A few years back pianist Courtney Bryan and I went into a ninth ward/Marigny area studio in New Orleans, right off the Mississippi River, and recorded six selections. I never got around to getting the work released to the world. And then… Courtney attended the 2019 Professor Longhair Symposium at which I was the keynote speaker, and we chatted. She was a few months away from going abroad after winning a major residency in Europe provided by the American Academy in Rome. I prodded myself, I needed to get the duets out.

About a week later I did a poetry gig. Anne Waldman was the headliner on the bill with me. I did four selections. Two of the poems I performed at that gig with Waldman were included on that earlier session I had done with Courtney, and so, there it was. A reminder. Don’t delay. Get some of this out.

Courtney is a deep, deep pianist who expertly and seemingly effortlessly covers the waterfront of jazz piano. I love the way she plays, how she listens and responds, as well as creates, improvises, does not need to be told what to do. Even though she reads music she does not need direction to make the magic of meaningful music. She is gifted enough to fashion beautiful creations out of the air guided solely by her internal imagination.

So here are two selections: “On Visiting My Ex-Wife Of 16 Years” (which I did solo on the poetry gig) and “Who Travels With The Night”. Enjoy.

kalamu / 27 April 2019