Jazz is the driving force behind my art, my painting, my life in general. While I'm most inspired by trad jazz, especially swing, I'm stoked by all jazz.
It's a rainy, overcast Saturday afternoon in July. The heatwave has finally broken and I've been cooking and painting since all day. It has been so hot and humid this week - 102 degrees at one point - that it has been hard for me to work. I just wanted to rest and reflect. It's jazz on a wet afternoon, the creatives forces are flowing with the sounds of Johnny Hodges with the Billy Strayhorn Orchestra. It's really the Ellington Orchestra transformed into another lyrical plane. All my life, I loved the sound of Johnny Hodges alto. My mother didn't know quite what to make of her child that loved the Ellington sound. I loved the tune Azure from the first time I heard Ella sing it with the Ellington band. The song is playing now! Later, when I heard some Strayhorn melodies, I instantly knew who wrote and arranged Azure. It's so intoxicating...
I like to joke that jazz is in my DNA. It's been a part of my soul my entire life. It's certainly part of my early conditioning. My parents were fans. Fortunately for me, they had good taste. It rubbed off, too. I grew up surrounded by jazz LPs with great cover art. I just ran with it and expanded my exposure. I have a rather large jazz LP collection that I now have in storage since my conversion to CDs. Stardust is playing now, I'm a Bix Beiderbecke fan so that's a special melody to me. I have to get back to painting before the time vanishes.
I've been so busy that I didn't get to post last month. I need to play catch-up soon. One of the highlights in June was attending two days of the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival! I took tons of pics and have been planning some portraits based on my experiences.
It's a rainy, overcast Saturday afternoon in July. The heatwave has finally broken and I've been cooking and painting since all day. It has been so hot and humid this week - 102 degrees at one point - that it has been hard for me to work. I just wanted to rest and reflect. It's jazz on a wet afternoon, the creatives forces are flowing with the sounds of Johnny Hodges with the Billy Strayhorn Orchestra. It's really the Ellington Orchestra transformed into another lyrical plane. All my life, I loved the sound of Johnny Hodges alto. My mother didn't know quite what to make of her child that loved the Ellington sound. I loved the tune Azure from the first time I heard Ella sing it with the Ellington band. The song is playing now! Later, when I heard some Strayhorn melodies, I instantly knew who wrote and arranged Azure. It's so intoxicating...
I like to joke that jazz is in my DNA. It's been a part of my soul my entire life. It's certainly part of my early conditioning. My parents were fans. Fortunately for me, they had good taste. It rubbed off, too. I grew up surrounded by jazz LPs with great cover art. I just ran with it and expanded my exposure. I have a rather large jazz LP collection that I now have in storage since my conversion to CDs. Stardust is playing now, I'm a Bix Beiderbecke fan so that's a special melody to me. I have to get back to painting before the time vanishes.
I've been so busy that I didn't get to post last month. I need to play catch-up soon. One of the highlights in June was attending two days of the Clifford Brown Jazz Festival! I took tons of pics and have been planning some portraits based on my experiences.