Showing posts with label Robert Hayden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Hayden. Show all posts

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Making Moves with Dizzy Gillespie & His Orchestra


A Happy Birthday to Dizzy Gillespie!

Show description for Sunday 10/23/2011 @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

This afternoon we will focus on the contributions of the Dizzy Gillespie Afro-Cuban Orchestra. As part of these efforts, we will also explore the music recorded by Charlie Parker as featured soloist with Machito & His Orchestra, including Mango Mangue, as well as Okidoke. In bringing attention to this period, the great composer, arranger Tadd Dameron will also be featured, including his earliest efforts with Harlan Leonard, the small groups featuring Fats Navarro, and the neglected masterwork, The Magic Touch, recorded for Riverside. Along the way we will hear poetry from Countee Cullen, Gwendolyn Brooks, Claude McKay, Margaret Walker, Sterling Brown, and Langston Hughes. (Pictured at right, Harriet Tubman)

Runagate Runagate

by Robert Hayden
I.
Runs falls rises stumbles on from darkness into darkness
and the darkness thicketed with shapes of terror
and the hunters pursuing and the hounds pursuing
and the night cold and the night long and the river
to cross and the jack-muh-lanterns beckoning beckoning
and blackness ahead and when shall I reach that somewhere
morning and keep on going and never turn back and keep on going
Runagate
Runagate
Runagate
Many thousands rise and go
many thousands crossing over
O mythic North
O star-shaped yonder Bible city

Some go weeping and some rejoicing
some in coffins and some in carriages
some in silks and some in shackles

Rise and go or fare you well

No more auction block for me
no more driver’s lash for me

If you see my Pompey, 30 yrs of age,
new breeches, plain stockings, negro shoes;
if you see my Anna, likely young mulatto
branded E on the right cheek, R on the left,
catch them if you can and notify subscriber.
Catch them if you can, but it won’t be easy.
They’ll dart underground when you try to catch them,
plunge into quicksand, whirlpools, mazes,
turn into scorpions when you try to catch them.

And before I’ll be a slave
I’ll be buried in my grave

North star and bonanza gold
I’m bound for the freedom, freedom-bound
and oh Susyanna don’t you cry for me

Runagate
Runagate


II.
Rises from their anguish and their power,

Harriet Tubman,

woman of earth, whipscarred,
a summoning, a shining

Mean to be free

And this was the way of it, brethren brethren,
way we journeyed from Can’t to Can.
Moon so bright and no place to hide,
the cry up and the patterollers riding,
hound dogs belling in bladed air.
And fear starts a-murbling, Never make it,
we’ll never make it. Hush that now,
and she’s turned upon us, levelled pistol
glinting in the moonlight:
Dead folks can’t jaybird-talk, she says;
you keep on going now or die, she says.

Wanted Harriet Tubman alias The General
alias Moses Stealer of Slaves

In league with Garrison Alcott Emerson
Garrett Douglas Thoreau John Brown

Armed and known to be Dangerous

Wanted Reward Dead or Alive

Tell me, Ezekiel, oh tell me do you see
mailed Jehovah coming to deliver me?

Hoot-owl calling in the ghosted air,
five times calling to the hants in the air.
Shadow of a face in the scary leaves,
shadow of a voice in the talking leaves:

Come ride-a my train

Oh that train, ghost-story train
through swamp and savanna movering movering,
over trestles of dew, through caves of the wish,
Midnight Special on a sabre track movering movering,
first stop Mercy and the last Hallelujah.

Come ride-a my train

Mean mean mean to be free.

ArtistSongAlbumLabel

Countee CullenHeritageAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano PozoMinor WalkDizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano PozoCubana Be Cubana BopDizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France

Machito & His Orchestra featuring Charlie ParkerMango MangueAfro-Cuban JazzVerve

Langston Hughesthe Negro Speaks of RiversAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Langston HughesI, TooAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

James MoodyCu-BaJames Moody & His ModernistsBlue Note

Tadd Dameron SeptetJahberoTadd Dameron SeptetBlue Note

Bud Powell TrioUn Poco LocoThe Amazing Bud PowellBlue Note
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Margaret WalkerFor My PeopleAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Dizzy Gillespie OrchestraThings to ComeBebopNew World Records

Kenny Clarke & His 52nd St. BoysRoyal RoostJazz In RevolutionNew World Records

Machito & His Orchestra featuring Charlie ParkerOkidokeAfro-Cuban JazzVerve

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano PozoAlgo Bueno (Woody'n You)Dizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France

Modern Jazz QuartetWoody'n YouNica's DreamNew World Records

Gwendolyn BrooksThe Preacher RuminatesAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Gwendolyn BrooksThe Children of the PoorAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Charles MingusYsabels' Table DanceTijuana MoodsRCA
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Woody Herman & His OrchestraLemon DropBebopNew World Records

Elliott LawrenceElevationJazz In RevolutionNew World Records

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Kenny HagoodOol Ya KooDizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France

James MoodyTropicanaJames Moody & His ModernistsBlue Note

Tadd DameronOn A Misty NightThe Magic TouchRiverside

Sarah VaughnA Ship Without A SailGreat Songs From Hit Shows Volume 2Mercury

Sarah VaughnHe's Only WonderfulGreat Songs From Hit Shows Volume 2Mercury
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Dizzy GillespieGroovin' HighIn The BeginningPrestige

Tadd Dameron featuring Barbara WinfieldIf You Could See Me NowThe Magic TouchRiverside

