Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

Jim Burns is a man of many, many parts. Describing himself as an old decadent, he admits to being raised on the traditions of bohemian anarchism and the European Left. He loves cities and all they offer — especially bookshops, record shops, pubs, cinemas, theatres and art galleries. And, of course, he writes — poetry, essays, reviews, comment. He has even written fiction for top shelf men’s magazines, though under an assumed name. He loves the old 4Os and 5Os black and white film noir movies. Indeed his selected poems, Out Of The Past, borrowed the title from a classic 40s film starring Robert Mitchum and Jane Greer.
    
   Does he have time or room for anything else in what has so obviously been a well packed life? Of course he has. On top of everything else, Jim Burns has been a lifelong jazz fan — buying the records, attending concerts, going to seedy back street clubs. writing about it all. He can talk knowledgeably about both what went before and what has happened since, but his all time favourite period was the 40s, 5Os Bebop years. A time when exciting young musicians gathering at New York's Harlem clubs Minton’s Playhouse and Monroe’s Uptown House  started to explore more and more complex and ambiguous harmonies in their improvisation.
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   Jim never felt the need to learn an instrument in order to play the music, experiencing a full and sufficient satisfaction through the theoretical yet heartfelt understanding of an enthusiastic listener. There were many who donned beret and dark glasses, who grew goatee beards, clicked their fingers and called each other “Man”, but who knew very little of the intricacies of what they listened to. Jim was one of a smaller group who demanded more than just a superficial understanding of what was happening during the fast Bebop tempos the players favoured. He wanted to know about the harmonic progressions, the shifts in phrasing, the increased use of offbeats.
    
   He talks with such enthusiasm and knowledge it can come as a surprise to learn that he does not actually play an instrument himself. On the other hand, he does write both  entertainingly and expertly on the subject and and has done from 60s articles in magazines such as Jazz Journal up to his current Ragged Edge Magsheet Bopper (£1/$3 from Appliance Books. 43 Tranmere Grove, Ipswich, Suffolk, IP1 6DU, UK), which I recommend whole  heartedly.
    
   An offshoot of this lifelong interest is his position as Jazz Editor for Kevin Ring’s Beat Scene, though I am far from clear as to what the job entails. If it means that Jim gets first crack at any jazz related publications sent in for reviewing, then will Mr Ring please take this as a job application should the present incumbent ever decide to step down.
    
    As one old jazz fan to another, Jim, it has been a pleasure to share jazz memories and opinions with you. Long may we continue to do so.