.

.

.

.

 

Mingus Ah Um

 

Nineteen fifty-nine –
1-9-5-9 – things changed.
Coltrane took Giant Steps –

Miles was Kind of Blue
and Brubeck played
with Time.

Ornette shaped Jazz
and Mingus . . . Ah UM.
swings and shouts —

offers accolades
to the roots of Jazz —
to Jelly Roll, The Duke

and Sonny Rollins —
Slow, sad blues
for Lester Young,

Tars & feathers for Faubus,
“so sick and ridiculous —
an All-American Heel.”

Better Git it
in Your Soul —
this Gospel of the Blues

this Sunday Swing —
six/8 aerobatics —
Jazz that had Miles say

“Mingus was somthin’ else —
a pure genius, man.
I loved him.”

Ah Um!

.

___

.

photo by Tom Marcello/CC BY-SA 2.0

Charles Mingus – NYC- July 4, 1976

.

.

___

.

.

Russell Dupont is an artist and an author whose artwork is included in a number of public and private collections. He has published two novels, King & Train and Waiting for the Turk; two books of poetry; and two non-fiction chapbooks. His essay, “The Corner,” is included in the anthology Streets of Echoes. His work has been published in various newspapers and literary magazines. He was the founder & publisher of the literary magazine,.the albatross.

Visit his website by clicking here

.

.

 

Click here to listen to “Better Git It in Your Soul” from Mingus Ah Um

.

Click here to read Russell duPont’s broadside and short story of Thelonious Monk

.

.

.