Oh thank you for this, Aberjhani! Toussaint is not only an artist of word and music, but a teacher as well. He's as gifted in relating his philosophy of music and its history as you are as an Interviewer. His comments about Coltrane making his music "talk" are dead on. Not only did Coltrane talk with his sax--he laughed, cried, screamed, moaned and prayed in a language that could not be translated in words--such is the language of the soul and this is why it vibrates within us. Excellent interview!

As usual, when Aberjhani sits down with someone to chew the fat/rap/interview he allows the one to be interviewed the thought that he is the one in control of the conversation. That is a hard thing to do and still probe the mind of the one being intertviewed without coming off stiff and plastic. But you can, and do it with ease. You nudge, stimulate, prod and then sit back and let the interviewed have at it. This is talent not learned, it is a gift.

When I lived in Los Angeles many centuries ago I found progressive jazz. Long before I ever knew that I would someday attempt to write poetry I sensed somehow that what I was hearing WAS poetry of the searching soul. Yes, Coltrane, Monk, Getz, Manne, so many diversified performers although they were playing progressive jazz, they were interpreting it differently. And THAT was what I loved about it. Davis, of course, took it way beyond what most of us could imagine in those days. So, Toussaint St. Negritude's journey from "going from poetry to jazz ended up being a very beautiful transition," is really a given. For a man who can honestly say, "I trust the integrity of the spirits that watch over us, and somehow even if it’s a dog, somehow those spirits will turn that dog into an angel" say something about his soult. Great job!