Sanctified By Jazz: Music at Grace Cathedral

Duke Ellington Orchestra at Grace Cathedral, 1965

by Jesse Hamlin

Fifty years ago, on September 16, Duke Ellington filled the soaring Gothic nave of San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral with the sublime and exultantly swinging sounds of his first “Concert of Sacred Music.” Commissioned by the Episcopal cathedral to help consecrate the new sanctuary, it was an offering to God in Ellington’s expansive idiom that gave the composer the chance, as he put it, “to say openly what I’ve been saying to myself on my knees.”

A deeply religious man, Ellington wove older themes of his like the spiritual “Come Sunday” from his 1943 suite Black, Brown and Beige with potent new gospel pieces – he wrote the music and the hip lyrics – in a stirring hour-long work brought to life by a great assembly of artists: his jazz orchestra, featuring the peerlessly lyrical alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges and the roaring tenor soloist Paul Gonsalves; the Herman McCoy and Grace Cathedral choirs; the vocal soloists Jon Hendricks, Esther Marrow and Jimmy McPhail; and the mesmerizing tap dancer Bunny Briggs, who seemed to float over the floor like a shimmering hummingbird as he clicked and whirred through a brisk-tempo nine-minute reworking of “Come Sunday” that Ellington called “David Danced Before the Lord with All his Might” (text courtesy of the Biblical Book of Samuel).

“It’s the most important statement I’ve ever made,” Ellington said of the piece, the first of his three sacred concerts, on the eve of its 1965 Grace premiere, which was filmed and aired on public television and, thankfully, can be seen on YouTube. It’s an inspiring performance. To celebrate the piece’s golden anniversary, SFJAZZ has assembled its own estimable cast of artists to recreate the “Concert of Sacred Music” at Grace on September 17.

Queen Esther Marrow

Alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón of the SFJAZZ Collective has re-arranged the music for an aggregation that features one of the original singers, Queen Esther Marrow, Kurt Elling in the Hendricks role and Terrance Kelly leading the Oakland Interfaith Gospel Choir and singing one of the solos. Zenón leads a prime 11-piece ensemble that includes trumpeter and new SFJAZZ Collective member Sean Jones, clarinetist Ben Goldberg, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana, bassoonist Paul Hanson and SFJAZZ Collective pianist Edward Simon. Stepping into “David Danced Before the Lord” his way will be the wizardly tap dancer Savion Glover, who was a teenage prodigy when he performed with Bunny Briggs in the 1989 Broadway musical Black and Blue and is supremely suited for this part.

Bill Frisell at Grace, 2007

SFJAZZ has a long tradition of presenting musicians in the Nob Hill cathedral, among them Joe Henderson, Zakir Hussain and Charlie Haden. It’s producing three other promising performances this fall at Grace, where the acoustics — particularly the seven-second echo — provide challenges and musical possibilities. On September 18, the creative and far-ranging guitarist Bill Frisell, a subtle master of space and silence who played solo at Grace in 2007, returns for an evening of improvisation incorporating the natural acoustics and electronic effects.

A hair-raising Gothic Halloween is on the bill for October 31, when the 1925 silent movie classic “Phantom of the Opera,” starring Lon Chaney as the deformed soul who haunts the Paris Opera house, screens in the sanctuary to live accompaniment on Grace’s massive pipe organ by Dorothy Papadakos, the noted organist who plays in the Paul Winter Consort and was formerly the organist at New York’s Cathedral of St. John the Divine. (That’s where Ellington premiered his “Second Sacred Concert” in 1968, and where his funeral was held in 1974. It closed with violinist Ray Nance playing “Come Sunday.”)

One can only imagine the rich woody sounds that will reverberate through those Gothic vaults on November 12, when four marvelous jazz clarinetists – Don Byron and Anat Cohen, playing B flat clarinet, and David Murray and Todd Marcus on the big bass clarinet – come together to make music in that inspiring space.

