Starting in 2025 and maybe late 2024, The Poe Underground, might be switching to a more organic music style. I’m calling this blog post, Piano and Poetry Lounge, as the new vision for the podcast will be more of a jazzy and experimental approach. Part of the vision for this will be the need for a new host/hostess for the show and the poetry readings.
For those of you who are not familiar with The Poe Underground, it has been mostly myself, doing all the hosting, composing, reading, mixing, etc.. and even providing new poems. The Poe Underground was never intended to be a one-man project. The vision was always to make this more of a collaborative music project. This brings us to the purpose of this post:
In the next few weeks/month, I am looking to take a step back and switch to playing piano mostly, while having another host read the poetry in a live fashion & format. My secondary goal for this project, was always to incorporate more live performances and this is what I intend with this new approach.
A third goal for the podcast / project, was always to make this more of a visual experience for Youtube and the like. Being able to record both the video and audio while coming up with great music accompanied by awesome poems is the ultimate goal for the podcast.
My most recent Youtube video was a live keyboard performance recorded to my own reading of a poem. While the results came out satisfactory, I would have loved if this had been a live recording. The energy would have been completely different. Studio recordings and live recordings are very similar but are not the same. Playing live always introduces an element of something raw and “in the moment” that you just don’t get with studio recordings. Recording live also forces the performers to be on point, in-synch and good at their craft.
As a long-time fan of jazz, I always aspire to be able to improvise and perform as if I were a jazz player in the moment, playing with other accomplished players. Yes, yes, I am not a jazz musician, but I am heavily influenced by aspects of different forms of jazz.
I may never be able to play like Thelonious Monk or reach the virtuosity of Miles Davis, but I can aspire, dream, and pretend to. If I can play only a hand-full of notes with authority, if only for a few fleeting bars, then I will be satisfied and at peace. If only for a moment.
For inquiries into being on the podcast as a host/reader, please email: musevideo@rocketmail.com
D.K. Mckenzie – December 9th, 2024