Jack in January

John Lucas in 1980

Jack, his real name John Lucas, was a close friend of mine while we were both living in Rome in 1963. Jack was a poet who loved jazz.

My idea for Jack in January came from the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco. Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Kenneth Rexroth, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and other poets, recited their poems on Sunday afternoons at City Lights accompanied by jazz performances, and although I was not there, I liked the poetry and I liked the idea of an accompaniment. So it seemed a natural thing to use jazz, even if short fragments, to accompany Jack’s poetry.

When we left Rome at the end of 1963 and went different ways, I took with me several recordings of Jack reciting his poems. But it was in January of 1967, after I had learned how to use the studio in Albany, and remembering Jack’s talks about the City Lights bookstore, that I was finally able to use the recordings in a composition.

I composed this as a good times homage to a friend.

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For other compositions, click on a title

Blues Mix 1966
Albany Music 3 1966
Jack in January 1967
Street Scene 1967

Drift 1970
Ideas of Movement at Bolton Landing 1971
Echoes 1972

From The 14th On 1973

Flowers 1975
Settings for Spirituals 1977

Solo 1978
Scenes from Stevens 1979
Follow Me Softly 1984

After Some Songs 1995
Spring Drum with Pierre’s Words 1997

Many Times … 2001
One World 1 2006
Micro Fictions 2009
Different Cities 2013