Off the beat: history and analysis of selected jazz/poetry collaborations (1956-1959)

Jazz music and spoken poetry evoke the aurality of the moment. They cannot be rewound, or redone the way we can re-read a poem or rehearse a piece of music. The poem, in its form on the page, is not the purpose of this examination. Between 1957 and 1959, there was a movement to synthesize live jazz with spoken poetry, in turn creating a new art form. This thesis seeks to expose, examine and analyze the simultaneous synthesis of spoken poetry and performed music. The literary world often defines “jazz poetry” as poetry influenced by jazz music or a poem containing jazz’s historical themes. On the musical side of the spectrum, performers and composers can also convey poetic or literary devices within sonic space. These can be as obvious as inserting a humorous quote like “pop goes the weasel” into an improvised solo. Where as literary scholars have focused on the broad responses to jazz as poetic inspiration, my study will shine light on how the jazz musician relates and responds to the poet and performance. Chapter 1: A History of Jazz/Poetry reveals individual narratives of two separate but connected scenes, one in San Francisco and the other New York City. I compile commentary and timeline information of selected collaborations using cited live performances and recording sessions as pinpoints. Chapter 2: Recordings and Analysis relies on transcription of spoken voice against solo instrumental accompaniment. I take a uniform approach to analyzing jazz/poetry recordings by adopting my own system of labeling based on musical responses to poetry. Chapter 2 also tells the story of my trip to Calabasas, California to visit and recover original, handwritten scores by Allyn Ferguson for his jazz/poetry album with poet Kenneth Patchen. Analyzing the poet’s level of interaction with music as the springboard, we can (choose to) listen to jazz/poetry recordings with bigger ears. Chapter 3: Interviews is centered on two interviews: pianist/composer Vijay Iyer and poet/producer Mike Ladd. Chapter 3 also contains excerpts from various interviews I have conducted since I first began researching jazz/poetry in May 2010.M.A.Includes bibliographical referencesIncludes vitaby Alexander Gelles Arif