“Thinking About Charlie Parker” — a photo-narrative by Charles Ingham
“Thinking about Charlie Parker,” comes from a series entitled Pastoral Scenes from the Gallant South (from Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”).
...May 31st, 2019
art
Veryl Oakland’s “Jazz in Available Light” — photos (and stories) of Stan Getz, Sun Ra, and Carla Bley
Jerry Jazz Musician regularly publishes a series of posts featuring excerpts of the photography and stories/captions found in Jazz in Available Light by Veryl Oakland. In this edition, Mr. Oakland’s photographs and stories feature Stan Getz, Sun Ra, and Carla Bley.
...May 5th, 2019
“Thinking about Homer Plessy” — a photo-narrative by Charles Ingham
“Thinking about Homer Plessy,” comes from a seven-work series entitled Pastoral Scenes from the Gallant South (from Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”).
...April 29th, 2019
“Thinking about Ida B. Wells” — a photo-narrative by Charles Ingham
“Thinking About Ida B. Wells” is the second image published on Jerry Jazz Musician from Ingham’s seven work series “Scenes From the Gallant South” (from Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit”)
...April 5th, 2019
“Jazz in Available Light” — photos by Veryl Oakland, Vol. 1
In this edition of Veryl Oakland’s “Jazz in Available Light,” photographs of Red Garland, Dizzy Gillespie and Rahsaan Roland Kirk are featured.
...March 27th, 2019
Interview with Mary Schmidt Campbell, author of An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden
Mary Schmidt Campbell, author of .An American Odyssey: The Life and Work of Romare Bearden,discusses the remarkable life of this important American artist in a Jerry Jazz Musician interview.
...March 9th, 2019
“Thinking about Robert Johnson” — a photo-narrative by Charles Ingham
“Thinking about Robert Johnson,” comes from a seven-work series entitled Pastoral Scenes from the Gallant South (from Billie Holliday’s “Strange Fruit”).
...March 9th, 2019
“SAY WHAT!: A Geriatric Proposal” – a short film by Aaron Weinstein
The short film follows the story of a young jazz musician who attempts to survive aggressive grannies and other terrifying beasts at a post-concert reception. “Say What!” features voice acting from Tony-nominee Charles Busch, original artwork by iconic American illustrator, Bob Ziering, and music performed by top New York’s jazz musicians including guitar legend, Bucky Pizzarelli.
...March 8th, 2019
The Photography of Sigitas Kondratas
The photography of Sigitas Kondratas — a resident of Vilnius, Lithuania — caught my eye this week. His interesting technique conveys the music’s movement, artistry and intimacy. It is refreshing to see contemporary jazz musicians interpreted by an artist from Eastern Europe.
...February 17th, 2019
The art of John Allinson
In his description of Welsh painter John Allinson’s work “House of Dreams” – a mural in progress “celebrating a viewpoint of entertainment as an art form” that will eventually be 1000 feet wide – the art critic Rex Harley wrote that “a host of artists and entertainers emerge from a swirl of colours, in the same way that their counterparts stepped out from the stream of history to entertain and enrich our lives.”
This is also an apt view of Allinson’s prolific and noteworthy interpretations of jazz ensembles. His work evokes appropriate nostalgia and sentimentality while expressing passion for the culture of jazz music by
...May 18th, 2018
Masters of Jazz Photography: Paul Hoeffler
Photographer Paul Hoeffler, who studied with the likes of Ansel Adams, Alfred Eisenstadt, and Nancy Newhall, discovered an interest in photographing jazz musicians through his regular attendance at Rochester, New York jazz clubs the Pythodd, the Ridgecrest Inn, the Auditorium Theater, the Eastman Theater, and the University of Rochester auditoriums. He cites Louis Armstrong as an early inspiration, and he subsequently photographed Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Billie Holiday, Chet Baker, Dave Brubeck and a variety of others during their tours through
...March 17th, 2018
“All is Heard in Painting” — the art of Jazzamoart
The visual artist Jazzamoart of Guanajuato, Mexico has long enticed serious jazz collectors with his uncommon, audacious, and joyful paintings. Possibly the most important expressionist artist interpreting jazz, the critic Antonio Rodriguez wrote that Jazzamoart’s paintings “are reminiscent of Jackson Pollock’s style and the expression takes from the horrorific elements of Willem de Kooning’s work,” while Jose Luis Cuevas describes it as “if he were a mad jazz dancer who discovers the origins of the earth every time his toe dips into it.” His color-filled work includes abstract interpretations of musicians and the settings they perform in. The musicians often wear masks which symbolize, according to the artist, “the multiplicity of human identity, that life is improvisation and invention.”
