going to see Caedmon's...

Thanks to Andrew Osenga’s timely posting of more tour dates, I found that Caedmon’s Call will be playing in Dubuque, IA - only an hour from my home! - this Saturday night. My wife has graciously agreed that she could do without me for the night, so I bought my ticket this morning (curses, Ticketmaster, on being the only game in town! one day there will be a reckoning for your extortionary fees!) and will be there tomorrow night. Should be fun. I’ll try to post some pictures and a review this weekend.

New Music

I placed an order today for some music that I’ve dreamed about playing for a long time: Claude Bolling’s Suite for Flute and Jazz Piano Trio. (The link is to the audio CD so you can listen to samples. I ordered the sheet music.) This is some phenomenal jazz/classical/whatever-the-heck-it-is fusion. I dunno when I first heard it - sometime in high school, I suppose, and immediately I wished I could get with a trio and play it. But that seemed unlikely and the folio with the instrumental parts cost about 50 bucks.

Flash forward to today. I was looking online for a decent collection of Debussy piano music, and while browsing, came across the Bolling suite again. I decided that I could now manage the 45 bucks, so I ordered it. I also know a couple good flute players and a really good bass player, so I might just be able to get a little trio together to work some of it up. I know I’ll need to get practicing on it - it’s some challenging stuff. But I’m excited to just give it a shot.

too much new music?

I didn’t think it would ever be possible, but at the moment, I feel like I have too much new music to handle.

Within the past week, I have accumulated six new CDs:

  • A fabulous mix CD from Susan as part of the RMFO Mix CD Circle.
  • A pretty darn good mix CD from Chris in Houston from the previous RMFO Mix CD Circle. It’s a little bit harder stuff than what I’d usually listen to, but there’s still some quite good stuff there.
  • In The Company of Angels: The World Will Sing, the latest offering from Caedmon’s Call. I got the pre-release for worship leaders as I noted in my previous post. I’ve listened through it 3 or 4 times so far.
  • The Builder & The Architect, from Sandra McCracken
  • Beams of Heaven: Indelible Grace 4
  • Indigo Girls - I picked this up for three bucks at the used bookstore.

My excuse for the last two is that I’m looking for some good hymns to add to our repertoire at church. And the Caedmon’s disk was an unexpected freebie, so that’s not too bad. But I just feel like I don’t have the time to really dig in and give this music the time it deserves. I guess I’ll have to cut down on the CD buying for a while. (Did I say that?)

In The Company of Angels: The World Will Sing

In The Company of Angels: The World Will Sing is the soon-to-be-released latest album from my favorite musical group, Caedmon’s Call. It’s a follow-up to their previous release In The Company of Angels, which was one of the best “worship albums” when the whole worship album craze hit a few years ago. (Has it ever really died down?) While the album doesn’t release until March 7th, Caedmon’s is offering a free copy of the pre-release album to worship pastors who are willing to give them some feedback on how the music might be usable for congregational singing. Happily, I am the worship leader at Noelridge, so I requested and received my free copy last week and have been listening to it quite a bit since then. I’ll go ahead and post my thoughts here.

First, let me review it just as an album. The 11 tracks are dominated by Cliff Young’s vocals (seven tracks), aided by Andy Osenga and Danielle Young on two tracks each. The songs are primarily new material, but there are three or so that are new settings of old hymns. All in all, it’s pretty solid, though I don’t think it quite measures up to the original ITCOA. I’ll have to listen through a few more times before I can give a definitive answer there. It might be a toss-up.

Now, about the congregational singing aspect of these songs. Noelridge is a small church. Our worship team is small, we don’t have a lot of instruments, we’re not a group full of pros. Don’t get me wrong, we have some good people, with real musical talent, but we’re never gonna sound like Caedmon’s or Casting Crowns or Third Day or the David Crowder Band. It just ain’t gonna happen. As a result, for songs to be effective for congregational singing, they need to be fairly simple and repetitive musically, and not too rhythmically complex. Lots of syncopation or ad-lib material will blow us out of the water.

Given those constraints, here’s my evaluation of the usability of the songs on the album for congregational singing.

Great And Mighty - Good stuff, but really too much of a solo-type song for congregational singing. Too syncopated.

Draw Me Nearer - This one I might use here sometime soon. This is a strong tune, a very nice update to the old hymn.

Sing His Love - It’s an OK song, pretty simple lyrically, maybe too simple. Definitely too syncopated and rhythmic for us to be able to manage. I guess I’m not a big fan of this song. I just don’t like it that much.

Rest Upon Us - Here we get Danielle for a song. This is a pretty song, but the verses are far too ad-lib to be workable for congregational singing.

The Story - Here we get our first taste of Andy O. I really like this song. If it doesn’t get some serious radio play time then there’s something wrong with the folks that write the playlists. But this is really a radio song, not a congregational Sunday morning song.

