GOSPEL THROUGH THE EYES OF A JAZZ MUSICIAN

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GOSPEL JAZZ EXPLOSION

Award Winning Jazz / Gospel Neamen Lyles joins forces with Embassador Doc Jones to kick off Jazz Appreciation Month on Tempe Day April 8th 23

The advantage of learning to play gospel music as a kid growing up in church was gaining the ability to hear and play piano (or keyboard). No matter how many rehearsals we held before hand, the set-list never stayed the same during the actual church service. We had no other option as young musicians than to listen, figure out, and learn on the spot during the service.

Frustrating as this experience was back then, I developed my ability to hear and play unwitting ly and prepared myself for my journey into the world of jazz.

I fell in love with jazz after looking for a greater musical challenge, feeling that gospel music as a genre had become redundant in form. Learning to play jazz has definitely broadened my musical horizon. It continues to excite me as I explore it even further, discovering the endless wonder of musical expression.

These genres have more in common than you may realize, and blues served as a bridge between them. Dating back to the 1800s, when “call and response” was established as a form of expres sion, African Americans celebrated Christianity through the expression of music in a new and soulful style. This style touched hearts with its powerful lyric and melodic repetition. Musician Thomas Dorsey, 1930s, is father of this “Gospel” style.

Tempe Mayor Woods to Host Jazz Gospel Explosion Concert

Mayor Corey Woods is committed to helping Doc Jones bring his International Jazz Day move ment to the city of Tempe. April 8th 2023 Doc has joined with Gosple legend Reggie Campbell to produce the first Gosple to Jazz Explosion concert at the Tempe Center for the Arts

Many contemporary artists, such as Mary Mary, Mahalia Jackson, and Kirk Franklin, served as crossover artists within these genres. They paired their strong faith with expressive jazz techniques, harmonies, and instrumentation. More and more, we are seeing many talented artists, with both a strong calling to serve their church and a deep faith, who also want to pursue a full-time musical career. They have found a way to use their creative passion by blending the Gospel and Jazz genres together. One such artist is jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum. Another example is Niki Haris. She combines jazz and gospel music together brilliantly in live performances, showcasing her vocal execution, lyrical commitment, and thorough instrumentation. She reaches both Jazz and Gospel audiences alike.

“Faith” is another strong concept that ties Jazz and Gospel music together. A “spiritually guided” direction gives sustenance to our hopes and dreams, from a biblical standpoint. The other direction of faith is found in daring to articulate an artistic vision and expressing something that’s both broader in scope and far more personal.

In Gospel music, “faith” is essential, while in Jazz music, it’s more of a distant goal. Though aims may differ however, both paths continually influence one another. For example, gospel music would not have evolved apart from the artists who felt the need to hear and express something beyond the ecclesiastical music that preceded them.

FEELS LOIKE HEAVEN

Album Release

Remember to look out for his daring new project, the “Moment Of Truth,” releasing In January of 2019. It’s his bold breakout statement as a saxophonist, composer, rapper and lyricist that expands the boundaries of a typical saxophone CD. Order your copy today! Every now and then, we’re given another opportunity to get to know a musical artist at a deeper level – to get a clearer glimpse of the creative force within, and the ways in which it’s manifested in the aural world. Such is the case today with Neamen Lyles, the young saxophonist whose second album now makes its way into the marketplace of musical idea.

New release It’s gonna bealright by Reggie Campbellnow on sale

NEAMEN, REGGIE CAMPBELL & DOC JONES EXPLORE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN JAZZ AND GOSPEL

God’s Love Supreme: The Arrival of Jazz as Christian Worship Music

Easily one of the most important records ever made, John Coltrane's a Love Supreme was his pinnacle studio out ing that at once compiled all of his innovations from his past, spoke of his current deep spirituality, and also gave a glimpse into the next two and a half years (sadly, those would be his last). Recorded at the end of 1964, Trane's classic quartet of Elvin Jones, McCoy Tyner, and Jimmy Garrison stepped into the studio and created one of the most thought-provoking, concise, and technically pleasing albums of their bountiful relationship (not to mention his best-selling to date). from the undulatory (and classic) bassline at the intro to the last breathy notes, Trane is at the peak of his logical yet emotionally varied soloing while the rest of the group is remarkably in tune with Coltrane's spiritual vibe. Composed of four parts, each has a thematic progression leading to an understanding of spirituality through meditation.

