Month: March 2017

If Lent is truly a time of prayer and penance, acknowledging the sinful self, seeking atonement and preparing for the promise of Easter, then surely it is a time to look inward and admit that each of us bears a “dark side” that is complicit with the ills and evils of our world. In a recent conversation a friend said, “I always thought of myself as a good person, and I am, but there is another side of me that I’ve let lie hidden, and it’s pretty dark.” He’s not the only one.

One song, in particular, brings this out full force. “Strange Fruit” sung by Billie Holiday is a song that reveals the results of hatred and bigotry that have been the basis of racism for so long in our country, and the world. It speaks (sings) to the lynching of blacks in the south that took place over decades. The same sinful intent is still alive today in the culturally racism that pervades our lives. “Strange Fruit” could be said to be an anthem to the “Black Lives Matter” movement.

Southern trees bear strange fruit: blood on the leaves and blood at the root—black bodies swinging in the southern breeze. Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south: the bulging eyes and the twisted mouth; scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh, then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck, for the rain to gather, for the wind to suck; for the sun to rot, for the trees to drop. Here is a strange and bitter crop.

We’ll be performing “Strange Fruit” at our Good Friday Blues worship service as we acknowledge the ways in which Christ is still crucified in our world today. It’s a difficult song to perform because it hits so close to home. But then again, Lent should not be a time of ease and comfort.

Lenten Jazz Blessings.

Coltrane again. Even after all these years (he died in 1967 at the age of 40) I’m energized and renewed every time I hear his music. His music is so alive, it’s almost like hearing it again for the first time. One particular composition, “Alabama” has stuck with me every since I heard it years ago.

Trane wrote “Alabama” in response to the bombing of the 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama on June 15, 1963 by the Ku Klux Klan. The blast killed four young girls and became another rallying point in the civil rights movement.

It is one of the most evocative compositions I’ve ever heard. It brings the horrific event into a musical reality. The pain, sadness and angst bring the raw emotions to the surface. If Lent is a time of sadness, a season to reflect on the harsh realities of life through Jesus’ journey to the cross, then “Alabama” is Lent’s true lament.

Listen to the original recording (Live at Birdland) or an early TV program, Jazz Casual. Both were recorded in 1963 after the bombing, with the painful reality echoing in the music. It still echoes today.

Lenten Jazz Blessings.

Every jazz musician has his or her gurus—jazz icons who, through their jazz “chops” and musical invention, inspired them to become the musicians they are. As a saxophonist, my answer (to anyone wishing to know which saxophonist was most influential in my jazz development) is easy—John Coltrane. As a ground breaking musician with a deep spiritual reservoir, Trane always will be at the top of my list. But coming in at a close second is Wayne Shorter.

Wayne has been around for a long time, beginning his career with Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, performing with Miles Davis, and then during the jazz-fusion era he co-founded Weather Report with pianist, Joe Zawinul. Many of Shorter’s compositions have become jazz standards: Footprints, Infant Eyes, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, Black Nile and many, many more. He’s performed outside the jazz arena with Joni Mitchell and Carlos Santana.

During this Lent I’m listening intently to Ang San Suu Kyi, from his album 1 + 1 with Herbie Hancock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rspu8iciF7U. The song won the Grammy Award for the best instrumental composition of 1997.

The song is his tribute to Aung Sun Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Prize winner from Myanmar who was placed under house arrest by the Burmese military for more than twenty years. Her crime? Espousing democratic ideals, and winning the presidential election of 1990 by an overwhelming margin. In 2010 she was released and again won the country’s top election post. Well, almost. Seems that due to political technicalities she was forbidden to assume the presidency, but became the State Counselor, and for all intensive purposes, the country’s political leader.

