Returning with Bryn Fortey

By © Jorge Royan / http://www.royan.com.ar, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=20640042

The Song Is...  returns with two poems by the jazz poet Bryn Fortey.  

SINS OF THE FATHER

Tucked away within my record collection

MIRAGE by Romano Mussolini

Billed as by his TRIO

Though six musicians took part

This was apparently his debut CD

Put out in 1974

I know very little about Il Duce’s youngest son

Straight after WW2 he’d called himself Still

When playing Italian jazz clubs

And waited some time before using his real name

How I acquired the record remains a mystery

Too much has happened in my life to remember

I definitely would not have bought it new

But maybe it was a Charity Shop purchase

Maybe it was something borrowed

But never returned

I myself lost records that way

I mainly write short stories now

And often like a musical background

MIRAGE is a favourite in that capacity

Romano himself plays an entertaining electric piano

And the unknown Italians with him

Are surprisingly good

It seems he was a private man

Who kept any political views to himself 

And would not openly discuss his father

Until writing two books quite late in his life

If Romano Mussolini hoped his music would speak for him

Then he succeeded with me

Bryn Fortey

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THREE TRACKS FOR A FUNERAL

It’s a game many play:

Picking the three pieces of music

To be played at your funeral

And if you’re anything like me

It’s an almost impossible task

The older I become

The fewer my potential mourners

Family, some neighbours, not many friends

They are mostly already dead themselves

Or too old and infirm, or too far away

Track 1, to stir the aching bones

Of those who do attend, will be:

Weather Bird by Louis Armstrong

A trumpet/piano duet with Earl Hines

Recorded in Chicago, December 5, 1928

This is Armstrong at the peak of his

Hot Fives and Sevens years

And if it doesn’t get you tapping your feet

Then you should be in the box alongside me

A female vocalist, I think, for Track 2

The incomparable Ella, Lady Day, quirky Nina?

But maybe I’ll let my libido push me past the limits

Of pure vocal perfection, and go for

After The Rain by Shirley Bassey

Written by Richard Hawley for her The Performance CD

After a career highlighted by big voiced ballads

This was quiet, laid back, reflective

And the 70+ Dame from Tiger Bay nailed it

My younger self fancied Miss Bassey like crazy

My older self is no less admiring 

I came to the music of Leonard Cohen late

But when I did he blew my socks off

Becoming such a favourite he gets the Track 3 spot with

Alexandra Leaving off his Ten New Songs CD

There are so many of his songs I could have chosen

But I think this one has such a beautiful melody

But maybe I will do it the David Bowie way

Body straight to the crematorium 

Without the trappings of a service, so no music either

I had better make up my mind soon though, I guess

Bryn Fortey  

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Below is a picture of a funeral procession in the Philippines.

By moyerphotos - originally posted to Flickr as Philippines Funeral Procession, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8783702

Let's listen to some of the music Bryn mentioned in his poems.

I'll start with the title cut from Romano Mussolini's Mirage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8hgm4uwJ1w

This is his "Omaggio a Oscar Peterson": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcphAR_do54

Here comes Louis Armstrong's "Weather Bird."  It certainly does get my toes tapping.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyb_wr40pog

Shirley Bassey performs "After the Rain":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNu3PAIZuAU

I'll finish with Leonard Cohen's "Alexandra Leaving."  He is singing with Sharon Robinson.  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbGsEV5yvns

Enjoy!