“It’s all about keeping the soul free, free to soar,” writes Spoon Jackson, a poet incarcerated for the last 30 years.
Those lines are part of a poem called “Realness,” which he included in a letter Jackson wrote seven years ago to a pen pal in Sweden. The pen pal happened to be a member of the choir at Krista parish, just north of Stockholm, Sweden.
A choir member showed this and other Jackson poems to composer Stefan Säfsten. Two years later, Säfsten began composing music around them. After he finished composing the works on CD he sent copies to Jackson who decided not the listen to them immediately. The first time Jackson heard his poetry set to music was in May, when the 38-member choir performed a concert at Folsom State Prison, where Jackson is serving a life sentence without parole.
The concert included two of Jackson’s works, “Freedom for the Prisoners” and “Words of Realness.”
Säfsten founded Järva Röster choir in 1978. Järva Röster’s repertoire includes many different genres from baroque to jazz.
“A great many people have been moved by Spoon Jackson’s lyrics, and the music is meant to reach their inner hearts,” Säfsten said later after a similar concert at the Catholic Chapel at San Quentin. “Jackson’s lyrics literally get under your skin and revitalize your senses.”
Säfsten added, “Never in my life had I been so inspired by such poetry. It feels so good for us to be here, and I hope that you will enjoy with us the realness of this man’s poetry. The spirit of God is upon us. It’s all about keeping it real.”
Jennifer Scaife, coordinator of Patten University at San Quentin, said, “I think that it’s incredible that poems written by a man in California inspired a man in Sweden to compose a musical suite for choir and then inspired him to travel to California to perform the music.
It shows that experiences of people in prison are relevant everywhere.”
Also attending the performance were members of the prison group Real Choices. They brought to the choir’s performance 27 at-risk youngsters from Havencourt, a local community in Oakland. One of the leaders said the kids “were thrilled.”
After performing at San Quentin, Järva Röster performed in San Francisco before returning to Sweden.