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The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work.
Steve Trenam reads his poem at its conclusion.
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Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Thelonious Monk, 1961
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Straight, No Chaser
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.
With his cat fur hat clinging with desperation
to his robust head, he would approach
the piano, settle onto the stool,
then pause for his music to meander down
from his brain to his waiting fingertips.
The keys sometimes grew anxious
and rose up slightly in anticipation
of his touch.
And when that touch came,
the sound it produced
was butter on toast.
It spread throughout the room,
a melodic contagion from which
no one wanted to recover.
The likes of Sonny Rollins, Clark Terry,
Gerry Mulligan, Art Blakey, and John
Coltrane all played his compositions,
both for and with him. They were also
witness to his dancing in circles on stage
and falling asleep at the keyboard.
Thelonious Monk Junior once said
of his unparalleled jazz career,
“Julliard would have ruined me.”
He was right.
Monk was always right.
Monk was always Monk.
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Listen to Steve Trenam read his poem
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Steve Trenam, writing poetry in Tuscany
Steve Trenam teaches poetry writing for Santa Rosa Junior College. Blue Light Press published his An Affront to Gravity in 2021. His work appears in Pandemic Puzzle Poems and in the ekphrastic poetry book, Canyon, River, Stone and Light. He is a founding member of Poetic License Sonoma. Other poems appear in the Redwood Writers poetry anthologies of 2022 and 2023; California Writers’ Club Literary Review, Issue No 11, 2022; Moonlight and Reflections, Nine Sonoma Poets, Valley of the Moon Press, Dec 2022; as well as Larry Robinson’s and Jerry Jazz Musician’s online publications.
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Listen to the 1959 recording of Thelonious Monk performing his composition “Straight, No Chaser” with Thad Jones (trumpet); Charlie Rouse (saxophone); Sam Jones (bass), and Art Taylor (drums). [Universal Music Group]
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Click here to read previous editions of The Sunday Poem
Click here to read “A Collection of Jazz Poetry – Spring/Summer, 2024 Edition”
Click here to read “Not From Around Here,” Jeff Dingler’s winning story in the 66th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
Click here for information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
Click here to subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter
Click here to help support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced (and AI-free) since 1999
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What a trio:
The music.
The poem.
The reading.
Julliard would have ruined him
Fantastic reading by Steve Trenam.
My father emigrated to this country from Belgium, landed in Chicago, basically for his love for Jazz and Modern Art. Chicago in the 50’s was the place to be to listen to Jazz at night clubs which he frequented with a fellow Japanese classmate, also an art major at the Chicago Art Institute. The Japanese student returned to Japan, but not my father. Good Jazz had a hold on him until the day he died, he would have loved The Jerry Jazz Musician. Thelonius Monk, one of his favorites along with Miles, Coltrane and Parker to name a few.
PLH