Notes About The Poem

Thinkin' in Jazz

Thinkin' in Jazz
 In the smoky air of a dim-lit bar, where the jazz notes are free to be/
 I’m hittin’ the keys black-and-white, they  dance under my fingers/
 learning the language of the night, the pentatonic scale, my silent partner, whispering secrets through brass and wood, understood?
 Musician to musician, we gather round, swapping stories like currency, what we did, what we missed, a note here, a pause there, the bandstand our confessional, step by step, we’re reaching, stretching toward the horizon of sound, to be the best, to be more than echoes/
 But tell me, brother, sister, what’s your pulse beneath the rhythm? What’s your political stance, your economic battle, when the music swells and sways/
 does it blow through your horn, or does it just linger on the edges? Man, are you for real? Chet Baker, Lee Konitz, Paul Motian, Charlie Haden, their spirits weave through your melodies, a fusion of giants/
 reminding you, that you are  in good company, finding the art in your horn/
 finding yourself, the horn as a vessel, a portal to transcending into the musical universe/ It is said the echoes of the great horn players, live in every musician's jazz head/ like stars in a midnight sky, waiting to be discovered on the road of jazz/ a worthy journey/
 between sets, I’m composing, a song in my mind, in the back alley of my jazz gig/
 where dreams collide with reality, and every note is not about playin’ on a stage/
 every jazz blow, a breath, and at this moment, I’m alive, thinkin’ in jazz.
Copyright © | Year Posted 2025

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HAYNES Avatar
March 25, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I love your work/I was not sure if the beat was welcome here/I'd stuck with my tamer stuff/ check out talkin with Hersch on my page/that is the only beat poem I've posted Remember Wes Montgomery?
Adamo Avatar
March 26, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Yo, William, let it all hang out. Let your mind soar. Be hip to your groove. And many thanks. Tony Adamo
Greenhough Avatar
February 21, 2025 at 2:41 PM
I love this. I learned about good jazz later in life. Your poem describes it well, described in meter that rings jazz to the ears. Thank you for your wonderful composition, Thinkin' in Jazz.
Adamo Avatar
February 22, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Yo Hilda, I've been a Soul/jazz musician 4 forty-five years. Thank U 4 your comment. It means a lot. Be well and walk in coolness. Tony Adamo
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