Double Take: Jazz- Poetry Conversations
Michael Harper, poet
Paul Austerlitz, composer and bass clarinetist
This CD brings together the talents poet Michael Harper and composer / bass-clarinetist Paul Austerlitz in a unique blend of word and music. These artists, who both teach at Brown University, have developed an innovative collaborative mode highlighting the musicality of Harper’s poetry, which has been acclaimed world-wide, and Austerlitz’s improvisatory compositions, which comment on the spoken word. These brilliant poems are dedicated to jazz artists such as John Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Elvin Jones, the prophet-seers of our age. Harper’s words commune with Austerlitz’s original bass-clarinet playing: word and music fuse together, in dialogue. This CD is a “Double Take” in the sense that it presents two live performances of the same material whose variegated cadences illustrate the improvisatory and collaborational nature of jazz-poetry conversation.
Michael Harper is University Professor at Brown University. His poetry specializes in jazz -related themes; he has written Dear John, Dear Coltrane and Debridement, among other books of poetry, and edited The Vintage Book of African American Poetry. Harper is the first State Poet of Rhode Island, a New York Library Literary Lion, a Phi Beta Kappa scholar and an American Academy of Arts and Sciences fellow. He is recipient of many distinctions, including the Robert Hayden Poetry Award from the United Negro College Fund, the Melville-Cane Award and the Black Academy of Arts and Letters Award.
Bass-clarinetist, composer, and ethnomusicologist Paul Austerlitz is Assistant Professor of Music at Brown University, where he teaches and conducts research on jazz. He has performed with Doc Cheatham, David Murray, and Gonzalo Rubalcaba, among others, and leads his own group which has recorded two CDs: A Bass Clarinet in Santo Domingo and Detroit (X-Dot 25), and Dominican Dreams / American Dreams (Engine 030). Austerlitz has also authored two books bearing the fruit of his ethnomusicological research: Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity, and Essays in Jazz Consciousness.
Tracks and information
1. Brother John
2. We Assume: On the Death of Our Son, Reuben Masai Harper
3. Here where Coltrane Is
4. “Bird Lives:” Charles Parker in St. Louis
5. High Modes: Vision as Ritual: Confirmation
6. Elvin’s Blues
7. Last Affair: Bessie’s Blues Song
8. Audio for Julius Hempill
9. If You Don’t Force It, inspired by Ray Brown
10. Copenhagen, dedicated to Dexter Gordon
11. 4-29-99 for E.K.E
12. The Latin American Poem for Anane Dzidienyo
13. Release: Kind of Blue
14. Interlude
15. Brother John
16. We Assume: On the Death of Our Son, Reuben Masai Harper
17. Here where Coltrane Is
18. “Bird Lives:” Charles Parker in St. Louis
19. High Modes: Vision as Ritual: Confirmation
20. Elvin’s Blues
21. Last Affair: Bessie’s Blues Song
22. Audio for Julius Hempill
23. If You Don’t Force It, inspired by Ray Brown
24. Copenhagen, dedicated to Dexter Gordon
25. 4-29-99 for E.K.E
26. The Latin American Poem for Anane Dzidienyo
27. Release: Kind of Blue
All music composed by Paul Austerlitz (BMI), except tracks 11 and 25 (Ellington, Parish, Mills ASCAP).
Tracks 1-13 were recorded on May 25, 2003 in Rites and Reason Theater, Brown University, by ATM Treehouse, mastered by Viscount Studios and innova.
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Track 14 was recorded on October 31, 2003 in Steinert Recording Studio, Brown University, by Eileen Koven and Paul Austerlitz, mastered by innova.
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Tracks 15- 27 were recorded live, April 1, 2003 in Grant Recital Hall, Brown University, by Stephen Schwartz, mastered by innova.
Thanks to Steve & Anani.