The Fountain - Back to Cliff for this one. A nice song, but again, too syncopated and complicated for us to be able to manage it congregationally.

Be Merciful To Me - Danielle this time. This one has potential as a congregational number. It’s simple, fairly repetitive, and it has a good message. I’ll have to give it a shot.

I Surrender All - Cliff again. This is a re-working of the classic hymn. I really like the harmonic progression in the verses, though the melody line may be so close to the original as to be a bit confusing. The chorus is pretty good, though it goes pretty high, which would make it hard for a congregation to sing. This would be on my maybe list…

We Give Thanks - Andy O again. I like this song, I might try to sing along with it if I hear it on the radio. But I don’t think it’s singable for a congregation.

Fellowship - This one I really like. Good lyrics, and I think the song is singable. I will have to give this one a try.

Mercy of my God - I really like the message in this one, I fear that it’s gonna be too tough for my congregation. I might have to try, though, since I like the message so much.

So that’s my roundup of the album. One final note, the CD shipped with just a simple liner giving the song listing. It would’ve been nice to know who wrote the lyrics and music for each song. Not that it affects my opinions on the songs any, but as a fan I’m curious to know whose hand is in all this stuff. I guess I’ll have to wait and buy the official version in March.

coffeehouse time

Tomorrow night I’m providing two hours of musical entertainment at my favorite coffeeshop. I’ll admit to being a little bit nervous, but I imagine it’ll turn out OK. I’m planning on doing about half instrumental stuff and half vocal stuff.

If any of you are in the Cedar Rapids area and want to come, here’s the details:

Brewed Awakenings Coffeehouse 1271 1st Ave SE, Cedar Rapids Friday February 10 8:00 - 10:00 PM

Should be a good time!

10 mistakes conservatives make in art and entertainment

Erik Lokkesmoe has a good article on Townhall.com where he lists 10 mistakes conservatives make in art and entertainment. It’s worthwhile reading and thinking it over. Some excerpts:

Mistake #1: We try to improve art and entertainment from the top-down and the outside-in. For example, when well-meaning people, flush with cash but bankrupt on talent, attempt to “show Hollywood” by creating films that go around proven creative methods, the result is always the same: direct to video, a waste of time and money. Enduring change, meanwhile, comes from the bottom-up (working your way up from the mailroom) and the inside-out (working within the creative industries).

Mistake #2: We don’t quite understand common grace – the idea that the good, the true, and the beautiful can be found in the most “unlikely” of places (Broadway) and people (liberal artists). Without a strong belief in common grace, we will either get angry at the culture or withdraw from it entirely.

Mistake #7: We use the arts to save souls and sway elections. True artists enter their work with a sense of mystery, wonderment, always uncertain what may finally appear on the canvas or film or pages. Children’s author Madeleine L’Engle speaks of her surprise when a certain character appeared unexpectedly in the plot of the novel she was writing. She says, “I cannot imagine the book without [the character], and I know that it is a much better book because of him. But where he came from I cannot say. He was a sheer gift of grace.” A sermon can be artful, and Lord knows campaign ads could use some imagination. Mixing art and agenda, however, is propaganda, whether it comes from the left or the right. If you want to send a message, Samuel Goldwyn rightly said, call Western Union.

Mistake #10: We like safe art. Soggy may be a better term. Easy to digest. Nothing that causes heartburn. Do we really want art that never challenges our convictions, wrestles with our beliefs, or questions our faith? Let’s not forget: beauty is hardly safe, truth is never tame, goodness is anything but trite. Author Franky Schaeffer said it best : “The arts ask hard questions. Art incinerates polyester/velvet dreams of inner healing and cheap grace. Art hurts, slaps, and defines. Art is interested in truth: in bad words spoken by bad people, in good words spoken by good people, in sin and goodness, in life, sex, birth, color, texture, death, love, hate, nature, man, religion, music, God, fire, water, and air. Art tears down, builds up, and redefines. Art is uncomfortable” Finally, and most profoundly, he writes: “Good art (which, among other things, means truth-telling art) is good in itself, even when it is about bad things.”

You should really read the whole thing.

reasonable theological concern, or overly picky?

I was thinking through some songs that we haven’t sung for a while in church, and this issue came to mind, so I thought I’d share it here. One of my main criterion when selecting songs for the church to sing (and I plan the music for almost every week) is that they be theologically sound. This manages to disqualify a substantive number of modern praise songs, and a surprising number of older hymns from our hymnal. I might go so far as to say that this is my primary criterion. Certainly there are others; singability is right up there. But theological correctness has got to be at the top of the list.

So we come to today’s topic: the old chorus “Create In Me A Clean Heart”. The text is pretty much straight from Psalm 51:

Create in me a clean heart oh God,
And renew a right spirit within me.
Create in me a clean heart oh God,
And renew a right spirit within me.

