The Sunday Poem: “The Son” by Peter Mladinic
Have you ever listened to your father,
Jackie Wilson’s rendition of “Tenderly”?
Several times? Well, that’s good.
The last I listened, it came through the dash
of my Wrangler at a busy intersection,
Search Results for: the sunday poem
The Sunday Poem: “Future Retrospective Riffs (for Joe McPhee)” by Stephen C. Middleton
Spanish & flourish
Intricacies of ‘Pablo’ & ‘A Future Retrospective’
Of ziggurat / Giralda …architecture
Polyphony – bebop & free
The Sunday Poem: “Don’t Worry About the Labels” by Mike Mignano
. . © Marsha Hammel . . Don’t Worry About the Labels Quintessentially American Scores of differing mood Even named by temperature Hot and cool include Categories unmemorizable Don’t worry about the labels On your listening journey “Giant Steps” “Slow Freight” “Big Train” May take Endless destinations This sprawling Jazz landscape . Listen to … Continue reading “The Sunday Poem: “Don’t Worry About the Labels” by Mike Mignano”
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The Sunday Poem: “Remembering Chet Baker,” by Mark Donnelly
Listening recently to Chet Baker play and sing
“I’ve Never Been in Love Before”
on the local public radio jazz stream in Sacramento
sends me, thrills me, saddens me, deepens me
I want to jump in
I want to be there
the trumpet solo
the wondrous sound of notes.
The Sunday Poem: “Mingus au Paradis” by Manuel J. Grimaldi
Mingus howling, his bass rumbling in their faces,
Shouting yeah! Yeah, oh yeah! The insistent barking growl.
Their chains beat loose by the savage blues that chases.
The Sunday Poem: “Bebop Salvation” by Tobi Alfier
The vast and beautiful quiet of the weekend,
a weak dawn bleeds over the skyline’s edge.
She gropes her pockets to find a single cigarette
as she waits for that moment
The Sunday Poem: “Ways to Play the Bass” by Mark Fogarty
For speed and power, use the pick.
One side of the mountain,
Then jump to the other side.
Open mike nights I learned in real time,
Rehearsal studios we never wanted to leave, still young.
But time left, and everyone left me.
The Sunday Poem: “Day Dream” by Charlie Brice
Lauren, my high school sweetheart, and I
drive down Fifth Avenue in NYC, not in my
mother’s blue 1967 Cadilac, but in my polished
silver Caddy. This is after our group, The Kansas
City Soul Association, makes it big and I, their
drummer, can afford such a ride.
The Sunday Poem: “Every Time” by Michel Krug
I cranked the Woody Shaw Jr.
“Every Time I See You”
Marveling at the range
Authentic modal with a hint
The Sunday Poem: “Jazz Improv” by Michael Keshigian
I am the sound,
the spontaneous voice you hear
beyond the melodic trance,
an array of multi-timbred,
fragmented, impetuous harmonies and rhythms
to carry you into an alternate dimension,
The Sunday Poem: “He Jazzed His Way” by Susie Gharib
He jazzed his way into my heart
with pulsing beats that have surpassed
the resounding rhythm of the jungle drums.
The Sunday Poem: “Fats Waller” by Malcolm McCollum
I present you with a disgusting floor,
covered with ocher lumps of puke,
piles of paper refuse, cigarette butts,
all swimming in a sea of black water.
The Sunday Poem: “Mr. Bojangles” by Patricia Carragon
A raggedy man lived for music and Nina Simone,
called himself “Mr. Bojangles,”
played jazz on his secondhand sax,
tap-danced for tips and smiles.
The Sunday Poem: “Jazz Is A Journey” by Christopher D. Sims
Jazz is a journey. The
listening keeps us
envisioning how creativity
is transformative. Jazz is a
journey, a sound, a tune, a note,
The Sunday Poem: “menage a trois” by debora Ewing
Antonio, steal me away from him
with a mango slice
on the tip of your knife
The Sunday Poem: “Straight, No Chaser” by Steve Trenam
When he entered a club ‘round midnight,
all 88 keys would break into a grin
and the stool would slide out from under
to invite him to sit down and play.
The Sunday Poem: “Down Jazz” by Holly Peppe
Prisms resound, glow dissonant—
refracted word-dyes salvaged from malaise.
A bleeding swatch of rainbow,
cordless stains on muslin,
stacks of frightened tightropes,
my slippers thin and worn –
The Sunday Poem: “Big Phat Jazz Police” by Charles Joseph Albert
When that first rumbling bass line
Tells me I’m listening to Gordon Goodwin’s
Big Phat Band playing “Jazz Police,”
I can’t help it, I always see an LAPD squad car
swinging out of the station
flipping on that groovy trumpet siren
as they join a pursuit with the whole horn section.
The Sunday Poem: “If Requests Are Being Taken” by Terrance Underwood
If ever
I am subjected to
Further medical exploration
& something
Identified as Bio
Is discovered
The Sunday Poem: “Playing Sonny Rollins Loud in the Car” by Daniel W. Brown
Hurrying to a dental appointment
I didn’t want to go to in the first place
an interminable red light and honking traffic
and the curve where people merge
20 MPH faster than necessary
four lanes into two
not a good day overall
though Sonny Rollins is playing loud;
The Sunday Poem: “Stompin’ at the Savoy” by DH Jenkins
Sheets of music laid across a checkered table cloth
spread out like streets across the city.
Like the quarter notes on page one, a crescent moon
is seen rising in the ink dark sky.
The Sunday Poem: “somewhere near the major-minor seventh” by j. lewis
cohen says there are major falls
and minor lifts that come before
the fourths and fifths and i suppose
he’s probably right, most likely right
but this is not about some hallelujah
The Sunday Poem: “Weary Blues” by David Rudd
Woke up this morning to the Bugle Call Rag,
Straight no chasers made my head real bad.
Nothing left for breakfast … goodbye pork pie hat,
Dressed with chilies (ah um) – never hotter than that!
The Sunday Poem: “Spinning Black Platters” by Mike Jurkovic
During a brief respite from the hard rain,
I heard a music born of spring and sunsets
coming from spinning black platters.
Their weighty cadence, their spry
crackling fireworks
The Sunday Poem: “Why Provincetown Gulls Sing Jazz” by Mike Mignano
On the Cape in P-town
August ‘55
Billie, Eartha, Ella vocals
Filled shoreline evening skies
Entrancing soaring seagulls
With jazzy siren song
The Sunday Poem: “Why I Play Guitar” by C.J. Trotter
because Jupiter is 1300 times the volume of the Earth
because milkweeds in the yard are as beautiful as
“Hushabye”
because on clear nights the moon pours in my window
like a spotlight and makes me think
.Paul Simon’s in the room
The Sunday Poem: “Ten-Suite Epistrophies and Improvisations: for T. Monk” by Bill Siegel
When he plays he wears invisible glasses
picks his keys with patience and purpose
a tornado with time on his hands
while in walks light
The Sunday Poem: “When Sonny Gets Gray” by John Menaghan
Surely Sonny still gets blue at times
I mean he’s a human being after all
isn’t he although sometimes he
seems more superhuman celestial
take now for instance as he bends
nearly all the way to the stage in
his 80s and plays and plays
and plays and plays and plays
The Sunday Poem: “By Ear” by Edward A. Dougherty
Stripped down standards
ache the air. Keith Jarrett
with chronic fatigue
recorded “I Got It Bad
(And That Ain’t Good)”
in sessions so short
he sometimes ended
before the song.
