"Strong Feather" Rattlecast 185
 

Hello all, Timothy Green has posted our conversation on RATTLE's broadcast channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnv5a00YV2I&t=1500s

There you can see me in my study and office, and hear a few formal poems, all from my new book, "Strong Feather," published by Alex Pepple and Able Muse Press, which comes out on the 24th of this month. Tim is great on the topic of rhyming and metrical verse, and our dialogue is heavy with it.

Jennifer

This link goes right to the start of the interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bnv5a00YV2I&t=714s

I'll watch it tonight.

“Everything we’re missing in the world is contained within this book.”

Timothy Green on Strong Feather

Many thanks, Julie, for posting that link to the beginning of the broadcast.

J

I just watched it. Excellent! I really enjoyed it.

Jennifer - You peaked my interest when you said you were a trained percussionist. That makes two of us. Rhythm’s where it’s at!

Watched half tonight. The second half tomorrow. The villanelle to your mother forced me to back up three times and resist doing it more.

Indeed it is, Martin -- except for that one year the horns hated us when we put on field "Changes" by the group Yes and Mr. H- made them all miserable, looking foolish in public as they tried to mark time to those chaotic, switching time signatures. To be honest, I think the flutes hated us as well, but were just too sweet to say so.

John, I'm so glad you like that one! Thank you, sir.

J

Jennifer, I can relate to your marching band story. I found, in my many years of playing with the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, that the instruments who hated us the most were the violins. Cymbal crashes were their worst nightmare. I wrote a poem about that once.

I'm listening right now to "Changes." Those rhythms in the intro are crazy (2/4, 6/16, 2/4, 6/16, 6/16)! No wonder the French horn players were bent out of shape! They were probably ready to throw their instruments across the field, and their poor horns would have been bent out of shape, too.

A very good drummer in my high school jazz band once took a 4-measure solo during a performance. He played such intricate polyrhythms that, even though he landed right on the downbeat, it threw off the rest of the band, and so they didn't come in on their entrance. For punishment, the band leader, Mr. S., didn't allow the boy to join them on their overseas tour. Pretty harsh punishment, I'd say.

Yes, I am not exaggerating. Our sponsor was the art teacher and he was a maniac -- used to hurl chairs at us across the band room during practice, screaming that we had no intensity and would never amount to anything in life, publicly humiliating us on field during practice before the other players. But we ended up, playing Percussive Arts Society's international convention in L.A. one year, and winning many awards. The Black Watch is still legendary at my alma mater.

You must have such amusing memories of the William Tell Overture.

Jennifer

That teacher sounds psychopathic! It's wonderful that you were in such a great band! Did you play snare drum? I'm quite familiar with PAS (The Percussive Arts Society). Their magazine, Percussive Notes, had reviewed many of my published percussion compositions.

I do, indeed, have lots of amusing memories, not only of the William Tell, but also of concerts, conductors, players, and pieces of music, as well as the venues I performed at.

Yes, I did play snare. I played all the percussion instruments. During marching season, I played snare (where I was the corps captain), multi-toms, bass, cymbals. In community symphony orchestra and during concert season, I played snare, chimes (tubular bells), melodics (marimba and xylophone), gong,muyu Buddhist ritual "slit drum" temple blocks. Castanet palillos. Pellet bells. Tambourine, triangle, and timbales. Cabasa, maraca, bongo/conga. Ratchet, rattle, and rainstick. Whistle and Vibraslap ;)

Upon graduation from high school, I was awarded a music scholarship to college where I added timpani to the repertoire.

Wow, that's great, Jennifer! You obviously had monster chops to have played in an elite marching band plus the orchestra, as well as being talented. Did you go for a music degree in college? You could have been a professional musician (or maybe you are and keeping it a secret). Do you miss playing at all?

Rattlecast has become ratamacuecast!

Martin, you are too kind and I truly appreciate your interest.

No, I majored in English at a time when Dr. John Wood was the director of the MFA program there. It was one of the finest in the country for aspiring writers and I'm very proud. I never missed the music. To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under Heaven. Many thanks.

Jennifer