"During the spring of 1957 a series of fascinating experiments took place in San Francisco. The scene was the Cellar, a downstairs nightclub that used to be a Chinese restaurant. . . . The experiment was an attempt to meld the twin forms of modern expression--jazz and poetry. The participants were two San Francisco poets-- Kenneth Rexroth, widely known for some years as a translator, poet, and commentator on the social scene, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, a modern poet of considerable stature who operates a publishing house and a bookstore--and a group of jazz musicians. . . .
"The poets read their poetry while the jazz band improvised. The results were startling and exciting. The Cellar seats a mere handful of people but can accommodate 150 including standees, if necessary. During each of the half-dozen evenings devoted to the jazz and poetry experiments, the club was packed. San Franciscans of every stratum of society came to hear what was obviously a new and intriguing artistic excursion."
--from the notes by Ralph J. Gleason

with Bruce Lippincott, Dickie Mills, Bill Weisjahns, Jerry Goode, Bob Lewis, Sonny Wayne

Recorded at the Cellar, San Francisco; 1958.