Dear gentlefolk of Newport
Or maybe I should say, hats and cats
I want you to lend an ear
Because, eh, I want you to hear
Some really shimmering sharps and flats

For these cozy virtuosi
Just about the greatest in the trade
Are fixin' to show you now precisely how
Or approximately jazz music is made

Well, you take some skins, jazz begins
Then you take a bass
Man, now we're gettin' some place
Take a box, one that rocks
Take a blue horn, New Orleans-born

Ah, you take a stick with a lick
Take a bone, ho-ho-hold the phone
Take a spot, cool and hot
Now you has jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz
Le tout ensemble

Ah, that's positively therapeutic
Now you has jazz, jazz, jazz
Messrs, Hall and Young
Ah said Hall and Tommy Young
Now you has Messrs Kyle and Shaw
That's Billy Kyle, Arvel Shaw
Now you has Mr. Barret Deans
Well, listen to, well, you know who

Say hey pops, you wanna grab a little of what's left here?
Yeah, daddy, yeah, here we go
If you sail a-sailin', sailin' over the sea
When you wait for me
Take my tip, they're all molto hip in Italy

Well, arrivederci as for France
Oh, I know you're very big there
Yes, believe it or not, I do believe, I do indeed
The Frenchmen's all, prefer what they call 'Le jazz hot'

Take a plane, go to Siam
In Bangkok today 'round the clock
Well, they all like to jam
Indians on the Amazon
Beat one bar and all of 'em are
Ah well, gone, man, gone

Ah, from the equator up to the pole
Everybody wingin', everybody singin'
That rock, rock, rock, rock, rock and roll
From the east to the west
From the coast to the coast jazz is king
Jazz is the thing that folks dig most
Now that's jazz