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…

The Sunday Poem: “Skin Tight” by David Nemerov

So you can play
So What, kid
Or so they say
Guess what, kid
So what, kid
Are you hip
Are you cool

“She is a Flame” – a poem (for March) by Erren Geraud Kelly

The Worker Bee is the
Candleflame, taking shape
In a jazz of night, my oasis
In this wasteland of ” Greatness”
My whole note in a melody
Of dreams

“Empire State of GRIME” – a poem by Camille R.E.

The author’s free-verse poem is written as an informal letter to tourists from a native New Yorker, (and sparing no bitter opinion).

Albert Ayler’s Spiritual Unity – A Classic of Our Time, and for All Time – an essay by Peter Valente

On the complexity and essence of Albert Ayler’s now classic 1964 album…

“Going” – a short story by D.O. Moore

A short-listed entry in the recently concluded 70th Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest, “Going” tells of a traumatic flight experience that breaks a woman out of her self-imposed confines and into an acceptance that she has no control of her destiny.

The Sunday Poem: “Ella Under the Stars” by Mari Fitz-Wynn

When Ella sang under the stars,
her voice filled the atmosphere
as she transposed Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.
Her range— incredible.

21 jazz poems on the 21st of February, 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, how it shows up in their daily lives, and displaying their reverence for the likes of Billy Strayhorn, Joe Henderson, Ernestine Anderson, Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong and Red Garland.

Memorable Quotes: Samuel Adams, on patriotism

“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government…”

“The Mysterious Axeman’s Jazz” – a story by Ruth Knafo Setton

Upon returning from the horrors of World War II to post-war New Orleans, a trumpeter learns of a dark secret that reveals how his family fought their own evil, and uses jazz to bury the ghosts of war and reclaim the light through music.

“Saying a Sudden Goodbye to My Goddess” – a remembrance, by Brian Greene

A contributing writer shares his thoughts about the devastating loss of his loving partner.

The Sunday Poem: “Tango in Malaga, Spain” by Marianne Peel

Perhaps it was the way
their bodies wanted to touch

the way their hands glided
from shoulder to wrist

the tilt of his fedora
the way her leg caught the sea air

Jazz History Quiz #186

While he had a long career in jazz, including stints with, among others, Coleman Hawkins, Roy Eldridge, Sonny Stitt and Stan Getz, he will always be remembered primarily as the pianist in Charlie Parker’s classic 1947 quintet. Who is he?

“Poetry written in the midst of our time” – Vol. 3

Although
there are those among us
who believe in the King of Kings
& in a God who created us all in
His image.

“Blue Monday” – a short story by Ashlee Trahan

The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 70th Short Fiction Contest – is an imagining of a day in the life of the author’s grandfather’s friendship with the legendary Fats Domino.

A brief update about “The Weary Blues”

A few words about tonight’s sold-out performance of “The Weary Blues”

The Sunday Poem: “Dear Aretha” by J. Stephen Whitney

we need you to sing Respect for us right now
not tomorrow, not 24 hours before the earth explodes
not 24 hours before the sun dies
not 24 hours before the moon erases itself

“Poetry written in the midst of our time” – Vol. 2

what else can we do
we’re poets for god-sake

did you all
expect something different
did you all
expect a blind eye
did you all
expect a turning away

The Sunday Poem: “Heavy Whipping Cream, Sriracha” by Sarai Nichole

Too much butter.
Not enough salt.
Discontinued hot sauce.

Was it heavy cream?
Milk?
Should I have swallowed the laugh
when you said, sriracha.

“Villages Too” – a poem by Daniel Warren Brown

population a mere thousands
is the conscience of capillaries

as a village we are
a pulsing dissent
through the body politic

“Darn! All These Dreams!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht

In this edition, the jazz aficionado Bob Hecht’s 13-song playlist centers on one tune, the great Jimmy Van Heusen/Eddie DeLange standard, “Darn That Dream,” with the first song being a solo musician recording and each successive version adding an instrument.

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.

Three poems…written in the midst of our time

Poets within this community of writers are feeling this moment in time, and writing about it. Here are three examples.

“Skipping Up the Steps Since Six” – a free verse poem by Camille R.E.

This narrative, free verse poem – a finalist in the recently concluded 70th Short Fiction Contest – is centered on the sense of isolation a daughter feels as she enters an unorthodox adolescence.

A 2026 jazz poetry calendar

12 individual poets contribute a jazz-themed poem dedicated to a particular month, resulting in a 2026 calendar of jazz poetry that winds through the year with a variety of poetic styles and voices who share their journeys with the music, tying it into the month they were tasked to interpret. Along the way you will encounter the likes of Sonny Stitt, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone.

A collection of poetic responses to the events of 2025

Forty poets describe their experiences with the tumultuous events of 2025, resulting in a remarkable collection of work made up of writers who may differ on what inspired them to participate, but who universally share a desire for their voice to be heard amid a changing America.

“The Music of Lana’i Lookout” – a poem by Robert Alan Felt

The 17th anniversary of president-elect Barack Obama’s scattering of his beloved grandmother’s ashes is at the center of the poem, and serves as a reminder that moral personal character of leadership is what makes a country great.

“A Perfect 10” – a playlist of tentets by Bob Hecht

Bob adds another instrument to his progressive playlist feature, and shares what a variety of arrangers have been able to accomplish writing for a tentet.

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #70 – “the Sound of Becoming,” by JC Michaels

The story explores the inner life of a young Southeast Asian man as he navigates the tension between Eastern tradition and Western modernity.

Community Bookshelf #5

“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, 2025 – September, 2025)

War. Remembrance. Walls. The High Price of Authoritarianism – by editor/publisher Joe Maita

An essay inspired by my recent experiences witnessing the ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of liberation of several World War II concentration camps in Germany.