Early thinking for Advent 2008

We met yesterday afternoon to plan this year's advent space, and though we are still to settle on a date, it will either by 30 November or 7 December at 6.00 pm. 

At this stage, we are thinking of meeting in Belair National Park for a picnic, along the lines of the Jazz at Nunyara of 2006, though on a more intimate scale. 

We've got some great ideas for reflection over our dinner and jazz, and will be refined over the next 8 weeks. 

So if you're in Adelaide at the beginning of Advent, and are looking for an evening of smooth jazz, great company, and deeper conversation as we prepare for another Christmas celebration, pencil in those dates, and watch this space ... 

Album release

While I'm here - Liz Tobias, who has provided music at two Black Wood Jazz events here and here as Liz Chehade - has released her first album. Look for it on itunes or in good music shops! It's typically soulful sound from one of our fave singer/musicians! Congratulations Liz. 

finding an old friend

wanted to share with whoever reads this the joy of rediscovering a long lost friend - i lost my cd of jamie cullum's twenty something some time ago, and just bought it off itunes. 

listening to it is filling me with joy following weeks of sadness, as i fall back into familiar lyrics, melodies and oh the harmonies of all at sea. 

i have missed these tunes, how indescribable to have them seeping through my senses to my soul once more. 

the psychology of improvisation

heard on the radio today of a jazz musician from scandanavia somewhere who is researching the psychology of improvisation. what an interesting topic for consideration. I am going to search his work out, and will share what i discover ... 

Was Jesus a jazz musician?

this was the first session I went to on my last day of greenbelt, a huge christian arts and social justice festival in the uk - more posts at sarah tells stories. 

Philip Roderick is involved with a group called contemplative fire, who had led some worship sessions that I had missed and it was too late by now to do anything about that. However, coordinating a jazz church space as I do, I thought I would hear someone else's reflections on Jesus and jazz. 

Really there was nothing new in what Philip said, using language for Jesus and jazz such as flow, zone, grace and swing. there is a dance between structure and freedom in jazz, as there was in the life of Jesus, in what he was teaching the disciples. As he, as we, allow the Spirit to speak/flow through structures, the both/and-ness of things is beautiful. 

All of creation has a melody - we just need to hear. As we interact with others, Philip suggests that it is helpful to find the melody of others and thus be able to walk in time with them. 

improvisation is hugely underestimated according to Philip, though as I rewrite this from my journal, I forget the context of that thought ... later in the session, he spoke about bricolage, french for taking what we have and using just that, and he led us in an improvisation singing vive la bricolage. it was lovely. as community we strive to breathe together, think together, pray together in improvisation. again, the image of community mirrors that of a jazz band, with its delicate balance of personalities, each individual and each group learning the best of the past and adding our own personal vision. One has to understand one's own role in the group well enough to improvise. 

Philip spoke of three elements of a jazz musician: respect for tradition (learning not merely repeating); respect for other players, allowing each person's gifts to blossom; openness to learning something new from an old piece and from each other. Are these elements in all people, living in community? 

Relating jazz to the kingdom, Philip suggests that in neither is their failure - only feedback. Jazz operates on the knife-edge of failure, incorporating mistakes and bum notes. 

And on contemplative prayer, he says that this requires the same attentiveness, atunement and alertness that jazz calls for in order for music to play the performer, in order for us to be played through - hearing echoes of Spirit?? 

Why jazz worship?

This article was helpful as I began to think about creating our jazz church space. 

July 2003 CJA Network Featured Article

Jazz Pianist

Bradley Sowash

Why Jazz Is Appropriate for Christian Worship

As a touring "sacred" jazz pianist (I prefer the word "inspirational"), I spend a lot of time with colleagues and parishioners nationwide who connect with the gospel through this joyous music. People love the sound of jazz hymns and spirituals and I am continually impressed by the relevance of jazz for contemporary worship. Why does it work so well? The answer lies in the parallels between jazz traditions and the life of the church. Consider how readily jazz models the Christian lifestyle:

• Jazz is multi-cultural and inclusive - Jazz was born in America when the harmonic and melodically based music of European colonists eventually blended with African rhythms preserved in the hearts and minds of slaves. As the music matured, black and white musicians continued to learn from each other. In time, famous bandleaders including Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and others led integrated bands. Later, Latin cultures introduced a third influence initially championed by Dizzy Gillespie. With roots stemming from several cultures, jazz continues to be influenced, performed and enjoyed by people of diverse backgrounds to this day. Jesus was radically inclusive. His habit of inviting people of all sorts and conditions to join him in fellowship is an open-armed model of welcome churches seek to emulate.

