Annual General Meeting Rescheduled to Sunday, February 8th, 2026
Our Jazz series climaxes this Sunday as we celebrate the multicultural roots that grew into the explosion of black music.
We have traced the origins from Spirituals as led by First Baptist Church of Cranford. These songs were lived out on the plantations as testimony of an Afro-centric Christianity brought from Africa in resistance to the form of Christianity practiced by the enslavers. When freedom was won, these musical roots evolved into Jazz, soul, rap, ska, reggae, and calypso.
This Sunday, we celebrate these roots which draw upon the banana harvesting in Jamaica, expressed in Caribbean Jazz “Day “O” to the Mississippi delta of “Cotton Picking” and back across the Atlantic to Olutunji’s “Akiwowo” chant, which blends Ghanaian song to Afro-centric spirituality.
The young will meet the old as the elders pass on the history and music. The St Elizabeth’s Jazz chorale of the Sunday School will express in poetry, music, and song, along with Mr. Van Frazier, accompanied by Kim Baker.
Join us for a celebration of Jazz Sunday at 9:00 am.