Jazz pianist Duke Ellington leads his company in a sacred number on temporary platform behind the main altar of Grace Cathedral in San Francisco in 1965. (AP)

On a Saturday night last month, about a half-mile from a mural featuring Billie Holiday, Lena Horne, Ella Fitzgerald, and John Col trane, a trio led by pianist Danny Mixon warmed up with the show tune-turned-jazz standard “All the Things You Are.” Antoinette Montague, the featured soloist, inspired the 400-or-so audience members to compulsive head-bobbing, hand-clapping, foot-stomp ing, and call-and-response for more than an hour.

That exuberant performance could have happened during a concert at a club. But it actually took place at St. Albans Congregational Church in Queens, New York, as part of a worship service.

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How to Write the (Definitive, Readable, and Raved-About) Book on Jazz St. Albans’ monthly jazz communion service started in 2001 partly to pay homage to the area’s storied past as home to some of the 20th century’s most celebrated jazz performers. And in an era of digitized beats and auto-tune vocals, senior pastor Rev. Dr. Henry T. Simmons wants to preserve jazz and the discipline it demands as an example to young people.

He’s part of a new cohort of faith leaders who see jazz as an evangelism strategy to fill pews with people who would otherwise skip service. “There are a lot of people who have been a bit turned off by the church, particularly younger folk and men,” he said, noting that jazz attracts greater male attendance than St. Albans’ other services.

Elements of jazz have been in black churches since enslaved peoples transformed Christian hymns with West African rhythms. Jazz would later emerge from gospel and blues as a distinct genre. But the music developed a stigma for being worldly, played in dimly lit smoke-filled venues, and deemed inappropriate for Sunday morning. In the 1960s, jazz artists began to shift this perception with sacred compositions. Among them: pianist Mary Lou Williams with the album Black Christ of the Andes, and the bandleader Duke Ellington, who performed three “Sacred Concerts” in churches and cathedrals across the U.S. and Europe.

Some American churches have brought improvised jazz into the sanctuary because of its prayerful, stirring power; others, because it attracts attendees who might otherwise skip church

The Creator Has A Master Plan

THESE DAYS, YOU hear a lot of talk about so-called spiritual jazz, a Sixties and Seventies subgenre that resonates strongly in the work of contemporary standouts like Kamasi Wash ington and Nubya Garcia. Along with John and Alice Coltrane, one of the patron saints of the unofficial movement is saxophonist Pharoah Sanders.

In 1969, Sanders released “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” a 30-minute track that summed up the spiritual-jazz aesthetic with its blend of blissed-out, meditative vamping and fiery abstraction — as well as some ecstatic yodeling from vocalist Leon Thomas. Now, a little more than 50 years after the track came out on the album Karma, Sanders has reprised it in collaboration with organist Joey DeFrancesco. “Creator” is one of a handful of tracks on keyboardist’s uplifting new album, In the Key of the Universe, that features Sanders. De Francesco might be better known for his work in earthier jazz styles — he also teamed up with Van Morrison for 2018’s fun, bluesy You’re Driving Me Crazy — but he sounds right at home here.

Like the original, the new “Creator” starts off with a stirring free-form intro. Sanders’ still-luminous tenor floats over DeFrancesco’s lush, churchy textures, as veteran drummer Billy Hart adds rumbling tom-toms, and percussionist Sammy Figueroa blends in shakers and chimes. Then bassist Troy Roberts comes in with the track’s signature four-note vamp, and Sanders begins a relaxed yet powerful solo.

Later, the saxophonist comes in on vocals, reprising Thomas’ memorable chant while slightly tweaking the original lyrics: “The creator has a master plan/Peace and happiness to all the land.” He never launches into a full yodel, but he does do a bit of scatting near the end.

While the original epic contrasted its warm, melodic opening with a gritty improv blowout later on, this modest 11-minute version remains smooth and groovy pretty much all the way through. A half-century later, it still sounds like the ultimate hippie-jazz anthem — incense in musical form.

RIP Joey D. & Pharaoh

Song You Need to Know: Joey DeFrancesco and Pharoah Sanders, ‘The Creator Has a Master Plan’ Fifty years after releasing a spiritual-jazz classic, the saxophonist reprises the track with help from a mas ter organist.

THESE DAYS, YOU hear a lot of talk about so-called spiritual jazz, a Sixties and Seventies subgenre that resonates strongly in the work of contemporary standouts like Kamasi Washington and Nubya Gar cia. Along with John and Alice Coltrane, one of the patron saints of the unofficial movement is saxo phonist Pharoah Sanders.

