Saturday, July 19, 2014

Billie in the Morning



Today I'd like to share with you Dr. Michael Anthony Ingram's poem, "Billie in the Morning."  I have seen him perform it several times, and the experience is superb!  At some point, I hope that someone will record his performance--even if it is my husband with his flip video!!  (The next opportunity might be the open mic at Philly Steak and Cheese in August.)


Billie in the Morning

Natural low in calories
Containing no Trans-fat,
A little Billie in the morning
Goes better with my coffee
Than either sugar or cream

SHE as a jazzy, melodic aroma
And a fine and mellow taste
Still bittersweet to the tongue,
Like the strange fruit which grows sadly
On the blood colored dark-green leaves
Of a Mississippi moaning tree

Yes, a little Billie in the morning
Goes better with my coffee
Than either sugar or cream

I savor every taste;
Because I can already tell
It’s going to be a bad day. 



Michael also mentions that he has written another piece, which he performs to Lady Day's "Fine and Mellow."  However, his piece has not been recorded, so I am just posting a You-Tube of her song.


Here are some more of her most memorable songs:








To hear "Strange Fruit," follow this link.  It is a very explicit song about lynching, but this makes it all the more powerful:

The contemporary vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater has done a tribute to Lady Day.  My husband says he wishes that someone would write a poem about Ms. Bridgewater.  I must add that she is fabulous live and on CD.





There is still time to send your poems to this "contest."  For more details about what I am looking for, see this entry:

Some possible topics are Latin Jazz, the act of performance, the lives of musicians, women in jazz, and perhaps even musicians who do not play the piano!!  

On August 19, I will post the voting rules and prizes for this contest!!

For the previous poems that I've posted, see the links below:

We'll start with Joan McNerney's "Jazz," a tribute to the music itself (and the neighborhoods that nourished it):

Next are poems by Felino A. Soriano and a haiku by Gabrielle Grunau.


For more of Felino's poems and Kuroda's music, see this link: http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/07/takuya-kuroda-and-kris-bowers.html

Felino and H. Holt are also collaborating on a project linking word and image:  http://www.pinterest.com/poetnpractice/experiential-cycles-of-elwood-oris-splaven/

It's really cool that they are using Pinterest to present poetry!  (A number of journals are on Tumblr, so it's really not surprising.  But it is.)

H. Holt's poem "Meliana exorcism" recently appeared in The Song Is...  
http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/07/mehliana-exorcism.html

You may also like Avis D. Matthews' "Metaphorical":  http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/06/metaphorical.html

Russell Streur's "Johnny James":  http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/07/johnny-james.html

Or Ed Schelb's "Blue Logic":  http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/06/blue-logic.html


Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)