Category: Jazz
This band features three-fourths of the band Circle (the missing member is Anthony Braxton). Right out of the gate, the trio is forceful and free-flying in their take on Wayne Shorter’s “Nefertiti.” And then on the next track, it’s “gaze into one’s soul” time on Corea’s “Ballad For Tillie.” A fun outing by three supremely talented players.
Note: Listen to my 2012 interview with Barry Altschul.
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Tonight I interviewed saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa about his forthcoming album Bird Calls. The album comes out on Feb. 10. It features Matt Mitchell on piano, Francois Moutin on bass, Rudy Royston on drums and Adam O’Farrill on trumpet. You’ll hear the interview soon on The Jazz Session. On Wednesday I’m going to interview Peter Apfelbaum. And then Akua Dixon next week. And then…lots more people.
Just judging by the cover, I wasn’t sure what to expect of this record. Honestly, I didn’t expect much. I was so, so wrong. Jazz singer Jeannie Trevor kills from start to finish on this 1965 album, her first as a leader. Her uncredited backing band (identified as St. Louis musicians, like Trevor) provides stellar accompaniment.
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napkin poem
how many times in how many bars
on how many napkins
text bleeding into the cheap paper
better suited for soaking up
condensation and mistakes
the band is playing “A Felicidade”
we are talking but not talking
text and subtext and saxophone
trying to avoid monkey clapping
loose lips sink ships
/ / /
28 February 2014
Zola, State College
Never heard “A Felicidade”? Enjoy.
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pages
I opened the file
it contained two pages
of quotes from journalists
gushing about you
but not one from me
I have been neatly
edited out of your biography
struck from the record
of your accomplishments
left behind by the parade
of your admirers
where once you eagerly
sought my counsel
now your people
send group messages
on which my name
is one among many
it’s only fair
I’ve excised you as well
opened up my biography
removed the pages
on which you’re mentioned
leaving a slight fraying
on the binding, nothing more
/ / /
25 February 2014
Oak Street
Dizzy Gillespie At Newport, 1957
wailing
everyone is wailing
trumpets splitting
the blue Rhode Island sky
bringing the crowd
to its feet
in a surge
the dam breaking
women in summer dresses
men in linen pants
white short-sleeved shirts
they swirl and jump
hands grabbing
sweat on their foreheads
back on stage
Dizzy is dancing
thick black glasses
years ahead of his time
bell pointing at heaven
the saxophones slither
as the song builds
to a crashing avalanche
loud enough
to compete
with the howls
from the lawn
when the ending comes
it takes the people a moment
to realize it’s over
then their screaming gets
if anything
louder
until Dizzy says
“silence”
and the crowd obeys
just another collection
of instruments
on this summer afternoon
28 December 2013
State College
melissa bell
I can’t decide
whether to mention
in the context of this poem
that I’m listening to Miles Davis
reduce a bunch of young stoned minds
to
their
constituent
parts
at the Fillmore East in the Year of our Lord 1970
I only bring it up because some-
times there are
moments
brief
inescapable
when someone holds up the mirror to your reality
reminds you that you
YES YOU
are part of this immense wash of struggling humanity
and that you
YES YOU
can, if you choose, stand straighter and walk taller
and really this poem isn’t about Miles Davis at all
it’s just that as a white man recently turned 40
watching these two icons of black feminism
all I can say is yes
and thank you
and I am on my front line
and they are on their front lines
and when I look to the
left or right
I want to see melissa and bell
and I want to hear the cry of Miles Davis’s trumpet
and
then
we
move
forward
8 November 2013
Oak Street
/ / /
This poem was inspired by listening to this and this.
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Amy Cervini is a singer. She sings jazz and country and folk and mash-ups of all three. She’s also one of the kindest, most caring people I know. And she’s inspired more of my poems than anyone I haven’t dated.
I’ve interviewed Amy twice on The Jazz Session. Her first appearance on the show was in 2010, when we talked about her album Lovefool (buy)
, a charming collection of tunes from outside the jazz canon. She was on the show again in 2012 at the time of the release of Digging Me, Digging You (buy)
, her tribute to Blossom Dearie.
I’ve heard Amy sing live many times, primarily at the 55 Bar in New York’s West Village. Here are some photos from one of her Jazz Country shows back in 2011.
I’m not sure why, but I always find myself writing a poem at Amy’s shows. Here are three of those poems, starting with my favorite, which is dedicated to Amy:
I’m so glad I know Amy. Please wish her a happy birthday and visit her site to check out her music.
Happy birthday, Amy!
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grumpy
because he’s done it all
seen what there was to see
reclines now in black pants
and a semi-formal sweater
talks in the general direction
of the microphone on the table
tells all the same stories again
tries not to sigh too loudly
at the half-his-age questioner
midway through he’s surprised
by an advertisement dragged
behind a barnstorming plane
out of place in this post-
industrial skyline
it’s the most animated moment
in the entire conversation
as the plane flies behind
a nearby building
he reclines again
waiting reluctantly for
the next question
30 September 2013
State College, PA
big band
he came out from behind
the bank of speakers
headed down the street
just as I caught sight of him
the trumpet soloist belted out
a high screaming note
the man’s head snapped back
as if he’d been struck
a smile took over his face
he kept walking but every
few steps he turned back
to look, still smiling
31 August 2013
Detroit, MI
Alabama: space is the place
saw a Saturn 1B rocket
towering over the trees
as I entered Alabama
not far from where
Sonny Blount was born
27 August 2013
Elkmont, AL
I, Eye, Aye
(for Rahsaan Roland Kirk
7 August 2013-5 December 1977)
I said I can’t see but I can see
not the way you see, not with my eyes
I see through the sounds from the crowd
the roar of voices flying toward me
like fighter jets screaming out of the sky
I see through the ends of my fingers
pressing the mother of pearl
stopping the air, letting it pass
I see through the crash of cymbals
the dry thump of bass strings
hammers pounding inside the piano
I see through the windows in my dreams
out of which come magic words of power
talismanic names to guide me forward
I see through the needle on wax
like a forest fire captured in a wine bottle
waiting for you to let it out
7 August 2013
Auburn AL
We did it! Thank you all so much!
In particular, I’d like to thank Josh Rutner and Patrick McCurry for their help with the planning and execution of this Kickstarter campaign. It would not have happened without them.
The Jazz Session’s new season starts October 1, 2013.
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