About a year ago I was called by Aaron Johnson to play at Fountain Baptist Church. It was an early morning gig. Not a ton of bread considering the long hours, but I was definitely intrigued. I had a wonderful experience plunging into a type of music that I hadn’t played at that point. It was a blend of gospel/R&B/christian music. It was the first time I had heard live the music that inspired so many of my heroes. Horace Silver, Hank Mobley and many, many more clearly came out of the tradition that is exhibited here. One year later and I play the gig full time.
There are four horns, usually Aaron on trombone, Steve Wiseman (or his brother Jason) on trumpet, James Stewart – a friend from Cecil’s- on alto and baritone sax and I play tenor and soprano. There is an electric keyboard, a Hammond B3, Drums, bass or guitar. There is a fabulous choir with tremendous soloists. The music is programmed throughout the service. We do several pieces arranged by Lance Bryant who played my chair before leaving for the Boston area, and a new four-horn arrangement that Aaron puts together for each service. It’s unaccompanied four part writing and its really special music – uncategorizable – beautiful. As well as the set pieces, music comes up intermittently as inspired by the Reverend Jerry Saunders as he delivers his message to a frenzied audience. The emotionality of these moments is quite compelling. The interaction between the spiritual and the musical in the this situation is fascinating and uplifting to me. I’ve never experienced the type of abandon that is present in these services when I’ve attended other churches. So I’m thankful for these mornings (like this morning) when I get to participate in a musical event that most white musicians never get to experience.
As the months have gone on, Aaron has gained trust in me and has encouraged me to participate more actively in the musical proceedings and frequently I get to back up a singer on a ballad by playing soprano saxophone obbligato. Often these pieces go on for a very long time reaching higher and higher levels of excitement and commitment from the musicians and singers. Quite a thrill. I hope that this experience is bleeding through my playing in other situations. At any rate this experience is certainly helping to fill lapses in my training that would be impossible to garner elsewhere.
