"jazz. . . expressing religious emotions."

[jazzbo]

Eubie Blake has been quoted as saying "jazz is the Negro's way of expressing his religious emotions." Many musicians have linked jazz with religious feeling or spiritual matters. . . . Some, perhaps many, fans also link jazz with religion or spirituality.

I fall into that camp. In a general sense music in GENERAL is a candidate for being viewed as spiritual or religious emotional expression. It's a powerful communicator with or without words, it's intangible really but very effective in moving humans emotionally and/or intellectually. Somehow jazz has a special allure and claim along these lines. In some ways jazz and blues resonates with me in a way that Gnosticism does: there are written texts but they don't tell the whole story (how do you show all the colors and rhythms?) and the player becames an adept and finds within himself the secret to his own sound and great playing, the journey to mastery can be the education that creates the power and the reward. . . . There can be within the playing and enjoying of jazz a sort of status as an outsider, one with an appreciation or knowledge or skill that is not the norm, is treasured by a few, rebuked or unnoticed by the many; Gnosticism can include these elements. Also, as music that was influenced strongly from its creation by (let's not argue whether it was created solely by or not) an enslaved, oppressed body of Americans who were discovering and struggling for their freedom, jazz and blues have that "from the bottom up" viewpoint associated with many of its creators, which can resemble a religious longing and move towards transforming one's life and "soul."

Also I respond to jazz in a way that I did also in the past to religious writing and figures. Nor can I be alone, with all the mention I see directly or indirectly referring or inferring that jazz pioneers such as Bird or Trane are "prophets" in the music. . . . The music brings me hope and joy and comfort, much as a religious text or a sermon or a religious figure could. And pursuing the enjoyment of jazz and the discovery of the tradition and the history of the players has led me into a community of fellow "believers" that can resemble membership in a church or religious community.

I don't myself put a lot of personal weight in religious beliefs of "personal salvation," (a religion with heavy emphasis on personal salvation repels me) but I think that there are musicians and perhaps fans who feel that the music has profoundly changed their lives (for the better) in almost a manner of religious transformation.

Certainly there are jazz works that are created for spiritual or religious purposes; musicians from Duke to Mary Lou to Sonny Blount to Coltrane and Sanders and Marsalis and many more are deliberately inserting spiritual and religious material and/or beliefs within their work and hoping to communicate this material through their music.

So I've been thinking about this a lot lately. I know the side of the fence that I come down on. I know that I feel a spirituality in many jazz works, and I know that jazz does seem to express some of my religious emotions as well.

Just tossing this out there. . . not sure how to invite discussion, but chime in if this sparks any thoughts. Thanks!

[Rooster_Ties]

Amen and Halleluja!!!

• ...at least from this atheist-leaning agnostic.
  

[.:.impossible]

I think when I first started listening to jazz music, it felt like I had found a physical manifestation of a spirituality that I was unable to obtain elsewhere. I also realize that jazz music envelopes the spectrum of emotion, sometimes implying the most unethical of men. Not all jazz is spiritual.

[jazzbo]

Agreed. Or rather I would say not all religious emotion and spirituality is of a benevolent nature. . . so jazz as an expression of religious emotions and spirituality would reflect that.

[ghost of miles]

"Jazz is my religion"--Ted Joans (wish I could find the whole poem to post)

Lon, have you ever read Neil Leonard's JAZZ: MYTH AND RELIGION?

[ghost of miles]

I remember having a religious-like experience the first time that I saw Coltrane performing on video. It was a black-and-white TV show from around '61--he was playing "My Favorite Things"--and as I watched him play I felt like weeping. A kind of joyous weeping that I'd associate with being in the presence of a strong, benevolent spiritual force.

[chris]

Sure, jazz expresses spiritual emotion-- many forms of art do for both artist and audience. As much as I love jazz, literature is the altar at which I worship most. Luckily I can be a polytheist

I think art provokes an emotional response which is, for many, at the heart of spirtual experience.

[jazzbo]

Good points Chris. Art in general yes. I guess as much as I love literature, it is a less spiritual/religious experience for me than jazz. It's more . . . worldly.

David, no haven't read that one! Coltrane is definitely someone who was concerned with spiritual matters, who had had a religious transformation and it permeates his work as a leader. . . . He was a great communicator because he communicated religious and spiritual emotions and longings to many!