In 1969, Sanders released “The Creator Has a Master Plan,” a 30-minute track that summed up the spiritu al-jazz aesthetic with its blend of blissed-out, medita tive vamping and fiery abstraction — as well as some ecstatic yodeling from vocalist Leon Thomas. Now, a little more than 50 years after the track came out on the album Karma, Sanders has reprised it in collab oration with organist Joey DeFrancesco. “Creator” is one of a handful of tracks on keyboardist’s uplifting new album, In the Key of the Universe, that features Sanders. DeFrancesco might be better known for his work in earthier jazz styles — he also teamed up with Van Morrison for 2018’s fun, bluesy You’re Driving Me Crazy — but he sounds right at home here.

Gospel According to Louis nArmstrong

Jazz has its roots in blues and gospel music. Explore all things Gospel, including some of the finest jazz...

Louis Armstrong’s “Go Down, Moses” is a Protest Song

Louis Armstrong’s 1956 recording and release of the song, “Go Down, Moses” builds upon hundreds of years of Black pro test. Standing up to the racist and often limiting strategies of white elites, whether in government or music, releasing this song was a seminal moment in the Black protest music canon.

Negro spirituals are religious songs sung by Black folks, combining the spiritual and religious themes of Christian music taught and the hardships and trauma of being a Black person in the United States. “Go Down, Moses” is an enduring song because of its simple, relatable, and religious qualities.

In Armstrong’s iteration, the lyrics sing of a story of God telling Moses to go down to Egypt and let his people free from im prisonment. The spiritual makes a clear connection between this Jewish experience, imprisoned in Egypt, to the Black expe rience in America.

Much of the song features call-and-response, a fairly common strategy for protest music. It adds to the song’s motivating en ergy and creates a sense of community with the folks asking to be let go. The whole song, as with negro spirituals in general, seems to create community amongst oppressed peoples, to bring their power together to demand better living circumstanc es. Adding to this feeling of community is the song’s refrain-based lyrics. Despite a few variations, most of the song’s lyrics are repeated multiple times, and the lyrics are sung by Armstrong at a pace that allows for easy memorization.

Armstrong’s trumpet is not a consistent presence in the song, rather jumping in at certain points to play an emphasizing role. The most notable section is at the very end of the song, when he spouts a high-pitched burst on the trumpet, an exclamation point at the end of an emotionally evocative song. It adds a personable element to the song, as if Armstrong is keeping much of the spiritual the song, but leaving his mark on it in certain ways. While this doesn’t necessarily relate to what Armstrong had in mind, there’s an animation of the video on YouTube that gives visuals to much of what Armstrong was singing. The fact that Armstrong’s voice and personality is de-centered in the videos isn’t productive, but the video provides an image of the people that need to be let go, as well as an image of the ruling class.

But all in all, the song’s power comes from the fact that it’s been sung countless times. And as long as marginalized people continue to be traumatized and pushed to the edges of society, the song will have power.

Another aspect of the song’s importance to the Black music canon is the fact that Louis Armstrong was one of the most celebrated artists of the 20th century. No collection of records is complete without his work.. Armstrong did well to take his power, that of a world-renowned musician, and use it to speak up for those that could not. This iteration of “Go Down, Mo ses” is especially impactful because of that — most Black artists were instructed to leave politics and social commentaries out of their music, because their white audiences couldn’t handle it.

Additionally, the song harkens back to a time when Black folks had to be clandestine about their songs; Whites were fearful of their music and sought to silence Black music. This song is a testament to refusing to be silent in the face of oppression and violence.

His willingness to upset the social order and bring a Negro spiritual to the mainstream is daring and important to remember. Louis Armstrong’s performance of “Go Down, Moses” will stay relevant for centuries to come, a testament to spirituality’s empowering nature.

Mahalia Jackson & LOUIS ARMSTRONG AT THE NEWPORT JAZZ FESTIVAL

The great New Orleans-born gospel singer, who would have turned 100 in October, is the subject of two tributes -- today and next Saturday -during the annual celebration of music, food and crafts in the Fair Grounds infield. This weekend’s lineup included a Saturday set by Fantasia, the singer who will portray Jackson in a movie based on her life.

The object of all this veneration is a woman of imposing size who was born in poverty, blessed with a powerful contralto, and never learned to read music.

