חג פסח שמח

tacos suaderos (short rib)

as a church musician i have done a relatively ridiculous amount of singing over the past week

it has been holy week among the christian world and the church where i sing regularly is progressive and keenly arts forward so obviously it has been

to put it plainly

absurd

and while my schedule will not lighten for another few weeks i do have tonight for some tacos

in considering where i would venture it struck me that there’s this place in baltimore that was in its own way resurrected in the not-too-distant past

Holy Frijoles was a fine place full of sloppy tex-mex and cheap drinks until it burned down a few years back

and when they re-opened they had upped their game significantly

so i got some tacos suaderos because, you know, insert rib joke here because of the creation myth we share and i’m glad to tell that it was an #excellenttaco for a number of reasons

not least of which was an escabeche worth fighting over

but let’s not fight

let’s share

both tacos and traditions

like at St. David’s Church of Roland Park in baltimore where i am not just a staff singer but this year am also composer-in-residence

when my friend doctor Douglas Buchanan gave me that honor last year i warned him that i would write no music that was explicitly christian as my own faith journey had brought me deeper into judaism

i told him i’d be writing jewish service music in hebrew

and he said

”cool”

and we performed it — beautifully, thanks guys, you’re amazing — and the congregation was totally into it and engaged with the music and the musicians in a really profound way

i could not be more proud of my colleagues or that congregation

which is helping me have a very happy passover

i hope they have an equally happy easter

and i hope you and i get to share tacos and stories soon