The Kennedy Center is known to the world
For honoring those in the arts –
From Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, Astaire,
Whose talents top all of the charts.
Sinatra, Gene Kelly, L. Bernstein, Kazan
And Benny and Lena and Merce,
Ray Charles, Lucille Ball, Isaac Stern and George Burns,
The list both profound and diverse.
Belafonte and Ailey and Hepburn and Peck,
Gillespie and Sondheim, the Who;
Aretha and Dylan and Kander and Ebb,
Judith Jamison, Chuck Berry, too.
Baryshnikov, Quincy, Paul Simon and Cash,
Warren Beatty, James Taylor and Cher;
Tina Turner and Spielberg and Barbra and Tharp,
Yo Yo Ma, Dustin Hoffman – all there.
Al Pacino and Elton, De Niro and Streep,
Lily Tomlin, Santana and Sting;
LL Cool J and Reba and Joni, Mel Brooks,
Lionel, Dick Van Dyke, Carole King.
There are more I’ve not mentioned, but going ahead,
It is going to be quite a shock
When the Kennedy Center will honor, perhaps,
Village People or maybe Kid Rock.
Oh, I fear for this country in so many ways
And it feels we’ve been stabbed in our hearts
With the Kennedy Center now being run
By a man with no stake in the arts.
Categories:
basie, art,
Form: Rhyme
Kevin Solomon 9/9/2015
The Lion and the Crown
Cobalt blue goblet and the spangled gown
Black tie and high browns
Puttin on the Ritz
Flappers dancing the Charleston
Jazz by Count Basie and Duke Ellington
Crazy dance moves like the Black Bottom, the Shimmy and the Turkey Trot
And the Cake Walk
The Tango and the Bunny Hop
The Fox Trot and the Lindy Hop
Roaring cars filling the crowded streets
Zoot suits and reap pleats
Wide leg Oxford Bags and cuffed trousers
Waistcoats, suspenders, bow-ties and knickerbockers
Ladies wearing make-up, bobbed hair, short fringed skirts and drinking
Bright colored sweaters, patent-leather hair, feather head bands and smoking
The glitz of New York
Not the grime of Detroit
Superstars
Forgetting who their real friends are
Blinded by the glitter and gleam
Forgetting you are only a human being
Going where Harlem flits
No guts no grits
The fancy rich and famous showing their glitz
Forget about the misfits
And come on down to the Ritz
Categories:
basie, clothes, crazy, culture, dance,
Form: Couplet
As I dusted off an old jazz LP
A musical genie appeared to me
With seven notes in his hand
And a wish for each one
So I wished to see some singers and bands
Then I traveled back in time
On a C note
To hear the great jazz bands of old
My first stop was with the Count
Count Basie caressed the piano
As the saxophone turned out gold
The bass guitar was strumming away
And I listened to Billie Holiday
As she sang 'Blue Moon'
I then hitched a ride on a D note
And that took me to see the Duke
As I watched him tickle the ivories
I was taken for a ride on the A train
Where I heard him play Moon River
I left the train on an E note
To see Ella Fitzgerald sing
I did not want to depart
Until she sang "Cry you out of my heart"
Then a G note took me away
So I could hear Nina Simone play
I still had a few notes to spare
As Nina sang "My baby don't care.......
Before I left, I wanted to see one last show
So the B note took me to see Louie Satchmo
With his trumpet blaring
To "When the saints go marching in"
It was a great musical affair
And I rode home on the melodic notes
of the great trumpeteer
Categories:
basie, music,
Form: Free verse
Danced with
Conceived and born
Sung to and nursed
On a downy soft quilt
Transfused with
Vibrations of Ellington
Basie, Crosby, Waller
Goodman and Armstrong
Skyrocketed spiritually
By Kern and Carmichael
Porter, Gershwin and Berlin
Thanks Mom and Dad
For the beautiful music
We made together
On that bed of downy softness
Categories:
basie, childhood,
Form: Free verse