The Sunday Poem: “Sonny Rollins” by Akua Lezli Hope

to wrest from the sear of this

cold flame
grief, the under thrum
of earth song
ever jostling joy’s bright,
rich riffs
shredding what was whole into
today’s tatters

Book Excerpt from Crossing Bar Lines: The Politics and Practices of Black Musical Space, by James Gordon Williams

In this entire chapter from his book, the author explains how the trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire expresses his political views and lived geography through his improvisational music, notably his critique of police brutality that has, as he states, “become a leitmotif throughout my albums.”

“A Parlan Abroad” – a poem by Terrance Underwood

a namesake though no toga Roman
gone for Greece in a past time
to enter into poetic pursuits

this Horace a piano poet
spreading a keen heart
decided for Denmark in a modern time

“From Ingenue to Earth Mother” – a short story by Lisa Grunberger

The story – a short -listed entry in the recently concluded 72nd Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction, centers on a couple who “get” each other from the beginning, but who can’t seem to make a life together.

The Sunday Poem: “Traces” by Jason Youngclaus

You’ll always find:

that used CD,
the one you bought on your 17th birthday,
sprouting up somewhere you didn’t expect—
sometime after you’d presumed it lost

Interview with Paul Alexander, author of Bitter Crop: The Heartache and Triumph of Billie Holiday’s Last Year

The author talks about the courage and resilience of the legendary Lady Day, and his outstanding book – an inspirational and revealing portrait of an iconic American, that, like his subject, exudes compassion and creative soul.

Two poems for Miles Davis

Cool, cool, ineffably cool,
his trumpet grieves with
a restraint barely able to be
embraced by listeners, his music
is pain on ice, whiskey frozen

“You Don’t Know What Love Is”- a short story by L.F. Graubard

A recovering junkie jazzman in a Starbucks time slips through the key years that fed his addiction — 1967 R&B and jazz gigs, ’69 biker bars, ’71 methadone hustles, ’79 script scams — before landing in the Narco Farm, where music, Sonny Rollins, and Secretariat crack his heart open. A fractured, noir confession about love, dope, and improbable grace.

The Sunday Poem: “in the courtyard” by deb Ewing

with the soft mist of delta rain
intersecting time song and space
the baritone of your reminiscing
a story I’d waited for so long

“Remembering Sonny Rollins” – a collection of poetry

Over the years, many poems have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician that were written in reverence of the man we refer to simply as “Sonny.”  In the wake of his death, many more have been written.  This unsolicited collection is an example.

“Miles Davis” – a poem by David Dephy

Something is happening to me
when I listen to the solo in So What.
Can you really find what is real?
Take a deep breath.
You have to be crazy
to see things as they truly are,

The Sunday Poem: “Hurricane Ida collapses historic New Orleans jazz shop, a Louis Armstrong landmark” by Christopher Stolle

On his smoke break,
the recording engineer
looks north, the midwestern
sun tickling his eyes.

He taps his shoes against
the studio door jamb,
shaking off caked mud
and the April afternoon chill.

21 jazz poems on the 21st of May, 2026

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. In this edition…An array of poetic styles communicate personal reverence for and experiences with jazz music, and its cherished musicians.

“Down at the Crossroads” – a short story by David Rudd

In this story – a finalist in the recently concluded 71st  Jerry Jazz Musician  Short Fiction Contest – a jazz composer hears a lone fiddler play a tune that enters his head and won’t leave it, like a virulent earworm, wrecking his playing, his friendships, and indeed, his life, until he finally finds a way to remove it.

The Sunday Poem: “Shivers” by Howard Osborne

The muted trumpet sound is cold
And sends shivers down my spine
I have a vision, black like the void

"Spring is Here" - a poem by Connie Johnson

& the birds outside my window
aren’t shy about asking for
what they need

“Fight Song” – an essay by Megan Wildhood

The writer explores how marching band — perhaps because it is exacting and rigorous — brings healing to the wounds a strict, performance-oriented family can inflict on children.

The Sunday Poem: Three poems on Mother’s Day

Thelonious Monk paints a picture of Mama
with his piano, the way Monet or Matisse
would, with paint: loud, bright colorful
notes, that are a Rorschach test, screaming
on the page.

Six poets write eight poems (in the midst of our times)

Poets within this community of writers are feeling this moment in time, and writing about it. This collection is another example.

“Bitty’s Last Request” – a short story by Jill Bronfman

In the story – a finalist in the recently concluded 71st Short Fiction Contest – a very old dancer visits her young relative with stories to tell about the old days in the clubs.

