Jazz Vespers: Jacob Chung and Steve Ash at Saint Peter’s Church – New York, NY

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…

Jacob Chung (saxophone)

Steve Ash (guitar)

About Jacob Chung

Jazz saxophonist Jacob Chung moved from Toronto to New York City in 2022 and has since maintained an active performance schedule at The Django, Ornithology, Smalls, Mezzrow, Dizzy’s Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Brvsh Cvl7r3, and other NYC clubs. Jacob plays in Rodney Green’s Jackson Miller Band, the Chris Byars Octet, the Richard Cortez Band, and is a regular member of Erena Terakubo’s Sextet. He has also shared the stage with Ken Peplowski, the John Pizzarelli Big Band, Peter Washington, the Mingus Big Band, Pasquale Grasso, Ari Roland, and Joe Farnsworth. Jacob has performed twice at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts in Washington D.C., first in 2023 with the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program and most recently with vibraphonist Chuck Redd in 2024. Jacob’s sophomore album The Sage (2024), which features Vincent Herring and drummer Joe Farnsworth, was named one of the best Canadian jazz releases of 2024 (Peter Hum, Ottawa Citizen).

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.