Loved your interview which reminds me of a haibun I wrote about the New York jazz musicians . Hope you enjoy! Titled: ‘Round Midnight It was a huge ballroom on the top floor of a building on Broadway --an important midtown crossroads in the heart of the Great White Way. My uncle still talks with reverence about how--in his heyday--he would travel by rail to the corner of Lenox and walk inside to the beat of jungle music. Who knew what to expect? One night you might be listening with rapt attention to Theloneous Monk and Dizzy Gillespie the godfathers of bebop in their signature beret caps, or the Nicholas Brothers flashing their wild acrobatic spins and splits, or enchanted by the sweet taste of Brown Sugar--with Bojangles out front. And when the Bird was in flight, even the moon was not high enough. But in 1940 the ballroom closed its doors to make way for a commercial housing development and another kind of night. New Harlem-- The A-Train replaced By the Bullet -Al Fogel All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida, -Al
Wow. I mean wow. I am a hard core old school black nationalist type and this woman has such an effect upon me. Person and poet extraordinaire as shown by her body of work and her positive effect upon so many. Years ago, when i was a teenager, my mother and i were driving just off of central park west and I recognized NG from a distance and told my mother it was NG. We stopped, said hello, and my mother asked, in so my words, "Is it really you"? In the sweetest, most beautiful and simplest way, she said yes and then let two of her fans engage her for a few moments. I told her I had a couple of her albums and that I enjoyed them so and my mother expessed her admiration. She was and is so sweet. So glad she is still around doing her thing
Loved your interview which reminds me of a haibun I wrote about the New York jazz musicians .
Hope you enjoy!
Titled:
‘Round Midnight
It was a huge ballroom on the top floor of a building on Broadway --an important midtown crossroads in the heart of the Great White Way.
My uncle still talks with reverence about how--in his heyday--he would travel by rail to the corner of Lenox and walk inside to the beat of jungle music. Who knew what to expect? One night you might be listening with rapt attention to Theloneous Monk and Dizzy Gillespie the godfathers of bebop in their signature beret caps, or the Nicholas Brothers flashing their wild acrobatic spins and splits, or enchanted by the sweet taste of Brown Sugar--with Bojangles out front. And when the Bird was in flight, even the moon was not high enough.
But in 1940 the ballroom closed its doors to make way for a commercial housing development and another kind of night.
New Harlem--
The A-Train replaced
By the Bullet
-Al Fogel
All love in isolation from Miami Beach, Florida,
-Al
I want so very badly meet her. What a presence ,she helped to shape me as a writer and poet. 😚
I really would love to meet her
Wow. I mean wow. I am a hard core old school black nationalist type and this woman has such an effect upon me. Person and poet extraordinaire as shown by her body of work and her positive effect upon so many. Years ago, when i was a teenager, my mother and i were driving just off of central park west and I recognized NG from a distance and told my mother it was NG. We stopped, said hello, and my mother asked, in so my words, "Is it really you"? In the sweetest, most beautiful and simplest way, she said yes and then let two of her fans engage her for a few moments. I told her I had a couple of her albums and that I enjoyed them so and my mother expessed her admiration. She was and is so sweet. So glad she is still around doing her thing
I started to make hash marks for every Eh, Um Um to start off each question