A.J. Huffman's "I Am High" and "In the Shadow of Song"

This picture predates Ella Fitzgerald's Memorex commercials by quite a few years, but I thought I'd post it with A.J. Huffman's new poems.  Plus, Ray Brown is in the picture somewhere, and I've been listening to a lot of YouTube videos where he accompanies the featured musician.  Finally, Ella (and Dizzy Gillespie who is in the picture) are among the jazz musicians born in the 1910s, the subject of one of my fall contests: http://thesongis.blogspot.com/2015/09/welcome-to-fallwinter-contests.html

On to A.J.'s poems!

I Am High

note, hit.  On pitch,

in perfect key.  I

dominate.  The rest

of the song/of the performance

disappears, becomes my

shadow.  I, alone,

resonate, sounding.

Listen cautiously, I can shatter

glass.

In the Shadow of Song

I am treble

                   clef, locked in sound-

proof basement.  My reflection drips

red,

        faceless death of upper registers.

My right hand is numb; my left is bleeding.

I am not sure which is supposed to

symbolize my empathy with instrumental

gods.  A brassy shade of bitter

belligerence is my legacy.  Wingless, I am

no angel.  My heart is strung,

hangs like a harp.

A.J. Huffman has published eleven solo chapbooks and one joint chapbook through various small presses. Her new poetry collections, Another Blood Jet (Eldritch Press) and A Few Bullets Short of Home (mgv2>publishing) are now available from their respective publishers.   She has two additional poetry collections forthcoming: Degeneration from Pink Girl Ink, and A Bizarre Burning of Bees from Transcendent Zero Press.  She is a three-time Pushcart Prize nominee, and has published over 2200 poems in various national and international journals, includingLabletter, The James Dickey Review, Bone Orchard, EgoPHobia, and Kritya. She is also the founding editor of Kind of a Hurricane Press. www.kindofahurricanepress.com 

Let's listen to some Ella then.

Here she sings "How High the Moon":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iR1__k-BxhY

I also wanted to include her version of "Cottontail":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3VzLCxx8mI

Here she sings "Flyin' Home" with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker backing her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gheor3P0RsA

I didn't know that there was a version of "Night in Tunisia" with lyrics:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exgm0t7LhY0

We'll finish with her "Don't Get Around Much Anymore":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEKGWNHH_fo

Below is a picture of Ella from 1940.  Carl Van Vechten was the photographer.