The following is part of the president of the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies, Dr. Jim Hart’s letter to the students.

“Today, February 17, the Commission on Accreditation of the Association for Biblical Higher Education passed a motion granting the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies full accreditation!

Here is portion of my comments to the commission:

“As we have journeyed through the accreditation process, the leaders in the IWS community, and especially Bob Webber, have consistently stated that achieving accreditation is one of our highest prioritized goals. Although we had some fear that this process may attempt to change the ethos of IWS, we have discovered instead that ABHE has come alongside us to help us be a better school and to reach toward our greatest potential. Perhaps more importantly, it has supported and even advocated for our mission of forming leaders in worship renewal, so we can maximize our impact for the Kingdom. We have come to the realization that accreditation is really not a goal, but rather a threshold on a trek of ongoing institutional improvement, the relentless pursuit of excellence, and the partnering together with other schools of Biblical higher education with the common purpose of forming our students to impact the world with God’s story of redemption in Jesus Christ. I am deeply thankful for this association, which unites us together under that Kingdom mandate.

“Since the death of Bob Webber two years ago we have honored his legacy by continuing to make significant strides at IWS. . . . Bob’s genius in establishing an educational community that is intentionally simple, servant-oriented, sacrificial, and spiritual, yet committed to excellence, has secured a legacy for worship education and renewal that has exceeded expectations and has shown evidence of the Lord’s leading and blessing.

“Our association with ABHE has helped to make the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies a better school, and for that we are very grateful.”

Dr. Eric Ohlmann, Director of Strategic Planning and Accreditation, Dr. Eric Bolger, Academic Dean, and Dr. Luder Whitlock, Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees attended the meeting with me and helped to field question from the commission. After the questions we were excused while a motion was made, discussed and passed. We were invited back into the commission meeting and were informed that we had been approved for full accreditation.

I want to express my deepest appreciation to Dr. Ohlmann and Dr. Bolger who have both contributed invaluably to the accreditation process, to Dr. Whitlock, Dr. John Lindsell and the entire board of trustees for their support, leadership and hard work in this pursuit, to the superb faculty and staff for their tireless efforts and commitment, and for the prayers, support and input of our stellar alumni and students.

I want also to thank ABHE for their encouragement, support and advice in our pursuit of accreditation. In particular, I want to acknowledge Dr. Ralph Enlow, Dr. Randy Bell , Dr. Larry McKinney and Dr. Tony Buchanan, along with many others in ABHE for starting IWS down this road, for standing alongside us, for encouraging us and advising us, and for partnering with us to advance the Kingdom through worship renewal in the context of Biblical higher education.

Thanks be to God.

The Lord be with you,
James R. Hart, President”

Last night, President Obama awarded Stevie Wonder the Library of Congress George Gershwin Award at a private event at the Whitehouse. Mr. Wonder’s massive body of work has become a significant addition to the standard jazz repertoire. I might even go as far as to say that he is one of the greatest and most influencial songwriters of American Popular Song, and in my opinion deserves to be mentioned among names such as Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and John Lennon & Paul McCartney.

Here is an article from musicradar.com by Ben Rogerson entitled “5 Reasons Why Stevie Wonder Deserves His Gershwin Award.“

Today, Freddie Hubbard passed. About 2 years ago, I got the change to hang out with Slide Hampton for a few days and he had told me at the time tha the had been trying to convince Mr. Hubbard to pick back up with his routine and to start playing again. There had been some recent articles about him playing at a few clubs and I selfishly had been hoping that we would hear another recording but alas, it never happened. He will be missed. Here are the NY Times and LA Times Obituaries.

So, I heard this story on NPR on the other day and it really made me reconsider where I store some of my documents and files. It turns out that I have no legal leverage, let a lone right to anything that I store on various email or document storage sites.

Read!

Listen!

Last night we finished up the second day of recording in Holland. The first tune we put in the can was a gorgeous jazz waltz written by Lee called “Blue Tuna Boulevard,” which was reminiscent of the Bill Evans trio recordings of the 1960’s tastefully mixed some of some Frisellesque styles and phrasing. The first of the other two tunes was a street beat/funk version of the Charlie Parker classic “Scrapple from the Apple,” and the second, an arrangement of Wayne Shorter’s ”Footprints” with a double-time feel reminiscent of the Scofield Uberjam Band recordings.

We’ve been delighted to be working with engineer, sound guru, and owner of Elm Street Recording in Lansing Michigan, Ryan Wert. Ryan, Lee, and I went to College together and it has been great to catch up and continue working on such a highly professional level. No matter what curve ball we throw at him, he has already taken care of it!

The project has been a great experience for everyone involved and we look forward to mixing it down on Monday July for a hopeful fall release.

As many of you know I am currently up north on vacation and recording with Holland Michigan based Guitarist Lee Heerspink over the next couple weeks for a record release later in the year. So far we’ve finished recording about half of the record and we’re quite please with the outcome. At this point the record seems to be seems to be unfolding into a groove oriented record with a whole lot of back-beat.

Yesterday we were able to put 5 tunes in the can Giving us a lot of freedom over the next week. First we recorded “Softly as a Morning Sunrise,” only the melody has been tweaked and superimposed over the changes from Wayne Shorter’s “Black Nile,” giving it it’s own fresh flavor. The second chart was an original composition of mine entitled, “Ray’s Blues,” dedicated to the late, way beyond great Ray Brown that features West Michigan’s own Charlie Hoates on Bass. The third is a simple rhythm changes calypso, fusing motives from “Oleo,” and “Cottontail,” to cleverly disorient the average jazz aficionado (something I think most of us have considered doing at one point or another). We also recorded an interesting version of my arrangement of the Herbie Hancock 80’s hit “Rockit,” that will also by appearing on my upcoming quintet record to be released in early 2009. The last tune is an original of Lee’s dedicated to a mutual friend John Rodriguez, which I am personally hoping will end up being the title track for the record entitled, “Pull Your Stinky Face.” This track consists of groove meats, Americana, meets just plain nasty!

More to come soon!