The Sunday Poem: “Wrong Address” – by DB Jonas
Mingus flipped the kitchen switch,
flooding the room with light,
just as, seeking purchase in the slippery sink,
I tumbled through the unlocked window.
The Sunday Poem(s): 23 Poets remember their father…
. . This space on Sunday is generally reserved for a single poet to read one of their works, but this week’s issue -Father’s Day – features 23 poets who weigh in on the complexity of their relationship with their father, revealing love, warmth, regret, sorrow – and in many cases a strong connection … Continue reading “The Sunday Poem(s): 23 Poets remember their father…”
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The Sunday Poem: “The Lady Sings” by Michael Keshigian
He often remembered
how it used to be with her,
his former lover,
who would sing him a song
every night before bed
then teach him each line
The Sunday Poem: “Fast Girl” – by Allison Whittenberg
Entertain us, entertain us all
Give, give, give with your sassy voice, your young body
Despite the migraines…
At 11, on a North Philly street, gang raped
By three creeps
It starts there, the cracks
The headache
The Sunday Poem: “You Never Forget Your First” – by Brian Kates
My high school girlfriend’s older brother
lived in a garret in the Village, like something
out of La Boheme, and she said maybe if we
went there, he’d leave us alone and we could
…well, you know
The Sunday Poem: “Crossing Over” by CJ Muchhala
She was four, just waking to the world.
Aware of rain and blue air, of singsong words,
of a low trill as she drifted into night. Abruptly
she was lifted
into unfamiliar voices
The Sunday Poem: “Mother’s Day Brunch” by Russell duPont
We’ll have a little brunch for you —
pecan-crusted French toast,
oysters, smoked salmon,
a charcuterie board.
The Sunday Poem: “The Divine Comedy as a Jazz Piece” by Matthew Johnson
I was preparing to make my exit from Heaven back to Earth,
And it was late March, so the lounge had transitioned
To their hot jazz band after playing the cool for months.
The Sunday Poem: “A Mountain Pass (In memory of Joe Pass)” by Bhuwan Thapaliya
A woman sits in a window frame
of old carved birds, listening to her
grandson in his jeans playing fig leaf music
in her home in Koshidekha,
a village in Nepal.
The Sunday Poem: “Brown Girl” by Jerrice J. Baptiste
You punched him in his chin
Jimmy not her kin
can’t let a bully
do her in.
The Sunday Poem: “Lady Day and Prez” by Henry Wolstat
At the bar of the
Towne Tavern, once
Toronto’s finest jazz club,
stage facing me,
sipping my one beer,
knowing even then
in my twenty-third year
I was witness to
a never forgotten gig.
The Sunday Poem: “Front Row Seat For A Head-Bebopping Allergy Sufferer” by Francis Fernandes
The pollen is flying like mad –
frantic, crazy, amorphously Daliesque –
sort of like our trio the other day,
rollicking and lollygagging through Monk’s
Brilliant Corners, losing it so completely
that when Marty flung a stick at my head
The Sunday Poem: “Thelonious Monk’s Hat” by Gary Jude
washes up
on the keyboard.
Bill Evans’ glasses too.
I put Monk’s hat on
and suddenly feel
like the captain of a ship.
The Sunday Poem: “Soultrane” by George Held
Soultrane came out when Ike governed.
1958. Before our nation
Would build up its war machine to invade
Viet Nam, training its Green Berets
The Sunday Poem: “A Jazz Drinker” by Ermira Mitre Kokomani
My friend is a Blues singer,
I am a Jazz drinker,
boozing shots after shots,
I never get drunk with Jazz.
The Sunday Poem: “Watermelon Man” by Charles Albert
I admit I’d never heard of “Watermelon Man” before Harry Reid came to my kids’ elementary school to put together a concert band. He wasn’t a salaried teacher, but a part-time outsider brought in by the PTA.
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The Sunday Poem: “Footprints to Infinity” by Michael Amitin
gentle the footprints go
up through the wilderness
to the heart-shaped night
short of breath, shorter, inches away on my speakers
miles inside
a sphere of glad- sad melancholy, dark tree twilights
The Sunday Poem: “The Eye Tapes…Monument to my Jazzy Eye” by Anita Lerek
Evergreens and pink lawn
chairs sang through my windowpane
until silenced by grime
and retinal leakage.
I pass my good eye
back and forth;
The Sunday Poem: “Style” by Laurie Kuntz
Your father and I admonished you
for walking ahead on the craggy mountain ridge.
You defended your eager steps,
saying you were musing
on the musical styles
of Mingus, Parker, and Shorter,
The Sunday Poem: “Bourbon Street” by Jianqing Zheng
Morning is dream time—
inns, strip clubs, and shops
are all eye-closed,
a hobo huddles
under a gray blanket
at a storefront,
neon signs illuminating
the strip all night long
The Sunday Poem: “Nina & Maria Esther” by Juan Mobili
Both of them put up with fools
until they didn’t
and the sea that men parted
collapsed under their stares.
The Sunday Poem: “Black Life” by Erren Kelly
shouts and dances in church
and thumbs its nose at shame
covers its body in brand names
and doesn’t worry about the future
holds hands and kiss shameslessly
in public; they call it p.d.a
The Sunday Poem: “Fly Me To The Moon” by Chuck Sweetman
Take tonight, for instance.
I can’t ask you for the moon
the way Sinatra commands it
with his first-class confidence.
Let alone Jupiter or Mars.
The Sunday Poem: “Dorothy Donegan: Queen of the Keys” – by Connie Johnson
Sensational
Largely unsung
Dorothy Donegan
Known by jazz insiders as
The female Art Tatum
His protégé
The one who made him say:
“She is the only woman who can
Make me practice.”
The Sunday Poem: “Not Shelling Fava Beans With Alice Waters” by John Briscoe
I jammed
with the Afro-American Jazz Band
in the old Off Plaza on McAllister,
and with the blind Black pianist whose name I can’t remember
in the club we knew as The Question Mark
whose sign on Haight Street was just a neon ?,
when the club was straight and featured jazz
The Sunday Poem: “A Poem About Art” by Geer Austin
Your chair is a kitten chasing a bird.
Hans Brinker skates across
your living room.
The Sunday Poem: “That’s What I Want For Christmas” by Jerrice J. Baptiste
Each year offered
a little blue box.
Trinket from a window.
The Sunday Poem: “Leap of Faith,” by Steve Trenam
I take my daughter to the ballet studio
at a former convent in Marin.
She will be dancing for hours.
At the edge of the church’s property
is an old gymnasium.
The Sunday Poem: “Lady Day” by Millicent Borges Accardi
Her first note wails amber
smoke near overhead pipes above
the guitars. It wavers
and rolls r’s better than spring.
The Sunday Poem: “Miles” by Charlie Brice
Yours is the sound of smoke
I love to inhale
the sound of a humid
summer night
its cool breeze
The Sunday Poem: “Queen” by Emily Jon Tobias
Mamacita
with round brown
hips
roll and sway
sway and roll
slow that stroll
she sings
to ease
her sticky soul
The Sunday Poem: “How I Achieved Levitation” by Bryan Franco
. . The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work. Bryan Franco reads his poem at its conclusion. . . ___ . . . . How I Achieved Levitation They all lived in the Walnut Building. Satchmo blew the roof off the house. Fats Waller tickled ivories. … Continue reading “The Sunday Poem: “How I Achieved Levitation” by Bryan Franco”
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The Sunday Poem: “Kirk’s Works” by Catherine Lee
Hearing Rahsaan Roland Kirk recordings
you could likely miss
the pleasure of that reedman’s kisser,
import of his so unique technique.
