April Poetry Writing Challenge

The earth has been revolving beneath our feet and here we are; the first day 

of National Poetry Month and Jazz Appreciation month.

I love both poetry and jazz. I could venture down any given thoroughfare, pivoting over 

my favorite jazz tune and I would be just in my nature singing it, as natural as cherry 

blossoms when spring comes into swing. 

Thickets hardly ever stand in the way of my desire to write a couplet in rhyme in my time when I feel the vibe, and it's in my design, READY to rain on a blank page.

As I stole glances at the sun peeking its way through the curtains of the night sky, it dawned on me that This brand-new season that has come upon us with this new set of 24, is a special month. 

I need to write more. I want to get into the swing of appreciating a musical genre and culture I really love. It's time to let my poetic voice ring-a-ling-a-ling louder than a Cynthia Erivo vocal belt. 

I mean, what is jazz anyway? It is poetry in rhythm. It is a metaphor for love. It is an onomatopoeia for life.

With that in mind, I decided to set myself on my own 30-day writing challenge, just to try to reframe my mind to focusing on completing a task and actually writing like I ought to. A poem a day with a jazz twist; something like a margarita with a twist of orange. I am celebrating both jazz and poetry through art and words, harmoniously. 

My 30 days of poetry have begun. I accept the challenge. I'm getting tipsy already. My first installment is here.  

The Soothing Sounds

 

A broad swathe of music wraps around my aching body.

It soothes.

It empowers.

Its waves exhilarate me.

 

My emotional tide waves are at high.

The jazz in me be-bops melodic sighs.

My tears fall when the music inclines.

A jolt of poetry vibrates 9.5.

 

My soul starts its dance atop the leather of congas.

It’s legs shuffling in a full-blown tantrum,

casually winnowing away from the discord notes,

and catapulting into a tri-tone.

 

Microgrooves of 78s.

Santana’s “Shango” and “What Does it Take.”

The sound of Samba invites me to dance and engage

I was clad in music which was a band-aid for my aches. 

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Now, here is an idea. If you are a writer and you want to join in the fun of writing and also the challenge of getting your thoughts out daily, join in this challenge. Let me know if you also will try to be consistent for the next 30 days, post it and send me the link. I'd love to read it. 

Also, tell me what you think. Would love comments, suggestions on how to improve, or just a hello to say that you stopped by.

Either way, thanks for reading.

Happy poetry and jazz month.

Peace! 

JNote

http://instagram.com/jnotemusic

Storming the Pages by Doing Soul Aerobics Using Writing Prompts

There is nothing like a good writing prompt to help me redefine my boundaries and write something remarkably different.

A good starter sentence or question that makes those nostalgic moments swim around your brain, is a great way to get your mind flowing and the words onto the page.

I find prompts to help me to dive deeper into my strengths because they force me to think before writing something startlingly new; almost as if I am doing soul aerobics to storm the page with the sweat of my newfound energy. 

 A little direction and I am writing with a new supply of ideas that take me beyond what I would normally write. What I put on the paper is then crafted with warmth, realness, and soul.

Not only that, a good starter sentence or question gets me into the groove of yielding something surprisingly good and I really love that.

If you are a writer like me who enjoys using prompts every now and then to get the words rippling through your body, then maybe this new book is for you.

I created a book of prompts that I think you might enjoy. The book is entitled Storming the Page; Soul Aerobics. It features over 50 prompts for writers to ignite their passion and release their brainstorm.  Each prompt features three writing pages behind it for the writer to let loose. It has been said that writing three pages a day can increase your creative and ideating flow. Perhaps this book will be the perfect addition to your writing tools library.

Storming the Page; Soul Aerobics is now available on Amazon here: https://a.co/d/eibB7Pr.   Get your copy today.

Ten Ways to Make The Most Out of 2025

The liberating truth you get when the ball drops and knowing that the old year has left us and the new year is here, is unmatchable. 

It is 2025. What a true blessing to know that we survived another year unscathed! It is a brand-new year now, and I realize how similar it is to opening a new sketchbook and starting fresh on your first pencil stroke.

 

I am sketching in a new heart to embrace the new year with love and the willingness to share as much of that love as I can. Whether that means that I will be more open to being a part of collaborative environments or whatever else is in store for me, I will allow myself to be immersed in that.

