New York jazz

I guess I hadn't really heard jazz
until I heard it in New York
I mean I have the records
I have the tapes
I know all the clubs in the area
I read the books, bios
I follow the news, magazines
but when you walk those concrete streets
clippity clop clippity clop
and you squeeze into those jam-packed clubs
Birdland
Blue Note
Jazz Standard
Village Vanguard
there's a legacy
there's an honor
there's a precedence
you get a picture no show can give you
life is hard
and in New York you hear it
be a bop a zippity zoop
a be a boo op a zee
za zee a la oo op
New York is where pastel turns to photography.