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Song Of Praise
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Saturday, 14 January 2006 07:58 |
spiritual
for linda jones
what is jazz, but spirituals
played thru saxophones
& trombones,
spirit voices
thru metal tubings
& the terrible repetition
of the formal premise, viz.
trance-like
at its best, or boring
when the spirit doth not move,
oh what is blues
but spirituals with a line
removed,
that is structurally,
& in content just a prayer
to the gods of daily life,
to ask the blessing
that the body of another
may lay warm in the bed
beside you at night, and the rent
be paid, and a meal
on the table, with the sheriff
far away
from the scene of the crime -- oh
what is jazz but the registration
of the human personality
in relation to the spiritual,
stripped of literal meaning
but full of sound & portent,
direct as the voice of the gods
detroit
september 15, 1985
from Song of Praise: Homage to John Coltrane
3.1.695 |
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