Bruce Raeburn, the curator of Tulane University’s William Ransom Hogan Jazz Archive, had a two-word explanation for Jackson’s immortali ty: raw talent.

“The way that she embedded emotion in her vocals was akin to what Louis Armstrong did on his trumpet and as a vocalist,” Raeburn said. “They both had power and expressiveness that revolutionized American popular music in the 20th century. With Mahalia, it’s the feeling she conveys that blows the top of your head off.”

John S. Wilson captured her power in a New York Times article that he wrote after Jackson’s death in January 1972: mahalia_jackson_jazz_fest_poster.jpgView full sizeMahalia Jackson was featured in the 2003 New Orleans Jazz Fest poster, by James Mi chalopoulos.

“Whenever Mahalia Jackson poured the power and the majesty of her voice into one of her favorite songs, ‘I Believe,’ there could never be any doubt that she meant it, meant every word. She did believe. She believed in her God, and she believed in herself. And the sincerity of her belief rang through every note that she sang. Because of her belief, she cut a very straight, direct path through life, and she held to it all the way. There were no deviations, no compromise. She sang the Gospel. She sang the glory of God.”

In a Jackson performance, “the music made you cry, the music made you clap, the music made you smile,” said the Rev. Lois Dejean, a 75-yearold friend of Jackson’s who was part of her backup choir.

“What came from her heart touched your heart,” said Dejean, who sings alto with a family group called the Johnson Extension. What Jackson wrought when she poured her heart into her music transcended such technical matters as phrasing and breath control, said Irma Thomas, a veteran of Jackson tributes who will perform with John Boutte at Saturday’s salute.

“She was Mahalia,” Thomas said. “People loved her for her ability to portray the songs. Phrasing was secondary.”

Gospel music is “prayer set to music,” she said. “This is our way of communicating with God. ... It’s telling how God has gotten you through hard times.”

mahalia_jackson_louis_armstrong.jpgView full sizeThe Associated PressLouis Armstrong gets a hug and a pat on the shoulder from Mahalia Jackson at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 11, 1970, during ‘A Tribute to Louis Armstrong.’ According to several sources, Armstrong tried to cajole his fellow New Orleanian into working with him, but she turned him down, saying she wouldn’t sing anything but sacred songs. “You can’t mix the work of the Lord with the work of the other side,” she said in an interview.

But that didn’t stop her from performing at the first Jazz Fest, in April 1970. She surprised opening-day revelers by showing up in Congo Square and joining the Eureka Brass Band in an impromptu rendition of “Just a Closer Walk With Thee.” The next night, Jackson was the pinkgowned star of a nighttime concert in Municipal Auditorium, where she sang such gospel standards as “Down by the Riverside” and “Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho.”

If Jackson did what she customarily did on such occasions, Dejean said Jackson probably took advantage of her floor-length dress to slip off her shoes and perform in her stocking feet. Even though that was the only Jazz Fest in which Jackson performed, there is a stand-up likeness of her enshrined in a section of the Fair Grounds infield with depictions of other important festival figures known as The Ancestors. They include the pianist James Booker, the CBS correspondent Ed Bradley, Preservation Hall founder Allan Jaffe and Jules Cahn, a music-mad New Orlea nian who made a point of photographing as much of every festival as possible.

While Jackson made no secret of her refusal to perform secular songs -- her infield likeness wears a choir robe -- her earliest musical influence was the great blues singer Bessie Smith, whose records Jackson listened to while growing up in a house on Pitt Street, in the Uptown neigh borhood now known as Black Pearl. Jackson knew the difference, and she never “Blues are the songs of despair,” she said in a New York Times interview. “Gospel songs are the songs of hope. When you sing gospel, you have the feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong, but when you are through with the blues, you’ve got nothing to rest on.”

But the blues had a beat. So did the music in Spiritual churches, the local variants of Pentecostal churches, where Jackson sang as a child.

Although Jackson renounced the blues once she decided to devote her life to gospel music, she took the beat with her when she started singing in churches in New Orleans and in Chicago, where she moved in 1927. She was part of a vast northward migration that thousands of Afri can-Americans undertook then because opportunities were better there than in the segregated South.

In Chicago, she met Thomas Andrew Dorsey, who had worked with the trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Known as the father of gospel music, Dorsey worked with Jackson for 14 years.

