Tag / Jazz Appreciation Month

by Lexine

These Cool Poems (Passover 2026 + Jazz + Poetry!)

No foolin’: the start of April brings three things to celebrate this year: Passover, Jazz Appreciation, and Poetry! 

 

“Send Your Spirit”

By Solomon Ibn Gabirol
Translated By Peter Cole
 
Send your spirit
     to revive our corpses,
and ripple the longed-for
     land again.
 
The crops come from you;
     you’re good to all—
and always return
     to restore what has been.
 
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by Hayden Carruth
 
 
Zoot Sims, Joshua Redman,
Billie Holiday, Pete Fountain,
Fate Marable, Ivie Anderson,
Meade Lux Lewis, Mezz Mezzrow,
Manzie Johnson, Marcus Roberts,
Omer Simeon, Miff Mole, Sister
Rosetta Tharpe, Freddie Slack,
Thelonious Monk, Charlie Teagarden,
Max Roach, Paul Celestin, Muggsy
Spanier, Boomie Richman, Panama
Francis, Abdullah Ibrahim, Piano
Red, Champion Jack Dupree,
Cow Cow Davenport, Shirley Horn,
Cedar Walton, Sweets Edison,
Jaki Byard, John Heard, Joy Harjo,
Pinetop Smith, Tricky Sam
Nanton, Major Holley, Stuff Smith,
Bix Beiderbecke, Bunny Berigan,
Mr. Cleanhead Vinson, Ruby Braff,
Cootie Williams, Cab Calloway,
Lockjaw Davis, Chippie Hill,
And of course Jelly Roll Morton.
 
(Gonna be a critic with this one…I would’ve liked to have seen jazz legends like Coltrane, Armstrong, Fitzgerald, or/and Davis mentioned because I don’t know some of the names in that poem. Even Xtina knew who the jazz greats were!)  
 
Happy Passover, Jazz Appreciation Month, and National Poetry Month to all who celebrate! 
 
 
 
by Lexine

Now Playing (4.30.25)

What else would I play on International Jazz Day? 

Listen to the lyrics of this song. More relevant than ever. (The song also reminds me of the movie Casino, oddly enough.) 

TIL that the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz (which he is a part of, naturally) is the lead partner for IJD. 

There are a few versions of the last song, with its only constant being Gillespie playing on every version. I’ve always preferred this collab with Miles, and the beat also got sampled in this early 90s rap song, which I first heard before “Tunisia”.

It is not IJD without some actual international flair via bossa nova jazz! While I also enjoy the vocalized version, the instrumental version above will always be next-level aural paradise. 

by Lexine

These Cool Poems (4.1.23)

The month of April honors two of my favorite things: jazz and poetry! In a way, they go together, so here are a couple of poems that combine my two faves.

The Weary Blues

Langston Hughes – 1901-1967

Droning a drowsy syncopated tune,
Rocking back and forth to a mellow croon,
     I heard a Negro play.
Down on Lenox Avenue the other night
By the pale dull pallor of an old gas light
     He did a lazy sway . . .
     He did a lazy sway . . .
To the tune o’ those Weary Blues.
With his ebony hands on each ivory key
He made that poor piano moan with melody.
     O Blues!
Swaying to and fro on his rickety stool
He played that sad raggy tune like a musical fool.
     Sweet Blues!
Coming from a black man’s soul.
     O Blues!
In a deep song voice with a melancholy tone
I heard that Negro sing, that old piano moan—
     “Ain’t got nobody in all this world,
       Ain’t got nobody but ma self.
       I’s gwine to quit ma frownin’
       And put ma troubles on the shelf.”

Thump, thump, thump, went his foot on the floor.
He played a few chords then he sang some more—
     “I got the Weary Blues
       And I can’t be satisfied.
       Got the Weary Blues
       And can’t be satisfied—
       I ain’t happy no mo’
       And I wish that I had died.”
And far into the night he crooned that tune.
The stars went out and so did the moon.
The singer stopped playing and went to bed
While the Weary Blues echoed through his head.
He slept like a rock or a man that’s dead.

(OK, that poem is more about the blues, but jazz and blues are similar, and Langston was a total jazz head.)

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Also, not jazz related, but, in honor of National Poetry Month, I got a little surprise that I’ll soon reveal here (and on my social media channels). Stay tuned!