The Sunday Poem: “Wilkommen der Platz” by Allison Whittenberg

Nassau Inn dedicated to providing unmatched hospitality
to all
unless, it’s 1937
and Marian Anderson wants to sleep over

“May Day” – a poem (for May) by DH Jenkins

Window on a night street
window on a wilderness retreat;
the soft luster of falling snow
the traces of tiny bird feet.

“Cajun Glory” – a prose poem by Robert Alan Felt

Proud sporting beast held in paddock, I come to race ride this Stakes,
you sure wild-eyed now, all around see busy, see fancy, feel trainer
on edge. Louisiana-bred, I know you know the flesh is on the move…
Riders up!

Memorable Quotes: Two, by Edward R. Murrow…

“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from…”

The Sunday Poem: “Caliber” by Jack Stewart

I have never held a gun
Nor had one pointed at me,
But when I was 5, I heard
The phone ring, and when
I ran into the room, my mother
Turned to me and said,
“He’s dead,” my father’s father

Jazz History Quiz #187

This trumpeter began his career in California, where he organized a big band that had a residency in China in 1934, and, during a trip through Kansas City in 1936, was invited to join Count Basie’s orchestra, replacing “Hot Lips” Page (pictured). Who is he?

21 jazz poems on the 21st of April, 2026

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to  Jerry Jazz Musician.  In this edition…Mix in poems on the blues with some Coltrane, Monk, Bix, Mingus, Miles, Art Farmer, King Oliver, Desmond, and Brubeck, and you have one hell-of-a lively and entertaining collection to take in. Enjoy!

The Sunday Poem: “A Light Downstream” by Francis Fernandes

Long after setting off
on his Maiden Voyage,
those splendid dolphins
still dancing in his mind,
Herbie Hancock went down
the river—a warm dusk
drifting over the water—

“Two Famous Johns” – a true jazz story by Bob Hecht

The writer remembers an evening in New York’s Half Note in 1964 when he witnessed a John Coltrane performance that was also attended by the pop singer Johnny Mathis

Haiku: Musings – by Connie Johnson

Exploring segments of the world of jazz – in three suites of vivid haiku poetry…

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #71 – “Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed,” by Jane McCarthy

The award-winning story is about a young immigrant growing up in Southern California to the sound of music seeping into his family’s home from an upstairs neighbor’s piano, shaping the boy’s understanding of memory, family, belonging, and the improvisational ethics of music.

The Sunday Poem: “Second Set” by Patricia Joslin

He is Miles, this man
with trumpet in hand,
cheeks fill to land
each note with grace
to raucous this place.
The sax-man riffs like
Coltrane himself,

“Wild is the Wind” – a poem by Jerrice J. Baptiste

My ears bask in the deep
darkness of her voice.
Smoothness of a river rock.

Nina, goddess of the wind
visits me in daydream.
She blows on my journal

“Featuring Kenny Drew Philip Catherine & Niels-Henning Orsted Pederson, 1977” – a poem by Terrance Underwood

Of a remaining evening’s brief persistence
Viewed from an upstairs window
Focused like a spotlight bloom
Upper trunk to first fork

“Ron Carter Apple Sauce” – a prose poem by Martin Durkin

10 years ago, Ron Carter earned the World Record as the most recorded jazz bassist in history. By September 15, 2015, Carter had 2,221 individual recording credits. That record continues to grow.

The Sunday Poem: “What a Wonderful World” – by Patricia Carragon

In a world of breaking news
fed by the oligarch’s will—stop!

Breathe—
close your eyes, zone out, and heal.

The collective is texting you—
the world is still worth saving.

Memorable Quotes: Mark Twain, on fools…

“He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who…”

“Poem for Mingus and the Fisherman’s Wife” – a poem (for April) by Miho Kinnas and E. Ethelbert Miller

Charles Mingus is a big
bass of a man.

Dogwood blossoms vibrate
outside his studio.

Community Bookshelf #6

“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, 2025 – March, 2026)

A Women’s History Month Profile: Interview with Joanna Scutts, author of Hotbed: Bohemian Greenwich Village and the Secret Club that Sparked Modern Feminism

In this 2022 Jerry Jazz Musician interview, the author discusses how, in 1912, a group of powerful Greenwich Village women became known as “Heterodoxy,” whose members were fired up by a desire to change their world, and who became public ambassadors of a brand-new philosophy; feminism.

The Sunday Poem: “A Friend’s Son Reminds Me of Gabor Szabo” by Daniel Warren Brown

We hadn’t written in awhile
he liked a memory I shared about his Dad
a fine musician and record collector,
especially guitarists —

“Spring is Here!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

With perhaps Lorenz Hart’s most sardonic lyric — which is saying something! — this song remains one of the greats, and has been interpreted in many ways, from the plaintive and melancholy to the upbeat and hard swinging, such as John Coltrane’s version.  Check out this bouquet of ten tracks to celebrate this great season!

