{"id":85,"date":"2008-04-23T17:51:32","date_gmt":"2008-04-23T21:51:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/2008\/04\/wyntons_abyssinian_mass_by_gue\/"},"modified":"2011-04-28T16:34:43","modified_gmt":"2011-04-28T20:34:43","slug":"wyntons_abyssinian_mass_by_gue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2008\/04\/wyntons_abyssinian_mass_by_gue.html","title":{"rendered":"Wynton’s Abyssinian Mass by guest blogger"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s jazz-beyond-jazz, alright, when Wynton Marsalis composes a work for gospel choir and<\/span>\u00c2\u00a0the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in honor of the 200th anniversary<\/a> of the Abyssinian Baptist Church<\/a> in Harlem. But I must admit that I am neither drawn to hear such work nor qualified to comment on it. Having experienced Marsalis’ previous large-scale religiously oriented works <\/a>All Rise<\/a><\/span> and In This House, On This Morning<\/a><\/span>,<\/a> I have developed some unshakable expectations and prejudices about such endeavors — it’s just not my cuppa tea. So I sought someone with fresh ears, more affinity for the material and less bias to report on the grand event. Meet Monica Hope<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0seen here<\/a> singing Duke Ellington’s “Come Sunday” at a memorial service for the bassist Walter Booker, Jr.\u00c2\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A graduating student of creative writing at New York University, Ms. Hope this semester took my NYU course for the\u00c2\u00a0School of Continuing and Professional Studies<\/a>\u00c2\u00a0in “Roots of American Music.” Besides being an ambitious writer, is the daughter of the late jazz pianist-composer<\/a> Elmo Hope<\/a> and the estimable, still-swinging pianist<\/a> Bertha Hope<\/a>. She has sung in choirs and is knowledgable about Wynton Marsalis and the LCJO, having written an extensive paper a couple years ago about why the expansive Jazz at Lincoln Center facility<\/a> was built \u00c2\u00a0in New York, and what that meant to\/about jazz. Here’s her report about Marsalis’s Mass:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Mass<\/i> Wynton Marsalis created honoring the 200th<\/sup>
\nanniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church proves that jazz is not
\nconstrained but rather a flexible thing that can incorporate many musical forms
\nwithin its frame.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Jazz is no
\nlonger shunned as the devil’s music.\u00c2\u00a0
\n<\/span>It is regarded as an art that can, in Marsalis’s words, “affirm the best
\nof what our culture has to offer.”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With the influence of
\nEllington showing through as it often does in his work, Marsalis mixed blues
\nand spirituals with aspects of bebop, the avant-garde, swing and Caribbean
\nstyles in a lengthy, detailed score for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra under
\nsinging that included traditional Baptist, chorale and Gregorian-like
\nchants.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The Abyssinian Baptist
\nBicentennial Choir, approximately 120 singers wearing cranberry robes with
\nwhite trimmed gold V\u00e2\u20ac\u2018overlays, fanned across the Church’s balcony in a
\nresplendent semi-circle; the LCJO was on a platform below them, facing the
\ncongregation.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>I expected Wynton to
\ndirect, but he sat with the other trumpeters on the same elevation as the
\nband’s drummer, playing his horn throughout.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The sound quality was impeccable.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Constructed as a
\nBaptist or Pentecostal church service, the Mass<\/i> contained lyrics new and familiar.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Segues between choir endings and orchestral breakouts were
\nseamless; even when the Orchestra played music quite unlike that sung within
\nthe same piece, Marsalis’s score kept them from sounding disjointed.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The call-and-response Devotional matched
\na male lead and trumpet soloist over a blues background, while the
\nimprovisational Call to Worship was inspired by instrumentalists offering
\npraise over a Latin clav\u00c3\u00a9.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Some of
\nthe saxophonists clapped out rhythms.\u00c2\u00a0
\n<\/span>The Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts III led the assembly in the Lord’s
\nPrayer atop soft piano chords — as is typical in a Sunday service during the
\nPrayer — taken up by baritone sax and a vocalist.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The
\nchoir, attendants, ushers and sometimes guest preachers march in to most
\nBaptist churches during the Processional.\u00c2\u00a0
\n<\/span>Here, the choir was rocking, swaying shoulders, shouting “yeah” and
\n“alright.”\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Joy swelled as full
\nvoices pealed through the vaulted ceilings to the sky, and music modulating
\nfrom New Orleans’ swing-to-blues-to-march pulled the audience to its feet.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Gregorian chant came to life in the
\nInvocation and Chant along with musical images from Brazil — all ending
\nreverentially.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

