Today we rehearsed this year's Good Friday experimental liturgy in sound, song and silence - and we took a giant step closer to hitting the mark. This is the first time the whole band (minus Elizabeth who is grooving in San Francisco with her beloved wife on the occasion of a special birthday) so there was a lot to figure out. Thankfully, everyone has been practicing hard, listening to Coltrane and working on both the Ann Heaton and George Harrison's compositions on their own time. It is always such a privilege for me to not only hear how this music moves into place for the first time when everyone is in the house, but also to experience what each artist brings to the table to share from his/her soul. It is an audible encounter with community "soup-making" for each ingredient and spice adds one more layer of nuance and beauty to the whole feast.
We have been playing together as an ensemble in this configuration for over five years - with a few lovely additions - so we're not worried about being free and open with suggestions about arrangements. Today we tried a few out on "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and wound up with neither one nor another, but a totally unique blending that aches as a lament and rocks as a closing statement. We also worked out some timing issues for Coltrane's "A Love Supreme" and unearthed a few problems to work on, too. Thankfully, we've found two more rehearsal times for this complex jazz - maybe three - because we want the inner light of the music to shine out through our performance.If you are in town this coming Friday, March 25, 2016 @ 7 pm, please join us. I don't think you will have ever heard anything like our take on "A Love Supreme" in worship anywhere. Further, I suspect that if you can make it, it will be 90 minutes well spent as we explore in song, poetry and silence the way can love open us to solidarity, hope and acts of compassion.
credit:Robert Casumbal @ http://www.jazz.com/dozens/lovano-selects-coltrane
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