Spiritual Music - Real or Delusion.

Whenever the subject of the spiritual in jazz comes up someone always wonders why some musicians have to delude themselves with spiritual claims. I've seen some wide ranging theories involving the jazz musician's play in society, poverty and the need for empowerment...and even the need to survive in the nefarious city. All of these responses take as given the fact that spirituality is a delusion, especially for musicians. I can't prove that it isn't so. But the words of musicians and my own experiences playing lead me to suspect it's not. And I suspect this based on the power of rhythm.

There's a concept in drum circle circles called entrainment. The idea is that listening and performing to repetitive and complex patterns leads to a sort of trance or meditation. Such entrainment can be seen in the ceremonies of Yoruban based religions like Voudon or Santeria, but also in the Dikr of the Sufis. Traditional religions in the West have lost some of this sense of surrender to the rhythm, perhaps because of it's association with what much of Christianity considers pagan but it does survive in klezmer music, Celtic music and most especially Gospel music.

The suspicion of rhythm and the belief that it was carnal in nature has lead to it's banishment from much Western religious worship. So music based on wild rhythm has been relegated to the secular realm and it's spiritual nature belittled or denied. Indeed entrainment is a powerful thing and out of context can lead to self-destructive excesses. A rave for instance can have an almost spiritual sense of entrainment behind the dancing and the energy, but it is also unregulated and can lead to self-destructive use of drugs and unsafe sex. Its as if the participants cant figure out what to do with all the energy and it winds back on itself.

But imagine how powerful the same experience could be if it was harnessed to the real intension to liberate the participants in some way. In Voudon the dancers actually become one with their gods...the god invoked "mounts" the participant and he or she become the vehicle of the godhead for a moment. That's powerful, and one of the reasons why Voudon has been the rallying cry for the oppressed of Haiti during the last decades. (That the Duvaliers also used the dark side of Voudon to oppress the people doesn't negate the power of this spirituality, but rather demonstrates that it is a double edged sword and music be used responsibly.) The same is true for Pentacostalism in America. The spirituality is most often a means for downtrodden to regain a sense of self...and can often lead to political action as well.

I'm not advocating for jazz spirituality to become some form of religion. Religions are also double edged swords and often work as much against the free flow of the spirit as they do for it. But it's important to remember that music is a powerful thing and can transport people out of themselves...even if only for an hour or so. An hour of honest entrainment can be of immense health benefit, even if the effects wear off. The hope is that like medicine, the listeners will keep coming back for more and that over time the benefits will grow and grow.

Yes...all of this may be delusional. But it would be a lovely thing if it wasn't so I for one choose to act as if it isn't. As in the old adage about chicken soup...it might not help a dead man...but it couldn't hoit.