The Spirit is Moving: A Jazz Liturgy of Renewal
Location: Plenary Session Hall (Saturday – 2:15 PM or 4:15 PM)
From Congo Square in antebellum New Orleans to the music of Duke Ellington, Mary Lou Williams, and John Coltrane, jazz music has a long history of being explicitly tied to worship and spirituality. This workshop will explore how jazz carries meaning through sound and how it intersects with Lutheran liturgical traditions, including through Jon Ailabouni’s new liturgy setting entitled The Spirit is Moving: A Jazz Liturgy of Renewal.
Presenter:
Jon Ailabouni: Palestinian-American trumpeter, composer, and educator Jon Ailabouni (he/his) is a sought-after musician based in La Crosse, WI. With a background steeped in Western European classical and Black American jazz traditions, Jon’s creative work focuses on instrumental composition and improvisation that uses deeply felt stories as a focal point for expression. Ailabouni’s improvisation as a soloist has been described as “sharp and resourceful” (AllAboutJazz.com). His 2023 album, You Are Not Alone, featuring his original compositions, was released on SkyDeck Music and has been performed at the Iowa City Jazz Festival Main Stage and Cappella Performing Arts Center in La Crosse, WI.
An emerging national leader on the intersection of jazz and liturgical traditions, Jon regularly serves as a guest jazz worship director, bringing the sophistication and soulfulness of the jazz tradition into familiar hymns and liturgy in churches, synod assemblies, and gatherings across the country. His approach to liturgy emphasizes congregational singing, grooves that move the body, and the sacred in the jazz tradition. Ailabouni has self-published over 50 arrangements of hymns, which are available here.
A summa cum laude graduate of Luther College with a degree emphasizing classical trumpet performance, Ailabouni went on to receive a Master of Music degree in Jazz Studies from Western Michigan University (WMU) in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Ailabouni then joined the WMU music faculty, where he taught jazz brass lessons, directed the Jazz Lab Band, and served as co-director of the Western Invitational Jazz Festival. Ailabouni taught on the music faculty of Luther College for eight years and currently serves as an Assistant Teaching Professor at the University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, where he teaches the trumpet studio, Music Appreciation, and directs the Jazz Ensemble and Hoefer Brass Quintet. He is a frequent clinician and guest artist, having made recent appearances at the Tallcorn Jazz Festival at the University of Northern Iowa and the Southern Arkansas University Jazz Festival.