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jambandbootleg
You're at your computer. Tickets are a tense, electrifying few seconds from going on sale. Eyeing the time, you're hitting "Refresh," and elsewhere, all your friends are doing the exact same thing. That's Paul Siegell's jambandbootleg. A widespread, high-spirited head rush. Desperation, fretfulness—all out life-leaping. "The party starts in the parking lot," indeed. With poems shaped like a guitar, the American flag, even a Golgi apparatus, Paul's monumental artworks could easily transform into posters. His is a poetry of exploration, heart and astonishment. Simply put: read Paul Siegell's music. Read it as if listening to the most banging bootleg.
122 pages, Paperback
First published July 1, 2009
About the author
Paul Siegell
9 books59 followersPAUL SIEGELL is Pennsylvania's 2021 Montgomery County Poet Laureate and the author of
Take Out Delivery: Poems & Comics
(Spuyten Duyvil, 2018),
wild life rifle fire
(Otoliths Books, 2010),
jambandbootleg
(A-Head Publishing, 2009), and
Poemergency Room
(Otoliths Books, 2008)
He is an award-winning creative director at The Philadelphia Inquirer and was a senior editor at Painted Bride Quarterly from 2007-2019. In 2015, his work was selected for the Pennsylvania’s Center for the Book’s Public Poetry Project. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Paul has contributed to 5AM, American Poetry Review, Black Warrior Review, Coconut, Rattle, and many other fine journals.
Kindly find more of Paul's work at ReVeLeR @ eYeLeVeL . Thank you!
He is an award-winning creative director at The Philadelphia Inquirer and was a senior editor at Painted Bride Quarterly from 2007-2019. In 2015, his work was selected for the Pennsylvania’s Center for the Book’s Public Poetry Project. A Pushcart Prize nominee, Paul has contributed to 5AM, American Poetry Review, Black Warrior Review, Coconut, Rattle, and many other fine journals.
Kindly find more of Paul's work at ReVeLeR @ eYeLeVeL . Thank you!
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 24, 2010
This book is beyond brilliant. How can I say anything about it? It MUST be both read AND experienced. It IS music (literally--sections divided into SIDE A, REWIND, CASSETTE, SET I, PLAY, SIDE B etc.) and it IS art (literally--words made into shapes--cinematic in the simultaneous overlapping of words, descriptions, musicality and love so clearly felt on every page) and it is like nothing I have ever seen (I must own 1,000 poetry books). And yet…and yet…I have always said that the most brilliant ideas are so obvious you wonder why they have never been done before. Well, Paul Siegell has done it. What has he done? Well….I first learned of the existence of Paul Siegell when I wrote on the poetics list that poetry was a disease. Paul Siegell screamed (via the written word, of course, but I felt the scream) through the cracks of the listserv his enthusiastic agreement and now I see why. But I didn't know how far the disease had progressed in Paul's case. He is on fire with a high fever. Even with a pound of sedatives, nothing can sedate him. As I said: he shapes language into images (and I repeat: why didn't anyone else ever think of this before?) And this most original work IS literally music. And it is the work of someone who simply can't stop being audaciously creative and alive and inventive and fundamentally fantastic. Paul Siegell is definitely filled with the disease of poetry. So please explain to me: how can a man so diseased with the illness of poetry be so capable of healing others? What kind of magician is he exactly? Why, after a year of being basically bored by poetry (o.k. I admit it: I started writing non-fiction and fiction. I started writing prose because poetry had turned so flat for me. I have a number of exceptions, I admire a large number of poets, but none could take me out of my stupor.) PAUL SIEGELL HAS WOKEN ME UP. True, he is stricken with the worst case of poetry sickness I have ever seen. Please, please, Paul, do not heal your disease. Don't stop what you're doing. I've only read this book once so I cannot properly review it. (Did I say I "read" it? No. I meant I "experienced" it.) I must experience it again and again. Why? Because it brings me great JOY. JOY. JOY. How can I be specific about a book whose originality is endless? I could write a book about this book and it wouldn't be adequate. Where did Paul contract this disease? Was it on some tropical island? No chance. Could it be he traveled to another planet? (much more likely) I hereby revise that "canon" (I personally do not at all agree with) and with my tremendously limited powers (if only I had them) I declare that Paul Siegell's book, jambandbootleg, be required reading, seeing, hearing, feeling for the huddled masses of graduate students and overblown egos of the so-called "elite poets" who carefully compose their stanzas and invent their epiphanies and win their prizes--I can only say READ THIS BOOK. This isn't a fair review. A review must have samples of poems, I know--that's the formula. But this book must be held in your hand and lived. All I can do for now is copy a few quotes from his sections of music-art-poetry: In the section PLAY: "You can judge the health of a society by the quality of its music"--Confucius--In one of the sections of SIDE B: "Music is love in search of a word"--Sydney Larnier--in the section REWIND: "Without music life would be a mistake." Nietzsche. I must expand on Nietzsche and say it would be a mistake not to read this book. READ THIS BOOK. READ THIS BOOK. READ THIS BOOK.
