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The Conquerors
Published a few months before the poet's death, The Conquerors is jazz Beat poetry at its best. Contains Bremser's signature work, "Born Again."
72 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
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January 13, 2019
This was the last book published in Bremser's lifetime.
It contains three sections - 1. Poems Katchaturian, 2. The Conquerors (the main section) and 3. Born Again.
i'm not a big fan of experimental freeform jazz and therefore i'm not too keen on experimetal freeform jazz poetry either so Poems Katchaturian was my least favorite section.
However, the other two sections are great. After going to Mexico and conducting much research into the Axtecs, their empire and fall at the hands of the Spanish conquerors (Cortez etc.) Bremser proceeds to write a brilliant poem combining journal fragments with his own historical reflections and compares the Spanish conquerors with the 'conquerors' of the modern day US Army. It's a very political poem and is well written.
The final poem, Born Again, is a primarily Buddhistic and humorous reflection on the idea of reincarnation.
In other words, The Conquerors was Bremser's swan song. This is the guy who was called the best of the beat poets by Bob Dylan.
Personally speaking, i think Kaufman and Micheline were the very best but Bremser is definitely worth reading and if you like jazz or jazz poetry, this one is right up your non-tinpan alley.
And if you want to know a little about his life check out the book called 'For Love of Ray' written by Bonnie Bremser who was his wife.
i haven't read it but i heard she is an amazing prose writer.
It contains three sections - 1. Poems Katchaturian, 2. The Conquerors (the main section) and 3. Born Again.
i'm not a big fan of experimental freeform jazz and therefore i'm not too keen on experimetal freeform jazz poetry either so Poems Katchaturian was my least favorite section.
However, the other two sections are great. After going to Mexico and conducting much research into the Axtecs, their empire and fall at the hands of the Spanish conquerors (Cortez etc.) Bremser proceeds to write a brilliant poem combining journal fragments with his own historical reflections and compares the Spanish conquerors with the 'conquerors' of the modern day US Army. It's a very political poem and is well written.
The final poem, Born Again, is a primarily Buddhistic and humorous reflection on the idea of reincarnation.
In other words, The Conquerors was Bremser's swan song. This is the guy who was called the best of the beat poets by Bob Dylan.
Personally speaking, i think Kaufman and Micheline were the very best but Bremser is definitely worth reading and if you like jazz or jazz poetry, this one is right up your non-tinpan alley.
And if you want to know a little about his life check out the book called 'For Love of Ray' written by Bonnie Bremser who was his wife.
i haven't read it but i heard she is an amazing prose writer.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review