Jazz Poems

CHARLIE PARKER BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION, TOMPKINS SQUARE PARK

from Wall Street who OD’ed last week

on Explosion 2000 on that street corner

right over there when KABOOM! You kissed me

smack on the lips just as “Confirmation” kicked in.

Just as Venusin two-toned dreadlocks and a skin-tight

smock danced from the band shell with her pet python,

Bodyguard, to “All the Things You Are.”

Just as punk rockers rocked, in-flowered on sheets,

sipped smoothies and smoked,

Their hair spirited to pastel auras, rosehip,

Island lime, a shade of blue just washed by rain.

Just as Ukraine checkmated, as twins seesawed,

As bikers cracked smiles in the Hari-Hari, the slap-

tongue of sax. At the mommies and the poppies. Just as.

And they were doing the brothers in descending order.

The three brothers Heath: Percy, Jimmy, call him “Little Bird,”

And Albert “Tootie” Heath. With Milt Jackson on vibes,

three score and twelve, and still working. Two boys in love

Grooved, one in white pants and sailor hat,

the other in a buffalo nickel belt that bedazzled.

They sat on the park bench eating falafel.

A man with one leg sold charms for a dollar. For luck.

For the music that day and the light, you could say it

was all bell-bottomed and swaybacked. Young-like.

And your kiss. All at once I was riding a sparkling gold Schwinn bike.

Something in my head went from full torpor to starburst:

as if whetted by some wild vibranto, your kiss,

the vibes’ licks cleared my vision of fizz for an instant.

What had been all Midnight Dragon was now

a Tropicana-Pure-Premium-sharpened C

delivered as of this morning to the Santa Barbara Deli

and Superetti down the street. Just like that.

In your arms and the music and the light, I thought I might

>go plumb or Penteostal, lay down on the grass, recite

Kahlil, take up knitting, eat pickles and marry you–

Tell that priest to stop playing Frisbee with the lab

so we can say our vows right here and now before “Tenor Madness”

ends! Opps! I forget we’re already married! Just as.

CATHERINE BOWMAN

from Jazz Poems ~ Selected and Edited by Kevin Young

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Søren Reiff born October 22, 1962, in Holbæk, Denmark to painter Tove Reiff and potter Erik Reiff. When he was ten years old he went to an Eric Clapton concert which sealed his fate to become a guitarist. A few years later he was invited to a recording session and that cemented his career choice.

In the mid-Eighties was the guitarist in house bands and as musical director on Danish National television, which led him to play with Toots Thielemans, Randy Crawford, Robert Palmer, Bonnie Tyler and others. The Nineties saw Reiff working as musical director for Chaka Khan, David Sanborn, Mark King, and many others on these television shows.

As an author Søren has published five books, released three albums as a recording artist. He has played on several American television shows, Studiojams and co-hosted the show The Color of Jazz. He was the founder of Den Rytmiske Højskole’s course for Songwriters and Producers.

Guitarist, producer, composer and author Søren Reiff, who was included in the International Who’s Who in Music, Volume Two, Popular Music, continues to perform and record.

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Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Gus Clark was born Gustave De Clercq on October 21, 1913 in Antwerp, Belgium. While still in his teens he led local dance bands and also played in the groups of musicians such as Harry Pohl, Maurice Pinto, and Jack Hoedemaeker.

In the 1930s Gus played with his own group in Brussels, Belgium, and Coleman Hawkins performed with this ensemble. He later set up a new ensemble of all-Black musicians in Belgium, which included Lauderic Caton as a sideman.

Clark performed with Jean Omer, Jean Robert, and Gus Deloof as a sideman, and continued recording as a leader in the 1940s and 1950s.

Pianist Gus Clark died in his native city on April 10, 1979.

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JOHNNY O’NEAL TRIO

After more than 45 years as a professional pianist, vocalist and entertainer, Johnny O’Neal has earned the title of “master” with fellow musicians and audiences around the world. Highlights of his awe-inspiring career include stints with Ray Brown, Milt Jackson and Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, as well as a Carnegie Hall debut in 1985 on solo piano opening for Oscar Peterson and induction into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998. While playing with Blakey, he accompanied some of the great jazz divas, including Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McRae. O’Neal has also been tapped for appearances by Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Pass, Nancy Wilson, Anita O’Day, Lionel Hampton, Kenny Burrell, Sonny Stitt, Benny Golson, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis and Clark Terry, among others.

Performances in Canada, Europe, Australia, Japan, China, Israel and South Africa have gained him an international following, and he is beloved by audiences around the U.S. Yet, he remains a fixture on the New York jazz scene, regularly playing in local clubs or stopping by a jam session to check out the young talent. A stint in his band has become a coveted apprenticeship among young players, comparable to that of Betty Carter or Art Blakey. He is the tie that binds the classic jazz traditions to the evolution of the form, making him legendary in his own right.

The Detroit native considers himself a piano player first, but was encouraged to sing in his sets more by Joe Williams. He recalls Williams advising him, “If you’ve got it, flaunt it!” Astonishingly, he is largely self-taught. His playing evokes the influences imbued in him by his idols Oscar Peterson and Art Tatum, with a nod to bebop master Barry Harris (who first heard O’Neal play as a teenager in Detroit). He has reshaped these elements into his own very swinging and melodic approach.

In live performances, he is apt to catch his audience off-guard with his blues shouting, soulfully rendered yet unpretentious vocalizations or seemingly effortless scatting. No two sets are ever alike. O’Neal explains, “I’m a tune guy. I know 1,500 songs. My father was a pianist and singer who emphasized that learning lyrics creates dynamics and a better interpretation of melody. I rehearse so that the bassist, drummer and I can get familiar with each other’s styles—not to set the songs we’ll play.”

Cover: $25.00 ($3.50 fee)

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BAPTISTE HERBIN

Baptiste Herbin Trio ft André Ceccarelli releases his new album “Django!” For this new album, Baptiste, for the first time, called upon an artistic director. He found in Daniel Yvinec an enlightened and stimulating interlocutor, who after hearing him play a Django theme during a jam session, suggested the subject of this album to him.

Together, they then shape a repertoire that draws a fascinating universe around the guitarist; some of his emblematic compositions skillfully rethought, intoxicating musette waltzes, to which are added a choro dedicated to him by Herbin, the moving homage of the pianist John Lewis, and a stunning reinterpretation of “Night and Day” in which Baptiste takes up the original solo of Django harmonized for two saxophones with an elegance and a naturalness that confirm the merits of the enterprise.

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