Understanding Beats: From Crows to Cosmic Tunes

Funji Mama, music 
by Blue Mitchell
(click title for PDF)


Head1
“Count the beat” say
crows acrowing
"Feel the pulse” say
peepers peeping
“what’s the measure?”
asks the river
measureless to me

drummers drum in Africa
drummers drum in Havana
drummers drum in Ozark
Highlands
they speak through trees

circle of fifths
circle of fifths
turkey vultures fly
in a circle of fifths

“Hear the clave?” cracks
the rhumba
“Hear a samba?” asks cajon.
"It’s calypso" says fungii
mama
now dance it home

Head2
Thrown out of time
I’m out of “ands”
got the means
without the ends
I’m lookin
for some rhythm on
the real number line

Fibonacci
play me a spiral
natural log
in modulo
I’m feeling
transcendental
irrationality

phi e and pi
phi e and pi
a cosmic tune with
phi e and pi

“Count the beat” say
crows acrowing
“Feel the pulse” say
peepers peeping
“what’s the measure?”
asks the river“
what’s the measure?”
asks the river
“what’s the measure?”
asks the river
it's measureless to me