[27] Miho Hazama's Jazz Mass at Saint Peter's Church | #1Summer50Concerts #JazzWeek

Hazama conducting her ensemble, the Danish Radio Big Band

WHO: Choir of Saint Peter's; Miho Hazama, piano

WHAT: MIHO HAZAMA Jazz Mass

WHERE: Saint Peter's Church

WHEN: June 26, 2019 at 6:00pm

Okay guys, real talk: we're over halfway through. I'm starting to feel the burnout. Not from going to concerts, but 50 reviews, it's a lot to write. So tonight, I'm gonna take it easy: get ready for my bullet-point review of Miho Hazama's Jazz Mass.

I loved...

• how the whole thing felt relaxing, suave, and not intended to blow the roof off.
• how the Sanctus kept switching from 11/8 to 10/8 and then back again -- just as you got into the groove, the choir pulled the rug out from under you
• Miho Hazama's piano part. Half the time it was an exact doubling of the choir, but the other half of the time it was soloistic and full of flourish.
• the sermon, to be honest. You know I'm not man of religion, but their hearts, minds, and (most importantly) politics were in the right place.

I'm still thinking about...

• the tenors who traded four-bar solos. They were very consciously walking the thin line between being creative and offending the pious Wednesday churchgoers.
• the Kyrie, which lasted all of one or two minutes -- mostly homophonic, full of cool chords.
• the sanctuary at Saint Peter's. Like, what is that shape?

I wish...

• they had advertised better! I only heard about it because a friend was singing, and there were maybe ten people there. I was the only one (other than members of the choir) who didn't take communion.
• I could hear the piece outside of a service. In the service, it was weird and clunky. Outside the service, it would have been a super cool 15 minutes of music.
• we were allowed to applaud. Church is weird.