The Sunday Poem: “Behind the Smile (for Satchmo)” by Antoinette F. Winstead
The Young Turk disregarded the old trumpeter
labeled him a vaudevillian minstrel
because he shucked and grinned,
having no privy to old man’s roiling anger within
fueled by slights and shames endured for years
despite his lauded, storied career.
The Sunday Poem: “Love & Monk,” by Carrie Magness Radna
La La Love,
even when the cold raindrops
pounded against the window,
we snuggled close like fuzzy cats,
purring with Thelonious Monk
as we drank our Guinness.
The Sunday Poem: “Vibrations” by Victor Enns
My eyes were faster dreaming
a drum kit in bed with me
Rapid Eye Movement Disorder
disturbing my sleep and my wife
moving away with her cellphone
camera watch my arms begin to move
The Sunday Poem: “I Blame Chet Baker” by Lauren Loya
I blame Chet Baker
For opening a window into my past
Sensing that phantom trumpet in my capable hands
The smooth curves of the hard brass, the cold
Mouthpiece against my buzzing lips
Bright melodies blaring
From carefree days of my youth
The Sunday Poem: “Blues For Archie Shepp” by Joe Kidd
Ce soir l’anniversaire
we defeat the oppressor
with our horns, our magic
here to bury us or set us free
The Sunday Poem: “Fledging” by John L. Stanizzi
The woodshed was the hunting ground for wings of notes.
Black suits and ties, hipster hats and smoke rings of notes.
Was Robert Johnson alone, hellhound on his trail?
Was a deal made? Was Bird Satan’s plaything of notes.
The Sunday Poem: “Dink’s Blues and drum fills,” by Joel Glickman
I’m whistling a tune about
a woman’s broken heart,
down a long and empty
hallway, just to hear it
move itself along,
The Sunday Poem: “Erroll Garner at the Ace” by Kristofer Collins
From a third floor window I imagine
I can almost see the cracked black
& white tile welcoming Penn Avenue
to the long-closed Kappel’s Jewelers.
The Sunday Poem: “Musical Invocation” by Kathryn MacDonald
Strains of Charlie Parker’s alto sax fill
the empty apartment song-after-song –
“Dancing in the Dark,” “Loverman,”
“Embraceable You.”
Between every note I wish.
The Sunday Poem: “The Church of St. John Coltrane” by Mark Fogarty
Coltrane said a prayer to his musical God
Straight through the horn of his saxophone.
Not a metaphor; he spoke the words
Through the reed and the music into the air.
The Sunday Poem: “Sticks and Stones” by Laura Trigg
The shadow from the brick facade
of Central High School did not seem
to spread much shade on the streets
of our Little Rock neighborhood.
The Sunday Poem: “Doxy” by Molly Larson Cook
once said I’d marry a man
Who could hum the first four bars
Of Cal Tjader’s “Doxy.”
We say these foolish things
When we’re young and
Still learning the ways of the world.
The Sunday Poem “Po’ Monkey’s Juke Joint: Merigold, Mississippi” by Marianne Peel
Shrouded in smoke and cigarette spheres
Jazzy speakeasy on a summer slog of a night
Where hips ramble in tandem,
Slide and slip in an out of rhythm
Juke Joint shifting with an uneven floor
Naked feet shuffling and colliding
The Sunday Poem: “Blue Ash” by Sean Howard
free
what
bars?
intra-
views,
posit-
ions
o-
pen.
The Sunday Poem: “Being Smooth, Jazz, and Chill” by Christopher D. Sims
Smooth. Jazz. Chill.
Write. Think. Build.
Listen. Vibe. Poetically
design.
Spend time with jazzy
sounds elevating the
mind. Jazz is smooth.
Jazz is chill.
The Sunday Poem: “Village” by Michel Krug
The light aspires to be equatorial
but each eroded moment quiets otherwise.
The twilight Superior shore fills
with pine smoke from fire pits
just as Coltrane played in the
smoldering light at the Village Vanguard.
The Sunday Poem: “You Must Live It” by Byron Beynon
During that electric dawn
when I first heard
a bracelet of notes
which traced a subtle rhythm
within an hourglass of music
and sharpened the silence with sound,
The Sunday Poem: “Cobalt Blue Mood” by Amy Barone
It’s one of those moments.
She only has ears for Miles Davis.
Reflecting on things that never came to be—
The Sunday Poem: “Unsettled” by Roger Singer
he was/
a flightless bird/
bright as sky/
full of natural lies/
and sweet conflict/
when speaking the/
jazz
The Sunday Poem: “I Hear Music in the Kitchen” by Sandra Rivers-Gill
Naturally, his lyrics are cued a cappella./“I’m home” slips from his lips,/sizzles like the taste of what I’m baking in the oven,/as he unwinds his day.
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The Sunday Poem: “Duke Ellington’s Big-Band Orchestra: Live at Basin Street East, New York City. Summer 1964” – by Alan and Arlan Yount
The poet Alan Yount and son Arlan write about a live 1964 performance by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra
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The Sunday Poem: – “Late Sunday” by Josie Rozell
All damn day/
talk — talk — talk/
I told him, son/
why not fit those fingers/
down that damn gullet/
and make it a proper/
squawk squawk squawk —/
The Sunday Poem: “The Music of Surprise” by John Menaghan
The poet recalls a live performance he witnessed by the Timeless All Stars
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The Sunday Poem: “When the Water and Sand Dance” by D.R. James
When the water and sand dance, whence (whence?)/their music? What is that music? What /jazz, what syncopation surfs itself in?
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The Sunday Poem: “This Blue Funk” by Aurora M. Lewis
That feeling when everything makes you sad/Nothing you can think of would make you glad/No matter how hard you try to remove yourself/From this blue funk
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The Sunday Poem: “Jazz Within Me” by Jerrice Baptiste
. . The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work. Ms. Baptiste reads her poem at its conclusion. . . ___ . . David Dellepiane, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons . . Jazz Within Me I like Jazz playing within me. ……………….Record that never skips. Since age sixteen, … Continue reading “The Sunday Poem: “Jazz Within Me” by Jerrice Baptiste”
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The Sunday Poem: “The Drop of the Needle” by Russell duPont
The poet describes the clear, crisp sound of listening to jazz music on vinyl
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The Sunday Poem: “I Thought About You” by Connie Johnson
The poet recalls an encounter with Carmen McRae at a Hollywood shoe store
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The Sunday Poem: “Christian Scott Atunde Adjuah” by Erren Kelly
The poet writes about the depth of the trumpeter’s playing, and the connections to many of the great trumpeters before him
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The Sunday Poem: “Deja Vu” by Anna Wrobel
The poet reflects on loss, fate, remembrance, and hopefulness
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The Sunday Poem: “Back to Jazz” by Arlene Corwin
The poet recalls her early-life friendship with the pianist/composer Dave Frishberg
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The Sunday Poem: “Nina As In Nina Simone” by Arya F. Jenkins
This narrative poem is informed by quotes and stories in What Happened, Miss Simone? the 2015 Netflix biographical documentary about the singer/artist’s life and art
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The Sunday Poem: “Charles Mingus’s Memento*” by Sean Murphy
The poet profiles the larger-than-life figure of the legendary jazz bassist Charles Mingus
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The Sunday Poem: “Return to Forever—Chick Corea” by DH Jenkins
The poet writes of youthful memories conjured up from listening to Chick Corea and Return to Forever’s 1973 album, “Light as a Feather.”
