Spirits Rejoice! Jazz and American Religion

This book explores the relationship between religion or spirituality and its influence, if any, on American jazz musicians. Little has been done in attempts to correlate these two. The book is written by a gentleman with interests in both areas. Jason C. Bivins is a professor of religion at University of North Carolina and an active jazz guitarist. He’s written reviews for various publications including Cadence, so he has good credentials in both areas. The book is not an easy read. The first chapter discusses the relationship between spirituality and religion and quotes writers and theologians with which the average reader will be only vaguely familiar, if at all. Other chapters are a bit less opaque in that they deal with specifics and mentions jazz artists with which the reader will likely be familiar with some. There is a preponderance of African-American musicians discussed here. Duke Ellington is mentioned in relation to his three sacred concerts performed later in his life. And there is Mary Lou Williams’ example of giving up her jazz career, becoming a devout Roman Catholic and composing some masses which have become famous. Then there are other religions such as Islam, Sufism, Rastafarianism, and some Eastern religions which are discussed. There’s a segment on Sun Ra and his Arkestra. In reading about him, it was hard for me to tell whether he was a complete ch