Since jazz musician Wynton Marsalis composed and recorded “In This House, On This Morning” two decades ago, he has remained committed to projecting a theme of universal humanism while reflecting the form of the African American church service. Never has Marsalis coalesced the codes of sacred and secular expression more successfully than with the 2008 extended work “Abyssinian Mass,” commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street in Harlem, N.Y.

Since jazz musician Wynton Marsalis composed and recorded “In This House, On This Morning” two decades ago, he has remained committed to projecting a theme of universal humanism while reflecting the form of the African American church service. Never has Marsalis coalesced the codes of sacred and secular expression more successfully than with the 2008 extended work “Abyssinian Mass,” commissioned to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Abyssinian Baptist Church on West 138th Street in Harlem, N.Y.