Spring/Summer Begins.....

Given the week of rain that we are expecting in Maryland, I thought that Angelee Deodhar's "Rainforest" would be a fine way to begin the spring/summer.  The haibun was previously published in Albatros 2006, the bilingual (Romanian English) international print journal of the Romanian Haiku Society.

Tea is always nice in the evening.

For a moment, it looks like it has stopped raining, but I'd like to share with you "Rain Raga," Angelee's collaboration with the haiku poet Raamesh Gowri Raghavan.  (I will post his interview with her later.)

Below are Angelee's notes on "Rain Raga":
http://giftingtrees.blogspot.in/2011/03/favourite-tree-of-god.html In Hindu mythology, the tree was the favourite tree of Lord Krishna, who is usually depicted playing his flute under it. He also used to plays with his friends under the Kadamb tree using the unique globular flower of the tree. Hence the tree is also known as Haripriya , God's favourite.

A raga is a word derived from Sanskrit word is one of the melodic modes used in Indian classical music and means an act of coloring or dyeing  and therefore metaphorically means 'any feeling or passion especially love, affection, sympathy, desire, interest, motivation, joy, or delight.'

 image credit http://www.dollsofindia.com/product/miniature-paintings/cowherd-krishna-with-friends-miniature-painting-on-silk-cloth-AP30.html

Ragamala Paintings are a series of illustrative paintings from medieval India based on Ragamala or the "Garland of Ragas", depicting various Indian musical modes called Ragas. They stand as a classical example of the amalgamation of art, poetry and classical music in medieval India. In these paintings each raga is personified by a color, mood, a verse describing a story of a hero and heroine.  It also elucidates the season and the time of day and night in which a particular raga is to be sung; and finally most paintings also demarcate the specific Hindu deities attached with the raga

Have you ever listened to a raga?  The first is a morning raga.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7mameo-mA0

More appropriately, this is an evening raga:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpFCaovSk2U

We'll finish with "Write Me a Song" and "Sunyata."  Sunyata appeared in Contemporary Haibun Online July 2013.

Here is the link to Raamesh Gowri Raghavan's interview with Angelee Deodhar:  http://gloxtalk.blogspot.in/2014/06/angelee-deodhar-life-in-haiku.html?m=1GLO-TALK
The interview focuses on Angelee's career as a writer and advocate of haiku.

Raamesh Gowri Raghavan moonlights as an award-winning copywriter by day and daylights as an award-wanting poet by night.   He thinks he is funny, but his friends vehemently disagree.

She also sent me some music for this entry.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OX64bXgNFpo

Summer in Music : Classical Music for summer

A collection of classical music that perfectly fits summer! 
Corelli, Mendelssohn, Vivaldi, Chopin and Mahler 's masterpieces 

Corelli - Concerto Grosso No. 10 - Allegro (00:00)
Mendelssohn - B. Brezze (02:13)
Vivaldi - Symphony RV 149 Allegro molto (04:56)
Chopin - Mazurkas op. 7 No.1 (06:34)
Mahler - Symphony No. 1 2 Mov (08:58)

https://www.nyjazzacademy.com/programs/summer-jazz-intensives/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzGKjhCSKHA

Piano Jazz & Jazz Piano: Parisian Summer (2 Hours of Best Smooth Jazz Piano Music)

Enjoy!

Welcome the Spring/Summer Contests for 2016!

Spring is not the time for Ginger O's although I'm sure that these cookies would make grading papers easier.  Instead, it's time for the spring/summer contests!

All poems and flash fiction submitted between now and September 1 will be eligible for Thelma's Prize.  Poems and flash fiction from poets based in the Washington, DC area (including Baltimore and Frederick) are eligible for the local prize.  Submitted artwork is eligible for Callie's Prize.

I want to encourage you, though, to submit work to these two contests:  poems & flash fiction inspired by Latin/Latino/a culture (thank you, Allyson) and poems & flash fiction inspired by jazz musicians born in the 1920s.  The works submitted to the Latin/Latino/a culture contest may be in translation or in Spanish with translation.  Just be sure that you have the rights to the work whether it is unpublished or previously published.  Some of the jazz musicians born in the 1920s include Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Oscar Peterson, Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, Ahmad Jamal, and Barry Harris.  The poems and flash fiction need not be about these musicians.  Just listen to their music and write.

Here is some music for both contests.  I'll start with some Latin music.

Does Los Lobos count?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDsBAM9wb58
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU-LeccqS48

Here Lila Downs sings "La Patria Madrina" with Juanes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCd8qo6sjlY

Years ago my husband and I were amazed by Grupo Cimmaron from Colombia:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vUp9LeZguPM

We also loved Ecos de Borinquen from Puerto Rico:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yKo_R793-s

Now for the jazz....

