"The parallels between the lives of African-Americans battling for their freedom as citizens and that of jazz musicians for their freedom from European harmony are too close to be mere happenstance."
Jazz icon, Miles Davis, used to play with his back to the audience. To whites it was offensive. To blacks it was empowering. If a mere negro musician would dare turn his backs on whites in a racist society, then what else was possible? Same drinking fountains, no more lynchings, same schools...voting?
"Harmonic complexity [had become] a hallmark of modern jazz." And "the use of harmonic structure had special, extramusical significance in jazz: it was the aspect of the music that was most deeply rooted in Europe...the use of chords comes out of the European harmonic system. And jazzmen were very aware of this."
Pre-Kind Of Blue, that is 1959, Conformity was a way of seeking acceptance in America. Jazz musicians needed to make clear the fierce intelligence that was necessary to play [jazz]. The greater society thought of jazz as merely an offshoot of the so-called natural sense of rhythm of African-Americans and believed that it lacked the sophistication of classical music." Conformity was seen as the key to success in America for many African-Americans in general and jazz musicians in particular. Because of this comparison to classical music, "Harmonic complexity became a hallmark of modern jazz." "The rhythms and...melodies of jazz can be traced to Africa. But the use of chords comes out of the European harmonic system."
"...by the late 1930's and early 1940's, there was a restlessness in jazz that would begin gradually and grow to enormous proportions by the time it reached its culmination in the 1950's and 1960's. And with black soldiers fighting a war against racism and fascism in Europe, the idea of returning to a home country in which they were themselves oppressed fanned new winds of change." "Many began to question whether European tradition was the only yardstick they had with which to measure their own music...Many jazzmen began to wonder whether trying to achieve the harmonic complexity of classical music was a desired goal after all."
Kind of Blue was a break from the status quo, a protest…an emergence.
America in the 1950's--All a matter of perspective. The war was over, suburbia was being invented and the American dream was being pursued...by some
For black America, the 1950's were a decade of emergence. After 90 years of not being slaves and yet not being citizens either, something had to give. The dehumanization of separate water fountains, segregated schools, lynchings in the South, massive nihilism in the urban North and no voting rights gave rise to discontent. As Fannie Lou Hamer would say, sometimes your just "sick and tired of being sick and tired."
In 1954 racial segregation of schools was ruled unconstitutional. In 1955 Rosa Parks decided to stay seated. And in 1959 Miles Davis recorded Kind of Blue and jazz has never been the same. Four years later, Martin Luther King Jr. called America to emerge, even better, to converge and America has never been the same either.
Jazz anticipates, participates, senses the shift of the wind...listens
Theology like jazz is not meant to be a series of static propositions but rather the job of a theologian (and everybody is a theologian!), is to sense current realities, anticipate the wind of God...to listen.
To be continued...
It has been said that jazz history can be divided into two segments: “Before Kind Of Blue and after Kind Of Blue.” In 1959 Miles Davis recorded Kind Of Blue and “More than forty years after its release, it is still one of the most-sought-after recordings in the country; in fact, as late as 1998 it was the best-selling jazz album of the year.”
The story behind Kind Of Blue is essential to understanding the sociology of jazz and serves as a good case study for understanding jazz theology. The album was “created…because the most important jazzmen in the modern scene desperately wanted to change the way they played their music. This need was not purely musical; it had more than a little to do with the changes then going on in American society, especially concerning the lives of African-Americans.”
“It should never be forgotten that the depth and beauty of jazz have arisen from centuries of injustice, brutality, fear, and pain, none of which were passively accepted but were met with African-Americans’ resistance, striving, and hope for a more benevolent future.”
Kind Of Blue marked an “end of an era” for jazz music and the beginning of something fresh—not just emergent but also convergent. I see a day that this whole modern/postmodern emergent debate/conversation is divided into two era's: Before Jazz Theology and after Jazz Theology.
Thanks to all of you who voted for this blog over the last few months in the Black Weblog Awards. It was chosen as the judges choice for best faith-based blog. (Click here to see all of the winners in the various categories)
So what color does the Jazz Theologian think that Jesus is today?
Blue, I think that Jesus is Kind of Blue!
(Todays post is a bit long but I wanted to keep the continuity of thought)
"Jesus Is Black," said James Cone in 1975 as he interpreted Matthew 25.
"Christ's blackness is the American expression of the truth of his parable about the Last Judgement: "Truly, I say to you, as you did it not to one of the least of these, you did it not to me."
"The least in America are literally and symbolically present in black people. To say that Christ is black means that black people are God's poor people whom Christ has come to liberate. And thus no gospel of Jesus Christ is possible in America without coming to terms with the history and culture of that people who struggled to bear witness to his name in extreme circmustances."
"Christ is black, therefore, not because of some cultural or psychological need of black people, but because and only because Christ really enters into our world where the poor, the despised, and the black are, disclosing that he is with them, enduring their humiliation and pain and transforming oppressed slaves into liberated servants. Indeed, if Christ is not truly black, then the historical Jesus lied."
"My point is that God came, and continues to come, to those who are poor and helpless, for the purpose of setting them free. And since the people of color are his elected poor in America, any interpretation of God that ignores black oppression cannot be Christian theology."
That was then, this is now...
Continue reading "What Color Is Jesus--A case study in jazz theology (part 4)" »
Let's let one of my favorte jazz theologians take a solo for the next two posts. James Cone is a bit controversial but he'll had some creative tension to the conversation
In 1975, Cone, wrote, "If twentieth-century Christians are to speak the truth for their sociohistorical situation, they cannot merely repeat the story of what Jesus did and said in Palestine, as if it were self-interpreting for us today. Truth is more than the retelling of the biblical story. Truth is the divine happening that invades our contemporary situation, revealing the meaning of the past for the present so that we are made new creatures for the future."
