The first endorsement has come in

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 (2^nd 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

As time goes by

It's written. 

It's edited. 

It's copyedited. 

It's described and proposed. 

It's contracted.

Now, it's under the microscope in the publishing house, being reviewed for style, formatted, formulated, and prepared. I've been asked to review the updated "package." That includes nearly twenty passages that need new footnotes and a dab of my editing.

While that process has been underway, I've secured official permission from a half-dozen sources to quote or utilize other people's material. It's no surprise the publishers for Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton requested modest fees for some brilliant passages that I used. Pleasantly, the University of Chicago Press allowed me to quote a long paragraph for free.

Even better, I enjoyed a generous e-mail conversation with Dave Brubeck's attorney. He was deeply interested in my work and requested that I forward all my mentions and allusions to Dave for his review. And for the Brubeck family's review. I was glad to send it along, although I second guessed whether or not my research (and memories) were accurate. Fortunately, he expressed his personal affirmation - and the Brubeck family's support - for the project. No fee necessary.

Next up: securing endorsements for the back cover, inside cover, and promotional use.

How about a little music?

This spring, I've invited the Presbybop musicians to join me in a new project. The Blue Note Band will perform tunes from the 1950's and 1960's as recorded on the Blue Note record label. Here are a couple of clips from a recent concert. Enjoy! 

 

Tune in the Spirit of Jazz podcast

As the book manuscript has developed, Jeff Kellam and I have produced a podcast to support and extend the project. It's so much fun. We anticipate over twenty episodes for this first season. 

Want to hear it? You can listen to all episodes on the podcast website (https://thespiritofjazz.buzzsprout.com/) and subscribe to receive it for free on iTunes and all the rest.

It's also available on our Presbybop website. You can listen or download by clicking here.

We are also posting all our episodes on a Spirit of Jazz YouTube channel. Here's a favorite episode, where we converse with Derrick Bang, the biographer of Vince Guaraldi, about Guaraldi's connection to Charlie Brown. This is material that you won't find in our upcoming book!

Copy for the back cover

 A lot of work is going on behind the scenes. While we wait, here is the material that I've prepared for the back cover (with a shout-out to Corey who helped me with it):

What does jazz have to do with human spirituality? At first glance, perhaps not much. The holy writings of Judaism and Christianity place special emphasis on instrumental music as a blessed and inspired form of worship, but a genre of music that calls for improvisation — unplanned, spontaneous composition on the fly — seems the very antithesis of the by-the-book doctrines of traditional liturgy and cautious quarter-notes of pew hymnals. Historically condemned as an inherently “sinful” form of music, jazz is a relative newcomer to the domain of formal worship services. In many spheres, the music is still accepted with reticence. But in reality, a study on the subject of jazz and the spiritual life proves that these two pursuits are inexorably linked.

In Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and the Spiritual Life, Presbyterian minister and jazz pianist Bill Carter confirms that jazz, in its quest for transcendence, bridges the gap between the secular and the sacred, and further, that these two worlds are not mutually exclusive. Thriving on a Riff traces jazz from its origins in the twilight of American slavery, to its evolution from dance music to serious art form during the American Civil Rights Movement, and its eventual introduction into the church as a legitimate channel of praise and lament. To support this thesis, Carter explores the spiritual dimensions of jazz, featuring biographical details gleaned from his one-on-one interactions with some of the musicians he writes about.

From King David to Dave Brubeck, from the Psalms of Israel to John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, the experience of music as communion with the Divine is explored with gravitas and delight. And true to jazz sensibilities, chapters are offset by brief “Improvisation” sections in which the author expounds on the preceding chapter’s subject matter in the form of a poetic extension of the theme, without breaking rhythm. Citing examples from the history of American music, as well as his personal experiences as a working musician, Carter invites the reader to meet a God who not only embraces syncopation but blesses the swing.

Yep, it has a home

Broadleaf Books will publish Thriving on a Riff: Jazz and the Spiritual Life. Hooray! Broadleaf is an imprint of 1517 Media in Minneapolis. Their tagline is "expanding the mind, nourishing the soul, cultivating the common good." My book will be a perfect fit.

We have a contract, signed and sealed. The terms are generous, especially since I've never been paid for my last book (with another publisher, of course). Broadleaf has a full staff and an aggressive marketing approach. My friend Byron the Bookseller says they actually send publishing representatives out to the stores and support their books. These days, that's rare.

I am thrilled. Really happy. And I don't mind one bit that the book will be published fifteen months from now (April 2024). It's in good hands.

Soon it will be in your hands, gentle reader.

A home for the holidays?

This could be it. Broadleaf Books is interested in my book. Even the marketing staff likes it.

Christmas is upon us. Meanwhile, the West Coast publisher extended their offer past the holidays. Let's see how this shakes out.