New Year

New Year

When I see those lights
and hear that old song
and see it all hung across
the sky splendidly saying it's
time to begin anew, I think
of the good old times and I
just don't know what
time it is.

My sketch of Lester Young

Inspired by Lester Young playing, "I didn't know what time it was".

Your Way

Your Way

In your way
side to side
I watch and
I wonder
in your way
what song sways?

My sketch of Dave Brubeck

Inspired by Dave Brubeck playing, "In Your Own Sweet Way".

Changes

Changes

Just read the changes
it's not that hard

I am told across the room

changes upon changes upon
mouthfuls of consonants and vowels
unable to form sentences or phrases

red clown face hard to
breath

it's not that hard

I hear as I scan around the room

changes upon changes upon
opportunities lost from losing
harmony

I gulp up some air
I read the changes
I bebop across it all
scales up and down and around
and backwards

nothing can mumble
out the changes
I hear in life.

My sketch of Sarah Vaughan

Inspired by Sarah Vaughan singing, "You've Changed".

I'll Remember

I'll Remember

I'll remember
the rainy days the thundering
storms that never seemed to
cease
I'll remember the bitter
cold the awful fog covering my
gaze
I'll remember the saddening
days the tears the cries of clouds
up above
But I could never forget
the smiles the laughs the gay
dances the time I felt completely
at peace
How could one ever forget
that?

My sketch of Charlie Parker

Inspired by Charlie Parker playing, "I'll Remember April".

Yesterday

Yesterday

Yesterday a sound so new

hit me like a storm

so cold so blue so awfully true

I felt I was reborn. 

My sketch of Billie Holiday

Inspired by Billie Holiday singing, "Yesterdays".

Moody

Moody

Magical
One of a kind
Optimistic
Dazzling
Youthfully living on.

My sketch of James Moody

Inspired by James Moody playing, "I'm in the Mood for Love".

I write more jazz posts on, "Kind of Pink and Purple".

Count

Count

Count your blessings
count your happiness
count your memories
count your smiles
count your luck
and count on your family.

My sketch of Count Basie

Inspired by Count Basie's band playing, "April in Paris".

Somewhere

Somewhere

Somewhere music floats

like marshmallow clouds

upon candy cane forests.

My sketch of Ella Fitzgerald

Inspired by Ella Fitzgerald singing, "How High the Moon".

Awake

Awake

Pop

     Crash

              Bang

                       Boom

                                 Hiss

                                        Hum

libraries of conversations

memories gone by and

pondering of the future

Pop

     Crash

              Bang

                       Boom

                                 Hiss

                                        Hum

libraries of emotions

thoughts dreams aspirations

all pass while I sit awake. 

My sketch of Jerry Bergonzi and Phil Grenadier (L to R)

My sketch of George Garzone

Inspired by The Jerry Bergonzi Group and The Fringe at the Lilypad. 

Tea

Tea

A sip of tea

a sip of music 

a gulp of life.

My sketch of Art Tatum

Inspired by Art Tatum playing "Tea for Two".

Sunny

Sunny

If I close my eyes
and hum loud enough
even the coldest most
rainy dark days become
a sunny paradise.

My sketch of Sonny Stitt

Inspired by Sonny Stitt in the song, "On the Sunny Side of the Street".

Without

Without

Without 

with

out

w

i

t

h

o

u

t

w

 i

  t

   h

    o

     u

       t

Any way you put it - 

without -

is a song all its own. 

My sketch of Sonny Rollins

This poem was inspired by the song I named my blog after - Sonny Rollins playing "Without a Song".

Buddy

Buddy

Why do you love jazz?

The question 

l

i

n

g

e

r

s 

in the air - the shock of a 

lightening bolt -

How do you analyze this? 

It just 

COMES TO YOU

the love 

it hits you - just like anything really...

The air propels further - 

Why do you, me, we - love jazz?

Well,

I guess you can call it an outlet...for all the 

electrical energy it brings to us. 

It's happiness. It's beautiful. 

It's tragic. It's RAW. It's historical. 

It's modern. It's changing. It's tradition.

It's a bunch of people. It's an experience. 

It's a culture. 

But, if I had to really say WHY I LOVE JAZZ...

I'll tell you the secret -

It's the BUDDY I always wanted for myself. 

Someone - SOMETHING - always there. Through

thick and thin - a buddy - to guide me through life. And

wherever I travel I can carry this buddy with me. You can

lose everything, everyone, anything - people turn, change, 

leave you, hate you, break you open...

disappointment, guilt, anger...

But JAZZ 

man, this cat stays. 

My sketch of Bud Powell

Inspired by Bud Powell playing, "Like Someone in Love".

Peace

Peace

Peace. It's all we ever really

want...that crisp silence those bright

smiles that sense of unity that idea that

everything is in its right place and the beauty

of just being. 

