deliverance Singers, Deaconess A. LoisTillery-Moore, and Minster Slyvia C. Wayman. B.L.&.S. stands for "Blessed Loved & Saved The new trio was blessed to record their first album in 1981, which yielded the hit "I Found a New Doctor", a song of healing and deliverance that went around the country and topped chats everywhere for many weeks, elevating the ladies to national acclaim. Pastor Best has been singing for 55 years, while the BL&S Singers have shared singing ministry for 37 years. Over the years, the BL&S Singers have included Kathy Gorham, Evangelist Linda Gore and Evangelist Lynda Nix among their ranks. They have worked with and impacted countless musicians in the Washington DC metropolitan community, including Professor Ricky Peyton, Pastor Harold Sutton, Professor Ralph Herndon, Pastor Danny McCrimmon, Terrance Richberg, Terron Whitehead, Michael Verner, Tim Linzy, Pastor Norman Weeks, Minister Cority Quarles and many more. The BL&S Singers have recorded 6 albums and traveled to Europe for approximately 13 tours, and have been nationally noted for their spirited performances at places like the James Cleveland Music Workshop, the Charles Nicks Revival in Detroit, Cobo Hall in Detroit, Madison Square Gaeden in New York. The list of performers with whom they have performed is stellar. They have shared the stage with some of the greatest figures in gospel music, including Pastor Shirley Ceasar, Andre Crouch, the legendary James Cleveland, Pastor Donnie McClurkin, Marvin Sapp, Tramane Hawkins, the Winans, The Hawkins Singers, Richard Smallwood, Albertrina Walker, Inez Andrews, The Couds of Joy, Bebe and Cece Winans, Daryl Coley, Lorraine Stacil, Sandra Crouch, Dorothy Norwood and many more. The B.L. & S. Singers are pioneers in gospel music. They are among the first Washingtonians to attain a national reputation for their music, which is made more significant by the fact that they are a group composed entirely of women that are all ministers, mothers and a great grandmother. They are all dynamic church leaders that have changed the lives of many during their journey in faith. The time for the B,L.& S. Singers has not yet passed - A European tour is scheduled for this year (Fall 2004) in November and will include the group of ladies and present accompanist Professor Ralph Herndon, who has faithfully accompanied, arranged and sang with the group since 1995. In the inaugural Washington DC Gospel Fest, the B.L.& S. Singers will honor us with a song. Please join us as we salute Barbara Best and the B.L.& S. Singers with the First Annual Gospel Legacy Award.