Jazz Lines: Free Verse In The Key Of Jazz

Duke Ellington, composer, arranger, pianist and originator of big-band jazz, wrote "Sweet Jazz O'Mine" in 1930 when the genre was blooming. As a bandleader, Ellington was unsurpassed. He chose his musicians wisely and inspired some of their best work. "Sweet Jazz" is a lively foxtrot celebrating this unorthodox new style that had people dancing and feeling good. What became my poem is a collection of songs about the instruments that make up the whole, the drums, the trombone, the clarinet, etc. When they play together, as Cole Porter pointed out, "Now You Has Jazz." This poem is one of the 35 in Krolak's book of jazz poetry, Jazz Lines: Free Verse in the Key of Jazz. (Starbooks, 2022).

Sweet Jazz O'Mine

Drums First
Clarinet Lick
Guitar Vibes
Alto-it is, Bongo
Trane Whistle, Hornin' In
Boy Meets Horn, Adam Blew His Hat
Accordion Joe, I Love A Piano
Braggin' In Brass
Bugle Call Rag, Conga Brava
Fiddler on the Diddle
Guitar Amour, One Bass Hit
Trombone Blues
Tootin' Through the Roof
Trumpets in Spades
Yackety Sax
Clarinet Lament
Fiddle Blues
Love is Like a Violin, Pullin' Strings
Inner Rhythm, Heartstrings
You'll Have to Swing It
Sing It Way Down Low
Now You Has Jazz

The "Nica" of "Nica's Dream" was the real-life Rothschild heiress and Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (1913-1988). She left her husband and children to support and encourage the jazz artists and the music she loved. She is especially well-known for her assistance to Thelonious Monk, but many other musicians benefitted from her generosity in the form of rent payments, grocery deliveries, hospital visits and the famously speedy adventures in her Bentley. There are at least 11 tunes by various musicians named for her. "Nica's Dream" was written by Horace Silver. If Nica could have had her dream, I believe that racial prejudice would have been eliminated.

Nica's Dream

Monk's Music
Hamp's Boogie Woogie
Bags' New Groove
Langston's Lullaby
Chick's Tune
Stan's Shuffle
Cal's Pals
Delaunay's Dilemma
Billie's Bounce
Chu's Blues
Hawk's Nest
Parker's Mood
Miles' Mode
Giorgio's Theme
Heard's Word
And whatever is in Cobb's Pocket.

Birds, in general, are symbols of freedom and so fitting a theme for vibraphonist Jay Hoggard's tune "Harlem's Jazzbirds" from his album Harlem Hieroglyphs (JHVM Recordings, 2016). Specific birds have their own special meanings; eagles symbolize power, e.g., the crow intuition, the hummingbird's skillful movement. Hoggard is entrenched in the history of jazz, the Golden Age in particular, and he dedicates this album to his jazz mentors. Meanwhile, birds need to fly, that is the "Word from Bird."

Harlem's Jazzbirds

Come Fly With Me, Black Crow,
With Wings of Eagles.
Out of the Cage, Skylark, Baltimore Oriole,
Little Hummingbird, The Littlest One of All,
Andorhina, The Peacocks, Flamingo,
Birds of a Feather, Flying Colours.
Word from Bird, Fly!