March 17, 2010
Fans of Ferlinghetti will be at-home descending and ascending the lyrical staircases Siegell constructs in "jambandbootleg": a celebration of the musical subculture surrounding contemporary jam music and concert-going.
It's hard to know what the outsider would think of this explosive, reverent and open-hearted ode to what is typically a maligned and misunderstood community of music lovers. As a fan of the jam concert and touring experience, I'm on the inside and I can say that Siegell hits the nail on the head over and over, capturing the excitement, waiting, musing and eventual ecstasy we all experience in this culture.
It's hard to know what the outsider would think of this explosive, reverent and open-hearted ode to what is typically a maligned and misunderstood community of music lovers. As a fan of the jam concert and touring experience, I'm on the inside and I can say that Siegell hits the nail on the head over and over, capturing the excitement, waiting, musing and eventual ecstasy we all experience in this culture.
September 26, 2009
The cover of Paul Siegell's newest poetry book is one of the best I've ever seen. This collection of poems is a concert travelogue. Siegell takes words and makes them his own. He's not afraid to play with form and shape;his writing is joyous, clever and creative.
There are several shaped poems in the book. "The 18 Majors of Greg Hollowcost", shaped like a question mark, follows the changing mind of a college student through each semester's major du jour. My favorite is "Bright Eyes", shaped like a guitar.
There are several shaped poems in the book. "The 18 Majors of Greg Hollowcost", shaped like a question mark, follows the changing mind of a college student through each semester's major du jour. My favorite is "Bright Eyes", shaped like a guitar.
July 6, 2009
Review as published in O&S Summer 2009
The Idea and Word Artistry of Poet Paul Siegell
By Grady Harp
Paul Siegell bounces onto the stage of contemporary American poetry as a fresh
flash of colorful originality. He plays with letters that compose words/thoughts,
punctuation imagery derived from the computer keyboard, takes those at times
strange but fresh products and patterns them into vocabulary pixilated images,
creating artworks of each page of this current treasure trove of poems titled
jambandbootleg. The result is a thoroughly entertaining poetic experience that
in reality is only the costume imposed on the brilliant thoughts and poems that
continue to pour from the mind of Paul Siegell!
There is a running theme in this particular collection of poems that differs from
his prior well received volume POEMERGENCY ROOM: as the title suggests these
poems pay homage to the field of music experience, and that of jazz music in
particular. State a theme, proceed to a riff, call in all manner of ideas to
participate in the jam session, and in the meantime make the poems reveal as
much personal emotion as any fine jazz or soul themes have created.
Not infrequently Siegell uses the words `jam' and `phish' and while most are
familiar with the verb `jam', not so many are aware of the references to `phish'.
Look up the word on Wikipedia and find that `Phish is an American rock band
noted for its musical improvisation, extended jam sessions, exploration of
music between genres, and dedicated fan base'. Extend the investigation
further and be reminded that `phishing' in computer society is the `criminally
fraudulent procedure of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as
usernames, passwords' etc., and you begin to get an idea of how far ranging is
Siegell's sense of humor and of poetic construction he has chosen for this new
release.
Dotted through this line of pattern are poems that are serious, about serious
matters, and dealt with in a format that steps from the `gimmickry' that flows
through the pages of the rest of the book. Example: in *Pass/Fail*:
`In his head: Friday 1963 America; pop's
teaching experience of 21: only a veteran
of marriage to mother for exactly five days -
October 25 & the Selective Service has him
standing on a line in his underwear and
lower Manhattan's 100 Whitehall Street -
plus, at front a-this line he's on: a bunch a-
bodies getting' blood siphoned into vials.' The poem goes on to tell the story
of this universally embarrassingly and painful experience of the draft.
