Woodley Press - Four Class Acts

"Lisa's Flying Electric Piano "
by Kevin Rabas

Kevin Rabas is establishing himself as a major Midwestern voice. With
his second collection of poetry, he blends autobiography with
observation to create mini-documentaries. He writes about jazz, small
town encounters, and real romance. As a professional musician, he
shares insider’s views of Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Jack McCann, and
other legends. Every story he tells, whether personal or public, is
authentic, and with the lyric form he transports readers into a rich,
complex world.
--Denise Low, Kansas Poet Laureate, Thailand Journal

In Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, Kevin Rabas is playing a sweet tune
for us. He knows this tune by heart, and he is working with charts in
his head where the small black glyphs of notes tell a story about how
no one escapes this life without experiencing the odd rhythms of love,
loss, and the splayed beams of sunlight through autumn leaves somehow
bringing awareness and redemption. Rabas, a percussionist and poet,
uses his metal brushes to stir up a “shoosh, shoosh, shoosh” to create
the heartbeat of a bright and tragic life where ironically, “There are
no words between us, only this music...” --Greg Field, poet, The
Longest Breath

The veiled saints and martyrs in Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano reveal
themselves from beneath a thin layer of daily routine that grabs the
reader’s attention like bright chalk drawings on the sidewalk. Kevin
Rabas shares secrets of jazz musicians and children alike with
attentive tempo, letting the reader inside to wet their whistle just
enough for them to ask for more. This book as a whole is just like the
title suggests – it is full of dreams that could actually happen. --Matt Porubsky, Voyeur Poems

Kevin Rabas’ second book, Lisa’s Flying Electric Piano, contains almost
a dozen poems that demonstrate how poetry that struggles without
affectation or fear with the pain and mystery of life can lead readers
beyond awareness to wonder. Not many poets, young or old, can muster
the courage and skill to accomplish that. One can find rare candor
here, unusual musicality, devotion to a place and its lingo and a
refusal to
pander to the purveyors of glitter and deceit who pollute our time. --Dan Jaffe, Playing the Word: Jazz Poems

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