Cast me not away from Thy presence oh Lord,
And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me.
Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation,
And renew a right spirit within me.

My theological nit is with the fifth and sixth lines. When David penned these words some 1500 years before Christ, the threat of having the Holy Spirit taken from him was quite a real one; he had seen a similar thing happen to Saul when Saul rebelled against God. At that time the Holy Spirit didn’t indwell all those who believed in God, but God specifically directed the Spirit to rest on certain people at certain times. But now we’re after Pentecost, and so those that believe are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and the Spirit remains as a seal of our salvation. We’re not in danger of having God take it away.

So on to my theological question. While I love the submissive attitude of the first part of this chorus, I have real questions about singing those two lines, because I think they represent a fear or concern that we shouldn’t have. Is this an appropriate distinction to make? Or am I being overly picky? Your thoughts are appreciated.

odds and ends January 2006

I’ve been a bit haphazard in my posting habits lately, so I’ll just dump a bunch of stuff in here in lieu of a real post. I’ve been reading lots of stuff lately, just not posting. I’ll have to make that change.

I’m headed to Wichita tomorrow for my DER orientation. It’s just a one-day session, so I’ll be on the late flight home tomorrow (back to CID at 10:04 PM). So beginning on Thursday, I will officially be a DER Candidate and can start reviewing stuff and recommending approval of TSO items. It’s a fairly significant new chapter in my career here.

Next topic: congratulations to my friends Lee & Amber Adams on the birth of their daughter Adi Grace early Sunday morning! Adi is their first, and I’m sure they will soon come to find just how wonderful daughters are. :-) Now we just need to take a trip down to see them sometime…

Next topic: Last night was the talent show at church. I did two songs, opening the show with Randall Goodgame’s Susan Coats’ Pants and finishing up the show with Andy Gullahorn’s Holy Flakes. Becky noted afterwards that most people’s response to the former was “huh?” She said it’s mostly a “Chris song”, which I think means that my weird sense of humor appreciates it, but most (normal) people won’t. Oh well, that’s what talent shows are for. The most frequent question after the talent show was “where do you find these songs?” I take great pleasure in knowing that I can dig up songs that nobody’s heard of but that people really like. Of course, I really only get away with it because I’m the only one at the church that listens to all of the Square Peg types.

I guess that’s it for now. I promise I’ll try to write a sensible post soon.

the next album I'll have to buy

Andy Osenga notes today that Ben Shive is going to release his own album. No word yet on when this will happen (Andy intimates maybe sometime this year), but Ben’s website announcing that fact is funny enough to make it worth the read.

Don’t know who Ben Shive is? For shame! The man is a genius, I tell you. Genius.

iTunes meme

Geof did this, and it looked like fun.

Open iTunes to answer the following:

Total number of tracks: 4,336.

Sort by song title:

  • First Song: ” ‘Round Midnight”, Miles Davis, Best of Miles Davis
  • Last Song: “Zoo Station”, U2, Achtung Baby

scary note: these are the same two songs (save for the artist on ‘Round Midnight) as Geof had…

Sort by time:

  • Shortest Song: “One Last ‘Woo-Hoo!’ for the Pullman”, 0:06, Sufjan Stevens, Illinois
  • Longest Song: “Hansel And Gretel And Ted And Alice/An opera in one unnatural act”, 24:40, P.D.Q. Bach, The Intimate P.D.Q. Bach

Sort by album:

  • First Song: “Concerto in D-Minor for Two Violins: 1 - Vivace”, Itzhak Perlman & Isaac Stern, “Double” Concerto for Two Violins
  • Last Song: “Happiness”, 1999 Broadway Revival Recording, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown

Top 10 Most Played Songs:

  1. “The Far Country”, 20 plays, Andrew Peterson, The Far Country
  2. “The Havens Grey”, 18 plays, ibid. T3. “Canaan Bound”, 17 plays, Andrew Peterson, Love and Thunder T3. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, 17 plays, Bob Dylan, The Essential Bob Dylan T3. “Say”, 17 plays, Sleeping At Last, Ghosts
  3. “Lay Me Down”, 16 plays, Andrew Peterson, The Far Country
  4. “The Queen of Iowa”, 14 plays, ibid. T8. “Fields Of Gold”, 13 plays, Eva Cassidy, Live at Blues Alley T8. “I Get a Kick out of You”, 13 plays, Jamie Cullum, Twentysomething. T8. “Lonely People”, 13 plays, Jars Of Clay, Who We Are Instead.

First five songs that come up on Party Shuffle:

This doesn’t really work since Party Shuffle doesn’t pick up the stuff on my iPod, and I don’t have much of anything left stored in my library.

Search for: “sex”, how many songs come up?: zero. “love”, how many songs come up?: 336. “you”, how many songs come up?: 564. “death”, how many songs come up?: Six. “hate”, how many songs come up?: Two. “wish” how many songs come up?: Eleven.