Two new books of poetry by Michael L. Newell

July 9th, 2021

 

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…..Readers of Jerry Jazz Musician know that Michael L. Newell’s jazz poetry consistently reveals the spirit of the music and its most gifted and revered performers.  He writes with great passion about the music’s impact on our lives, and while doing so provides us with a window into his own inner world.

…..Michael has compiled two new books of poetry.  The first, Making My Peace (cyberwit.net), is now available on Amazon.  Its 156 pages cover a wide range of subject matter: experiences in Bolivia and Rwanda, poems set in coastal Oregon, poems that touch on theatre, jazz poems, poems focusing on classical music, music from America’s Southern Mountains, bluegrass, Celtic music, and Dixieland.

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Comments on Making My Peace

…..If delivered in verse, a good poet’s autobiography will be one of moments seized, memories refined, wisdom crystallized.  Making My Peace is such a book.  A prolific and gifted poet, Michael Newell makes his peace with time, age, the stage, friends, lovers, cities, landscapes, animals, even death.  The valedictory tone of this rich collection doesn’t exclude praise or the relishing of joy and beauty.  Newell has been an actor, a teacher, a traveler—always a writer, a jazz aficionado, always a sharp observer of people and landscapes.  In these well-made poems, readers will encounter a man who has led a full life and recorded his responses to it with estimable craft and a keen sensibility.

-Robert Wexelblatt, Author of Hsi-wei Tales, The Thirteenth Studebaker, etc.

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…..From whispered memory inside an empty theater’s dark, to a glimmering moon floating in a teacup, to a tree’s wild complaint moaning through a wind-lashed storm, Michael L. Newell’s poems in this volume carry the reader across the world and reach deeply into experiences of loss and life in its diverse and abundant iterations. As in other previous volumes of Newell’s poetry, the imagery and language in this volume is vivid and precise. Whether describing a violin bow’s cascading notes, or the Andes’ mountains sparkling above the immense darkness, the music of Newell’s lines evoke a world of beauty that abounds despite loss, despair and grief. 

…..Poems in Making My Peace  reach beyond the borders of the experiences of an individual life to touch the way all lives past and present, both human, and other than human—are all a part of each other. In “Self-Portrait,” Newell writes, “I am no one, / I am / everyone I have known: /all those voices coming on the wind.” To read these poems is to become more aware of how life and death are a complex and necessary part of each other, and as Newell states, though those we have known and what we have loved may have disappeared, “nothing is ever completely lost.” We may find ourselves traveling down miles of empty highways as life unspools, nevertheless, Newell’s poems will carry us with him, transforming worries and despair into song, dance, and life’s ongoing music “in all its bawdy raucous chaotic aching beauty.”

-Anna Citrino, author of A Space Between

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…..Michael L Newell’s poems have the dash, clarity and melody of mountain brooks. They teem with life, sometimes spill over their banks. I read him often for serenity and resolve. Crack the spine of Newell’s newest volume Making My Peace. You’ll find it like taking a good walk in bright air.

-Ed Ruzicka. author of My Life with Cars and Engines of Belief.

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Click here to be taken to the Amazon page for more information and ordering details on Making My Peace

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The second book, Diddley-Bop-She-Bop, features 60 pages of Newell’s jazz poetry.

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Comments on the book:

 

…..Michael Newell’s jazz poems reveal the poet’s deep appreciation for this most American of musical forms. The poems display an underlying musicality and a sharp insight into the artists and their myriad backgrounds. Whether he is describing the musicians, a smoky venue, bodies swaying, or a dance of dolphins, the reader can hear the music and feel the motion. Settle down in a comfortable chair, read these poems, and play some cool jazz. Even with the volume turned down low, you won’t be able to resist tapping your feet as you read or jumping up and dancing to Newell’s seductive beat.  

