Grace Notes For My Father

Jazz, Jazz: Arts & Entertainment, Mindfulness Meditation, Poet's Beat, Poet's Beat, Pop Culture/Cultural Affairs 3 Minutes

Happy Father’s Day!  I wrote this poem to honor and tribute the first man I ever loved.  He was complicated, dedicated and brimmed with tough love.  I now understand that it was a blessing in disguise.  I have always been a poet and artist at heart.  I thought he didn’t want me to go into a creative life.  Now when looking back I realize that if writing and being an artist meant that I was willing to devote my life to it completely and especially when it came to facing the hour of the wolf I would not to succumb to giving up but to surrender and face the harsh reality that it is my soul’s purpose and must push on past it no matter what….What about you?  Is there someone special in your life that made such an impact?  I have included my favorite song besides the one he wrote for me is The Shadow of Your Smile performed by Dizzy Gillespie and the Monterey Jazz Festival in 1965 in my memoir.  Although Dizzy and Lorraine didn’t have any children, he considered all young people as his Love Children…Best wishes, have a great day!  Peace and Love  JBC 😎

 

Image of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie with drumme...
Image of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie with drummer Bill Stewart at 1984 Stanford Jazz Workshop. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 

Jazz Palette by Jannat Marie
Jazz Palette by Jannat Marie

Dear Dad,

Thank you for the lessons on life in 1965 where you created a phenomenal year of Jazz from  the Monterey Jazz Festival to the Grand Opening of the Music Center in L.A.  Thank you for the song you wrote for me…when I was three years old.  

I.

I learned that timing is critical in jazz as in life,

Knowing when to stop, start, step it up, slow it down

and more so important is learning how to wait thru the strife.

Jazz harmony a theory and practice of changing dominant and tonic chords,

where major and minor share the same syncopated space in a timeless bond…

Progressions depart in thirds and stacked fourths

favoring harmonic progressions where tensions are in intervals of 9ths, 11ths, or 13ths abound.

II.

I learned that the search for meaning, intentions and having the blues

is about finding your truth and appreciating a life of humility

‘cause the universe is misting the air with valuable truths

Living in the essence of a universal tranquility.

where cadance and notes are window dressing, a façade creates

by listening to the spoken word filled with harmonic intent

of the path and choices you debate.

Play it slant is the message best heard in the evening.

III.

I learned that being different is the integral part of the master plan

pressing forward seeing how far you can reach

harmonies in real-time, flowing and ebbing broadening the span

of improvisational context is what matters in all you teach.

IV.

I learned that playing jazz has four elements

broadening your words and expressing every letter

in a charismatic way to enhance

finding your intentions and mixing all them together.

where freedom and coordination learn how to really dance.

V.

Jazz has the power to go deep within,

having a relationship with you as next of kin

Surpassing arrogance into a love of the sound of spoken words

sharing that experience with others is where you begin.

VI,

I learned that I was saved by jazz

healing my soul and my body from within

thru life’s trials and tribulations to

finding peace on earth that is filled with

the promise of words and life dancing with joyous jubilation!

A Love so Supreme….Your Daughter

 

Japanese translation for meaning

©2013 Jazzybeatchick  All Rights Reserved.

Copyright © 2013 by Jazzybeatchick. All rights reserved.

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Published by Jan Marie ("JM")

I love to take culinary, yoga philosophy and acoustic snapshots of the spaces that have filled my life. Jazz has functioned as a communal bond, ritual and form of social interaction. It has become more than just sounds. It has become a way of living in this world. Jazz has never been about music, it is the touchstone of modern cultural imagination, archiving mythical images and an aesthetic paradigm for new modes of writing, seeing, hearing and moving. I like to use the improvisational elements experienced for a different creative literary tapestry that uses all sensory input. Improvisation is the willingness to connect to every aspect of life. Jazz Imitates life through self expression and improvisation. When I was 18, my dad arranged for me to work as a research/ writer intern on an ABC-TV Emmy-winning television documentary special on Jazz Music in 1972. I was assigned segments that focused on Big Band sound and Bebop. I discovered that the jazz tradition has stood up against the backdrop of racial strife, language, class and gender issues which is defined in literature and criticism for over 75 years in America. I have always had a fascination with creating works that would allow me to blend sound with words and abstract art. It is my desire to create a mosaic sensory experience using imagination, culinary, audio and visual experiences that are filled with the richness of childhood memories that shaped and inspired my thoughts.

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14 thoughts on “Grace Notes For My Father”

  1. what a meaningful post with such wonderful words and such an inspiration to creative artists everywhere. well done JBC! have a nice weekend – and happy father’s day to all the dads.
    ~y.

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  3. What a beautiful post. Both of my parents taught me to love jazz. My father was a singer with an Army jazz band toward the end of World War II. When I was growing up in the 1950s, he would walk around our house singing songs I now know were written by your father.

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    1. Hey, you sure you didn’t grow up with me? I think it is the power of my young life living a jazz metaphorical style that not only gives me comfort but a joyous feeling I can refer to when times seemed so hard when dealing with breast cancer and the permanent changes I am living with. Peace Out! JBC 😎

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    1. You are so right. Oringinally I thought he didn’t want me to go in that direction, but, when I read a note that he nestled into my guitar case with all of my poems I realized he was letting me experience the harsh reality and to not give up! Thanks for your insight. JNC 😎

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    1. Thank you so very much. Have an awesome day, I now prefer to Celebrate as opposed to morn his passing because I know he is in a better place with my mom! JBC 😎

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