Jazz Poems

THE DAY LADY DIED

It is 12:20 in New York a Friday

three days after Bastille Day, yes

it is 1959 and I go get a shoeshine

because I will get off the 4:19 in Easthampton

at 7:15 and then go straight to dinner

and I don’t know the people who will feel me

I walk up the muggy street beginning to sun

and have a hamburger and a malted and buy

an ugly NEW WORLD WRITING to see what the poets

in Ghana are doing these days

I go on to the bank

and Miss Stillwagon (first name Linda I once heard)

doesn’t even look up my balance for once in her life

and in the GOLDEN GRIFFIN I get a little Verlaine

for Patsy with drawings by Bonnard although I do

think of Hesiod, trans. Richmond Lattimore or

Brendan Behan’s new play or Le Balcon or Les Nègres

of Genet, but I don’t, I stick with Verlaine

after practically going to sleep with quandariness

and for Mike just stroll into the PARK LANE

Liquor Store and ask for a bottle of Strega and

then I go back where I came from to 6th Avenue

and the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatre and

casually ask for a carton of Gauloises and a carton

of Picayunes, and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it

and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of

leaning on the john door in the FIVE SPOT

while she whispered a song along the keyboard

to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing

FRANK O’HARA

SUITE TABU 200

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Xocia’s Dance (Sue-sha’s Dance) ~ Harold Land | By Eddie Carter  

Harold Land takes the stage for this morning’s discussion with an excellent hard bop album, Xocia’s Dance (Sue-sha’s Dance) (Muse Records MR 5272). He was one of the best West Coast tenor saxophonists during the fifties and sixties. His resume includes playing with the Clifford Brown/Max Roach Quintet, The Curtis Counce Group, The Gerald Wilson Orchestra, and The Timeless All-Stars. Xocia’s Dance reunites Harold with Bobby Hutcherson, who co-led a quintet with him thirteen years earlier. He is joined on this date by Oscar Brashear on flugelhorn (track: B2) and trumpet (A1 to A3), Bobby Hutcherson (A2, A3, B2) on vibes, George Cables on piano, John Heard on bass, Billy Higgins on drums, and Ray Armando (B1) on percussion. My copy is the original 1982 U.S. Stereo release.

Side One opens with Dark Mood, an original by Harold Land that is introduced by the trio ahead of the quintet’s lively theme. Harold gets things started, and then Oscar follows with a clearly inspired performance. George approaches the third reading with driving enthusiasm; then, all three soloists share a moment before the closing chorus and vibrant ending. Daisy Forever is a pretty tune by Oscar Brashear that Bobby gets started ahead of the group’s lovely melody. Brashear leads the way with a solo of seductive warmth; then, Land shows great care in the following reading. Hutcherson enters for the first time and delivers a beautiful interpretation. Cables provides the final gentle verses leading to the group’s closing chorus and slow dissolve.

Xocia’s Dance (Sue-sha’s Dance) comes from the pen of Harold Land, Jr., and the pace moves upward to a lively beat. The trio’s introduction heads toward the ensemble’s medium theme. Harold Sr. has the first solo and gets into a remarkable groove. Oscar answers him with a tasty reading as sweet as honey, and then George provides an exclamation point into the theme’s restatement and close. Side Two opens with Ah, I See, a beautiful tune by Charles Tolliver that starts with Harold’s and Bobby’s tranquil yet haunting theme. Land picks up the pace for a sweetly melodic opening statement, then gives way to Hutcherson’s delightful interpretation. Cables comes in softly and with feeling next before Harold returns for a restrained ending.

The album ends with a romantic postscript by Harold Land. To Lydia, With Love is a touching tribute to his wife and the mood is delicately expressed in the introduction and theme. Harold begins the opening solo lovingly, succeeded by Bobby’s equally thoughtful reading. Oscar’s flugelhorn delights with a beautiful statement. George conveys the feeling of everlasting love in a short anecdote ahead of the ensemble’s closing chorus and fadeout. Esmond Edwards produced Xocia’s Dance, and Jim Mooney was the recording engineer. The album’s sound quality is good, except for a bit of harshness during the piano solo on Ah, I See. The music, however, is terrific and quite capable of brightening anyone’s mood after a long day or week.

In addition to Xocia’s Dance, Harold Land recorded fourteen albums as a leader and appeared in some of the best jazz albums as a sideman. He co-led groups with Billy Higgins, Blue Mitchell, and Red Mitchell. Land later became a professor at the University of California and joined the UCLA Jazz Studies. He passed away on July 27, 2001, from a stroke at age seventy-two but is still remembered as a brilliant improviser and one of the best to play the tenor sax. If you’re a fan of West Coast jazz, I invite you to check out Xocia’s Dance (Sue-sha’s Dance) by Harold Land on your next record shopping trip. It’s a hidden gem in his discography and a personally satisfying album that I can happily recommend for a spot in your library!

~ Harold Land – Source: Wikipedia.org © 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter

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Jazz Poems

WHAT I’M WILD FOR

I broke when I was ten and forty-

year-old Mr. D. was clambering on top of me

and it was all I could do to kick him back, keep

the red ceiling light in sight, and wait

for her to find me. So this is what she’s on

her knees for every night, praying

for Pops to come on back, rip her skirt off

and ride her until it’s only skin she ever wants

to feel again. I wanted to fling that in her face

the way a slick trumpeter cat from Philly

flung any panties at me summer I was fifteen.

