Music and Religion on Huffington Post

Daniel J. Kushner: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival and the Invisible Architecture of Musical Taste

2012-05-22T10:27:46Z

Upon experiencing Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, however -- the New York City festival that Bryce Dessner and Aaron Dessner of the band The National were commissioned by Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) to curate -- genre distinctions emerged more grossly superficial than ever before.

Read more: Ecstatic Music Festival, Music Festivals, Genre Labels, Buke and Gase, Judd Greenstein, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival, My Brightest Diamond, Brooklyn Academy of Music, So Percussion, Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner, Brooklyn, New York City, Arts News

VIDEOS: Best Of Legendary Singer Donna Summer's Gospel Songs

2012-05-19T08:11:40Z

Donna Summer, affectionally called Queen of Disco, passed away on the 17th of May. She was 63 and died battling cancer.

While Donna Summer might b...

Read more: Music-and-Religion, Donna Summer Gospel Songs, Donna Summer Christian Music, Video, Donna Summer Christian, Donna Summer Gospel, Slideexpand, Donna Summer Christian Songs, Donna Summer, Religion News

Kristin M. Swenson, Ph.D.: The Power Of Music: Holiness Hitches A Ride

2012-05-16T12:39:23Z

I feel bad for the psalms. Their music, the tunes supposed to accompany them, has been lost to us. Though you may call me sacrilegious, I do not believe that they alone possess sanctifying power.

Read more: Psalms, Bible, Old Testament, Hebrew Bible, Scripture Study, Scripture Commentary, Jewish Music, Christian Music, Sacred Sounds, Religion News

Joey Weisenberg: WATCH: Table Top Rhythms for Jewish Singing

2012-05-03T16:21:01Z

In traditional synagogues, many Jews refrain from playing instruments on the Sabbath. I treat this instrumental limitation as an opportunity to creatively explore the musical and spiritual possibilities that exist outside of instruments.

Read more: Sacred Sounds, Judaism, Shabbat, Torah, Sabbath, Mechon Hadar, Jewish Music, Joey Weisenberg, Video, Religion News

WATCH: Palestinian And Israeli Youth Make Music Together To Promote Peace: This Week's Faith Inspires

2012-04-26T11:26:01Z

Palestinian and Israeli youth making happy, hopeful music together? When pigs fly!

Seriously though. "Bukra Fi Mishmish" (When Pigs Fly) is a song ...

Read more: Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Nonviolence, Video, Sacred Sounds, Faith Inspires, Interfaith, Israel, Heartbeat, Peace, Religion News

Rabbi Daniel Brenner: Is Drake's 'Re-Bar Mitzvah' A Mockery Of Judaism?

2012-04-16T13:12:17Z

Drake has never been reticent about his Jewish roots. But what does his latest song have to do with bar mitzvah? And how should we react when a video for a song that relates a life of private jets, expensive alcohol, pills and sexually aggressive women is shot in a synagogue?

Read more: Biracial, Bar Mitzvah, Hip-Hop, Drake, Judaism, Black and Jewish, Sacred Sounds, Religion News

Rabbi Yonah Bookstein: Kosha Dillz Brings Passover Seder To Hip Hop Fest

2012-04-03T17:14:03Z

"This might be the first time in history that anyone ever combined live hip-hop and Passover," said Kosha Dillz. "For me its the only way I can play this amazing festival with family approval."

Read more: Mac Miller, Seder, Paid Dues, Kosha Dillz, Hip Hop, Passover, Jewish Music, Sacred Sounds, Judaism, Religion News

Lorenzo Candelaria: Lent: Music For A Penitential Season

2012-03-22T12:09:49Z

As we renew our Lenten resolutions at the midpoint of this season, perhaps we might consider doing so as Pope Paul III did centuries ago -- reflecting on Michelangelo's Last Judgment.

