Langston Hughes ode to Jazz from his first collection of poetry The Weary Blues performed with a Jazz combo -- well, not exactly -- it's me doing my best to give this composition a bit of a Jazz feel.
April 30th is International Jazz Day and the last day of U. S. National Poetry Month, so it's appropriate that today's performance tips our hat to Jazz Poetry.
If you want to find out more about this, or sample the more than 650 combinations of various words (mostly poetry) with original music (in different styles) we've done, go to our blog and archives at frankhudson.org
Emily Dickinson's wistful speculation on the paths not taken performed with a folk-Jazz musical setting.
For more about this, and for more than 650 other examples of what we do: combining various words (mostly other people's literary poetry) with original music in different styles, visit our archives at frankhudson.org
Ralph Waldo Emerson was key in bringing elements of South Asian thought to the still forming U. S. culture. For an example, here's a poem of his from 1856 that's an American Transcendentalist appreciation of a Hindu godhead performed as a hymn with acoustic guitar.
For more about this, and for more than 650 other examples of various words (mostly poetry) with original music in different styles, visit our blog and archives at frankhudson.org
William Carlos Williams ambiguous poem about first-time parenthood performed. I had to choose as a performer: is he happy or seeking to be happy in this poem? I choose the later in this sorta-kinda shoegaze musical piece that's part of our National Poetry Month celebration this year.
Sandburg tells us about a Midwestern summer night in the Last Decade Called the Twenties. Can he paint the picture well enough that we can see it in ours? Let's see as I perform his poem in front of a rock quintet.
Want to read more about this, or hear more than 650 other combinations of various words (mostly poetry) with original music? Visit our blog and archives at frankhudson.org
Peruvian author César Vallejo wrote this Easter pastoral poem and I translated it from his Spanish to create this song. Some may wonder why this is an autumn-set poem speaking of Easter. Peru is south of the equator, Easter comes in the fall.
This should be considered the first Parlando Project song, words by Keith Hill, music written by myself as teenager in The Sixties. As part of National Poetry Month, I've been going over how the Parlando Project came to be in blog posts, where you can find more about that, this song, and the archives of over 650 other combinations of various words (mostly poetry) with original music.