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The Jazz Theologian

I’ve been trying to figure out what to do with the side columns of my blog.  Up until now I have had a typical blogroll where I list some of my favorite blogs.  The only problem is that there are at least 3x’s more that I read but are not listed.  To include them all…

I can’t believe what turned up at the used book store the other day.  "Simple’s Uncle Sam" by Langston Hughes.  The store knows to call me if any title arrives by Ellison or Hughes.  They called and I dropped what I was doing and raced downtown.  Merry Christmas to me…

Nunc Dimittis is the last of the original Christmas Carols that were sung around the time of the birth of Christ. "Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace.  For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all people, a light for revelation…

If we can understand what the angels were doing than we can BE angels too! The passage clearly says that they were proclaiming the gospel. "Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news (gospel) of great joy that will be for all people." (Lk. 2.10) The gospel?  What makes what the angels are doing…

The Gloria (Lk. 2.14).  This third original song of the season also has some jazzitude.  But in order to see it we need to ask the right questions. Hermeneutics seeks to discover meaning in what is being said.  Jazzaneutics sees the meaning in what is being done.  The song of the heavenly host is rich…

The Benedictus If Mary resembles Billy Holiday then Zechariah is more like Nat King Cole.  The Benedictus (Lk. 1.67-79) at it core is a love song in which old Z sings about how "Unforgettable" his God is.  The first word says it all, "Praise."  (i.e. to bless, to adore) Zechariah shows us that jazz is…

Improvisation in the Magnificat I am mesmerized by the Magnificat.  How did Mary master the skills of improvisation at such an early age?  Jazz singers take old songs and standards and make them new–that is exactly what Mary was doing…

The Magnificat in Jazz When I picture Mary singing the Magnificat I envision a smoke filled room, clanking glasses and the low hum of conversation that ceases when she begins to sing from her soul.  With the poise of a Billy Holiday, the prophetic pain of a Nina Simone and the voice of Sara Vaughn…

Dr. Luke never met Jesus.  So when he wrote his Gospel he had to interview those who were first hand witnesses.  (Lk. 1.1-4)  As he spoke with Mary the mother of Jesus, John the Baptists father, the shepherds and Simeon, he noticed something.  Songs.  The original Christmas carols. When Luke tells the story of the…

Have you noticed? It has been a little over a year since the displaced residents of New Orleans began arriving in our home towns all around the nation.  We have put them up in our homes, welcomed them in our churches, drove them to job interviews and sat with them as they have wrestled with…
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