“That’s my son collapsed there,” poet Patricia Smith bluntly speaks in the album’s opening line. “My son crumpled there,” a rhetorical finger points past the distracting noise of the pundits and protests to the human crux of the issue. Smith’s voice sharpens the accusation as Benjamin Boone‘s saxophone unravels the emotion behind the mother’s words.

“My son dangling there. My son caged there…My daughter splayed there…My son hanging there.”

Benjamin Boone’s first two “Poetry of Jazz” albums melded his music with the poetry and narration of the late U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize recipient Philip Levine, a longtime Fresno State professor. These albums, praised by critics in The Paris Review, NPR’s “All Things Considered,” DownBeat Magazine and numerous others, served as a commemoration of Levine’s life and accomplishments. In contrast, Boone’s latest album addresses the complexities of life and social justice in 2020 through a gathering of esteemed and diverse poets.

Boone’s third album combining jazz and poetry, “The Poets Are Gathering,” was released by Origin Records on Oct. 16. Jazz Fresno.

Boone said two-time United States Poet Laureate and longtime Fresno State professor Juan Felipe Herrera inspired this gathering.

“Juan and I set three of his poems to music for his culminating U.S. Poet Laureate event at the Library of Congress in 2017. I was moved by his empowering message that everybody is a poet; everyone has something valuable to offer; everyone’s voice is important and deserves to be heard. So when we decided to do this album, we naturally wanted to address issues of equality, empowerment, and action.”

In the title track “The Poets Are Gathering,” Herrera spells out his vision in a worldwide roll call of poets. With the beat of a Latin march, Herrera calls out country by country, city by city, acknowledging the poetic traditions of each.

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