1953 – Colin Brackenbury

Jazz poet Colin Brackenbury is a peculiar case. His hatred for jazz music alienated him from him own artform, helping him generate more work.

In this track (Brackenbury would later name this work “Catatonia”), you can hear the poet improvising in perfect rhythmic sync alongside the all-star backing band (featuring Abel Candile on bass, John Lo on sax and Sabina Rewis on bongos). Despite the number of recordings available, it has never been revealed what he spoke or wrote about; all anyone knew was that he was really, really angry at something.

Colin Brackenbury – Catatonia (1953)

In his self-published book, I Just Say Random Shit, he outlines the differences between his work and that of his more famous contemporaries. “They focus so much on subverting or adhering to narrative structures, and making points and commentaries about their lives and their surround environments… Mine is more simplistic than that. I wouldn’t exactly say it was stream of consciousness, because that would imply that my consciousness was involved, and I didn’t want to limit myself that way. I found I was most creative when I just talked about nothing.”

It is unsure exactly what Brackenbury meant by the word ‘nothing’, or even the metaphorical implications of it. So it probably had something to do with being oppressed by a power hungry government, or drugs.

Interesting Fact: Rap crew K.o.K undoubtedly got their name from the last stanza of “Catatonia”. When asked about this, K.o.K said “No we didn’t.”