#ThankYouJoni: Bill Frisell

"There's certain events, times in my life, where she would be a sign post along the way..." Bill Frisell reflects on Joni Mitchell's music, and performing with Joni in Toronto. Share your words for Joni using ‪#‎ThankYouJoni‬ on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

SFJAZZ honors Joni Mitchell with a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Gala on May 8th.

ECM and SFJAZZ

Of all the jazz-related record companies currently releasing new music, few have had such an instantly identifiable aesthetic as Munich-based ECM Records. Since 1969, Manfred Eicher’s label has produced many of the jazz world’s most memorable recordings with a cross-section of its greatest artists, and brought the cutting edge of Europe’s improvised music scene to audiences around the world. Starting with the release of expatriate American pianist Mal Waldron’s 1969 trio session Free at Last, and on the over 1200 albums that followed, ECM has travelled a singular path, making recordings of great clarity and richness that revel in a spacious ambience, balancing openness and subtlety with moments of breathless intensity. Landmark albums under the ECM name are plentiful, such as Keith Jarrett’s The Köln Concert and Belonging, Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life, Chick Corea and Gary Burton’s Crystal Silence, Marc Johnson’s Bass Desires, Gateway with John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, and Charles Lloyd’s The Water is Wide, among many others. The label has been home to a number of the music world’s most accomplished instrumentalists, including Paul Motian, Don Cherry, Bill Frisell, The Art Ensemble of Chicago, Zakir Hussain, Eberhard Weber, Gary Peacock, Terje Rypdal, Jan Garbarek, Enrico Rava, Kenny Wheeler, and Ralph Towner, as well as orchestral and chamber music from Steve Reich, John Adams, The Hilliard Ensemble and Arvo Pärt.
In harmony with their musical signature, ECM is notable for their evocative cover art and design that features stunning (and often abstract) photography along with elegant, minimal typography. This distinctive visual identity has influenced countless designers and artists, and has been documented in a pair of sought-after compilation books, Sleeves of Desire: A Cover Story, and Windfall Light: The Visual Language of ECM.

SFJAZZ has a long, established relationship with the label, presenting most of its major artists at various times over the years. A series devoted to ECM during the 2010 SFJAZZ Spring Season included a half-dozen performances as well as a screening of the documentary film Sounds and Silence: Travels with Manfred Eicher.

For Season 3, SFJAZZ is presenting ECM Fest from 3/26 to 3/29, with performances from a pair of newly signed masters and a pair of musicians long associated with the label.
Saxophonist Chris Potter brings the West Coast premiere of his Underground Orchestra, featuring an extended ensemble consisting of a jazz septet augmented with strings that DownBeat reviewer James Hale called “a triumphant integration of diverse elements that alternately soars and dances.” Their phenomenal new album, Imaginary Cities, was recently released.
Vijay Iyer stands as one of the jazz world’s most acclaimed young stars, racking up multiple DownBeat Critics Poll wins and a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant.” After making his ECM debut with 2014’s Mutations, the pianist and composer released Break Stuff with his telepathic trio of Stephan Crump on bass and Marcus Gilmore on drums.

Brazilian guitar giant Egberto Gismonti presents a solo evening that will ably demonstrate his mastery of traditional folkloric styles, improvisation and facility on multiple instruments.
Finally, Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko performs with his virtuosic New York Quartet with pianist David Virelles, bassist Reuben Rogers, and drummer Gerald Cleaver, the band featured on Stanko’s latest, the double album Wisława – a release inspired by the late Nobel-winning poet Wisława Szymborska.

With an unmistakable visual stamp and music that often defies easy description, the ECM label has created an entire musical world of its own.

Top 15 Albums of 2014 (Part 1)

We're fortunate to experience so much new music year after year at SFJAZZ—2014 being no exception! We've compiled a list (in no particular order) of our Top 15 albums of 2014 that we've also experienced live. The list isn't exhaustive—if you have any favorites from the year, comment below or give us a shout on social media! Below are the first five... look for the second batch tomorrow.

