“The Good Lord Is Very Crafty” ft. Howard University’s Cyrus Chestnut I Saturdays at Seven Ep. 42

In the forty-second episode of the “Saturdays at Seven” conversation series, Todd Ream talks with Cyrus Chestnut, Master Instructor of Jazz Piano and Improvisation at Howard University. Chestnut opens by talking about the process he experiences when composing. While still writing notes on a page, Chestnut contends that neither composition nor performance follow predictable patterns. The Holy Spirit is in the process and, in particular, becomes evident in improvisation. The process of composition and performance will always lead somewhere but, according to Chestnut, one must always be willing to follow where the Spirit may lead. Ream and Chestnut then talk about the teachers who led Chestnut to love the piano and the balm of healing such a love can offer people. While grateful for the teachers with whom he studied at Peabody Preparatory and Berklee College of Music, Chestnut’s father remains Chestnut’s first and most influential teacher. Ream and Chestnut then conclude their conversation by discussing the discernible presence of the Spirit in the structure of musical notes as well as in the beauty afforded by human collaboration such as Chestnut’s recent performance with the Cecilia Chorus and Orchestra at Carnegie Hall.