Slice of Life: Cool is the Way it Plays

Slice of Life 2011Last night, my wife and I went to a jazz concert that celebrated the music of John Coltrane. It featured tenor saxophonist Javon Jackson and beyond the drums was the legendary Jimmy Cobb, who has played with everyone from Charlie Parker to Miles Davis and more. He may be getting on in years but he can still kick it.

As I was listening, my mind drifted along with the music and this one line of words kept popping in my head. “Cool is the way it plays …” and this morning, I still had it there. “Cool is the way it plays ….” and as I was walking our dog, under the stars, this poem started to form for me.

I purposely tried to weave ideas in and around the lines, making an attempt to captures some of the ways I heard Javon Jackson play around with melodies and lines.

Cool is the Way it Plays

Cool
is the way it plays
on stage
the way the notes graze
against each other
in melodic memory
in harmonic time
in the rhythm of the line
is where the notes
dance
take chances, sometimes,
I’m out here alone –
in there
you’re trying to find
the hook, the head,
the crazy way I said
to listen to that sound
coming from that horn
as if it were some theme
I’d heard before
we were born
reminding us
to listen,
to listen,
to listen to the currents
weaving in and out
of each other –
Cool
is the way it plays
on stage,
Put away the rage
listen
relax
dance along the line

You can listen to the podcast version of the poem, too.

Peace (in the cool),
Kevin

6 Comments
  1. It’s beautiful. The rhythm is dissonant, just like jazz, and the rhyming, erratic, just like jazz. The performance must have been awesome, to hear those musicians, playing out “their” poetry. It’s like you gave them a compliment through your writing.

  2. Wow–I am impressed. This is beautifully written…brings out the rhythm of the jazz…and makes me want to listen to some this afternoon while I read creative writing papers!

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