G-d's Music Critics

 
I was being interviewed on the radio a while back. The host and most of the callers were probably over the age of 55, and much of the interview was spent applauding the fact that my CD Meditations: Hymns in the Key of Jazz lifted up the old hymns and spirituals. Along with that, they decried the current worship trends, and Hip-Hop Gospel was a favorite target. I opined that Hip-Hop wasn't all bad, citing some of the positive, socially conscious music my peers and I were listening to in the '80's and early '90's. The host then took the opportunity to state that she could remember all the way back to Rapper's Delight in the late '70's. I let the subtle one upsmanship go, even though I was around then, too.

The word 'anointing' is one church folk like to throw around liberally. The problem is, they use it in a way that infers they are sole arbiters of what's anointed, and what isn't, as if they had been appointed G-d's music critic.

A word for those folks: The Anointing and your personal taste are two different things.

Here's a  personal example. I have to confess that I'm not a big fan of some of the popular Praise and Worship music. The musician in me says, 'There's only three chords in the song, and they didn't even bother to make it rhyme correctly. Yet and still, a whole lot of people find great blessing in this music, despite my misgivings. It would be arrogant, haughty and just plain wrong for me to say that it's not 'anointed' just because it's not my cup of tea.

In the Jazz world a lot of energy is spent arguing about what's 'real Jazz'. The traditionalists have nothing for smooth jazz, and go to great lengths to discredit it. I love straight ahead, but I like listening to smooth jazz, while cruising in my car, for example. At any rate, there are souls to save, hearts to heal and minds to set free. The music I've devoted my life to is not about being cool, deep or impressive. In fact, it isn't about the artist at all. G-d isn't just in the music. G-d is the music. Esoteric arguments about what is or isn't 'real' jazz will have to be waged by someone else at this point. I got work to do.

Bottom line: we all have our tastes, our likes and dislikes. But anointing is much greater than that. Psalms 150 sums it up so well: All types of creative expression can and should be used to praise the name of The Creator of the universe. By the unction of the Holy Spirit, the creative act is how we connect to the Divine source that is G-d. And that is much bigger than any notion of style, or personal taste.