Examples of his work follow…
...November 28th, 2017
Nancy Ostrovsky — performance artist inspired by jazz music
Jazz music has long been inspiration for artists, poets, and writers (Romare Bearden, Jack Kerouac and Langston Hughes are some obvious examples)…For more contemporary evidence, check out these remarkable videos featuring performance artist Nancy Ostrovsky, who creates wondrous paintings while accompanied by 1) the Roswell Rudd Trio, 2) saxophonist Patrick Cress, 3) saxophonist Stan Strickland, and 4) by a
...September 13th, 2017
“Jazz in the Schools”
Many thanks to Doug Ramsey, honored jazz journalist and publisher of the blog Rifftides, who during his visit to Portland to cover the PDX Jazz Festival, took the time to meet with me and learn about the “Jazz in the Schools” program we instituted at PDX Jazz. You can read his report and get information about the program by clicking here.
...February 22nd, 2017
The art of Miles Davis
A Daily Beast post worth a visit features several paintings by Miles Davis, all of which were included in Steve Gutterman’s 2013 book, Miles Davis: The Collected Artwork. The page provides an efficient snapshot of the
...November 8th, 2016
“Bop of Cuevano” — a painting by Jazzamoart
The Mexican visual artist Jazzamoart has long been a fascinating artistic interpreter of jazz music. This painting, “Bop of Cuevano,” is an example of his
...July 14th, 2015
Masters of Jazz Photography — Jim Marshall
The great improvisational American jazz musicians of the mid-20th century inspired a generation of photographers to develop a looser, moodier style of visual expression. That evocative approach is on striking display in The Jazz Image: Masters of Jazz Photography. Covering six decades of performers from Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington to John Coltrane and Miles Davis this unique collection is as much a comprehensive catalogue of jazz greats as it is a salute to the photographers who captured them.
Jerry Jazz Musician presents a number of editions of “Master of Jazz Photography,” featuring a work by one of the photographers featured in The Jazz Image
This edition: Jim Marshall
...February 28th, 2014
Bix Beiderbecke, Miles Davis among the National Portrait Gallery’s “American Cool” exhibition
The Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery in Washington is currently curating an exhibit called “American Cool,” which features 100 photographs of iconic Americans who, according to the institution, “have contributed an original artistic vision to American culture and are symbolic figures of their time.”
Artists like Bessie Smith, Bix Beiderbecke, Bert Williams, and Willie “the Lion” Smith and writers like Ernest Hemingway and Zora Neale Hurston are included in the “Roots of Cool” category, while Lester Young, Frank Sinatra, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Thelonious Monk are among those deemed to be part of the “Birth of the Cool” group.
What were the determining factors in what constitutes “cool” and who has enough of it to be featured in the exhibition? According to Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery, “‘American Cool’ is about America’s greatest cultural export—cool—and who embodies it. The show offers an opportunity
...February 12th, 2014
The Art of Romare Bearden
Romare Bearden (1911 – 1988) was one of America’s great artistic innovators,blazing his own trail in a time of turbulent cultural change. Whilehis work offers an invaluable view of mid-twentieth-century African-Americanexperience, it has also come to occupy a significant place in the wider historyof American art and speaks to the universal concerns of artists everywhere.
...February 10th, 2013
The Negro League Baseball Photographs of Charles “Teenie” Harris
The Negro League Baseball Photographs of Charles “Teenie” Harris, published with the permission of the Carnegie Museum.
...February 10th, 2013
In This Issue
On the Turntable
Poetry
The Joys of Jazz
Short Fiction
“What are 4 or 5 of your all-time favorite Blue Note albums?”
Pressed for All Time
Art
Jazz History Quiz #128
Great Encounters
Art
Jerry Jazz Musician regularly publishes a series of posts featuring excerpts of the photography and stories/captions found in Jazz in Available Light by Veryl Oakland. In this edition, Mr. Oakland's photographs and stories feature Stan Getz, Sun Ra, and Carla Bley.
Interviews
Cover Stories with Paul Morris
Coming Soon
In the previous issue
Contributing writers
-
Carole Ackelson
-
Richard Beattie
-
Luke Bergvist
-
R. Bremner
-
Mary Burns
-
Patricia Carragon
-
Ed Coletti
-
Arlene Corwin
-
Steven Dalachinsky
-
Frank De Canio
-
Diane Dees
-
Lia Di Stefano
-
Salvatore Difalco
-
Hannah Draper
-
Victor Enns
-
Molly Ertel
-
Dan Franch
-
Freddington
-
Anggo Genorga
-
Brian Greene
-
Robert Harris
-
Bob Hecht
-
Charles Ingham
-
Lawrence J. Klumas
-
John Jack Cooper
-
D.R. James
-
Arya Jenkins
-
Anisha Johnson
-
Sophie Jonas-Hill
-
R.J. Keeler
-
Erren Kelly
-
Mark Kerstetter
-
Michael Keshigian
-
John L. Stanizzi
-
Michael L. Newell
-
J. Lee strickland
-
Aurora Lewis
-
Alex Louloudis
-
Douglas Malan
-
paul morris
-
Robert Nisbet
-
Kimberly Parish Davis
-
Robin Ray
-
Shan Richardson
-
Ed Ruzicka
-
Fred Shaw
-
Justin Short
-
Roger Singer
-
dan smith
-
John Stupp
-
Susandale
-
Phyllis Wax
-
Alan Yount
