Big Bands And the Gospel - A Good Pairing!

This little sharing of thought today is going to be a might different as it basically involves a synthesis of my biggest hobby and my personal faith, and I find it fascinating as I uncover so much that they are extremely compatible.  What you are about to read is a unique perspective, but an enlightening one nonetheless.

As I was shopping on Amazon one particular day this week, I came across something I found quite interesting - a rare recording (CD reissue) of legendary bandleader Russ Morgan consisting of classic hymns of the faith!  And, they were beautifully done.  Intrigued by this, I ordered it and am expecting it to get here next week.   But, that got me to thinking about my own testimony and how it relates to my personal tastes and interests, and as I have said before, it is no accident I like the type of music I listen to and I have always felt like God gave me that particular interest as a way of protecting me from some bad influences of my peers and sort of setting me aside for a particular reason, and I stand by that today.  As I have been collecting and listening to vintage big bands for over 30 years now, I have learned much and as I do, I uncover surprises every so often that reinforce the fact God created my tastes different for a specific plan that only He knows the full details of.  And, over the years, my extensive collection of big band recordings have a lot of songs of faith interspersed among them, and that in itself says something.  So, what I wish to do today is talk some about that, and then give a couple of closing thoughts.  Bear with me, as we start that little virtual jaunt now.

Anyone who knows anything about Dixieland jazz knows that one of the most famous tunes associated with it is "When the Saints Go Marching In."  It was the theme song of two great New Orleans-born trumpet-playing bandleaders, Louis Armstrong and Louis Prima, and whenever one thinks of vintage Dixieland jazz, this song comes to mind.   But, think a minute about that - a GOSPEL SONG, a spiritual, is a Dixieland jazz classic!!  Another example involves an obscure territory dance band led by Black trumpeter Sam Morgan, who in 1927 recorded a song called "Just Over In The Glory Land."  Growing up in the West Virginia hills and attending little Appalachian Holiness/Pentecostal churches when I was little with my folks, I know this tune well - it is an old Pentecostal campmeeting song that many old-time churches sang out of a shaped-note hymnal we called then the "red-back" that interesting enough has the same melody as a polka song called "Lappland Polka."   This is one of many examples I could cite, but you get my point.

Jazz and the Church have shared a sort of love/hate relationship since its early days, as on one hand jazz musicians respected Christianity and drew from it yet on the other hand the Church often blamed jazz for moral decay in society too - jazz, however, never had the influence in that regard that rock music had later though.  In their later years many jazz greats - notably Duke Ellington and Mary Lou Williams - composed Jazz Masses and other sacred works that, although at times theologically a little weak, nonetheless reflected a deep conviction of faith of the composer.   Duke Ellington, in particular, devoted most of the last years of his life to composing music that exalted God, and his rationale behind it was that since God gave him such success and blessing throughout his life, he wanted to give something back to God.  Duke composed for instance a piece that is based on the Psalms entitled "Praise God and Dance" that honestly brings the Psalms to life - it is intense, beautiful, and most of all, Scriptural.  The unfortunate thing about this, however, is that many sacred jazz works were often taken more seriously by liberal churches than they were by people of more conservative convictions, and that is tragic because many conservatives missed out on something very unique and expressive of the love of God testifying through the works of talented musicians - the liberal churches only used it as a means of advancing their socialistic agendas, which to be honest probably grieved the hearts of the composers.   Ironically, some of these same supposed "conservative" churches today have no problem with BAD rock music masqerading as "Christian" because it has a "Jesus" or two thrown into it, but they cringe at the thought that Duke Ellington praised God in his latter works.   I have a lot more to say on that later, believe you me!

Many bandleaders from the "sweet" side of the music (Lombardo, Sammy Kaye, Freddy Martin) also recorded many hymns and songs of faith, and these were an integral part of the repertoire often of these particular orchestras, as their audiences were more from the conservative parts of the country and appreciated songs of faith better than the jazzmen often did.   Fred Waring and Phil Spitalny's "Hour of Charm" All-Girl Orchestra, for instance, were recording hymns as far back as the early 1930's, and the legacy of Lawrence Welk featuring songs of faith on his TV shows for decades are well-documented.   And of course you have Russ Morgan and other leaders recording very beautiful albums of traditional hymns.  This speaks something also I want to briefly touch on here.   The major difference between big bands recording albums of faith and hymns as compared to much of modern "Contemporary Christian Music" is quite fundamental - the bandleaders like Welk, Morgan, and Ellington were influenced by the Gospel, while many so-called "Christian" music acts today are compromised with the world.  In another way of putting it, at one time faith influenced culture, but now culture dictates faith.   Think about that for a moment.  That is why, personally, I believe that a beautiful album of traditional hymns by bandleader Russ Morgan blesses my spirit more than does something by the latest Dove Award winner today because the spirit is different.  Thing is - and I have said this many times! - I never had anything to do with rock music before I was a Christian, so why would I want to accept it in church of all places now??  The concept of it is crazy, to be honest.  And, it has little to do with stylistics either, but rather with attitude and worldly influence.  Any person with keen spiritual discernment should note the difference right off.

An article like this could not be complete without some mention of the Polka Mass.  This was something that developed out of the work of two Slovenian/Croatian-American Catholic priests in the 1960's, Frs. Frank Perkovich of Minnesota and George Belasco of Cleveland, OH, and it ties into the faith traditions of the people who birthed it well.  I was at one point a little iffy about the Polka Mass until I heard it, and its vibrance and beauty sold me.   Polka of course has an integral part in the evolution of the big bands, and therefore that was worth mentioning as well.

Anyway, that is all my thoughts for today, as work calls me.  So long until next time, and happy listening!