Jazz Poem by Stanley Cooper

What’s so unique in the music called Jazz
Is the spontaneity no other music has
Without spaces and bars, the artists succeeded
No written notes were musically needed

Improvisations coming straight from the heart
From artists like Armstrong, who were there near the start
Jazz royalty, Duke Ellington and Mr. Count Basie
Pianoed feelings in sound, both catchy and racy

Ellington wrote “Black Brown and Beige”
A musical history of torment and rage
To show how skin color neatly provided
Bigots the means to keep people divided

“No more oppression”, Jazz artists cried out
“Demands for our freedom will never die out”
“Strange Fruit”, Billie Holliday sang out in pain
Jim Crow’s bigotry was an American Stain

Charlie Parker flying high, known as the Bird
His message would soar when his sax was heard
He defied all convention, his music exploded
And showed all of us that bounds were outmoded

Jazz was the outlet for pent-up emotion
No wonder it’s aired with such depth and devotion
Those musical artists paid more then their dues
Jazz sprang from their feelings of sadness and blues