Kind words from Don Saliers:
If you’ve ever wondered about how jazz and authentic spirituality generate both joy and truth, this book’s for you. In Thriving on a Riff, Bill Carter writes as a jazz musician and a pastor with a keen sense of spirituality. Bearing Saint Irenaeus (2nd century) in mind - “the glory of God is a human being fully alive” - Carter gives us an astonishing tour of a “Who’s Who” of great jazz musicians. Their stories, reveal the depth of their own wrestling with angels and demons. What emerges in these pages is a polyphonic account of how jazz and deep spirituality keep remarkably demanding close company.
This book is no less than a love song to the art and genius of improvisation. But it is also a musical primer about transcendence and the risks of biblical faith. Along the way we overhear the author’s own listening and playing. What do prophecy, ecstasy, wisdom and good jazz have in common? These pages give us teasing, provocative access to the answer. The pleasure here is that the words read like jazz sounds. Should you not be a jazz fan, or perhaps a spiritual sceptic, Carter’s book may just change your mind. But if you love jazz and seek a deep sense of what is spiritual, this is a feast.
Don E. Saliers, Professor of Theology and Liturgy, Emeritus, Emory University
co-author of A Song to Sing, A Life to Live with daughter Emily of the Indigo Girls
