sextet: organix trio + heart of the ghost. creative alliance, baltimore 5/18/18

two saxophones

communicating

strange new

species of bird

emerging

from behind mountain

sandstone cathedrals

to ascend above

the clouds

and speak

the heart language

one to the other–

playful and forlorn

two basses

and two drum kits

descend into

low pacific depths

where they whale sing

basses with bows

and drums coaxing

high voiced calls

from cymbal

swirl manipulations

birds and whales

heights and depths

a sextet tracing

the outlines of forms

hidden within

this combustible world

organix trio: creative alliance, baltimore 5/18/18

bass knows to return

to the tonic 

he comes back to it

as though his lines

are magnetized

flying through the air

in a spinning

diving return

like a dragonfly

above a pond

drummer accelerates

each hit

picking up force

causing the bass

to alter now

into a five-note

metal and wood figure

then bass lets

the drummer

go solo

each rhythmic phrase

sketched by the sticks 

divides and subdivides

like zeno’s arrow

forever moving toward

its mark

and forever

breaking into fractions of

the original beat

he loses a drumstick

bandleader jamaal

hands it back to him

drummer pops and cracks

more lightning

on the kit and stops

the song over

he removes his hat

wipes the sweat

from his forehead

Photo by Dan Hanrahan

heart of the ghost: creative alliance, baltimore 5/18/18

emerging from silence

the bass begins 

a dark blessing

curving low

responded to

by speaking drums

cymbals breaking air molecules

into wobbling spinning discs

then enters the saxophone

the player shoeless

he completes the triangle

with flutter ascension riffs

and hello punctuations

phrases that pose questions

only you can identify

the music has gone from

sound-gap-silence-sound

to a flowing river

the fish finning below

trace the story

told by the

saxophone

bass

and

drums

Photo by Dan Hanrahan