Original Poem: Howlin’ Wolf’s Harp
Sean MurphyIt was a huge thrill to have my poem "Billie Holiday's Deathbed" published (and nominated for a Pushcart Prize) by Decolonial Passage and I'm equally happy to see my new…
The Centennial of Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus had many things to say, and he used his mouth, his pen, his fists, and mostly his music to say them. Of the myriad words that describe Mingus, passionate would…
RIP Bunny & Tabby, and Welcome to Eternity
This is incredibly sad news, but I choose to celebrate lives well and purposefully led, and the certainty that they will rest peacefully know their work on earth was done,…
RIP Ian McDonald: MVP of the Best Prog Album Ever
If Ian McDonald had done nothing other than be a crucial (arguably the crucial) member of the band that, in 1969, recorded the album that launched a thousand pretentious, proggy,…
RIP Ronnie Spector, and a Celebration of Sound & Vision
Ronnie Spector in the CBS Records studio in Soho Square. Ronnie is in London to promote her new single 'Say Goodbye to Hollywood', London, circa 1977. (Photo by Tom Sheehan/Sony…
Original Poem: Sun Ra’s Spaceship
Sun Ra's music sounds like it was intercepted from another world. Big thanks to Jerry Jazz Musician for continuing to publish poems about jazz, and it's my extreme pleasure to…
Graeme Edge: The Right Guy for the Era
Prog rock (in general) and the Moody Blues (in particular) needed that guy, and Graeme Edge was that guy. His spoken word was exactly what that era demanded, distilling the…
Eternity Doesn’t Die: An Appreciation of Lee “Scratch” Perry
It's impossible to adequately summarize or describe Lee "Scratch" Perry's life in sounds; from inventing/advancing dub to mentoring Bob Marley to an entire decade (the '70s) that saw him churn…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Shafi Hadi’s Silence
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Eric Dolphy’s Death
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…