JaZzArt en València

No fotis! Mès clar l’aigua, no?

Now this was one of my faves back in the day, and still is. Their iconic song «Smoke on the Water» (1973) is a super-classic of rock music and really catapulted this band into the realm of legend… In 1970 Deep Purple released their seminal album In Rock and laid the groundwork for what was to be «heavy metal», with the renewed band made up of: Ian Gillan (vocals); Ritchie Blackmore (lead guitar); Roger Glover (bass); John Lord (keyboards) and Ian Paice on the drums…

Deep Purple came into being in 1968 and in Hertford, UK… They were a super-group. Their music included just about all the rock styles, from hard/heavy to Britpop to symphonic rock. They were the main influence of later bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, among others both in the US, the UK and Europe. Just so you know, throughout their musical journey the band sold over 150 million records…

The band has gone through various changes called Mark I, Mark II, Mark III and Mark IV, and in my humble opinion their best era was Mark II, but you pick yours. And that is not to say that all the other eras were not as good. Because Deep Purple is (because they are still active) and still is a phenomenal band… Planet Rock (UK), after conducting a survey in 2013, placed Deep Purple in 5th place of the most influential bands in rock history…

In 2021 Deep Purple announced the release of their new album titled Turning to Crime, which is an album of covers. They also released the song «7 and 7 Is», as their new single complete with a video clip of the band in studio playing the song. Their second single was «Oh Well«, also with a video. The third single, also with a video, was «Rockin’ Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu«. The album also included songs like: «Let the Good Times Roll» and «White Room«.

So… I have decided to feature one of those songs from the band’s latest (all covers) album Turning to Crime. Tell me what you think…

CHEERS

¿Para que sirve un cuadro? Venga, quiero que me lo digáis… Bueno, si no me lo decís, yo si, yo os lo voy a decir. Un cuadro…una obra de arte, una pintura, escultura o un dibujo…sirve para decorar un salón, una oficina, las calles u otros espacios públicos y también, claro que si, para transmitir emociones. No me voy a meter mucho en la filosofía…porque un cuadro también es un tratado filosófico, creédmelo o no…pero os diré que el pintor serio usa su arte como si fuera un lenguaje y a través de sus cuadros transmite ideas que la mente, directamente y sin el filtro de la consciencia, capta íntegramente y la asimila, la deglute y la interpreta. La mente es partidaria, y muy afín, a los símbolos y los cuadros estan llenos de esas alimañas arquetípicas. Si te interesan los arqutipos debes leer lo que ha escrito Carl Jung sobre el tema. No creo que un cuadro que no tenga tema, que sea sobre nada, sea un buen cuadro. Así que ojo, el arte abstracto también tiene que ofreceros algo espiritual, comunicaros algo. Y creedme, lo vais a notar cuando vayáis a una exposición, o a un museo y encontréis un cuadro abstracto y por supuesto también uno figurativo, que os maraville de tal manera que os hara desmallar. ¿Acaso no sabéis lo que es el síndrome de Stendhal? Inmediatamente, sin dudas, os daréis cuenta si es una pintura que transmite emociones, o sea, bien hecha, y a la que se le nota la espiritualidad de su época, o una mierda que no vale ni lo que costó la pintura y la tela. Os garantizo.

+++

What is the purpose of a painting? What is art for? Go ahead, tell me… Well, I will tell you. A painting… a work of art, a sculpture, or drawing… is useful for decorating your salon, your office, the streets of the city, or other public spaces and also, of course, art is made to convey emotions. I’m not going to delve too much into philosophy… because a painting is also a philosophical treatise, believe it or not… but I will tell you that a serious painter uses art as if it were a language, and through paintings, as well as drawings and sculpture, he convey ideas. Our minds capture these abstract, unconscious messages in their entirety. And directly, and without the filter of consciousness, the mind assimilates, digests, and interprets them and you get the feeling that something from without has touched you from within. The mind is partial and very inclined towards symbols, and paintings are filled with those archetypal creatures. If you are interested you should read Carl Jung. I don’t believe that a painting without a theme, one that is about nothing, can be a good painting. So be careful, abstract art, as well as figurative art, has to offer you something spiritual, and communicate something to you. A super masterpiece work of art, be it abstract or figurative, can make you cry, laugh, or even faint (Stendhal syndrome). And believe me, you will notice it when you go to an exhibition and encounter an abstract or figurative painting. Immediately, without a doubt, you will realize whether it is a painting that conveys emotions, meaning it is well done and has captured the spirituality of its time, or a piece of junk that isn’t worth even the cost of the paint and canvas. I guarantee it.