Read more: Circumdederunt Me, James Morrow, Sacred Music, Golden Century, St. Ambrose, Pope Paul III, Michelangelo, Lamentabatur Jacob, Catholic Church, Sistine Chapel, San Fernando Cathedral, Cristóbal De Morales, Last Judgment, Ensemble VIII, Siglo De Oro, Spain, Jacob , Lent, Video, Religion News

Howard Fishman: Live Music As A Spiritual Experience

2012-03-22T11:23:00Z

So many of the things that make our lives faster, easier, more convenient, also distance us from ourselves and from one another. At my concerts, I make a point of calling everyone's attention -- mine too -- to the present moment.

Read more: Sacred Sounds, Howard Fishman, Spiritual Music, Music, Live Music, Music and Religion, Video, Religion News

Dan Deacon Learns To Write For Humans

2012-03-16T09:45:51Z

This is the first in a brief series exploring the Ecstatic Music Festival, a two-month-long musical event pairing musicians from the contemporary clas...

Read more: Ecstatic Music Festival, NOW Ensemble, Video, Kaufman Center, Judd Greenstein, Dan Deacon Ecstatic Music Festival, Dan Deacon, So Percussion, Merkin Concert Hall, Calder Quartet, Ecstatic Music Festival 2012, Culture News

Marcus Gray: Hope Through Hip Hop

2012-03-12T17:00:32Z

Hip hop, what a wonderful creation. What a great contribution to humanity. How many people have been encouraged by hip hop culture and rap music? Billions, I'm sure. As a Christian hip hop artist, I understand it's amazing reach.

Read more: Christianity, Christian Music, Hip Hop, Bv-Pop-Culture-Entertainment, Christian Hip Hop, Black Voices News

Tourists Flock To Black Churches For Music, But Tensions Rise

2012-03-11T11:43:28Z

NEW YORK -- The stern warning issued from the pulpit was directed at the tourists – most of whom had arrived late – a sea of white faces w...

Read more: Harlem, Gospel Music Church, Black Churches, Gospel Music, Bv-Sunday, New York City Tourism, Black Voices News

Michael Gilmour: U2, Aung San Suu Kyi And The Prophet Jeremiah

2012-03-05T13:54:27Z

In U2's retelling, restoration comes through both humanitarian efforts and divine intervention. The promise and hope of both is that all will "live in safety."

Read more: Book of Jeremiah, Aung San Suu Kyi, U2, Myanmar, All That You Can't Leave Behind, Burma, Bono, Sacred Sounds, Scripture Commentary, Religion News

Ankita Rao: WATCH: The Spirit Of Tabla

2012-03-02T11:00:57Z

Tabla, one of the oldest Indian drums to date, lends an increasingly common rhythm to movie soundtracks, world music compilations and fusion songs. The Chhandayan School of Music tries to sustain the spirituality of the practice.

Read more: Hinduism, Sacred Sounds, Religion and Music, Chhandayan School of Music, Indian Music, Spiritual Music, Tabla, Religion News

From Rock Stars To Choir Boys: Heavy Metal Stars That Found God

2012-02-17T12:07:41Z

Megadeth bassist David Ellefson recently caused a stir on the heavy metal news outlets when he revealed in an interview with St. Louis Today that he w...

Read more: Religion and Music, Heavy Metal, Sacred Sounds, Religion News

Wallace Best, Ph.D.: The Soundtrack Of Black America: Celebrating The Top 10 Gospel Songs

2012-02-13T06:44:27Z

Gospel music is the most authentically black cultural expression and the most glorious music on earth with a sound and a feeling all its own.

Read more: Sacred Sounds, Slidepollajax, Gospel Music, Gospel Songs, Gospel, Greatest Gospel Songs, Best Gospel Songs, African American History, Black History Month, Religion News

WATCH: Remembering Whitney Houston's Faith Through Her Gospel Singing

2012-02-12T00:06:55Z

Whitney Houston is dead at 48 years old.

She was found and pronounced dead at the Beverly Hills Hilton on Saturday afternoon; thus far, no cause of...

Read more: Whitney Houston Dead, Video, Whitney Houston, Sacred Sounds, Whitney Houston Gospel, Whitney Houston Jesus, Whitney Houston Dies, Whitney Houston Christianity, Religion News

The Saving Grace Of Gospel

2012-01-31T16:00:29Z

Vy Higginsen was born and raised in Harlem and graduated from college in the 1970s, quickly rising through the ranks in the urban magazine world -- as...

