Artist: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Album: The Abyssinian Mass
Genre: Modern Big Band
Label: Blue Engine Records
Released: 2016
Quality: FLAC (tracks+.cue)
Tracklist:
- CD 1:
- Devotional (8:34)
- Call to Worship (5:11)
- The Lord's Prayer (4:13)
- Processional: "We Are on Our Way" (7:25)
- Invocation and Chant (6:29)
- Responsive Reading, Matthew 5:3-12 The Beatitudes (7:57)
- Gloria Patri (5:05)
- Prayer: "Pastoral Prayer" (13:05)
- Choral Response: "Through Him I've Come to See" (2:21)
- Anthem: "Glory to God in the Highest" (7:01)
- CD 2:
- Scripture: Isaiah 56:7 (2:36)
- Meditation: "Lord Have Mercy" (4:59)
- Sermon: "The Unifying Power of Prayer" - Part I: "This House Is God's House" (4:17)
- Sermon: "The Unifying Power of Prayer" - Part II: "The Power of Prayer" (4:57)
- Sermon: "The Unifying Power of Prayer" - Part III: "Everyone Has a Place" (3:15)
- Invitation: "Come and Join the Army" (4:33)
- Offertory: The Father (2:39)
- Offertory: The Son (3:22)
- Offertory: (You Gotta Watch) The Holy Ghost (4:45)
- Doxology (3:21)
- Recessional: "The Glory Train" (7:34)
- Benediction (1:27)
- Amen (8:20)
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- Personnel:
- Sherman Irby - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, clarinet
- Ted Nash - alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, piccolo, clarinet
- Victor Goines - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, flute, Bb & Eb clarinets, bass clarinet
- Walter Blanding - tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet
- Paul Nedzela - baritone saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet
- Ryan Kisor, Kenny Rampton, Marcus Printup, Wynton Marsalis - trumpets
- Vincent Gardner, Chris Crenshaw, Elliot Mason - trombones
- Dan Nimmer - piano
- Carlos Henriquez - bass
- Ali Jackson - drums
- Damien Sneed - conductor
A majestic, clamorous work of spiritually motivated, large ensemble jazz and gospel, Wynton Marsalis' 2016 The Abyssinian Mass is a truly epic offering. Recorded live in 2013 at Lincoln Center, The Abyssinian Mass is a composition commemorating the 200th anniversary of Harlem's Abyssinian Baptist Church in 2008. It's an extensive work that finds Marsalis attempting to draw connections between secular and sacred music. Helping to bring this composition to life is a combined ensemble of jazz and gospel musicians, including the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, Damien Sneed, and Chorale le Chateau. Conceptually speaking, Marsalis' composition is designed to flow like a church service, with movements broken down into sections like "Call to Worship," "Processional," "Responsive Reading," and, of course, a "Sermon," delivered here in three parts by Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III.
For fans of Marsalis' jazz-centric recordings, there's a lot to chew on. There are plenty of swaggering, exuberant solos and the rhythm section is rarely playing anything less than an infectious, foot-tapping beat. That said, this is a lengthy recording, spread over two discs, mixing instrumental and spoken word sections alongside commandingly sung ensemble sections from Choral le Chateau. What's so invigorating about Marsalis' work is how he successfully intertwines the more traditional, classical-influenced gospel sections with the raucous, swinging, and bluesy jazz sections. Tracks like "Call to Worship" and "Processional: We Are on Our Way" find the JLCO trumpets colliding in shiny, Teutonic brilliance over drummer Ali Jackson's roiling, earthy swing, while Choral le Chateau soars as one behind them. Regardless of your religious inclinations, The Abyssinian Mass is an ambitious, uplifting production that fits nicely alongside Marsalis' similarly inclined albums In This House, On This Morning and the Pulitzer Prize-winning Blood on the Fields.
Review by Matt Collar