Sterling BrownLong GoneAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Dodo Marmarosa TrioMellow MoodJazz In RevolutionNew World Records

Charlie ParkerRelaxin' at Camarillo BebopNew World Records

Dexter Gordon - Wardell Gray QuintetThe Chase Part 1 & 2Jazz In RevolutionNew World Records

Claude McKaySt. Issac's ChurchAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Claude McKayThe Tropics in New YorkAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Claude McKayIntro / If We Must DieAnthology of Negro PoetsFolkways

Randy WestonCon AlmaAfrican NiteInner City
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Harlan Leonard & His RocketsA-La-BridgesJazz In RevolutionNew World Records

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Chano PozoGood BaitDizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France

Dizzy Gillespie & Charlie ParkerHot HouseIn the BeginningPrestige

Tadd DameronDial B for BeautyThe Arranger's TouchPrestige

Tadd DameronYou're A JoyThe Magic TouchRiverside

Tadd DameronSwift as the WindThe Magic TouchRiverside

Dizzy Gillespie featuring Joe CarrollJump-Did-Le-BaDizzy Gillespie Vol. 1/2RCA - France
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Sarah VaughnEmbraceable YouSarah VaughnEmarcy

Sunday, October 3, 2010

beyond complete immortal now.

Show description for Sunday 10/3/2010 @ 3:00 PM - 6:00 PM

Soledad

by Robert Hayden



(And I, I am no longer of that world)

Naked, he lies in the blinded room
chainsmoking, cradled by drugs, by jazz
as never by any lover's cradling flesh.

Miles Davis coolly blows for him:
O pena negra, sensual Flamenco blues;
the redclay foxfire voice of Lady Day

(lady of the pure black magnolias)
sobsings her sorrow and loss and fare you well,
dryweeps the pain his treacherous jailers

have released him from for a while.
His fears and his unfinished self
await him down in the anywhere streets.

He hides on the dark side of the moon,
takes refuge in a stained-glass cell,
flies to a clockless country of crystal.

Only the ghost of Lady Day knows where
he is. Only the music. And he swings
oh he swings: beyond complete immortal now.


Pictured here; Romare Bearden
Profile/Part I, The Twenties:
Maudell Sleet's Magic Garden


ArtistSongAlbumLabel

Betty CarterThis Is AlwaysInside Betty CarterUnited Artists

Betty CarterLook No FurtherInside Betty CarterUnited Artists

Betty CarterBeware My HeartInside Betty CarterUnited Artists

Betty CarterMy Favorite ThingsInside Betty CarterUnited Artists

Sarah VaughnJust In TimeSarah + 2Roulette

Sarah VaughnWhen Sunny Gets BlueSarah + 2Roulette

Sarah VaughnAll I Do Is Dream Of YouSarah + 2Roulette
========================== Airbreak ==========================

Sonny ClarkI'll Remember AprilSonny Clark TrioBlue Note

Lee MorganCandyCandyBlue Note

Art Blakey & the Jazz MessengersThe Drum Thunder Suite: Drum Thunder, Cry a Blue Tear, Harlem's DisciplesMoanin'Blue Note

Sonny RollinsPoor ButterflySonny Rollins Volume 2Blue Note

Charles MingusPassions of a Woman LovedTonight at NoonAtlantic

Charles MingusTonight at NoonTonight at NoonAtlantic













Duke EllingtonU.M.M.G." . . . and his mother called him Bill."RCA

Duke EllingtonRain Check" . . . and his mother called him Bill."RCA

Duke EllingtonMy Little Brown Book" . . . and his mother called him Bill."RCA

Duke Ellington & John ColtraneMy Little Brown BookDuke Ellington & John ColtraneImpulse

Billy StrayhornChelsea BridgeBilly StrayhornRed Baron

Tommy FlanaganChelsea BridgeOverseasOriginal Jazz Classics

Tommy FlanaganDelarnaOverseasOriginal Jazz Classics

Ella FitzgeraldIt's Only a Paper MoonThe Harold Arlen Song BookVerve

Ella FitzgeraldLet's Do ItThe Cole Porter Song BookVerve

Ella Fitzgerald & Ellis LarkinsThey Can't Take That Away From MeThe Irving Berlin Song BookVerve

Ella Fitzgerald & Ellis LarkinsMy One and OnlyElla Sings GershwinDecca

Ella Fitzgerald & Ellis LarkinsLooking for a BoyElla Sings GershwinDecca

Ella Fitzgerald & Ellis LarkinsMaybeElla Sings GershwinDecca

Ella Fitzgerald & Ellis LarkinsSoonElla Sings GershwinDecca

Kenny DorhamLotus BlossomQuiet KennyNew Jazz

Kenny DorhamStraight Ahead (excerpt)
Una MasBlue Note






Saturday, April 17, 2010

Soledad By Robert Hayden


(And I, I am no longer of that world)

Naked, he lies in the blinded room
chainsmoking, cradled by drugs, by jazz
as never by any lover's cradling flesh.

Miles Davis coolly blows for him:
O pena negra, sensual Flamenco blues;
the redclay foxfire voice of Lady Day

(lady of the pure black magnolias)
sobsings her sorrow and loss and fare you well,
dryweeps the pain his treacherous jailers

have released him from for a while.
His fears and his unfinished self
await him down in the anywhere streets.

He hides on the dark side of the moon,
takes refuge in a stained-glass cell,
flies to a clockless country of crystal.

Only the ghost of Lady Day knows where
he is. Only the music. And he swings
oh he swings: beyond complete immortal now.










Robert Hayden