by Lester Allyson Knibbs
(formerly Hakeem Muhammad)
this is (s)not jazz
i am an
african-american
all i haf to do is
blow my nose
and they call it
jazz
i have studied the works of
bach beethoven brahms and bartok
mozart haydn schubert chopin liszt
sibelius and khachaturian
but genetic predetermination
causes my fingers to play
joplin morton waller hines
ellington basie tatum powell
monk weston and tyner
et cetera et cetera et cetera
without any study whatsoever
after all i’m black negroid colored
or whatever you want to call it
and we all got natural ( … nevermind)
( … whatever)
i’m going to play the piano
this is (s)not jazz
June 3, 1998
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