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Drummer, California-native Jeff Ballard's debut as leader, Times Tales (Okeh Records) brings together a monster trio—featuring guitarist Lionel Loueke & 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Miguel Zenón—with unbelievable chemistry (as Ballard put it: "We’re all really drum-heads"). The trio kicked off the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival back in June!

2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell debuted Guitar In The Space Age (Okeh Records) during his January 2014 residency, before heading into the studio. Featuring slide guitarist Greg Leisz, bassist Tony Scherr and drummer Kenny Wollesen, the project pays tribute to the birth of the electric guitar. As Frisell told us back in 2013:

"We start talking, and I hadn't even heard [Greg Leisz] play, I didn't really know anything about him, but in that conversation, I just knew that we were sort of destined to be playing together. There are just some people like that, that I just know right away... We grew up with the history of that Fender guitar, you know Fender happened, and Rock & Roll happened in our childhood… So I've been wanting to do something, acknowledging all that guitar stuff."

Violinist Regina Carter treated San Francisco to the world premiere of Southern Comfort (Sony Masterworks) back in May 2013, part of her first residency as a 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director (in which she also presented the late John Blake, Jr. and Carolina Chocolate Drops). In Southern Comfort, Carter traces her father's Alabama roots through music. After releasing the album earlier this year, Carter brought Southern Comfort back to SFJAZZ for her second residency.

Also: Carter gave an insightful interview and in-studio performance on KQED Forum.

Torch bearer of the afrobeat legacy, Seun Kuti (son of the great Fela Kuti) & Egypt 80's performance at the 32nd Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival in June remains one of our wildest dance parties ever (the show was seated too!). A Long Way To The Beginning (Knitting Factory) blends the sounds and stylings of contemporary music (enter producer Robert Glasper) with the traditional afrobeat sound—music for the head, heart and feet.

Concerts at Grace Cathedral are an SFJAZZ tradition going back to the origins of the organization. In My Solitude: Live at Grace Cathedral (Okeh Records), recorded live at the 30th Annual San Francisco Jazz Festival (2012), sees Branford Marsalis join the ranks of Joe Henderson, Pharoah Sanders, Charles Lloyd, Dewey Redman, Anthony Braxton and many others. Marsalis notes:

"Every room has a sound of its own... and there is definitely a difference playing in Grace Cathedral, with its seven-second delay. Playing solo interludes in other rooms where my quartet performs was not going to prepare me. I had to hear that Grace Cathedral sound in my head."

Read more on SFJAZZ's history with Grace Cathedral and Marsalis' solo album via our full review of In My Solitude.

At The Center ~ Bill Frisell Clinic & Solo Guitar

Bill Frisell recently conducted a clinic with the award-winning SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, amid his final residency week as an 2013-14 SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Director. Watch as he performs an impromptu solo guitar rendition of Thelonious Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie," and speak to his experience working with the All-Stars, as well as the value of just one song.

For more information on SFJAZZ Resident Artistic Directors, visit sfjazz.org. Follow the SFJAZZ High School All-Stars. For more videos, subscribe today to the SFJAZZ YouTube Channel!

Bill Frisell: An Interview, Photos from Big Sur Quintet & A Power Outage!

We sat down with Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell this week as we celebrate the One-Year Anniversary of the Grand Opening of the SFJAZZ Center. In a candid interview, Frisell reflects on all the music and collaborations that came from his residencies at SFJAZZ ("seeds," as he calls them), the Opening Night Concert (Jan. 23, 2013) with Chick Corea, McCoy Tyner, Bobby Hutcherson, John Handy and many others, as well as the Bay Area and its unique audience.

Bill Frisell's final SFJAZZ Residency had an eventful start last night. The guitarist-composer's newest project Big Sur, an acoustic-electronic sketch of the picturesque California coastline, debuted in Miner Auditorium, and featured a string trio of Jenny Scheinman (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola), Hank Roberts (cello), anchored by drummer Rudy Royston.

