Bill Carter and The Presbybop Quartet: News

Sometime next year, we hope to hold a Jazz and the Church Conference at the Stony Point Center, 17 Cricketown Road, Stony Point, NY 10980. A conference blog has been set up at http://jazzinchurch.blogspot.com to share plans, to begin conversations, and to build awareness.

You can sign up as a "Follower" on the blog to receive news and to take part in the conversations. Invite your friends and save the dates!

We are pleased to announce that a new recording is in development. Want to know what we are doing? Want to help us get there? Click the icon, watch the film, and help us out!

Check out new calendar dates for Fall 2010. Hope to see you in our travels!

We are delighted to announce a new book by Bill Carter, which is exclusively available on our website. The new work is called Jazz in the Pulpit – Biblical Reflections on the Syncopated Art.

Almost twenty years in preparation, it includes nineteen sermons that Bill has preached around the country, all of them offering biblical reflections on the art of jazz. Also included are three of the major speeches that he has given at national conferences. There is no other book like this. Bill thinks theologically about jazz – and this remarkable work is the fruit of his work.

The book is over 100 pages long. It is published as an e-book in PDF format. It is instantly available at http://www.oronjo.com/live/next/?fi=73984 for an introductory price of $10 through PayPal.

Want to read a sample? A free download of two chapters is available at this link: http://www.oronjo.com/live/next/?fi=73985.

Bill Carter will present some music and a workshop as part of the “Songs for Peace and Justice” conference, held October 10-14 at the Stony Point (NY) conference center.

You can find registration information on this extraordinary gathering at http://www.stonypointcenter.org/article.php?story=20100526131543662

We have a Facebook page - with sound and video clips. Look for “Bill Carter and the Presbybop Quartet.” Sign up as a friend and be the first to get updates and news!

We asked for helpful input on our next album – and lots of people answered the call. Three lucky winners were selected for a free Presbybop CD of their choice: Mary Lou, Judy, and Jill. If you wanted to offer input but did not have the chance, you can still visit the survey at www.surveymonkey.com/s/CJLXGP5

We want your input about our next CD. Three lucky people who reply will receive a CD or DVD of their choice!

Click here to take survey

Hello everybody - We have been posting video clips on YouTube. They give an excellent view of what one of our jazz services looks like. Here are the clips thus far, with web links:

Litany of Confession - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaR4DDAXpRw
Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4x1Xsxhhqrs
Welcome Home (vocal solo) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHpwJ5Q8McU
Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdJEyY2NDpE
We hope these clips will give you a glimpse of what we do, especially in a worship setting. Of course, it's not quite like being there...

Hello everybody - and Merry Christmas! Our Christmas edition of "The Spirit of Jazz" Podcast is now available. Listen or subscribe at http://www.presbybop.com/blog/.

Also, for a limited time, you can download a free copy of "Angels We Have Heard On High," a great tune from our Fragile Incarnation album. Right-click and save this link: http://www.presbybop.com/audio/BILL_CARTER_AND-Angels_We_Ha_hifi.mp3. It's available for ten days, until December 25.

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas from Bill and the gang at Presbybop Music

Be sure to check out "The Spirit of Jazz" podcast. You can listen and subscribe at http://www.presbybop.com/blog/. Three shows are produced, and a Christmas show is coming very soon. Sign on and explore the connections between jazz and faith!

Hi everybody -

Our new podcast is LIVE! It's called "The Spirit of Jazz." You can find the first two episodes at http://www.presbybop.com/blog/. Check them out and let us know what you think!

To subscribe to these and upcoming episodes, go to http://www.presbybop.com/blog/?feed=podcast.

This is exciting news for us. Tune in and keep in touch!

Bill and the gang at Presbybop Music

 

 

Thanks to all who responded to our recent internet survey for Presbybop Music. Here are the general results:

Should we start a podcast? Overwhelmingly YES (95%), except for a few people like Bill's mom who asked "what's a podcast?"

