Poetry Readings in the Cellar by Kenneth Rexroth (CD, Oct-2004, Fantasy Records USA)

When I was in college in the late 50s I wore out several LPs I remember the records were red in color. What fun it is to listen to these two guys again with out the pops and noise of my old records.

I had the opportunity to hear and talk with both of these poets later in their lives, and couldn't pass up the opportunity to hear recordings of them from their heyday. This CD has recordings from The Cellar in San Francisco of Rexroth and Ferlinghetti performing their work for an audience, accompanied by the Cellar Jazz Quintet, who improvised to the poet's work in an attempt to meld the two forms. These sessions took place in 1957, so it's after Ginsburg's "Howl" and right about when Kerouac's "On The Road" was released. The recording is marvelously crisp and clean, considering it's age.

For anyone who's a fan of the Beats, this CD offers a great window into the excitement and experimentation that accompanied that movement, and gives a sense of both why the Beats connected to a larger audience and why they helped shake up (and at times offend) the "establishment" both literary and otherwise.