Joans, Ted

Ted Joans, African-American poet, jazz musician, and surrealist painter, was born July 4, 1928, in Cairo, Illinois. He became a well-known poet from the Beat movement and established the jazz poetry scene. He died on May 7, 2003 in Vancouver, B.C.

From the description of Ted Joans papers, 1948-2002. (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 697543004

African American poet; b. 1928.

From the description of Ted Joans collection, 1972-1976. (Boston University). WorldCat record id: 70925547

Ted Joans, African-American poet, jazz musician, and surrealist painter, was born Theodore Jones on July 4, 1928, in Cairo, Illinois. He became a well known poet of the Beat movement and established the jazz poetry scene. He died on May 7, 2003 in Vancouver, B.C.

From the description of Ted Joans photograph albums [graphic]. ca. 1944-ca. 1985 (bulk ca. 1944-ca. 1947). (University of California, Berkeley). WorldCat record id: 155731183

Ted Joans was a painter, poet and trumpeter, member of the New York Greenwich Village literary Beat Generation. He was among the first to set his poems to jazz music. His style is associated with the oral tradition of African-American writing but also to the Beat Generation. Joans a self identified surrealist, was the author of over 30 books.

Joans was born in 1928, Cairo, Ill. and died at the age of 74 in Vancouver.

From the description of Ted Joans collection, 1928-2003. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122431007

Biographical Sketch

Ted Joans, African-American poet, jazz musician, and surrealist painter was born July 4, 1928, in Cairo, Illinois. His father, a riverboat entertainer, put him off the boat in Memphis at the age of twelve and gave him a trumpet. Joans received his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Indiana University in 1951.

Moving to New York City after his college graduation, Joans quickly joined the arts scene in Greenwich Village. He became a well-known member of the Beat movement, and established the jazz poetry scene, along with Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg, and Bob Kaufman. In 1957, his first book, Beat Poems, was published by Deretchin, which also published his Funky Jazz Poems in 1959. To date, Joans has published more than 30 collections of poems, of which many are now out of print.

Joans has been described as an irreverent writer who denounced racism, sexual repression, and injustice. His calls for social protest often were considered controversial, but he felt it was the best way for breaking down barriers. Growing dissatisfied with the commercialism of the Beat movement, he became an expatriate in the 1960's, traveling the world, and later settling in Tangier, Morocco. Continuing to paint and write poetry, Joans has supported himself primarily through the sale of artwork, which he collected during his travels in Africa. Some of his African experiences are reflected in the poems Afrodisia: new poems, published in 1971. Joans was editor for Dies und Das, the first surrealist magazine published in Germany in 1984. He has contributed to Black World, Coda Jazz Magazine, Jazz, and Presence Africaine.

Ted Joans reads his poetry with rhythmic swing, speeding up or slowing down, raising his voice or lowering it, much like he did when he played jazz trumpet. In fact, Joans, refers to himself as a jazz poet with a lifelong passion for the music.

Joans recently moved to Seattle, where he has read his work at public gatherings and taught in children's poetry workshops.

From the guide to the Ted Joans papers, 1948-[on-going], (The Bancroft Library.)