How frequently should we produce it? About 60% said "monthly," while another 28% said "whenever." Exactly what we were thinking!

What kind of content should we include? Most responses said "insights on jazz and the life of faith," "Bill's sermons and talks on jazz and faith, and "how to use jazz in worship." Clearly, the content will be varied. And a surprising number (48%) said "shameless plugs for Presbybop stuff." Well, OK - your wish is our desire.

What should we call it? A near majority said "Faith in a New Key" (the title of our first CD), but Bill is having second thoughts about that. Our research suggests the title needs to be brief, widely appealing, and edgy. If you have any fresh ideas, send them to bill@presbybop.com. If we pick it, we will send you a free CD.

How long should the podcast be? Answers were divided between "15 minutes" and "25 minutes." So we'll put together something in that range.

And who is our lucky survey winner? It's Ginny VanWie Sulick. She was selected randomly by daughter Meg Carter as "Number 13." -- that is, the thirteenth person to respond to the survey. Ginny will receive a free copy of our new DVD, "Listening to Selah: Psalms Without Words Live."

We appreciate your interest, and the incredible response that our survey received. We will begin production of the podcast in the fall. More news to come!

Here is some exciting news! Our brand-new double CD, "Psalms Without Words" is available for sale on this site. Go to our "CDs and Sheet Music" page, or click directly to http://cdbaby.com/cd/presbybop7.

The companion DVD, "Listening for Selah - Psalms Without Words Live" is also available at http://cdbaby.com/cd/presbybop6. To see two video clips from the DVD on the project blog, at http://psalmswithoutwords.blogspot.com/.

We have received word that the Louisville Institute is supporting our "Psalms Without Words" project with a generous grant. The Institute is a grant-making organization of the Lilly Endowment, based on the campus of Louisville Presbyterian Seminary.

This is wonderful news! We will use the funds to convene and record our cohort of musicians as they interpret Bill's new compositions.

Stay tuned. This will push the project fast-forward, and we'll have much to share in the near future.

Hi everybody - here's a fun little clip that we've compiled from a recent rehearsal session for the Psalms Without Words project. The accompanying tune is "Everybody Dance," an instrumental version of Psalm 150 that I've enjoyed putting together.

Just click the clip, and enjoy the tune!

Hi everybody - We are preparing to go into the studio soon, and begin recording our "Psalms Without Words" project. Bill has begun a new blog to describe the process, post audio and video clips, and reflect on the purpose of the project. We'll also have some special surprises posted along the way!

Check out the new CD blog by clicking http://psalmswithoutwords.blogspot.com/
We hope you will join us for the journey!

Due to popular request, we had posted four MP3 samples online from one of our recent Christmas concerts. Christmas is over, but stay tuned as we start thinking about what we might do with the mew holiday music. Thanks, as always, for your love and support for creative music.

Have a joyful and jolly Christmas!
- Bill and the Presbybop gang

From time to time, people ask if they can contribute to the work that we do. While we are not a tax-deductible entity, we are delighted when good friends become our partners by supporting our work.

So here's your opportunity. Want to support the musical work we do? Interested in supporting our next recording project? We invite you to give generously by clicking here:

We hope you are enjoying the last days of summer.

It seems everybody wants to find the sheet music for "Welcome Home," Bill's beautiful ballad that was the title cut of our most recent CD. Due to popular request, it is now available as a PDF download through our website. You can purchase it safely by credit card by going to our product page on this ssite.

Also available is "Prayer of Confession," one of Bill's compositions for jazz worship services. Based on an F minor blues (and scored for SATB choir), it is an effective piece for bringing a jazz tonality into the church sanctuary.

Want the music for any of our other tunes? Just let us know, and we'll make them available when there is sufficient interest.