 

2025 already has its vibrant rhythms spiraling out of it. Here are a few ways to make the most out of 2025.

 

1.     Embrace each moment with joy and intention. The more positive you approach life, the more glamorously radiant your smile will be.

2.     Stretch yourself a little bit more, so you can find better ways to innovate.

3.     Find ways to be engulfed with peace. Rest is essential and if you don’t take quiet moments just to breathe, you might choke. Take a brain break. Walk through nature. Have that second cup of coffee. Get a mani/pedi. Sit in the tub for 45 minutes. Take care of your mental health. It is super important.

  

4.     Don’t stumble over your mess-ups. Get your ass up and try again. Keep going for the things you want to see this year.

5.     Get a true grip on life. Take it seriously. It’s yours.

6.     How many times can you watch the same old series? Be open to watching new things, seeing new things, and experiencing new things. Try that new restaurant that you have been dying to eat it; even if it is on a solo date. Watch that new movie everybody is talking about. Read that new book that you want to get your hands on. If you only indulge in the same old things, what can you actually get new out of it? Did somebody say new travel destination? Seek out the new.

7.     Don’t think that just because you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders well means that you have to bear it all alone. Ask for help. Allow someone else to help you carry it.

8.     The most important thing to carry through 2025 is faith. Stay prayed up. Believe that God has something wonderful in store for you and rely on his truth. Know the fact that you are phenomenally blessed and ready to receive good things in your life.

9.     Work on whatever It is that you are passionate about. The more that you work on it, the better you get. The more you put into it, the more you get out of it. And the more that you believe that you are “More Than Enough” to get to where you want to go with it, the more the universe will bend to you. Never forget that you are more than enough.

10. Enjoy the brand new set of 12 months as much as you can. Don't take the time allotted in the year for granted. You have 525600 minutes to make a difference in your own world. Make sure you do more than just live mundanely through it. Experience it with intention and don't let it slip you by. 

 

I hope that you enjoyed this list. I hope to look back over this year when the ball is about to drop into 2026 and having a smile on my face. But until then, here is a song to carry with you throughout the year. https://youtu.be/u02NS1UUpu4?si=XdCRE-JiNfBaj0uh  

 

 

Have a fantastic 2025. Happy New Year! 

Music for the Ultimate Holiday Spirit

It is weird how time changes and we change along with the time that keeps moving forward.

Years ago, it used to bother me that the Christmas holiday became so materialized that it was being exploited so early.

The music started blaring super early and everywhere you would go, there would be decorations and displays of holidays in your face, way before even Thanksgiving; as like it is now. I walked into my local supermarket and the music over the airwaves had me singing down the aisles like I was the star of the show on a stage on Broadway singing my favorite carols. It put the spirit of the holidays in my heart; super early but here we are watching holiday-themed movies and enjoying it.

I won’t have the holiday heart this year. I am ready to celebrate and even feel like I might be getting into the pomp and circumstance of decorating. So keeping in the spirit of the holiday music that always seems to get me into a great mood, I created a music playlist filled with some of the holiday songs that have caught my heart lately and I wanted to share it with you with hopes that it might get you into the mood and perhaps you will enjoy listening to. Perhaps you will enjoy it so much that you'll feel like playing it at your next holiday party or while you are riding in your automobile or while decorating your tree or throught the season. Here is the link: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0OdsBVvfiWvF4NnCqNslL1?si=fdda7baa586e4a77



The following is a list of some ofthe songs that are featured on this Christmas-Themed holiday playlist:

 

1.      “All I Want for Christmas” by Mariah Carey is a fun song with great vocals and a wonderful choir singing lyrics that almost dances charismatically to the up-beat music.  It has always been a favorite of mine since it first came out and I think that it still is until this day.

 

2.      “Jingle Bells” by Ella Fitzgerald is a cool, jazzy version of an old popular holiday anthem that is adored by young and old. I like the swinging nature of this tune and her syncopated voicings that make this song come alive in a really awesome way.

 

3.      “Santa Baby” by Taylor Swift is a nice guitar-heavy tune that I like because I can see this song getting a whole dance party on the floor moving their bodies and enjoying the groove on their feet.

