In late 1999 I read an article in "The Hill," a neighborhood publication that comes out every few months in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn.  The article—"Hymn Pan Alley," by Ed Moran, a local writer, hymnist, and historian—told how a number of very influential hymnists had lived and worked in the neighborhood during the late 19th century.  These folks, living here as the neighborhood was developing in the midst of a world-wide religious revival, wrote music that became mainstays of church hymnals for generations.  Songs by Robert Lowry (Shall We Gather at the River), Fanny Crosby (Blessed Assurance), Cleland McAfee (Near to the Heart of God), and Ira Sankey (The Ninety and Nine, Marching to Zion) were sung in churches, black and white, throughout the 20th century.  I immediately thought of how many musicians, especially jazz and R&B artists of color, credited the church as being integral to their musical development.  I remembered an interview with the great jazz vibraphonist, Milt Jackson, who said that throughout his career he'd been playing basically what he grew up in church.  It hit me that this neighborhood, where I had lived after moving from Chicago in 1994, was an integral part of American music history.

With the help of both Ed Moran and the Rev. David Dyson of Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church, as well as Art Norregaard of the Baptist Temple, I spent a couple of years looking through dusty, old hymnals and reading about the Fort Greene hymn composers.  Eventually I decided that I wanted to write a piece for my New-Trad Octet ensemble that would honor these composers and my neighborhood's influence on American history.

The resulting “Hymn Pan Alley”—Ed gave me permission to use his term for the title—is a suite of movements incorporating melodic material gleaned from the Gospel hymns written by these historic composers in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood.  Although Robert Lowry, Fanny Crosby, Ira Sankey, and the others represented in this work did not all live in Fort Greene concurrently, I tried to imagine what I would hear if they were working on their most famous tunes as I strolled outside on a warm summer day, listening through open windows.  The work is based on nine different hymns written by five different composers.  The piece has been presented twice, for its premiere in 2003 at Brooklyn's Baptist Temple, where Fanny Crosby wrote a hymn for its centennial, and was played in a concert 2004 at the Hanson Place Seventh Day Adventist Church, the same building where Robert Lowry wrote "Shall We Gather at the River" in 1853 when it was the First Baptist Church.  The piece will be presented a third time by Jeff Newell's New-Trad Octet at 3:00 P.M. this Sunday, October 17, at Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church—tickets are $15 for adults and free for children 12 & under.  This church was pastored by hymnist Cleland McAfee and had hymnist Ira Sankey as one of its members.  Members of Jeff Newell's New-Trad Octet will also be presenting a brass band workshop at the church on Saturday, October 16 from 10:00 to noon.  Workshop tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for young people 17 and under.