“Rhythm is the prime element of music – music is life.”
—Omar Clay

© BayTaper.com

In memory of Omar Clay
(1935-2008)

We met when it was spring, before the heat
of life moved in. We met before blue summer
got us up running, racing to some beat
we couldn’t count on or off. You peeped it, Omar.

You showed up everyplace I turned — New York,
The Showcase, Mingus, Oakland, midnights, dawn.
You and Bob James: a silver spoon and fork
to match the knife-shy hush of Sarah Vaughan.

You aired the groove. Yes, you, Omar, you drew
all space between the beat into your lungs
in micro-breaths. All tempo burned in you.
“Omar,” it cried, “hear how my silence sings!”

We’ll meet again, I know. You loved to teach.
You’ll show me rhythm time can never touch.

– Al Young
© 2009 by Al Young

____________________________________

Photo: Barbara Chew, 1998

____________________________________

” — Drummer Omar Clay, who died in December, was remembered at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music last week, where 38 musicians performed, California poet laureate Al Young recalled their days as classmates at the University of Michigan, and the cake, made by Sugar Butter Flour in Sunnyvale, was shaped like drums and cymbals.”
– Leah Garchik,
San Francisco Chronicle, 19/20 January 2009

Erik Yates (Hot Buttered Rum bandleader) pays tribute to the man who taught him music at Tamalpais High School

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 13th, 2009 at 2:11 am and is filed under Poems and Lyrics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.