Grammy-Nominated Saxophonist Godwin Louis Explores Sacred Music in New Album, 'Psalms and Proverbs'

Grammy-nominated saxophonist Godwin Louis explores the universality and joy of sacred music in his sophomore release, Psalms and Proverbs. The album, set for international release by Blue Room Music on August 23, draws on religious musical traditions from around the world, including Louis's Haitian roots, where European, African, and Native traditions converged to create the foundations of jazz.

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Psalms and Proverbs features a diverse array of musical styles, including gospel and liturgical music from West African Ewe and Beninois sources. The album also includes compositions by 16th-century French composer Claude Goudimel, a beautiful sax-trumpet duet, the Scottish-Anglican hymn “Abide with Me,” and original pieces Louis wrote in collaboration with several ministers, including his late father, the Rev. Marcel Louis.

Born into a musical family in Harlem with Haitian heritage, Louis was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Port-au-Prince, Haiti, according to a press release. He matured as a musician in New Orleans, Boston, New York, and beyond, becoming a composer, arranger, and virtuoso soloist who began playing saxophone at age nine. A Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Saxophone competition finalist, a 2024 Grammy nominee for arrangements on singer Cécile McLorin Salvant's Mélusine, and a Berklee College of Music woodwinds professor, Louis's lyrical imagination shines through in Psalms and Proverbs.

With a robust, focused, and fluid sax sound reminiscent of Cannonball Adderley, Paquito D'Rivera, and Donald Harrison, Louis leads an extraordinary ensemble through a varied program that includes spoken word, chants, choral passages, instrumental interplay, and stirring African American and Afro-Caribbean rhythms. He embraces post-bop jazz freedoms, gospel music tropes, son montuno style, bolero, and calypso flourishes, particularly evident on the track “Collective Bovarysm.”

As demonstrated in his audacious 2019 debut album Global, Louis's humanist and internationalist perspective, informed by the African diaspora, embraces jazz in its totality. As an international ambassador for jazz, he has toured Africa, Europe, and China and has nourished his Caribbean roots by founding Experience Ayiti, a nonprofit multidisciplinary arts organization that offers musical education and leadership development for Haitian youth.

The core members of Louis’s Global band return for Psalms and Proverbs, including brassman Billy Buss, pianist Axel Tosca, organist Johnny Mercier, drummer Obed Calvaire, percussionist Markus Schwartz, bassist Hogyu Hwang, and vocalist Melissa Stylianou. Trinidad-born trumpet star Etienne Charles partners with Louis in the frontline on the opening tracks “Showers of Blessings/Kplolanyuiade” and “Pelo Malo.”

The album also showcases vocal talents from acclaimed world stars. Louis has enlisted Xiomara Laugart, known as the “Voice of Cuba,” and two-time Grammy Award-nominated artist Lea Lórien, who both appear on “Pelo Malo (Bad Hair).” This track addresses the complex conversation about hair texture that has plagued Afro-Latino and Black communities. Louis introduces Lècokpon, a bright Benin artist, and features singer-songwriter Melissa Stylianou harmonizing with Haitian American songstress Pauline Jean, who delivers a dramatic performance on “Psalms 6.”

“Whether in Africa or the Americas, hymns and the playing of music are central to worship and praise in many religious traditions,” said Louis in the press release. “This album explores that nexus and continues the tradition of sacred music and its influence on jazz, incorporating sounds from West Africa, the Caribbean, the United States, and Europe in new and exciting ways for audiences.”

Psalms and Proverbs is produced by Louis, Calvaire, and Chan Jung. It will be available on August 23 on Spotify, iTunes, Tidal, Deezer, Amazon, among other platforms.