New Orleans Jazz Fest pay tribute to Mahalia Jackson

“Blues are the songs of despair,” she said in a New York Times interview. “Gospel songs are the songs of hope. When you sing gospel, you have the feeling there is a cure for what’s wrong, but when you are through with the blues, you’ve got nothing to rest on.”

But the blues had a beat. So did the music in Spiritual churches, the local variants of Pentecostal churches, where Jackson sang as a child.

Although Jackson renounced the blues once she decided to devote her life to gospel music, she took the beat with her when she started singing in churches in New Orleans and in Chicago, where she moved in 1927. She was part of a vast northward migration that thousands of African-Amer icans undertook then because opportunities were better there than in the segregated South.

In Chicago, she met Thomas Andrew Dorsey, who had worked with the trailblazing blues singer Ma Rainey and the Rabbit Foot Minstrels. Known as the father of gospel music, Dorsey worked with Jackson for 14 years.

“He was a blues guy who migrated into gospel,” Raeburn said. “He was used to putting a backbeat into everything. He set Mahalia up perfectly with stirring things like ‘Precious Lord, Take My Hand,’ which is full of expressive power, and ‘Move On Up.’”

Her performances were characterized by “the lack of any pretension at all,” Raeburn said. “She was a natural musical being. ... There are a lot of people in gospel today who have all the trappings. She is a sort of Venus on the half-shell when it comes to that. She emerged as a natural, almost rustic presence.”

Jackson churned out recordings, sang for leaders around the world and performed at Carnegie Hall and at President John F. Kennedy’s inaugura tion. She discovered Della Reese and was a mentor to an up-and-coming singer named Aretha Franklin.

Louis Armstrong with Mahalia Jackson, Newport Jazz Festival in 1970 at Festival Field in Newport, Rhode Island. Louis Armstrong gets a hug and a pat on the shoulder from Mahalia Jackson at the Newport Jazz Festival on July 11, 1970, during ‘A Tribute to Louis Armstrong. Louis eyes filled with tears.

LITTLE ROCK — Israel Houghton is a giant, a genius, the kind of Christian artist who comes along - if we’re lucky - once in a generation.

His Alive in South Africa CD won a Grammy for Best Traditional Gospel Album in 2006.

His next project, A Deeper Level, won a Grammy for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album in 2007.

And now there’s The Power of One, a masterpiece released March 24 that is probably bound for Grammy glory. Houghton is never, ever stingy with his music. Alive and Deeper were both double CDs. One, on the other hand, is a single 75-minute-long heavenly jam session.

The project sizzles from start to finish, and it defies all the labels. Is it white contemporary Christian or is it black urban gospel? It’s both - and neither. The biracial Houghton doesn’t like to be categorized. One contains jazz, pop, rock, soul, funk, reggae and old-school gospel. It’s fast and slow, but always inspired.

The lyrics are frequently lifted from the Bible, but the melodies and the beat belong to Prince, Phil Collins, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, U2 and The Beatles.

Houghton borrows from these stars, but he doesn’t merely mimic them. He takes their sound and transforms it. The music is joyful, soul-stirring and spirit-lifting.

Houghton helped write most of the 14 songs and plays the guitar on a few of the tracks. Aaron Lindsey handles the keyboards.

The first single, “Just Wanna Say,” is in heavy rotation on black Christian radio. But there’ll be plenty of other hits on the way. “Saved by Grace” is infectious, powerful and Princely. “The Power of One (Change the World)” is a beautiful anthem, an appeal for social justice that somehow avoids sounding preachy.

“Every Prayer” features Mary Mary and “You Found Me” includes tobyMac. The “My Tribute Melody” pays homage to Houghton’s friend/hero/ mentor Andrae Crouch, and is capped by a five minute-long gui tar-and-keyboard romp.

Past Israel Houghton CDs have gone gold, selling 500,000 or more copies. Sooner or later, he’ll be getting a platinum record, too (signifying sales of one million or more).

Houghton has been ignored by some contemporary (i.e. white) Christian stations, buthe’ll break through those barriers eventually. For now, he’s expanding his territory and he’s making new friends. (His album notes thank Bono and Oprah. He has performed at the MTV Video Mu sic Awards with Alicia Keys and at the Grammys with Aretha Franklin.)

As good as this album is, it apparently is about to get even better.

In September, a deluxe version of The Power of One will hit stores featuring “some very, very, very special, hugely special guests,’’ Houghton says.

Turn It Around (Smooth Jazz Tribute To Israel Houghton And New Breed)