 

 

4.      “Last Christmas” by Wham never seems to get old to me. No matter how many times I listen to it, I love it more. It is an enjoyable song to listen to and I love it a lot.

 

5.      “This Christmas” by Destiny’s Child is a nice trio version of this beautiful Christmas tune. I like it because they made it their own and it sounds really nice to listen to with its bop and its pomp.

 

6.      “Snowman” by Sia. I like different songs that are not traditional but are good tunes that are out of the

ordinary and still keep the holiday in the center of it all. Her creativity and voice shines strong int his tune and it rings beautifully.

 

7.      “Jesus is the Reason” by Stephanie Jeannot is a nice tune because of the harmonic value of it and the music is really hot. I also like the singer’s voice. The hook is super catchy and not a regular everyday carol that you hear all the time.

 

 

8.      “Santa Doesn’t Know You Like I Do” by Sabrina Carpenter. I mean, who isn’t loving what Sabrina Carpenter has been doing with her music lately. This song is just all that and definitely a song that will have people singing along like all the other songs that have hit the waves.

 

9.      “Winter Wonderland” by Pentatonix featuring Tori Kelly is just a song that will make you want to listen because of the amazing harmonies and arrangements on this song. Really great version of this lovely holiday tune.

 

10.   “O Holy Night” by Norah Jones. I like the jazzy smoothness of this tune and her scratchy vocals that make it a cool listen. Plus the hits of the music that seem to make this song dramatic and exciting.

 

Other songs featured on this playlist include, “Joy to the World” by Nat King Cole, “Sleigh Ride” by Kelly Clarkson, “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” by the Jackson 5, “Feliz Navidad” by Jose Feliciano, “Let it Snow” by Luis Fonti and more.

 

Check out the full playlist here:  https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0OdsBVvfiWvF4NnCqNslL1?si=fdda7baa586e4a77

 

 

Here is to a fantastic holiday season ahead!

POET Tuesday by Stephanie Jeannot

Every day is a day that is good to write poetry; especially if you are a poetess like me. But, today seems like an even more extra special day because it is Tuesday and Tuesday is designated as Poetry Tuesday and so, poetry is the game. Here are a few of the latest poems that have been seeping through my pores. I hope you enjoy. 

I Write

I was born as a poem written in a Fifth grader’s marble notebook

My lines were enhanced by a sword and shield and I turned into an epic

I started this romantic relationship slaying dragons and I was transformed into a song

The main soldier in the story became me when my song became a full-length production

You can watch it at a theatre near you and hear the words to me, the anthem

But wherever I am and whenever life spans, the poetry never dies

I still remain vivid and sonorous within the lines

And the words that breathe through are just fine

Because they are mine

I write

 

Full Hearted

Three pages to get you connected with your own id

Ego surpasses everything that went in

To the scribing times and writing blinds to get to this place

They told me not to read it back or edit, so I cannot erase

All I can do is let it out like a cry when losing face

I thought why not

Seemed like a good idea to give it a taste

And so one day I am there releasing

And other times, not in the mood

But they say to feed the hunger to use my thoughts for food

So I’ve been doing the program to release the artist within

And I’m reaching my hand like a back brush to reach the past of when a kid

And all I know it has rained forty days from when I first had started

Almost more tears than the bubbles of all the times I’ve farted

And I am doing it like a professional trash person; hurts discarded

So I can affirm my truths; I know them full hearted.

Open Book

She said what she felt like she never did before

She let out her muse and it happened more and more

She was open like a book and the test was happening

She was telling all the answers that nobody was asking

She thought it was the thing that was supposed to go on

She spelled out every word to each one of her songs

And never held in anything that could be kept as hush

She probably never considered the fact that she had talked too much

She went from writing her thoughts to a book to sharing them with an ear

She went from using her pencil to release her mind to becoming a mountaineer

She thought using her ropes was the answer to the journey she’d been on

She thought that maybe he had been the clear to her life-long thicket of fog

She never thought that is was wrong because she never had it once

She just started living life and gaining scars and cuts

She knew her wrongs and detours, falls and things that kept her from her climb

These were the things that made her block the world from her reminds

And though she fell into this ditch where she just simply lied

Each knee jerk reaction was another shock to come alive

She stood back up on her two feet again at 7:10

To a new light of inspiration and a melodic beat and it all happened when

She got the thread to gauge his eye to sew up her hem

He was the needle that poked her back to life again

 

 

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Thank you so much for reading my poems. If you liked what you read, perhaps you might enjoy one of my poetry collections.  

