Another morning of Grace

The morning of Sunday, August 31, was sunny and mild in bucolic Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania: a lovely, late-summer day that would top out at a comfortable 75 degrees. When Constant Companion Gayna, our friend Scott and I arrived at the First Presbyterian Church at 8:30, the place already was bustling: chairs being placed, programs being stacked, and all manner of other duties necessary for the impending service.

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 Carter's original compositions and 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.)

Once more, with feeling!

Holy Communion Blues!

In addition to being a monumental general announcement, this is a shout-out to Guaraldi fans who live in or near Pennsylvania.

Longtime readers of this blog will recall the marvelous summer of 2015, when not one — but two! — 50th anniversary presentations of Vince Guaraldi's Jazz Mass took place: the first, a concert event, in none other than San Francisco's Grace Cathedral; and the second, a worship service, at the First Presbyterian Church of Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania.

The latter was led by Bill Carter, church pastor since 1990 (!), who also — not coincidentally — has impressive keyboard chops, and has long headed his own Presbybop jazz combo. He spent the better part of a year transcribing Guaraldi's Jazz Mass (also detailed in this blog), since the music never had been written down. He also came to San Francisco for the concert version, the highlight of which was his impromptu four-hands keyboard solo with my good buddy Jim Martinez, the driving force behind that Grace Cathedral event.

(I've truly been blessed — since becoming Guaraldi's official biographer — by getting to know some special jazz folks, who've since become cherished friends.)

Well, hang onto your hats, folks ... apparently Bill wasn't satisfied with having overseen a 50th anniversary service; he has just announced a repeat for the 60th anniversay: 9:30 a.m. Sunday, August 31, once again at the First Presbyterian Church, 300 School Street, Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. Check out the official announcement here.

As was the case a decade ago, the event will begin when I give a brief recitation of how Guaraldi came to write his portion of the Mass, and the not-quite-a-year of rehearsal that took place with the mixed adult/children's choir of St. Paul's Church, in San Rafael, California, back in 1964 and '65.

In anticipation of this diamond anniversary, Bill and I had a delightful chat for WVIA, the local NPR radio station; you can listen to that here.

Needless to say, this will be a banner event, and a terrific way to conclude the summer of 2025. (Pay no attention to the calendar; everybody knows that summer ends after the Labor Day weekend.) 

I look forward to greeting any Guaraldi fans ambitious enough to make the journey.

And of course I'll give a detailed report, after the fact.

Vince would be gob-smacked to know, after all these years, that his Jazz Mass continues to resonate to such a degree.