“Accent on Youth,” by Ted Bryan

July 26th, 2007

Accent on Youth

by

Ted Bryan

___________________________

Ted Bryan is an eighteen-year-old Portland, Oregon resident who was co-winner of the 2006 Accent on Youth Essay Contest, as judged by jazz critic Gary Giddins, vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, and the publisher of Jerry Jazz Musician. His passion for and perspectives on jazz is the focus of the column.

This column was originally published April 30, 2007

__________

Writing as Jazz

___________________________

 

 

 Writing as jazz, instead of about: the theme for this space: the impact of bop on the syntax and rhythm of “beat” writers.

 I think it was Tristan Tzara who said of Dada, “Dada is not just now; it waits outside space and time,” or something like that; it’s this that makes the terms ‘beat’ and ‘bop,’ hard to handle. For bop, it grew so directly out of musicians like Lester Young, who were doing it in the way back (with Jo Jones as well, I’ll talk about him later) and then continued on once ‘bop’ proper arrived; beatniks had such conspicuous antecedents as Faulkner and Joyce — closer to home Kenneth Rexroth, Kenneth Patchen and William Everson (Brother Antonitus); all this posing a serious nomenclature problem: is it too much an anachronism to label Young as ‘bop,’ or Patchen as ‘beat,’ even though they may have never been given their respective dues as much as ‘during’ ‘bop,’ or ‘beat’?

 But this isn’t too much of a concern for right now.

 Who I’m mainly concerned with as ‘bop’: Thelonious Monk, Charles Parker and Dizzy Gillespie.

 …as ‘beat’: Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, Philip Whalen, Lew Welch, and Gregory Corso.

 (There are many others, conspicuous absences, in both these camps that in a longer column would belong on both lists: Fats Navarro; William Burroughs…; but not today.)

 Kerouac and Charlie Parker might be considered the figureheads of both of these artistic movements. Certainly they’d be the first names off many people’s lips. So it’s fitting that they have the most in common as far as sound.

 Though Kerouac did a lot of writing about jazz (a real cool passage in “Desolation Angels”; the scene in “The Subterraneans” where Parker watches Jack and his girlfriend Mardou “in the infancy of our love,”) jazz was also an integral part of his poetic generatrix. In the literary world, Faulkner et al. had already opened up the idea of the sentence as its own self-contained beast, witness this one in “The Sound and the Fury”:

 “Just by imagining the clump it seemed to me that I could hear whispers secret surges smell the beating of hot blood under wild unsecret flesh watching against red eyelids the swine untethered in pairs rushing coupled into the sea and he we must just stay awake and see evil done for a little while its not always and i it doesn’t have to be even that long for a man of courage and he do you consider that courage and i yes sir don’t you and he every man is the arbiter of his own virtues whether or not you consider it courage is of more importance than the act itself than any act otherwise you could not be in earnest and i…”

 That goes on for three pages! What Kerouac saw in Faulkner he then saw in Bird: a will to talk beyond conventions or a commonplace stopping point, with chops and energy. His own theory of composition threw out literary and syntactical forms (in theory, mind ye) in the search of writing through to being “relaxed and said.”  Adding to a sentence like this, from “Maggie Cassady”:

 “There were old women of the block who went to church every dawn, and late afternoon; and sometimes early evening; old, prayery, understanding of some thing that little children don’t understand and in their tragedy so close you’d think to the tomb you saw already their profiles sitting in rose satin the color of their rose-morns of life and expectoration but the scent of other things rising from the hearts of flowers that die at the end of autumn and we’ve thrown them over the fence.”

 I can see a thousand snide English teachers and grammatical pedants snarl at their sublunar desks and computer screens-“‘Prayery’?”; Strunk and White kick under their cairns; Hemingway votaries say, “Why didn’t that (sniff) sloppy character just say, ‘Several old women on the block went to church every dawn. Sometimes they also went in the afternoon. The evening. They were so old you could imagine them laid out in their satin-lined caskets, smelling like the sweet smell of death and morticians.'” Well, Charlie Parker could’ve been succinct too but it wasn’t his style; if either Kerouac, Faulkner or Joyce wrote for the trammels of grammar they would not have been remembered.

