[Dixielandjazz] What Happened?

[Kaye Wade]

Sent to me by George Schoenbaum of N.Y.

A Lament...................

What Happened to Jazz..??

What's happened to jazz? Where's all the brass?
What happened to jazz? What happened to class?
There was Dizzy and Miles, Flip Phillips and Bird.
Stan Getz played phrasing like we'd never heard.
Count Basie and Duke and all Woody's Herds,
Hell! Ella could sing without any words.

Then Rock and Roll showed up one day -
Just rhythm and Blues played a flashier way.
Wild costumes and lasers and fireworks and all,
Smash up your axes. Then trash the hall.
"It won't last," we said, "It'll soon go away."
But it kept hanging in there, day after day.

Punk Rock, Acid Rock, Heavy Metal and Rap,
They said it was music. We said it was crap.
Now it's two guys, a computer, and six amps on the stand,
With ten thousand watts and a million RAMS at hand.
Synthesizers, amplifiers, electronics and such,
They still call it music, but it don't move me much.

There's still lots of young talent. Kids that really play-
North Texas lab bands turn them out every day.
But there aren't any gigs and there's no place to play
-
Jam sessions where old cats show the young cats the way.
Cutting contests that last until break of day,
Where all of your peers try to blow you away.

Ah, the jazz years were sweet, and we had a good run.
We partied all night and we hid from the sun.
Life was a ball---playing music was fun.
I guess we did it all.  It all seems to be done.

Be-bop to Hip-Hop in fifty short years.
You can't call that progress, not if you have ears.
But it's over and done, what else can you say.
Maybe, just maybe, it'll come back some day.
What happened to music?
Please, tell me the truth.
What happened to jazz?
What happened to truth?

--
Kaye Wade
Stuntwoman-Actress, Reflexologist
Vocalist & Bandleader -Kaye Wade's Riverboat Ramblers
& The Tinsel Town Ten Minus 3
PO Box 1068 Studio City  CA. 91614-1068
http://www.KayeWade.com