Welcome to Jazz Vespers!

However you are connecting with Saint Peter’s, we hope you will find a wide and warm embrace. Among the skyscrapers and hustle and bustle of Midtown, this is a place of respite and renewal. Whether in person in our Sanctuary, or streaming from home. Jazz Vespers is free of charge with donations welcome at the door or online.

About Jazz Vespers

Jazz Vespers, NYC’s unique jazz prayer service, is held every Sunday at 5:00 P.M. Originating in 1965 with The Rev. John Garcia Gensel, he believed jazz to be “probably the best music for worship because it speaks to the existential situation of a human being. It is the personal expression of the person playing it.” Saint Peter’s Church, the “First Church of Jazz,” remains a spiritual home to jazz musicians and lovers of jazz. Founded by Ruth and Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Joe Newman and Sheila Jordan, among many others, today the community represents the best of the New York City jazz scene.

This Week We Welcome Pianist Michael Kanan 

Michael Kanan is a pianist of remarkable warmth, sensitivity, and swing, admired for the way he listens as deeply as he plays. His musical roots reach into the Lennie Tristano tradition through his studies with Harvey Diamond and Sal Mosca, but his own voice has been shaped by a lifetime of collaboration with extraordinary jazz artists.

Over the years, Kanan has performed and recorded with musicians including Lee Konitz, Tal Farlow, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Mark Turner, and Jorge Rossy. He is also renowned as an accompanist, having toured and recorded extensively with the legendary singer Jimmy Scott and later serving as accompanist and arranger for celebrated vocalist Jane Monheit.

Whether leading his own groups or collaborating with singers and instrumentalists, Kanan brings an unusual sense of intimacy and conversation to the music. His playing is thoughtful, elegant, and deeply rooted in the jazz tradition while remaining unmistakably his own.

About Saint Peter’s

If you are looking for a religious community, this may be a place for you! We are a Sanctuary and Reconciling in Christ Parish of the ELCA. We are a bi-lingual English-speaking and Spanish-speaking community. We are Brown, Black, White and more. We are persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities. Some of us hold citizenship, others of us are Dreamers, asylees or seeking documentation. A good way to begin this journey is to participate in our Sunday liturgies.