The Lord Is My Chef Sunday Music, 08 December 2019
Advent is the season of hope when we are encouraged to work on to fulfill God’s grand design for lasting peace here on earth. It is a time for us to dream with eyes wide open!
I had this dream
In which I swam with dolphins
In open sea a transparent blue
(Maybe you dreamt it too)
And on the earth
The trees grew heavy with blossoms
The rainforests had not died
And the Amazon shined like an emerald
Somewhere, somehow, some way
We must hold back the dawn
While there’s still time to try
Keep the faith, keep the dream alive
That is why we have chosen for this Second Sunday of Advent jazz master Michael Franks’ The Dream from his 1993 album “Dragonfly Summer”. It is a song very similar with Isaiah’s prophecy in the first reading of a “peaceable kingdom” where
“the wolf shall be a guest of the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; the calf and the young lion shall browse together, with a little child to guide them.”
Isaiah 11:6
Considered as a leader of the “quiet storm” or “smooth jazz” movement, a genre of jazz music mixed with pop and rock tempo, Franks has collaborated with some of the great musicians of the world in the last 40 years with his compositions covered by many artists from the wide spectrum of the music world proving his genius and versatility.
For me, Franks is the Walter Becker/Donald Fagen of jazz, always precise and almost perfect in every piece of music that is intelligent and exquisite but never snobbish and definitely without pretensions. Like Steely Dan, his music is picturesquely evocative that one can feel and even see the timbre of every voice and instrument.
Gifted with a cool and sophisticated voice, Franks can sound playful like with “Eggplant” and “Popsicle Toes”, philosophical and dead serious with “Tiger in the Rain” and lovingly romantic with “Rainy Night in Tokyo” and “Lady Wants to Know”.
His music and lyrics are simple yet profound, always fresh and relaxing not only to ears but also to one’s soul that’s very inspiring.
Going back to our featured music on this second Sunday of Advent, Franks’ The Dream challenges us to test and keep our faith in order to work for a lasting peace here on earth.
I had this dream
That we were all one family
Which war and famine could not undo
(Maybe you dreamt it too)
Our family name
Was either Kindness or Compassion
We recognized each other
And we recognized the light inside us
Dream on in Christ, dream with Michael Franks!
lordmychef.com 