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The Sunday Poem: “Birth Of The Blues” by Patricia Carragon
The poet writes about the origins of our personal blues, and how they can affect us…
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The Sunday Poem: “Miss Janice Scroggins and Her 88 Keys,” by Emmett Wheatfall
The poet honors his friend, the late jazz pianist Janice Scroggins, and reads his poem while Ms. Scroggins accompanies him
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The Sunday Poem: “An Urban Symphony” — by Anthony Ward
The poet is inspired by John Coltrane’s 1961 recording, “Ole”
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The Sunday Poem: “A Trench Coat Deserves Better” – by Terrance Underwood
The poet suggests better music could have accompanied the final scene in the film “Casablanca”
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The Sunday Poem: “Always Cool” – by Judith Vaughn
The poet recalls the impact of Chet Baker’s music on her late, earlier life friend
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The Sunday Poem: – “Dig: Dag: Dug: While Digging the Scene” by Namaya
Meanwhile, digging
the scene
a sultry
walking hip-step
bop that
fell to the
sweetest
moody!
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The Sunday Poem: “First Light (After Freddie Hubbard)” by Jessica Lee McMillan
first light skims on green wing like sprouts strobing for ray
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The Sunday Poem: “Wood Ticks on Fire: Cecil Taylor and the Forests of Sound that Plant Themselves in Us” – by George Kalamaras
The poet writes about the complexity of pianist Cecil Taylor’s music, and the liberation he feels from listening to it
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The Sunday Poem: “If I Were A Monarch Butterfly” – by Mary K. O’Melveny
The poet imagines being a monarch butterfly, inspired to movement by the music of Django Reinhardt
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The Sunday Poem: “Carla Bley” – by Dan Brown
The poet shares a memory of the jazz pianist Carla Bley
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The Sunday Poem: “She Be” — by Prince A. McNally
The poet reveres the power and beauty and historical significance of Black women, and reads his poem
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“Oscar” – a poem by Connie Johnson
I don’t want to stay woke
Oscar Peterson lulls me back to sleep
Sailing / swinging / meticulous
copacetic groove
“Plane to Italy” – a poem (for Bill Evans) by Linda Werbner
A hazy clip from Finnish TV,
the year he died
Shot in a dimly-lit studio
Evans has just finished a concert and the interviewer,
reverently holds an oversized microphone
“Strawberry-rhubarb Pie” – a poem by Robert Miner
Looking a little sad and alone in an upper bin of the produce section – a handful of red celery-like stalks of rhubarb. They are still crisp – not yet wilted by the soft terror of avoidance too often rhubarb’s after life.
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Post-election thoughts – in four poems
Four poets react to the results of the 2024 election…
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“To My Jazzed Grandmother (after John Coltrane) ” – a poem by Anita Lerek
The evening burns,
riffs clinking glasses
dance to what is
not there.
My finger travels along the old
family photograph, 33 stern faces.
Forest cats in clan den, spotted,
camouflaged. Before I was born.
Who are they? No one knows.
“If You Were Julie London” – a poem by Jerrice J. Baptiste
Maybe, whisper of your voice
could bring home
your far away love
before icicles begin to form.
It could be so.
“Nocturne” – a poem by Terrance Underwood
the sound became a poem
after happening into
Kenny Burrell leading
an arranged Gil Evans
below a full moon
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“The Sounds Outside My Window” – a poem by Bradford Middleton
. . photo via pickpik.com . . The Sounds Outside My Window ………(for Jack Kerouac) So the drunk old genius of the road once wrote that the sounds outside his window were worthy of his poetical consideration but right now, out of mine, all I can hear are seagulls squawking and sirens wailing and, in … Continue reading ““The Sounds Outside My Window” – a poem by Bradford Middleton”
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“Where the Bee Sucks (or Blows)” – a poem by David Rudd
The conductor passed the notes around — birds strung out on wires —
Pieces they all knew well, nothing too inspired.
He checked his troops, baton raised, then marched them down the street.
Was it a groove, or was it a rut, that curbed their marching feet?
“I Thought About Lou” – a poem by Terrance Underwood
notice was received at the Final Arms Hotel
stating simply
expect Lou soon
& the buzz began
Good gracious!
Big John and Grant grinned
each to the other
with Hammond & Gibson harmony
“Film Noir” – a poem by Bernard Saint
Flip day for night then lose the glossy crooner
Let the trumpet solo drain the oil from showbiz lake
Cruise a lowdown hungry blues
Along the Great White Way
To citizens’ arrest on Lower Broadway
“All That Jazz” – a poem by Alan Abrams
Drizzly droplets
Dripping from balcony rails,
Slipping down window panes
As I listen to Stevie Ray
Play Lenny. Man that
Cat could sweat as he
Plucks magic from
Six thin strings.
“Ego” – a poem by Martha Patterson
“Big egos,” they now say –
Basie, Armstrong, Ellington
Did Louis Armstrong
Possess an outsized ego
“Beyond the Sun” – a poem by Connie Johnson
Nostalgia
it’s the feeling that brought us here
a bit of joy / sweet glide to a hallowed space
and Fats Navarro is already here
“One Day Perhaps: On Russell Malone” – a poem by Terrance Underwood
Leaving residence
At the Final Arms Hotel
For a misty boulevard stroll
Could be I see you
(Maybe on your way
To meet up with Wes
To go Bumpin’ On Sunset)
“September Song” – a poem by Jerrice J. Baptiste
Sometime before September ends
I will capture your love
among the flaming
fuchsia, paprika, mustard colored
leaves, blowing in wind on a journey
to somewhere close to where you are.
“Donald Byrd’s Late Night Lullaby” – a poem by Erren Kelly
. . Mallory1180, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons . . Donald Byrd’s Late Night Lullaby The Worker Bee finds a home In the honeyed tones of a trumpet As the sun sets earlier, answering Fall’s call, she stands sometimes Sturdy as a birch tree, the trumpet’s Wail suits her majestically. Jazz is The … Continue reading ““Donald Byrd’s Late Night Lullaby” – a poem by Erren Kelly”
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Four poets, four poems…on John Coltrane
John Coltrane was the absolute
the decorated, the preternatural
and acknowledged master of what fury
can pour out of the body of a saxophone.
“‘Amazing Grace’ Played by Hubert Laws” – a poem by Michael L. Newell
The flute floats a legato stream of notes,
blood from the heart pouring in a lucent stream,
brilliant as a harvest moon filling the sky
with radiance such as the flutist releases
into the concert hall, notes carried on breath
“Baldwin in Istanbul” – a poem by Connie Johnson
In postcards to his sister Paula
He described what it felt like
To feel free
In America, he was
A disrupter of the peace
In a thickly-padded FBI dossier
Four baseball (and jazz) poems…
In which poets connect the swing of the bat with that of the bandstand…
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Pianists and Poets – 13 poems devoted to the keys
…From “Fatha” Hines to Brad Mehldau, poets open themselves up to their experiences with and reverence for great jazz pianists…
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“On Coltrane: 4th of July Reflections” – a poem by Connie Johnson
Audible pain
Introspective
Like the composition he wrote called
Alabama about the 4 little girls from
Birmingham:
“Making Love Listening to Eric Dolphy” – a poem by Marilyn Mohr
Nested into each other,
We listened to Dolphy play “Truth”
as softly as the bedding that held us.
“To Listen” – a poem by Michael L. Newell
The hardest skill to learn
is to listen.
