Evangelicals Now
Christian news worldwide
magnifying glass Search archives
home Home check the archives Archives Subscribe Subscriptions Advertising Information & booking of classifieds Adverts Find a local evangelical Church Find a church for the search engines and extremely curious! About us Contact us Site Map
Printable
Version

Heaven in a nightclub

How can you mix church and jazz? What do God and jazz have in common? Well, the answer is 'a great deal' according to Professor William Edgar of Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia.

Not only is Bill Edgar a professor of apologetics at perhaps the foremost Reformed seminary in the USA, but he is also an extremely gifted jazz pianist.

In mid-January he was in Britain using his gifts to present the gospel through jazz. He played and spoke at events organised by St. George's Tron Church in Glasgow, Grove Chapel in London, and Chertsey Street Baptist Church, Guildford, under the title 'Heaven in a night-club'.

Standing ovation

Christians invited many non-church friends along to these events and they went very well indeed. In London Bill Edgar was especially appreciated and got a lengthy and noisy standing ovation from black folk who made up half the audience of over 200.

Converted to Christ as a young man while visiting Francis Schaeffer at L'Abri in Switzerland, Bill is actually part of an occasional Christian jazz group called 'Renewal' which has been playing together for about seven years. As well as getting into theology, he studied musicology at Harvard, and ethnomusicology at Columbia University and has written widely on subjects related to African-American aesthetics. The full band has five members: vocals, saxophone, piano, bass and drums. But in Britain Bill was on his own, playing such standards as 'Work Song', 'St. Louis Blues' and a selection of Duke Ellington numbers.

Music of good news

So how does the gospel of Christ come in? Bill would say that the gospel does not so much 'come in' with the jazz, as that jazz has its roots in the gospel. The philosophy is that jazz ought to entertain but its background is in the spiritual experience of African-American people, reared in slavery, but, starting with second great awakening in the US of the early 19th century, nurtured on the gospel. Jazz therefore carries with it the twin themes of suffering and hope so characteristic of black culture. The audiences in January certainly sensed something of the realism, and the passion and the joy in this.

Specifically, Bill takes his audience through some of the history of African-American music, both sacred and secular, mixing in explanation between the pieces. The programme lasts just over an hour and explores specific genres, including ragtime, blues, spirituals, funeral and marching bands. Bill ex-plained how some of the music arose from times when the slaves had to meet clandestinely to worship the Lord. It was interesting to find that the 'call and response' structure of some black music actually originated from the slaves being part of churches where a precentor sang each line of a psalm before the congregation repeated it.

The Duke & the blind man

Not only are so many forms of African-American music suffused with the Christian message, but numerous individual musicians are or were personally believers. When Blind Willy Johnson sang his judgment song in New York's Wall Street during the great influenza epidemic of 1918, he meant it. One of the most well-known believers is Duke Ellington (according to Bill the greatest American composer bar none). Brought up in a Christian family, he once wrote: 'So be wise and satisfied with the joy that comes to you through the reflection and miracle of God, such as all the wonders and beauty we live with and are exposed to on earth.' In a famous interview, the reporter asked him: 'Besides God, what sustains you?' Ellington answered: 'Not besides. How does one manage without God?' Duke Ellington wrote three sacred suites which Bill's full jazz group often play for churches in the US.

Another believer and jazz-master is John Coltrane, who composed the trilogy, 'A Love Supreme', for which the accompanying inspiration is this: 'We are all one in his grace. The fact that we do exist is acknowledgement of Thee, O Lordƒ' He claimed that after his spiritual rebirth, 90% of his playing was prayer. Indeed, according to Bill Edgar, his music and that of many others is akin to the preaching style of the black church.

The background for jazz and for much great music of any kind is deep misery hand in hand with deep hope. This only makes sense through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

After his performances, Bill and his wife Barbara were off to take part in a musicology conference in Cambridge, and then going to Cote d'Ivoire in Africa for a week of mission and outreach among the churches there.

Audio tapes of Bill Edgar's presentation in Guildford are available through the EN office.

JEB

If churches are interested in getting together to finance and organise a British tour by Bill's full band 'Renewal' some time in the future, please contact the Rev. Mark Johnston, Grove Chapel, Grove Lane, Camberwell, London SE5, email: RevMGJohnston@cs.com

Next month, EN will be carrying an interview with Professor Edgar.

John Benton