In the world of comic books, Superman had his place to retreat, the Fortress of Solitude. It was located near the North Pole, far away from the world's distraction and hectic pace. It was his secret place. I also have a secret, retreat place. It's a place to meet with a real-life hero, Jesus of Nazareth.
I used to call it "my cave", but it's not a place to escape from life, nor is it a hole in the ground. I don't run to it only when things go bad, or when I get wounded. When I'm there, I'm not in the dark. You see, it's a place filled with light. When I go there the atmosphere of Heaven surrounds me. It's where I find strength, strategies, and revelation. It's my high tower. It's my personalFortress of Solitude.
That's right, Deep Unto Deep now has sound. Whenever you open this site, you'll hear this music. Feel free to turn it off or lower the volume (or keep it cranked, if you like). You can add your own YouTube favorites by clicking the + sign to the right of each selection in the list, and following the prompts. If you press the video button, you can view the video that accompanies the sound.
While in video mode, you can find more info about each selection, by clicking the You Tube icon in the screen area. If you have any thoughts about the MixPod player or my selections (perhaps a suggestion for appropriate music), please leave a comment at the blog comment section below. Enjoy.
Hill Where the Lord Hides Here is another video from the Friends and Love Concert posted elsewhere. The piece played here is "Hill Where The Lord Hides". This song was especially dear to me back then. As a high school freshman, just starting out on the trumpet, I loved to listen to Chuck's music.
But this song in particular was close to my heart. I would play my recording and do what many Jesus followers now call "soaking". I would "soak and drift in" the music, while breezing in its uplifting currents. I could play that vinyl recording over and over again. As I did so, I would think of that title and imagine that hilltop where God hides from most men.
As the music played, I could visualize my steep upward climb through the dense brush, finally arriving at the place where I would find my Jesus waiting for me. For me, it was an imagined mountaintop, much like the fortress of solitude I describe here on this blog. For Moses, it was Sinai. For Abraham and son, it was Mt. Moriah. And Jesus had His Calvary, as God the Father hid his face from His Son, mankind's savior.
That was way back in 1973, when you couldn't find much of a selection of Christian worship or soaking music. I was delighted that one of my jazz heroes would even mention the Lord in his song title.
Below, all the way down at the bottom of this post, you'll find two video treasures with some beautifully written music. It's from Chuck Mangione and features Don Potter, an outstanding Christian worship leader and musician. I remember this album when it came out, but didn't realize it was Don Potter on guitar and vocals. Don is truly the consummate musician's musician. I deeply enjoy his musicianship and expressive love for God.
This is from 1970. The conductor is Chuck Mangione, before the trademark hat. Although it isn't a worship setting in the traditional sense, the vocals (written by Gap Mangione, I believe) are especially meaningful. The words speak of a man's cry for deeper meaning, but in it, I could hear a cry for God and the need for God to fill. I hear Don's cry.
On this video are many musicians that I respect. Trumpeters Marvin Stamm, Vince DiMartino, and Al Porcino, saxophonists Gerry Niewood, and Chris Vadala, the entire Rochester Philharmonic, and many others from the Eastman School Of Music crowd from back then.
I loved listening to Chuck from this period, but I also like his early years with Art Blakeys Jazz Messengers. Chuck's arrangements and orchestrations always had this uplifting, spiritual quality, not the faux-spiritual, humanistic parallel present in so much of the 'searching-but-never-really-finding' culture at large. I have watched those "King Of The Hill" TV episodes where they poke fun at Chuck (some very funny satire), but I think Chuck is an underrated musician and composer (a downright genius, ok?) who taps into extraordinary levels of expression.
Chuck has a quality that is highly valuable to any musician or artist, prophetic or not - ACCESSIBILITY. I don't know if Chuck knows Jesus. I hope and pray he does (for his own sake), but his music touches the heavenly realm. I'm sure I'll ruffle a few feathers with that one. So be it. I learned a lot from Chuck about music message, presentation, artistic potency and sensitivity. God used those Mangione lessons in my life walk to give him glory.
One fond memory from my youth was about the typical bus ride on the way home from my High School. I rode the "green limousine", another name for a Chicago CTA bus. My daily trip was a five mile ride with a transfer to a second bus. On most days I would stop at the record store one mile away from home. I was a sight to behold. I always carried a full, draw-string book bag over my shoulder, along with my trumpet and a large, black portfolio of my latest artwork.
I was known at the record store as "the trumpet kid with all the bags". I would be there at about 3:30, and claim a "listening room" (a small acoustic tiled room for "spinning sides" or playing vinyl LP records, if you will. You could sample any album before buying. I usually didn't buy. They put up with a lot of my nonsense. I would hog up that room for hours or as long as any serious art and music student had time for). I'd play selections from the latest music from Chuck, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Cannonball Adderley, etc. Then I would go home and work out the solos I had just heard earlier.
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Another thing I learned about 'Signore Mangione, Il Maestro':
When Chuck was a kid, Chuck's father would bring him and brother Gap, to see the visiting jazz musician in town. He brought him to see Dizzy Gillespie. Chuck's father made sure that his kids met him and even would invite him to pasta from Mrs. Mangione.
My early life had similar parallels. Although I didn't have a family member bringing me to concerts or introducing me to jazz legends, I did it on my own. I would invite them to my family's house for dinner and would pester a private lesson out of them (with notables like Dizzy Gillespie, Art Farmer, or Clark Terry). The interaction with these legendary musicians greatly sped up my musical progress. This approach I learned directly from Chuck Mangione, or maybe I should credit his parents.
I find it amazing how God will use influences of all types, even those outside His church, to hone an expressive voice in one of His kids. Don't you?
(Note: Before you watch, you'll want to pause the MixPod video player located on this page to the left, right above the "About Me" section.)
http://youtu.be/1hw_6s-dHR8
(Note: Do you recognize this very young Don Potter?)
http://youtu.be/gK8acjgnAm0
More from that concert at this post. Click —>>>(Click here)
Much of the secular, modern art movement is focused on shock art, that is, art with a negative pole that drains the viewer's positive pole. The movement of Kingdom artisans, who focus on God's beauty realm, is producing art with a positive pole that fills the viewer's negative pole. The battery is inverted to it's proper position, filling rather than draining.
These prophetic artists are like "the 288" in scripture, that Israel put in the front of the army when going into battle. The 288 were singers, musicians, and dancers, that worshiped God as they marched . While Israel focused on God with worship, God smote the enemy, without Israeldirectly engaging the enemy (kinda like Martin Luther King's nonviolent protest, or the life movement's protest with red tape over mouths).
What we do, in this "Army of Artisans", is combat the kingdom of darkness, by focusing on the good of God. God does the rest.
We are enamored and enthralled with beauty. Even when we describe ugly we do so through the eyes of beauty beholders. I have a friend, who is enjoying success as a painter. His trademark paintings are interpretations of rotten fruit. When I see his work, I am deeply moved by his injection of beauty into the ugly. What once was an object to be tossed into the trash becomes immortalized on canvas, moving people to tears.
You see, God don't like ugly. When we, as His focused artisans and musicians, express ourselves, beauty pours out from us. It's all because of Him.
I really enjoy Larry Randolph's ministry. He makes some good points especially valuable to us artist types. Yes Larry, I have been created with 'muscle for the tussle' *.
A new painting already exists, in my mind's eye, for this new poem. It's already finished in my head. It just hasn't been executed yet on a physical canvas. Likewise, I'm feeling the pull, to go into the recording studio with the trumpet.
This one is sparking me back to my bebop jazz roots. I 'd like to put something together with poetic narration supported by an acoustic jazz quartet.
