Last summer, keyboardist Cyrus Chestnut (pictured) came to the area and gave a memorable performance as part of Cassandra Wilson's stellar band. On Saturday, he returned to the Kennedy Center's Family Theater as a bandleader for the second installment of Sanctified Swing, a program designed to connect contemporary jazz with its roots in the African American church. This program was strong in concept, but the staid Kennedy Center audience didn't mesh well with the spiritual atmosphere the musicians were attempting to create. Fortunately, this disconnect did not prevent the musicians from delivering high quality performances that firmly tied together the jazz and gospel traditions.

The band's sound draws clear comparisons with the hard bop tradition of the 1950s and '60s, codified by the legendary Art Blakey and his Jazz Messengers along with many of the Blue Note Records artists from that era. Though technical ability was welcome and often necessary, the emphasis in this style was on a swingin' groove, melodic soloing, and compositions that drew from and celebrated the deepest roots of African American culture. When the complexities of be-bop took jazz listeners off the dance floor, hard bop showed that it was OK to be able to tap your foot to, and hum along with, a jazz record.

Chestnut's group not only sounded like an updated hard bop outfit, but they looked the part as well. Wearing sharply tailored suits, the band took to their instruments as the soft-spoken bandleader introduced the members. The ensemble launched into Cedar Walton's "Holy Land" and Donald Harrison's, "Good for the Soul," a sweet melody that was like a walk in the park on a Sunday afternoon. Saxophonist Jimmy Greene, and trumpeter Curtis Taylor proved worthy foils for one another as Taylor's approach seemed to be more rooted in the blues while Greene had more of a be-bop sound. Nonetheless, both had several moments of soulful expression. Likewise, there was impressive rhythmic interplay between Chestnut and drummer Neal Smith. Smith, who had all of the Blakey vocabulary down with his driving shuffle and roaring press rolls, also added a contemporary element to the music by adopting a conversational approach to his accompaniment. The entire group was held together by the full-bodied and woody sound of Dezron Douglas' tasteful work on upright bass.

It was only halfway through the set that true gospel sounds began to fill the hall as the band played an arrangement of "Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho", which featured a beautiful unaccompanied piano solo that explored centuries worth of musical tradition. Classical motifs, blues, gospel, stride, they were all there. Later in the set, Chestnut also played a solo arrangement of a traditional hymn after which he told a poignant story from his childhood where seeing a pianist perform that very tune in church set Chestnut on his musical journey.

Chestnut then took to the organ and welcomed vocalist Cynthia Scott to the stage to close out the set. Her three songs included "What Is This?" and "I Have A Dream", a song by her brother-in-law that set the words of Martin Luther King Jr. to music. Scott, whose impressive voice came from years of singing in the Sanctified Church, valiantly tried to get some audience participation, but it was not meant to be. There is an energy that builds up in a gospel setting that was not present in this instance. If the Kennedy Center decides to host a third iteration of Sanctified Swing, it might consider mounting the show at Jazz Night in Southwest, for in that setting in front of that audience, this band would be something to behold.