As I have mentioned earlier on the blog, the joining (in any way) of music and writing excites me because they are two things that I hold close to my heart. While perusing the NY Times music reviews, I found something that did just this–a woman performing the works of a poet using music as part of the delivery (Review is here). Ute Lemper is a German Cabaret singer and actress who has been noted for interpreting the writings of Kurt Weill and has taken on a new project to “journey through the poetry of Charles Bukowski” as described by her.
This journey is called “The Bukowski Project” and consists of Lemper passionately putting her whole emotion into the readings of his poems, which are extremely dark and looming about what the future brings. Then, after reading a poem, there is music played of Lemper’s by the jazz/rock trio: pianist Vana Gierig, bassist Steve Millhouse and drummer Todd Turkisher. This is a very interesting and odd combination for a trio; in my head, trio always automatically means cello, piano and violin. I would like to hear the music that is paired with these works by Burkowski, who wrote extensively about the end of the world in one of the poems named “Dinosauria, We.” He writes “Dante’s inferno will be made to look like a children’s playground/The sun will not be seen and it will always be night.” There is a multitude of ways that this can be expressed via music and I wonder how Lemper has chosen to compose for this sort of grave thinking.
I couldn’t find the performance because it was done this past weekend at a pub in the East Village but I found the two aspects that the performance up: here is the video of the author speaking the poem “Dinosauria, we” is here and is quite a performance in itself! Then, watch a clip of Lemper performing one of Weill’s works here. Can you imagine how intense Lemper’s version of Bukowski must have been?
Bukowski’s poems are rather intense, and maybe even a little angry. The angry poet is a particular type that can shed light on things that need fixing. Then there is the “gee whiz” kind of poet like Billy Collins. And the poet who finds astonishing beauty in the most ordinary day-to-day events, like William Carlos Williams.
I love Billy Collins! His poetry is simple and sweet. I recommend his book Sailing Around the Room.