Today, over a working lunch, Roy Francis Kasten and I embarked upon assembling the poetry score to Jack Ruby's America by Missouri's new poet laureate, David Clewell.
The form of this score will be pure voice - the poet's performance of his own poem - interspersed with pure music, instrumental interludes that provide breaks from the language while commenting upon the poem and creating a counter-narrative of tones and moods.
Today, all we did was chop up Clewell's reading (which Roy and I had recorded, years ago) and save the bits under the titles they will bear on the poetry score CD. Each of these titles, of course, is drawn verbatim from the poem. The musical interludes we will begin to intersperse throughout the poem also will be titled verbatim from Clewell's language.
Here, though, is just the reading, divvied into bits. Each link opens an mp3.
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Jack Ruby's America
By David Clewell
Performed by David Clewell
I / Jack Ruby orders the chicken salad: November 21, 1963
I’m in a world of history
Jack Ruby orders the chicken salad
II / The Chicago Cowboy
The extent of my involvement
A man who could handle the chump change
1312 ½ Commerce
Some thin veneer of class
Too green to burn
Jack and the music
III. / Jack Ruby talks business with the new girl: November 21, 1963
Jack Ruby talks business with the new girl
IV / The difference a day makes
He’s long gone now
Down for good
V / Jack Ruby spends his last New Year’s Eve with his sister, telling the truth as he knows it: Parkland Hospital, December 31, 1966
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