From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jazz poetry can be defined as poetry that "demonstrates
jazz-like
rhythm or the feel of improvisation".[1]
During the 1920s, several poets began to eschew the conventions of
rhythm
and style;
among these were
Ezra
Pound,
T.
S. Eliot, and
e. e. cummings. The significance of the simultaneous evolution of
poetry and jazz during the 1920s was apparent to many poets of the era,
resulting in the merging of the two art forms into jazz poetry. Jazz
poetry has long been something of an "outsider" art form that exists
somewhere outside the mainstream, having been conceived in the 1920s by
African-Americans, maintained in the 1950s by
counterculture poets like those of the
Beat generation, and adapted in modern times into
hip-hop music and live poetry events known as
poetry slams.
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The Harlem Renaissance
Early jazz poetry did not mimic the sounds and improvisational spirit
of jazz. Instead, it heavily referenced the musical form with allusions
made to musicians, instruments, and locations key to the burgeoning jazz
scene. Poets like
Vachel Lindsay (who actually abhorred the "primitive" sound of jazz
music) and
Mina Loy
wrote poetry in this vein. It was with the advent of the
Harlem Renaissance that jazz poetry developed into what it is today.
Poets like
Langston Hughes and
Paul Lawrence Dunbar incorporated the syncopated rhythms and
repetitive phrases of blues and jazz music into their writing. Hughes and
Dunbar, like many Harlem Renaissance writers, were deeply concerned with
racial pride and with the creation of purely African-American poetry.
Since jazz music was an important part of African-American culture at the
time, Hughes and others like him adapted the musical genre to create their
own, singularly African-American voices that could easily be distinguished
from the work of white poets. Many of Hughes' poems, such as "Weary Man
Blues," sound almost exactly like popular jazz and blues songs of the
period, and vice versa. His work is also highly evocative of
spirituals.
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Bebop and the beat generation
As members of the (largely white)
Beat generation began to embrace aspects of African-American culture
during the 1950s, the art of jazz poetry shifted its focus from racial
pride and individuality to
spontaneity and
freedom. In this case, both jazz poetry and jazz music were seen as
powerful statements against the status quo.
Jack Kerouac would often accompany his readings of poetry with music,
playing the piano or bongos while he read. His colleague, musician and
composer
David Amram would often scat along as Kerouac read. Amram later wrote
of their work together, "We never once rehearsed. We did listen intently
to one another. Jazz is all about listening and sharing. I never drowned
out one word of whatever Jack (Kerouac) was reading or making up on the
spot.
[2]
Lawrence Ferlinghetti had a similar collaboration with saxophone
player
Stan Getz. Beat poet
Bob
Kaufman was said by some to be the greatest jazz poet ever to have
lived, with the exception of Langston Hughes,[3].
Kaufman paid homage to jazz in poems like "O Jazz O" and "Morning Joy."
His work is notable for its syncopated rhythms, surreal imagery, and a
quality of
alienation stemming from Kaufman's own role in life as a drifter and a
jailbird.
In the 1960s and '70s, the Beat poet formerly known as
LeRoi Jones renamed himself
Amiri Baraka and revived the idea of jazz poetry as a source of black
pride. Baraka was a cultural nationalist who believed that "Black People
are a race, a culture, a Nation".[4]
Elements of jazz show up often in Baraka's work, such as syncopation and
repetition of phrases.
Gil Scott-Heron, often seen as one of the founding fathers of
rap
music, also used many of the artistic devices of jazz poetry in his
spoken-word albums of the 1970s and 1980's.
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Contemporary era
The tradition of jazz poetry has been carried on by hip-hop and rap
artists, who often set poetic lyrics to syncopated beats. Another parallel
that can be drawn is that of the freestyle rap, which features lyrics
improvised to a beat, thus capturing the spontaneous, improvised nature of
the jazz poem.
Spoken word, a genre made up of experimental text-based performance
artists and poets, also emphasizes the relationship between poetry and
performance, and can sometimes involve musical accompaniment and/or
improvisation. Like jazz poetry, spoken word poetry de-emphasizes poetry's
roots in academia and instead focuses on popular culture and issues of
current social significance. One of spoken word's best-known forms, slam
poetry, although it is usually memorized and not normally performed with
music, often uses styles that owe a debt to jazz poetry.
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References
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External links
