The Future of Jazz

I.

Soothing, gentle voices too
not loud, and as my ears adjust by the third tune, I discern nuanced sounds:
light piano touches, guitar tones of aqua color.
A reminder for me of show tune melodies at times
but new, more intricate compositions.
Large papers of sheet music, like newspaper pages wide open
Crowded with notations.

II.

Before the encore: “This is our first real concert”
Ron Miles with a wide bright shine as a child on stage.
This humble cornet player leading, gesturing as he bops slinky about between solos.
As an attentive audience we are rewarded
with these creative souls on stage guiding us in a trance,
as if a Tibetan llama pokes his face from stage left curtain
juniper smoke wafting in, with a smell of mountain woods.
Ron Miles on burnished horn dances rhythms and melodies, smiling often at his old pal Bill Frisell.

III.

Bill paints colors, and sweet scales of tinkling stars in the air overhead.
Surprising changes in tempo and mood from sad to pensive
as Brian Blades pops the snare drum like a gunshot,
audience members sit up straight in quick attention.
The lithe drummer, his effervescent smile, hands in constant motion.

IV.

Jason Moran with a long maestro coat sits patiently at the Steinway piano stage left.
The bass player possesses a muscular voice, and visually he aligns with this image of strength.
A woman next to Dan is nodding off as the rest of us all perched in Row C
watch expressive faces with movie melodies in hand.

The future of jazz unfolds before us.
To rehearse in this elegant space this day before show time, reading sheet music
Learning structured compositions that flow as water
With room for spontaneity: Yes!
This must be the future of jazz.