Dawn Holt Lauber and her Sacred Jazz Band

Sacred Jazz singer, Dawn Holt Lauber, releases her third solo recording, Joy, a collection of original compositions.  Joy follows Everlasting, jazz hymns and spirituals, and Heavenly, American jazz standards.  All three recordings feature Chicago’s finest jazz musicians. 

“My passion is intergenerational music and ministry,” says Lauber.  “Jazz arrangements of beloved spirituals and hymns lend themselves so well for all ages in worship.  The tradition of the lyrics with the freshness of contemporary jazz arrangements offer a beautiful marriage of sacred words and song.”

As a soloist with The Riverside Church of New York City, Lauber performed Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts, which ignited an interest in the genre sacred jazz, sometimes called church jazz. Renowed jazz critic Howard Reich, of the Chicago Tribune, described Lauber’s singing as “exquisite” in the premiere performance of William Russo’s Jubilatem with the Chicago Jazz Ensemble.

The soprano performs regularly as soloist and worship leader with Andy Tecson’s Churchjazz.  The band appears in concerts and worship services throughout Chicago, and annual performances of The Jazz Nativity and The Jazz Passion.  Lauber and Tecson have collaborated on numerous concerts benefiting the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa -including initiatives for World Vision, World Bicycle Relief, and The Jimmy Carter Foundation.  

Lauber’s new series of concerts, “Joy in the Journey,” features her new songs and will benefit a wide variety of ministries and causes.  Churches and Christian organizations can schedule an appearance by Lauber this season through Gary Stripling of The Management Agency (http://www.themanagementagency.com).