{"id":15669,"date":"2017-12-24T09:50:32","date_gmt":"2017-12-24T13:50:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/?p=15669"},"modified":"2017-12-24T09:50:32","modified_gmt":"2017-12-24T13:50:32","slug":"norman-weinstein-elegy-for-roswell-rudd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pierrejoris.com\/blog\/norman-weinstein-elegy-for-roswell-rudd\/","title":{"rendered":"Norman Weinstein: Elegy for Roswell Rudd"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Elegy for Roswell Rudd: Curtain Calls With Glissandos Galore<\/strong><\/h2>\n

just nerve-jazzed getting off Wilshire then<\/p>\n

mysterious left turns then soccer field arises,<\/p>\n

horizon fills with team of middle-aged realtors, one<\/p>\n

puts a trombone in my face<\/p>\n

\u201cHERE!\u201d & tosses cornball straw<\/p>\n

hat \u201cHERE!\u201d so trombone wraps<\/p>\n

itself boa-bodacious around shoulders & neck,<\/p>\n

while hat turns into half-<\/p>\n

assed mute, Dixieland dollar store style,<\/p>\n

\u00a0& someones shouting orders, pretend we\u2019re buffo-Bourbon<\/p>\n

Streeters, with two other (mute) trombones,<\/p>\n

three (silent) trumpets & (unbeaten) circus<\/p>\n

bassboom drum. Photographer fat guy ex-realtor<\/p>\n

so knows score with gimmick-gaudy photo<\/p>\n

shoot for some Realtors Association calendar<\/p>\n

its paying so push on, trombone millstone & feather<\/p>\n

then three voices shout \u201cYOU\u2019RE HOLDING IT WRONG!\u201d<\/p>\n

so go limp as they position my head ramrod straight, cheeks cave, &<\/p>\n

few minutes later its over, a twenty slides into a drenched left palm.<\/p>\n

apt charade payment?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Roswell, you were there in that instant when<\/p>\n

first time trombone grew tendrils, twitching in<\/p>\n

hands searching, slide-stutter, a few notes rising then 82 years<\/p>\n

compress into instant second line, busted straw hat hangs from<\/p>\n

bone\u2019s toothless gaping brass<\/p>\n

mouth tonight. Without you how will it remember<\/p>\n

how to guffaw in face of no vocal<\/p>\n

real in their estates? That trombone shoved into a face<\/p>\n

links us. Piercing Second Line dirge wails. Cock an ear at right<\/p>\n

angle & \u201cHERE!\u201d on both sides of the curtain \u201cHERE!\u201d \u201cThis<\/p>\n

is real.\u201d Next numbers from your childhood radio days, its<\/p>\n

Ghost Riders<\/i><\/p>\n

in the<\/i><\/p>\n

Sky . . . . .<\/i><\/p>\n

You come in on the next chorus,<\/p>\n

HERE<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n