John Gensel
John Gensel (born February 16, 1917 in Puerto Rico as Juan Garcia Velez , † February 6, 1998 in Muncy , Pennsylvania ) was an American pastor of the Lutheran Church; he became known as the "jazz pastor" of New York.
Life
Gensel grew up with an aunt in Catawissa (Pennsylvania) in the Pennsylvania Dutch area , where he converted from Roman Catholic to Protestant. In 1930 he had the opportunity to hear the Duke Ellington Orchestra in Berwick, Pennsylvania ; since then he has been a jazz fan. He studied at Susquehanna University until 1940 , when he attended Gettysburg Seminary. After serving two congregations in Ohio, where he also looked after construction workers with a mobile chapel, he joined Advent Lutheran Church on Broadway as a pastor in 1956 . He also completed a jazz course with Marshall Stearns at the New School for Social Research ; He regularly visited the jazz clubs in Greenwich Village and Harlem , where he became familiar with numerous musicians such as Max Roach and Charles Mingus . They became friends with him and used him as a contact not only for their emotional needs. He also helped out with his own money to pay rent or a medical bill in emergencies.
In 1961, Gensel began holding jazz services in the church (the first time Charles Mingus and his band were there). In 1968 he recorded the album O Sing to the Lord with the Joe Newman quintet . A new song on.
From 1965 Gensel was officially responsible as pastor for the jazz musicians of New York. In this capacity he trusted Herbie Mann , Bill Evans and Rashied Ali at St Peter's Lutheran Church ; in the same way he arranged the funeral services for Duke Ellington , John Coltrane , Coleman Hawkins , Billy Strayhorn , Thelonious Monk , Erroll Garner , Dizzy Gillespie , Miles Davis and many others in St Peter's Lutheran Church .
Until his retirement in 1993 he regularly organized weekly Vespers in St Peter's Lutheran Church , with jazz musicians providing musical accompaniment; these Vespers continue to the present day. Since 1970 he has also organized a twelve-hour All-Nite Soul 1970 concert once a year with performances by jazz combos, big bands and gospel choirs.
Duke Ellington dedicated the composition The Shepherd (Who Watches Over the Night Flock) to him , which is part of his Second Sacred Music , which, with Gensel's support, premiered in 1968 at the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine . Due to his intimate knowledge of numerous musicians, he was an important witness to jazz research .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Faith Moves with Worshipers Life , Aug. 16, 1954, p. 69
- ↑ Harvey G. Cohen Duke Ellington's America , p. 457
- ^ Gene Santoro Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus. Oxford 2000, p. 180
- ^ Billboard Aug. 10, 1968, p. 10
- ^ The Jazz Church
- ↑ See Vivian Perlis, Libby Van Cleve Composers Voices from Ives to Ellington: An Oral History of American Music Yale University Press 2005, pp. 409f., Lewis Porter Lester Young Twayne 1985, pp. 2, 28, Paul F. Berliner Thinking in Jazz: The Infinite Art of Improvisation , p. 459 and Gene Santoro, Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus , p. 260
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Gensel, John |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Velez, Juan Garcia (maiden name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American clergyman |
DATE OF BIRTH | February 16, 1917 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | Puerto Rico |
DATE OF DEATH | February 6, 1998 |
Place of death | Muncy , Pennsylvania |