A Women’s History Month Profile: Interview with Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz, authors of But Will You Love Me Tomorrow?: An Oral History of the 60’s Girl Groups

Little is known of the lives of many of the young Black women who – in the Girl Groups of the ‘60’s – sang, wrote, created, and popularized their generation-defining music, and even less about the challenges they faced while performing during such a complex era, one rife with racism, sexism, and music industry corruption. In this February, 2024 Jerry Jazz Musician interview, Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz discuss their book’s endeavor at giving them an opportunity to voice their meaningful experiences.

“Learning the Alphabet of the Blues” – a poem by Mary K O’Melveny

If you’ve ever had the blues, listen to the ladies
who can teach you what you need to know.
So many questions! How much time have you got?

“Lies, Agreed Upon” – a short story by M.R. Lehman Wiens

The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 70th Short Fiction Contest – uncovers a man’s long hidden past, and a town’s effort to keep its involvement in it buried.

“Strange Fruit, 2026” – a poem (written in the midst of our times) by erren geraud kelly

strange fruit
appears again from southern
trees, and bombs go off in
iran, and the crowd cheers

The Sunday Poem: “Nina Simone” by Jason A. Hendricks

When we are wounded & suffering
Feeling everything we shouldn’t be feeling:
Lost, spoken for, mistakenly mislead to believe
That we were the light
Leading you to a satisfied life- Yet
The only life-light you had left

21 jazz poems on the 21st of March, 2026

An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to  Jerry Jazz Musician. This edition features poets – several new to readers of this website – writing about their appreciation for the music, and the diversity and aesthetics of its sound. Along the way, readers will encounter poems that include the great musicians Horace Parlan, Shelly Manne, Keith Jarrett, Zoot Sims, Sun Ra, and Garland Wilson.

“Bottom Line Blues” – a poem (written in the midst of our times) by Connie Johnson

what’s going on
in this land gone wrong?
it’s the Epstein files / war &
tariffs / gas prices / ICE agents
civil rights -abusing sheriffs

“The Pet Shop” – a short story by Sherry Shahan

The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 70th Short Fiction Contest – is about an octogenarian couple who accept a part-time caretaker position at Crazy Goose Burlesque when the theater is temporarily shuttered due to archaic public indecency laws.

The Sunday Poem: “Never Again (Working Poems, for JD Allen)” by Sean Howard

Listening? Stow
away…

*

Rag against the
machine? This vital
group remember-
ing, it’s never
provided we
care

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 28: “Little Samba”

Trading Fours with Douglas Cole  is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. This edition is based largely on a documentary – They Shot the Piano Player – about Tenório Junior, a Latin jazz musician who only produced one album (1964) before he “disappeared” in 1976.

“The Fading” – a short story by Noah Wilson

The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 70th Short Fiction Contest – examines the impact of genetic illness on a family of musicians and artists.

“Echoing Cries” – a poem (written in the midst of our times) by Mike Mignano

Middle East a hotbed
Thousands of years spread
Stones, swords, spears
Bombs, missiles, drones

The Sunday Poem: “Six String Sizzle” by Ian Mullins

Two men on a street corner,
playing nothing but jazz.

The stores close, the lights blue,
but they sit and strum
as their hat fills with frost
and the long day yawns.

“Taking The Littlenecks” – a prose poem by Robert Alan Felt

No longer to rise before dawn, to quickstep gray first light and hustle to cast off with buddies, to skim the bay to inlet tide, to bluewater fish beckoning, to long fun-filled day and bags of fillets. This sunny spring afternoon, my seventy-first birthday, I am clamming alone.

“Bohemian Spirit” – A Remembrance of 1970’s Venice Beach, by Daniel Miltz

The writer recalls 1970’s Venice Beach, where creatives chased a kind of freedom that didn’t fit inside four walls…

"Ancestral Suite" - A 3-Poem Collection by Connie Johnson

The poet on three geniuses of jazz music – Booker Ervin, Lou Donaldson, and Jimmy Scott…

Interview with John Gennari, author of The Jazz Barn: Music Inn, the Berkshires, and the Place of Jazz in American Life

The author discusses how in the 1950s the Berkshires – historic home to the likes of Hawthorne, Melville, Wharton, Rockwell, and Tanglewood – became a crucial space for the performance, study, and mainstreaming of jazz, and eventually an epicenter of the genre’s avant-garde.