-Michael Minassian, author of Time is Not a River  and  Morning Calm

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…..If you know little about jazz or poetry, this book will be full of profit and delight. It will teach you about the history of the most American of music, its giants, feeling and craft. If you know about jazz and poetry, you’ll see at once how marvelously Michael Newell has matched his knowledge and love for the former with his gift for the latter.   Here are the heroes with their tragedies and talent.   Here are evocations of their sublimity and pain.   Newell does more than celebrate the improvisations, rhythms, and moods of the music; he reproduces them in lively, moving, and inspired verse.   These poems about jazz are jazz poems.

-Robert Wexelblatt, Author of Hsi-wei TalesGirl Asleep and Other Poems, etc.

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…..Whether riffing with rhythms or playing with tone while describing rain’s quiet drizzle or a voice shredded by cigarettes, Michael L. Newell’s jazz poems immerse readers in their expansive quality. Newell is deeply passionate about jazz and like good jazz, Newell’s poems embody a wide spectrum of emotions and moods. Imbued with a deep and humble awareness, these poems are able to carry readers to the boundary of what words can name before music extends their expression. Read them and be touched with a recognition of our common humanity.

-Anna Citrino, author of A Space Between

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…..Michael L. Newell’s jazz poems add to one’s appreciation for jazz.  He writes about both famous and less well-known jazz musicians, interacts with the music in a deeply personal way, and challenges a reader to embrace the music.   He invites readers to join him in a love of jazz in its many forms.   His poetry, like jazz, covers decades.   In recent years, his poems have frequently appeared in the pages of my magazine.

– Joe Maita, Editor/Publisher/Founder of Jerry Jazz Musician.

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…..Presently the book can be purchased via money order or check for fifteen dollars (plus three dollars for mailing costs).     Send payments along with your mailing address to:

Bellowing Ark
9521-45th Ave NE
Seattle WA 98115

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Two poems by Michael L. Newell

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Elegance Of Simplicity

the ripple of a midnight breeze
beneath warmth of a golden moon
the whisper of keys softly stroked
by Bill Evans or Duke Ellington
a kind mother comforting her child
life explored sotto voce
every gesture or hint of sound
a kind of prayer

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Redemption Comes In Many Forms

in my head I carry
a lifetime of images

Andean rock faces
dotted with occasional shrubbery

late afternoon sun spreading
a golden carpet across rippling Pacific

fishermen quietly at work in the middle
of a mountain lake as sun slowly rises

rolling green hills of Kigali beneath
evening lightning and rumbling thunder

a surfer poised seemingly forever on a wave
about to break upon a Santa Monica beach

deer floating through a Washington forest
before vanishing in dawn mist

an owl majestically lit by late afternoon
sun spilling through dappled branches and leaves

and the face of every woman man or child
who has been kind in my times of need

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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

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
“Fledging” by John L. Stanizzi

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

painting by Henry Denander
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.

In Memoriam

Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
A thought or two about Tony Bennett

Podcast

"BG Boogie’s musical tour of indictment season"...The podcaster “BG Boogie” has weaponized the most recent drama facing The Former Guy, creating a 30 minute playlist “with all the latest up-to-date-est musical indictments of political ineptitude.”

Interview

Chick Webb/photographer unknown
Interview with Stephanie Stein Crease, author of Rhythm Man: Chick Webb and the Beat That Changed America...The author talks about her book and Chick Webb, once at the center of America’s popular music, and among the most influential musicians in jazz history.

Community

FOTO:FORTEPAN / Kölcsey Ferenc Dunakeszi Városi Könyvtár / Petanovics fényképek, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
.“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.

Poetry

Trading Fours, with Douglas Cole, No. 16: “Little Waltz” and “Summertime”...Trading Fours with Douglas Cole is an occasional series of the writer’s poetic interpretations of jazz recordings and film. In this edition, he connects the recordings of Jessica Williams' "Little Waltz" and Gene Harris' "Summertime."

Playlist

photo by Bob Hecht
This 28-song Spotify playlist, curated by Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht, features great tunes performed by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Sarah Vaughan, Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, Bill Evans, Lester Young, Stan Getz, and…well, you get the idea.

