The Jazz Cat Blog

Bombs in Gaza and thoughts of Ornette Coleman & Dali

Ending the year with confusion and confused signs. Watching video of smoke filled skies in Gaza and the carnage of buildings…This is a perfect time to think like Jazz legend Ornette Coleman. Ornette played the horn like it was an instrument he just tripped over and decided to make music.

Ornette is the “Pied Piper” taking us on a trip through a false wonderland. It is a dream with twists and turns like the stock market on a bender. Listening to Ornette is like looking at the painting of the Mona Lisa melting in bubbles.

It is a surreal time we are living in… a time for a painter like Salvador Dali who turned the world upside down and made us question the world and what is “ART”. This is a time for sound and vision to take hold and make us question the current world we are in.

The time for peace and confusion… heading into the new year I think it is time for us to create the soundtrack of our lives. I am planning to listen to a lot more Louis Armstrong. Louis always has a way of putting a smile on my face, and when the times look tough it’s good to listen to happy music.

I remember the 80’s and that confused time also had some “lite” music. I think 2008 was a time of confusion and the music reflects it. There was no real theme or style that seemed to take over… it was not a time of a fashion trend either. The jazz music I listened to seemed to reach towards a lot more Miles, and Coltrane… Sounds of rage, contemplation and swagger.

But now the swagger is gone. Now is a time for healing and I think that will be a big trend in 2009. With a new president and challenges all over the world. This will be a good time to look within and bring forth a healing way of seeing things. I plan on painting happier pictures. I plan on listening to happy music. My son will be there doing the same thing since I will impose it in the house!

OBAMA AND MILES DAVIS!

OBAMA AND MILES DAVIS

HEY you JAZZ CATS!
JUST READ AN INTERESTING ARTICLE ON YAHOO: Obama bristles as the bubble closes in on him , about Obama and the press and media. Obama is getting REALLY IRRITATED by the constant media attention of his every move!

It seems the brother can't get any private time to himself or his family. The article talks about OBAMA GETTING VISIBLY ANGRY AND "testy" at the press. I always felt Obama had to control his anger when he was running for president. I remember how Hillary Clinton was trying to emasculate him on the campaign trail...

Obama could not show how upset he was because then the press would be on him as the "angry black man" which so many black people have to live with that stereotype. I was waiting for the explosion of Obama... tt's just so hard containing your emotions as a Black man in America! I new OBAMA HAD SOME MILES DAVIS IN HIM. Now we are starting to see the MILES come out in OBAMA!

I think it is a good thing. We need a Miles Davis "TYPE" IIN THE WHITE HOUSE. We need to see some "Black Rage" every now and then as AMERICA looks so soft now... It's good that OBAMA is not afraid anymore to let the "Bad Boy" OUT!  It is nice to see the parallels to how Miles had disdain for the public after awhile and "did what ever he wanted t". Miles Davis and JAZZ music is the sound of creative anger... I always thought ANGER IS HOLY!

With Miles you never knew when he would "flip his wig"... he could be rageful in a second. Barack will take his "slow burn" and lash out at the media and the congress... thats a good thinking.

As the months go forward America will regain its "COCKINESS" in a  way and the frustrated angry President will be a good example of the times we live in.. Its good to show how you feel even if it is not the right place or time. I think Miles Davis would do fine in the Whit e House. Miles is not with us but we have OBAMA i there... it will be a creative explosion in a great way.

I look forward to following Obama and how his actions relate to Jazz music! Te history of the Blues and Jazz are in his blood, and when you look at it closely His presidency will be a reflection of that. The good and the not so good... but that is what America is and Jazz is the same!

BLACK SANTA and James Brown In The Bronx

The Christmas tree is lit early this morning and Nat King Cole is on the stereo! My 7 yr old is waking up to Nat and a big smile is on his face. The last day of school for him so he is in a good mood this morning… he knows Santa Claus is on the way. I have been trying to sell him on the whole “Black Santa” idea over the past 2 weeks and it’s just not working… I can see it in his eyes when I show him the books and the advertisements with the Black Santa image and it’s not working… how depressing is it that a true ‘Jazz cat” LIKE ME CAN’T EVEN SELL HIS CHILD THE CONCEPT OF Black Santa!?

