Everything's OK

I've got a big stack-o-papers on my coffee table. (Well, actually, I have stacks-o-papers everywhere, but that's neither here nor there.) This particular stack is of stories I've been meaning to write about for gospelgal.com.

Several of those stories are about the Rev. Al Green, and his recent album, Everything's OK. I think his journey is rich and interesting--sort of a modern-day narrative about Christians, gnosticism and popular culture. Anyhoo, my friend/mentors over at GetReligion.org found this article, which they discuss in this post. It's good stuff.

Green's discussion of jazz musicians like Louis Armstrong made me think of this delightful essay, which recently aired on NPR. When I heard the author say "Jazz is the sound of God laughing. And I believe in it, "I thought, "Me, too!" This is the kind of essay I wish I'd written and published first. Listen and enjoy.

And speaking of jazz and gospel, it would have been cool to hear this collaboration between Ramsey Lewis, Smokie Norful and Darius Brooks. But the music led me elsewhere this past weekend, and it was so very worth it. More about that in my next post.