Internationally recognized vibraphonist Dick Sisto will perform music composed for the documentary Soul Searching – The Journey of Thomas Merton, and share remembrances of his friendship with Merton, a Trappist monk and writer, in a performance beginning at 3:00 pm. Sunday, Sept. 20, at St. Gregory the Great Church, 5545 N. Paulina, Chicago. Noted jazz guitarist Fr. John Moulder of St. Gregory’s will also be featured in this 90-minute centenary tribute to Merton. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. and admission is $15.
Author of The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite, Thomas Merton wrote more than 70 books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism. He was born 100 years ago in Prades, France, and died suddenly at a monastic conference in Thailand in late 1968. A monk of Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, Merton was also a jazz enthusiast who met several times with Sisto in 1967 and 1968 to discuss Zen Buddhism, mysticism and jazz....
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Internationally recognized vibraphonist Dick Sisto will perform music composed for the documentary Soul Searching – The Journey of Thomas Merton, and share remembrances of his friendship with Merton, a Trappist monk and writer, in a performance beginning at 3:00 pm. Sunday, Sept. 20, at St. Gregory the Great Church, 5545 N. Paulina, Chicago. Noted jazz guitarist Fr. John Moulder of St. Gregory’s will also be featured in this 90-minute centenary tribute to Merton. Doors will open at 2:30 p.m. and admission is $15.
Author of The Seven Storey Mountain, New Seeds of Contemplation, and Zen and the Birds of Appetite, Thomas Merton wrote more than 70 books that include poetry, personal journals, collections of letters, social criticism, and writings on peace, justice, and ecumenism. He was born 100 years ago in Prades, France, and died suddenly at a monastic conference in Thailand in late 1968. A monk of Our Lady of Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, Merton was also a jazz enthusiast who met several times with Sisto in 1967 and 1968 to discuss Zen Buddhism, mysticism and jazz.
Dick Sisto is a highly regarded performer who began studying the vibes in grammar school with marimba master Jose Bethancourt of the Chicago Symphony. He attended Notre Dame High School in Niles. He was judged "an excellent player" by Julian "Cannonball" Adderley at the Collegiate Jazz Festival, and went on to study at Northwestern, playing in the lab band as a soloist alongside David Sanborn. He left Northwestern to form The Quartet Four with drummer Maurice White, who later founded Earth, Wind and Fire. He relocated to Louisville, Kentucky, and played clubs and festivals throughout the Midwest including The Jazz Showcase and the Green Mill in Chicago. As the host of two long-running Public Radio shows for the Louisville Public Media NPR affiliate station, Sisto has interviewed and performed with many jazz greats. The original music on the CD Soul Searching was used as the sound track for the Merton documentary of the same name and the program has aired on PBS.
Celebrated jazz guitarist Fr. John Moulder of St. Gregory’s will also be featured in this 90-minute centenary tribute to Merton. Fr. Moulder has been a member of the Paul Wertico Trio for 15 years. His compositions and playing are featured on several acclaimed jazz CDs. He has appeared on WTTW’s Artbeat and Chicago Tonight, and played nationally and internationally at numerous festivals, clubs and concert halls. He is a faculty member at Northwestern University, Benedictine University and the College of the Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, as well as a resident priest at St. Gregory Catholic Church.
The program is sponsored by the Chicago Chapter of the International Thomas Merton Society. For more information, contact Chapter Coordinator Mike Brennan at 773-447-3989.
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