Jazz Genre Guides,
Sacred Jazz
Today we take you on a trip down the aisle as jazz goes to church! Bursting with biblical motifs, large swathes of jazz musicians and the tunes they play have been immersed in devotional themes pertaining to centuries of African-American artistry.
At its heart, jazz music owes its inception to two Black traditions more deeply ingrained in American history: gospel and the blues. Focusing on the former of the pair, the origins of this uplifting music can be traced to the work songs of enslaved Africans, who toiled in the parched cotton fields of the Deep South for much of the 18th and 19th centuries. Following their enforced conversion to Christianity and with traditional instruments forbidden, these communities had but one tool at their disposal, the Bible, which was pivotal to their cultural development as a group. Not read but instead heard, Christian hymns and their messages of salvation mated with the musical traditions and rhythms slaves had brought with them from West Africa. Over time, religious identity – particularly, the ecstatic worship expressed through sung musical forms – became central to these peoples in their worldly search for inspiration and hope.
With the Black gospel tradition forming in light of the spirituals performed by jubilee troupes in post-Civil War America, collections of songs were being published all throughout the Abolitionist North. The popularisation of these tunes along with the spread of the Pentecostal movement beyond racial boundaries throughout the United States brought about the rise of many iconic performers whose origins lay in their pious upbringing. Two legendary figures to have emerged from the church in the early 20th century were Mahalia Jackson and Sister Rosetta Tharpe, the godmother of rock ‘n’ roll. Many more of the biggest soul artists began their careers in gospel church ensembles, from Aretha Franklin during the 1950s to the organist Cory Henry in more recent times.
Whether or not jazz musicians have always pinned their religious convictions to their sleeves, what’s clear is the influence gospel music has had on their output – whether it’s revealed through their musical heritage or more overtly in the themes of their work. Let us provide an all-too-brief overview, then, of some of the greatest music to have materialised out of this mighty tradition.
Williams was already an established pianist and composer by the time she decided to retire from music, following her conversion to Catholicism in 1957. Having spent several years working in the church, she was hence inspired to return to performing in pursuit of her new vocation, devoting herself to jazz as an expression of the divine. This visionary recording truly helped to develop the idiom of sacred jazz, scattering the seeds of spiritual fusion that was still to come over the course of the following decades.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
One of Blue Note’s best-kept secrets (despite his ranking as the label’s most recorded performer during the early sixties), Green’s delectable touch and groovy feel are the stuff of legend. This recording, though loosely a concept album in nature, just goes to show the influence of gospel music on contemporary jazz at the time, not to mention how spiritual themes had already begun their incorporation into the mainstream.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Tone Poet 180g Audiophile Series
Available Format: Vinyl Record
Manifesting an album that epitomises the meaning of the word soul, the trumpeter took a fresh look at the blues and gospel roots of traditional New Orleans and Dixieland swing before revitalising them in the hard bop fashion of the day. An electrifying ensemble of African American voices channels Williams as their wordless accompaniment invigorates the musical proceedings throughout this joyous and healing album. Duke Pearson’s solemn yet soothing ‘Cristo Redentor’ is an all-timer.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
The Duke composed three sacred concerts altogether over the course of eight years. Commencing in 1965, these historic works, which Ellington described as “the most important thing [he’d] ever done,” came as an all-encompassing project of tremendous ambition and scope. This concert, recorded live in Coventry Cathedral during the big band’s UK tour from the following year, highlights many musical treats and offerings from that first opus, as well as featuring several elusive premieres – plus an early outing of ‘La Plus Belle Africaine’!
Available Formats: CD, MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC
And now for something completely different. This trio album headed by the ‘young and gifted priest’ Vaughn and featuring Elvin Jones and Art Davis (two recent ex-Coltrane associates) is by no means just some ecclesiastical gimmick. As a matter of fact, this man of the cloth carried out life as an esteemed performer for whom music was as sacred a tenet as his own faith. Having entered the priesthood in 1964, ‘Father Jazz’ was scouted by legendary promoter, George Wein, following a Detroit performance where he sat in with Gene Krupa, before eventually being courted to New York. Practising for three hours a day, he even opened for the Miles Davis Quintet at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1966. This rambunctious live session from the same year came as the first release in the priest’s humble recording career.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC, Hi-Res FLAC, Hi-Res+ FLAC
This lilting album of gentle duets is subtly convincing in its attempt to soften even the hardest of hearts. Featuring a tracklist of some of the most beloved and well-known spirituals from the canon, Haden and Jones play off each other with an efficient kinship; no more, no less. By allowing the tunes to speak for themselves, the duo achieve beauty through their simplicity in this recording of veritable grace.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
In a similar vein to his earlier recording for septet, In This House, On This Morning, the maestro Marsalis once again evokes the spirit of Ellington in this piece written to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church. At times mixing the sacred and profane, this piece represents an extraordinary large-scale coming together of jazz, gospel, and classical traditions in the manner of a Sunday service as it incorporates Christian liturgy in a work of overwhelming musical glory.
Available Formats: MP3, FLAC
Accompanied by Taron Lockett on drums, the Brooklynite wunderkind (who was already polishing the keys at the age of two) sets out to touch hearts, minds and souls with his paired-back live organ duo recording. Filled with an exploratory passion which traverses spiritual boundaries, this revelatory album attests to gospel music's wide-reaching potential to connect us from its source, right on down to the abundance of music it has inspired to this day.
Available Format: CD
Barney Whittaker
