PSALM
after Mister T
Words, sounds, speech, men, memory,
thought, fears and emotions—time—all related …
all made from one
—John Coltrane
—from Rattle #85, Fall 2024
Tribute to Musicians
__________
Partridge Boswell: “For me—a ‘troubadour’ lacking a word in his native tongue to adequately describe the fusion of things he does as a poet, singer, songwriter, teacher, musician, and spoken word artist—poetry and music are one and the same, a seamless inseparable symbiosis. This spring, our trio’s on tour in California, the deep South, and Ireland (where poetry and music aren’t estranged and still reside under the same roof), a rare and adaptable trans-genre animal. In the spirit of Federico Garcia Lorca—gifted musician, legendary poet/playwright, and ebullient performer—we fuse poetry and music in a passionate and surprising mash-up. Los Lorcas blur boundaries between spoken word and song, weaving poetry with Andalusian ballads, blues, rock, folk, reggae, hip hop, Americana, and jazz in pursuit of the cante jondo (deep song) Lorca ardently championed. Invariably this means one moment playing clubs, pubs, and coffeehouses, and the next bookstores, libraries, schools, and literary festivals. All our song lyrics are published poems, and many also enjoy lives as spoken word pieces. Our setlists typically feature roughly 60 percent of our own poetry and 30 percent paying homage to the work of other poets we admire wedded to our own arrangements and translations, which strive to do justice to each poem’s innate original music. While our poetry concerts may nonplus purists who assume we’re just moonlighting, we aim to build bridges and cross invisible, unnecessary borders. From creation to ovation, the active symbiosis of poetry and music we espouse encourages us to pay close attention to a poem’s musical qualities and/or a lyric’s poetic mien. Song or poem, call it what you will—we believe this fusion translates to a deeper, more accessible metapoetic experience for our audiences.” (web)