The Louisville Institute recently interviewed our piano player for their summer newsletter. It seems that he took a sabbatical last summer and wrote a lot of music. To read about the process, click on www.louisville-institute.org/newsletter/Intersections%20Summer%202007.pdf
By the way: the picture on the article was taken in front of the abbey on the island of Iona, just hours before Bill wrote a new tune for the Quartet called "Iona Morning." To hear a very rough version of it, go to the music page of this site and give the title a click.

We've been overwhelmed by the response to our new music. Apparently it is resonating deeply with our audience. So plans are afoot for a new recording project to take place in late February. It will be an
ambitious two-CD set of many of the "Psalms Without Words" that Bill has been writing. The Quartet will be featured in all kinds of musical configurations, with a number of special friends sitting in.

We are beginning to look for funding partners for the project. Do you believe in what we are doing? Want to help us make some faith-based jazz? Would you find some deep inner joy by making our art possible?
Here is your opportunity! Let Bill know of your interest by dropping him a note at bill@presbybop.com

The band will get around a bit this fall. The annual jazz communion extravaganza at Bill's church will take place on September 2 and will
feature the bebop of Thelonious Monk. It seems the famed composer traveled with a Gospel group before hooking up with Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, and loved to play the hymn "Abide with Me."

Other travels will take us to Jersey, Carolina, and Central PA. See the site for the dates!

We are also planning a big collaboration with the Lyric Consort, an eight-voice acapella choir that specializes in early polyphonic music. In early May, we will present a concert of jazz and Gregorian
chant. Stay tuned for more information!

Hi everybody - just back from a tour of Pittsburgh, Cleveland, and Erie. Check out the blog report at http://graceandthanks.blogspot.com/2007/05/on-road.html
Keep in touch!

The folks at APCE have posted four of my sermons on their website. You can read them at http://apcenet.org/events/annual-prev.htm

Winter is a time for reflection and rest - - but we have been busy.

We had a wonderful trip to Philadelphia last month. Bill was the featured preacher for the Association of Presbyterian Church Educators, who gathered for an annual conference. The band arrived for a concert at the end of the week and led a jazz service for the conclusion of the conference. The Christian Educators know how to have a good time! Some time next week, APCE will post his four sermons on their website. For more information, check out www.apcenet.org
From four nights in the Philadelphia Marriott, we went on to engagements in Wayne, PA (immortalized in the book *Bobos in Paradise*) and the Abington (PA) Presbyterian Church. Our drummer Ron Vincent came down with a nasty illness at the beginning of the tour, but showed extraordinary strength and couage. Watch out for those nasty germs out there!

A jazz vespers will take place this Sunday, March 11, at our "home base" in Clarks Summit. We will play a series of new compositions that Bill composed during last summer's sabbatical. As of late, he has been thinking more and more of jazz as a form of contemplative prayer -- shaped by the psalms. This was the heart of his sabbatical reflections, and has been a fertile source of new music for the band.

Since it is a cold day here in the northern mountains of Pennsylvania, we have loaded an appropriate sound clip on our website. It is a live version of one of Bill's unrecorded tunes, titled "Winter Must Thaw." We play it whenever we need a cheerful reminder that the present cold snap will come to an end. Until the snow melts, it will be posted at http://www.presbybop.com/music.html. Give it a listen -- and hang on to your hope!

I have a new blog. Check it out at http://graceandthanks.blogspot.com/
Keep in touch - a late winter newsletter will soon appear!

I'm packing to do some mission work with our church. Tomorrow we fly to Gulfport, Mississippi, to rebuild homes after Hurricane Katrina. Usually I'm not allowed to work with power tools -- but this is important. Our team will be in D'Iberville for a week.

Meanwhile, I've begun to rehearse some new music with the guys. Over the summer, I wrote about twenty-five new compositions based on the biblical psalms. It was part of a sabbatical project funded by the Lilly Endowment.

A lot of the new tunes will be premiered at a concert in Clarks Summit on Sunday, November 19. Check out this site for more details!