Connie Crothers!
Connie Crothers!
Connie Crothers!

Andrew Drury
September 2016

Soup & Sound, 2015, photo courtesy of Max Drury

for Connie

Connie Crothers!
Connie Crothers!
Connie Crothers!
Connie Crothers!

 

                           constant positivity

wow!

man——-that was perfect

(say it just like that)

man——-that was perfect

wasn’t it?

 

Connie Crothers!

 

that was the absolute perfect tempo

 

the exact right time

 

Connie Crothers!

 

constant

insistence on recognizing

reverberations        and resonance

constant

verbalization       respect      homage

 

to the moment

to the great ancestors

to the immortal divine

genius-strike of lightning

that discharges from forces

within everyone

Louie Lester Billie Bird

Lenny Tristano

Max Roach

someone maybe being born next year

 

yes! yes!

 

her acolytes–all of ’em

all of us

 

with whom she shared

warmth

love

appreciation

knowledge

connection

lore

Connie Crothers knew

 

that this is the perfect tempo

 

the perfect time

 

the way we listen

the way we

make our entrance

right now

pulling the pulse

from thin air

from

what wasn’t there before

but

what needed to be

the time was perfect

 

our time is so imperfect

brutal

unfair beyond lifetimes of grief

governed     by cruelty       greed     fear

and lack of imagination

hate rules

ignorance legislates

profiting total assholes and dummies

who will never know shit from shit

 

 

Connie knew

she was no cynic

Connie was always ready

to be real

Connie’s courage

over and over

to sit in space

to improvise

trusting the moment

trusting the self

across decades

Connie knew

these moments are

one

timeless

thing

spirit waiting to descend

or ascend

Connie knew

an alternate universe

and was earnest

tenacious

for hope and action

Connie knew

how to twist time

into something alive

a fiber

unimaginable to anyone

else in the room

but once birthed

into our medium

time

as inevitable as if

it always had to be

it always had to be

 

Connie Crothers!

Connie Crothers!

 

Ring the bells!

 

ring our brains

our nerves

our bones

flesh and blood

are

an open harp

of     undampered

piano strings

struck

strummed

plucked

tapped

conjured

cajoled

to full volume

by two knowing arms

in balance

curved

from a loose sleeved blouse

in command

of fingers

strong messengers

sent

to exactly where and when

they are needed

and need to be

 

Connie conjures

Connie conjures

 

conjugations

 

and pianistic orchestrations

slamming chords

shovel-loads of harmony

melodic conjecture uncoiling

unspooling ideas and innuendos

hammering the contours

of raw sonic energy

doling out lines

of something as close to transcendence

as we are ever gonna get

vibration                           behind       vibration

 

the ritual of a master

addressing

and confronting

the magic box

 

the ritual of us together

here

now

forever

 

Connie knew

the real deal

the real shit

she knew obligation

and knew everyone so touched

has a responsibility               to share it

to not waste

what is most precious

time

Connie taught constantly

to make what we can

with it

to DO

to ACT

 

the time is perfect

 

now

Written during a flight from Iceland to the US on August 13.
I got the news of Connie’s passing a few minutes before stepping on the plane.

(c) 2016 Andrew Drury all rights reserved