The Blues, The Jazz, The City
The city is jazz under neon lights
The jazz is blues stoned
And the city never forgets this
Like the heart never forgets to pulse
And the stars never forget to shine in the night
But it takes jazz to move it, to move it all
So the jazz is the beat that always burns
So the heavens continue to shine on and shine all
The jazz soothes the souls of the children
Though the city is old, the jazz is young
Thus the jazz, fast and heavy, radiates the city
She returns her to her ember glow in night
The city is high on the hill and low in the valley
She is the heart, the blessed nectar, the blossom shower
The jazz glows in prosperous tombs
She serves the crashing wave of the monsoon, to the city's bay, to the ancient harbor, across bold rivers, to lakes nestled in the safety of moors and battlefields, and sings to the forest and soaks the timber and every reborn city is cloaked in the fingertip of jazz
Since jazz destroys and creates, it is the fire, and so the smoke rises higher
Hark the newborn guff of jazz
The baptized funeral pyre
Hench jazz is the gospel, the good news
She returns though, always to the blues
Love the blue lady, her old cracked voice
The blues, the jazz, and the lady unite
To the bravery of her song she sang to the evil eyes of the Kodak dragon whose hair in the hiding bear under masks of hatred
The jealous lair, the haunt of despair
And jazz shines on, they can't stop her
The lady of the city sings to the farm
No choir can match the timbre of the lady
My first love,
She shines on for me when I am sad, through me in melancholy
And we join in joy, the lady sees all, feels all, and sings on
Rambunctious be the lady, the city, the blues
Who beat for hearts at night
From the slide trombone, the tut-tut-tut of the mighty snare
The brass milieu for brighter days and neon lights
The whimper
The whimper of the stand-up bass, who carries the beat, the jazz, the blues, the night
In your arms I am safe and sound, the sounds who hold me tight
And above all, upon the highest peak, the great black giants, the black hands and breath of jazz, food for the soul and fodder, who inspire all in the world
But the two giants upon the highest mountain compete for the night and walk away friends as we do
They too are the shine, the noble sheen, and while the lady sings, they dance, the boozers hound and prance, the lovers kneel and romance and the giants push the pebbles from beneath their mountain feet
Who knows how many souls the jazz saved, but I know she saved mine
The giants, trumpet and sax, and even the sweet other of New Orleans, a trumpet and voice, a demigod, and every other band and face and time
So the jazz soothed them too to be saved, as they played, we all played, and jazz shines for the night
And Jack drew the map in sketches, he saw the jazz, but the jazz sees all, and saves all who smile upon her because she loves all, but can only save those who hear her call because she is human
She is so human
She is the city of light of darkest night
But most of all I think on the lady
The lady is the city, sitting pretty, in a jam
The jam
The beat
The jazz
The lady
The city
The blues
Pushed forward by strongest beat, what a feat, and the children eat their meat
And meet those they should, the jazz rumbles on, singing the song, nothing wrong
And the lady smiles always because she is the beat of my heart, my soul
She blooms my flower
She waves my sound
She smiles
Smiles
The lady
With her cracked somber voice of the blues, the city, and jazz
She the great bell, cracked, she chimes for liberty, she chimes for freedom of the endless soul she saves
And the giants steamroll her, the angel ember young
And she flies in heaven where she belongs, singing for the city, the blues, the jazz
And love
poem by Jay Bradley
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Related quotes
Victor Should Have Been A Jazz Musician
I went to a concert, to see nina, simone,
The concert was over, there was still a band playing, the rap up,
The booguh played with his hands, I close my eyes, and look at him,
Victor should have been a jazz musician,
I said to myself, victor should have been a jazz musician,
I looked at his face, and I saw victor, looked at his smile, and I saw victor,
I looked at his hair, and thought,
Victor should have been a jazz musician,
Victor should have been a jazz musician,
And the people dancing on the floor, dancing on the floor, were so high,
You should have seen victor smile, you should have seen victor smile,
As they danced all the while all around on the floor, and he laughed,
Victor should have been a jazz musician,
Oh, victor should have been a jazz musician,
He was playing so nice, the jazz musician,
Ah, ah,
Hes living in a fast beat, in a city thats hot,
Telling all the latinos and puerto ricans, victor seems happy, but he doesnt even know himself, hes gotta look inside to know his first love,
Victor was a jazz musician, he was playing so nice, victor was a jazz musician, (? ) victor was a jazz musician,
Victor loves his music, he loves his music, somewhere, he plays his music, somewhere,
Victor is a jazz musician,
Jazz.
song performed by by Grace Jones
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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City of Jazz (in defiance of Katrina AKA the Beast)
In the land of Blues
There once came a beast
A wild, uncaring, disparaging scourge
She tore through the soul of city of gold
She drove every household to the cold
Then came the tears
All night and all day
Flooding the streets and swelling the blue bay
Then came the snakes
Both men and green
They lashed at the people with tainted white teeth.
