Mehliana exorcism

Georgia poet (and now novelist) H. Holt introduces us to Mehliana, the absolutely contemporary duo of Brad Mehldau and Mark Giuliana, who blend jazz with today's electronic music.  

“Mehliana exorcism”

tonight,

the soul hungers for

synthesized spirits

from a Leo legend-in-transit

as swaying chords

weep in jazz

undertones ,

a Jersey boy’s

beat, beat, beat

stresses, depresses,

undresses the ears

heart-stopping,

sycophantic outcast

without a rock to roll,

ghosts himself

into an audience

left to devour

the crystalline timbres

of Mehliana exorcism

H. Holt's poem was inspired by their recordings such as "Hungry Ghost":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tn6gjoMUEY4

For more about Mehliana, see their website:  http://www.bradmehldau.com/mehliana/#.U705o_ldWRM

Or listen to this YouTube video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnH27mxW0KM

This appears to be just one of Brad Mehldau's projects:
http://www.bradmehldau.com/brad/

http://www.bradmehldau.com/music/

Here he covers songs by Massive Attack, Paul Simon, and the Beatles respectively:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k81F0g4vKHg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qODlI1S5jkM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGiEB392ZKA

Here is an article about his partner in Mehliana, Mark Guiliana:  http://www.drummerworld.com/drummers/Mark_Guiliana.html
Guiliana is also part of the Avishai Cohen Trio:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VScRIvrOawY

H. Holt mentions that before finding out about Mehliana she only listened to older jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holliday, and Miles Davis.  

I will close with her bio:

Since August of 2013, H. Holt has been published by Fjords Review, Literary Orphans, Literary Hatchet, and Ishaan Literary Review. She has work published by Of/With, which will be online in September. Under the name H. R. Holt, she has been published by The Literati Quarterly. She lives in the luscious mountains of North Georgia, where she spends her time helping students achieve their dreams of higher education.

Enjoy H. Holt's poem!  I hope that it inspires you to listen to contemporary jazz -- and perhaps write a poem for The Song Is.

If you would like to contribute to this blog's series of poems inspired by young and not-so-young jazz musicians, here is the original call for poems:  http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/06/lively-up-blog.html

Felino A. Soriano responds to Takuya Kuroda and Kris Bowers' splendid musicianship in his two poems:

http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2014/07/takuya-kuroda-and-kris-bowers.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