Steve Dalachinsky facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Steve Dalachinsky
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Dalachinsky (left) & Otomo (right)
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| Born | Steven Donald Dalachinsky September 29, 1946 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 16, 2019 (aged 72) Long Island, New York, U.S. |
| Occupation | Poet |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | Ordre des Arts et des Lettres |
| Spouse | Yuko Otomo |
Steven Donald Dalachinsky (September 29, 1946 – September 16, 2019) was an American poet from New York City. He was very active in the city's music, art, and free jazz scenes. He wrote poetry for most of his life. He often read his poems at famous places like the Knitting Factory, the Poetry Project, and the Vision Festival. This festival is a yearly Avant-jazz event held in the Lower East Side of New York City.
Dalachinsky also shared his works in other countries, including Japan, France, and Germany. He worked with many musicians, writing special notes for their albums. These notes are called liner notes. Some of the artists he wrote for include William Parker, Matthew Shipp, and Thurston Moore.
He wrote many books, including a collection of poems he wrote while listening to saxophonist Charles Gayle play. Another book focused on his time working as a superintendent in an apartment building in Soho. With pianist Matthew Shipp, he co-wrote Logos and Language: A Post-Jazz Metaphorical Dialogue. He also worked with French photographer Jacques Bisceglia on Reaching Into The Unknown. His spoken word albums, where he reads his poems aloud, include Incomplete Directions and Phenomena of Interference. Dalachinsky's poems also appeared in many magazines and collections.
He received several important awards, such as the Franz Kafka Prize and the PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award. He lived in Manhattan with his wife, Yuko Otomo, who is a painter and poet.
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Growing Up and Early Writing
Steve Dalachinsky was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946. He often described himself as someone who "managed to survive lots of little wars." He grew up in the Midwood area, which was a mix of Italian and Jewish families. His parents were working-class people.
Dalachinsky said he was "always writing" from a young age. He was also "involved in art." His oldest surviving notebooks show he was writing when he was just 13 to 15 years old. He once got into trouble at Hebrew school for wearing a cross. He spent time with the Italian kids in his neighborhood, which he said shaped how he saw himself as Jewish.
He started taking art lessons at the Pratt Institute. For about a year and a half, he tried painting. But he soon decided to focus on writing poetry full-time. During this time, he discovered Beat poetry. He found the exciting poetry scene in Manhattan. He read books like Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Coney Island of the Mind and Allen Ginsberg’s Howl. He said these books completely changed his writing style.
Dalachinsky was also inspired by writers like Franz Kafka, Albert Camus, and William Blake. He especially loved Blake's poem Auguries of Innocence. Besides writers, his influences included strong feelings, social problems, human sadness, jazz music, and abstract art. He described his writing process as a mix of "spontaneity" and "conscious pushing." His poems often aimed to change an image rather than just describe it.
Poetry and Jazz Music
For 19 years, starting in the 1980s, Steve Dalachinsky wrote many of his poems while listening to live jazz music. He would go to performances by free jazz saxophonist Charles Gayle. He wrote his poems on small scraps of paper during the shows.
In 2006, Dalachinsky published a book of poems entirely about Gayle. It was called The Final Nite & Other Poems: Complete Notes from a Charles Gayle Notebook. The poems in the book were arranged in the order of the places where Gayle performed. This collection won a PEN Oakland/Josephine Miles Literary Award in 2007. This book is special because it not only captures the music but also Dalachinsky's feelings at that exact moment.
Dalachinsky also released a collection of poems called A Superintendent’s Eyes. This book focused on his experiences working as a superintendent at an apartment building on Spring Street in Soho.
In 2018, Dalachinsky published Where Day and Night Become One: The French Poems: 1983-2017. This book gathered over 30 years of his writings from his trips to Paris. It won a Silver Award in the 31st Annual IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards for Poetry. A reviewer described the poems as a "dream-like literary mindscape." They were full of interesting references and a unique storytelling style. Dalachinsky's poems were like a perfect mix of different ideas and thoughts.
