Testimony, a tribute to Charlie Parker: with new and selected jazz poems

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa is well known for his jazz poetry, and this book is the first to bring together the verve and vitality of his oeuvre. The centerpiece of this volume is the libretto "Testimony." Paying homage to Charlie Parker, "Testimony" was commissioned for a radio drama with original music by eminent Australian composer and saxophonist Sandy Evans. Remarkably rich and evocative, encompassing a wide range of musical energy and performers, this moving affirmation of Parker's genius became a milestone in contemporary radio theater. Twenty-eight additional poems spanning the breadth of Komunyakaa's career are included, including two never previously published. Accompanying the poems are interviews and essays featuring Komunyakaa, Evans, radio producer Christopher Williams, jazz critic Miriam Zolin, jazz writer and editor Sascha Feinstein, and musical director, Paul Grabowsky. Sascha Feinstein writes the foreword. The print edition includes two CDs with the entire Australian Broadcast Company recording of Testimony, ebook contains imbedded audio. Check for the online reader's companion at testimony.site.wesleyan.edu. Jazz poems, Yusef Komunyakaa. Rhythm method -- Togetherness -- Twilight seduction -- Woman, I got the blues -- Jasmine -- Gingkoes -- Tenebrae -- Cante Jondo -- Changes or, Reveries at a window overlooking a country road, with two women talking blues in the kitchen -- The same beat -- To beauty -- Ignis Fatuus -- Pepper -- Satchmo, USA -- Nightbird -- Copacetic Mingus -- Gerry's jazz -- Speed ball -- February in Sydney -- The plea -- Elegy for Thelonious -- Dolphy's aviary -- Gutbucket -- Blue Light Lounge sutra for the performance poets at Harold Park Hotel -- The story of a coat -- No-good blues -- Ode to the saxophone -- Coda. Testimony, Yusef Komunyakaa and Sandy Evans. The libretto. Yusef Komunyakaa's "Testimony" and the humanity of Charlie Parker / Sascha Feinstein -- Survival masks : an interview with Yusef Komunyakaa / Sascha Feinstein -- Testimony / Yusef Komunyakaa -- The music. Testimony, the ties that bind / Miriam Zolin -- French flowers blooming : the music for Testimony / Sandy Evans and Christopher Williams -- Composer/musical director's notes / Sandy Evans -- Testimony, songs and musicians / Sandy Evans -- Australian Art Orchestra performances / Paul Grabowsky. CD: $t Testimony overture -- Boxcars -- Chicken shack, part 1 -- Chicken shack, part 2 -- Purple dress -- Deep South -- A day like today -- Abel and Cain -- Black cockatoo -- Camarillo, part 1 -- Camarillo, part 2 -- Addie's boy -- Pree's funeral -- Barrow Street -- Moose the Mooche -- A soft touch for strings -- Baroness Pannonica -- Testimony finale -- Testimony coda.