Epistrophies: Jazz and the Literary Imagination

In1941TheloniousMonkandKennyClarkecopyrighted?Epistrophy,?oneofthebest-knowncompositionsofthebebopera.Thesong?stitlereferstoaliterarydevice?therepetitionofawordorphraseattheendofsuccessiveclauses?thatisechoedintheconstructionofthemelody.Writtentwodecadeslater,AmiriBaraka?spoem?Epistrophe?alludesslylytoMonk?stune.Whetheritiscomposersfindingformalinspirationinverseorapoetinvokingthesoundofmusic,hearingacrossmediaisthesourceofinnovationinblackart.Epistrophiesexploresthisfertileinterfacethroughcasestudiesinjazzliterature?bothwritingsinformedbymusicandthesurprisinglylargebodyofwritingbyjazzmusiciansthemselves.FromJamesWeldonJohnson?svernaculartranscriptionstoSunRa?slinernotepoems,fromHenryThreadgill?sarrestingsongtitlestoNathanielMackey?s?SongoftheAndoumboulou,?thereisanunendingback-and-forthbetweenmusicthathoversattheedgeoflanguageandwritingthatstrivesforthepropulsiveenergyandmelodiccontoursofmusic.Attimesthisresultsinartthatgravitatesintomultiplemedia.InDukeEllington?s?socialsignificance?suites,orinthestrikingparallelsbetweenLouisArmstrong?sinventivenessasasingerandtrumpeterontheonehandandhisidiosyncraticcreativityasaletterwriterandcollagistontheother,oneencountersanaestheticthattakesupbothliteratureandmusicascomponentsofaunique?anduniquelyAfricanAmerican?sphereofart-makingandperformance.,