 Aside from simple flow of word-idea-image, Kerouac also picked up on the tenets of bop drumming, which was coined before ‘bop’ by aforesaid Jo Jones: drummer in the Count Basie band when Lester Young was sitting in. Jones came up with a style based on the high-hat cymbal, snare, and kick-drum. The high-hat maintains an almost constant presence; the kick drum drops in intermittently, at times on-, at times off-, beat-this was known as ‘dropping bombs’: Da-da-da, Da-da-da-POW…

 From “Doctor Sax” [italics mine]:

 “– Now he winds up, leisurely, looking off towards third base and beyond even as he’s rearing back to throw with an easy, short, effortless motion, no fancy dan imitations and complications and phoniness, blam , he calmly surveys the huge golden sky all sparkle-blue rearing over the hedges and iron pickets of Textile Main Field and the great Merrimac Valley high airs of heaven shining in the commercial Saturday October morning of markets and delivery men, with one look of the eye Scotty has seen that, is in fact looking toward his house on Mammoth Road, at Cow Field — blam, he’s come around and thrown his drop home, perfect strike, kid swinging, thap in the catcher’s mitt, ‘You’re out,’ end of the top of the 8th inning.”

 I’ve made my Kerouac point.

***

 Thelonious Monk.

 I was at my piano today, trying to figure out one of Monk’s songs; and when I finally got it, one of the chords I was playing caused my sister, nearby on the couch, to shout out in anger, “AHHHH! You’re gonna turn me into a monster or something! Like Frankenstein! You’re hurting my head!” I just laughed; what I was playing was one of Monk’s favorite tricks: a “half step,” or “minor 2nd” interval — an “interval” being the musical term for the space between two notes. There are twelve musical notes — 7 ‘naturals’: A, B, C, D, E, F, G; and then five ‘sharps or flats’ (#’s or b’s): A#/Bb, C#/Db, D#/Eb, F#/Gb and G#/Ab. (Notes that have two names are called ‘enharmonics,’ don’t ask me why.) A sharp or flat is one half-step (a ‘whole step’ comprises two halves — natch) away from its corresponding natural. So, Bb on the piano is the key right next to B. As I said, Monk liked the ‘minor 2nd’ interval, the half step; he liked to play Bb and B at the same time — one of the reasons his fingers can look like they’re so flatly thwacking the piano when he plays — creating a dissonance.

 A man quite knowledgeable about music and a fine piano player in his own right once said to me, “The first time I heard Monk’s music I didn’t really know what to think– and I kind of thought it was bullshit — you know, playing the intervals you aren’t supposed to play, and so forth. But then I got it — and there’s a great sense of humor to his music.” Darn straight. And what Monk was doing really was against the rules — still might be; but it was his style.

 Speaking literally, a couple of writers were working with forbidden or ‘wrong’ intervals before ‘beat’ came along, though in very different ways: Gertrude Stein and William Carlos Williams. Williams’ trip was natural, American speech, which transgresses grammar rules daily; Gertrude Stein’s trip was…well…

 “Curiosity and suspicion these two things are often very interesting, this one that I am now beginning describing had these very completely in him, and always when this one had these more simply in him than anyone knowing him was realizing…”

 – From “The Making of Americans.”

 “A purse was not green, it was not straw color, it was hardly seen and it had a use a long use and the chain, the chain was never missing, it was not misplaced, it showed that it was open, that is all that it showed.”

 – “A Purse,” from, “Tender Buttons: Objects.”

The influence of these writers coupled with the influence of Monk and flowed in to such beats as Lew Welch:

“Apparently wasps
Work all their only summer at the nest,
so that new wasps work
all their only summer at the nest,
etc.”

 – From “Apparently Wasps”

… Welch’s fellow Reed-grad and poet compatriot Philip Whalen:

“Overcome with frustration I sing a few songs
Ring a few bells & wish for better times.
A dim and moisture afternoon.”