I’ve never heard the story of how Shorter was inspired to compose the music but I can guess that it had something to do with his Buddhist philosophy and deep concern for humanity. Shorter doesn’t like to comment on his music. He lets his horn do the talking. There are several concert versions of Ang San Suu Kyi that you can find on You Tube. My favorite is his live performance in 2003 at the Montreal Jazz Festival with his quartet—Danilo Perez (piano), John Patitucci (bass) and Brian Blade (drums): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xtbwnZroPc

It begins with an extended free form piano solo before getting to the melody and solos. I had the privilege to hear the group perform at the Tri-C Jazz Festival In Cleveland, about a decade ago. It was one of the most incredible musical performances I’ve ever experienced. This week I’m delving deeply into this song as my Lenten meditation.

Lenten Jazz Blessings.

Moving into the second week in Lent my musical focus turns to “Prayer” by pianist Keith Jarrett. It’s a beautifully simple duet between Jarrett and bassist Charlie Haden from the album Death and the Flower recorded in 1974. If you don’t know this exquisite little melody and want to hear how Keith and Charlie explored it you can go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8VIipPNmUo

I have played “Prayer” in worship many times, as a call to prayer, a musical background beneath spoken prayer, a jazz meditation, as an offertory and as part of the sermon. I love the melody so much that I’ve put lyrics to it. Sung by my daughter Arianna, the music has deeply touched worshippers. As you listen to the music online I invite you to meditate on these words:

In the midst of all chaos I offer a prayer. As the world turns around me in pain and despair I remember your promise that flows everywhere.

In the twilight and darkness when day turns to night. In each moment of sadness you offer me sight. I remember your promise and enter your light.

In the touch of another I sense you are near, sharing moments of blessing there’s nothing to fear. I remember your promise and my way seems clear.

It’s a prayer of thanksgiving, a prayer of delight. It’s a prayer of contrition, a prayer seeking right. We remember your promise and enter your light.

This prayer is personal for the first three verses, then becomes a corporate prayer with the affirmation that “we remember your promise and enter the light.” May this Lenten season be a simply beautiful time of prayer as you enter the light of the Spirit. If you’re performing this song in worship please feel free to use these lyrics (just list me as lyricist).

Lenten Jazz Blessings.

It’s so easy to get bogged down in the lure of “shoulds” and “oughts” in our lives. Even though most people consider me retired, my life is busier than ever. I just don’t have a steady day gig occupying my time. I do have, however, a more fluid lifestyle allowing me to pursue a host of worthwhile projects. After I wrote my last blog entry (two months ago!) I quickly listed 12 major goals for 2017: all important parts of my creative calling. But now it’s Lent—a “stop sign” reminding me to pause and refocus my life: spiritually, physically, vocationally and creatively.

So, I’m committing myself to six weeks of discipline and discovery. Part of my intent is to focus on one jazz composition/performance each week as a way to reaffirm the anchors in my life while exploring the improvisational freedom of the Spirit. I begin with a John Coltrane masterpiece, “Spiritual,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkY_zTKzPCY) This version features McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass) and Elvin Jones (drums) at a live performance in Stockholm in 1963.

During the past year I’ve been a contributing writer for the United Church of Christ Musician’s Journal. In my most recent article I wrote the following, “I belief that when we jazz musicians play, we perform a sacred rite; we are at prayer. We are never more deeply in communion with the Holy than when we’re improvising—fashioning spontaneous melodies, harmonies and rhythms as an act of giving—a holy offering to God and the listener.”

Trane’s “Spiritual” is a perfect example of improvising in this spirit. While it was never composed and performed as liturgical music, it is for me a spiritual, and I would contend, a worshipful offering that touches my soul deeply. I love the deep resonance of Trane’s tenor sax as the song begins and his switch to soprano after McCoy’s soul. I can visual the quartet on stage offering their interpretive talents to the audience. It may not have been in church but I daresay that many in the audience were lifted to new heights by their music.

I will listen to “Spiritual” this week and make a commitment to playing it in my daily practice as a spiritual discipline to help guide me through this season of Lent. May this season of Lenten meditation be a time of renewal and refocusing for you.

If you prefer to listen to the original studio recording just link to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3AeL4ED8oM.

Lenten Jazz Blessings.