renaissance man
‘The distinctive sleeve was designed by Sun Ra, and uses the same design on both sides, leaving no room for sleeve notes.’ Acc to wiki entry on Angels & Demons at Play.
It really reminds me of an Arshile Gorky book cover I own, pictured above. Had Sun Ra seen this? The resemblance/similarities is/are uncanny!
Well, I’m so taken with Gilles Peterson’s superb Sun Ra mixes, on To Those of Earth… & Other Worlds, that I’ve ordered some more Sun Ra.
I’m after a fair number of his recordings, to be honest. But I can’t afford some of the extravagant prices being asked. I already have Heliocentric Worlds Vol 1 & 2, and Nothing Is.
I’ve just ordered Space Is The Place (1973), and a 3-CD collection of his prolific singles output (see above pic), plus a 5-disc set calling itself Timeless Classic Albums – Sun Ra.
And here’s a wee gallery of the stuff I already have:
And, being the impulsive fool I am, and digging Sun Ra as I do, I’ve also just ordered this:
There’s a bit of overlap: the album Jazz In Silhouette is on both ‘classic album’ multi-CD sets, and both collections also include a bunch of Ra’s doo-wop singles, which I’ll be getting on The Definitive 45s Collection.
But all told, these two multi-disc sets will add the following seven albums to my growing Sun Ra library (plus a bunch of his earlier singles, some gathered under the title Medicine For A Nightmare!):
Jazz by Sun Ra, 1957
Super-Sonic Jazz, 1957
Jazz In Silhouette, 1959
The Futuristic Sounds Of…, 1962
Angels & Demons At Play, 1960
The Nubians of Plutonia, 1966
Batman & Robin(!?), 1966
That still leaves a whole bunch more Ra albums I’m keen to acquire, such as these:
There’s lots of interesting stuff about this maverick jazz iconoclast out there, amongst which is this interesting cache of goodies, curated by Chicago university.
I plucked this slim paperback off our art shelves recently. I think we got it from Gwen? I’ve brought it to the pub, for perusal at our now quite regular Friday brunch.
I’m not religious. But I do like the artistic heritage and traditions of our collective past. And as a massive Picasso fan, I’m quite fond of his homages to this genre.
Anyway, I didn’t know, till I started studying this book, that Cimabue’s Crucifixion had itself undergone death and resurrection. How very apt!
The river Arno burst its banks in 1966, flooding Florence. The Museo dell’ Opera of Santa Croce was submerged in eleven feet of flood water!
I’m not as big a fan of Braque as I am Picasso. But he’s worth a look, for sure. Here I’m using a late work of his, Le Banjo, as inspiration.
Mine is far from satisfactory, at present. I sense that there’s a long way to go before it starts to feel like I’m making it my own/a success!
The above, or second state, is a slight improvement. But I reckon I’ll have to go in with acrylic block colours, and be pretty drastic.
Meanwhile…
Work continues on the Max Roach Deeds Not Words themed pieces.
As both musician and artist, it’s nice to combine the two things. I recently did a couple of Herbie Mann inspired things. Now I’m having a look at Max Roach…
Although I was dimly aware of his possibly having illustrated some jazzy stuff, I had no real idea- until reading Hideki Satoh in Jazzical Moods – how much of a connection there was with DSM and Jazz.
As I learn more, I look for ways to explore this stuff. A book would be great. And there is one. But it’s rare and expensive! There’s also stuff like this, which is all about an exhibition on the theme of DSM’s jazz art.
With more than 600 full colour, and over 50 monochrome illustrations, there’s masses here to enjoy.
The cover – both back and front are made to look like a groovy LP sleeve – was designed by no less a luminary of jazz photography and design than the one and only Bill Claxton!
First published in Japan, in 1993, I’ve had my bi-lingual copy (Japanese/English) for many, many years, now. Poss as far back as ‘93? I bought it for the images. And until today I’d not read much if any of the text!
So, today I’m starting to read some of it. Immediately, the foreward type bit, on the inside flap of the ‘dust jacket’, strikes a chord. Noaki Mukoda, a photographer who has compiled all the covers here, was enchanted by the Jazz On A Summer’s Day movie, as a student (as was I!).
But he also fed his love of jazz albums in those most Japanese of places, the Kissa. We didn’t have such places here. Only bookshops and record stores. Some dedicated, in whole or in part, to jazz. For more about Kissa, go here.
I started fixing a bunch of my recent art pieces, today. After a wee spot of Spring Cleaning in the home.
I had to move indoors, as it was threatening to rain. Indeed, I think it’s starting to ‘spot’ a little already.
As you can see, on the piece below, the page opposite has ‘printed’ a ghostly image down the right hand side.
I actually quite like a certain amount of this accidental evolution type randomness. So I don’t ‘fix’ the pieces immediately. I prefer to give them a bit of time, to spread their genes a little.
I quite like seeing a bunch of ideas together. It helps me get a feel for my ongoing ‘progress’, or evolution.
Bottom left of the four is the most clearly derivative (Matisse, in that case). Bottom right is Valezquez > Picasso > me. And I love it.
The top two in this group of four evolved out of studying Picasso crucifixions (and he had been looking at Grünewald’s famous Isenheim altarpiece). I don’t know what I think of these ‘uns!?
This set of four pieces is all figure based. For a long time I eschewed figuration. With my recent art works for Dan and Amy that changed.
Bottom left and right I’m recycling Picasso, again. Top two are more my own. And are supposed to evoke or pay homage to jazz flautist Herbie Mann!
I didn’t plan how these pieces/pages would be grouped. They’re just the pages I happen to be ‘fixing’ at the same time. this set is the most ‘divergent’ so far, I suppose?
The top two of this group continue the skull/moon theme. The bottom two are the only ones left of six I did for Dan and Amy. The first pencil sketch, on the left; and one of my own personal favourites, the ‘night’ version, I’m calling it, on the right.
Two rather sketchier designs were on the reverse sides of the two I cut out and gifted to Dan. I took scans of them, of course! And photos.
Having reached the end of the stuff in one pad, it’s only two pics per photo, in the remaining ‘spreads’…
And that brings things up to date, for today. I can just let them dry out now. I may do another coat… hmmm!?
I revisited this Golgotha Variation, and tried to tweak and improve it, a bit. I wasn’t happy with the ‘hands’, nor the ‘crown of thorns’, as they were before. I think I have improved the piece, somewhat. Whether it’s worth pursuing any further? I don’t as yet know…
Looking at the newest state, I think I’ll redraw it, and develop it a bit. The blue ‘window’ is also like a picture frame: I might ornament it a bit, with a scrolly pattern. And I think some kind of sun-type circular motif would be a good stand in for a head…
I’ve begun work on a revised version of this particular Golgotha design. So far it’s a lot duller, and more muted, colour wise.
I then went back to the ‘first state’ image, and added a few little white lines…
After working on these Golgotha variations, I felt I had the time and inclination to do another piece.
This one is derived from some of Picasso’s 1932 ‘cream puff’ female nudes. That description – cream puff – is my own term for them. I think it’s quite apt/accurate?
