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“And I sort of absorbed all sorts of musical styles that have informed and helped me do the work that I do today.”
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“I was able to sneak and listen to other things,” he says. He also grew up listening to gospel musician Edwin Hawkins, singer Andraé Crouch, and piano duo Ferrante & Teicher. He got his start in jazz, despite the fact that his parents only ever listened to The Swingle Singers in the house. Growing up in a religious household, he didn't hear much pop or R&B music as a kid. Warren first learned to play the piano at age 5. “Well, I was already a fan, but I mean, I put on my fan hat and it's just like, ‘Oh my God, this is amazing.’ ” “When stepped up to that mic and began to sing, I became a fan instead of a producer,” he says. Working with Houston was one of his favorite collaborations. He’s helped create some of the most powerful music with some of the most powerful women - but he says his habit of working with women vocalists is a coincidence. He also produced and arranged most of the music for Whitney Houston's film “The Preacher's Wife.” Warren has worked with Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand and Faith Hill, among others.
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Roth wanted Warren to use a solo voice that represents loneliness, contemplation and childhood throughout the film, he says. “We didn't want the score to sound like Mary's songs,” he says. Warren and director Vanessa Roth wanted to support Blige’s story with music that both complemented and contrasted her iconic music. He and Blige didn't know each other before the project. Producer Quincy Jones recommended Warren write the score for the film.