My sketch of Mel Torme

Inspired by Mel Torme in "The Christmas Song".

Holidays

Holidays

Wishing all the best;
a cheery time of year -
peaceful, grateful, joyful,
healthful, happy, helpful -
holidays.

My sketch of Nat King Cole

Inspired by the song, "The Christmas Song".

Bird

Bird

If I could be any animal

I would be a bird for 

they can fly high up in the

sky, while who am I?

My sketch of Charlie Parker

To fly

To fly

To fly oh to fly 

to hear air and symphonies

between the clouds sky blue

melodies hushed harmonious

up in the air without a care. 

My sketch of Eric Dolphy

Inspired by Eric Dolphy's "Hi-Fly".

Lush

Lush

Chords flowing melodies spinning

articulations legato smooth rests so

peaceful and solemn and emotions so

pure raw intense yet withheld feeling so

lush. 

My sketch of Billy Strayhorn

Inspired by Billy Strayhorn's song, "Lush Life". 

Solitude

Solitude

A time to ponder

Solitude 

A time to reflect

Solitude 

A time to sing and dance and

praise and be grateful for all that 

still is to be cherished

Solitude. 

My sketch of Duke Ellington

Inspired by the Duke Ellington Song, "Solitude".

Stride

Stride

No one to talk with

no waltz to dance 

just a stride piano, 

a chance. 

My sketch of Fats Waller

Inspired by the song, "Ain't Behavin'"

Sentimental

Sentimental

In a sentimental mood

la dee dee dom da da doo ee daa

da da deee da doo da dee

da da da dum da doo da dee.

My sketch of Duke and Coltrane

Inspired by one of my favorite songs, "In a Sentimental Mood". 

Treat it gentle

Treat it gentle

Treat it gentle 

treat it kind

treat it purely

a state of mind. 

My sketch of Sidney Bechet

Brother

Brother 

Brother
a term so endearing
so lively oh
how I have so many
many I have never met but
when I play all millions of them
all billions of them
I hear play with me.

My sketch of a trumpet player

Inspired by Marvin Gaye's song "What's Going On".

What we play

What we play

What we play is
real
what we play is
raw
what we play is
rough and tough and strong and
calm and serene and pure
what we play is
blues and rhythm
exuberance and energy
gratitude and remorse
memories and forgotten
what we play is
those sad lonely nights
those snowstorms that sunshine
the hail, the rain, the waterfalls
the fireplace burning bright the
tulips sprouting so gorgeous
what we play is
those ups and downs and
diagonals spins around and
stories told to us all as children and
stories we made for ourselves as adults and
stories we know all too true
what we play is
the moments we were left frozen
paralyzed, we couldn't breathe, time
stopped and there was nothing left to do

except play.

What we play is
life.

No substitutes.

My sketch of Louis Armstrong

Relaxing

Relaxing

Relaxing 

kicking back on 

two and four 

boom ba boom da

ding da ding za

zap za zap doo

doo da doo

Relaxing. 

My sketch of Christian McBride

Penguins

Penguins

When I see those little guys
flipping and flopping around
they look like jazz cats with their
little tuxedos ready for the gig.

My sketch of a jazz penguin

Bebop

Bebop

Oftentimes I sit around
and I hear a sound

Be and a bop - Yes!
That's the sound!

Scoo bop e dee bop
Da dop e dee doo
zap a zap a wow a rap
Be and a bopping too

Oftentimes I hear a sound
bebop - so profound.

My sketch of a piano

Stage

Stage

Tip toeing and sauntering and
sashaying around with my own self so
casually alone so remarkably solid.

Jazz word art

Spontaneous

Spontaneous

A lifestyle based on
now

A music rooted in
then

A philosophy on
living.

My sketch of a saxophone

My sketch of a jazz band

To Diz

To Diz

To Diz,

You are someone I've never met. 

Hello.

Yet, I know you... from

the books, movies, videos - 

your playing cascades through my

life, your history, your tales, your

speech enlivens all of our lives and

the way you walked - as I can imagine -

it just brought life, be bopping around

two and four and one e and a bam - 

You are someone I've never met,

yet we are close like family - a 

family of be bopping and scoo dap e dop. 

A sketch of Arturo Sandoval

Diz

Diz

Be bopping 

scoo bapping

da doo ba da dee ba zap

a da wowwww

Be bopping

scoo dapping

da bop da bop da dooby doo

and and and owww

Be bopping

a scadattling a me 

a wow a bop shoo baaa

a dooby wow a doo - a

Night in Tunisia. 

My sketch of Dizzy Gillespie

Inspired by Dizzy Gillespie's "A Night in Tunisia".

My sketch of Arturo Sandoval and Ed Calle