Lullaby in Rhythm (Two Versions)

I bought "The Happy 'Bird'" as a $1.98 cut-out in Missoula back in 1973. This was my favorite track, labeled incorrectly as "I May Be Wrong." It is, in fact, "Lullaby in Rhythm," done up in the new day of bebop, with long solos by Wardell Gray. 

I was reading Kerouac at the time, nursing all of our innocent dreams of a sprawling country you could travel around in with some semblance of freedom--and believe me, we did indeed have that for a while. I racked up some serious miles hitching and riding Greyhounds and seeing all those little out-of-the-way places. For me this tune was a kind of anthem. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-804bJfVtY

Here's Benny Goodman's version of "Lullaby in Rhythm," from 1937-1938. I wanted to post something decent from the past, from a world of people creating something, a kind of country without borders, a country never declared, and without flags, and no need to conquer anyone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3H3MKYGgHn4

- Douglas A. Fowler

A RARE EVENING AT DEER HEAD INN with DERWYN HOLDER ENSEMBLE

The Derwyn Holder Ensemble, featuring pianist-composer Derwyn Holder, will be performing his original jazz compositions at Deer Head Inn,  Sunday, Nov. 16, from 5 to 8 p.m.

Holder has played with jazz greats such as Sonny Stitt, James Moody, Zoot Sims, Charlie Ventura, Clark Terry, Buddy Tate, Billy Eckstine, Johnny Hartman, and others, and in 2012 composed a full symphony.

The other members of his ensemble include Alan Brady on alto sax; Ron Naspo on bass; and Bob Beck on drums. Brady played with the Benny Goodman Orchestra, Nelson Riddle Orchestra, Ray Charles, and the Walter Thompson Orchestra. Naspo worked with Sonny Rollins, Stan Kenton, Wild Bill Davison, Bucky Pizzarelli, Billy Maxted, and the Don Shirley Trio. Beck played with Lionel Hampton, performed in LA studios and on Broadway, and has written and conducted more than 30 recordings.

Internationally renowned Guest Artist "Sweet" Sue Terry plays soprano sax and clarinet, is an author and Deer Head regular who leads her own groups, and is Artist in  Residence at the Jazz Society of Ecuador. More about her at sueterry.net.

Deer Head Inn, which is known as the oldest continuously running jazz club in the country, offers food, music and lodging to visitors. It is situated at 5 Main Street, Delaware Water Gap, Penn. Admission to attend the jazz evening featuring the Derwyn Holder Ensemble, will be $10.

For more information regarding this exciting jazz venue, visit deerheadinn.com or call 570-424-2000.

JAZZ LIT

NOVELS

Mary Morris's upcoming novel, THE JAZZ PALACE, is scheduled for release in April, 2015 and is being published by Knopf Doubleday.

ACTS OF GOD, a previous novel by Morris, is also set in Chicago during the jazz age.

Morris, who has published 14 books, teaches creative writing at Sarah Lawrence College.

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SHORT STORIES

Jazz short stories by Arya F. Jenkins may be found on the Jerry Jazz Musician website:
www.jerryjazzmusician.com.

Her published stories there, include the award-winning, "So What," also "Soliloquy," "The Bluest Train," "Epistrophy," and "Broad Street."

Some notes on EPISTROPHY

"Epistrophy" is Arya F. Jenkins' third of three short stories commissioned by Jerry Jazz Musician. The story features jazz as a theme and employs techniques of improvisation even as it explores elements of the taboo.

Jerry Jazz Musician is a unique online magazine featuring key interviews, articles, fiction and videos on the present and past scene in American jazz culture.

Note: "Epistrophy," is a tune composed by Thelonious Monk and Kenny Clarke. Monk often ended his sets with "Epistrophy."

http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/2014/04/epistrophy-short-story-arya-jenkins-2/

Feel free to read and share.

LOOKING AT TRANE

Looking and listening to Trane is a visceral experience. I am never left unmoved at either the images that speak for his life as a musician or the music itself, which continues to take me to new places while lending deeper insight into the man.

I first fell in love with Trane listening to My Favorite Things, which I played over and over again in the bookstore where I worked at the time, the early 90s. Coltrane's music was exhilarating and inspirational at once, and I have been listening to it and reading about him ever since.

A friend recently shared with me a series of recently discovered photographs of Trane taken during a session for A Love Supreme, another favorite album. The photos are by Chuck Stewart and lend further insight into the intense, spiritual and gentle giant of jazz music and composition, who constantly strove for perfection with his instrument, the tenor sax. Coltrane worked in the bebop and hard bop idioms and later helped pioneer the use of modes in jazz. Although he left this world in 1967, his legacy continues to inspire listeners and musicians alike.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/03/28/295470520/a-love-supreme-comes-alive-in-unearthed-photos

JAZZ FICTION

Here is the second of three stories I was commissioned to write for JJM. It's called, "The Bluest Train" and appears second on the cover page. Please don't be offended by the "foul" language. We live in a world where people are more likely to resent "offensive" language than they are injustice. Don't let that be your world.

Thank you for reading my story.

http://www.jerryjazzmusician.com/2014/01/bluest-train-short-story-arya-jenkins/