Get set to be uplifted, inspired at Jazz Mass

The choirs of All Saints’ Church and St. George’s Chapel, Rehoboth Beach and Harbeson, Hood College, Frederick, Maryland, and the Andrea Wood Jazz Quartet, NYC, will join forces this year for the annual Jazz Mass, held in conjunction with the Rehoboth Jazz Festival.  Featured will be Dr. Jeremy Fox’s “The People’s Jazz Mass,” which was commissioned by and for All Saints’ and St. George’s.  

Jeremy Fox is a Grammy® nominated arranger, conductor, and educator from Miami, Florida, whose Mass setting is at times lyrical and exciting, and all the while accessible to both musician and listener.  

The first performance of this Mass took place in 2014, rendered by the same musical forces.  Featured also will be the renowned Andrea Wood Jazz Quartet, hailing from New York City, who will offer a prelude to the Jazz Mass performances on Friday, October 14, 7:30 pm, at All Saints’ Church, in addition to providing the Mass accompaniment, as well as solo works to begin and close the service.   

Wood’s fresh take on standard tunes as well as her renderings of popular songs and her own original compositions, combined with the smooth, easy stylings of her bandmates, always delight audiences.  

All Saints’ Church & St. George’s Chapel have been fixtures on the Rehoboth Jazz Festival schedule for two decades, offering a sacred perspective on a genre of music that is uniquely American.   The parish offers a year-round complement of great musical variety, featuring concerts and services showcasing genres ranging from jazz, classical, contemporary, Broadway, medieval, and gospel (to name a few), in a wide variety of musical combinations.  

The parish’s music program is under the direction of Jackson Borges, a native southern Californian who was appointed organist & parish director of Music in 2014.  Dr. Jeremy Fox’s “The People’s Jazz Mass” will take place Saturday, October 15, 6 pm, at All Saints’ Episcopal Church, 18 Olive Avenue, Rehoboth Beach, and Sunday, October 16, 9:30am, at St. George’s Chapel, 20274 Beaver Dam Road (Route 23), Harbeson.  Jackson Borges will conduct the performances.  

For information, check the parish’s website, www.allsaintsandstgeorges.org, or call the church office at 227-7202.