Most of my friends are no longer here.
I keep their numbers
in a phone that will never ring.
It is a holy thing,
this absence—
like a door left open
to a room I cannot enter
but refuse to close.
— kenne
Archive for the ‘Music’ Tag
Most of My Friends Are No Longer Here 1 comment
Fiddle Player 2 comments
Fiddle Player — Image by kenne
Plaid skirt above her knees,
cap pulled low above her eyes—
she lifts the fiddle,
electric hum alive in the wires.
The bow strikes,
and sound uncoils like lightning,
notes tumbling fast,
braided with heat and pulse.
Her feet moving to the beat,
each chord a declaration—
plaid, cap, and storm-song
woven into one fierce figure
of music and light.
Share this:
Memphis Beale Street Leave a comment
Memphis Beale Street — Image by kenne
“Blues and soul and jazz music
has so much pain,
so much beauty of
raw emotion and passion.”
— Christina Aguilera
Share this:
Under Tucson Skies — Music By Frank Hudson 4 comments
Early Morning In Tucson’s Sabino Canyon — Image by kenne
On December 29, 2024, I posted “There ain’t no substitute,” a line from my poem, “Under Tucson Skies.”
Under Tucson skies
Desiring the wings to fly
In a sky so deep blue
Satisfied to walk my days
Under Tucson skies.
Sometimes I get a little lost
Acting like a kid flying high
I don’t know why
the thrill is still here
Satisfied under Tucson skies.
I know it ain’t just
one of those things
It’s something so nice
So I can’t get use to
Something so right.
I see beautiful colors
I want to write about
But there ain’t no substitute
For the real thing
I know there ain’t no substitute.
After the posting, I received a comment from a blogger I follow, Frank Hudson. “Reading under Tucson Skies makes me think it could be sung. — Working on music for it today. You might hear it soon.” Frank is a poet and musician with an ongoing project, “Parlando – Where Music and Words Meet.” I love his Dylanesque style of music.
On my birthday, January 15th, Frank sent a link to the music. I remain profoundly moved.
Under Tucson Skies
Read the rest of this entry »
Share this:
Old People 3 comments
Say Hello In There — John Prine
Share this:
Gruene Hall Leave a comment
Gruene Hall, Gruene, TX (07/24/08) — Image by kenne
Share this:
Mean Gene Kelton — Free Bird Leave a comment
Mean Gene Kelton — Image by kenne
Recently, I’ve been going through some of my old videos and found the one below that I had never posted; at least, I thought I had not until I went to my YouTube posts. It’s in a post, “Mean Gene Kelton @ The Corner Pub August 2008. Gene’s cover of the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, Free Bird is pretty dam good.
Video by kenne
Share this:
Kae Is Getting More Attention Leave a comment
Kae Tempest — Photo-Artistry by kenne from a Photo by Wolfgang Tillmans
A couple of years ago, I posted: “I’m a new fan of Kae Tempest, an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist, and playwright — a great performer by any measure. Then, in January 2022,
I did a post on Kae’s latest book, “On Connections,” in which they extolled the importance of finding meanings in the little things.
Like most people, when I first hear about an artist, I feel like I was the one who discovered the artist.
So, I was both surprised and pleased to learn about Kae’s appearance on Jimmy Fallon’s The Tonight Show this past Monday.
— kenne
Share this:
“The Dean” — Looking Back 1 comment
“The Dean” (November 8, 2001) — HDR Image Taken With My Camera
Lone Star College — Montgomery
There’s a long list of things I have done, and looking back, I don’t know how —
regardless, it’s always about perseverance.
— kenne
Share this:
Let’s Dance! 2 comments
Credit…Louisa Gouliamaki/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Listening to NPR this morning, I learn that Greek composer and politician Mikis Theodorakis died Thursday at age 96.
Theodorakis’ music for the film Zorba the Greek became a worldwide shorthand for a seize-the-moment kind of joyfulness.
The music and the film scene still provide one of the most memorable scenes in my lifetime.
— kenne
Share this:
Just Like The White-winged Dove Leave a comment
White-winged Dove On Ocotillo — Image by kenne
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
Ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
And the days go by, like a strand in the wind
In the web that is my own, I begin again
Said to my friend, baby (everything stopped)
Nothin’ else mattered
In the web that is my own, I begin again
Said to my friend, baby (everything stopped)
Nothin’ else mattered
He was no more than a baby then
Well, he seemed broken-hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him, all alone
On the edge of seventeen
Well, he seemed broken-hearted
Something within him
But the moment that I first laid
Eyes on him, all alone
On the edge of seventeen
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
Just like the white-winged dove
Sings a song, sounds like she’s singing
I said ooh, baby, ooh, said ooh
— from Edge of Seventeen by Stevie Nicks
Share this:
‘Hold Tight’ 1 comment
‘Hold Tight’ — Oil Painting in Black and White by kenne
Hold tight
Hold tight
If you wanna make this feeling stay
Hold tight
Hold tight
Don’t let this moment fade away
Hold tight
Now tears gonna stay
Everybody gets the chance someday
Call it once it last you think you’ve got it made
Not a word that anyone can say
That can change the way you feel
Cause you know that love is real
You can choose within you fall in love
Anybody any moment any way
‘Cause no matter who you chose
There’s a chance that you might loose
Gonna the best that I can do
Hold tight
— from Hold Tight by David Romani / Davide Romani / Mauro Malavasi / Paul Adrian Slade
Share this:
The Month Of May Fifty Years Out 1 comment
Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
I can’t let this month get by without recognizing the 50th anniversary (May 21, 1971) of the release of Marvin Gaye’s
masterpiece album, What’s Going On.
“OK, let’s just get this out of the way. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On LP is a masterpiece. If it’s not in your top five
or at least within the realm of your top 10 albums of all-time, then I seriously think you need to reevaluate your list.
Not many albums give you a snapshot of the world at the time of its release and still remain very relevant decades later.
What’s Going On most certainly does.” — Terry Nelson (albumism.com)
Gaye released the single, What’s Going On, after co-writer Renaldo “Obie” Benson saw police in Berkeley, Calif.,
brutality beat anti-Vietnam War protesters. Gaye would later say, “What mattered was the message. For the first time,
I felt like I had something to say.”
The album went platinum, and Rolling Stone would place it among the greatest albums of all time.
Now fifty years out, its influences are evident today as the nation wrestles with inequality and a racial reckoning.
— kenne
Share this:
Ground Zero Blues Club Leave a comment
Ground Zero Blues Club Memphis (01/21/10) — Abstract Art by kenne
“There are only two kinds of songs;
there’s the blues,
and there’s zip-a-dee-doo-dah.”
— Townes Van Zandt
Share this:
On The Dock Of The Bay Leave a comment
Fishing Boats Docked at Galveston Bay, Texas — Image by kenne
[Verse 1]
Sittin’ in the mornin’ sun
I’ll be sittin’ when the evenin’ come
Watching the ships roll in
And then I watch ’em roll away again, yeah
[Chorus]
I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m just sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Verse 2]
I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the ‘Frisco bay
‘Cause I’ve had nothing to live for
And look like nothin’s gonna come my way
[Chorus]
So I’m just gonna sit on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Ooo, I’m sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Bridge]
Look like nothing’s gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can’t do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I’ll remain the same, yes
[Verse 3]
Sittin’ here resting my bones
And this loneliness won’t leave me alone
It’s two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home
[Chorus]
Now, I’m just gonna sit at the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
Oooo-wee, sittin’ on the dock of the bay
Wastin’ time
[Outro]
*Whistling*
