A New Year’s message, and an invitation

January 1st, 2020

 

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photo Creative Commons Zero – CC0

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“If art doesn’t make us better, then what on earth is it for?”

—Alice Walker

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Greetings, and Happy New Year, Folks:

…..Two things happen today.  We bring in a new year, and with it a new decade.

…..There is great hope for the decade.   We have to hold that long-term hope, right?

…..I fear, however, that this year is going to a doozy.  The political tactics and smears we are likely to witness could be so tawdry and undignified that even the most hardened and experienced political operatives will be challenged to defend or even comprehend them.   Those addicted to the scent of power will do and say whatever necessary to hold on to it, and the media will do what they do – provoke us enough to watch their programs and buy their advertiser’s products.

…..Amid all this likely acrimony, it will take substantial effort to conjure up hope.

…..At the outset of this political year I resolve to watch less cable television, stay away from the cancer of social media, and bury myself in art and history – more reading and more learning and more viewing art in the hopes that, as Alice Walker says, it will make me “better.”

…..Publishing this site allows me the opportunity to be exposed to lots of art and literature.  I receive so much excellent work from the community of writers who contribute to Jerry Jazz Musician that at times I am surrounded, literally, by poetry and fiction.  It is incredibly rewarding and gratifying.  But, I would love to read more and to learn more from this growing artistic community.

…..With that, I invite writers and artists to submit your poetry, fiction, personal stories, art, photography and film for consideration of publication on Jerry Jazz Musician.  An immediate opportunity is participating in the 53rd Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest (details here).  Another is to have your poetry considered for inclusion in an upcoming Spring collection of poetry, to be published in February.  (Click here to read the Fall collection).  Ongoing opportunities abound, and submissions are considered throughout the year.  Details and submission guidelines can be found by clicking here.

…..The good news about provocative, unsettling times is that the art world tends to respond with creative fervor.  I hope this website can play a role in your desire to share your own creativity with others.

Best wishes for good health and happiness in the year (and decade) ahead.

Joe Maita

Publisher

Jerry Jazz Musician

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Bill Evans plays “You’re Gonna Hear From Me”

 

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One comments on “A New Year’s message, and an invitation”

  1. Hi Joe: To you, and a very heartfelt article. I find it, very, very sad no one else said something.
    I believe, art is all: jazz is all. Art and literature and jazz make the world survive. These are the hidden truths, over the decades and the senselessness of politics. If you cannot respond because of politics, you are, and jazz and music, and art are dead, to you.
    It took me awhile to write, I was concerned, of being judged. I have no politics, if I think like, you
    have the answer. Jazz and all the arts, have a beauty, out of all of time. They are special
    for the special people that know this. As my minister friend says to me, blessing to all of us,
    blessing for jazz and music to you…… Heartfelt, to you Joe, Alan

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A Letter From the Publisher

An appeal for contributions to support the ongoing publishing efforts of Jerry Jazz Musician

In This Issue

The Modern Jazz Quintet by Everett Spruill
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition

A wide range of topics are found in this collection. Tributes are paid to Tony Bennett and Ahmad Jamal and to the abstract worlds of musicians like Ornette Coleman and Pharoah Sanders; the complex lives of Chet Baker and Nina Simone are considered; devotions to Ellington and Basie are revealed; and personal solace is found in the music of Tommy Flanagan and Quartet West. These are poems of peace, reflection, time, venue and humor – all with jazz at their core. (Featuring the art of Everett Spruill)

The Sunday Poem

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Fledging” by John L. Stanizzi

Interview

photo courtesy of Henry Threadgill
Interview with Brent Hayes Edwards, co-author (with Henry Threadgill) of Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music...The author discusses his work co-written with Threadgill, the composer and multi-instrumentalist widely recognized as one of the most original and innovative voices in contemporary music, and the winner of the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

Poetry

painting by Henry Denander
A collection of jazz haiku...This collection, featuring 22 poets, is an example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“Community Bookshelf, #1"...a twice-yearly space where writers who have been published on Jerry Jazz Musician can share news about their recently authored books. This edition includes information about books published within the last six months or so…

Short Fiction

photo vi Wallpaper Flare
Short Fiction Contest-winning story #63 — “Company” by Anastasia Jill...Twenty-year-old Priscilla Habel lives with her wannabe flapper mother who remains stuck in the jazz age 40 years later. Life is monotonous and sad until Cil meets Willie Flasterstain, a beatnik lesbian who offers an escape from her mother's ever-imposing shadow.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

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photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

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“The Sound Barrier” – a short story by Bex Hansen

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“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Poetry

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In Memoriam

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“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

Book Excerpt

“Chick” Webb was one of the first virtuoso drummers in jazz and an innovative bandleader dubbed the “Savoy King,” who reigned at Harlem’s world-famous Savoy Ballroom. Stephanie Stein Crease is the first to fully tell Webb’s story in her biography, Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat that Changed America…The book’s entire introduction is excerpted here.

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Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

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“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

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Short Fiction

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“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

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A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

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Click the image to view the writers, poets and artists whose work has been published on Jerry Jazz Musician, and find links to their work

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