Jack Kerouac featuring Al Cohn and Zoot Sims Blues and Haikus LP (Tobacco Tan Vinyl)

Just like its predecessor, Poetry for the Beat Generation, legendary beatnik writer Jack Kerouac's second album, Blues and Haikus, teamed him with producer Bob Thiele and came out on Thiele's Hanover label in 1959. But this time around, instead of the debut's inspired amateur jazz piano flourishes from Steve Allen, Kerouac insisted on bona fide jazz musicians to accompany his stream-of-consciousness prose. And boy, did he get them - big-time post-bop saxophonists Al Cohn and Zoot Sims made their bones in Woody Herman's band, and here they provide effective counterpoint commentary to Kerouac's readings. As for those who approach this release from a more literary angle, Blues and Haikus reflects Kerouac's interest in Eastern religion and meditative practices as expressed in his novel The Dharma Bums as opposed to the more On the Road-like exultations of Poetry for the Beat Generation. But whatever your interest, boppish or bookish, Blues and Haikus is an essential document from one of our most iconic American authors, and, after listening to this album, one thing is for sure: no one is having a better time at this recording session than Kerouac himself! On the occasion of Kerouac's 100th birthday year, Real Gone Music's release of this cult classic record comes in tobacco tan vinyl!

...a stunning duet between speaker and saxmen, working spontaneously in this peculiar mix of jazz and voice, in which the saxmen do get their solo spots around Kerouac's work. There's much more of a sense on this album of a conscious interaction here between Kerouac and his accompanists, and the album is more arch but also more intense and more imposing than its predecessor.