Second Set, Vol. 2

SASCHA FEINSTEIN teaches creative writing and literature at Lycoming College. He is the author of Jazz Poetry: From the 1920s to the Present and A Bibliographic Guide to Jazz Poetry. His poems and essays have appeared in Southern Review, New England Review, and North American Review. YUSEF KOMUNYAKAA, Professor of Creative Writing at Princeton University, has published nine books of poetry: Copacetic, I Apologize for the Eyes in My Head, Dien Cai Dau, Magic City, and Neon Vernacular (winner of the Pulitzer Prize).

• Selected Table of ContentsAi - Archangel; The Man with the SaxophoneSamuel Allen - I Say, Mr. A.Baron James Ashanti - Just Another GigAlvin Aubert - Bessie; Bessie Smith's FuneralHouston A. Baker, Jr. - Tobacco Warehouse Blues; Of Walter White's Father in the RainPaul Beatty - Sitting on Other People's CarsJohn Berryman - Dream Song 68Gwendolyn Brooks - Queen of the Blues; The Sundays of Satin-legs Smith; The Third Sermon on the WarplandArthur Brown - The Assassination of Charlie Parker; Callin Buddy BoldenChristopher Buckley - Nostalgia; Playing for TimeMichael Castro - Blew ItRichard Cecil - Richard's BluesKaren Chase - What You Can't SeeJane Cooper - Wanda's BluesHart Crane - For the Marriage of Faustus and HelenStanley Crouch - The Revelation; Up On the SpoonE. E. Cummings - [god pity me whom(god distinctly has)]Thulani N. Davis - C. T. at the 5 Spot; C. T.'s Variation; Rogue & JarDiane Di Prima - I Ching; Notes on the Art of MemoryMark Doty - Almost BlueRita Dove - CanaryHenry Dumas - Concentration Camp Blues; Listen to the Sound of My HornDave Etter - Monk's Dream; Stuffy Turkey; Well You Needn'tMari Evans - Boss CommunicationSarah Webster Fabio - For Louis Armstrong, A Ju-JuWilliam Ford - Of Miles DavisNikki Giovanni - Genie in a JarSam Greenlee - Memorial for TraneJoy Harjo - Bird; Healing Animal; Strange FruitMichael S. Harper - Bandstand; A Narrative of the Life and Times of John Coltrane: Ply By HimselfDeBose Heyward - Jasbo BrownEdward Hirsch - Art PepperRichard Hugo - My BuddyT. R. Hummer - Poem In the Shape of a SaxophoneAngela Jackson - Billie in Silk; Make/n My Music; OhnedaruthRichard Jackson - ShadowsDavid Jauss - After the End of the World; Black OrchidLance Jeffers - How High the Moon; Nina SimoneJune Jordan - October 23, 1983Robert Kelly - Newark; Ode to LanguageKeorapetse Kgositsile - Acknowledgement; For Art Blakey and the Jazz MessengersYusef Komunyakaa - Speed Ball; Twilight SeductionVachel Lindsay - The Jazz of This HotelNaomi Long Madgett - Echoes; Plea for My Heart's SakeWilliam Matthews - The Buddy Bolden Cylinder; Mingus At the ShowplaceMichael McClure - For MonkThomas McGrath - Guiffre's Nightmusic; Jazz at the Intergalactic NightclubJames McKean - Fater Listening to Jack Teagarden . . .Sandra McPherson - The Ability to Make a Face like a Spider While Singing Blues: Junior Wells; Some Metaphysics of Junior Wells; Suspension: Junior Wells on a Small stage in a Converted BarnDavid Meltzer - 17:II:82; 18:VI:82Adrian Mitchell - From Rich Uneasy America to My Friend Christopher LogueMwatabu Okantah - Afreeka Brass; Southern RoadRon Overton - Blues in"C"Dudley Randall - Langston BluesCarolyn M. Rodgers - We Dance Like Ella Riffs; Written for Love of an Ascension—ColtraneMuriel Rukeyser - Bunk Johnson Blowing; Homage to LiteratureNtozake Shange - Elegance in the ExtremeCharles Simic - Crepescule With NellieA. B. Spellman - Did John's Music Kill Him; John ColtraneLorenzo Thomas - HistoriographyAskia Muhammad Touré - JuJu; O Lord of Light! A Mystic Sage Returns to Realms of EternityDerek Walcott - Blues; The Glory TrumpeterTom Weatherly - Mud River Shango; TimesRon Welburn - Ben Webster: "Did You Call Her Today?"; Bones and Drums; GonsalvesMiller Williams - The Death of Chet BakerYevgeny Yevtushenko - Saints of Jazz; SatchmoAl Young - Dance of the Infidels; Lester Leaps InPaul Zimmer - But Bird; Sitting With LesterBiographical Notes and Statements of PoeticsMusic AppendixAcknowledgments

"As an augmentation of 1991's Jazz Poetry Anthology, The Second Set is as impetuous and bent as a Thelonious Monk song ... It should especially please the jazz culture connoisseur. Feinstein and Komunyakaa ... have created an exquisite mix of poetry, history and personal takes on the literary implications of the musical form." Publishers Weekly "Amazingly often, a single image in a poem seems to achieve a clarity about the music that entire books fail to achieve. Even if you think poetry isn't your 'bag,' give The Second Set a try. It compels you to hear jazz freshly, from a multitude of new angles." Pulse! "This is an anthology to dip into and roam around in, especially when you're listening to the music that served to inspire these poets ... There's much in these pages to seduce aficionados of both jazz and poetry." Jazz Times "Recommended for general and academic collections." Choice