Browsing emusic this morning I discovered a new album from Ricky Lee Jones called The Sermon on Exposition Blvd. Since the word sermon caught my attention, I stumbled on over to read more about it. Turns out she really has released an album exploring themes inspired by Jesus. What I’ve listened so far, sounds pretty cool. Of course, you have to like her unique voice.
What stirred her to release this album? Apparently, Lee Cantelon wrote The Words, a books that brings the words of Jesus into a setting where contemporary readers from within and outside the Christian tradition can encounter the words in a fresh way. This led to a larger project involving writers, theologians, scholars and more bringing these words to cultures around the world in various languages. While Lee’s work has received a welcome audience outside the Christian tradition, it has also received the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur, the official authorization of a theological text by the Roman Catholic Church.
Lee wanted to gather a few artists to record the Words. Ricky ended up getting involved (read more about that story here), and she ended up recording an album.
April 14, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Thanks for your review of The Sermon on Exposition Blvd. One correction, It’s Rickie Lee Jones (not Ricky). There’s been a great deal of favorable press about the album, and the journalists have been gracious about the fact that the songs were taken from the words of Jesus (as a point of inspiration).
– Lee
PS: I have a terrible spam blocker (that I need to have removed). If you write and back and it bounces, my apologies.
April 14, 2007 at 9:42 pm
Thanks Lee. I made the corrections. I downloaded your words of Jesus and have told several folks about your site. Blessings!
February 2, 2008 at 6:26 am
Is Rickie Lee Jones a Christian?
September 8, 2009 at 12:13 am
if you are asking if she believes in any christian church, no
or that jesus is the only way to get to heaven, no.
or that he rose from the dead and thats what makes him important, no.
If you are asking if she believes that jesus is the son of god, yes, a revolutionary
peace maker, yes, and a light for lost souls, yes. But again, not the only son, peacemaker,
or light.
but then again, so is she, she believes.