Poetry

photo of Wolfman Jack via Wikimedia Commons
“Wolfman and The Righteous Brothers” – a poem by John Briscoe

Jazz History Quiz #167

GuardianH, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Before becoming one of television’s biggest stars, he was a competent ragtime and jazz piano player greatly influenced by Scott Joplin (pictured), and employed a band of New Orleans musicians similar to the Original Dixieland Jazz Band to play during his vaudeville revue. Who was he?

Short Fiction

photo via PIXNIO/CC0
“The Sound Barrier” – a short story by Bex Hansen

Short Fiction

back cover of Diana Krall's album "The Girl in the Other Room" [Verve]
“Improvised: A life in 7ths, 9ths and Suspended 4ths” – a short story by Vikki C.

Interview

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
Long regarded as jazz music’s most eminent baritone saxophonist, Gerry Mulligan was a central figure in “cool” jazz whose contributions to it also included his important work as a composer and arranger. Noted jazz scholar Alyn Shipton, author of The Gerry Mulligan 1950s Quartets, and Jerry Jazz Musician contributing writer Bob Hecht discuss Mulligan’s unique contributions to modern jazz.

Photography

photo by Giovanni Piesco
Giovanni Piesco’s photographs of Tristan Honsinger

Poetry

Maurice Mickle considers jazz venues, in two poems

In Memoriam

David Becker, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“Tony Bennett, In Memoriam” – a poem by Erren Kelly

Poetry

IISG, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ella Fitzgerald, in poems by Claire Andreani and Michael L. Newell

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.

Feature

Hans Christian Hagedorn, professor for German and Comparative Literature at the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Ciudad Real (Spain) reveals the remarkable presence of Miguel de Cervantes’ classic Don Quixote in the history of jazz.

Short Fiction

Dmitry Rozhkov, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons
“A Skull on the Moscow Leningrad Sleeper” – a short story by Robert Kibble...A story revolving around a jazz record which means so much to a couple that they risk being discovered while attempting to escape the Soviet Union

Book Excerpt

Book excerpt from Easily Slip Into Another World: A Life in Music, by Henry Threadgill and Brent Hayes Edwards

Short Fiction

photo via Appletreeauction.com
“Streamline Moderne” – a short story by Amadea Tanner

Publisher’s Notes

“C’est Si Bon” – at trip's end, a D-Day experience, and an abundance of gratitude

Poetry

photo by William Gottlieb/Library of Congress
A Charlie Parker Poetry Collection...Nine poets, nine poems on the leading figure in the development of bebop…

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

Interview

Photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson
Interview with Glenn Mott, editor of Victory is Assured: The Uncollected Writings of Stanley Crouch (photo of Stanley Crouch by Michael Jackson)

Interview

photo of Sonny Rollins by Brian McMillen
Interview with Aidan Levy, author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins...The author discusses his book about the iconic tenor saxophonist who is one of the greatest jazz improvisers of all time – a lasting link to the golden age of jazz

Art

Designed for Dancing: How Midcentury Records Taught America to Dance: “Outtakes” — Vol. 2...In this edition, the authors Janet Borgerson and Jonathan Schroeder share examples of Cha Cha Cha record album covers that didn't make the final cut in their book

Pressed for All Time

“Pressed For All Time,” Vol. 17 — producer Joel Dorn on Rahsaan Roland Kirk’s 1967 album, The Inflated Tear

Photography

© Veryl Oakland
John McLaughlin and Carlos Santana are featured in this edition of photographs and stories from Veryl Oakland’s book, Jazz in Available Light

Coming Soon

An interview with Judith Tick, author of Becoming Ella Fitzgerald: The Jazz Singer Who Transformed American Song; A new collection of jazz poetry; a new Jazz History Quiz; short fiction; poetry; photography; interviews; playlists; and lots more in the works...

Interview Archive

Eubie Blake
Click to view the complete 22 year archive of Jerry Jazz Musician interviews, including those recently published with Richard Carlin and Ken Bloom on Eubie Blake (pictured); 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.

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