In honor of both Jazz Appreciation Month and National Poetry Month, we are delighted to share the works of three local poets and musicians. The relationship between jazz and poetry is long, deep, and ongoing. Jazz poetry has always been a voice of racial consciousness, holding and rejoicing in Black heritage, and creative expression.

Community Corner is a series that invites the public to contribute their thoughts, reflections, observations, and more about the world around us, particularly as it relates to jazz and music overall. Earshot Jazz is dedicated to amplifying the voices and stories of artists and community members alike. The thoughts and opinions expressed in this series are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Earshot Jazz. Please email submissions to editor@earshot.org.

The Drummer 

BY HENRY COBA

sizzle pat pat
duh guh duh guh duh guh duh
boom kat boom cat wack
chuh chi-gee chi-gee chuh kat wack duh guh 
sizzle jack pat jack wack duh guh
boom dah boom-a-dah boom!

Black Music

By Henry Coba

We celebrate and honor
this expansive music
for it is a way to connect
artists, listeners, and humanity
a music beyond our comprehension
in many ways
yet it involves straightforward and challenging
methods by which musicians practice on the daily
a music so expressive and free
yet disciplined and nuanced
there is enough to examine for 11 lifetimes or more
always grateful to be a part of the movement

Tributes to Wayne Shorter 

By Curt Linderman

the jazz
messenger
delivered


mr.
gone
still
plays
on


in each of us
a name waits 
to be spoken

#emanon

The Record Player

BY Jason Rubenstein

Listen nephew
I opened the record
player again and met
my friends unmet
like Betty and Cole
and these guys called Queen
and the snowflake notes
raced out their gate
to a place you don’t
yet understand
and stayed
hovering around two-
thirds of the way up
from floor to ceiling
it is funny 
you will know
to know someone so
deeply without sharing
your secrets with them
but that’s the secret
I’m here to share
with you now
the secret in fact
is that if you let them
let yourself
know you fully
give them the real
your passion and pain
I promise you will
grow
and fail
and grow
on their wings
and shoulders
you will share the joy
of spent suns
and soft days
there is a place
on the water
near a school
with a tree
in the grass
and when I tell you
that it is so much more
because of them and me
and what we’ve done together
you will know
you are one
with all of us
in this family of things

a note before you go

By Jason Rubenstein

together in our 
earthly-only jazz
we sit flowing safely
about this moment

about this moment
at the Langston Hughes
able to kiss just
with the treble of our eyes

about this moment
your palms are soft as clay
your rhythm interlaced with clues:
the notes in-between

this music                           warming our bones
on the cusp of                     chaos

          a      mountain.  before us

                          are these knees weak or do they want to get moving?? no

        they catch the snare
              climbing with fortissimo
                    safe atop this peak in-hand
                            oh heavens i will miss you

please
refuel my heart
a few beats
until your return