In one of his poems, speaking to a loved one, Dalachinsky wrote:
as your skin becomes a thin casing for disappearing bones, like a skin of a drum wearing thin… I dream… that you might be miraculously cured so I might want all of you here with me right now as the sun begins to cross the roofs across the way & the wind makes the leaves into hands
—Dalachinsky
Readings and Creative Works
Dalachinsky read his poems all over New York City. He performed at places like the Poetry Project, the Vision Festival, and the Knitting Factory. He also read his works in San Francisco.
Internationally, he read in Japan, Germany, and England. In England, he performed his Insomnia Poems. This was a project with composer Pete Wyer for BBC Radio 3. In France, Dalachinsky performed very often. He read in cities like Bordeaux, Sète, and Paris. He also took part in several festivals, including the Sons d'Hiver Festival.
In 2011, he started working with a French art-rock band called The Snobs. They released Massive Liquidity, the first of three albums together. In 2015, he worked with Alex Lozupone's group, Eighty Pound Pug, on a jazz-metal album. He also collaborated with German artist Sig Bang Schmidt on Flying Home. In 2017, he worked with his wife, Yuko Otomo, on two projects: Frozen Heatwave and Black Magic.
Dalachinsky wrote liner notes for many musicians' albums. These notes often explain the music or the artist. Some of the musicians he wrote for include Roscoe Mitchell, Charles Gayle, and Matthew Shipp. He also worked directly with many musicians, such as William Parker, Susie Ibarra, and Daniel Carter.
He wrote many other books and small poetry collections called chapbooks. Some titles include Quicksand, The Invisible Ray, and Dream Book. His spoken word albums include Incomplete Directions and I thought it was the end of the world then the end of the world happened again.
In 2015, he even released a heavy metal album called Leave The Door Open. One review said that Dalachinsky's humor and deep thoughts worked well with the heavy sound. They noted how a poem about 9/11 fit perfectly with the music. In 2019, Steve Dalachinsky released his third and final album with The Snobs, Pretty in the Morning.
Books About Jazz
Avant-garde jazz was a huge inspiration for Steve Dalachinsky's writing. He dedicated five of his poetry books entirely to jazz musicians. All of these poems were written while he listened to the music live.
- The Final Nite: Complete Notes from a Charles Gayle Notebook - This book was written over 20 years of listening to saxophonist Charles Gayle.
- Logos and Language: A Post-Jazz Metaphorical Dialogue - This was a collaboration with pianist Matthew Shipp.
- The Mantis - A small book for pianist Cecil Taylor. It covered 50 years of his music, with the first poem written when Dalachinsky was 19.
- Reaching Into The Unknown - A collaboration with photographer Jacques Bisceglia. It included writings from 1967 through 2011.
- Long Play E.P. - A small book for saxophonist Evan Parker.
Discography
Here are some of Steve Dalachinsky's electronic, experimental, spoken word, and poetry albums:
- Incomplete Directions
- I Thought It Was The End Of The World Then The End Of The World Happened Again
- Phenomena of Interference
- Thin Air
- Merci Pour le Visite
- Massive Liquidity (with The Snobs)
- The Bill Has Been Paid
- The Fallout Of Dreams
- ec(H)o - system (with The Snobs)
- Leave the Door Open
- Pray For Me
- Insomnia Poems
- Fluxporn/the NO!art Statements (with Boris Lurie & Dietmar Kirves, Kommissar Hjuler, Mama Baer)
- Fluxus (with Kommissar Hjuler)
- Genconhjulachinsky (with Conrad Schnitzler & Gen Ken Montgomery, Mama Baer)
- Justifiable Homicide
- Gotta Keep Moving (Steve Dalachinsky & Albey Balgochian)
- Pretty in the Morning (with The Snobs)
Death
Steve Dalachinsky passed away from a stroke on September 16, 2019. He was 72 years old and died in a hospital in Long Island, New York. His 73rd birthday would have been just thirteen days later.
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See also
- Beat Scene
- Leonard Cohen, a Canadian Beat Generation poet and songwriter
- Literary Kicks
- European free jazz
- Bibliography of jazz
- List of jazz musicians