Well, I still have to find some James Brown Christmas music! I’m not going to give up on this! NO WAY.. in this day and age when kids still have a belief system why can’t BLACK SANTA be in the mix?

 

The kid is 7 years old so I would think he is still impressionable to be brainwashed… maybe I should take him to WalMart. I remember when you would see BLACK SANTA in front of stores asking for donations. This was in the 70’s when the whole “Black Conscious” movement was popular.

Was BLACK SANTA a con back then? BLACK SANTA would take your donations and say he was giving it to homeless people. BLACK SANTA always had a big smile on his face and seemed “jolly”… was he high? Was he drunk? This was in the early 70’s when I grew up in the Bronx and a lot of Vietnam Vets were coming home strung out on heroin… perhaps BLACK SANTA was a vet who was making money to fix his “jones”. I really liked BLACK SANTA in those days.

As a kid it was a special time. Christmas in the Bronx with the sound of James Brown singing “I’m Black and I’m Proud” coming from the cars…. The whole feeling was cold and special… holes in my socks and holes in my gloves… throwing snowballs at police cars and then running. Christmas was about causing trouble and not getting caught! I miss it. I will continue to try my brainwashing techniques on my son and see if it takes root. I have the Christmas tree with little instrument decorating it instead of Christmas ball decorations. I have Nat king Cole singing his tunes and I’m still looking for that James Brown Christmas cd. All is good!

THINKING AND DOING.

 

Worrying breeds worrying…why bother with it? I haven’t painted in 4 months… does that make me less of an “artist”?

 

I’m developing the belief that living is as much of an art than putting brush to canvas, pen to paper, etc. With an introspective way of living, I can see sitting on the sofa listening to jazz and  just …thinking. Doing nothing but thinking.

If you were to see me doing this you would  say I’m just “loafing”. But what I am doing is THINKING. I am creatively using my brain to come up with the ideas that will carry me to anew way to express myself. Not recreating the wheell or anything so revolutionary.

 

I am of the belief that everything has been done. We just haven’t seen it yet. In regards to creating “ART”. That is  what I  mean.

 

I’ve always liked going in different directions, and that Is probably what has driven allmy artrepscrazy about me. I just have a problem with doing the same thing over and over again!

 

So I like to THINK. Think about what I am doing. Think about where I am going. Think about what I am creating. Its exciting to just THINK!

 

The reactionary life is always responding to outside stimulus. What is going on around us. What is happening in the media, etc.

 

Go out into nature. Go into the silence of nature. Or just listen to JAZZ and close your eyes…( those  jazz- cats were THINKERS).  And just relax. Just THINK. Try it… you may come up with some really creative ideas!

How Soon Is Now?

 

Motivation is finally starting to peek it’s head out of the shadows of my creative shell! I received an email from my art rep in The Netherlands, and he is working on having me do a live painting event in Rotterdam and Amsterdam early 2009! I’m excited because I will be working with a DJ who I really admire!

 

This could be the start of something new for me and I can feel a vision starting to appear of what this can  become.

 

I have done live painting events in Holland over the past 4 years and this is something that I love to do. I usually do a large painting that is completed during the course of a musical event.   I usually take 3 hours to complete the painting and it is  then sold at the end of the evening. I have been lucky to sell every painting that I have done in the live painting session.

 

It’s as though the audience feels they are a part of the creation process and they want to own the end result! After doing 5 such events, usually with a jazz band playing, I decided I wanted to make it more of an “event”.

 

In the beginning I felt that I was creating with the band… but now I want the musician to create with me! That’s why the DJ is so important with this new idea.

When I create the painting I do  not use and sketches or ideas on what I will create. This way the struggle of the artist is visible, and the changes that the painting goes through feel more natural.

 

I am hoping this art-DJ gig really happens, because I have ideas that can really make it a statement for me and something to explore for quite some time!