Let's start with Miles Davis.  Here he is playing with Prince (RIP):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UoLkFQlmMI

Or you may prefer earlier Miles:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoPL7BExSQU

John Coltrane plays "Blue Train" here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XpZHUVjQydI

Chet Baker plays "Almost Blue" (a song by Elvis Costello) here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4PKzz81m5c

I'll finish with some Charlie Parker.  This is "Yardbird Suite":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyTUvKWGb1M

I'm looking forward to seeing your work!  There will be prizes...and judges, too.

Please send your work to thesongis at gmail dot com .

Congratulations to the Winners of the Fall/Winter Contests!

As April speeds past, I think that we can say that winter is gone.  Certainly, spring semester is almost gone.  Tonight I'll take a break from grading papers to post the results of the fall/winter contests.

First, though, I would like to thank Michael Oliver and Catfish McDaris for judging Thelma's Prize (fall and winter), the 1900/1910 contest, and the local poets' contest.  I am honored that you are judging these contests--and thrilled to announce the winners (and honorable mentions).

Let's start with Thelma's Prize (Fall) whose winner Michael selected: poet, editor, and publisher A.J. Huffman for "In the Shadow of Song."  Congratulations!  This poem truly packs a punch.  Michael also singled out Angelee Deodhar's haibun "Xeriscape"  as well as the Scottish poet John McDonald's haibun "MONK (Thelonious that is...)" for praise.   It's wonderful to see the haibun draw more attention.

Catfish chose the eminently suitable winner for Thelma's Prize (Winter): John McDonald's winter haiku.  Newcomer Toula Merkouris' "Walking Amongst Time"  and noted poet Mark Anthony Rossi's "Short Poem for the Bluesmen" earned honorable mentions.

In the 1900/1910 contest, judged by Michael, the winner was John McDonald's "MONK (Thelonious that is...)." Bea Garth's "Always Too Big" (a poem inspired by Fats Waller) and local poet John MacDonald's "Those Parties We Talk Shit About Monk" received honorable mentions as well.

Each of the poets who submitted poems to the Latin Jazz contest took a distinct approach.  I chose Claudine Nash's "Clean Up" and Felino A. Soriano's "Oh, the joy"  although Allyson Lima's "House Musicians" was a very moving poem that reminds us of what it was like to be a woman in the 1950s.

Among the poems in the local poets' contest Catfish awarded the prize to Alex Conrad for his "Tower of Babble."   Congratulations to my multi-talented former student!  Catfish also praised Will Mayo for his poems "a wisp of smoke," "The Call of the Crow," and "Autumn Mill, 1998" as well as John MacDonald for his "Those Parties We Talk Shit About Monk."

Finally, the winner of Callie's Prize for visual elements is Kerfe Roig.  I especially liked her drawing of Sonny Rollins!

Congratulations to the winners of the fall/winter contests!

Thelma's Prize (Fall): A.J. Huffman for "In the Shadow of Song"
Thelma's Prize (Winter): John McDonald for his winter haiku
1900/1910:  John McDonald's "MONK (Thelonious...that is)"
Latin Jazz: Claudine Nash's "Clean Up" and Felino A. Soriano's "Oh, the joy"
Local: Alex Conrad for "Tower of Babble"
Callie's Prize: Kerfe Roig

Now Thelma reminds me that I need to post a little music.  I'll start with some Monk.

"Lulu's Back in Town" is a good choice:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QAYpuTLhVk

This version of "I Mean You" is from 1969: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kROre63J0Lw

I'll finish with "Bolivar Blues": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4At1t4BlTw

I have been listening to Ben Williams lately, so I'll include two of his songs.  The first is *his* version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8gHjgs_a-I

His "Moontrane" will start us thinking about the spring contests!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_rpYcAVpw

I'd like to pass on Catfish's words of wisdom:

 Thanks again for inviting me to judge. All the poets are winners, there are no losers. It takes courage to be a writer and you'll never be lost.

Sleeping with the Fish by CATFISH MCDARIS!!

https://midnightlanegalleryii.wordpress.com/

  www.amazon.com/Sleeping-With-Fish-Catfish-McDaris/dp/0692671323

Available Now!

