The Poetry: The 21 poems in Jazz Day are mostly told in free verse, but a few of them utilize traditional forms such as the pantoum, "This Moment" (29), and the abecedarian, "What to Wear (from A to Z)" (17-18). Orgill remarks in her author's note that she hopes "the poems contain the sound of jazz music" (44). The poems certainly contain a sense of play and rhythm; for instance "Don't Get Me Started" is a poem told from the point of view of an imagined young boy named Alfred. In this poem, Alfred meditates on a beautiful car that pianist and composer Mary Lou Williams arrives in:
Don't get me started
on her Cadillac
don't let's talk about
tail fins
whitewalls
L-shaped chrome
trim
hooded dash
pan-o-ramic windshield
Imagine the view
"Mary Lou!" (13)Orgill explains that she used various historically accurate events and sources as "departure points" in order to fill in the gaps of about the group of unknown neighborhood boys. "I gave the boy in suspenders a name, Alfred, and a role in the events, and I had him note the fictionalized arrival of pianist Mary Lou Williams in a Cadillac" (43). Another poem, "At the Window," also focuses on the imagined experiences of the children pictured in the photograph; "At the Window" features a young girl watching the musicians gather from her window, "twirling / a twist / of curly hair" as she leans out her window (28).
The Page: One of the most striking things about Jazz Day are the illustrations; each page consists of a painting by Francis Vallejo that illustrates the poem with which it is paired. The poem "Some Kind of Formation, Please!" is also paired with a fold-out double-page spread of a reproduction of the famous photograph after which the book is written, Harlem 1958. In addition to the previously mentioned author's note, Jazz Day also includes an introduction, seven pages of biographies on the 57 musicians, and a bibliography of sources. Jazz Day follows the form of Carole Boston Weatherford's Becoming Billie Holiday, in that it is a shorter illustrated verse narrative that fictionalizes historical figures and events, and Weatherford's text would actually pair nicely with Orgill's narrative.
I found Orgill and Vallejo's story of the making of Harlem 1958 to be a beautiful and interesting read. I give it four stars.