June 22: Necessarily So

B minor is they key that Gershwin chose

For his sublime creation “Summetime.”

But for a previous singer the band chose

A full C minor chart; hardly a crime.

A half-step up makes little difference

To saxophones in their ideal range,

But for a vocalist, it explains whence

A lovely piece can end up sounding strange.

And so a song that sits high in the voice

Becomes unsingable when raised a jot

So we get to make the lousy choice

To sing a seventh down or sing it not.

At least when I arrive at the reprise,

I’m...