Cone is describing what I think the essence of jazz theology. When our hunger for God, the song of God, our questions, joys and pains, converge with Jesus "the divine happening that invades our contemporary situation."
Cone asserts that our Christology must know Jesus as He was, as He is AND also as He will be.
So what color is Jesus? Well, we know what color he was (a middle-eastern man with all the telltale characteristics); we can only imagine what color he is now(with feet like brass and eyes like fire...Rev. 1) but what color will he be...to you...to me...today?
(quotes taken from, "God of the Oppressed" by James Cone)
Nice to see we had a few brave souls chime in...
So that we can do theology in concert together, lwe need to make sure we are all playing the same song.
Listen to the words of our composer:
"For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me...I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." (Matthew 25.35-36, 40)
Remember a classical approach to theology will see the answer in what is being said (nothing wrong with that). A jazz approach will see the answer in what is being done.
Now that we know the song, let's ask the question again, "What color is Jesus?"
Anybody care to take a solo? Let the improvisation begin!
I feel like doing a little jazz theology.
Here's the question: What color is Jesus?
How would you go about answering that question?
Do you even like the question?
Is there anything to be gained by knowing the answer?
This is jazz...everybody has a role, so don't be shy post and comment.
(This series of posts is a re-run. For those of you who are long time readers, let's engage this question again. For you newby's jump in with both feet.)
I believe that listening is part of the essence of jazz.
"The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen." Duke Ellington
"Jazz is primarily a heard reality..." Kirk Byron Jones
Listening is what helps us make the most of every moment. There is no such thing as "just a moment." The gospel is about incarnation and resurrection. Incarnate living means that we have time to listen to others. Resurrected living means that we have time to listen to God.
Jazz musicians have a few techniques that help us create the acoustics to a listening life.
Having time: In the same way that a drummer keeps time we can to. Perched in the back of the ensemble in the worst seat they keep time because it is the best seat to serve the others. What would it look like to live this as a metaphor for ministry and leadership?
The Break: This is a technique that jazz incorporates so that it is easier to listen to a particular person as they solo. It is the practice of creating space in the music, a planned moment of disruption. God gave the ancient Hebrews a way to "break" for the sake of listening: Sabbath & Selah. Do you have any insight how you have sought to live these concepts?
Developing Your Ear: Dictation is the process of listening to a piece of music and transcribing it to paper. Tone Matching is a call and response game in which to musicians of the same instruments try to match what the other plays. How might we apply these concepts to developing our ear to hear others and God?
Stay in the groove,
robert
With the release of the movie Orphan, Warner Bros. is portraying these beautiful, though often wounded, children as horrors. There is a campaign to counteract this called: Orphans Deserve Better.
As an adoptive father of five (and for much of the last year, the we were foster parents of three addition children) I know first hand that what they have experienced has been a horror but themeselves are not...they are beloved children of God.
Please take the time to sign the petition stating that orphans deserver better.
The goal is to ask Warner Brothers to donate a portion of the profit from this movie to help the over 140 million orphans in our world.
What is the Bible? All too often we treat it like a science project: Study it...develop propositions about it...defend it.
Now I'm all for serious Bible study. We can only benefit from understanding the original languages and context. However, we can't stop at this.
Approaching the Bible as a science project...dissecting it verse-by-verse, word-for-word...has great benefit, though we need to be very careful. If we are not, then we will be like the high school student who disects a frog and sees all of the inner parts but in the process the frog looses its' life. What if that is what we are doing to the living word?
That's why I ask...
What if we experienced the word of God as a song that sets us free to compose, a melody that has room for our voice to join in with the ancients?
Hermeneutics--the art and science of Biblical interpretation. We need this approach to scripture but it needs to be balanced with a "jazzaneutic." That is... Some "jazzaneutic" guidlines: When reading the scriptures ask...
Did anyone take a shot at writing their own 23rd Psalm?
Tonight is our next installment of Finding the Groove Live! @ The Soiled Dove Underground. We'll be looking at Finding Your Voice:
What if there is another way to know the Scriptures? What if we experienced the word of God as a song that sets us free to compose, a melody that has room for our voices to join in with the ancients?
Hey, I'm in the running for the 2009 Black Weblog Awards! Click on the icon and vote for me...Please!
Barry C. Black is the current chaplain to the U.S. Senate. Appointed in 2003 he is the 62nd person to hold this position and the first African-American. He spent thirty-nine years as a Navy chaplain earning the rank of Admiral and three doctorates along the way (ministry, philosophy & psychology). Now he walks the corridors of power serving as spiritual advisor to the nations most powerful elected officials.
"During her baptism, she asked God to do something special for her unborn child. Later, she frequently reminded me that, because of her prayer, God had set me apart for holy use. 'You are different, God's child,' she would say. 'Never forget this.' And I never did."
I just started a new book called Jesus on Death Row: The Trial of Jesus and American Capital Punishment. The author, Mark Osler, is a former prosecutor and current Professor of Law at Baylor University of School of Law. I'm intrigued by his approach because he is looking at the trial of Jesus through the eyes of the US court system. As one who is predisposed to a non-violent, consistent life ethic, I'm intrigued by the argument.
The next Jazz and Soul Night is this Tuesday. Tickets are available after services this weekend at CCC or at www.soileddove.com.
Robert Gelinas: Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Available Now!)
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