Grammy-winning Reverend delivers spiritual message in common language of jazz

Where can you go to hear a Grammy award winning jazz percussionist who's performed with the New York Philharmonic, the Bolshoi Ballet, Luciano Pavarotti, and Barbara Streisand? New York? Philadelphia?

One needn't travel far, as the Princeton community will have just that opportunity in the University Chapel on October 22 at 8:00 p.m. That's when the Reverend Norm Freeman, a Grammy winning jazz musician, will perform as part of the Jazz Vespers service sponsored by the Episcopal Church at Princeton and the University Department of Music.

The service will combine the traditional liturgy of vespers (the evening service of the Episcopal church) with the modern rhythms of jazz as performed by Freeman and his trio of highly accomplished musicians.

The service, "Jazz Vespers for the Soul," emerged from a partnership between the Rev. Dr. Stephen L. White, the Episcopal chaplain at Princeton, and Freeman, who besides being an accomplished musician, is also the Episcopal Chaplain for the University of California at Santa Barbara and Vicar of The Church of St. Michael and All Angels in Isla Vista.

"I met Norm Freeman at a conference of Episcopal chaplains a couple of years ago, and I was enormously impressed with him personally and with his ministry in jazz worship," said White. "We hope [that this service will] show that there is a way to combine very traditional and orderly forms of prayer with something utterly modern and fun."

Freeman earned his Bachelors and Masters of Music Degrees from the Julliard School and played with the New York Philharmonic from 1976 to 1995 where he worked under such legendary conductors as Leonard Bernstein, Zubin Mehta, and Kurt Mauser. Freeman has also performed in the orchestras of many Broadway productions such as "A Chorus Line" and "Grease."

In 1994, Freeman entered the General Theological Seminary and was ordained as an Episcopal minister in 1997. Since his ordination, Freeman has continued to perform extensively with the likes of Pavarotti and Streisand even as he has served his parish and initiated a series of jazz vespers within his community.

Freeman will be joined in his Princeton performance by a trio of accomplished musicians – Don Rebic on piano, Bob Renino on the bass, and Mike Berkowitz on drums and percussion.

"Jazz Vespers emerges as a synthesis of traditions, a blending of an age-old liturgy with the unique musical language we call jazz," said Freeman. "With a freshness that is open to God's Spirit, this musical tradition sounds the hopes, dreams, joys, frustrations and pain that expresses human experience, while exploring a musical vocabulary that transcends the limits of the written or spoken word."

The service will combine the form of the Evening Prayer in the Episcopal "Book of Common Prayer" with jazz music. Vespers takes its roots from Lucernarium, the evening devotional prayers of ancient Israel. Jazz Vespers attempts to fuse the traditional with the modern in order to create a deeper spiritual and artistic experience for the worshippers.

For Freeman, this connection between music and spirituality is especially important. "For me, the essence of spirituality is the feeling of being connected, ultimately to God and, through that relationship, connected to others and ourselves," said Freeman. " [Art] transcends words. As a musician, I attempt to go deeper...spiritually –that I may experience the kind of peak performance that is the benchmark of the arts."

Jazz is such a popular and highly accessible form of music, and White hopes that, combined with the traditional worship service, it will make people open to exploring spirituality further.

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"Many people respond to jazz in a way that they do not respond to any other kind of music, even if they have never heard a jazz piece before," said White. "So this [service] can open a window into something profoundly spiritual."

Both White and Freeman hope that the service will leave a lasting impact on the University community, and there are hopes that Freeman will be able to return in the future to conduct similar services.

Also, Professor Anthony Branker of the University Department of Music and Penna Rose, Director of Chapel Music, have organized a separate series of jazz vespers, the first of which took place of October 9. Branker is also the liaison between the University Department of Music and the "Jazz Vespers for the Soul" program on October 22.

Branker said, "Conceptually, what we want to do is break down certain cultural and religious barriers in addition to whatever preconceived notions people may have when it comes to the music associated with worship."

Ultimately, "Jazz Vespers for the Soul" will provide the University community with an excellent opportunity to experience the music of a great jazz percussionist as well as immerse themselves in the joys of an exuberant artistic and spiritual experience.