Jazz was invented at the turn of the XX Century in New Orleans. It immediately spread, confusing itself at times with the blues, with ragtime, with Dixieland. Later it was merged into rock by such greats as Jaco Pastorius, Weather Report, and even…I dare say…early rockers like Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and Eric Clapton. The group Traffic also was greatly influenced by jazz and the solos created by these artists show tremendous knowledge of harmony and improvisation, both essential elements of jazz.
But can jazz, in other words the music created by improvisation, the player as composer and swing (rhythm), be applied to other arts. Surely it can be applied to dance and choreography, but what about painting? I say yes! Absolutely! A painting has to define itself, no matter how well planned and sketched it has been by the artist. The canvas, the composition, has to create itself, and there must be room of improvisation and of course, the composition must swing, it must have dynamics and that is akin to rhythm…
Of course it also helps if the composition represents elements of music or musicians. My series of JaZzArT is created by illustrating fictional (or not) jazz groups that I have imagined (or seen). They try to capture the moment onstage when there is a pause in the music and the players breathe…
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JaZzArt en València 