outlaw poetry and free jazz network

CHASIN’ THE TRANE (For J. C., 1926-67)

The Belgian Adolph Sax
invented his horn
in the century
railways invented a new speed
though at first both
were called the Devil’s Instrument–
women forbidden to ride or play

but in the century
of jazz triumphant
the sax picked up speed too
and Trane put
his rolling stock
on the jazz rails
purging his mind
through the slim reed–
shoveling notes
into the hot box
up and down
the tonal railway

Trane blew the sax
blew your mind
blew up the music
and made a line
of notes out of structure–
free to run the charts
till they exploded
in a Jackson Pollock picture
painted by tongue

Trane passengers should know
the end of the tune
is the end of the line

and they could be dropped
at an unknown station—
might have to find
their own way back.

some related articles are listed below:

1. gary brower | mahalia MAHALIA (For Mahalia Jackson, 1911-1972) Her voice wells up in the history of her skin like acupuncture from inside out, dramatizes in the theatre of her face, spirals to the top of her hair piled up like a tower, extends from fingertips of her outstretched hands, builds a palace of sound like the biblical temple of a prophet from the Land of Emotional Goshen whose secret name is known by whoever hears her sing, reverberates with the shaking gospel of her body when she lets her voice escape like Hebrew slaves of Pharoah, a wall of water on either...
2. gary brower | chet CHET   (For Chet Baker,1929-1988) “Did it cry till it became all voice? –Cicada shell.” —Basho Definitely a funny valentine, Chesney, later Chet, played the various instruments of his life till he could no longer separate heroin from music, vice from versa. Did the clear-voiced trumpet or fluegel float in the air-flow through his lips from the liquidity of smack, did he smack his lips with jazz, smack his life upside the heart, did his beautiful sound cause the fall from his Amsterdam hotel room window only two stories up, smack dab in the middle of the pavement? Was...
3. gary brower | the crescent and the full moon   THE CRESCENT AND THE FULL MOON (Une chante contre la destruction de Nouvelle Orleans et pour sa renaissance, 2005) “…they tryin’ to wash us away.”– Randy Newman, LOUISIANA 1927. The sun has set on the House of the Rising Sun. The Crescent City, like a smile on the mouth of the Mississippi, has been turned upside down, staring into the cloud-stricken face of the Man in the Moon, full moon face of Death on the Eve of Destruction by the Big Circle K in the sky with its Mardi Gras deathmasks of water, wind and lightning, earthen levees attacked...
4. gary brower | ella and joe in westwood ELLA AND JOE IN WESTWOOD Alone on stage: Ella and Joe, guitar and voice, pick and pitch, rhythm and song. Joe’s hands: Fingertip-toeing down the strings, digits like tightrope aerialists balanced on vibrato chords. Ella’s voice: Acrobatic notes swinging in the air, somersault scats, grabbing the bebop trapeze, jazz riffs, sound-glyphs. The dead still make music. Ella with her big, thick glasses, Joe’s balding pate, half-pick strum, feeling my front-row seat still warm from years ago, the audience ascending like a cloud in musical sky as a voice travels up the string asking How high the moon? *For Ella...
5. gary brower | a portrait   click on the image to enlarge. Gary L. Brower who holds a B.A. degree from Drury University in Spanish & History, M.A. & Ph.D. degrees in Romance Languages & Literatures from the University of Missouri at Columbia, has taught at Baker University (Ks.), Rogue Community College (Or.), University of Kansas, University of New Mexico, University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at San Diego (visiting), as well as directing academic programs in Barcelona & Madrid, Spain, and Guadalajara, Mexico. A specialist in Hispanic Literature, especially of Latin America, he has published numerous essays...