“Stuck in the Groove” – a short story by David Rudd

The story – a short-listed entry in the recently concluded 68th Short Fiction Contest – is about a saxophonist who moves away from playing bebop to experimenting with free jazz, discovering its liberating potential and possible pitfalls along the way…

21 jazz poems on the 21st of May, 2025

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician by poets sharing their relationship to the music, and with the musicians who perform it.

The Sunday Poem: “Paul Desmond” by Tim Maloney

working on projects at home
I pass the hours listening to jazz
blown away all over again
by an artist I could actually emulate
as a budding musician years ago

Jazz History Quiz #181

Before recording his most notable work (to that point) as a saxophonist in Miles Davis’ “Birth of the Cool” nonet, his initial reputation was as an arranger, including a stint in 1946 as the staff arranger in Gene Krupa’s Orchestra. He would eventually become one of the leading voices on his instrument for almost 50 years. Who is he?

“Albert Ayler; Flying Home” – a poem by Stephen C. Middleton

At the Fondation, where he fell in love with Chagall.
In St Paul, where that painter lived
(And Albert played al fresco)
And in interview with Daniel Caux
He seemed positive

“Touched by Another’s Strayhorn” – a poem by Terrance Underwood

Orange wings spread
No flutter

A butterfly glide crosses
An outside window glance

“Postpartum” – a short story by Anastasia Jill

The author’s story – a short-listed entrant in the recently concluded 68th Short Fiction Contest – is about a couple coming to terms with the unimaginable; the loss of a child…

The Sunday Poem: “Kansas City Lights” by Jennifer Maritza McCauley

Touchdown or Something,
back to you: crisping, lighted place
my swift escape, humble
glitz, jazz’d instrument
blowing quavers, shaking, from the cave
of your trumpet sounding like
all of my loving memories

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 24: “Change of Luck”

Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film.  In this edition, he writes two poems inspired by the music of Matt Wilson’s tune “Feel the Sway.”

From the Interview Archive: Sam Cooke biographer Peter Guralnick

Sam Cooke’s biographer Peter Guralnick engages in a wide-ranging 2005 conversation about the singer’s epic American life, cut short at the age of 33

“To Langston Hughes” – a poem by Connie Johnson

Father of jazz poetry
Known for your artistry
Harlem-bred pedigree
In lines designed for spoken word
Like Montage of a Dream Deferred
Collabs you did with Monk & Mingus

The Sunday Poem: “Learning Brazilian” by Amy Barone

I no longer roll my r’s.
I get nasal,
lost as I am in learning a new language.

Memorable Quotes: Albert Einstein…on people

“Weak people revenge.  Strong people forgive…

“One Morning in May” – a poem (for May) by Jerrice J. Baptiste

Purple hyacinth bows in corner
lifts heavy petals in your honor
Hoagy you saturate May flowers
like April showers.

“Song of the Unplayed Record” – a short story by Julie Dron

The story – a short-listed entrant in our recently concluded 68th Short Fiction Contest – is about a family struggle with poverty during occupied Taiwan, and how the present of a record fills a young family member with hope.

The Sunday Poem: “Listening to Life’s Sound Tracks With Terence Oliver Blanchard” by Mary K O’Melveny

Let’s celebrate that Contemporary Cat
and his celestial trumpet! Each day his
musical genius vibrates, accelerates, elevates.
Raised by his dad to listen to opera. Played
piano and trumpet at eight years old.

“The Fire Each Time” – an interview with New York Times best-selling author Frederick Joseph, by John Kendall Hawkins

A conversation with the two-time New York Times bestselling author of The Black Friend and Patriarchy Blues, who in 2023 was honored with the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Vanguard Award,. He has also been a member of The Root list of “100 Most Influential African Americans.”