Then Siegell is off and running in his `SETS I, II, and III' that capture all the allure
and fizzy excitement of the spontaneity of an on stage musical extravaganza,
finding ways of placing words and symbols on the page that send sparks flying
while he still maintains a message in the trappings of his designs. And yet for
all this wild hilarity of his building of poems he still pauses for moments of
visual and mental rest as in the tender *cargo*:
`we rely on pocket
to carry the matters
our hands
just don't need to, or
simply choose
not yet to employ,
keeping them free
to be hands.
our hands know us: they're
close
to most all we fashion an effect on
& we dig them into pockets
(when it gets cold -)
just hands? but
mine haven't
always looked like
they do now -
& you see:
as part of their job
won't always either.'
It is this striking combination of wildly creative visualization of thoughts on
paper that explore the same luster as the performing arts coupled with the
moments of tender respite that makes this most immediate collection of Paul
Siegell's mastery of poetic concepts important and engaging. Siegell is a wild
madman, a verbal musician as imposing as a rock star, who just happens to also
go behind the curtain of his raucous stage and share some wonderfully personal
sides that wrap an arm around the audience he continues to entertain.
The Idea and Word Artistry of Poet Paul Siegell
By Grady Harp
Paul Siegell bounces onto the stage of contemporary American poetry as a fresh
flash of colorful originality. He plays with letters that compose words/thoughts,
punctuation imagery derived from the computer keyboard, takes those at times
strange but fresh products and patterns them into vocabulary pixilated images,
creating artworks of each page of this current treasure trove of poems titled
jambandbootleg. The result is a thoroughly entertaining poetic experience that
in reality is only the costume imposed on the brilliant thoughts and poems that
continue to pour from the mind of Paul Siegell!
There is a running theme in this particular collection of poems that differs from
his prior well received volume POEMERGENCY ROOM: as the title suggests these
poems pay homage to the field of music experience, and that of jazz music in
particular. State a theme, proceed to a riff, call in all manner of ideas to
participate in the jam session, and in the meantime make the poems reveal as
much personal emotion as any fine jazz or soul themes have created.
Not infrequently Siegell uses the words `jam' and `phish' and while most are
familiar with the verb `jam', not so many are aware of the references to `phish'.
Look up the word on Wikipedia and find that `Phish is an American rock band
noted for its musical improvisation, extended jam sessions, exploration of
music between genres, and dedicated fan base'. Extend the investigation
further and be reminded that `phishing' in computer society is the `criminally
fraudulent procedure of attempting to acquire sensitive information such as
usernames, passwords' etc., and you begin to get an idea of how far ranging is
Siegell's sense of humor and of poetic construction he has chosen for this new
release.
Dotted through this line of pattern are poems that are serious, about serious
matters, and dealt with in a format that steps from the `gimmickry' that flows
through the pages of the rest of the book. Example: in *Pass/Fail*:
`In his head: Friday 1963 America; pop's
teaching experience of 21: only a veteran
of marriage to mother for exactly five days -
October 25 & the Selective Service has him
standing on a line in his underwear and
lower Manhattan's 100 Whitehall Street -
plus, at front a-this line he's on: a bunch a-
bodies getting' blood siphoned into vials.' The poem goes on to tell the story
of this universally embarrassingly and painful experience of the draft.
Then Siegell is off and running in his `SETS I, II, and III' that capture all the allure
and fizzy excitement of the spontaneity of an on stage musical extravaganza,
finding ways of placing words and symbols on the page that send sparks flying
while he still maintains a message in the trappings of his designs. And yet for
all this wild hilarity of his building of poems he still pauses for moments of
visual and mental rest as in the tender *cargo*:
`we rely on pocket
to carry the matters
our hands
just don't need to, or
simply choose
not yet to employ,
keeping them free
to be hands.
our hands know us: they're
close
to most all we fashion an effect on
& we dig them into pockets
(when it gets cold -)
just hands? but
mine haven't
always looked like
they do now -
& you see:
as part of their job
won't always either.'
