Jazz Poems: A Pocket Full of Poesies

When I was younger, me and my friends would gather in a circle holding hands with one person in the middle of it and we would sing, "Ring around the rosey. Pocket full of poesies." Today, I found my pocket full of poesies that really caught my attention. And what a coincidence for it to have been on one of my favorite topics, MUSIC. Jazz music, that is.

Jazz is The art of music characterized by improvisation, syncopated rhythms and animated instrumentation with a flashy sound. It was said to have been started at the end of Ragtime in 1895 with the cornet player, Buddy Bolden who is marked as "The father of jazz music." For over 100 years now, jazz music has made a mark in music history. Like in all music, it has gone through different stages and different phases. I appreciate jazz music and love both the instrumental jazz as well the jazz music that features vocals. Jazz is one of those genres of music that tells a story without words, like that of classical music, except, jazz has a sense of soul and funk to it. It is like a butterfly's flight into the deep blue sky where it is free to take on the world. It is marked by the loud, clear tones of brass instruments.

Poetryis the art of language used to express an idea or concept in an evocative way. Poetry, like jazz, also paints a picture as an invisible paint brush would paint an image in your mind so that you can visualize the essence of the words at hand. As a writer and lover of poetry, I found it to be quite peculiar to come across the book, Jazz Poems.

Jazz Poems is a compilation of metrical writing that builds an emotional ladder into the world of jazz music. Kevin Young selected and edited a compilation of over 100 poems on the topic of jazz. Some of the poets featured are Carl Sandburg, whom is said to be the first poet to write about jazz, Langston Hughes, David Lehman, William Matthews, Billie Holiday, Arthur Herzog Jr, Terrence Hayes and Rita Dove. Any poetry book that has two Poet Laureates' poetry involved must be a good one. Just from reading the Contents page, I knew I was in for a great deal of brilliant poetry.

In the foreword of Jazz Poems I was fed with knowledge and intellect about the history of jazz music. Kevin Young gives an introduction on the first poets to write about jazz music and gives a brief introduction on what to expect in the pages to come. I like the direction that Kevin Young took with this book and immediately became ready to dive into the jazz movement of lyrical imagery.

I liked this book because reading from poets about their interpretation of jazz music gave me an idea of what the stages of jazz music might have really looked like as it progressed. You can always do research on jazz to find out what happened and a journalist or biographer will tell you the facts, but nobody can paint an image like a poet because they will give you the fact but use similes, metaphors, onomatopeias and different literary forms to enforce the clarity of what they experienced, even though poetry is noted as fiction. Each poem was like a story that painted an image in the mind. The poems began with poetry from Langston Hughes and ended with the poetry of Lawson Fusao Inada.

I love Langston Hughes' poetry. His words are clear and he expresses himself in such a way that gives you this safe and comfort to continue reading. He is like the Beethoven of poetry. Two of his poems really got me in this book which were, Jazzonia as he spoke of jazz as something in our roots that was always a part of life and his poem Trumpet Player which captured me because he said something that made me read the poem over like ten times. The music from the trumpet at his lips is honey mixed with liquid fire. I think he was talking about Miles Davis. Not for nothing but if I was alive around the time that he was writing, he probably would've been my boyfriend. LOL! Being able to speak like that is what gives me reasons to have his poster on my wall and his picture tacked up at my work cubicle. I can really dig his style of writing.

I liked how Sterling Brown wrote a rhythmic poem almost like a blues song. I could actually see music play behind him in his poem, Cabaret". I like listening to the blues although sometimes it could make you even more depressed if you are depressed already. Ella Fitzgerald sings some nice blues songs and so does Sarah Vaughn. But then you have people who always sing blues songs like Bessie Smith and after a while I can't listen any more because of song titles and sad lyrics like in her song, "I Wish I were Dead." Nevertheless, The blues has this musical quality that you don't really find in no other type of music except for maybe classical music sometimes.

The poems are broken down into different sections, The first section is Vamping (Early Jazz Poems) which includes the earliest jazz poems to ever shine light on the face of the earth. I like how the poet, Muriel Rukayser pays hommage to literature and even pays respect to my favorite poet, William Blake. I can see William Blake having been involved in this book if he was alive because that is the kind of writing he would've done. But probably in the blues section with poems like his "Chimney Sweeper" or "The Tiger."

Section 2 is Swinging (Jazz Origins, New Orleans and Ellingtonia) I knew I would love this section because I love the music of that Bossa Nova jazz instrumentalist Duke Ellington. I love to see videos of him where his cheeks blow up as he plays the trumpet. The crazy thing about Duke Ellington is that I started to like his music after I heard a remake of his Nights in Tunisia when Chaka Khan did it. The truth stands clear though that The Melody Still Lingers On because the greats did pave the way for the music we hear today. I also love swing music and how Ella Fitzgerald could sing about anything and make it swing. I know in today's music, if someone was to write a song about chewing bubble gum, Tomatoes or a yellow basket, it probably would not make it. But then when you hear songs like Chicken Noodle Soup, it shows that the music of the past has really made a mark int he hearts of those trying to get where the greats of the past were able to go.

This section touched on the music of Buddy Bolden and his life. Buddy Bolden is said to be the first musician to play jazz music although some people will argue that it was started by slaves who sung the blues. I always wanted to hear what his music sounded like but since no recordings of his music were ever made, the closest I came to it was hearing Malachi Thompson's Buddy Bolden's Rag and I must say it was very warm and exciting. Also, when you do searches of Buddy Bolden, information on him is very brief and to the point. The poems that spoke of him gave readers a more intimate view of who he was as a person and how his music affected listeners.

Also in this section were lyrics by Andy Razof that Fats Waller sang. I liked Fats Waller because of his facial expressions and animated piano playing and I think he was a pretty cool cat, although he was one of those who used what they would call today Video Hoes. Back then they had more clothes on and there was a little bit more respect for woman to me. Also included in this section was a poem entitled, Louis Armstrong which spoke about the effect that Louis' trumpet playing and singing had. I, myself, really enjoy his raspy voice and the sensual trumpeting of that jazz player they used to call Satchmo. Reading poetry that speaks of jazz musicians that readers have either heard of and/or enjoy listening to adds a sense of tinkle as you read through the Jazz Poems.

Other sections include Bop, Horn Section (which really touched me because that is usually my favorite part of songs. Especially when you listen to artists like Earth, Wind and Fire and listen to that heavy instrumentation behind them), Sheets of Sound, Rhythm Section, Free Jazz, and the last section Muting which featured lots of poems about the life and tragic death of Lady Day.

A book like this was good for me to read because I love poetry and I love jazz music. As a singer and artist, it is always good to know a little something about music history, even though poetry is said to be fiction. As a poet, it is always a good thing to read poetry of others to gain a sense of direction on how to make your knowledge of building poetry more effective. Especially when you read poetry from Langston Hughes, you will always gain some deeper strengths as a poet.

"Ring around the rosey. Pocket full of poesies." I found my book of poesies from Everyman's Library Pocket Poets. And the topic is jazz with 241 pages of literal navigation to the rhythm e-tude. I love this poetry book and I recommend this book to jazz and poetry lovers or to anyone who is looking to open up their mind to new styles of writing. Great book to add to your collection.