Jackie McClean/Steve Dalachinsky
Tantalus #1
(Jackie McLean @ the Village Vanguard)
Jack stood here like sadness a tree sitting like wild calm
motionless trembling drunk on ecstatic spirituality
Tantalus gave away the secrets of the gods
frustrated with his position in the rhythm section
keeping time woman family
Eric stood here after a long solo
a tree sitting with eyes on the red worn carpet
drugged by euphoric somber contemplation
kept to himself with the intelligence of a well planned village
Tantalus was punished for his crime made to stand chin deep in water
gave away the secrets of the gods
staring at the heavily laden ever bearing fruit tree
stood motionless trembling he had become a desert
gave away the secrets of the gods for all eternity
John stood here far from India but India inside him & played
flooded with impressions of all those secrets
small bits of knowledge revealed caught provoked rebellious
stood as a tree in utter pain & crisis a saint maltreated
aching & chasing the wicked away listening after Eric’s turn
absorbing with trembling & motionless
Tantalus stood motionless
trembling
hungering
thirsting
only able to see hear smell
raised his hand to his waist played a solo on his fingers
quiet like the branch of a tree
only light to soothe him
only night to shut him down
motionless trembling like the intelligence of a tree
Jackie stands here at set’s end renewed.
* Jack = Kerouac Eric = Dolphy
John = Coltrane Jackie = McLean
Jackie McLean @ Village Vanguard
for Melvin Clark
it’s 10 to 1 Jackie has a stomach pain
i’m really drunk
he goes back stage
a young quick upstart takes his place
the man i came to see played great for 3 tunes the 2nd set
despite his dispepsia
& now Wallace, Kenny & Steve all take his place &
they all sound great
but of course i am very drunk & know very little in any case
the guy i’m with dislikes my behavior we were both dope fiends once
& he only drinks sarratoga water now while i work on my 5th gin
i’m loud & scratchy & he says " wha’d’ya think" & i say or he says
the young upstart - his words - has no history & that he the featured soloist
(Jackie Mac) who is now very sick, is part of our history
he is a cool awakening a glove that fits over our hearts
a spray of fresh birdsong
that fills our lungs & makes our lips look cheery
we grew into that sound his sound
& it grew into our fabric these past 30 odd years
Wallace did a sweet short solo but again - what do i know i’m drunk
the piano rips me but the cat i came to see packed up his horn & went
into the back room
i’m drunk as a skunk & i know it & my friend knows it
& Kenny wears a strange set of threads as he dances on the alto
the tempo is quick & the juice of youth spills into my spoiled &
sopping brain but what do i know
& the tune is by Coltrane who my friend here got to see at least 3x’s & me
almost once but that’s another story
& the tune was written for Mr. P.C. a cat Coltrane really respected
& the young speed down the asphalt & screech to a halt @ the exit
& then turn ‘round softly launching into a standard but what do they know
whispering Body & Soul while the man i came to see suffers in the
back room trapped in the middle between 2 thin lines
2 alternate signs amidst a slew of yellow cabs with flashing lights
trapped between dirty works failure success street corners & Mars
the man i came to see suffers in the back room Body & Soul
but what do i know what do i know i’m drunk dead drunk
what do i know
the funeral (of jackie mc lean)
we gather by the river
in a world without end
rising
coughing
inquiring
weighing
resurrecting
(believers or not)
we play at stewardship/ness
endless world of alternate
original lines:
flowers glass & endless
world of midnites
midnites & flowers
bile-stained & blood sun
glasses stained with bile & blood
clouded sky sun cloud
sky
skin of wood & the be-heathed
rain
the beheath(en)ed
the final song
the riff & rift
of noble but over long speeches
cleaned brass affectioned
tribulations