Bill and Jeff talk about the new album on TV

Here's an opportunity to hear Bill Carter and Jeff Kellam talk about Lux Aeterna: A Jazz Requiem and the album, "The Dancing Calvinist." 

What's up with the cover art?

What should we put on the cover of an album that includes both creative jazz tunes and a requiem? Good question.

We could have gone with a picture of a sunset, suggesting peace and solace, which (of course) is the intent of Lux Aeterna: A Jazz Requiem. But there is more to the album than that. 

The music is arranged to create a 74-minute narrative, of which the requiem is the centerpiece. Beginning with an unlikely setting of a psalm tune from the Reformation, the music signals an integration of jazz and faith, which is our continuing "project" at Presbybop Music. It's jazz with a purpose.

So, to visually suggest that integration, we commissioned Charlie Baber to create a striking image - of John Calvin twirling in a pirouette. A ridiculous image? No, not at all - but one that pushes through the artificial divisions between faith and jazz. 

Sure, it was a risky decision. Just like the music we make.

Charlie is a United Methodist deacon, and very willing to have some fun with drawing Calvin. We like his work very much.