Edited January 14, 2004 by jazzbo

[ghost of miles]

It's OOP, but Amazon has a number of used copies for sale. I read it many years ago and think you would get something out of it... Here's the Library Journal's review & synopsis:

From Library Journal

Jazz musicians and audiences are participants in an activity that follows patterns of religious behavior, according to Leonard. His thorough documentation draws on the commentary of sociologists of religion such as Mircea Eliade as liberally as that of critics such as Nat Hentoff. Terms such as "ritual," "convert," "prophet," and "sect" describe the reaction of jazz to the "church" of traditional 19th-century music. At times this work takes a perspective reminiscent of the author's earlier Jazz and the White Americans (Univ. of Chicago Pr., 1962). Leonard's juxtapositions of religion and jazz illuminate both, but will certainly appeal more to the sociologist than to the musicologist. William Brockman, Drew Univ. Lib., Madison, N.J.

Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Synopsis

This book examines the way that jazz movements and followers resemble religious sects and depend upon the kind of formulation that various cultures have provided for their heroes and beliefs. It is clearly tied to major jazz figures and movements, and looks at the major sectarian disputes that have occurred over the different kinds of jazz; over the fans' reactions to various 'prophets'; the rituals of performance and audience response; and such elements as dress and humour. It relates the myths that surround such jazz heroes as Charlie Parker and King Oliver, and distinguishes the related worlds of fans, players, critics, the beat movement, and dance. Jazz enthusiasts.

[jazzbo]

Does look very interesting, and as soon as I don't have a stack of about 50 books sitting staring at me wanting to be read I'll get me a copy!

[Joe G]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this, Lon. Much has been written on the subject, and rather than try to put that which I've read into my own words, I'll go out on a limb and share some personal experiences I've had with music in my life.

I'm quite certain that music (along with the other arts) can and should be used to wake people up to their highest potential as human beings. There is a big responsibilty placed on the artist to purify their own vision and perfect their craft to the highest degree possible in order to bring about this result. Any art object or perfomance is a reflection of the state(s) of mind of the artist at that time. When we partake of that work of art as an audience, we resonate with that mindset for a moment.

There are certain pieces of music that have a very strong emotional effect on me, of the type that seems to wash away the pettiness that is a part of my everyday personality and leave me in a state of melancholic repose. Listening to these pieces leaves me feeling sad (sometimes I have a good cry), but clear about my life for a moment.

Just the other day I put on Beethoven's 9th symphony. For some reason, I've had trouble hearing Beethoven, even though I listen to a lot of classical. It has always sounded a little grating to my ears. Not this time. I was practically in rapture. I even exclaimed "Oh GOD!" out loud at one passage. The music seemed to pierce my emotional center and elevate my thoughts and feelings, again with a mixture of hope and sadness.

As far as my own journey as a musican goes, I often get the sense that there are spiritual overtones augmenting the whole process. Sometime I can get out of the way and let that higher harmonic get expressed in the music (Paul (conniseur series 500) was in attendance at the club last Friday when I played at least one solo that felt totally joyful and free, and I also feel that my composition Life Wish says something quite personal about my feelings, for example), but I've got a long way to go to have those qualities I mentioned be present a majority of the time.

I feel that music is something good and whole-making in my life, and that hopefully I can continue to find opportunities to bring some of that goodness into the lives of others (I know Paul was grinning a lot at the gig! ) In my daily life, I've noticed that I have to take care of the music first, and then I can deal with the stuff of life. If I try to do it the other way around, I get irritated and everything feels like an imposition. But if I've managed to do some good creative work, then I find it easy to be nicer to the people around me, and take care of business. I just feel happier. That means, to me at least, that we are meant to be creative and produce good work.

Man, there's a story I'm itching to tell, but I can't because I feel like it's not meant for public consumption. Suffice it to say, there have been a couple of times when I couldn't deny the higher reality (whatever that may be) involved in the situation. I truly feel that I have been, and continue to be, guided or prodded along the path by unseen hands. But it's been a huge challenge for me to stay positive and focused on that path with everything that's going on, day to day. I'm sure that's no different than what the greats have had to face, so I guess I should quit whining and get on with the work!

Thanks for letting me ramble.

[JSngry]

Creation is literally vibration, and so is music.

[chris olivarez]

When I first approached jazz I guess you could say I approached it from a totally wrong direction of course I'm not sure I'm approaching it from the right direction even now but I feel I'm at least closer. When I first approached jazz it was a matter of curiosity and then chemicals I didn't embrace the spiritual aspects of it until much later. Now it's hard to listen to someone like Horace Silver,Pharoah Sanders and Duke Ellington just to mention a few and not appreciate the spirituality and beauty in this music. Jazz performed by these masters and others is beyond compare.

[BruceH]

One of the most religious musical experiances I ever had was listening to Ellington's Ko Ko very late at night once. Can't describe it.