• Jazz is indigenous but universal – Religious practices tend to reflect the culture that produces them. Yet mainstream American worship styles often feature musical selections which are European imports. Jazz is indigenous to America. Therefore, it is altogether right and appropriate to worship within our own cultural context. Jazz is also now enjoyed worldwide. Musicians from around the world play jazz together whether or not they share a spoken language. God is at once both personally indigenous (the God within us) and universal (the God "out there" somewhere). Similarly, when we gather together to worship locally, we simultaneously participate in a worldwide Christian body.

• Jazz is spontaneous - The essence of jazz is improvisation. Drawing on their training, preferences and inspirations, jazz musicians spontaneously create variations on a given theme. To listen to live jazz is to witness raw musical ideas being given substance often within the framework of a well-known melody. Many musicians describe a sense of the ideas flowing through them rather than from them. This inherent creativity in jazz relies on a connection to the Spirit. Jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli hinted at this when he said, "Great improvisors are like priests. They are thinking only of their god." Jazz imitates God's creation - ever evolving.

• Jazz involves cooperation – Live jazz in any setting is performed and received by a cooperative community. Each musician is called upon to both support his/her colleagues and work as an individual soloist as roles are shared. Listeners inspire the music through their  eactions to complete the circle. While the quest for meaning is ultimately a private endeavor, church life exemplifies cooperation and community building in which participants learn and grow collectively as well as individually.

• Jazz has a range - Sometimes meditative, sometimes celebratory, jazz touches us by speaking directly to a spectrum of emotions. Without this ability to reflect the full range of human experience, it never would have lasted. Louis Armstrong was right when he said, "What we play is life." The church year reflects this range of experience from the wonder of Christmas through the reflective Lent season to the joy of Easter and from baptisms to weddings to funerals. Once the worship enhancing powers of jazz are understood, it is hard to understand why any church would not want to, at least occasionally, incorporate this rich and uniquely American musical style into its programming. Churches who have already taken this step report the following:

• Jazz makes for excellent evangelism – With outreach as a priority, many churches have  discovered that the uniqueness of a jazz worship service holds appeal and potential healing for people whose past experiences have led them to consider organized religion uninviting, dogmatic, irrelevant or even repressive.

• Jazz offers a tradition-based alternative – Most mainstream churches are interested in balancing heritage and contemporary relevance. When experimenting with new forms of music or worship practices, inevitable complaints follow regarding the abandonment of church traditions. With roots reaching back to African-American spirituals and European folk songs on up through Duke Ellington’s famous sacred concerts and New York City’s jazz vespers scene of the 1960’s, jazz renditions of the remarkable American hymnody we inherited link the past to the present.

• Jazz has cross-generational relevance – Contemporary services utilizing popular music have proven successful in attracting younger families to churches. And why not? Even Martin Luther understood the importance of including compelling music in worship when he wrote, "Why should the devil have all the good music." However, a pitfall of offering too narrowly defined contemporary music for worship has the unintended effect of dividing the church into age demographics since older members are likely to prefer traditional fare. The toetapping wide appeal of jazz, on the other hand, draws people of all ages and backgrounds thereby creating a diversified community of worship and a sense of belonging for the individual parishioner. Author Bishop John Shelby Spong points out, "The church will die of boredom long before it dies from controversy." By preparing a feast that for the mind and senses that includes prayer, spoken word and the appeal of culturally relevant music, a church that is willing to embrace jazz sends a message that it is visionary. It says "we are willing to experiment with the recipe for bringing about a greater contemplation of God.". And in the words of Biblical scholar Marcus Borg, "Churches that are full of God are likely to find their pews full of people."

© 2003 Bradley Sowash

www.bradleysowash.com

 

The story of Black Wood Jazz

Black Wood Jazz began three years ago. I had just finished coordinating the nitelife program for NCYC (National Christian Youth Convention, Uniting Church event for 16 - 30 year olds) 2005, at which the jazz lounge had been quite popular. I was looking for a space that invited questions and encouraged discovery, rather than some church spaces that offer answers and encourage acceptance of the status quo. I thought that if I was looking for such a space, perhaps others were too. So I gathered some friends and we started to create spaces for deep thinking and discovery of the Sacred in our lives. We decided that the soundtrack to our discoveries would be jazz. Live jazz. 

For the past three years we've been creating four spaces a year, and I will begin to put up photos and summaries of our discoveries in those spaces. We're going to create two spaces each year from now, as the Blackwood Uniting Church community becomes busier, and those of us on the team also become busier. The spaces are still valued by the community, within and outside the church, and especially at the pivotal moments of the faith. So our two spaces will be at Christmas and Easter. If other issues pop up that invite deeper thinking and conversation to the melodies of jazz, then we'll add a third space to the calendar. 

I hope you find our story interesting, and would be delighted to hear of ways it inspires others to discover the Sacred, connect to the Holy Story, and reach beyond the conventions to invite people inside and outside our faith communities to think deeply about the God who writes the song on our hearts.