After a soloist
\ngloriously sang of Christ’s resurrection and ascension, Reverend Butts
\naddressed us unscripted:\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>“People
\nof African descent prayed for justice to roll down like waters, and
\nrighteousness like a mighty stream.”\u00c2\u00a0
\n<\/span>Invoking Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, he reminded us of the
\npivotal networking role the black church played during the Civil Rights
\nmovement.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Reverend Butts further
\npointed out that Abyssinian was built to improve the relationship between the
\nraces, and so its mixed congregation was an answered prayer.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I was most moved when
\nthe bassist bowed the Meditation in molasses-slow, quiet reflection.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>Only the men sang as military snare
\nrolls accompanied the Invitation,\u00c2\u00a0
\n<\/span>and being of Barbadian descent, I enjoyed its transformation into a
\nwhimsical calypso, reminiscent of Belafonte’s “Matilda,” that buoyed the tap
\ndancer as his feet slip-slid, flurried and stomped like the Biblical David, in
\na very tight space.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A uniquely arranged
\nDoxology, using the traditional lyrics, was representative of jazz
\ncreativity.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The ‘traveling song’
\nRecessional trombones blew “woo woooo – woo\u00c2\u00a0woooo,” <\/i>to bring the Ellington-Strayhorn “A\u00c2\u00a0Train” theme
\nto mind; as the male vocalists whistled the melody at the tune’s end, you could
\nalmost see the hem-swaying robes of saints disappearing into the clouds.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>The <\/span>Mass<\/i> ended as a Sunday service would, with chants of
\n“Amen.”\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>A rapturous soprano and a
\nfinal call-and-response between the choir and Marsalis’s horn blasts brought
\nthe “service” to a close.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/p>\n

The Mass was frenzied,
\nplaintive, rejoicing, hushed, mournful and playful. Wynton’s expository use of
\nthe chorale from the European classical tradition for which he is acclaimed added
\nto the Mass<\/i>;s<\/span> <\/i>many moods, blending with the cultures that feed jazz
\nas well.\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>As one not easily
\nimpressed, I was blown away by this ambitious work that\u00c2\u00a0 <\/span>through music, dance, theater and
\nscripture brought together the secular and the sacred.\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n



\n<\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0For comparison, here’s Jon Pareles’ piece<\/a> from the New York Times.\u00c2\u00a0<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\n
\nhowardmandel.com<\/a>
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It’s jazz-beyond-jazz, alright, when Wynton Marsalis composes a work for gospel choir and\u00c2\u00a0the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, in honor of the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem. But I must admit that I am neither drawn to hear such work nor qualified to comment on it. Having experienced Marsalis’ previous large-scale religiously […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-85","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1i3CL-1n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":271,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2009\/11\/wynton_le_chevalier_marsalis.html","url_meta":{"origin":85,"position":0},"title":"Wynton le Chevalier Marsalis","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"November 19, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A survey in my latest City Arts column\u00c2\u00a0of the music of trumpeter-composer Wynton Marsalis, in the jazz spotlight for 25 years. 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Pianist Cedar Walter will perform with singer Annie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1288,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2013\/03\/marsalis-in-stockton-the-dave-brubeck-institute-and-take-five.html","url_meta":{"origin":85,"position":4},"title":"Marsalis in Stockton, the Dave Brubeck Institute and Take Five","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"March 27, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It was a big deal in Stockton, CA last Friday, when Wynton Marsalis led his\u00c2\u00a0Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at the 12th annual jazz festival produced by the Brubeck Institute at University of the Pacific.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0The ticket holders' line to enter the nicely restored Fox movie palace -- now the Bob\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"gunther","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/gunther.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":296,"url":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/2010\/02\/the_blues_in_nyc.html","url_meta":{"origin":85,"position":5},"title":"The blues in NYC","author":"Howard Mandel","date":"February 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"My column\u00a0\u00a0http:\/\/tinyurl.com\/NYCblues\u00a0in City Arts - New York's Review of Culture, focuses on America's deep, dark musical strain as it is today in a blues-challenged city. It doesn't mention that Wynton Marsalis is the world's greatest blues trumpeter, as he proved last night playing \"bread and butter\" from the Count Basie\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "main"","block_context":{"text":"main","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/category\/main"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/jazzbeyondjazz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}