Tonight I'm pleased to post two poems by Philip Elliott, the editor-in-chief of Into the Void and an intriguing writer in his own right. I love how he interpreted the jazz contest, and as he noted, "I adore jazz, and see no real distinction between it and a good poem."
That
Sax Solo Put A Spell On Me*
I put
a spell on you, because you’re mine
You’re
mine . . . .
Biiiiip
bay
bah
be ba bahhhh bahu
bah baba
wah baba baba baba
bbrrriiiip ba
Be
be
buh
ba ba
beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh~beyh
hhhh bahe
bahoo
bey
bahhhh babebeba
bah
Buh ba ba
booo . . . .
*
from ‘I Put A Spell On You’ by Nina Simone
Are you ready for the future?
Vulgar Machines
Year 401 of the
Second Age
after the old ones
somehow
made the world
kill them:
A small village
(in what was once
an old nursing
home outside
what was once
Gainsville, FL)
gather by the fire
and chat.
‘We’ve all heard
that the old
ones used to fly
in the sky in
great big winged
contraptions,’
the eldest man
tells the group of
mostly young
families, ‘but bet
you never heard
bout their vulgar
machines. ‘Vulgar
machines?’ a child
echoes, eyes wide
and hungry with
imagination. ‘Oh
yeah.’ The old man
grins, licks his
lips, as excited as the
kid. ‘Every single
one of the old ones
whizzed their
selfs around in these big,
noisy, coughing,
spluttering, vulgar
machines that
could outrun the fastest
wild horse in the
land. Could mow a
person down and
not even be slowed.
Every one of the
old ones had one and
used it to get
everywhere. Could be
they even waged
war gainst one nother
with em. They say
that there used to be
hundreds of these
machines lined up on the
Streets up until a
couple hundred years ago
when people
started melting them down.’
The gathering is
silent, an image in every
brain. ‘I don’t
know, dad,’ a man says
‘sounds a bit
unlikely to me. The old ones
weren’t gods.’
‘No,’ the old man agrees,
‘but they sure as
hell thought they were.’
Bio:
Philip Elliott is Irish, 23 years old and Editor-in-Chief of Into the Void Magazine. His writing can be found in various journals, most recently Otoliths, GFT Press, Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine and Subprimal Poetry Art. He is currently working on his first novel, a novella and a chapbook of experimental poetry. Stalk him at philipelliottfiction.com.
Before I post music, I'd like to mention that noted author and contest judge Catfish McDaris is gathering poems and fiction inspired by Vincent Van Gogh. Are you interested? He doesn't have a publisher yet, but he is quite excited by this project. Please email me for more details.
Now here is the music. Of course, we are starting with Nina Simone's "I Put a Spell on You": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ua2k52n_Bvw
I am also including her "I Wish I Knew How It Feels to Be Free": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4CbuE6--as
Let's include some saxophones now as well.
John Coltrane joins the Sonny Rollins Quartet for "Tenor Madness":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MkUvZUTFUc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MkUvZUTFUc
Let's go back to Charlie Parker. He and Sonny Rollins are part of the Miles Davis Sextet on "Compulsion": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zsR5z33jwU
Here Sonny Stitt and Dexter Gordon are playing together on "a rejected Stitt session" from 1962: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b5Y8qpu1Gs
I'll finish with a contemporary saxophonist, Grace Kelly on "Blues for Harry Bosch": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPmEefH4Sf8
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