“Jazz Cycle”…poems by deb Ewing

July 11th, 2023

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photo via pixahive

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obviousness

…though there’s something to be said
for flirting by absence
empty space where the pass should have been
conspicuously left vacant by all involved

in jazz composition
everybody knows where the one is
even when nobody chooses to play it

if the space is quiet enough
you can hear blood racing

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everybody knows where the one is

i wait

like the most esoteric
wind against a curve of strings

everyone leans into the bass
sway and shake but baby

i wait

that communal pause o my brothers
back up inhale a watch and see

eyes closed either I step
to the reed or choke on a melody

…………………………………….cool breeze over dry grass beneath soft soft
…………………shaded breath abated our minds in kind and the wind
…………………………………………………………………………the wind the wind…if

i wait
you might not stick around

i wish i knew
…….my dear I wish I knew

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I wish I knew, my dear, I wish I knew

a ribbon of smoke between
………………………..7 and 4
………………….a ¾ note
and the embouchure
mourning
………………where are you now
somewhere my love

………….and you and I and clouds and ether
………….viruses, choruses, both, neither
………….if I inhale will I taste your name
………….will you lodge in my lung
………….your letters remain
………….things in the air

the end of a line caries
…………………….its own music
a soft crumbling of alley
………………….clarinet notes stumble
against brick
that cold peeling backstage
……………..exit closes

stepping under high-pressure
…………………..sodium streetlamps

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things in the air

softly softly
……………..metal on skin
……………..brushing
………………………………..anticipation
…………………….hangs
…………..between
spotlight and sky
you and I

……………at the end of the stage
……………a chrysalis cracks
……………a flat flank
……………around reverberation

brass angel take wing
hard skin left to lie
we don’t mind the crime just
listen to the wind
……………………………..the wind the wind

we can crawl back to our shells
…………once they stop rattling

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we don’t mind the crime

there is music
in
…….the obviousness of traffic
…………….tempos catching a fast exit
…………………………………………………….in

the punctuation
of a red bird
to blue window-pane
………………………..stormy weather

……………………………..when I think of you now
……………………………………..I think of your skin
………………………………….this wasn’t always so
…………………….once memorized your tongue
……………………………………..every shift and roll

your mind
turning over
a filament glow
…………………the electricity
…………………………..crackles

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deb Ewing is still doing all the same old things: peer-reviewing for Consilience Science-based Poetry Journal, typesetting for Igneus Press, painting tiny things on coins, the usual. Her mission statement remains “Art is War.”  You might find deb’s short sci-fi at Coffin Bell Journal in July, or her physical person at FAR-West 2023 in Woodland Hills, CA, in October. Follow @DebsValidation on Twitter and Instagram.

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Listen to the 1968 recording of Chick Corea playing “The Law of Falling and Catching Up”  [Universal Music Group]

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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

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“Dink’s Blues and drum fills,” by Joel Glickman

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

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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.

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Podcast

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Community

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.“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.

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Jazz History Quiz #167

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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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