Jazzy Hymns and Spirituals: 11 Arrangements of Traditional Favorites (Sacred Performer Collections)

This has some nice arrangements in it of great old standards like "Oh Happy Day1" in the style of Ray Stevens, and a great jazzy arrangement of "Jesus Loves Me" and "Sweet Hour of Prayer", "When the Saints Go Marching In", .and even "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot!"The arrangements are somewhat challenging, but not horribly difficult. An intermediate pianist would not have to spend hours and hours learning them to play them well. If you're looking for something to inject a little more modern sound into your services, without leaving the old folks wondering what in the WORLD that tune is you're playing, this is a great choice.

This is nice jazz gospel piano music, it is not difficult. I played it in the Church today, and people like it!

My personal preference in keyboard music runs to a smooth jazz or blues styles. I have many arrangements by Mark Hayes, Joel Raney, and Larry Shackley which I really enjoy, both intermediate and advanced levels. I was very disappointed with this book. This is the first time I have purchased music by this arranger. The pieces are more abstract, and what I consider thin sounding harmony. Some are a bit too simple sounding. I rate the pieces in this book to be of easy or intermediate difficulty. So if you prefer the rich harmonies of those arrangers above, this may not be the book for you.I will continue to work through a few of the arrangements, just to see if my first initial impressions stand true, or if I just misunderstood the manner in which the pieces should be played. I'm a classically trained organist, dabbling in keyboard music. If my assessment changes, I will update the post.

Arrived quickly, well-wrapped. This is a fun book with well-known songs...to make as simple or grand as you want them to be. Sometimes there are a "lot of notes", so feel free to drop a few runs and chords here and there, to make the selections easier (more enjoyable) to play. I especially enjoyed the bluesy "Jesus Loves Me" ('Fun to play during the younger children's exit for Sunday School). It would be a thoughtful gift for a church pianist who wants to try something different.

This book is just great. If you need something to play for church or just enjoy playing jazzy music this book is a must have. This book is fairly advanced and will take at least a little bit of time to learn. The "improvised" parts of the songs sound very authentic and jazzy. The styles range from jazz ballad to bebop to stride and everything in between.

Thought it might be a little more challenging.

Interesting chords and fun to play.

This is a great book for the more accomplished pianist. His arrangements are lovely.

Brilliantly written pieces. I have several books from the Alfred's Sacred Performer Collection. This one is my favourite. It has some great jazz chords. They are so much fun to play(if you're an accomplished pianist)!!!

Pretty good book. There are only 11 hymns. I knew 9 of them. I am an organist at a Catholic church and I already played 3 of them during communion. Maybe 2-3 others would be appropriate to be played. Some are nicely arranged but are more jazzy than sacred.