Grace Cathedral—A Sacred Space for music
An Interview With Randall Kline

October 28, 2019 | by Monisha Sharma

Grace Cathedral

From its consecration, jazz has been a part of Grace Cathedral’s concert history. Duke Ellington's concert of sacred music was commissioned to celebrate the consecration of Grace Cathedral in 1965. Ellington later referenced the concert as “the most important thing I’ve ever done.”

"A Concert of Sacred Music" was the first jazz piece performed at Grace Cathedral. Trombonist and band leader Turk Murphy continued the tradition by leading a jazz concert during Easter Sunday mass. In 1986, SFJAZZ Founder Randall Kline looked to build upon the jazz history at Grace Cathedral by commissioning work that utilized and celebrated the unique space. We interviewed Kline to get his top 5 performances at Grace Cathedral. 

Anthony Braxton (1986)
World Premiere of Composition No. 132

The first presenting we did at Grace Cathedral was a commissioned piece by Anthony Braxton - Composition No. 132. We were only working with Bay Area artists at the time, so it was great that Braxton (who was faculty at Mills College at the time) led the inaugural SFJAZZ concert. Braxton composed a piece for two orchestras: one orchestra sat at the altar, while the other was located at the Baptismal Font (located at the center of the Cathedral). The orchestras worked together. In addition, acclaimed dancer June Watanabe and six saxophone soprano players and walked up and down the aisle dressed in these astronaut-like outfits. The night represented some of the top people in the entire Bay Area in their respective fields. 

Joe Henderson & Zakir Hussain (1990)
“Sacred Space” Concerts

Eventually, we started this whole series of concerts called “Sacred Music Concerts.” Joe Henderson and Zakir Hussain in 1990 was a peak year. Joe loved the idea of doing a concert in a location with a 6 or 7 reverberation rate because as a kid, he played a lot in the hallways of his junior high school. The concert started with Joe Henderson playing above everyone. As he disappeared to take the elevator down, Zakir began playing on the altar and the two of them marched up and down the aisle. They met in the middle and performed some pieces together and some piece solo. 

The ambience of that concert was particularly unique. To highlight both Joe and Zakir, we put spotlights up in the Cathedral, but for the lights to really work, we needed to add smoke. The Verger of the Cathedral suggested doing it “God’s Way”, so people walked up and down filling the place with beautiful incense smoke. It made visuals beyond gorgeous.

The Duke Ellington Orchestra - dir. by Mercer Ellington (1990)
"A Concert Of Sacred Music" 25^th Anniversary

We recreated Duke Ellington’s sacred music concert on its 25^th anniversary. Ellington’s son Mercer conducted the band with some original members from 1965. Bunny Briggs, the tap dancer was still around and we were able to get him as a special guest. Apparently, the first performance in 1965 was a disaster because of the sound, so we spent a lot of money on acoustical treatment – hanging drapes and big heavy curtains in the hall; we also put in an acoustical delay sound system. That night was a huge hit. 

Laurie Anderson (2018)
Lou Reed Drones, Viola Duets

Laurie Anderson performed the Lou Reed Drone piece at Grace in a way that complemented the space. The piece used a number of guitars from Laurie’s late husband’s collection that were organized in a drone-based sonic installation curated by Reed’s former guitar technician Stewart Hurwood. Hurwood created a living sculpture out of the guitars: he set up this altar of guitars in a circle with amplifiers that controls the feedback when you start hitting a string. Laurie started off playing on her viola at the Font. After three hours, she moved up towards the altar and interacted with the guitars.   

The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie (2018)
W/ DOROTHY PAPADAKOS, PIPE ORGAN & ELIZABETH HALL

The Hunchback of Notre Dame movie was perfect at Grace because the Cathedral aesthetically and acoustically compliments the movie: Grace is patterned after Notre Dame. Furthermore, the organ works because there is a seven second echo/reverberation in the hall, so the organ sounds beautiful in the location.

SFJAZZ presents Halloween Night at Grace Cathedral on OCT 31.

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