 – from “Song to Begin Rohatsu”

…And so forth. ‘Beat’ and ‘Bop’ happening at roughly the same time, and in the same locations, help to gild the relationship between literature and jazz music. Unfortunate in our time that both books and great jazz have become so idiomatic…with who to blame, really? It would be easy to put down the artists — “We wanted something they [white boys] couldn’t play,” I think Monk said that — “Gimme something I can read,” Kerouac — for producing ‘confusing’ art, but that seems to me like taking the easy way out. Blame the audience, the many, for not caring.

 

*

To read Ted’s previous column, go to the next page

Share this:

Comment on this article:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Site Archive

Your Support is Appreciated

Jerry Jazz Musician has been commercial-free since its inception in 1999. Your generous donation helps it remain that way. Thanks very much for your kind consideration.

Click here to read about plans for the future of Jerry Jazz Musician.

Publisher’s Notes

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.”

In This Issue

Monk, as seen by Gottlieb, Dorsett and 16 poets – an ekphrastic poetry collection...Poets write about Thelonious Monk – inspired by William Gottlieb’s photograph and Rhonda R. Dorsett’s artistic impression of it.

Poetry

photo of Miles Davys by User:JPRoche, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons/adapted by Rhonda R. Dorsett
“Thinking of Mr. Davis on the Fourth of July” – a poem by Juan Mobili

Poetry

21 jazz poems on the 21st of June, 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

”4tet at Fiesta” by Catherine Lee

The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work.... Catherine Lee reads her poem at its conclusion


Click here to read previous editions of The Sunday Poem

Essay

“J.A. Rogers’ ‘Jazz at Home’: A Centennial Reflection on Jazz Representation Through the Lens of Stormy Weather and Everyday Life – an essay by Jasmine M. Taylor...The writer opines that jazz continues to survive – 100 years after J.A. Rogers’ own essay that highlighted the artistic freedom of jazz – and has “become a fundamental core in American culture and modern Americanism; not solely because of its artistic craftsmanship, but because of the spirit that jazz music embodies.”

Community

The passing of a poet: Alan Yount...Alan Yount, the Missouri native whose poems were published frequently on Jerry Jazz Musician, has passed away at the age of 77.

Interview

photo Louis Armstrong House Museum
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.

Essay

“Is Jazz God?” – an essay by Allison Songbird...A personal journey leads to the discovery of the importance of jazz music, and finding love for it later in life.

Poetry

What is This Path – a collection of poems by Michael L. Newell...A contributor of significance to Jerry Jazz Musician, the poet Michael L. Newell shares poems he has written since being diagnosed with a concerning illness.

Publisher’s Notes

Where I’ve Been…and a brief three-dot-update...News about an important life experience, and an update about what's going on at Jerry Jazz Musician

Feature

Jimmy Baikovicius from Montevideo, Uruguay, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 25: “How I Hear Music: ‘Feel the Sway,’ A Song in Three Movements”...In this edition, due to a current and ongoing obsession with drummer Matt Wilson’s 2006 album The Scenic Route, Douglas Cole writes another poem in response to his experience listening to the track “Feel the Sway.”

Feature

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?

Short Fiction

Short Fiction Contest-winning story #68 — “Saharan Blues on the Seine,” by Aishatu Ado...Aminata, a displaced Malian living in Paris, 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.

Feature

Excerpts from David Rife’s Jazz Fiction: Take Two – Vol. 14 - "World War II and jazz"...A substantial number of novels and stories with jazz music as a component of the story have been published over the years, and the scholar David J. Rife has written short essay/reviews of them. In this 14th edition featuring excerpts from his outstanding literary resource, Rife writes about stories whose theme is World War II and jazz

Poetry

“Summer Wind” – a poem (for July) by Jerrice J. Baptiste...Jerrice's 12-month 2025 calendar of jazz poetry winds through the year with her poetic grace while inviting us to wander through music by the likes of Charlie Parker, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hoagy Carmichael, Sarah Vaughan, Melody Gardot and Nina Simone. She welcomes July with a poem that conjurs up the great Frank Sinatra tune…

Feature

“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond...When asked to name the song that best represents their expectations for 2025, respondents often cited songs of protest and of the civil rights era, but so were songs of optimism and appreciation, including Bob Thiele and George David Weiss’ composition “What a Wonderful World,” made famous by Louis Armstrong, who first performed it live in 1959. The result is a fascinating and extensive outlook on the upcoming year.

