Michael Ruby reads from 'American Songbook'

Michael Ruby reads “Waiting for a Train,” a poem from his American Songbook, accompanied by Jed Shahar on percussion, toothbrushes, saxophone mouthpiece and Dictaphone, at a Greetings performance, Unnameable Books, Brooklyn, October 10, 2013.  American Songbook has been published by Ugly Duckling Presse. It is a poetic response to the grand sweep of recorded vocal music in the 20th century. The poems are based on 75 recordings, with singers ranging from Bessie Smith to Tupac Shakur, and songs from a little-known Lomax prison recording to the last No. 1 pop hit of the century. From a review of American Songbook: “Imagine a road trip across America, probably in the summer, 'in the good old plastic gasoline / Pell-mell summertime.' Of course, music will be an essential part of the journey, probably radio hits. Headed East, perhaps, the lyrics of each song traverse both geography and time: a path paved in words. The lyrics to these songs linger in memory, but they’re also so ephemeral—though the words remain, their thrill often fades along with the little experiential details that make any such trip unique. Between the transient intensity of experience and the permanence of a material archive, exists poetry, transcription of verbal and nonverbal song on a page, lending it a more lasting presence.”