Memorable Quotes: Rosa Parks, on freedom

“As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from…”

“A black dress” – a poem by Erren Kelly

If only wars could end
hate would cease and
the fate of the world
decided
by a woman
in a long, black dress

“Firstborn” – a short story by Brian Greene

It’s somewhat surprising that Claudia ever came into the shop where I worked. Of the two main record stores in the mid-sized college city, ours was the decidedly inferior place. The other guys carried small label and import titles, and they were known to employ musically knowledgeable tastemakers.

21 jazz poems on the 21st of April, 2025

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician.

The Sunday Poem: “Reservation for One” by F.E. Scanlon

I didn’t take the call of inquiry
I don’t much care who did
I reckon’ you wouldn’t either
I know it changed the world.

“Septets—Seven’s Heaven.” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

Bob Hecht’s 26 song playlist features septets, and includes the likes of Wynton Marsalis, Jimmy Rowles, Charles Mingus, Chick Corea, Art Farmer, and Cannonball Adderley.

“Phasis” – a poem by Russell Dupont

Day six
and the dissonance
of my pneumonia
has become as percussive
as Cecil Taylor’s piano.

Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 12: The influence of Billie Holiday in the literature of jazz

In this edition, the author writes about the influence of Billie Holiday on jazz literature in several short stories and novels.

The Sunday Poem: “Resonator” by Robert Walicki

On a scratched record Saturday,
I learned the blues
in a water-stained Pittsburgh basement
where my mother’s records hid,
her handwritten name inked on each sleeve,
signed off like a confession.

An homage to Jimmy Giuffre (and friends) – three poems by Terrance Underwood

such Suite sounds cool
striding feels effortless
when bare feet
crosses velvet grass
and sandstone compacts
the sediment History inspires

“Monologue of a Broken Cassette,” an essay by Fendy Tulodo

This essay explores memory, music, and the way sound holds emotions that words often fail to capture, blending personal history with a musician’s perspective on unfinished echoes—both in life and in art.

Calling all Poets…an invitation to submit your work

Inviting poets to take note of three opportunities for having your work published on Jerry Jazz Musician

Jazz History Quiz #180

Upon leaving Charlie Barnet’s orchestra in 1941, this trumpeter wanted to start his own group, and, with the help of publicist/journalist Leonard Feather, became the first white leader in jazz history to organize an all-black group. Who was he?

The Sunday Poem: “The Sound of Surprise” by Dan Thompson

Look at that dude!
BEEP!
Look at his horn!
BOP!
Look at those cheeks!
Salt Peanuts!
POP!

Brief thoughts on Joel Lewis’s book Well You Needn’t, by Mitch Highfill

The writer shares his enthusiasm for a Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer’s book – a unique blend of poetry, essays and personal memoir, with jazz at its core.

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #68 — “Saharan Blues on the Seine,” by Aishatu Ado

The author’s award winning story is about Aminata, a displaced Malian living in Paris who is haunted by vivid memories of her homeland. Through a supernatural encounter with her grandmother, she realizes that preserving her musical heritage through performance is an act of resistance that can transform her grief into art rather than running from it.

“It’s Always April in Paris” – a poem (for April) by Jerrice J. Baptiste

Blue jays and robins flutter in budding magnolia trees.
Early golden yellow forsythia bushes charm her eyes.

Memorable Quotes – Mark Twain, on the pattern of a civilization’s destruction

“Every civilization carries the seeds of its own destruction, and the same cycle shows in them all. The Republic is born, flourishes, decays into plutocracy, and is captured by the…”

The Sunday Poem: “You Know by the Laughter” by Joan E. Bauer

Billy Wilder loved voice-over & the velocity
it gives a script. He loved to jump ahead trusting

the audience to stay with him. What’s more,
the satirist in him liked to comment.

“Always Follow the Pork Pie Hat” – a poem by Michael L. Newell

thick as soup
the summer air
and the music

rolling from nearby window
Mingus’s big band
in wild abandon

“Thoughts on Matthew Shipp’s Improvisational Style” – an essay by Jim Feast

Short of all the musicians being mind readers, what accounts for free jazz musicians’ – in this instance those playing with the pianist Matthew Shipp – incredible ability for mutual attunement as they play?