But the land was strong
Full of ole passion and pride
And the city of golden jazz would not give up without a fight
The struggle was hard
And the people were weary
Together the music lifted thier sad souls
The more they sang the stronger they played
And the people drove the beast, the tears, and the snakes away
After they were gone
The jeweled people all see
The city of Jazz in the land of Blues was meant to be
And the music will play in the heart of New Orleans
The city of Jazz in the land of Blues will be
poem by T.L. Taylor
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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House Of Jazz
(young - young)
Humdinger
Bell ringer
Got a nasty stinger
To slow you down
Mud slinger
Gold digger
Who point the finger
And do you down
Kickin and a fightin on a tv show
Lightin blindin in the middle of the road
Are you comin in
Are you comin in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz, yes
Ball stripper
Big tipper
Got a slap n tickler
To make you growl
A spitin and bitin on a tv show
Tightenin frightenin givin out a load
Are you comin in
Are you comin in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin in
Come on in
Are you comin in
Are you comin in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin in
Are you comin in
I said into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
The house of jazz
2000, j. albert & son, pty.
song performed by by AC-DC
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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House Of Jazz
Humdinger
Bell ringer
Got a nasty stinger
To slow you down
Mud slinger
Gold digger
Who point the finger
And do you down
Kickin' and a fightin' on a TV show
Lightin' blindin' in the middle of the road
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Ball stripper
Big tipper
Got a slap 'n' tickler
To make you growl
Spitin' and bitin' on a TV show
Tightenin' frightenin' givin' out a load
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin' in
Come on in
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
Are you comin' in
Are you comin' in
I said into the house of jazz
Come into the house of
Come into the house of
Come into the house of jazz
The house of jazz
song performed by by AC/DC from Stiff Upper Lip
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I was considered as a jazz man rather than as a blues player. There were no blues players-you played one sort of jazz of another sort of jazz.
quote by Alexis Korner
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I have made a film about jazz that tries to look through jazz to see what it tells us about who we are as a people. I think that jazz is a spectacularly accurate model of democracy and a kind of look into our redemptive future possibilities.
Enter Jazz
In the past few weeks
(1995, I think)
A whole field of music
Has knocked on my door.
Jazz has made my acquaintance.
Jazz who has always before
Seemed so stale, so staid,
So stuck in a groove
Sometime back in the thirties,
Jazz now emerges
As the most delightful companion.
I first noticed
My new friend
On the Voice of America,
A sudden lightness of spirit
Lighting up my room
Through the transistor radio.
Then Nancy, Carolyn's mum in Ferny Creek,
Turned out to be a jazz fan
With a collection of cassettes,
And I abandoned myself
To jazz's invitation
To dance,
Easy, free-flowing steps
Up and down
The lounge-room carpet.
Last night
The friendship firmed further:
In the E.G. Guide
Was listed a jazz trio
Which they claimed could be heard
At the Albert Park Hotel
Not far away.
The trio swelled to seven or eight musicians
As the evening unfolded
And I drank in the rhythms
Of what a chat with their apparent leader, Bill,
Revealed was traditional jazz
In the Chicago style,
So sweet, so gentle, so softly swinging.
Jazz took my arm
And smiled.
I have a new friend.
poem by Peter Elliott
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jazz night dream
Jazz night blue light
Some Joe's hazy bliss
Our first crazy kiss
As cool sounds drift out to the street.
Our eyes make love whenever they meet.
Your hand that rests in mine
That sax, both chill my spine.
Jazz night two wilting flowers
Smooch in the wee small hours
That great Miles Davies number
Rescues us from slumber.
Two cool cats on the town
Badder than Leeroy Briwn.
No reason for one more drink
No reason for us to think.
Jazz night starlight gives way to a misty dawn
Is this where the blues were born?
Where purest hearts were torn
And the warmth of Ella's voice
Then our lips touch like a feather
Now our hearts just have no choice
Guess we're in for stormy weather.
Jazz night, blue light
Will stay inside our head
We'll lay in love in bed with secret words all said.
Wrapped in rapture, then calm- our satiated bliss
The coolest night of charm
Could only end like this.
poem by Kevin East
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My fore people
My fore people
Birth the spiritual
Because God wanted
To hear it
He said ‘I feel your pains
Sang it away, sang’
And they opened their mouth
And the spiritual rang out
Go tell it on the mountain.
