JaZzArt en València

FLOWERS? FLOWERS FOR ME?
(Chapter 4)

Flowers for me?
For me?
Beautiful lady,
But why?

I don’t understand.
I am not wise but I’d say
I’m quite content with my way
of knowing that I don’t know,
and saying what I don’t say.

But if you truly wish to decipher my insanity,
I will proffer you my vanity
hoping that you’ll plainly see
this unfortunate reality
that a cloud above my head,
one so dark but without rain,
has made in my heart a wound,
that bleeds but causes no pain.

And I’ll have to tell you sadly
that if love brought you to me,
to bring me these lovely flowers,
in their box they will remain
as they have been picked in vain,
I do not deserve these flowers,
for I’ve not dedicated,
not one hour of my day to think of who,
has sacrificed lovely flowers
thinking that I could love you.

CHEERS

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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CHEERS

D’Alcoi, i cantant-nos en la nostra llengua…

De Alcoy, y cantándonos en nuestra lengua…

I el que li va fer un bell himne a la nostra terra valenciana…

Y el que le hizo un bello himno a nuestra tierra valenciana…

«La meua terra té la seua veu que rugeix si se li tanca…»

«Mi tierra tiene su voz que ruge si se le encierra…»

Moltes gràcies…

MOLTES GRÀCIES – MUCHAS GRACIAS

In the centre there’s the object of your fixed, intensive stare,

while you’re focused, barely breathing, burning atoms with your eyes on one location,

your life is slipping by in tiny ripples blue and green, and many colours in between…

C.2022, Francis Bravo Cabrera, 15 AUG 2022, València, España 🇪🇸

Flying over the United States, that is… Well, if the US Pentagon says it is not from a foreign power and that it is not a threat it must be because it is theirs! No? Well, what the hell do I know. I’ve seen many strange things in the skies over Europe to worry about things over the skies of another continent… But for my friends and subscribers who live in the US, what do you think?

CHEERS

Well, I asked AI for an expressionist oil painting of the «Face of Humanity» and this is what «it» gave me. Is this the face of humanity? Well, maybe to a non-human «entity» that we sort of pray to and ask for wishes…

And of course, I asked for the ass of humanity, and this is what Mr./Mrs./Ms. AI gave me. I was looking for a fecking donkey!!!

Good grief experts and AI! AI is like the new god that everyone is asking things from… For me, I pass. If I cannot paint/draw or digitally create it, I prefer no illustration at all.

CHEERS

Bueno, ya estamos a punto de decirle arrivederci al 2024 y de darle un abrazo y dos besos al 2025… me parece que hace tan poco hicimos lo mismo con el 23 y el 24, pero no, han pasado (supuestamente, yo no los he contado) 365 días. Y bueno, que de hacer? Nada, la misma cosa que todos los años, a comer turrones, polvorones, preparar la cena de nochebuena, saludar a la familia, a amigo y amistades, a poner el arbolito, a decorar la fachada de la casa con luces y a repartir aguinaldos navideños. También a recibir invitados de las provincias y los pueblos y a soportar al tio que siempre se jala y coge unos pedos que te cagas chaval, al suegro que habla hasta por los codos y que se jacta que es bilingüe porque sabe hablar castellano y mucha mierda. Y no me digas nada de la sobrinita, que ya se ha hecho mujer, y lo que quiere es bailar al compas de bachatas y reguetones, cosa que los demás no soportamos… Pero bueno, es la época de fiestas, de compartir con seres queridos o seres que quisieras no tener que ver, no importa, la felicidad te la van a meter o por la garganta o te darán por culo por ser un Grinch. Venga! Menuda cosa, un Grinch…

Bueno, pues una semanita despues de toda esa alegría, Papa Noel, el vino, el pernil asado, o el pavo, o la lubina, los bogavantes, o lo que te haya dado la gana de comer, viene la otra gran celebración, la Noche Vieja y el año nuevo! Que emocion!

Esa noche nos reunimos, otra vez, con amigos, con familia o con quien sea, para cenar en un restaurante donde te van a cobrar tres veces mas lo que te habías comido hace una semana, pero bueno, te compensan con algunas cosillas muy útiles para la fiesta, por ejemplo, un gorrito de carton que dice «Feliz 2025», una matraca y un pito… Venga, ya con eso nos tranquilizamos y no pensamos que nos han tomado el pelo. De igual manera, celebramos a las 12 en punto las doce campanadas, nos comemos las uvas y esperamos a ver que rayo tiene puesto la Pedroche…

Y asi se pasa la época más feliz del año. Yo, por mi parte, prefiero el verano. Si, hace un calor y un sol que raja las piedras, pero ahí esta el mar, la cervecita fría, la sombrita de una sombrilla o de un toldo en una terraza en el passeig marítim No hay que ponerse ni bufanda, ni guantes, ni gorros, ni abrigos ni la madre que los pario. Tampoco hay que soportarle las sandeces a los ancianos de la familia ni las «gracias» a los chiquillos. Uno está tranquilo y tropical bajo una palmera, o bajo lo que te de la gana, y cuando te de la gana, sales en un velero por el mar, echas tus anzuelillos y ves si pescas una lubina para asar al aire libre. Eso si es una fiesta, joder!

FELIZ NAVIDAD – HAPPY CHRISTMAS – BON NADAL

To teach that man is not to ask for service but to give,

and through serving your brother you’ll always succeed,

strength came into this world with words of peace, to make a way for love who all can reach.

C.2022, Francis Bravo Cabrera, 13 JUN 2022, Miami Beach, Florida, USA

Are the things we see, sometimes made of stone, or iron, or flesh and blood real? Or are they illusions? What is reality? Is it what we can see? Or is it also that which we cannot see, touch, smell or taste? Think…

CHEERS