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The Language of Saxophones

 

            The language of saxophones is a wonderful poem about saxophones, jazz, the atmosphere created by the sounds of this music. It is a poem that puts rhythm into words in the most creative way, which is why I think it was written to express the mood and cadence that comes along with the genre of jazz music. The first line of the poem says: "Prana moving through time signatures."(1) According to Apple Dictionary, Prana means: "breath, considered as a life-giving force," and a time signature is: "An indication of rhythm following a clef, generally expressed as a fraction with the denominator defining the beat as a division of a whole note and the numerator giving the number of beats in each bar." This could mean that the life giving breath is the notes of the song written on the sheet music. This makes sense because jazz is a genre of music that you sing or listen to, to make yourself feel better, so the prana in the time signatures is cheering you up and getting you out of the blues. .
             The "child"(13) mentioned in the second stanza of this piece is the music its self, created by the unity of "the head and the heart,"(12) A.K.A. the person singing the song. Like the birth of a child, jazz music can bring out great emotion; it is improvised, and can show a piece of the person who created the song. It also involves the soul, which is why it is sometimes called soul music.
             The juxtaposition of the words "bibles and juke joints"(21) is interesting. According to Apple Dictionary, a Juke Joint is: " a bar featuring music on a jukebox and typically having an area for dancing." These two words are very different, as a bible usually provokes thought of strict rule and obedience, when a juke joint provides ideas of relaxing, letting loose, and being free. Jazz music does not abide by the normal rules of proper melody and beat found in the classical genre, just like a juke joint is a place to escape from the strict rules of society.


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