Interview with Ricky Riccardi, author of Stomp Off, Let’s Go: The Early Years of Louis Armstrong

The author discusses the third volume of his trilogy, which includes the formation of the Armstrong-led ensembles known as the Hot Five and Hot Seven that modernized music, the way artists play it, and how audiences interact with it and respond to it.

The Sunday Poem: “The Köln Concert” by Martin Agee

I’m listening to the Köln Concert
and it is déjà vu. It’s Keith Jarrett playing
the music I always knew but never listened to.
It is every night at midnight putting away the violin
and sitting alone somewhere on the Kansas prairie

21 jazz poems on the 21st of March, 2025

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician by poets sharing their relationship to the music, and with the musicians who perform it.

The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Joe Lovano

Beginning in 1990, the noted photographer Giovanni Piesco began taking backstage photographs of many of the great musicians who played in Amsterdam’s Bimhuis, that city’s main jazz venue which is considered one of the finest in the world. Jerry Jazz Musician will occasionally publish portraits of jazz musicians that Giovanni has taken over the years. This edition features 1999 photographs of the saxophonist Joe Lovano.

Protest Matters: Haiku by Connie Johnson

artistic freedom
and a call for civil rights
someone needs to speak

Community Bookshelf #4

“Community Bookshelf” is a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books and/or recordings. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so (September, 2024 – March, 2025)

Creatives – “This is our time!“…A Letter from the Publisher

A call to action to take on political turmoil through the use of our creativity as a way to help our fellow citizens “pierce the mundane to find the marvelous.”

Interview with Phillip Freeman, author of In the Brewing Luminous: The Life and Music of Cecil Taylor

The author discusses Cecil Taylor – the most eminent free jazz musician of his era, whose music marked the farthest boundary of avant-garde jazz.

Announcing the book publication of Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry

The first Jerry Jazz Musician poetry anthology published in book form includes 90 poems by 47 poets from all over the world, and features the brilliant artwork of Marsha Hammel and a foreword by Jack Kerouac’s musical collaborator David Amram. The collection is “interactive” (and quite unique) because it invites readers – through the use of QR codes printed on many of the book’s pages – to link to selected readings by the poets themselves, as well as to historic audio and video recordings (via YouTube) relevant to many of the poems, offering a holistic experience with the culture of jazz.

“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond…

What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025?  How do you see it playing out? Readers respond to the question, “What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?”

Interview with Jonathon Grasse: author of Jazz Revolutionary: The Life and Music of Eric Dolphy

The multi-instrumentalist Eric Dolphy was a pioneer of avant-garde technique. His life cut short in 1964 at the age of 36, his brilliant career touched fellow musical artists, critics, and fans through his innovative work as a composer, sideman and bandleader. Jonathon Grasse’s Jazz Revolutionary is a significant exploration of Dolphy’s historic recorded works, and reminds readers of the complexity of his biography along the way. Grassed discusses his book in a December, 2024 interview.

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #67 — “Bluesette,” by Salvatore Difalco

The author’s award-winning story is a semi-satirical mood piece about a heartbroken man in Europe listening to a recording by the harmonica player Toots Thielemans while under the influence of a mind-altering substance.

“Rudy Van Gelder: Jazz Music’s Recording Angel” – an essay by Joel Lewis

For over 60 years, the legendary recording engineer Rudy Van Gelder devoted himself to the language of sound. And although he recorded everything from glee clubs to classical music, he was best known for recording jazz – specifically the musicians associated with Blue Note and Prestige records. Joel Lewis writes about his impact on the sound of jazz, and what has become of his Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey studio.

Community Bookshelf #3

“Community Bookshelf” is a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books and/or recordings. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so (March – September, 2024)