Playlist

“Eight is Great!” – a playlist by Bob Hecht...The cover of the 1959 album The Greatest Trumpet of Them All by the Dizzy Gillespie Octet. A song from the album, “Just by Myself,” is featured on Bob Hecht’s new 28-song playlist – this one devoted to octets.

Short Fiction

“Steven and Mira: Paris May 1968” – a short story by Steven P. Unger...The story – a finalist in the recently concluded 68th Short Fiction Contest – is a semiautobiographical tale of a café-hopping tour of Paris in the revolutionary summer of 1968, and a romance cut short by the overwhelming realities of national strikes, police violence at home and abroad, and finally the assassination of Bobby Kennedy.

Interview

photo by Brian McMillen
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.

Short Fiction

“Every Night at Ten,” a short story by Dennis A. Blackledge...Smothering parents, heavy-handed school officials, and a dead President conspire to keep a close-knit group of smalltown junior high kids from breaking loose. But the discovery of a song on late-night radio — one supposedly loaded with dirty words — changes everything.

Short Fiction

art by Marsha Hammel
“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…

Art

photo by Giovanni Piesco
The Photographs of Giovanni Piesco: Art Farmer and Benny Golson...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 the May 10, 1996 photos of the tenor saxophonist, composer and arranger Benny Golson, and the February 13, 1997 photos of trumpet and flugelhorn player Art Farmer.

Interview

“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.”

Interview

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. Grasse discusses his book in a December, 2024 interview.

Feature

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
“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?

Community

Stewart Butterfield, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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)

Interview

Interview with James Kaplan, author of 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans and the Lost Empire of Cool...The esteemed writer tells a vibrant story about the jazz world before, during, and after the 1959 recording of Kind of Blue, and how the album’s three genius musicians came together, played together, and grew together (and often apart) throughout the experience.

Community

Nominations for the Pushcart Prize XLIX...Announcing the six writers nominated for the Pushcart Prize v. XLIX, whose work was published in Jerry Jazz Musician during 2024.

Contributing Writers

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

Coming Soon

An interview with Sascha Feinstein, author of Writing Jazz: Conversations with Critics and Biographers.... An interview with Tad Richards, author of Listening to Prestige:  Chronicling Its Classic Jazz Recordings, 1949 - 1972...  Also, a new Jazz History Quiz, and lots of short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and much more in the works...

Interview Archive

Ella Fitzgerald/IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
Click to view the complete 25-year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Judith Tick on Ella Fitzgerald (pictured),; Laura Flam and Emily Sieu Liebowitz on the Girl Groups of the 60's; Tad Richards on Small Group Swing; Stephanie Stein Crease on Chick Webb; Brent Hayes Edwards on Henry Threadgill; Richard Koloda on Albert Ayler; Glenn Mott on Stanley Crouch; Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake; Richard Brent Turner on jazz and Islam; Alyn Shipton on the art of jazz; Shawn Levy on the original queens of standup comedy; Travis Atria on the expatriate trumpeter Arthur Briggs; Kitt Shapiro on her life with her mother, Eartha Kitt; Will Friedwald on Nat King Cole; Wayne Enstice on the drummer Dottie Dodgion; the drummer Joe La Barbera on Bill Evans; Philip Clark on Dave Brubeck; Nicholas Buccola on James Baldwin and William F. Buckley; Ricky Riccardi on Louis Armstrong; Dan Morgenstern and Christian Sands on Erroll Garner; Maria Golia on Ornette Coleman.