Even those not inclined to go to church make the connection. Sidney Bechet, not known for his piety, nevertheless acknowledged the strong bond between church worship styles and jazz. He famously compared jazz to an invocation. The subject matter might be different, but the feeling was the same. As he put it, “One was praying to God, and the other was praying to what’s human. It’s like one was saying, ‘Oh God, let me go,’ and the other was saying, ‘Oh Mister, let me be.’”

Music Depends on the Church
The fact is, the church was a stabilizing institution in the rural South, and it provided a place for the creation of music of all kinds. Though sadly, for all kinds of reasons, many church people condemned the blues, the dependency of almost all African-American music, including the blues, on the church is nevertheless patent. That is why so many individual jazz musicians, whatever their lifestyles, are often consciously motivated by a Christian worldview. Indeed, almost all of the early musicians have strong roots in the church. King Oliver’s letters to his sister are a powerful testimony of his Christian faith. A good many modern pianists, such as Hank Jones, Cyrus Chestnut, and Monty Alexander, are followers of Christ who understand their music in terms of Christian faith.

Perhaps the outstanding example of this individual connection to a biblical worldview in jazz music is America’s greatest composer, Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington. Duke Ellington is jazz. Many people do not realize that “his great passion and work sprang from an awareness of the presence of God in all of life.” The narrative of biblical Christianity, particularly in its African-American version, is the underlying aesthetic behind much of the astonishing artistic achievement of this foremost American musician.

Most jazz audiences know Duke Ellington as the urbane, stylish entertainer and public personality that he was. But he also had deep roots in the Christian faith. Brought up by godly parents in the Baptist church and the A.M.E. Zion church, he knew all the hymns and Bible stories by heart. He read his Bible every day and prayed regularly. Although his schedule often precluded being in church on Sunday morning, he often attended mid-week services, or just walked in to sit in the pew for inspiration. Throughout his career he took material from gospel tunes and wove them into jazz music. The presence of a forgiving God was always real to him, as can be witnessed by a line in one of his songs: “Forgive us our necessities, and the hunger that makes them necessary.”

In the last decade of his life, Ellington wrote three jazz oratorios. The Third Sacred Concert took him the better part of 1973, the last year of his life, to write. When asked why it took him so long, he replied, “You can jive with secular music, but you can’t jive with the Almighty.” The premiere was at Westminster Abbey at a concert sponsored by the United Nations. More meditative than his first two jazz oratorios, this composition concentrates on prayer and love. Ellington was a sinner, a man with many flaws. He could use people, lead women on, joke when he needed to be serious. But his character flaws are magnifications of the struggles of the age. His faith in God’s love enabled him to transcend the conflicts.