Jazz Poems

ALABAMA, c. 1963: 

But

Shouldn’t this state have a song?

Long, gliding figures of my breath

Of breath

Lost?

Somebody can’t sing

Because somebody’s gone

Somebody can’t sing

Because somebody’s gone.

Shouldn’t this landscape

Hold a true anthem

What

You can’t do?

Whom

You can’t invent?

Where

You can’t stay?

Why

You won’t keep it?

But

Shouldn’t this state

Have a song?

And shall we call it

My face will murder me?

And shall we call it

I’m not waiting?

CORNELIUS EADY

from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Charles Fowler Singleton Jr. was born on September 17, 1913 in Jacksonville, Florida. He attended several schools in and around the city and graduated from Stanton High School in 1935. Always interested in singing and dancing, by the time he left school he had become a proficient songwriter. He also produced shows and was responsible for several musical extravaganzas, including April Frolics, which was staged at a nightspot in LaVilla in Jacksonville. Singleton continued to work in Jacksonville into the 1940s.

The early 1950s Singleton moved to New York City and presented his lyrics to Decca Records, who signed him up as a songwriter. By 1954, he had teamed up with Rose Marie McCoy, and the pair went on to write successful hits for Joe Turner, Faye Adams and Ruth Brown. In 1956, Singleton and McCoy, as Charlie and Rosie, recorded a single together on RCA Victor.

Singleton went on to write songs for Pat Boone, Nat King Cole, Ella Fitzgerald, B. B. King, Peggy Lee, Johnny Mathis, Wayne Newton and Andy Williams. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Singleton largely wrote songs without a writing partner, and also recorded an album, The Big Twist Hits, released in 1962 and credited to the Charlie “Hoss” Singleton Combo.

When the song Beddy Bye by Bert Kaempfert came to Frank Sinatra through his producer Jimmy Bowen, he asked the composer to tune it into a song. Bert engaged Singleton wrote the lyrics and Eddie Snyder adapted the music for what became Strangers in the Night and the song became a #1 hit for Sinatra.

He and Snyder had also reworked another Kaempfert instrumental called “Moon Over Naples” into the song Spanish Eyes. Composer and lyricist Charles Singleton, who was known as Hoss, and who also produced several platinum albums, died on December 12, 1985 in his home city.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Earl Klugh was born September 16, 1953 in  Detroit, Michigan. At the age of six he started training on the piano but switched to the guitar at ten. By 13, he was captivated by the guitar of Chet Atkins when he made an appearance on the Perry Como Show.

His first recording was at age 15 on Yusef Lateef’s Suite 16. He played on George Benson’s White Rabbit album and two years later, in 1973, joined his touring band. He has performed as a guest on several of Atkins’ albums, who has reciprocated as well, joining Klugh on his Magic In Your Eyes album.

He and Bob James received a Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Performance in 1981 for their album One on One. Klugh has recorded over 30 albums, including twenty-three top ten charting records, with five hitting No. 1 on Billboard’s Jazz Album chart.

Each spring, Klugh hosts an event called Weekend of Jazz, featuring jazz musicians at the Broadmoor Hotel & Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The weekend attracts a host of famous musicians and vocalists.

Guitarist and composer Earl Klugh, who was influenced by Bob James, Ray Parker Jr, Wes Montgomery and Laurindo Almeida, has received 13 Grammy nominations, continues to compose, perform and record.

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WYCLIFFE GORDON & ERIC REED WORKSHOP

The duo will present a workshop for musicians and jazz lovers at the Hammonds House Museum. Registration is required. To reserve your spot, click HERE.

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BOBBY BROOM: TRIBUTE TO RUSSELL MALONE

Born in Harlem and raised on the Upper West Side of NYC, Bobby Broom took up guitar at 12 and five years later, in 1977, made his first appearance with Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall. Even prior to that auspicious start, he had dedicated himself to the art, culture, and life of jazz, with the goals of learning to express himself within the idiom, while honoring its historical traditions and spirit.

Nearly 50 years later, Bobby has amassed a formidable jazz pedigree, working closely with historic figures such as Rollins, Miles Davis, Art Blakey, Stanley Turrentine and Kenny Burrell, as well as many of his contemporaries. To date he has made fifteen leader recordings and has traveled to perform, as an accompanying musician and with his own ensembles, in countries on five continents.

Broom is a tenured Associate Professor at Northern Illinois University and has devoted much of his career to jazz education. He began teaching at the tertiary level under the direction of NEA Jazz Fellow and saxophone great Jackie McLean at University of Hartford. Bobby has also worked with high school students through the Herbie Hancock (formerly Thelonious Monk) Institute and currently, with the Ravinia Jazz Mentor Program.

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