This is, literally, my musical diary–notes fresh from my pen and recorded in a few hours. You can find my finished works elsewhere; here, it's all about capturing the moment!
I wrote a “Waltz for Ed” so it was only fair that I write a new tune for the other member of our jazz trio, Susan. It’s called “Susan’s Blues.” It starts with a bass groove (Ed and Susan felt that was a little self-serving) and then moves into a minor blues with a few twists. I quite like it. You can hear that everyone in the restaurant liked it, too. They all stopped what they were doing to listen to this world premiere jazz song. I’m kidding. They continued eating and talking, completely unaware that we were giving birth to a brand new song!
I’ve been playing a lot more jazz bass lately, courtesy of a weekly gig at Euro Bistro. (Thursdays, 6-9pm, if you’d like to come.) The thing about me is that if I play a lot of a particular kind of music, I tend to also write music in the same vein. As our trio makes its way through hundreds of jazz standards, I begin to internalize the musical logic and think about ways I can incorporate ideas into my own work.
“Human, Being” is a groove-oriented song. That is, unlike many songs from The Great American Songbook, the chords in this move slowly, allowing for expansive modal improvisation. Think “Stolen Moments” or “All Blues.” Of course, in this demo, it sounds like a mash-up of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again,” a bossa, and smooth jazz.
My Just Add People! series of piano accompaniments for congregational singing has got to be one of the best-kept secrets of the church music world. Each one adds a new twist or little sparkle that enlivens the congregation’s singing. My new arrangement of “Holy God, We Praise Your Name” uses the traditional harmonies for verses 1, 2, and 4, but adds an intro, coda, and effervescent third verse. As you can see from the video below, it is easy to integrate pipe organ with the piano.
Watch for a PDF of the sheet music at my main website soon!
When I’m not planning worship services for Fuller Ave CRC, learning a new notation program, or chipping away at my mammoth new composition based on Psalm 119, I’m writing arrangements like this piano accompaniment for “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.” Counterpoint in a hymn accompaniment? You betcha!
Look for the sheet music soon in the Just Add People! section of my website.
In recent months, I’ve had weekly bass gigs playing jazz at a local restaurant. Getting back into the swing (!) of playing jazz standards has inevitably led me to write a new tune for our group to play. Indeed, this is a recording of us playing it for the first time last night. You can hear by the room noise that the restaurant patrons were completely unaware that they were hearing a world premiere!
Why “Waltz for Ed?” you may ask. Our trio’s pianist, Ed Dublis, frequently calls the Bill Evans’ tune “Waltz for Debby.” So frequently, in fact, that I started thinking to myself, “This guy needs to learn another waltz!” My tune is a sprightly homage to “Waltz for Debby,” which is utterly beautiful. You can hear the original below. I aspire to play like Chuck Israels someday.
I first heard this catchy little Swahili song in the video below, which was recorded at my previous church. I am ashamed to admit that I know little about it except that it is sung in Swahili, a language spoken throughout East Africa. However, I was able to get my hands on the Swahili lyrics and a literal translation; from that, I created the translation and harmonization above. The beauty of songs like this is their simplicity. The lyrics are not deep and the music is not sophisticated–but it is heartfelt. It also leaves lots of room for a good leader to create new verses that fit the moment. (“We are listening,” “We will follow,” etc)
Each week as I plan worship services, I study the scriptures the preacher has chosen in order to plan music that fits their theme. I spend lots of time at hymnary.org searching for songs and often find things that are just about perfect, but use archaic language, are slightly off topic, or have unwieldy melodies. In those cases, I might “re-tune” the hymn or simply use the text as a launching pad for an entirely new song.
That was the case this week when I ran across John Chandler’s hymn “O Christ, Our Hope, Our Heart’s Desire,” a translation of the Latin hymn, “Jesu, nostra redemption, amor et desiderium.” It’s a fine hymn that fit Rev. Dale Cooper’s message “Eastered Living: Faith on Tiptoe” well. But the tune was…uninspiring.
I began by writing a new tune. That was the easy part, taking only 10 minutes. But then I went through a half dozen drafts of the original tune until it felt just right. In time I decided to write a new text that stayed closer to the theme of dying and rising with Christ. After much scribbling, erasing, and rewriting, I arrived at “O Risen Christ, Our Living Hope.”
1. O risen Christ, our living hope, our loving Savior whom we sing a grateful song of endless love a tune that flows from mercy’s stream:
Chorus How vast the grace, how great the love– as deep as any sea. You died our death and rose to life that we might live abundantly.
2. Long were we trapped in sin’s foul grasp– a darkened dungeon of despair– until you stormed the gates of death. Life filled our lungs, hope filled the air. Chorus
3. And now we live in Jesus Christ, those once discarded, now redeemed. Christ bore our death, we share his life, and all our days repeat the theme: Chorus
4. Were we to have a thousand lives and endless breath to sing your praise, no song could speak, no tongue express, no mind could know, no heart convey: Chorus
I was very pleased to hear that my Gospel/Spoken Word/Choral rendition of Psalm 124, “If The Lord Had Not Been On Our Side,” is featured in their Spring 2021 choral packet. I was even more excited to hear the recording that will be included in the reading packet: the narrator is commanding, the choir as smooth as butter, and the rhythm section takes it home.
My blog has been quieter than usual because my time has been devoted to a super-secret, epically large composition. But I still try to find time for a little musical bonbon here and there. In this case, the musical bonbon is a short chorus written and rewritten in fits and starts throughout the day and recorded in the hour remaining before I had to leave for the day.
The idea started as I was contemplating an upcoming sermon on the road to Emmaus. It’s a great story: Jesus appears to the disciples after his resurrection, cleverly disguised as a fellow traveler. He blows their minds by explaining how all the prophets point to the Messiah’s death and resurrection. They invite him to stay with them, and at the evening meal, their eyes are opened as he breaks bread with them.
This 12 measure Gospel chorus attempts to distill some key elements of that story. “Abide with us.” Something about the stranger makes them want to spend more time with him. This is true for us, as well. Something about Jesus compels us to know him more–to abide, to dwell, to stay by his side. “Our eyes are opened.” The Spirit opens our eyes to Jesus, the Word of God. “Our hearts awoken.” The disciples, recalling their conversation with Jesus say, “Didn’t our hearts burn within us?” Indeed, Christ wakes something in our hearts that creates a desire for more.
Abide with us. Abide with us. Our eyes are opened, our hearts awoken, abide with us.
