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John Coltrane/Distributed by Impulse! Records/via Wikimedia Commons
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Haiku: Musings, Pt. 1
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Forever John Coltrane
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a frustrating past
San Francisco overdose…
spirit evolving
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studying masters
Dizzy Gillespie & Bird
music’s a lifeline
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serious practice
“twenty-five hours a day”
no bebop clichés
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virtuosity
taking you on a journey!
all aboard Blue Train
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pushing boundaries
on improvised “sheets of sound”
experimental!
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searing saxophone
profoundly resonating
Coltrane paves the way
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My Favorite Things:
modal improvisation
minimalism
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pentatonic scales
Giant Steps defining him
jazz visionary
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fated encounter
meeting Alice at Birdland
trailblazing duo
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a vinyl treasure
recorded in one session
spin A Love Supreme
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Trane’s chord progressions
still studied by jazz scholars
lasting legacy
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purity of faith
“there is never any end…”
Coltrane forever!
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previously published by Four Feathers Press in 12/24
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Haiku: Musings, Pt. 2
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L.A. Icons
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social activist
& purveyor of “cool jazz”
it’s Buddy Collette!
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Chico Hamilton
a jazz fusion pioneer
band-leading drummer
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bebop saxophone
Dexter Gordon’s the blueprint
all others follow
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free Eric Dolphy
John Coltrane studies his style
avant-garde genius
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here’s Billy Higgins!
the house drummer at Blue Note
all the world’s his stage
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a raw blues-shouter
Etta James crosses over
immortal…At Last
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watch Natalie Cole
pay tribute to her father:
Unforgettable
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the arranger of
Whitney’s Star Spangled Banner
John Clayton’s his name
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jazz or classical?
both genres by Billy Childs
have healing powers
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the future is here!
Kamasi Washington’s sound
always evolving
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authenticity
defining Kendrick Lamar
& West Coast hip hop
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musical icons:
California born & raised
inspirational
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Haiku: Musings, Pt. 3
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Riffs & Variations
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o lonesome bluesboy
give my poetry a home
sweet sanctuary
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big-legged women
they’ve always been your weakness
watch them dance for you
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blues in your birdsong
her love is your greatest hit
jukebox fantasy
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don’t go to strangers
endless improvisations
reside inside me
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so esoteric!
you’re a kind of jazz gumbo
an acquired taste
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jazz awakens me
Miles, Duke & Louis Armstrong
retro reverie
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Sun Ra cover art!
palette of variations
it’s jazz artistry
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“…& I’m my own muse”
the words of Frida Kahlo
they sing out to me
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timelessly swinging
your bebop salutations
vintage offering
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haiku or free verse
a jazz vocabulary!
I understand you
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electric guitar
a rock & roll fantasy
(are you Jimi now?)
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a flutter of wings
& you’re the song I’m singing
soulful altitude
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Connie Johnson has multiple Pushcart Prize nominations for poetry. A California-based writer, she has authored Everything is Distant Now (Blue Horse Press) and I Have Almost Everything (Boats Against the Current). In a Place of Dreams, her digital chapbook (containing audio readings/personal narrative), was published by Jerry Jazz Musician. Click here to view it.
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Listen to the 1954 recording of Duke Ellington performing his composition “Dancers in Love” [Universal Music Group]
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Click for:
Information about Kinds of Cool: An Interactive Collection of Jazz Poetry, Vol. II (featuring women poets)
More poetry on Jerry Jazz Musician
“Where the Music Wasn’t Allowed,” Jane McCarthy’s winning story in the 71st Jerry Jazz Musician Short Fiction Contest
More short fiction on Jerry Jazz Musician
Information about how to submit your poetry or short fiction
Subscribe to the (free) Jerry Jazz Musician quarterly newsletter
Helping to support the ongoing publication of Jerry Jazz Musician, and to keep it commercial-free (thank you!)
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Jerry Jazz Musician…human produced since 1999
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