Jazz As Sacramental Sonance: Music for the Eschaton Part 1: Blue Argyle Socks from Grandma like Jazz

Music for the Eschaton Part 1: Blue Argyle Socks from Grandma like Jazz

Published Monday, November 13, 2006 by Robert | E-mail this post

A best selling less-than-articulate author once said:

"I never liked jazz music because jazz doesn't resolve. But sometimes you have to watch somebody love something before you can love it yourself ...I used to not like God because God didn't resolve..."

As a jazz musician, I don't really know what he's talking about. Resolution is not a requirement of jazz, but it certainly is permitted. Just because we don't understand something, doesn't mean it doesn't have order or resolution. In fact, I think disliking jazz has very little to do with resolution. Its actually much bigger, much broader than that. What people don't like about jazz is that it doesn't adequately meet their preconceived musical expectations.

As kids around Christmas time, we truly learned how place our contentment on expectations. We made lists, vicariously shopped through the JC Penny catalog, wrote letters to Santa and perhaps did nothing short of campaign to our parents (that was if they were lucky). Me, I was the type of kid that had great expectations, but rarely spoke of them. This was my way of "hedging" my own disappointment.

On the morning of December 25th we anxiously awoke to see. Upon opening the various gifts, we knew that most surprises are bad surprises. That pair of baby blue argyle socks from grandma. The flannel pjs that I really needed. A coat... No, we didn't wanted to be surprised on Christmas. That was a myth! We wanted to open those packages and see that what was in them was exactly what we expected to be in them. The very things that, we as children, were entitled too. What ultimately determined whether or not we really liked Christmas was the degree to which our expectations were met.

That leads me to my point. Jazz is like God, Donald. Whether we admit it or not, we Christians heap tremendous expectations on what God is doing in us, through us, for us. (not unlike the expectations we had for Santa Claus... strangely enough, this idea is logically consistent with Arminian theology... hence it's overwhelming popularity in our culture) When Gods plans don't meet our expectations for our lives, we dislike Him.

We dislike God when He brings dissonant suffering into our lives. We don't expect suffering. We expect pleasure and room for self reliance from God. The unique thing about Christianity as a world view is that it offers us resolution. Only Christians can actually celebrate discomfort. Why should we be excited by dissonance? Why does the bible tell us to rejoice in suffering? Because, it points us to the resolution. It points us to the "not yet". Robert Johnson is singing a song that started with Adam. John Coltrane is playing notes from Job. Blues is music for the Covenant. Jazz is music for the Eschaton.

Note: Tonal blues elements actually resonate naturally in physics as they are an extension of the overtone series. One could argue that its presence in worship liturgy is as appropriate (or more) than the western "tempered based" classics.

Maybe Christianity should come with a disclaimer: "what you don't know God (or jazz) may hurt you".

Labels: Jazz, Theology