Christian Jazz

[WannaWitness]

Oh, I almost forgot.... Ben Tankard!

 

[SpiritPsalmist]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC4JIufrGFk

 

[PrettyLoveMachine]

Check out Kirk Whalum. I've only heard a couple songs from him but so far there's one I really like, it's called "John 1:1"

 

[ChristianPF]

I agree that jazz is not inherently evil, personally I love Jazz, but just like many things, when there is someone who is using their music to glorify God with it - you can sense it in the music

 

[epistemaniac]

Has anyone heard of Abraham Laboriel? He tends to be in the background a lot (I see him credited on some of my music), but has given many artists' music a jazzy touch.

i realize this is an old thread but if you see this... but here is some info on Christian bass player Abraham Laboriel:

Abraham Laboriel, Sr. (born July 17, 1947) is a Mexican bassist who has played on over 4,000 recordings and soundtracks. Guitar Player Magazine described him as: "the most widely used session bassist of our time". Laboriel is the father of drummer Abe Laboriel Jr. and of producer, songwriter, and film composer Mateo Laboriel.
Laboriel was born in Mexico City. Originally a classically trained guitarist, he switched to bass guitar while studying at the Berklee School of Music. Henry Mancini encouraged Laboriel to move to Los Angeles, California and pursue a recording career.[1] Since then, he has worked with artists as diverse as Donald Fagen, Lee Ritenour, Larry Carlton, Dave Grusin, Andy Pratt, Stevie Wonder, Hanson. Barbra Streisand, Al Jarreau, Billy Cobham, Dolly Parton, Elton John, Ray Charles, Madonna, Paul Simon, Keith Green, Alvaro Lopez and Res-Q Band, Lisa Loeb, Quincy Jones, Leo Sayer, Russ Taff, Engelbert Humperdinck, Andy Summers, Umberto Tozzi,Ron Kenoly, Rabito, Mylène Farmer, Crystal Lewis, Herbie Hancock, Chris Isaak, Paul Jackson Jr. and Michael Jackson. When Laboriel recorded his three solo albums (Dear Friends, Guidum, and Justo & Abraham), he recruited a cast of musicians that included Alex Acuña, Al Jarreau, Jim Keltner, Phillip Bailey, and others.
Laboriel was a founding member of the bands, Friendship and Koinonia. He plays live regularly with Greg Mathieson, drummer Bill Maxwell , and Justo Almario. Abraham is now in the band Open Hands with Justo Almario, Greg Mathieson and Bill Maxwell.
In 2005, Abraham was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Music by the Berklee College of Music. [2]
His son, Abe Laboriel Jr., has toured extensively as a vocalist and drummer for Paul McCartney." wikipedia



Laboriel has a few solo albums out, and also played, as mentioned above, in the 70's/80's Christian fusion band called Koinonia Koinonia (band) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

he also did an album with Christian saxophonist Justo Almario from 1994 called Justo Almario & Abraham Laboriel....

he is a monster bass player who also played on Larry Carlton's live album Lightening Strikes Twice and on Matthew Ward's album, along with Phil Keaggy, called Toward Eternity... great classic christian rock!!

blessings,
ken

 

[WannaWitness]

Thanks for the info, epistemaniac. And don't worry about pulling up old threads; I do that from time to time, especially if it's regarding something I really want to talk about. I also do it for the sake of newcomers to CF, to see what their views are on the given topic.

 

[christian78]

J. Boykin is also a very good Christian jazz artist. I've seen him live twice. He ha at least one album of original compositions and one more of trads. (e.g. Awesome God, Wade in The Water, etc).

 

[nicolo93f]

i like they too!

 

[AirForceTeacher]

The original Christian Jazz ensemble: Koinonia

YouTube - Koinonia Goodbye means God go with you

 

[Christian Worship Songs]

Christian jazz is hard to find, I am one of the only guitarist who's recorded rock, jazz and classical. There's a few of us out there but not many.
Schools these days don't have the money to teach young kids about jazz theory so most kids end up playing folk rock or what I call folk punk rock music.
I studied jazz and classical in school....and I apply or fuse jazz into my rock songs.
If I'd play strickly jazz I wouldn't have been as popular in music as I am today.
There's no real interest in jazz anymore, and if it wasn't for Eric Clapton and his cross roads guitar festival the blues would nearly be washed up.
Rap and folk rock...kind of killed off Jazz,blues and even rock n roll music.
There are no great young jazz guitar players that I have heard of lately.
Most kids want to play folk rock....and if that's what makes them happy then great .

It's sad though because jazz music and the blues is dying off.
That's just my opinion....but take a look at the music industry as a whole....because of the Interent and people stealing and giving away artist music with free downloads it's only a matter of time before the artist say...enough is enough I will not sell any more albums!!
This has already begun to happen over the past 5 years....and if things do not change....then music is going to take a big hit.

 

[Christian Worship Songs]

Sorry I should have posted also the best Jazz Guitarist ever..is George Benson !!
And get this Stevie Ray Vaughan also knew how to play great jazz guitar besides the blues and rock.

But it's almost impossible to find great Christian Jazz artist !!

 

[AirForceTeacher]

Christian jazz is hard to find, I am one of the only guitarist who's recorded rock, jazz and classical. There's a few of us out there but not many.
Schools these days don't have the money to teach young kids about jazz theory so most kids end up playing folk rock or what I call folk punk rock music.

And this is sad. My kids like to listen to Jazz, but none of them play all that much any more - my son just formed an indie band, so all they do is screamo.

 

[hallf]

I don't think it's fair to label or contain music based on whether or not it is "Christian," but someone mentioned a few covers of hymns...and in reference to that, there is a beautiful rendition of "Just As I Am" by the saxophonist Chris Potter on his "Traveling Mercies" album.

 

[chapisag]

Try this christian jazz band called scat, they are pretty cool, the cd is called Wash Day Miracle by SCAT, buy the cd if you like it to support this band.

 

[Beth-Zur]

‪Black Gospel Jazz - There Is None Like You‬‏ - YouTube

"Black Gospel Jazz - There is None Like You"

Does anyone know if Black Gospel Jazz is the band's name, or a musical genre??

I really like this piece.

 

[sago123]

Beth-Zur,

This is fabulous! Can you please post to GodCares.tv? This is our Christian vid-sharing site, and I'm looking for contributions just like this. This one I would want to definitely promote to our facebook and twitter followers as well.

Thanks.
GodCares.tv

 

[Lance E.]

Any christian song can be made into a jazz song if it's played that way. There are jazz praise and worship bands out there and, yes, hymns can be made into jazz numbers, too. Check out christianjazz.net christianjazz.blogspot.com, and songsofdavid.com.

As far as blues goes, there is a sub-genre of blues called gospel blues. Check out some old stuff by Thomas Dorsey and Rev. Gary Davis. For newer stuff check out christianblues.net

 

[markb77]

I was glad to see someone mentioned Koinonia. For me, they are the top "Christian jazz" group. All of their albums are excellent - too bad they are mostly out of print and difficult to find. If it's Christian jazz you're looking for, search out these guys.

 

[Christianboy44]

Thank you for pointing that out Genez. I have struggled with this for a long time.