Sleeping With the Fish
by Catfish McDaris

ISBN-13: 978-0692671320
ISBN-10: 0692671323
$13

Pski’s Porch has been busy this Spring, and is happy to add another new book of poetry to our catalog, this one from Mssr. Catfish McDaris. Besides being right tasty, Catfish has been loosing his poems and prose on the world for more than 20 years:

Phombies

Cell phone madness was driving the world insane. People walking into things, holding phones up to the side of their heads, blue gadgets stuck in their ears, finger stabbing on tiny keyboards. Folks not speaking to one another, only concerned with electronic communications. Families sitting down for a meal, each and every one of them ignoring each other caught up in their own personal world. Quick warned his daughter to slow down with all her cell phone usage. He explained his theory about phones consuming all human intelligence and conquering the world. Quick’s kid, just shook her head like her old man was hopelessly behind the times. A few days later Quick went to wake his child up, her head was covered by sheets and blankets. When she finally struggled to get up, she had no head. From the neck up was a cell phone. He yelled for his wife and they went berserk, they tried to talk to their kid, but got no response. Quick’s wife sent her a text and it appeared on her face phone. They called an ambulance and reported the incident. They were informed that Phombism was a wide spread virus. There were laboratories and hospitals working on a cure, but all cell phones must be confiscated and destroyed, before a useable vaccine could be developed to treat the Phombies. Quick looked out the window and saw people with cell phone heads stumbling down the street. It was utter chaos, he went to the refrigerator and poured a glass of buttermilk.

*******

We strongly recommend you get some Catfish love before it’s all gone and the sun collapses in on itself. And no, that’s not him on the cover.

Here is some Catfish music for you, too.  The first is Gary Clark, Jr.'s "Catfish Blues":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8EOQLzgk4o

We also have something by the Catfish Band, an Italian jazz band:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zEVR2RPjX58

They also play "Who'll Stop the Rain": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFNLZwLBzBo

I'll finish with some Monk since Catfish won the Monk prize a while back:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd0a2bNlTOQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIV6MOnzlLw

RIP, Bohemian Caverns

While we're in between fall/winter and spring/summer, I thought I'd post the news that DC's Bohemian Caverns is no more.  My husband and I have fond memories of seeing artists like Ron Carter, Gary Bartz, Barry Harris, and Gerald Clayton there.  It's a shame that this venue is no more.

I thought I'd post my poem set in Bohemian Caverns.  Enjoy!  The poem originally appeared in Felino A. Soriano's Of/with.

Summer Solstice on U Street

Let’s pretend that it’s midnight
as saxophonist Gary Bartz
steps onto the stage.
The room darkens;
candles on the table flicker.
Shadows hide the thickset men at the wall.
The ceiling lowers;
tiny lights strung above stand in for stars.

Imagine moonlight rippling on salt water.
The scent of mango dusted with
chili powder and cinnamon
trickles in with the piano and drums.
We taste fruits we don’t know the names of.

Tap your toes, for sure,
or sway, following the pianist’s lead,
but when the horn starts in again,
carry yourself a little straighter.
Cameras flash.  Wedged in,
we are all caught in the glare. 

All too soon imagine
the empty streets above.
Playing the last song, Bartz retreats
into the early morning’s shadows,
the color of his long-tailed jacket,
and climbs the back stairs
to his refuge above the club.

When we leave by the front stairs,
it’s still daylight on U Street.
We can no longer pretend.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is another jazz poem.  This one appeared in A.J. Huffman and April Salzano's Pyrokynection.  

After The Summer of Young Men in a Hurry

The young men in a hurry played

all that summer in Manhattan,

the once black and white city

ripened beyond lavender into red.

The piano sounded

like storm clouds on the horizon
in a neighborhood

with only fans and open windows.

The high-hat shivered

like the taste of ice chips

about to melt.
The saxophone slipped 

into the tightly-packed room

and across rough brick walls
like the last breeze

before September.

Listening to them, you wonder

how they would have sounded

in winter when clouds mean warmth
and storms spawn the steady fall of snow.

Let's listen to some music, too.

We'll start with the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra's version of "Alone Together": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEuqKiIR830

Here the Ralph Peterson Sextet plays at Bohemian Caverns:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZpjOUP5a8g

Nicholas Payton and XXX are here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSB6OiXc8i8

I'll finish with Ben Williams' version of "Toy Soldiers":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZZKIMTPP7g

Mike Bayles Finishes Up the Fall/Winter Contests....

with a pantoum....