Always one wants to interrupt,
to explain, to contradict, to deny.
“Fort Macleod, Alberta, Canada” – a poem (for Joni Mitchell) by Juan Mobili
Think of a river
Turned into
A Diamond,
“Resilience: For David Sanborn” – a poem by Alan Yount
my claim to jazz fame:
I have had fun telling people …
I got to know david sanborn
in high school band.
Jazz…in eight poems
A myriad of styles and experiences displayed in eight thoughtful and provocative poems about jazz music…
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“Perceiving the Same Notes” – a poem by Terrance Underwood
That Black Olive near the back providing shade
a steady venue for beak & feather songsters
roaming around the leaves
as if they were tables at the Club Aviary
“Thinking of Herbie” – a poem by Daniel W. Brown
. . The cover of the 1987 Mosaic Records collection of The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Herbie Nichols . . Thinking of Herbie I was thinking about jazz masters who died too young– private accolades for America’s unknown legion, perished by addiction, illness or accident— Herbie Nichols I didn’t forget you. Dead of … Continue reading ““Thinking of Herbie” – a poem by Daniel W. Brown”
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“And I’m Not Even Here” – a poem by Connie Johnson
Cacophonous —
The honk, the blare of the tenor sax
And the scream! The guttural cry
Who are you, man…who are
You? “I’m nobody,” is my
Only reply
“Joyous Evening With The Blues” – a poem by Michael L. Newell
Dexter Gordon blew blue
blue notes for hours in his visit
to my CD player,
accompanied by wicked syncopations
rapped on window and roof
by bursts of rain as it came and went
“Black Coffee Blues” – a poem by Mary K O’Melveny
Even if you never drank black coffee, that won’t stop you from drinking in the feelings that filter across a room whenever Sarah Vaughan sings Black Coffee. One could drown in that bottomless, inky liquid, that heartache-laden brew,
...
“Three Canadian Jazz Artists” – poems by Kathryn MacDonald
She plays slow, haunting
notes that linger and flow
around her voice, unearths
the story that lies between
the words of each song –
“Remembering Mose,” a poem by John Kendall Hawkins
I was streaming The Fabulous Baker Boys
the other night and thought
it reminded me of the times I drank to
Mose Allison — in Boston, in DC —
and how righteous he was singing
Everybody Cries Mercy
Six poems, six poets new to Jerry Jazz Musician
These poems are new submissions by five poets relatively new to Jerry Jazz Musician, and are an example of the writing I have the privilege of encountering on a regular basis.
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“Devotion” – a poem and 11 “Musings on Monk,” by Connie Johnson
Marginalized, itinerant
Brilliance barely compensated
You want to save them all; you
Particularly want to save him
Proceeding From Behind: A collection of poems grounded in the rhythmic, relating to the remarkable, by Terrance Underwood
A relaxed, familiar comfort emerges from the poet Terrance Underwood’s language of intellectual acuity, wit, and space – a feeling similar to one gets while listening to Monk, or Jamal, or Miles. I have long wanted to share his gifts as a poet on an expanded platform, and this 33-poem collection – woven among his audio readings, music he considers significant to his story, and brief personal comments – fulfills my desire to do so.
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“On Becoming A Jazz Fanatic In The Early 1970’s” – 20 linked short poems by Daniel Brown
it seems like thousands
of nights hunkered
over dark beer and jazz
with my Guru
the janitor who taught
jazz to the novice
Two poems by Terrance Underwood
when first he was asked
spring buds had yet to fully open
now rising out of autumn heath
that tenor sax strides deep
Three jazz poets…three jazz poems
Takes on love and loss, and memories of Lady Day, Prez, Monk, Dolphy and others…
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“Compared to What?” – a poem by James Higgins
It’s Les McCann & Eddie Harris
heard it back in ’69, heard it now
not once but twice, so nice, but
sadness got me tonight, hit me hard,
“Improvisation 101” – a poem by Marianne Peel
We begin to study Uncle George
in a cavern of disintegration.
A hospital bed wrenched through
a narrow doorway. Shag carpeting
cauterized and peeled from the concrete floor.
A hoyer lift wheeled in. A pully installed
so George can shift from horizontal to vertical.
“Deep in the Woods,” a poem by Michael L. Newell
Dusk’s deep waters envelop me
with the quiet embrace of a Bill
Evans solo, the piano so low,
yet so all encompassing (drowning
me in beauty, beauty, beauty —
“Green Street” – a poem by George Kalamaras
How can somebody so blue, Grant, be named
Green? How can the ocean current
and its waves? Simple. Immediate. Each note comes
from you slow as underwater speech. Say
a fish tank and pufferfish hugging the glass. Imagine
being trapped. Gravel pumped through the gills
“Four Sides Live” – a poem by Justin Hare
It tickles my fancy the way
francophone announcers
ornately say the names
of jazzmen in those live recordings
put to reel in Montreux.
Jack DeJohnette in particular
tickles me, perhaps because
it is a french-like sort of name.
“Sarah” – a poem by Connie Johnson
Jazz divinity
The Divine One on hot, fevered wings
That fly east of the sun and west of
The moon
“The Dancer” – a poem by Zoya Gargova
She is mesmerizing
flying in the air with the music,
ignoring gravity.
What is she thinking?
Six poets, six poems on Bill Evans
A poetic appreciation for the work of the legendary pianist
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“Zoot Suit Times (Rhythms From the Past)” – a poem by Oliver Lake
You ever heard of a Zoot Suit?
Do you own a Zoot Suit ?
What about the Zoot Suit Riots
you ever heard of them?
“Song of the Poplar Tree” – a poem by Jerrice Baptiste
. . “Tree”(1924) photo by Alfred Stieglitz/via Raw Pixel/CC0 1.0 Deed . . Song of the Poplar Tree The song playing always catches me off guard. My trembling fingers quicken to remove the old vinyl record. I must stop her voice from singing. Even the wispy quality carries the heavy weight. I weep. Not … Continue reading ““Song of the Poplar Tree” – a poem by Jerrice Baptiste”
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“Thelonious Monk and Mama” – a poem by Erren Kelly
. . photo by Bernard Gotfryd/Library of Congress/PDM 1.0 Thelonious Monk, 1968 . ___ . Thelonious Monk and Mama Thelonious Monk paints a picture of Mama with his piano, the way Monet or Matisse would, with paint: loud, bright colorful notes that are a Rorschach test, screaming on the page. Perhaps, Mama would’ve modeled … Continue reading ““Thelonious Monk and Mama” – a poem by Erren Kelly”
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“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe
Barstow to Boron, bound for Bakersfield
we fly across the Mojave Desert, will wind
through and over the Tehachapis
only to come to rest in another desert
on the rim of the sink of California.
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell
Ella Fitzgerald is whispering
to me: “sit here and enjoy your dinner with my
sweet honey voice,” eternal bloom of time,
filling the corner of the street where I eat
with a Golden Age long gone but that remains
like an idea, lingering, like the steam of a
hot bath leaving
traces of fingers on the mirror
Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems
There are two types of clubs
Highfalutin hoity-toity stuck up clubs
And gritty grimy dingy dank dungeons
I prefer the latter, for obvious reasons
Clubs must be weathered
Crackled paint & nicotine stained
“On The Road: 2023” – a poem by Phil Linz
n On the Road, Jack & Neal raced Rocky Mount to Ozone Park,
speeding dark quiet American roads
Today, 2023. I drive the new superhighways, continuous sterile green
at median & shoulders,
“Down the Way . . .Day, Oh! Day, Oh!” – a poem by Joe Potts
The phrase that brought to us
The Sunny Day
The Warm of the ocean
The Joy of observing of Life . . .
