Harold Rayford: “Gospel and Jazz are First Cousins”

by Bob Marovich, The Black Gospel Blog

As a preteen, Harold Rayford stood before the congregation of his home church, the Pentecostal Assembly of Fort Worth, Texas, ready to render a song.

He had no intention of singing.

Instead, he put a shiny saxophone to his lips and let loose a jazzy rendition of Dottie Rambo’s “He Looked Beyond My Faults.”

It was his aunt’s favorite request from then on.

Gospel jazz has taken the young man far. Today, Rayford pastors Faith Hope and Love Worship Center in Madison, Wisconsin and is a Dove Award-nominated gospel jazz saxophonist. His latest CD, I Am the Instrument, will be released by Tyscot Records on August 3, 2010. It was recorded at the intimate Jazz Kitchen in Tyscot’s hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana.

TBGB spoke with Pastor Rayford by telephone from Madison.

“I grew up in Texas and was very involved in music and athletics,” Rayford reminisced. “When I was in the sixth grade, I decided that I wanted to be in the band. The day after I got my saxophone, I took it to church and since then, I have always played in church.” He played sax through high school and college, “but my passion has always been playing in church. I would sit in the corner and play during testimony service and with the choir.”

Rayford said Pentecostal Assembly of Fort Worth (now known as The Chosen Vessel Cathedral) gave him “a wonderful foundation. I was fortunate to grow up in a church where there were never any restrictions on being too jazzy or being too modern. I was able to express myself musically in church. I had some friends who were musicians at other churches that had restrictions. They couldn’t play in the jazz band or the marching band, but that was never the case with me. I was always challenged musically and surrounded myself with the best musicians that I could find, musicians who would push me not only spiritually but musically to be the very best that I could be.”

The pastor’s variety of influences are not limited to saxophonists or even musical styles, though many of his strongest influences are jazz giants such as Freddie Hubbard, Wynton Marsalis, Charlie Parker, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, and Cannonball Adderley. He considers Dr. Vernard Johnson – like Rayford, from Fort Worth – “to be the pioneer of what we now call gospel jazz. He was the person who inspired me the most to use the gift that God has given me and play gospel music.”

He continued: “Gospel jazz is simply instrumental gospel music. It’s something that has been around for a while. In fact, I call gospel and jazz ‘cousins,’ because they were born on the same plantation! If they are not brother and sister, they are at least first cousins, because they have the same history. It’s all about improvisation.”

And gospel jazz is catching on. Rayford’s last album, Always There, was nominated for a Dove Award. “It was quite an honor to be in that awards ceremony,” he said. “But I’m really excited about [I Am the Instrument], and am hopeful that it will also be nominated for other awards, not for the sake of being nominated, but to bring attention to other instrumental artists who are aspiring to do the same thing I’m doing.”

I Am the Instrument is Rayford’s first live recording. “I have always wanted to do a live recording. Some of my most memorable moments as an artist have been live. We talk about gospel and jazz sharing the principle of improvisation, and when you do something live, it definitely involves improvisation. So we wanted to make this a project where we grabbed some of the best musicians we could find, and the results were just as we expected: good quality musicianship from all of the participants, and a unique sound.”

He explained, “The historic jazz albums were never done in a recording studio. They were done live at the so-and-so, and so I wanted to do that. We wanted to lay our hearts out before God and allow the music to minister from the moment, so that the people who were there the night of the recording session will hear on the CD what they heard that night.”

Though I Am the Instrument is Rayford’s first live project, it will definitely not be his last. “To be honest with you, I enjoyed doing the live recording so much, I don’t think I’ll do another studio project. Maybe if I do a studio album, it will be a project like a Christmas album or a tribute album. I’d like to do tribute albums to Andrae Crouch and the Winans, but I suspect that everything I do from now on, outside of the special projects, they are going to be live.

“You can capture some things on the live stage that you cannot recreate in the recording studio.”

For more information about Pastor Rayford or I Am the Instrument, visit www.haroldrayford.com and www.tyscot.com.