It is this striking combination of wildly creative visualization of thoughts on
paper that explore the same luster as the performing arts coupled with the
moments of tender respite that makes this most immediate collection of Paul
Siegell's mastery of poetic concepts important and engaging. Siegell is a wild
madman, a verbal musician as imposing as a rock star, who just happens to also
go behind the curtain of his raucous stage and share some wonderfully personal
sides that wrap an arm around the audience he continues to entertain.
May 10, 2010
I just finished the book, and I should really wait so I can review it more objectively. So this is just my initial, starry-eyed opinion, colored by the Kool-Aid I'm drinking as a member of the Cult of Paul. (And also mindful of my audience: Paul is bound to re-post this somewhere...)
jambandbootleg is not as tight as Poemergency room, and I was not surprised to hear that it's actually the first in the series. But I don't know which is my favorite -- I loved them both.
As I read, I kept thinking of this quote from Charles McNair: "Siegell owns a megaphone in the contest to be voice of a generation." Paul and I are almost exactly the same age, and one thing I loved about this book is that it shows that we can write something meaningful about the stuff of our Generation-Whatever lives. Ever since my first Phish show in 1994, I've been wanting to write about what they and live shows and music in general mean to me, but I haven't known how. I haven't known many people who would understand, if I tried.
Reading jambandbootleg made me want to buy copies for all of my college friends, all of my concert friends, and send them -- blowing a kiss, blowing dandelion fluff -- in their direction, saying "I remember you. It meant something."
It also makes me glad that Coventry wasn't the end after all, although Paul's poem about it captures that sense of loss we all felt as we heard Page's "Velvet Sea" tears. Something has been lost -- we're not as reckless as we used to be. People aren't as nice to each other as they used to be, at least at most concerts. I don't go to shows as often, and my relationship to music has changed with the evolution from cassettes to CDs to everything-you've-ever-wanted-online, so-much-that-it-means less. But jambandbootleg is about regaining. It's about not letting anyone tell you when you have to grow up/grow old/move on/get serious/let go. Thank you, Paul, for that.
jambandbootleg is not as tight as Poemergency room, and I was not surprised to hear that it's actually the first in the series. But I don't know which is my favorite -- I loved them both.
As I read, I kept thinking of this quote from Charles McNair: "Siegell owns a megaphone in the contest to be voice of a generation." Paul and I are almost exactly the same age, and one thing I loved about this book is that it shows that we can write something meaningful about the stuff of our Generation-Whatever lives. Ever since my first Phish show in 1994, I've been wanting to write about what they and live shows and music in general mean to me, but I haven't known how. I haven't known many people who would understand, if I tried.
Reading jambandbootleg made me want to buy copies for all of my college friends, all of my concert friends, and send them -- blowing a kiss, blowing dandelion fluff -- in their direction, saying "I remember you. It meant something."
It also makes me glad that Coventry wasn't the end after all, although Paul's poem about it captures that sense of loss we all felt as we heard Page's "Velvet Sea" tears. Something has been lost -- we're not as reckless as we used to be. People aren't as nice to each other as they used to be, at least at most concerts. I don't go to shows as often, and my relationship to music has changed with the evolution from cassettes to CDs to everything-you've-ever-wanted-online, so-much-that-it-means less. But jambandbootleg is about regaining. It's about not letting anyone tell you when you have to grow up/grow old/move on/get serious/let go. Thank you, Paul, for that.
December 24, 2009
This holds original sway in several ways, the least not of which is a book written through the experience of music. I'm writing this immediately after giving it a full reading while in the middle of a (Soma)tic Poetry exercise where I listen to CRISTO REDENTOR by Donald Byrd on a continuous loop for 108 hours (4 and a half days).
It feels like the perfect book to be reading while in the walls of Byrd, not because the music is similar, but because Paul too is urgent, even frantic in his quest to HIT the ceiling of soundwaves pumping through the liquid crystal which is human flesh.
Much of this is right off the foam of collective experience, from the swarms he includes himself for music. It's marvelous! Sections of the book are chunked by concert times and places. A sample I love:
*anything to stay warm*
sitting
on what most soles side-
step--and if they don't,
breath is held--
roofless hands
hold hood and hat, aiming
vapors: the city's sidewalk
exhaust, in,
to a face unable to be seen
Paul is also a master at the Caligram, something I've always admired when it's done right, and beautifully, as Paul does it.
