Jazz Poetry as a Message of African American Culture: An Interview with Lenard D. Moore

Abstract

Jazz Poetry as a Message of African American Culture:An Interview with Lenard D. Moore John Zheng Based in Raleigh, North Carolina, Lenard D. Moore is a prolific poet with seven poetry collections. Known internationally as a haiku poet, Moore shows his great interest in various poetic forms and expressions in The Geography of Jazz, reprinted by Blair in September 2020, which brings us his jazz experience and feeling. To Moore, jazz is a celebration of American life and culture. This celebration challenges him to present such great jazz musicians as Max Roach, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, Duke Ellington, Ray Charles, or the unknown ones described in the poem "Raleigh Jazz Festival, 1986." The impact is immediate as The Geography of Jazz renews the jazz performances. This interview, conducted by email in February and October 2021 and revised in March 2022, serves as a complement to a previous interview, conducted in 2017, which focused mainly on Moore's haiku writing and other books. John Zheng: How important is jazz as an essential musical expression of African American experience? Lenard D. Moore: Jazz is one of the great musical genres, which African Americans invented in New Orleans around one hundred twenty-one years ago or around the turn of the last century, the twentieth century. An expressive form, it is so important that it emerges in the way we talk and walk. Zheng: And how important is it to American culture? Moore: Jazz is American culture because it is part of the fabric and part of the quilt of America. It is appreciated and celebrated all over the world. To that end, America is jazz as well as other forms of music. [End Page 99] Jazz has a way of bringing everyone together. When we come together, love happens. Zheng: What has urged you to write jazz poetry? Moore: It is the feel of jazz and the improvisation that have led me to write jazz poetry. I also like what Langston Hughes, Michael S. Harper, Amiri Baraka, Sonia Sanchez, Jayne Cortez, Yusef Komunyakaa, and Eugene B. Redmond have done with jazz poetry. In fact, Harper's book, Dear John, Dear Coltrane, has been such an important book to me. I reread Harper's book again and again. He incorporated much history as well as music into his poetry. I like his approach to writing jazz poetry. I, too, employ history in my poetry. I want to capture the mood and innovation of jazz and infuse it into my poetry. In addition, I like to take risks with my poetry writing. I do not want to be pigeonholed with my poetry. I keep doing new things. I write poetry in more than thirty different poetic forms. I think experimentation has a way of bringing about discovery. So, maybe I am able to work toward a sense of discovery in my jazz poetry by pushing the boundaries or extending the boundaries. If possible, I strive to write until the jazz poem sings back at me. Zheng: Poetry is a carrier of music. Is there an emphasis on the title of your poetry collection, The Geography of Jazz? Moore: Yes, there is a definite emphasis on the title of my poetry collection. My original manuscript was cut about thirty pages because I wrote about jazz artists and jazz tunes from all over the world. I really had a focus on the geography of jazz. So, I came up with the title of my manuscript several years ago. I worked on my manuscript for more than twenty years. At some point, however, I hope to publish the other section of my original manuscript. My original manuscript depicts jazz musicians and singers from Japan, South Korea, South Africa, Brazil, and elsewhere. I like different schools of jazz, including Bebop. I am interested in what newer artists are doing, such as Esperanza Spalding, Keiko Matsui, and Youn Sun Nah. Of course, I love the standards or classic jazz tunes. Zheng: Who are your favorite jazz musicians who have invigorated your jazz poetry? [End Page 100] Moore: Musicians who have invigorated my jazz poetry are John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Nina Simone, Dizzy...