Nor would this be just any service for “The Church on the Hill,” even by standards firmly established by The Rev. Bill Carter, during his lengthy stint as pastor. As befits one of many music-oriented signs proudly displayed — a sax against a church window, alongside the motto “Jazz belongs in Church” — everybody was racing through final preparations for a 60th anniversary re-enactment of the Vince Guaraldi Jazz Mass, which debuted in San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral, back on May 21, 1965.
Longtime readers of this blog will recall that Rev. Carter — who cheekily bills himself as “preacher and pianist” — leads his own Presbybop Jazz Combo, which has released numerous albums of jazz-hued liturgical music. Longtime readers similarly will recall that Guaraldi’s Jazz Mass also was revived a decade ago, for its 50th anniversary, also at the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit.
I concluded my report of the 2015 service by noting that Rev. Carter expressed a strong desire to revisit the Mass at some point. While he has yet to “take it on the road,” as he suggested back then, he definitely made good on that early promise.
I also was on hand the previous morning, August 30, during a rehearsal involving Rev. Carter (piano), Michael Carbone (sax and flute), Tony Marino (bass), cantors Frank Jones and Kate Leahy, and half a dozen choir members (a modest sampling of the full choirs of First Presbyterian Church and Our Lady of the Snows, a nearby Catholic Church, both of which would be present in full strength the next morning). I immediately was struck by the rich sound coming from the church’s gorgeous new grand piano — donated a few years ago by a grateful individual who chose to remain anonymous — and the very much improved sound system and speakers, granting awesome depth to each note, song and chant, in every corner of the worship hall. (I know, because I kept moving around.)
I also helped Rev. Carter unpack the enlarged photos, facsimile 1965 Grace Cathedral programs and other vintage materials that he carefully had saved since they last were used in 2015.
Now, on Sunday morning, the choir members began to arrive and take their seats. Cantor Jones — who also serves as the church’s director of music, and supervises the sound system and recording equipment — bounced from one duty to another, repeatedly pausing to answer a quick question from a choir member, or confer with Rev. Carter. The latter, in turn, led his combo — now joined by drummer Tyler Dempsey — through a few brief passages of several portions of the Mass, clarifying a segue here, a transition there.
(Marino and Dempsey also were part of the quartet during the 2015 presentation of Guaraldi’s Mass.)
