Creative Response Project

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Creative Response Project

• William Daniels
• ENGL 214
• 16 March 2006

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The Melodies of Jazz
A glow shining down from the illuminating
pole, Trying to find a tune to sooth the
soul, Silence on these mean streets, Took a left
on Beale Street and stopped Foot starting
tapping to sounds of be-bop I shook and jived
tha good foot I shook and jived tha good
foot To the tune of the innocent Jazz
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The music lifted me up to the windowsill Took
me away from the Negro speaking of sorrow O
Jazz! Fingers striking the golden keys so
tenderly Pouring out the smooth sounds of a
melody Angelic Jazz! His feet shuffled and his
hips swayed O Jazz!
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• The brass echoed to the ears of the few
• Words floated thru the air every time he blew
• Dum dum, dee dum dum dum dum
• Everybody bobbing their heads to the sweet, sweet
  melodies.
• It was like listening to the wind talk with just
  a little breeze
• Dum dum, dee dum dum dum dum

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The sounds slipped through the window And off it
carried me on a cloud of pillows The weary blues
echoes and the Jazz speaks. And it whispers in my
ear and says, Go to sleep. Dum dum dee dum
dum dum dum Dum dum, dee dum dum dum dum
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Creative Response Reflection Essay

• I decided to do my creative response project on
  the poem, The Weary Blues, by Langston Hughes.
  I chose this poem because it dealt with real life
  and you could feel the narrators pain through
  his words. You can hear the blues singer telling
  you his story while playing solemn melodies.
  Early blues frequently took the form of a loose
  narrative, often with the singer voicing his or
  her "personal woes in a world of harsh reality."
  The blues should speak to your inner most
  thoughts and feelings that you dont want to let
  out. The blues helps you to escape existence and
  speak your mind. In the early 1900s it captured
  the suffering and anguish of slavery and Jim Crow
  Law. It is reflective o your surroundings and
  tells a story from a personnel perspective or
  story passed on.
• When I started to think about what I wanted to
  do with the poem I leaned towards telling my own
  story in the form of The Weary Blues. After
  marking that idea out I decided that I wanted to
  continue the poem as it was and give it a new
  ending. It took me awhile to figure out which
  direction I wanted to go with the poem. Then it
  just hit me all at once. Why dont I introduce a
  jazz player in the poem? I wanted the poem to
  express feeling and color. I really wanted the
  audience to see the musician play his instrument
  as the read. I want to take everyone to the
  window sill, so they can stand on the tip toes
  and listen to the saxophone speak to them. Every
  time I read through the poem I see myself at that
  window being lifted to another place by the
  musicians Fingers striking the golden keys so
  tenderly/Pouring out the smooth sounds of a
  melody.

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Creative Response Reflection Essay

• I tried to follow the whole scheme of the poem
  and just change the wording around. When I came
  line 19-22 and 25-30 I had to think of something
  to fill in that spot. Those lines are the actual
  words that the blues singer says to express his
  sorrow. The jazz musician does speak through the
  notes that he plays, but I was stumped when it
  came time for me to fill in those blanks with
  actual words. So, I decided to leave it up to the
  audience to decide what he is saying. I just put
  in a simple Dum dum, dee dum dum to place a
  beat in the audiences head.
• Another problem I ran into was how to end it.
  I wanted to end it the same way The Weary Blues
  ended, but I didnt want to use the same words.
  The ending of The Weary Blues ended with
  nothing to look forward to. I wanted the ending
  of The Melodies of Jazz to be one that leaves
  the audience in a positive state mind. The weary
  blues echoes and the jazz speaks. /And it
  whispers in my ear and says, Go to sleep. The
  ending tied in well with The Weary Blues and to
  me proved to be its complete opposite.

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Creative Response Reflection Essay

• For my visual expression I decided to create a
  couple of pictures in Macromedia Fireworks. I
  wanted to re-create the poem visually so that
  everyone could see what I see when I read it. One
  of the pictures that I made was one of the window
  sill and the jazz player. The jazz player is
  made up of musicians, keyboard, stage, and drums.
  He represents the whole body of jazz within
  himself. I created this picture to show the
  depth and versatility of the jazz player. I
  also made a picture of Beale Street because it
  is the heart and soul of the blues. Memphis is
  the center of the blues and it was only right
  that it should be represented in the poem. I
  wanted the audience to see what I see as I read
  poem. This gives the audience something to
  compare there thoughts and feelings to. The
  visual expression helps to listen to the words
  and the music. Of course there wont be music
  playing every time you read the poem, but you can
  hear it. Dum dum dee dum dum/Dum dum, dee dum
  dum.

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(No Transcript)
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THE END