John Gensel

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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.

Barbara Carroll and bassist Jay Leonhart at a jazz vesper at St Peter's Lutheran Church (2007)

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

  1. ^ Faith Moves with Worshipers Life , Aug. 16, 1954, p. 69
  2. ↑ Harvey G. Cohen Duke Ellington's America , p. 457
  3. ^ Gene Santoro Myself When I am Real: The Life and Music of Charles Mingus. Oxford 2000, p. 180
  4. ^ Billboard Aug. 10, 1968, p. 10
  5. ^ The Jazz Church
  6. ↑ 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
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