The music and peace connection for Advent...

Tonight my church council supported the idea of helping the local "Jazz Ambassadors" raise funds to bring the group to Istanbul in the summer of 2011. We will host them during Advent for a "jazz worship encounter." Which set me to thinking about an Advent series grounded in the peace-making realities of sharing music across cultural lines..

+ I heard this morning that Wynton Marsalais is already in Cuba doing peace-making work through the cultural arm of Lincoln Center(www.wyntonmarsalis.org/2010/10/05/wynton-marsalis-chucho-valdes-cuba-havana-jazz-concerts/)

+ There is, of course, the ground breaking work of Daniel Barenboim and his West-Eastern Divan Orchestra that brings together Jews, Muslims and Christians to make beautiful music together beyond the confines of their culture and history. (www.danielbarenboim.com/)

+ And let's not forget either Pete Seeger's life's work or the coexistence ministry of U2.

So what I'm going to work on is a four-part Advent series about how our mysterious, still speaking God - who is so often hidden beyond the obvious - is bringing to birth the seeds of peace through a whole bunch of musical experiments. I think of the powerful music of "Playing for Change" as a paradigm: not only do they advance beauty, peace, truth and goodness throughout the world, but they also live into the healing changes they advocate. (http://playingforchange.com/)

You HAVE to dig this...

So what are some of the songs or ideas that YOU know have promoted and advanced the cause of peace? Classical, jazz, world/rock/folk... I would LOVE to hear from you as I explore this idea for Advent.