Not only our own but of a World of Dreams.
“Questions for Astrud” – a poem by Jerrice J. Baptiste
Did you dream up the orange golden sun of Aruanda?
Seashells far from your mother, you would no longer need
to whisper, “Take Me to Aruanda.”
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“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly
. . David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons “‘Benedetto’ means the ‘blessed one’ and I feel that I have truly been blessed.” -Tony Bennett . . ___ . . Tony Bennett, In Memoriam Lightning strikes as your voice makes magic on a summer night i think of a tall girl … Continue reading ““Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly”
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“Solace” – a poem by Terrance Underwood
. . Lester Young, 1946 . . Solace I relish the cultivation of my Lester afternoons an endeavor still absorbing at my age captive in that garden of ambient sound …………………that Young tenor breath ………………………….a zephyr expulsion stirring atmosphere rare these days for this climate caressing time & movement with a tone to stream still … Continue reading ““Solace” – a poem by Terrance Underwood”
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“Jazz On a Summer’s Day” – a poem by John Murphy
It’s 1958
and the epitome of 50s style
Anita O’Day steps onto
the stage, white gloves
to her elbows, black hat
crowned with white feathers,
slim black dress and finger clicks
the band into sound and dynamic
jazz minors and majors.
“Jazz Cycle”…poems by deb Ewing
in jazz composition
everybody knows where the one is
even when nobody chooses to play it
if the space is quiet enough
you can hear blood racing
“Mumbles” – a poem by Michael L. Newell
The poet describes his joyful experience of listening to “Mumbles,” a 1964 recording by Oscar Peterson with Clark Terry
...
“Jazz At The Point” – a poem (and photos) by Russell duPont
The poet recalls an evening when he serendipitously encountered jazz in “The Point” neighborhood of Boston
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The international flavor of jazz…in five poems
Poets honor jazz as an international music in five atmospheric poems
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“Billie Holiday’s Deathbed” – a poem by Sean Murphy
This busy bee, at the end of a life like clockwork,
a symphony of service to everything but herself—
wings snatched in a world blinded by the way it is—
slowly expiring in the sweet nectar of stillness,
“Elvin Jones at the WGBH-TV studio in Boston, 1966” – a poem by George Kalamaras
The poet writes a profile of the jazz drummer Elvin Jones, inspired by a photograph by Lee Tanner
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John Coltrane…in two poems
The poets Richard Radcliffe and Svi A. Sesling share their experience of listening to and interacting with to the music of John Coltrane
...
“Liner Notes to Charlie Parker” – a poem (and playlist) by Chuck Sweetman
The poet writes a fantasy about Parker’s time in the California asylum Camarillo…a 15 song playlist accompanies the poem
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“Mother and Child” and “Burrowing Into Self” – two poems by Michael L. Newell
A woman’s fingers explored/piano keys, as though bairns/plowing through snow drifts/in search of hidden life;
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“Strata (in Cecil Taylor’s notes to Unit Structures, 1966)” – a poem by Sean Howard
An abstract poetic view of an abstract jazz recording…
...
“New York Triptych, 1950s” – a poem by Jim Donnelly
A remembrance of incidents in the Bronx, Harlem and at Bop City…
...
Musings on Ellington (and others) — in four poems
Poet musings on Ellington — and big band music, by the poets Claire Andreani, Russell duPont, Laurinda Lind and Terrance Underwood
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“Back in the Day” – a poem by John Menaghan
The poet remember jazz pianist Horace Tapscott
...
Five poems by five poets, celebrating jazz…
The poets share their love of jazz through personal narratives, and memories of live performances
...
“Soft Sounds” – a poem (for Ahmad Jamal) by Joe Potts
The poet describes the impact of pianist Ahmad Jamal on a cherished evening, and beyond
...
“Liner Notes to Bluesy Jazz” – a poem (and playlist) by Chuck Sweetman
The poet writes on how a musician putting their heart into their playing is a key to a great solo
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“Miles 1966” – a poem by D.B. Jonas
The poet recalls Miles Davis’ depth of character and musicianship during a particularly complex era of his career
...
“It’s Jazz” — a poem by Scott Brown
It’s
sittin’ in the corner knowing what others don’t get and smile-noddin’ over scotch and coda after a day bounced you about like Buddy’s snare and high hat clamped you down to sweet Georgia brown dirt in the Summertime wailed by Sidney Bechet
Poems by Christopher Sims and Erren Kelly
Two poets reflect on the May 14, 2022 mass shooting in Buffalo, New York
...
Two poems by Phil Linz, on the occasion of Jack Kerouac’s 100th birthday
It’s the darkness, man, the
Darkness
that laughs with the evil of the vamp.
It’s the wildness, man, the
Wildness
that greets the gray of dawn.
“Old J.S.— Running Through the Changes” — a poem by Joel Glickman
So long ago, before Ornette Coleman,
Coleman Hawkins, John Coltrane—
all those free spirits running up and down
the alphabet of jazz, there was old
J.S. Bach, running through the changes.
I always picture him, and hear him,
at the pipe organ in Tomas Kirsche
all by himself,
“I Live Inside Erik Satie’s Piano” — a poem by Bill Siegel
I live inside Erik Satie’s piano
with my dog.
Every day is early morning autumn here
The leaves never fall
inside Erik Satie’s piano – they dance
Paying homage to vinyl record albums — in three poems
One of my greatest joys for decades
was exploring unknown record shops.
I once walked into a newly opened used
shop around the corner from my university
and discovered a used album, apparently
the improvisatory result of a session
set up by Norman Granz that included
A broadside and poem of Charles Mingus, by Russell duPont
Nineteen fifty-nine –
1-9-5-9 – things changed.
Coltrane took Giant Steps –
Miles was Kind of Blue
and Brubeck played
with Time.
“Archie Shepp’s Jazz Song” — a poem by Susana Case
Shepp, believing in the immortality
of Malcolm’s significance, murmurs,
a few weeks after his murder,
“Semper Malcolm” over disjointed jazz,
“King Bolden” — a poem by Aurora Lewis
Storyville a bit of hell in the city of Saints
Piano men played ragtime and honky-tonk
It was there Buddy Bolden with his cornet
“Amen” — a poem by Roger Singer
Jazz rained down in rivers
catching out strong soul
and soft hands
rising to the call of music prayers
among blind angels
who fail on color
and possess
“The Jazz Singer” — a poem by Marc Livanos
Clear my palate
so my mind wanders.
Flap down sweet
childhood memories.
Bare endless fields
of willowy cotton.
Open up vistas
of
“Alabama: Jack DeJohnette, Ravi Coltrane, Matthew Garrison” — a poem by John McCluskey
Yes, it is hot,
night sweats beneath
Spanish moss and the terror in trees
now knowing no cover of darkness
to greet a Sunday morning
10:22 a.m.
under the stairs
16th Street Baptist Church.
“Three minutes”
and the siren wails
“Liner Notes for ‘Stardust’ — In Seven Choruses,” a cycle of short poems by Doug Fowler
“Liner Notes for ‘Stardust’ — In Seven Choruses” is a cycle of short poems framed as imaginary liner notes and prompted by poet Doug Fowler’s favorite musical covers of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust.” In essence, according to Fowler, they are “imaginary liner notes for a real song about an imaginary song about love.”
