'... evening sun'...

song...

49 years...

49 years
'The roar of the greasepaint. The smell of the crowd',
Lots of cheers.

sonny rollins 2011 kennedy center honoree...

mark murphy...

2 geese (for mark murphy)...

Time lapse
Where
?
Murphy
You go to my head
Crazy
Jazz
Murphy on the edge
Edge of the Garden flags
Windy
Wreaths fastened down
A Garden of the ages pages
In my notes
Boats
Charts south into Havana
Sweet sugar
Havana night
Rums
&
Rums
2 geese fly away out of the Garden
Into the windy flags & wreaths & red bows
Starry Havana night
!
Starry Havana night
,
Murphy
!

Merry Christmas!

sketch of mary blair self portrait...

marquee lights...

Steady
Rain on the street
A shine from streetlamps
&
Lampposts
Steady
Morning
The sound of the street
Splashing
Commuter train whistles at the crossings
It's Friday ! ...
&
Tonight
Piano players
Saxophone players
Impressionist painters
Horizons
Marquee lights
&
Jazz

Steady

Bob Barnes (1928-2011)

Bob Barnes (Robert H. Barnes) died October 6, 2011.  He was a friend.  I just now found out he passed away.  He lived in Woodstock, New York and we kept in touch infrequently - a letter or a card or both around Christmastime - a phone call now and then.  But I thought about Bob a lot - he was pretty much alone the last few years of his life - we had musical interests in common - him, a fine pianist and me a friend of jazz since 1954, the very first Newport Jazz Festival.  Bob was a musician and a teacher - noble professions - smart and dedicated.  I met Bob a few years ago where he was taking part in a summer music program, SummerKeys, in a town on the northern coast of Maine, Lubec.  And Bob and I had a jazz musician in common, my friend jazz saxophonist Greg Abate.  Bob had seen Greg perform at a venue in New Mexico on two occasions and immediately became a fan of this renowned bebop player.  In 2002, I arranged for Bob to play piano with Greg on a benefit concert for the library in Lubec.  He did a very credible job accompanying one of the best jazz players in the world, Greg Abate.  Bob studied with the late great Lennie Tristano - another notch in his creds.  Bob Barnes, interpreter of the Cole Porter songbook; he will be missed. -December 19, 2011

a 2nd song...

A 2nd song
Sing to me choruses carols
&
Hymns
Blues
Sing a breath sparkle
&
Laughter
Walking along the sea
Sing in my ear
.
I can hear the sea now

christmas nights...

Christmas nights
A shiny frost on the street
In the city
Whistles
Sirens
Lights
& warmer in the morning
& whistles along the ocean
In the morning
.
At the station at Mystic
.
& a tiny angel flew to the top of the tree
To give the stars

midnight...

The blue street stars in the night
Glowing
Lamps yellow & Paris in the sun
Jazz
Violins
It's 4 A.M.
& strum strum slide slide
Django
Ahhhhhhh Ah
!
!
Midnight
Django
Ahhhhhhh Ah
!
!
Midnight
It's 4 A.M.

untitled...

flugelhorn...

do you remember...

Do you remember
The Totem Pole Roseland
The ballroom with the spinning reflecting ball
Above the center of the floor
?
Lowell
Glen Island
Eddie & the Waxo barrel bass
Gary Bossie
Me
?
In the Mood
Blinstrub's the Bradford Roof
The Savoy cotton dresses & Christmas lights in the summer
The elegance
?
Oh
The elegance
Miami
!
White & red &
Green

emily dickinson (1830-1886) born december 10...

archie moore (1913-1998)...

is a lyric...

Is a lyric

Miles to go
On the High Road to the sea
Apples
Jams
Spiral hams

Toast
&
Tea
Just
The sea

Is a lyric

Miles to go
A song for me

1990...

chet baker my favorite things...

thump the bass...

Jazz in Paris
The airy touch of Chet Baker's trumpet
Tenderly
The water on the river
The water on the street
Bouncing
A cool lavender off a cloud
Off a sky
Thump the bass
A cymbal counts time
A light orange under painting on the tree line
Beyond the parking lot lamps
&
Flags
&
Christmas lights
&
Big red bows
The sun is down the moon is up
Jazz in Paris

marilyn inspired by a painting by annie kevans...

poetry...

Poetry

Rain wind
Missives
&
Mettle

The carousels red &
Gold leaf &
Rock & roll

some might say, 'the greatest tenor saxophone player who ever lived'...

a great mountain of sky...

A great mountain of sky
The clouds roll in in all colors
Under
Blue
Salmon
Gold
Low
They roll low
Into the telephone poles
&
Into the wires
Chimneys
Seas & rivers
&
&
Robert Frost poems
,
Robert Frost poems
To la Captain Bloom Hill
:
If one flight
Like last night low under
Clouds rolling in in all colors
Salmon
Blue
Gold
Breathe now
If one flight
;
That flight

quick sketch of van gogh's starry night...

sighs the sun...

Sighs the sun
At sunset
Sunrise
Tonight
Songs under Orion
& the rest of the stars
Venus & Cassiopeia
Play the night on oboes
Stella
Waterfront
How High the Moon
Ray Brown
,
Ray Brown

oooo deee aah aah aaah...

jazz
At the rickety yellow table
Creak
Oooo deee aah aah aaah
The
Scenes
On the cutting room floor
From sunsets walks & stairs
To sunrises swatches reds & blues
Golden
jazz
At the rickety yellow table
Creak
Oooo deee aah aah aaah
There
The Willows
Are
Whispers
Now
;
jazz
At the rickety yellow table
Creak
Oooo deee aah aah aaah

a long song...

Do you see the routine
?
The melodies in the queue
Short lists aaah
Oh
Flights out of port
Their white sails wafting
Easily
To the horizon
To the mountains
To the meadows
This
,
A long song

the coffee is done...

Sound
Coffee percolating
Cars running by
The furnace on
Not cellos
& some noise I cannot identify
Not cellos
Trumpets
Or violins
Or violas
Chet Baker
?
No
The coffee is done