Chuck Perrin

Of all the poets who have examined the subject of love, perhaps none have written with as much simple, heartfelt directness as the great Chilean poet Pablo Neruda. His love poems and sonnets have been translated and are universally treasured in just about every country on our planet.

For the last few years, I have been blessed to collaborate with bass virtuoso Bert Turetzky on a project we call “bass and word.” We choose poems we both love and then improvise in performance – he on the contrabass and me interpreting the words. Each performance is different and unique.

Here, in honor of Valentine’s Day (which is serendipitously also Bert’s 80th birthday) is a recent video rendering of Pablo Neruda‘s “Love Sonnet 29.”

To love! To life! L’chaim!