Life is amazing. From one day to the next we can go through exciting changes that come from out of the “blue”!

CRISIS. What Crisis?

Crisis? What crisis?

Woke up this morning wondering what to start writing about. There is so much going on in my head I wonder where to begin. My 7 yr. old son is still sleeping so this gives me a chance to put some thoughts together in a quiet house. 

It’s 5:30 in the morning and the streets are quiet. It's still dark outside, and my christmas lites are still on (I keep them on 24-7) It’s raining a bit and it sounds nice outside. 

A cup of coffee and some John Coltrane on the stereo and my mood is set. Wondering about what to paint. Wondering what to write...

I have writer’s and painter’s block so its easy to let my 7 year old son, Jacob distract me … many times I welcome the distraction since it rescues me from facing a blank canvas or sketchbook gathering dust. 

I’m supposed to be a successful artist. My art gallery in The Netherlands flies me to exhibits twice a year. I have 15 jazz cd covers which I created under my wing and I’m the sole distributor here in the USA. My jazz prints sell all over the world and my images get rave reviews.

I am a single dad with custody of my son (after an EPIC Battle) who lives with me in an old historic Victorian house in the “hood” of Plainfield New Jersey. I am also a freelance graphic designer with work that keeps me busy.

From the outside looking in I look pretty damn good... especially compared to all the others "poor, starving, artists"!

But with all these positives on my plate. I still feel the media bombardment of bad news creeping into my brain. The economy… the economy… the economy… I made my own economy over the last 2 years of losing all my money on legal fees and with the possibility of seriously being thrown out of my house…

Hell, I’m still paying the lawyers after the court battle for custody that dragged on for over a year… I’m not ready to revisit that part of my life though. 

I’m THANKFUL for everything I have…really, I am! But… I’m not happy when I see what is happening outside my window. The unfair world, the pain and suffering, the job loss, the money loss...

oh yeah, war, war, war... and dying all over.

I just finished reading a great book by Naomi Klein called "THE SHOCK DOCTRINE" all about how world leaders create "crisis" moments to take advantage of an unsuspecting public... Iraq, Katrina, etc... to pass laws to steal from the scared and shocked public.

It's happening right now. It's DEEP. You get the idea. I need to stop watching the "car crash" called America right now... But I can't help "rubbernecking" as I drive by!

I want to paint it but there is no “juice” in my creative muscles. I was told by one of my art collectors to stop painting the problem... but instead to paint the solution. I've alwys looked at problems closely though. THAT's my problem!

I’m drained by what is going on outside in the world. Thank goodness for the JAZZ… it has saved me. The economy… the economy… the economy… Marvin Gaye sang a song; “makes me wanna holler!”. I FEEL YOU Marvin. But I think my lil boy could change things, he’s trying to be the next Jimi Hendrix! HaHa… I think that’s cool.

Anyway, I was thinking of doing a series about Detroit and the auto “bailout”… why call it a “bailout’? I thought it was just a loan… WELL,Wall street; That was a BAILOUT! 

James Brown sang “Livin in America” but right now I feel we are ‘SURVIVING” in America. This CRISIS is good for art. Good for music… yeah I had a Mohawk when punk was in… but now what’s the fashion for this time? nothing is shocking anymore… oh yeah, that was Janes Addiction.

I’m starting to feel a little better now. My son will be waking up in a half hour and I will make his favorite breakfast. Scramble eggs with cheese melted on top. It’s so simple.

I’m “ Mr. Mom” and I’m loving it. It’s another way to avoid the blank canvas and sketchbook that has not been opened in 4 months. 

I love my son and I’m grateful that he is the “perfect” distraction. But I know I will have to start the creative process. Jazz is my outlet, and cooking “cheesey eggs” (AS Jacob likes to call it)is my way of “jazzing” up my life. Maybe I’ll make him tuna fish for lunch.

I’ll play some Louis Armstrong when he wakes up. Louis always makes us feel happy. Like "Satchmo" said, "WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD"

Well, Jacob is waking up now, so.... it’s time to feel happy! GOOD MORNING!