under the aegis of a winged mind

by Makalani Bandele

Overview

The poems in under the aegis of a winged mind are inspired by the life and times of the jazz composer and pianist Earl “Bud” Powell. Powell was a leading figure in the development of jazz, but throughout his life, he also faced struggles with police brutality, harassment, drug and alcohol abuse, and mental illness. In this collection, makalani bandele explores Powell’s life through a blend of both formal and free verse persona poems. These poems are multivocal, with the speaker often embodying Powell himself and sometimes a close friend or family member, the spectator of a performance, or a fellow musician. While the book follows the narrative of Powell’s life, the poems are experimental in form and presentation. As the book recounts Powell’s life, it also explores how Black genius has encountered, struggled against, and developed mechanisms to cope with White supremacy in the United States. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781938769580
Publisher:	Autumn House Press
Publication date:	09/05/2020
Series:	Autumn House Press Poetry Prize
Pages:	112
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

makalani bandele is a resident of Lexington, KY. He is an Affrilachian Poet and Cave Canem fellow. He has also received fellowships from the Kentucky Arts Council, Millay Colony, and Vermont Studio Center. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a BA in the Program of Liberal Studies, as well as a graduate of Shaw Universitywith a Master of Divinity in Biblical Studies. He currently attends the University of Kentucky in pursuit of an MFA in Creative Writing. He is the author of under the aegis of a winged mind, which won the 2019 Autumn House Press Poetry Prize, and hellfightin’, published by Aquarius Press in 2011.

Table of Contents

blues in b for charlie the sound of thinking about distant objects quick recipe for genius mary lou williams's piano workshop (after fred moten) earl of harlem meets the high priest of bebop (alternate take) ghost of the piano cutting contest: earl of harlem vs. art tatum (for who buys the next pitcher of pabst) gigan: the cruel blues coping earl of harlem meets the high priest of bebop leit[blue]motif earl of harlem swear he in love with the little piano girl of east liberty cutting contest: earl of harlem vs. art tatum (for who buys the next pitcher of pabst) (lost live recording) piano ode to the cabaret card riff on g7 mad man at the finger palace mad man at the finger palace (alternate take) after ect tune as an asylum scary meds what to do while fresh ideas are organizing earl of harlem in his simplest form, a poor man’s diagnosis earl of harlem swear he in love with the little piano girl of east liberty (bud’s take) pianism pearl of harlem pianism (alternate take) etude op. 8, no.7 etude op. 8, no.2 etude op. 8, no.6 etude op. 8, no.4 etude op. 11, no.5 etude op. 11, no.11 etude op. 15, no.1 etude op. 15, no.3 mnemonic fragments (ballad for crossing the unbridgeable chasm) earl of harlem at the golden shovel the negro section as frontage 12-bar F blues with a few substitutions thrown in wor studios, new york city, may 1, 1951 tempus fugue-it earl of harlem swear he in love with the little piano girl of east liberty (alternate take) piano solitaire last supper of bop mingus of the ninth circle the portrait of an artist in his daughter's aural imagination crash homegoing & repass solo lost in the 8th arrondissement earl of harlem on bob thompson's garden of music dissipation: a bop off night: a piano trio last call fraternite aubade: earl of harlem composing extemporaneously gigan: epistle to neptune blue heron celia

Editorial Reviews

"under the aegis of a winged mind is a book that rewards and rewards again with each reading. These poems that skitter and roll across the page in long or short staggered lines, their composition rivaling a jazz syntax, sing something new every time we experience them." —Good River Review

"makalani bandele’s under the aegis of a winged mind tempers theory and history—poetic history, Black history, and jazz history—with surges of emotion. bandele is not afraid to confound the known record of our bodies and explore all spaces liminal between the universal and the private, between truth and lie, and between the free and the formal with language that abounds like colorful brush strokes that course over each and every generation that has brought us here and which will, eventually, lead us to our future." —Ruth Ellen Kocher, author of Third Voice 

"William Carlos Williams once wrote that it was difficult to get the news from poetry, but we die from the lack of what is there, and to transpose music, especially African-American music and all it contains into something fresh and revelatory on the page is just as complicated, but makalani bandele proves, page by page, poem by stunning poem, to be up for the task. And what news! under the aegis of a winged mind isn’t a book—it’s a neighborhood, it’s a nation. To quote this fine poet: 'Just listen.' makalani bandele is a poet who is just tuning up." —Cornelius Eady, author of Brutal Imagination

From the Publisher

William Carlos Williams once wrote that it was difficult to get the news from poetry, but we die from the lack of what is there, and to transpose music, especially African-American music and all it contains into something fresh and revelatory on the page is just as complicated, but makalani bandele proves, page by page, poem by stunning poem, to be up for the task. And what news! under the aegis of a winged mind isn’t a book—it’s a neighborhood, it’s a nation. To quote this fine poet: ‘Just listen.’ makalani bandele is a poet who is just tuning up.

Cornelius Eady