Jazz Poems
THE JAZZ OF THIS HOTEL
Why do I curse the jazz of this hotel?
I like the slower tom-toms of the sea;
I like the slower tom-toms of the thunder;
I like the more deliberate dancing knee
Of outdoor love, of outdoor talk and wonder.
I like the slower, deeper violin
Of the wind across the fields of Indian corn;
I like the far more ancient violincello
Of whittling loafers telling stories mellow
Down at the village grocery in the sun;
I like the slower bells that ring for church
Across the Indiana landscape old.
Therefore I curse the jazz of this hotel
That seems so hot, but is so hard and cold
Vachel Lindsay | November 10, 1879 ~ December 5, 1931
Considered a founder of modern singing poetry
From Jazz Poems | Selected and edited by Kevin Young
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Jazz Poems
JAZZ FANTASIA
Drum on your drums, batter on your banjoes,
sob on the long cool winding saxophones
Go to it, O jazzmen.
Sling your knuckles on the bottoms of the happy
tin pans, let your trombones ooze, and go husha-
husha-hush with the slippery sand-paper.
Moan like an autumn wind high in the lonesome tree-
tops, moan soft like you wanted somebody terrible, cry
like a racing car slipping away from a motorcycle cop,
bang-bang! you jazzmen, bang altogether drums, traps,
banjoes, horns, tin cans-–make two people fight on the
top of a stairway and scratch each other’s eyes in a
clinch tumbling down the stairs.
Can the rough stuff… now a Mississippi steamboat
pushes up the night river with a hoo-hoo-hoo-oo… and
the green lanterns calling to the high soft stars… a red
moon rides on the humps of the low river hills… go to
it, O jazzmen.
From Jazz Poems | Selected and edited by Kevin Young
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Charles Anthony Elgar was born on June 13, 1879 in New Orleans, Louisiana on June 13, 1879. From age 5 he played violin and also played trumpet. He studied music in Wisconsin and Illinois.
Elgar played in Chicago, Illinois from 1903 with the Bloom Theater Philharmonic Orchestra, but returned to his hometown late in the decade of the 1900s. He remained there until about 1913 when he returned to Chicago, putting together a band the same year. His band played at the Navy Pier Ballroom, Hattie Harmon’s Dreamland Ballroom from 1917 until 1922 and opened the old Savoy Ballroom in 1928.
With his band Charles toured in the revue Plantation Days and traveled to London, England though he did not accompany it on this trip. However, he did play with Will Marion Cook’s Orchestra in Europe. He went on to lead bands in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1925 to 1928, making several recordings with Elgars Creole Orchestra that he led at the Wisconsin Roof Gardens in Milwaukee and again in Chicago, 1926-30.
His sidemen included Manuel Perez, Lorenzo Tio, Louis Cottrell, Jr, Barney Bigard, Darnell Howard, and Omer Simeon. He made four recordings as leader of the Creole Orchestra. He concentrated on teaching in the 1930s, and worked as a union official later in his life. He was a founder and charter member of the local branch of the American Federation of Musicians, AFL-CIO, Local 2018.
Violinist, teacher and jazz bandleader Charles Elgar transitioned in August 1973 in Chicago.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Frank Rehak was born July 6, 1926 in New York City and began on piano and cello before switching to trombone. He worked with Gil Evans and Miles Davis. He also appeared with Davis on the broadcast The Sounds of Miles Davis.
A heroin addiction combined with other financial problems led to his withdrawal from music and his lapsing into relative obscurity. It was probably partially contributed to his failed marriage to nightclub dancer Jerri Gray. In an effort to deal with these issues he spent time at Synanon, which led to his mention in Art Pepper’s autobiography.
Trombonist Frank Rehak transitioned in Badger, California on June 22, 1987 of throat cancer at the age of 60.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Ricky Ford was born in Boston, Massachusetts on March 4, 1954 and studied at the New England Conservatory. At the age of twenty he recorded with Gunther Schuller and then played in the Duke Ellington Orchestra under Mercer Ellington from 1974 to 1976.
Moving on to play with Charles Mingus from 1976 to 197777, the Dannie Richmond from ‘78 to ‘81, followed by Lionel Hampton for two years beginning in 1980 and ending up in the Mingus Dynasty. By 1983 Ricky was also played with Abdullah Ibrahim, a relationship that lasted for seven years. By the end of the decade he was also playing with Mal Waldron until 1994.
Ford has recorded twenty~two albums as a leader for Muse, Candid, and other labels. As a sideman he has recorded with but not limited to Yusef Lateef, Sonny Stitt, McCoy Tyner, Freddie Hubbard, Amina Claudine Myers, Sathima Bea Benjamin, Ran Blake, Steve Lacy, Jaki Byard, Red Rodney, Jack Walrath and others.
Tenor saxophonist Ricky Ford settled in Paris, France in the 1990s, has taught at Istanbul Bilgi University from 2001 to 2006, and in 2009 he founded the Toucy Jazz Festival in Yonne, France. He continues his pursuit of his music.
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