What’s so unique in the music called Jazz <br />Is the spontaneity no other music has <br />Without spaces and bars, the artists succeeded <br />No written notes were musically needed <br /> <br />Improvisations coming straight from the heart <br />From artists like Armstrong, who were there near the start <br />Jazz royalty, Duke Ellington and Mr. Count Basie <br />Pianoed feelings in sound, both catchy and racy <br /> <br />Ellington wrote “Black Brown and Beige” <br />A musical history of torment and rage <br />To show how skin color neatly provided <br />Bigots the means to keep people divided <br /> <br />“No more oppression”, Jazz artists cried out <br />“Demands for our freedom will never die out” <br />“Strange Fruit”, Billie Holliday sang out in pain <br />Jim Crow’s bigotry was an American Stain <br /> <br />Charlie Parker flying high, known as the Bird <br />His message would soar when his sax was heard <br />He defied all convention, his music exploded <br />And showed all of us that bounds were outmoded <br /> <br />Jazz was the outlet for pent-up emotion <br />No wonder it’s aired with such depth and devotion <br />Those musical artists paid more then their dues <br />Jazz sprang from their feelings of sadness and blues<br /><br />Stanley Cooper<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/jazz-3/