I’ve seen more love in Alderson, behind

the warden’s back, behind Jim Crow’s back

on the way home from movies: dykes would touch

hands, feed cigarettes to one another

like they were kisses, before the cells broke us all up–-

forgers, whores, boosters, pushers, users.

The soldiers had it, too, begging for pieces

of my dress and stockings, tearing them to petals

under their noses because they have the smell 

of woman on them. I could love a whole

army like that. But two husbands later

and the hungry I feel is not the 600-miles-a-night

on a bus flashing slow silver between gigs

while my stomach opens wide. The cure

for that is simple as a couple bucks, red beans

and rice. What I’m wild for is a few grains

of dope and the shakes I get from head to satin

feet when it’s “Strange Fruit.” One night, my

body can’t

hold me down, the notes break clean, and no one

can see me, but they point to the voice flying over

the band and say, Billie, nobody sings 

hunger like you do, or love.

JANET M. CHOI

SUITE TABU 200

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Little Johnny C ~ Johnny Coles | By Eddie Carter

It happened like this: after listening to Bass on Top, my memories of my mom led me to another of her favorite jazz albums. Little Johnny C (Blue Note BLP 4144/BST 84144) by Johnny Coles is the trumpeter’s second release as a leader and his only Blue Note session. It was recorded in 1963 and released the following year. Johnny’s joined on this hard bop date by Leo Wright on alto sax (tracks: A1 to A3, B2, B3) and flute (B1), Joe Henderson on tenor sax, Duke Pearson on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass, Walter Perkins (A1 to A3), and Pete La Roca (B1 to B3) on drums. My copy is the 1990 Toshiba EMI Japanese Stereo reissue sharing the original catalog number.

Little Johnny C is the first of five tunes by Duke Pearson. It kicks off Side One at a fast tempo with Duke’s brisk introduction to the front line’s lively theme. Leo comes out cooking first; then Johnny steps swiftly into the second statement. Joe wails in the following solo; then Duke shows his impressive skills into the group’s climax. Hobo Joe by Joe Henderson is a Latin-flavored blues that opens with the trio’s introduction, ahead of the sextet’s easy going melody. Coles begins this pleasant trip; then, Pearson picks up the next part of the journey. Wright continues the leisurely caravan, and Henderson concludes the trek in a fine finale ahead of the theme’s return and the trio’s fadeout.

Jano picks up the beat to end the first side with the ensemble’s medium melody. Leo sets the scene in the opening solo. Johnny takes over for a lengthy reading; then Joe builds the third statement exquisitely. Duke provides the closing remarks before the group returns to take the song out. My Secret Passion is a pretty ballad taken at a medium bounce, with Johnny leading the sextet in the melody and Pete La Roca taking over on drums. Coles opens the solos with a warm tone. Henderson displays delicacy and sensitivity in the following reading. Wright comes in next on the flute and gives a heartwarming statement. Pearson’s soulful interpretation brings us back to the reprise and ending.

Heavy Legs delivers an upbeat invitation to relax and enjoy the sextet’s ride through the opening chorus. Johnny is concise and to the point in the first reading. Joe follows with an equally enjoyable solo; then Leo steps in next for a rousing interpretation. Duke brings the solos to a happy conclusion ahead of the sextet’s theme restatement, slowly dissolving into nothingness. So Sweet My Little Girl is Pearson’s tribute to his then seven-year-old daughter, Cynthia. Johnny starts the melody softly with the saxes in the background. It sets the scene for the pianist’s tender performance as the song’s only soloist, leading to the front line’s return for a gentle climax.

Alfred Lion produced Little Johnny C and Rudy Van Gelder was the man behind the dials of the recording. The album sounds amazing, with a stellar soundstage that’s so good you’ll think you’re in the studio with the musicians as they are playing. Toshiba EMI did an excellent job with this reissue and the record is also very quiet until the music starts. Johnny only recorded five albums as a leader but has an extensive discography as a sideman. If you’re a hard bop fan and unfamiliar with Johnny Coles, I invite you to look out for Little Johnny C on your next record shop visit. It’s simply a great jazz album that I’m sure would make a perfect addition to any library and become a favorite on your turntable!

© 2024 by Edward Thomas Carter



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Jazz Poems

JAZZ


I’d like to know everything

A jazz artist knows, starting with the song

“Goodbye Pork Pie Hat.”


Like to make some songs myself

“Goodbye Rickshaw,”

“Goodbye Lemondrop,”

“Goodbye Rendezvous.”


Or maybe even blues:


If you fall in love with me I’ll make you pancakes

All morning. If you fall in love with me

I’ll make you pancakes all night.

If you don’t like pancakes

We’ll go to the creperie. If you don’t like pancakes

We’ll go to the creperie.

If you don’t like to eat, handsome boy,

Don’t you hang around with me.


On second thought, i’d rather find

The fanciest music I can, and hear all of it.


I’d rather love somebody

And say his name to myself every day

Until I fall apart.


ANGELA BALL

SUITE TABU 200

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