Makes me want to reread it all over again, but with the soundtrack up HIGH!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
It feels like the perfect book to be reading while in the walls of Byrd, not because the music is similar, but because Paul too is urgent, even frantic in his quest to HIT the ceiling of soundwaves pumping through the liquid crystal which is human flesh.
Much of this is right off the foam of collective experience, from the swarms he includes himself for music. It's marvelous! Sections of the book are chunked by concert times and places. A sample I love:
*anything to stay warm*
sitting
on what most soles side-
step--and if they don't,
breath is held--
roofless hands
hold hood and hat, aiming
vapors: the city's sidewalk
exhaust, in,
to a face unable to be seen
Paul is also a master at the Caligram, something I've always admired when it's done right, and beautifully, as Paul does it.
Makes me want to reread it all over again, but with the soundtrack up HIGH!
CAConrad
http://CAConrad.blogspot.com
August 31, 2009
Can't wait until we have all four books...a tetraolgy? Quadrilogy?
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars. I'm always revising my feelings about books from the initial read to how I feel later, and as time has passed and I've thought about jambandbootleg some more and poemergency room some more, I realized my gut was telling me poemergency was either a smidge stronger or that I just connected with it better. Which means it's a total personal taste thing, much like that special album by your favorite band or singer that will always be 5 stars in your heart even when they have equally great albums that don't hit you as much as that first album did--that's how I feel about jamband and poemergecy. And who knows how my feelings will change when Trombone Bubble Bath comes out.
Dear reader you should buy this and read it and buy poemergency if you haven't and read that too. And as I said, I can't wait until we have all four and I can read them straight through in the order Paul intended. I'm sure once I see the scope of the total project there will be full blown 5 stars all over the place.
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars. I'm always revising my feelings about books from the initial read to how I feel later, and as time has passed and I've thought about jambandbootleg some more and poemergency room some more, I realized my gut was telling me poemergency was either a smidge stronger or that I just connected with it better. Which means it's a total personal taste thing, much like that special album by your favorite band or singer that will always be 5 stars in your heart even when they have equally great albums that don't hit you as much as that first album did--that's how I feel about jamband and poemergecy. And who knows how my feelings will change when Trombone Bubble Bath comes out.
Dear reader you should buy this and read it and buy poemergency if you haven't and read that too. And as I said, I can't wait until we have all four and I can read them straight through in the order Paul intended. I'm sure once I see the scope of the total project there will be full blown 5 stars all over the place.
August 5, 2009
After reading Paul Siegell's Jambandbootleg, I kept flipping through it, amazed at the energy and the creativity that fill these pages. Finishing the book is like lingering on the fairground long after a concert that you've been saving up for, dying to see, is through and you're left astounded at what you've just witnessed.
I kept flipping through it, half expecting the words, like in a flip book, to depict a boy or girl dancing -- a hidden bonus like playing a record backwards and hearing a subliminal message (I'm sure if any one could pull that off, Paul Siegell could!). I wasn't ready for the book to end. Inside I shouted "Encore," so I went back and reread "JAM>" which is one of my favorite poems in Paul Siegell's new book.
Jambandbootleg is the ticket stub souvenir of the greatest show on earth!
I kept flipping through it, half expecting the words, like in a flip book, to depict a boy or girl dancing -- a hidden bonus like playing a record backwards and hearing a subliminal message (I'm sure if any one could pull that off, Paul Siegell could!). I wasn't ready for the book to end. Inside I shouted "Encore," so I went back and reread "JAM>" which is one of my favorite poems in Paul Siegell's new book.
Jambandbootleg is the ticket stub souvenir of the greatest show on earth!
March 23, 2010
I've never, EVER, seen poetry like this before.
The inventive rendering of simple typesetting into visual art...the impressionistic verse putting you in moments of time/space/sound with mere flashes of suggestion...the unusual rock-and-roll diary of poems that feels so natural, so right, you close the book wonder, "Why hasn't this been done before?"...
You just HAVE to read this. Even if you don't consider yourself a "poetry person." This is just form-bending, rule-breaking writing that needs to be experienced firsthand.
My hat is off to you, Mr. Siegell.
G.
