I was aware (and in awe) of John Goodman before I reviewed his book (10 years ago!) Mingus Speaks — an indispensable document of the great Charles Mingus (a lot more about HIM, here) in his own words. John knows Jazz from the inside-out, and was the music critic at Playboy Magazine back in the actual day. He was kind and generous enough to blurb my first collection “The Blackened Blues” and I’m honored to have this review @ Amazon. (Reminder: reviews are free, easy, and they help.) Thank you, Brother Goodman, for reading with your ears.
“If you think you know everything about jazz and blues, these poems will make you think again. For instance, read “Marvin Gaye’s Anthem” for a new take on the Prince of Soul—who was shot dead by his father. Murph lets us see jazz people like Mingus and Miles from a stance that’s all his own, but one you’ll learn new insights from.”
Marvin Gaye’s Anthem
Yes, his anthem; he made it his, claiming it
when he testified at center court, so close
to the sun he wore shades, bombs bursting
in air around The Forum, healing happening
and causing us to wonder: how high can he get?
Nowhere and everywhere, all at once, a fool’s
April—the cruelest month—shot in the heart
by his pops, ain’t that peculiar? For nothing,
but also all the things fathers and sons have
fought over since Abraham and Isaac tangled
on top of that mountain, close enough to heed
a command from The Man, heard all the way
through the grapevine—some bitter wine spilled
from Eden into the cup another son would raise,
saying, drink this, it’s my blood and it will save
you from yourself (also the wrath of God, who
made each of us in His image, all this Ecology:
overcrowded land of the free, home of the slave
and the masters who provide whatever we need
to escape what’s going on. God is love, you see).
Don’t talk to me about Daedalus, this was The Prince
of Soul, lit large in the twilight’s last gleaming,
(soon the night will bring the pains) until the man
(I did the best I could) who brought him in took
him out (nobody understood), trigger happy
policing of his own family business (I’ll take
you to live where love is king), the place where
danger awaits, and fathers and sons reunite—
Wholy Holy—flying high in the friendly sky.
Pick up your copy of Rhapsodies in Blue here.
