“O as in October” – a poem by Geer Austin
October is a round month like the letter O.
A letter like a circle. October brisk and colorful.
Yet, changeable like a Coltrane solo, taking us
September 30th, 2026
Geer Austin
21 jazz poems on the 21st of June, 2026
An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. In this edition…An eclectic mix of poetic styles and subjects display a collective love for the music and culture at the core of this creative community.
...June 19th, 2026
21 jazz poems on the 21st of March, 2026
An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. This edition features poets – several new to readers of this website – writing about their appreciation for the music, and the diversity and aesthetics of its sound. Along the way, readers will encounter poems that include the great musicians Horace Parlan, Shelly Manne, Keith Jarrett, Zoot Sims, Sun Ra, and Garland Wilson.
...March 20th, 2026
A 2026 jazz poetry calendar
12 individual poets contribute a jazz-themed poem dedicated to a particular month, resulting in a 2026 calendar of jazz poetry that winds through the year with a variety of poetic styles and voices who share their journeys with the music, tying it into the month they were tasked to interpret. Along the way you will encounter the likes of Sonny Stitt, Charles Mingus, Jaco Pastorius, Wynton Kelly, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone.
...December 31st, 2025
A collection of poetic responses to the events of 2025
Forty poets describe their experiences with the tumultuous events of 2025, resulting in a remarkable collection of work made up of writers who may differ on what inspired them to participate, but who universally share a desire for their voice to be heard amid a changing America.
...December 30th, 2025
21 jazz poems on the 21st of November, 2025
An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. This edition features poems communicating the emotional appeal of jazz music, as well as nods to the likes of Miles Davis, Regina Carter, Maynard Ferguson, Ornette Coleman, and Max Roach,
...November 20th, 2025
21 jazz poems on the 21st of October, 2025
An ongoing series designed to share the quality of jazz poetry continuously submitted to Jerry Jazz Musician. This edition features poems inspired by the late Chuck Mangione, several on other trumpeters, the blues, and nods to Monk, Ornette Coleman, Coltrane, and Sonny Rollins.
...October 21st, 2025
“What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?” Readers respond…
What are your hopes, anxieties, expectations for 2025? How do you see it playing out? 50 readers respond to the question, What one song best represents your expectations for 2025?
...January 2nd, 2025
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Spring/Summer, 2024 Edition
In this, the 17th major collection of jazz poetry published on Jerry Jazz Musician, 50 poets from all over the world again demonstrate the ongoing influence the music and its associated culture has on their creative lives.
...June 21st, 2024
The Sunday Poem: “A Poem About Art” by Geer Austin
Your chair is a kitten chasing a bird.
Hans Brinker skates across
your living room.
December 31st, 2023
A brief collection of poetry devoted to jazz…and love
Seven poets combine and art of jazz with an act of love…
...November 7th, 2023
A collection of jazz haiku
Earlier this year I invited poets to submit jazz-themed poetry that didn’t need to strictly follow the 5-7-5 syllabic structure of formal haiku, but had to at least be faithful to the spirit of it (i.e. no more than three lines, brief, expressive, emotionally insightful).
This collection, featuring 22 poets, is a good example of how much love, humor, sentimentality, reverence, joy and sorrow poets can fit into their haiku devoted to jazz.
...September 27th, 2023
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Summer, 2023 Edition
This edition features poetry chosen from hundreds of recent submissions, and from a wide range of voices known – and unknown – to readers of these collections. The work is unified by the poets’ ability to capture the abundance of jazz music, and their experience with consuming it.
...August 22nd, 2023
A Collection of Jazz Poetry — Fall/Winter, 2022-23 Edition
.This collection of jazz poetry – the largest yet assembled on Jerry Jazz Musician – demonstrates how poets who are also listeners of jazz music experience and interact with the spontaneous art that arises from jazz improvisation, which often shows up in the soul and rhythm of their poetic language.
...December 16th, 2022
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In this Issue
The Sunday Poem
The Sunday Poem: “Improvisations on a May-December Romance,” by Daniel Klawitter
The Sunday Poem is published weekly, and strives to include the poet reading their work...
Daniel Klawitter reads his poem at its conclusion.
Click here to read previous editions of The Sunday Poem
Feature
Interviews
Poetry
Editor’s Notes
Poetry
Performance
Short Fiction
Feature
Poetry
Community
Poetry
Interview
Poetry
Feature
Poetry
Feature
Poetry
Interview
Jazz History Quiz
Short Fiction
Feature
Community
Poetry
Short Fiction
Feature
Short Fiction
Poetry
Contributing Writers
Coming Soon
Interview Archive