The inventive rendering of simple typesetting into visual art...the impressionistic verse putting you in moments of time/space/sound with mere flashes of suggestion...the unusual rock-and-roll diary of poems that feels so natural, so right, you close the book wonder, "Why hasn't this been done before?"...
You just HAVE to read this. Even if you don't consider yourself a "poetry person." This is just form-bending, rule-breaking writing that needs to be experienced firsthand.
My hat is off to you, Mr. Siegell.
G.
March 27, 2010
I'm not such a great reviewer of books but I must say at least a bit about this great book of poems.
Paul's energy isn't to be contained and the book effervesces off the page like poemusical alka-seltzer.
Really truly vibrant and exciting poetry that I've never experienced except for when I read his first book. If you enjoy poetry, do yourself a favor and get this book and read it. If you're not much of a poetry reader, this book may just change that!
Read it!
Paul's energy isn't to be contained and the book effervesces off the page like poemusical alka-seltzer.
Really truly vibrant and exciting poetry that I've never experienced except for when I read his first book. If you enjoy poetry, do yourself a favor and get this book and read it. If you're not much of a poetry reader, this book may just change that!
Read it!
July 26, 2009
Paul Siegell's collection, jambandbootleg, is a collection that plays with words as if they are music notes and beats. Every work is a visual tribute to the world of music (and in many ways, the lives of those who pursue music). When you sit down to read this collection, you need to be prepared to sing, or at least tap your foot to the rhythm of every word, every line, every poem.
July 23, 2009
Exhilarating... to put it mildly. The author has a "booming" voice that is unlike any I have ever read before. At times you feel you are next to him- hearing him, however, looking through the eyes of a child. He takes poetry to a new level... the next level.
Want to Read
October 14, 2009'Haven't read it yet, but congratulations to Paul! It looks great, and I can't wait to read it. Oh, and thanks, too, to Paul, for making Siren the other home for one this book's poems. (Check out that poem, "Pass/Fail," at www.sirenlit.com/issue06 )
April 21, 2010
IF YOU'D LIKE A SIGNED COPY at a DISCOUNT, EMAIL ME
PayPal-able. More here: http://paulsiegell.blogspot.com/
HUGE 4/20 REVIEW @ JambandsOnline.com: http://bit.ly/aQg0m4
Poems arose in 5AM, BlazeVOX, Kulture Vulture, MiPOesias, Moria, New Pony: A Horse Less Anthology, Otoliths, PFS Post, Pinstripe Fedora, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Press 1, RATTLE, SAWBUCK, Shampoo, Siren, SOFTBLOW, Sous Rature, Surrender to the Flow, Three Rivers Review and Umbrella.
• Interview: BOOKSLUT: http://bit.ly/24R6xl
• Review: RELIX Magazine: http://bit.ly/2Bm0Ou
• Review: Black Ocean: http://bit.ly/1oThr8
• Review: Surrender to the Flow #21: http://bit.ly/4jNWCP
• Reviews: Amazon: http://bit.ly/sUINZ
• Profile: Gypsy Art Show: http://bit.ly/10ABbn
Back Cover Blurbs:
"For centuries, people have tried to take words and turn them into music. What Paul Siegell does in his collection of poetry, jambandbootleg, is take music and turn it back into words. And he does it exceptionally well, capturing both the excitement of concert-going and the poetic essence of the improvisational music scene." —Marc Brownstein, bassist of The Disco Biscuits
"Behold! Blend pinches of the Beats and Phish with a big bowl of Fantastic Originality – unlike any poet I've ever known – wave a burning match over it, inhale deeply. The astonishing dream that fills your head – that's Paul Siegell." —Charles McNair, author of Land O' Goshen and Book Editor at Paste Magazine.
"Paul Siegell is the Bill Graham of our time. Yet in a twist of concert promotion, Paul is the headliner, and deserves to be. All the other bands, their different ambiances, they're the opening acts. But all the time we're waiting there, shuffling from stone to stone, anticipating that disembodied voice, the elongated 'And now, the one you've all been waiting for, PAUL SIEGELL...' Thousands of us. We rise." —Mark Young, author of Pelican Dreaming: Poems 1959-2008 (Meritage Press, 2008)
PayPal-able. More here: http://paulsiegell.blogspot.com/
HUGE 4/20 REVIEW @ JambandsOnline.com: http://bit.ly/aQg0m4
Poems arose in 5AM, BlazeVOX, Kulture Vulture, MiPOesias, Moria, New Pony: A Horse Less Anthology, Otoliths, PFS Post, Pinstripe Fedora, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Press 1, RATTLE, SAWBUCK, Shampoo, Siren, SOFTBLOW, Sous Rature, Surrender to the Flow, Three Rivers Review and Umbrella.