And Then There Was the Music: Musical Poetry Collection by Stephanie Jeannot

Pulchritudinous: The Poetry Collection

Follow my author page on Amazon here: Stephanie Jeannot: Amazon Author Page

New Song alert: "More than Enough" by Stephanie Jeannot

I heart music and every day is a great day to immerse myself into the sounds of music. I love to listen, perform, sing, and write songs, a lot. 

And so, it brings me great pleasure to invite you to check out my newest song. It is entitled "More Than Enough." 

It is a song written to empower individuals who might need to be reminded about the greatness that God has placed in them. It is soulful and bop worthy. All lyrics and music by Stephanie Jeannot. Mixed by Shawn Keys for Just Awesome Music. 

Hopefully, you will want to bop to it and let the sounds ring through your speakers. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/3J7sUlrzyOM

Thank you for checking out my tune and my blog and for supporting my musical journey. God bless you all.

Stephanie Jeannot's Summer Music Schedule

 It is Summer. Happy summer!

 

At this moment, my heart is fixated on the entire idea of summer. I feel empowered simply because the sun is beaming outside and it gives me vibes that I am on a winning path, which is why I came back to this atmosphere of respect to share my smiles and confidence with you.

The boundless love of God has brought us here to the month of July and there are so many unique stories to share about things that happened in the first half of the year; some that are nothing new under the sun and some that added an entire new palette of colors to my daily hustle and bustle. In a nutshell, 2023 stands out from the pack of years that have leaped into my existence.

I am excited about the summer and started this robust and thoughtful conversation to wish you a happy and safe July, Independence Day, and summer, as well as to share with you some of the upcoming live music events that I will be a part of and hope that you will come to share in the joys of harmonious sound.

 

Friday, July 7, 2023

8PM to 10PM

Stephanie Jeannot with Shawn Keys and Chris Ray

Harlem Nights Bar

2361 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd

New York, NY 10030

Saturday, July 8. 2023

2PM to 3:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Queens Central Public Library

 89-11 Merrick Blvd

Jamaica, NY 11432

 

Sunday, July 9, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30 PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Friday, July 14, 2023

10:30PM to 1:30AM

The Empire State Band

Prohibition Restaurant

503 Columbus Avenue

New York, NY 10024

 

 

Sunday, July 16, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30 PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

7PM to 8PM

The Bartlett Contemporaries

Queens College Kupferberg Center for the Arts Presents

Live at the Gantries

Gantry State Plaza Park

48-09 Center Blvd

Long Island City, NY 11109

 

 

Saturday, July 22, 2023

3PM to 8PM

The Bartlett Contemporaries

JCAL Presents

Southeast Queens Jam Fest (Battle of the Bands)

Rufus King Park

150-29 Jamaica Avenue

Queens, NY 11435

 

 

Sunday, July 23, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30 PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Sunday, July 30, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Friday, August 4, 2023

8PM to 10PM

Stephanie Jeannot with Shawn Keys and Chris Ray

Harlem Nights Bar

2361 Adam Clayton Powell Jr Blvd

New York, NY 10030

 

Saturday, August 5, 2023

1:00PM to 1:30PM

Cultural Collab presents the JAMS Festival

The Jamaica Arts & Music Festival

164th Street & Jamaica Avenue

Jamaica, NY 11432

Sunday, August 6, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Sunday, August 13, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Sunday, August 20, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

 

Friday, August 25, 2023

10:30PM to 1:30AM

The Empire State Band

Prohibition Restaurant

503 Columbus Avenue

New York, NY 10024

 

 

Sunday, August 27, 2023

8:30PM to 10:30PM

The Yaacov Mayman Super Jazz Band

Level Restaurant & Bar

2775 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, NY 11235

 

Let’s enjoy the scintillation of the summer sun together. I hope your navigations through life directs you to at least one of these events. Would be so lovely to see you there. But until then, Peace, love and sunbeams. <3