Jazz In Quarter Time

….the dissonance of life....

Jazz in Quarter Time

 

 

What is it about jazz

that colors its notes

in blues with a tint of

red quarter notes.

Some notes are held longer,

so the ear can savor

the nuance of a sultry sax

as it sways the wind

and a lady’s hips.

 

Jazz and color

are threaded,

are strings vibrating

and woven in social upheaval;

the sounds of youthful joy

and rebellion;

the desire to remake everything.

Oh, there will be chords of discord,

mixed with smooth melodies;

musical hurricanes,

contrasting with pastel blues

and yellows,

of Miles’ horn,

and Monk’s piano.

 

But new music

can only emerge from the old,

the fusion of sounds,

the breaking of old ground

for beats never heard before.

Jazz is metaphor for life,

but it’s also syncopated discord

and harmonic dissonance,

the fresh air needed

for swirls of revolution.

 

Everyone believes that

change comes from

each of us changing internally.

But this flies in the face of reality.

S**t happens, as they say,

and we confront it

in one way or another.

This is not internal out,

but external in,

then out.

How the world affects us,

how we see the world

determines how we act

and affect the world around us.

Isn’t this also the way

in which we create?

 

Jazz and imagination,

an internal process,

more determined by

what is going on around us.

Reality,

the world

involves itself

in everything we do.

 

Life itself is jazz,

a symphony of color,

fused in 6/8 time,

with a touch of dissonance,

a dash of blues,

and a whole lot of love.

 

Aztec Warrior/redzone 9.28.18

Author's Note

...thanks for reading....

Reviews

[barleygirl]

As I was reading this one, I felt you start out in a lyrical mood, then later you take a deep dive with a philosophical bent (V4 felt like a departure for you & also for the message thread in this poem). After that, the lyrical qualities return to your word-crafting. It's fun to watch how you take a ride on a musical philosophy ponder! Music inspires me similarly (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Kelly Scheppers]

I love your selection of Boney James! How magnificently the music entices my hips to move, as my soul indulges the offering of your poetic repertoire. I love jazz. It is of all things, an internal process, like breathing in and breathing out. You ignited my senses, Curt. What an awakening...what a thrill!

[redzone]

there is something about Boney James isn't there.... and his seduction felt just right in this poem, which in some ways is about seduction.... nice to see your hips move Kelly as well as your soul, and senses.... Boney James' music can do that... and I am thrilled that you think my words can do this as well, I am honored Kelly....

do you listen to Boney James often??? have any of his albums??

[Kelly Scheppers]

I got into jazz when I first heard Kenny G. Saw him in concert a couple of times, and what a performer he is. I'm trying to get CD's of what I have of him and Boney James. I have Alexa play them for me all the time!

[redzone]

my Pandora plays jazz all the time, especially Boney James, Coltrane, Monk, to name a few... …
read moremy Pandora plays jazz all the time, especially Boney James, Coltrane, Monk, to name a few... …

do you also listen to jazz singers??? Nina, Lady D, Etta, for example???

[jacob erin-cilberto]

ah yes, the jazz of life... the old music that gives birth to the new music, but the oldies are always remembered...they lay the foundation of what is to come later...the youth who move to their own beat, and yet give homage to what came before.
j.

[redzone]

thanks Jacob, your observation between old and new is very true... and for those youth who get into music, I think they do appreciate the old while they listen to and/or create the new.... but in our society, how many of our young people have no clue about the old... how hip hop for example came out of R&B/be bop/gospel/blues just to name a few of its influences... it's why I always appreciated artists like Nas, or Tupac, who sampled old melodies within their songs... also why I like Boney James, who creates as well as puts his own spin on older tunes... we need music and all art to help make us human I think...

anyway, thanks Jacob, even in your comments you allow for free thinking to take hold...

[Lydia Shutter]

Yes, jazz is a musical hurricane and your words are like snowflakes falling rhythmically on the page. Yes, we do live when we change....and jazz is a series of changes. Your words are a melodic melange, my friend...a jazzy and "nice" one! I am in awe of our talent....really. Lydi**

[redzone]

thanks you Lydi, for some reason, the jazz of Boney James, all jazz actually speaks to me in poetry... not sure how else to explain it... but you are right in comparing jazz to a hurricane with gentle falling snow flakes.... and you know that I truly appreciate a "nice" comment from you.... thank you...