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Thursday, 09 February 2006 13:52 |
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 |