• Interview: BOOKSLUT: http://bit.ly/24R6xl
• Review: RELIX Magazine: http://bit.ly/2Bm0Ou
• Review: Black Ocean: http://bit.ly/1oThr8
• Review: Surrender to the Flow #21: http://bit.ly/4jNWCP
• Reviews: Amazon: http://bit.ly/sUINZ
• Profile: Gypsy Art Show: http://bit.ly/10ABbn
Back Cover Blurbs:
"For centuries, people have tried to take words and turn them into music. What Paul Siegell does in his collection of poetry, jambandbootleg, is take music and turn it back into words. And he does it exceptionally well, capturing both the excitement of concert-going and the poetic essence of the improvisational music scene." —Marc Brownstein, bassist of The Disco Biscuits
"Behold! Blend pinches of the Beats and Phish with a big bowl of Fantastic Originality – unlike any poet I've ever known – wave a burning match over it, inhale deeply. The astonishing dream that fills your head – that's Paul Siegell." —Charles McNair, author of Land O' Goshen and Book Editor at Paste Magazine.
"Paul Siegell is the Bill Graham of our time. Yet in a twist of concert promotion, Paul is the headliner, and deserves to be. All the other bands, their different ambiances, they're the opening acts. But all the time we're waiting there, shuffling from stone to stone, anticipating that disembodied voice, the elongated 'And now, the one you've all been waiting for, PAUL SIEGELL...' Thousands of us. We rise." —Mark Young, author of Pelican Dreaming: Poems 1959-2008 (Meritage Press, 2008)
August 24, 2009
From my review of the book on the Black Ocean Press blog:
Like his dazzling debut Poemergency Room, Paul Siegell’s second collection jambandbootleg buzzes with exuberance so huge the book can barely contain it. From the blurb by his dad—“What a rush!” to the “(((Whooo’s got my publisher?)))” where most would put “acknowledgments” to the “SETLIST” instead of a “Table of Contents,” Siegell’s book embodies the non-stop sensory overload of a super-fun show.
Like the bands he idolizes—Phish, the Disco Biscuits—Siegell’s poetry has an improvisational quality, but not an optional one; there are surprises, certainly, but so too is there skillful decision-making at work; he is causing effects to happen for a reason. Or as he puts it in “SET III” “for Dionysus speaks: / Apollo descends w/ boundaries.”
In “Meet Me at Will Call” he writes:
I. Today
I was told
over the phone
that I sounded
“happy”
And he sounds that way over the page, too, which makes this book refreshing, a romp—a cover-to-cover experience of Dionysian excess, ecstasy, and escape. In poems that take concert-going as their well-spring, Siegell carries on the visionary tradition of Ginsberg and Blake. [Kathleen Rooney:]
Like his dazzling debut Poemergency Room, Paul Siegell’s second collection jambandbootleg buzzes with exuberance so huge the book can barely contain it. From the blurb by his dad—“What a rush!” to the “(((Whooo’s got my publisher?)))” where most would put “acknowledgments” to the “SETLIST” instead of a “Table of Contents,” Siegell’s book embodies the non-stop sensory overload of a super-fun show.
Like the bands he idolizes—Phish, the Disco Biscuits—Siegell’s poetry has an improvisational quality, but not an optional one; there are surprises, certainly, but so too is there skillful decision-making at work; he is causing effects to happen for a reason. Or as he puts it in “SET III” “for Dionysus speaks: / Apollo descends w/ boundaries.”
In “Meet Me at Will Call” he writes:
I. Today
I was told
over the phone
that I sounded
“happy”
And he sounds that way over the page, too, which makes this book refreshing, a romp—a cover-to-cover experience of Dionysian excess, ecstasy, and escape. In poems that take concert-going as their well-spring, Siegell carries on the visionary tradition of Ginsberg and Blake. [Kathleen Rooney:]
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