I wanted to share with you 2 songs composed by Edward V. Bonnemere, a jazz pianist and dear friend. I sang with the debut performance of his Missa Hodierna, first performed for a Mother’s Day service at St. Charles Borromeo Church in Harlem in 1966 and later at Alice Tully Hall. With the collaboration of the Rev. John Garcia Gensel he formed the JESU choir (Jazz Ecumenical Singers United), which, together with Eddie’s band, performed many of his works at the St. Peter’s Lutheran Church at 54th Street and Lexington Avenue.

The first song I shared with you is called “Wet Saints” written for a baptismal service. The second is the closing anthem from his Spanish-English mass, composed in collaboration with Alberto Soccaras, a well-regarded jazz flutist. I wish you could hear these pieces with the orchestrations and the improvised solos. Eddie’s work deserves to be heard more frequently today.