The cycle is also partially a tribute to Chu Berry, who died as the result of a car accident in Conneaut, Ohio, in 1941, not far from where Fowler lives.
...“Charlie Parker negative” — a poem by Sean Lause
No trickster god,
demon, savior, saint or
train wreck, but human, very.
Not irrational, primal,
primitive, dark unconscious,
exile or martyr.
No more priapic
than your Sunday morning
erection. Not lost or liminal.
“As Long As You Living Yours (For Keith Jarrett)” — a poem by Erren Kelly
not even schroeder from the peanuts
comic strip
is as dedicated to the piano
and he has a bust of beethoven
gracing his steinway!
you pull sounds out of the air
making something out of nothing
you call it improvisation:
i say, god’s just using you as
a transmitter for his thoughts…
“SO WHAT,” a poem by Golda Solomon
SO WHAT
Baptized by vodka cleansing my throat
Baptized by sweat dripping from Tony Williams’ sticks
Thick  Summer Sunday Afternoons
at the Vanguard
“Quintets – Gimme Five!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
The Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the cover of their 1960 Riverside Records album Live at the Lighthouse. The ensemble – including Cannonball’s brother Nat on cornet, Victor Feldman on piano, Sam Jones on bass, and Louis Hayes on drums – is a classic hard bop band, and their performance of “Blue Daniel” is part of the 22-song playlist consisting of memorable quintet performances assembled by jazz scholar Bob Hecht.
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Jazz History Quiz #178
In addition to co-leading a quintet with Zoot Sims, this tenor saxophonist may be best known as the man who replaced Herbie Steward as one of the “Four Brothers” in Woody Herman’s Second Herd. Who is he?
...
Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 9: “Heroic Quests”
In this edition, Rife writes about the “quest” theme in contemporary jazz fiction, where long-lost instruments and rumored recordings take the place of more dramatic artifacts like the Holy Grail.
...
“An Evening with Michael Bloomfield” – a true blues story by david eugene everard
The author recounts his experience meeting and interviewing the great blues guitarist Mike Bloomfield in 1974…
...
Announcing the book publication of Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry
The first Jerry Jazz Musician poetry anthology published in book form includes 90 poems by 47 poets from all over the world, and features the brilliant artwork of Marsha Hammel and a foreword by Jack Kerouac’s musical collaborator David Amram. The collection is “interactive” (and quite unique) because it invites readers – through the use of QR codes printed on many of the book’s pages – to link to selected readings by the poets themselves, as well as to historic audio and video recordings (via YouTube) relevant to many of the poems, offering a holistic experience with the culture of jazz.
...
“I Remember Clifford” – a short story by Mark Craemer
A young trumpet player in Chicago struggles with the challenges of finding his own voice as an artist
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On the Turntable — The “Best Of the ‘Best Of’” in 2024 jazz recordings
Our annual year-end compilation of jazz albums oft mentioned by a wide range of critics as being the best of 2024
...
“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond…
What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025? How do you see it playing out? 50 readers respond to the question, What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?
...
Jerrice J. Baptiste’s 2025 Jazz Poetry Calendar
Jerrice J. Baptiste’s 12-month 2025 calendar of jazz poetry winds through the upcoming year with her poetic grace while inviting us to wander through music by the likes of Hoagy Carmichael, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Sarah Vaughan, Melody Gardot and Charlie Parker.
...
In Memoriam: “Departures to the Final Arms Hotel in 2024” – poetic tributes, by Terrance Underwood
2024 produced its share of losses of legendary jazz musicians. Terrance Underwood pays poetic homage to a handful who have touched his life, imagining their admittance to the Final Arms Hotel, a destination he introduces in his prelude.
...
A very brief holiday greeting…
“I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time…”
...
“The Jazz Dive” – the art of Allen Mezquida
.The Jazz Dive is the website of the musician and artist Allen Mezquida, whose work is described as “an independent art studio at the intersection of jazz and mid-century modern design” that is inspired by the counterculture music from the 1950s and 60s, and creates art “that resonates with both eyes and ears.” It is unique and creative and worth a look…
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“Quartets – Four and No More” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
A 25-song playlist that focuses on quartets, featuring legends like Miles, MJQ, Monk, Brubeck, and Sonny, but also those led by the likes of Freddie Redd, David Murray, Frank Strozier, and Pepper Adams.
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Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 8: “Jazz’s International Influence”
In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature stories about jazz music’s international influence.
...
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #67 — “Bluesette,” by Salvatore Difalco
The author’s award-winning story is a semi-satirical mood piece about a heartbroken man in Europe listening to Toots Thielemans while under the influence of a mind-altering substance.
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Jazz History Quiz #177
This saxophonist’s first important jobs were during the 1940’s with Lionel Hampton (pictured), Fletcher Henderson, Louis Armstrong’s big band, and Billy Eckstine’s Orchestra. Additionally, he was a Savoy Records recording artist as a leader before being an important part of the scene on Los Angeles’ Central Avenue. Who was he?
...
“Second-Hand Squeeze Box” – a short story by Debbie Burke
The story – a short-listed entry in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – explores the intersection of nourishing oneself with music, and finding a soul mate
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And Here We Are: A Post-election Thanksgiving, by Connie Johnson
Tenuous
It’s probably always
been tenuous
The notion
The concept
of democracy and
how it was designed
to protect us
Notes on Bob Hecht’s book, Stolen Moments: A Photographer’s Personal Journey
Some thoughts on a new book of photography by frequent Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht
...
A Memorable Quote by Maya Angelou…(and a short message of gratitude and faith)
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the…
...
Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 22: “Energy Man, or, God is in the House”
Art Tatum plays fast
fast as Sundays
fast as sunset in November
fast as a hurry up offense
fast as a 20 dollar bill flying down the street
“The Dancer’s Walk” – a short story by Franklyn Ajaye
The world-renowned saxophonist Deja Blue grew up a sad, melancholy person who could only express his feelings through his music. When he meets a beautiful woman who sweeps him off his feet, will his reluctance to share his feelings and emotion cost him the love of his life?
...
“And All That Jazz” – a short story by BV Lawson
In this story – a short listed entry in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – a private investigator tries to help a homeless friend after his saxophone is stolen.
...
“Melody and Counterpoint” – a short story by Joshua Dyer
Tucker works as a jazz pianist aboard the deep space luxury cruiser, the Royal Nebula. A flirtatious interlude pushes his new emotional software to its limits and beyond, and he learns the hard way what it means to be human.
...
Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 7: “Women, by Women”
In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature stories about women, written by women.
...
The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Johnny Griffin and Von Freeman
Beginning in 1990, the noted photographer Giovanni Piesco began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world. Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition is of saxophonists Johnny Griffin and Von Freeman, who appeared together at the at Bimhuis on June 25/26, 1999.
...
Memorable Quote: H.L. Mencken…
. . Ben Pinchot, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons . “I believe it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe it is better to know than to be ignorant.” . -H. L. Mencken . . Listen … Continue reading “Memorable Quote: H.L. Mencken…”
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Memorable Quote:…Martin Luther King
. . photo via Pixabay . “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” . -Martin Luther King . . ___ . . Listen to the 1963 recording of Oscar Peterson performing “Hymn to Freedom,” with Ray Brown (bass) and Ed Thigpen (drums). [Universal … Continue reading “Memorable Quote:…Martin Luther King”
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“Rudy Van Gelder: Jazz Music’s Recording Angel” – an essay by Joel Lewis
For over 60 years, the legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder devoted himself to the language of sound. And although he recorded everything from glee clubs to classical music, he was best known for recording jazz – specifically the musicians associated with Blue Note and Prestige records. Joel Lewis writes about his impact on the sound of jazz, and what has become of his Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio.