A Gray Stillness Found

a spell of gray morning

warmer after the cold front

desires stirred by a silent calling

waiting for spring

warmer after the cold front

a day of passage I find

waiting for spring

a dream longing for the sun

a day of passage I find

the journey of shadows

a dream longing for the sun

melting into heartfelt desires

the journey of shadows

along the road where I live and die

melting into heartfelt desires

as this winter unwinds

along the road where I live and die

silent conversations with untold spirits

as this winter unwinds

a calling of time

silent conversations with untold spirits

the silent song

a calling of time

in a moment, an eternity of desires

The next poem is not a pantoum.  Instead, it evokes winter in a Midwestern park.

A Winter Day at the Prairie Preserve

Golden prairie grasses standing still

surround a frozen pond at the edge of town.

Misty skies of a winter day cast a spell

cutting through my thin gloves,

and I feel a chill run through me.

I feel the weight of a change of weather

after a brief thaw in January.

Stillness in the air speaks of life and death

on an ageless land where I hold my sign.

Distant headlights cut through the haze

as omens when I look down the road.

People in passing cars wave

as if long-lost friends,

the women and children

the golden retriever sticking his head

out an open window,

and I feel a sense of longing

for a life I once had.

In solitude I hold secret conversations

with spirits in the air.

Gaggles of squawking geese

hold conversations echoing around me.

Entwined formations swirl

creating a cloud in the sky

until they land on the frozen pond and stay.

A woman with a red coat in the haze

walks alone on a path next to the pond

and over a patch of ice,

arms slightly outstretched to her side

like wings of a bird. 

Bio

Mike Bayles, a lifelong Midwest resident, writes poetry about human connections with nature and rural settings, and connections with each other. He is the author of three books of poetry: The Harbor I Seek, The Rabbit House and Threshold. Threshold won the 2013 Book of the Year Award from Rockford Writers' Guild. WVIK, Augustana Public Radio, has featured his writing.

Thank you, Mary Jo, for introducing Mike to me, and thank you, Angelee, for letting us know about the poetry challenge where we met.

Let's finish with a little music.

We'll start with the Mulgrew Miller Trio's version of "Skylark," performed at the Kennedy Center: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IduqNOye7x4

Here they play "What a Difference a Day Makes."  It's not necessarily a song about the transition from winter to spring, but it will do!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EHxVPT33NE

I'm switching gears a little bit, but I read about harpist Brandee Younger the other day, and I wanted to post some of her music.  

Here she and her trio play "Games," a song that Dorothy Ashby included in her remarkable album Soul Harping: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_ZgcfZC5y0

Younger also composes her own work.  Here is her "Respected Destroyer":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuBYVDtVfOU

John MacDonald (and Monk)

 Tonight as we turn back to winter I'd like to post John MacDonald's poem in the fall/winter contest.   

Those Parties We Talk Shit about Monk

"I didn't like his comping," she said to the gray yellow

light

that settles in

about 2 am,

"Too much stabbing…"

Here

she made stabbing motions

– STAB STAB STAB –

with piano-leg-claw hands, with mad

hair

tangle glistening

flare

of sanpaku eyes.

It made us

all

laugh (especially her)

, and a bottle of ginger vodka Doug made went round and

round,

sweet and sharp

and so=o=o=o dangerous, like...

"… those chords…

they were so pointy,"

somebody said (maybe me), "… wouldn't

stand up like

some pretty white vase,

with

curve of red rose

, he (Monk) had to grab 'em and

POUND 'EM

about a foot apart, maybe, kinda

wabi-sabi,

kinda perfect,

so

he could string melody

around.

He wanted

a fence

for everyone to c-l-i-i-m-m-m-b

up so

carefully through,

so carefully down…"

but here

am I tangled in that fence

again

, at least until the B

side's finished

(what would you do?)

I laugh

about that poor

fool,

put up a struggle in the

barbed wire, watching

the moon over the the ruined castle,

until the blood flowed over

the keys and down the black varnished legs onto

the floor

where

I slept

for the night.

Oh right.

That was me...

… and that bottle of ginger vodka Doug made

goes round and round like

an emery grinder,

dulling

the knife note edge,

dulling the barbed wire

melody into end-

of-party iron filings piling on the

carpet.

The picture above is certainly not John's party.  It's from 1947 and depicts Dizzy Gillespie, Hank Jones, Thad Dameron, Mary Lou Williams, and Milt Orent.  However, I like this picture with John's poem.

I've posted so many of Monk's songs here, so I hope that these are not duplicates.

Here is "Let's Call This" with Sonny Rollins as well:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKx82FEyjfE 

Although it sounds similar to some other songs, this is "Hackensack":  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3NKHCkwKjc

"Friday the 13th" also features Monk and Rollins:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT9xGJvW13c

I'll finish with their version of "The Way You Look Tonight":

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0fPYzyB2AQ