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Dear Readers:

I am pleased to report that the second edition of Kinds of Cool, an Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry has just been published, and is now available for sale on Amazon.com.

This edition is dedicated to publishing women poets from all over the world who share their personal passion for and relationship with jazz music, and the culture it interacts with.  That is demonstrated within the pages of this book, where you’ll discover poems written about giants of the music – Nina Simone, Alberta Hunter, Miles Davis, Carmen McRae, Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, and John Coltrane among them.

In addition to the wonderful poems you’re sure to appreciate, the collection allows readers – through the use of QR codes and their smart technology devices – to hear several of the poets read their work, and to listen to and view select historic recorded musical performances relevant to the poems.  This “Read. Listen. View.”  concept is a multi-sensory (and free) adventure that broadly connects readers to the culture of jazz music.

I am deeply grateful to one of the world’s most eminent jazz drummers Allison Miller for contributing the foreword to this collection.  Her keen understanding for the connections between jazz and poetry sets the tone for the reader’s experience with this book.  The cover photo of Allison – and those within the book of her and Lux Quartet bandmate Myra Melford – were taken by Rhonda R. Dorsett at the world-famous jazz club Bimhuis in Amsterdam in the spring of 2025.

It is an honor to present this work.

Joe Maita

Editor/Publisher
Jerry Jazz Musician

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Click here for more information about the book

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Two examples of poems published in Kinds of Cool:  An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry, Vol. II

A QR code follows each poem (as they appear in the book as well), allowing readers to either listen to the poet read her work, or be directed to a song related to the poem

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April 7

by Kathryn MacDonald

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It’s Billie’s birthday.
a photo of her at two years old rises
to the top of the pile on FB today –
a child in flounced dress
a smudged b&w image
a small bird
perched

a small bird
caressed with thumbs
of love, corners crinkled –
had she already
felt the music
within

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Use your smart tech device on the QR code to listen to Kathryn MacDonald read her poem.

 

 

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Alberta Hunter At The Cookery

by Mary K O’Melveny

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I was brand new to New York City
Living in the Village …Learning my life
She’d been around a long time
I was hoping for a good time
She chanted I’m Having a Good Time
at University Place & Eighth Street

Her voice was rich as heavy cream
Her timing swift as summer lightning
A Good Man Is Hard To Find
She smiled sly ..sassy ..sweet
like she knew more than anyone ever
could did more than anyone ever would

My Handy Man Ain’t Handy Anymore
she crooned ….She knew what she needed
You Can’t Tell The Difference After Dark
Born in Memphis ..1895.. Chicago cabaret
in her teens ..Toured Europe in 1917
She and Bessie made hits with Down Hearted Blues

In 1928 she was Queenie to Paul Robeson’s
Joe in Show Boat ..Standing room only
at London’s Drury Lane…. In New York City
she sang with Armstrong and Bechet
Toured the world with the USO’s Rhythm Rascals
Cradled the mic like a lover ..Serenaded Ike

For a long time she quit torching
Worked as a nurse ..but she understood
how healing can take many forms
You Can Have My Man she promised
Eyes twinkling like summer fireflies
I’ve Got A Mind To Ramble

Now she swept up her silver-streaked hair
Jangled her glittery gold-toned earrings
She pouted.. purred ..warbled ..whispered
Anticipation dangled in the room
like a new love’s grinning promise
You Can’t Keep A Good Woman Down

Some nights the line was long
Once you got in you weren’t leaving
any time soon ….Somebody Else
Will Take Your Place ..if you move
T’aint Nobody’s Business anyway
She whispered permission ..gave advice

I got a mind to ramble
Never work no more
Take a chance and gamble
Her voice sweatered in a laugh
a promise.. a randy memoir ..Choices
That’s why we leaned in.. listened so close

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Use your smart tech device on the QR code to listen to Alberta Hunter perform her composition “I’ve Got a Mind to Ramble”

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Poems in the collection:

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Jazz Between/Carrie Magness Radna
Ma-The Silence Between Notes Makes Music/Judith Vaughn
The Sky and the River/Kathryn MacDonald
How to Get That Healing Feeling/Mary K O’Melveny
Minnie-Black Gold of the Sun/Isabel White
The Bard and the Bee/Josie Rosell
After Dark/Lauren Loya
Morgan’s “Yama” Jazz Mess/Catherine Lee
Jazz Noir/Cynthia Gallion
Good, Then Bad Then Good/Carol Boutard
Learning the Alphabet of the Blues/Mary K O’Melveny
Forgotten Anniversary/Martha Patterson
Aunt Hagar’s Blues/Cheryl Savageau
Cherita/Barbara Anna Gaiardoni
Ninety, Still Perfomring/Arlene Corwin
What a Wonderful World/Patricia Carragon
Beethoven’s Got the Blues/Mary K O’Melveny
Rivers of Sound/Laura Trigg
Don’t Mind if I Do/Connie Johnson
The Flavor of the Moon/Josie Rozell
Voice Lessons/Tobi Alfier
The Fifth Woman/Laura Trigg
The Syncopation of Saffronia/Dana I. Hunter
Black as Night/Judith Vaughn
Funkier than a Mosquito’s Tweeter/Jerrice J. Baptiste
My Name/Dana I. Hunter
Ne Me Quitte Pas/Patricia Carragon
Inches from Aretha/Isabel White
Alberta Hunter at The Cookery/Mary K O’Melveny
Black Piano in Crimson Light/Catherine Lee
Willkommen der Platz/Allison Whittenberg
Fabulous Faubus/Lynn White
In 1978/Lauren Loya
April 7/Kathryn MacDonald
The Hills are Alive/Jessica Lee McMillan
Enraptured/Antoinette F. Winstead
The Jig of the New Woman/Jennifer Maritza McCauley
A Symphony in Black/Connie Johnson
Music at the Intersection, St. Louis, Missoura/Laura Trigg
Now and Then (In Remembrace Of…)/Patricia Carragon
Second Set/Patricia Joslin
Rueful Jazz/Martha Patterson
The Pawnshop of Love/Connie Johnson
Of Footprints and Fridays/Laura Trigg
Singing/Cheryl Savageau
Preservation Hall/Connie Johnson
Of Wine & Fire/Kathryn MacDonald
When a Bandmate Dies/Sarah E. Morin
Those Gloomy Sundays/Lynn White
A Taste of Hone/Judith Vaughn
Detroit River Jazz/Kathryn MacDonald
Just Drive/Connie Johnson

 

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Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction

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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999

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