About an hour into the set, the Center lost power, along with the greater Hayes Valley neighborhood! The backup lighting switched on immediately. Frisell ran back stage and grabbed his acoustic guitar, and performed an impromptu set the rest of the evening, completely acoustic. A long time SFJAZZ Member remarked this morning:

"Last night was just out of sight great. The amplified portion was, as always, just superb but after the power outage the acoustic was way over the top. I heard so many comments in the audience to the positive. Thank everyone for taking what might have been a problem and making it a night to remember..."

Below are photos of Frisell's Big Sur Quintet, before and after the power outage. The power is back on at the Center! Frisell's final SFJAZZ Residency continues tonight with Guitar In The Space Age, featuring slide/steel guitarist Greg Leisz. On Saturday, Frisell gives a rare solo performance, before closing out Sunday with his New Trio, starring the sensational keyboardist Craig Taborn and long-time collaborator Kenny Wolleson on drums.

Bill Frisell's Big Sur Quinet

Big Sur

Post Power-Outage: Backup Lights and No Amplification!

For more information on Bill Frisell's final residency, visit sfjazz.org. For more videos, subscribe to the SFJAZZ YouTube Channel today!

SFJAZZ Education kicks off Season 2 with our first Family Workshop!

Saturday, September 14, was Family Day at SFJAZZ!

We hosted our first Family Workshop and Family Matinee of the new season. Kids and parents participated in an Orff jazz lesson, led by Doug Goodkin, Joshi, and Sam. The workshop consisted of singing, dancing, and ended with students learning to play "Step back baby, Step back" on Orff instruments.  Following the workshop, families were able to enjoy the dreamy music of Bill Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers, accompanied by Jim Woodring's captivating cartoon graphics. It was truly an engaging, entertaining, interactive day of music.

Join us next month for The Magic of Monk presented by our own SFJAZZ Collective!

See the list of Family Matinees and workshops for the season, happening every second Saturday.

PHOTO: Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell at SFJAZZ

Guitarist and Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell began his four-night residency at the SFJAZZ Center last night. Frisell presents an eclectic series of performances all weekend long. Tonight, violinist-singer Petra Haden (daughter of the great bassist Charlie Haden) and bassist Thomas Morgan rejoin Frisell after collaborating together on Paul Motion's final album as a leader, 2011’s The Windmills of Your Mind. Saxophonist Greg Osby is featured as a special guest. On Saturday, Frisell's Beautiful Dreamers trio performs with Seattle-cartoonist Jim Woodring, who will create live digital illustrations, projected on the Miner Auditorium video screen. Sunday's finale sees all of Frisell's collaborators throughout the weekend together on the same stage! Below are some great photos of Frisell's opening night, with Osby and acclaimed pianist Geri Allen, captured by photographer Monica Frisell.

All photographs by Monica Frisell.

For more photos, visit SFJAZZ Flickr.

Bill Frisell's four-night residency at SFJAZZ goes all weekend long, and includes a Saturday Family Matinee. To learn more, click here!

WATCH: Historic Opening Night Concert Footage

Historic Opening Night Concert(01/23) footage of legendary pianist/composer McCoy Tyner performing his spiritual jazz masterpiece "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit" featuring Joe Lovano (tenor saxophone), Esperanza Spalding (bass) and Eric Harland (drums). The second piece welcomes Bay Area jazz legends John Handy (alto saxophonist) and Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphonist), as well as Resident Artistic Director Bill Frisell (guitar) to the stage as the group performs Tyner's bluesy jazz classic "Blues On The Corner".




Historic Opening Night Concert performance of Joe Lovano's (tenor saxophone) "Blackwell's Message," featuring Joshua Redman (tenor saxophone), Matt Penman (bass), Jeff Ballard (drums) and John Santos (percussion). Lovano wrote this piece as a tribute to legendary drummer Ed Blackwell.

Listen to the entire History Opening Night Concert by visiting NPRmusic.org.