Sunday, June 18, 2023

Poet Laureate Alan Yount and son Arlen writing poetry together - doesn't get much better than this especially on Father's Day!

 From my Facebook post of today, 18 June 2023:

Oh my goodness, KHS65 folks AND anyone interested in jazz music, Duke Ellington, trumpets or just easy listening, check this out. I've been waiting for 2 months to post this today but had to wait until it was first published on Jerry Jazz Musician website. Our class poet, Alan Yount (The Count from our high school dance band years), and his son have written poetry together. It is published today as Sunday Poem but really it's a series of several, about Alan and his dad's visit to a performance of Duke Ellington in 1964. Even if you're not a big poetry fan, you should read it. Read it with your father or son if one is at hand. At the end of the poems Arlen and Alan read the poetry so you can hear the words. There is a blurb about each one of them at the very end. I am so excited to be able to bring this to you all. Alan had a serious heart attack awhile back and can't travel much, and if you read my posts you may have seen that Alan's mom recently died at age 102; dying of natural causes very peacefully and not in any pain or distress. Check back a couple of months on my FB posts. A wonderful family, and Alan is still playing that trumpet! Think back to the dances on Friday nights at the KHS cafeteria OR the gym when his band played for our dances! Fond memories -
congratulations to US for having such talented contemporaries, still making a difference! Enjoy and again Happy Father's Day!  The below link takes you to the page where you'll see Sunday Poem on the right then scroll down a bit to see the beginning of the poem on the left....then keep reading until you've seen the short bios of both Alan and Arlen.
 

The Sunday Poem: "Duke Ellington’s Big-Band Orchestra: Live at Basin Street East, New York City. Summer 1964" - by Alan and Arlan Yount - Jerry Jazz Musician
The poet Alan Yount and son Arlan write about a live 1964 performance by Duke Ellington and His Orchestra


No comments:

Post a Comment