On So What

When I was young, learning, discovering my craft,
When I wasn’t yet well schooled,
Upon hearing it for the first time,
It opened up my eyes to the epitome of cool.

And it was just the first track...

Paul was laying this really soft casual groove,
Bill played an unorthodox chord underneath,
While Jimmy softly rode the cymbal,
This is where John had learned to cut his teeth.

And the bass said “Hey guys I have to tell you”,
They all said “So what”,
“Hey guys I have to tell you something”,
“So what”,
“Come on guys let me share it”,
“So what”,
“Well I’m going it tell you anyway”,
“So what”,
“And goes like this”...

And then entered Miles,
That first note was the tone that touched my soul,
I mean it echoed through my ears like an epiphany,
As Paul went into a steady beat my foot couldn’t control.

And talk about such a hip and trendy groove,
As he let his trumpet resonate with fluidity and resilience,
Reverberating through the fabric of sound and rhythm,
Accompanied by Bill and Jimmy who were just as brilliant.

Then entered Coltrane,
With such a harmonically improvised derived composition,
Harder and faster on the scale with the timbre coarsening,
And yet so virtuous on the tenor sax like a divine magician.

Up next was Cannonball,
Adderley’s alto brings a set of runs with a bebop-style,
His phrases trilling and thrilling my brain with melodies,
As the chords seamlessly swirl sensuously all the while.

It all feels romantic, melancholic and even spiritual,
Taken on a journey of cool rhythm and rhyme,
When the chord simply goes “so what”,
It still gets to me every single time.