...
“The Pianist (Part One)” – a short story by J. C. Michaels
The story – finalist in the recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – describes the first lesson at a music conservatory of a freshman piano-performance major who is more accustomed to improvising than reading music. It is an excerpt from a novel-in-progress.
...
“Hip Replacements” – a short story by William Torphy
The story – a short-listed entry in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction contest – is a humorous take on a septuagenarian attempt to resurrect a revival band,
...
“‘Different’ Trios” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
In this 27-song playlist, Bob Hecht focuses on non-traditional trio recordings.
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Jazz History Quiz #176
While legendary as a saxophonist, his first instrument was a violin and his second the piano — which he played well enough to work as an accompanist to silent movies. Ultimately it was Lester Young’s father who taught him the saxophone well enough that he switched instruments for good. (It was during this time that he also saved Lester from drowning in a river). Who is he?
...
“Nostalgia” – a short story by John-Paul Cote
Harlan has an addiction. A most illegal addiction. It drives him from morning until night. He dreams of it. How can he escape it before it brings him into the arms of the law? Down a dark alley he will find out just how far he is willing to go.
...
“Moondance” – a short story by Ruth Knafo Setton
The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – focuses on two people whose passion for music infuses their lives… and their chance at love.
...Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 6: “Mystery, Mayhem, Music”
In this edition, Rife writes about jazz novels and short stories that feature a theme of “mystery.”
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“Gerry Meaghers” – a short story by Mark Donnelly
In the story, a short listed entrant in the recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest, a 60-year-man has lost his job as a newspaper reporter, and is left with few options.
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“Briscola” – a short story by Emily Xu
The story – a short-listed entry in the recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – is an exaggerated version of the dynamism of domestic/romantic relationships between spouses and the difficulty to sustain a family.
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“Trios – Three’s Not a Crowd” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
In the history of jazz there have been many variations of instrumentation within the trio format (think of Benny Goodman’s trio or Jimmy Giuffre’s) but on this playlist, Bob Hecht concentrates on a handful of the classic trio configurations—either piano, bass and drums, or in a few instances, piano, guitar and bass……
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“Gone Guy: Jazz’s Unsung Dodo Marmarosa,” by Michael Zimecki
An essay remembering the late jazz musician Michael “Dodo” Marmarosa, awarded Esquire Magazine’s New Star Award in 1947, and who critics predicted would dominate the jazz scene for the next 30 years.
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Jazz History Quiz #175
This famed jazz artist played the piano professionally as a seventh grader before switching to drums, learning to play in the styles of Chick Webb and Sid Catlett. Before forming his own band in the early 1950’s, he played with Mary Lou Williams (pictured) in New York, toured the South with Fletcher Henderson’s band, and was the drummer in Billy Eckstine’s group from 1944 – 1947. Who is he?
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“The Next Right Note” – a short story by Lisa Grunberger
The story – a short-listed entrant in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – centers on the effects of COVID on an interracial, interfaith family…
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Deadline approaching for Short Fiction Contest #67
The deadline for entering stories in the 67th edition of the Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest is September 30.
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Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 21: “The Blue Truth”
This edition of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film is written in response to Oliver Nelson’s 1961 recording The Blues and the Abstract Truth
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Community Bookshelf #3
“Community Bookshelf” is a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books and/or recordings. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so (March – September, 2024)
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“The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of” – a short story by Vishwas R. Gaitonde
The story – a short-listed entrant in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – explores the notion of where dreams end and reality begins through the lives of three people living in New Orleans
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In Memoriam: Jazz advocate Dan Morgenstern, 1929 – 2024
The influential jazz critic, author, scholar, and advocate for the music Dan Morgenstern died on September 7, at the age of 94.
...Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 5: “Scott Joplin: King of Ragtime”
In this edition, Rife writes about three novels/short fiction that include stories about Scott Joplin, the primary forerunner and significant influencer of jazz.
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“Like a Girl Saying Yes: The Sound of Bix” – an essay by Malcolm McCollum
The first time Benny Goodman heard Bix Beiderbecke play cornet, he recalled, he wondered, “My God, what planet, what galaxy, did this guy come from?” (Skretvedt)
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“Duos – Two of a Mind” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht presents a 31-song playlist of historic and contemporary duo performances that exemplify the essence of jazz as a conversation between individuals, an open exchange between equal partners.
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“Black Magic – 1960’s” – a short story by Gavin Kayner
In this story – a finalist in our recently concluded 66th Short Fiction Contest – a Black magician reveals his life’s complexity to a white therapist who questions his ability to address it.
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Jazz History Quiz #174
This pianist was Billie Holiday’s regular accompanist during her last two years (1957 – 1959), and also played in the Eric Dolphy-Booker Little Quintet that recorded extensively at New York’s Five Spot in 1961. Who is he?
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“Invariable Thelonious” – nine haikus by Terrance Underwood
Scattered discordant
Symbols woven into lines
Across blank white pages
The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Leroy Jenkins
Beginning in 1990, the noted photographer Giovanni Piesco began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world. Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition is of the eminent free jazz violinist Leroy Jenkins, taken at Bimhuis in 1999.
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Short Fiction Contest-winning story #66 — “Not From Around Here” by Jeff Dingler
A story about a Jewish kid coming of age in Alabama and discovering his identity through music, in particular the interstellar sound of Sun Ra.
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Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 4: “Jazz, Dancing, Nightclubs: A Bonded Culture”
In this fourth edition featuring excerpts from his book, Rife writes about five novels/short fiction that include stories about the interconnected cultures of jazz, dancing and nightclubs.
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“Stone Walls of Connecticut” – a short story by Michele Herman
The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 65th Short Fiction Contest – concerns a father’s determined commitment to demonstrate his values to his family through a spontaneous personal action
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“Alone at the Piano” – a playlist by Bob Hecht
In this edition of extensive jazz playlists, the award-winning jazz producer and scholar Bob Hecht focuses his attention on solo piano performances, including those by artists such as Bud Powell, Thelonious Monk, Art Tatum, Tommy Flanagan, Cedar Walton, Bill Evans, Jaki Byard, Keith Jarrett.
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What we discover about Kamala Harris from an armful of record albums
Like her or not, readers of this site will enjoy learning that Vice President Kamala Harris is a fan of jazz music. Witness this recent clip (via Youtube) of her emerging from a record shop…
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“Adrian Rollini Lives” – an appreciation, by Malcolm McCollum
Remembering the genius of the multi-instrumentalist who played with the likes of Bix Beiderbecke, Benny Goodman, Red Nichols, Miff Mole, and Joe Venuti
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Jazz History Quiz #173
Described as a “Louis Armstrong sound-alike on both trumpet and vocals” whose recording of “On the Sunny Side of the Street” was so close to Armstrong’s live show that some listeners thought Armstrong was copying him, this trumpeter (along with Bobby Stark), was Chick Webb’s main trumpet soloist during the 1930’s. Who is he?
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“Stars” – a short story by Ronald McGuire
In this story – a finalist in the recently concluded 65th Short Fiction Contest – a missing guitar leads to the dissolution of a chart-topping band. Years later their subsequent reconciliation reverberates across generations.
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“An Evening at the Genesee” – a short story by Salvatore Difalco
The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 65th Short Fiction Contest – concerns a heart-broken man trying to deal with his sadness via journaling and jazz.
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