Read more: Mama I Want to Sing, Video, Gospel Music, Vy Higginsen, Black History, Gospel, Black History Month, Gospel for Teens, Arts News

Craig Finn Makes Friends With Jesus On Solo Album

2012-01-25T17:31:07Z

With some time off from the Hold Steady and his creative juices still flowing, frontman Craig Finn needed a challenge. Rather than stay home in Brookl...

Read more: Music-and-Religion, Craig Finn, Religion News

John Farr: For Black History Month, Ten Key Films on the African-American Experience

2012-01-19T14:35:34Z

With Martin Luther King's birthday just past us, and Black History month coming up, the time seems right to celebrate those invaluable films that shed light on the black community's long struggle for equal rights in this country.

Read more: Denzel Washington, Civil Rights Movement, Academy Awards, Morgan Freeman, Martin Luther King Jr., Best Movies on DVD, Best Movies by Farr, Best Movies, Eyes on the Prize, Gospel Music, Documentary, Cicely Tyson, Martin Luther King Day, African Americans, Freedom Riders, Spike Lee Movies, Culture News

WATCH: Dolly Parton Talks Dinner Rolls, Joyful Noise

2012-01-13T15:43:00Z

In the new movie "Joyful Noise," Dolly Parton shows off her arm while pelting Queen Latifah with dinner rolls. "I was banging her pretty good," Parton...

Read more: Queen Latifah, Gospel Music, Joyful Noise Movie, Dolly Parton Movie, Queen Latifah Movie, Video, Joyful Noise 2012, Jon Stewart, Joyful Noise, Dolly Parton, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart, Gospel, The Daily Show, Dolly Parton Queen Latifah, Fifty News

Cathleen Falsani: Justin Bieber's Ecce Homo

2012-01-12T17:10:26Z

It is entirely possible that Justin has more of an influence in the young-person-you-love's life than any clergyperson -- living or dead -- does. That sounds scandalous, I know, but it's true.

Read more: Social Gospel, Justin Bieber Never Say Never, Justin Bieber, Evangelicals, Sacred Sounds, Justin Bieber Christian, Christianity, Justin Bieber Faith, Video, Religion News

Marshall Fine: Movie Review: Joyful Noise

2012-01-12T08:37:59Z

Joyful Noise is a movie with big, rousing soul-gospel songs that take your mind off how mediocre -- or worse -- the rest of the movie is.

Read more: Jeremy Jordan, Queen Latifah, Kirk Franklin, I Wanna Take You Higher, Joan Rivers, Kris Kristofferson, Marshall Fine Movie Review, Movies, Camp, Joyful Noise Movie Review, Movie Reviews, Dolly Parton, Marshall Fine, Gospel Music, Maybe I'm Amazed, Todd Graff, Keke Palmer, Bandslam, Joyful Noise, Glee, Entertainment News

Brian J. Walsh: Pacing The Cage: The Prophetic Hope Of Bruce Cockburn

2012-01-10T16:10:54Z

Cockburn's songs have often given me a glimpse beyond the normal. A glimpse that sometimes breaks through my culturally imposed numbness and allows me to hear "rumours of glory" in the midst of the betrayal and ruins.

Read more: Christianity, Sacred Sounds, Pacing the Cage, Bruce Cockburn, Christian Music, Bruce Cockburn Christianity, Religion News

Lorenzo Candelaria: Madonna And The Work Of God

2011-12-30T13:46:15Z

The coupling of Madonna and Opus Dei is an intriguing one that brings two seemingly irreconcilable public perceptions into stark juxtaposition. But our public perceptions are only part of the story.

Read more: Catholic Church, Like a Prayer, Papa Don't Preach, Madonna, St. Teresa of Avila, Catholicism, Like a Virgin, Song of Songs, Opus Dei, Music, Da Vinci Code, Kabbalah, Sacred Sounds, Madonna Opus Dei, Madonna Kabbalah, Religion News