My fore mothers
Birthed the blues
Because they knew
That life in Americus
Wasn’t fair
So their souls said to them
Lady Day croon
Bessie Smith zoom
With the blues
Strange Fruits
My fore father
Birth jazz
Out of necessity
Out of chains around
Their ankles
They blow the sounds
Of the death bell
To tell that the struggler
Was not in vain
They blow jazz from
Within and still
There was more to give
Around midnight
poem by David E. Patton
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Jumpin With Symphony Sid
Jumpin with my boss sid in the city
Jumpin with my boss sid in the city
Mr. president of that dj committee
Were gonna be up all night gettin ready
We want you to spin the sounds from the city
Far down in the land thats real real pretty
Let everything go real crazy over jazz
Make everything go real crazy over jazz
Let everything cool for me and my baby
I dont wanna think were listening too lazy
Its gotta be pressburg cheering all the basie
Its gotta get it all set right clear on the eighty
Let it roll
Let it roll
song performed by by Joe Jackson
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The Big City Type
I woke up in a big city apartment
Rode to a big city job
On a big city subway
With hip, big city people
Worked at a big city job
In a big city skyscraper
Stood in a big city line
For lunch, heard big city jazz
On a big city radio station
It was like a big city scene
In a big budget movie
When I realized I had become
The big city type
I always wanted to be
Yet I was still me
poem by Adam Artois
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jazz is the big brother of the blues. If a guy's playing blues like we play, he's in high school. When he starts playing jazz it's like going on to college, to a school of higher learning.
quote by B.B. King
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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I love music, I love all kinds of music, particularly jazz. Jazz is an extension of America. There's no other country in the world that could have produced jazz.
quote by Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Pink Jazz Trancers
You better watch out
Im tellin you why
Just when you least expect it
Just when you feel at ease
Thats when you get selected
Thats when theyll come youll see
So many stray transmissions
Theres nothing you can do
So many liquid rhythms
Theyd fill a swimming pool
Beamed from the highest mountain
Nowhere left for you to go
Theyll take you even higher
Then youve ever been before
But theres no need to worry
First youll dip into a dream
And in your mind its coming
Like so many bright ideas
Its all about to happen
Its way beyond fantastic
Its useless to resist it
When youre finally hit with
Pink jazz trancers
Jazz trance for u
Wait just for a minute
Lay down here next to me
Jazz trance for u
No need for you to hurry
Turn on the cable tv
Jazz trance for u
Lets close our eyes together
Now can you see how good its going to be!
song performed by by Devo
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Study in Red
Red - and blue
And oh so true
Hot - jazz - flash
And gold-toned sax
Relaxed and breaking through.
Red - and gray
City day and night
Passed through - righteously
To passing few who
Come in bright.
Red - and black
Man in red velvet jacket
Smooth and sharp and
Laugh - dark - hello
For come and go.
Red - and white
Lady in black
Jacket - so right
And new and playing
Bright white and black
With who can do it
Righteous and true.
Red - and gold
All love is sold
And time enfolds
Dreams of morning horn
To forewarn a passing few.
Of hot - jazz - flash
And midnight past
Believing in no true
Sound but Red
And blue.
poem by Christine Natale
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I always hated jazz guitar. I loved jazz saxophone but I hated jazz guitar. If I would buy an organ trio record I would make sure I'd buy one that did not have a guitar player on it. The sound was awful!
quote by Tom Verlaine
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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JAZZ and RAINBOWS
What is Jazz - What is a Rainbow?
You can ask the questions - don't expect answers
Jazz is free and yet constrained
Rainbows come and go as they please
Jazz is wild and yet restrained
Rainbow can't exist without rain
Jazz is open and yet contained
Rainbows always have red at the top
Jazz is unscored and yet maintained
Rainbows can be single - double - triple
Just as Jango Rheinhardt said to Segovia
Senor it ees all in ze 'ed
The same is true of rainbows
Zey are all inside my 'ed!
It takes all the colours of pure white sound
To create jazz.
It takes all the colours of pure white light
To create a rainbow.
Jazz and rainbows operate on the same principle
In jazz the tone colours are separated by the players
In a rainbow the visible colours are separated by a raindrop
Jazz and rainbows are boh equally beautiful.
After the rain there are stll some drops in the atmosphere
They refract the white light into R O Y G B I V,
In the same way the 'Jazz Combo' is able to dissect.
The white sound of music is disected by the musicains
On a sunny day - the white light hits the raindrop
The colours are dispersed forming the rainbow.
In jazz - each member if the Combo has a colour!
The double bass has red - the saxaphone is orange!
The percussion is yellow - the brass is green
The clarinet is blue - trhe banjo is indigo
The guitar is violet and the piano is striped!
The combo plays and whiite sound is re-produced.
Because we are humans our senses of life are acute.
Our eyes for colour and our ears for sound.
The quality of this provision enables us to distinguish colour
And to distinguish between all the tones and semi-tones.
So next time you see a rainbow - think jazz
And the rainbow will dance for you
Next time you hear some jazzy jazz - think rainbow
And the tone colours of the jazz will spring out at you.
(John Knight - Colchester - October 2009)
poem by John Knight
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Jazz Police
Can you tell me why the bells are ringing?
Nothing's happened in a million years
I've been sitting here since Wednesday morning
Wednesday morning can't believe my ears.
Jazz police are looking through my folders
Jazz police are talking to my niece
Jazz police have got their final orders
Jazzer
song performed by by Leonard Cohen from I'm Your Man
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I was a jazz major in high school, in an all-jazz band. No matter what I do, it features my musical influences.
quote by Wyclef Jean
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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We're having a hard time understanding where jazz is going. What happened to jazz?