+++++

GRACIAS – CHEERS

No es lo que se ve, o lo que está delante del artista lo que pinta el artista expresionista. No importan los colores auténticos del sujeto. No importa por donde viene o va la luz, ni la perspectiva clásica. Lo único que importa es lo que está dentro del pintor; eso es lo que va a plasmar sobre la tela. El arte del pintor expresionista no tiene mucho que ver con la realidad objetiva, si no con lo que piensa el pintor de ella. Tampoco tiene mucho, o nada que ver con la realidad. O sea, la realidad como la ven los demás. El pintor expresionista crea su propia realidad. Que carajo, no importa el raciocinio ni la lógica! Lo único que importa es plasmar sobre la tela lo que el pintor ve desde dentro y la emoción que busca transmitir.

+++

It is not what is visible, or what is in front of him that the expressionist artist paints. The true colours of the subject do not matter. It doesn’t matter where the light comes from or goes, nor classical perspective. The only thing that matters is what is inside the painter; that is what he will transcribe onto the canvas. The art of the expressionist painter is not closely related to objective reality, but rather to what the painter thinks of it. It also has little, or nothing, to do with reality as others see it. The expressionist painter creates his own reality. Frankly, reasoning and logic do not matter! The only thing that matters is to capture on the canvas what the painter sees from within and the emotion he seeks to convey.

GRACIAS – CHEERS

«Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite»

Well, it is a song from the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, (1967), one of the best, if not THE best album in rock/pop history. Sgt. Pepper ended an era and started another one. And of course, it is The Beatles, who did it all in popular music. They studied all the sounds, melodies, styles and played them all, grouped them all together put them in a helium balloon and let them float throughout the universe and we are still fascinated.

«Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite» may not be the best song from the album, but it is an intriguing one with a bit of interesting history. First it is a song with «found lyrics». In other words, John Lennon took the idea from a poster that he saw and created the song around what the poster said. He did this several more times, especially in the «White Album» (Actually titled The Beatles).

Well, it seems like almost everybody participated in the recording of the track. You have John on vocals, organ, and bass harmonica; George on tambourine, backing vocals, and bass harmonica; Paul on bass, lead guitar, piano and backing vocals; Ringo on drums; George Martin on harmonium, organ, mellotron and glockenspiel; Mal Evans on harmonica and organ and finally Neil Aspinall on bass harmonica.

The poster, that served as inspiration for John’s lyrics was actually a Victorian circus poster for Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royal from 1843 that John found strolling through an antique shop in Kent while The Beatles were filming the video for «Strawberry Fields Forever«.

Another fun fact, that speaks of censorship for stupid reasons, was that it was one of three songs from Sgt. Pepper’s that was banned from playing on the BBC because of the line «Henry the Horse».

The poster is in John’s home at the Dakota building in Manhattan, now Yoko’s residence.

And finally, it is said that this was one of the most difficult songs to recorded, being that the arrangements were rather complicated. But done majestically by The Beatles and their phenomenal studio team.

Enjoy! And then tell me what you think of this song.

CHEERS

¿Estáis de acuerdo?

It seems to me that when artists are asked to speak about art they usually go into their artist «character» and begin to talk about art as something almost esoteric, or religious. It would almost seem as if they are making the artists as being the new priests of the creative world. I don’t buy it.

Sometimes art lovers, non-artists, also begin to define art as something that is beyond the means and the reach of «ordinary» folk. I have heard people say that artists are born like that, with that «gift» or «ability» with statements such as «Van Gogh had so much talent». Good grief! Is being an artist now a genetic condition? Is talent a genetic trait? As far as I know Mendel did not name it as one.

Art is nothing like that at all, in my opinion. Artists are as ordinary as anybody else. Art is a profession, and a craft, like being a plumber or a neurosurgeon. One likes art, one is inclined, (is that the «gift»?), one first gets into it in High School. Then one enrols in college and takes art courses. Finally one majors in Fine Arts and graduates from University. Then one begins a professional life as an artist with one goal in mind, to make as much money as possible.

That is all there is to art. Actually the great Renaissance masters never thought of themselves as artists. They considered themselves as skilled craftsmen. And when a client came to their studios, they would show them samples of their craft. Usually they were small portraits, as portraits were the paintings commonly commissioned from them. Then they would negotiate a price and offer different plans like the good plan, the most expensive one being that the master artist paints the entire portrait. A second option would be that the portrait is partially painted by the master and the rest by the other artists operating in the studio. And the cheapest option would be a portrait painted entirely by the studio assistants. That is how the «art world» functioned in the old days.

But believe me, no one is born with a gift for art, or for the piano or for the ballet stage. One trains, rehearses, and one practices tirelessly. One realises that practice makes perfect so one practices all day, every day. The more one works the more one develops talent. And that is another issue that is greatly misunderstood by many. No one is born with talent. I cannot stress that enough. Talent is something that is developed, like muscles. One trains, one gets stronger and the body begins to show muscle development. The same thing with artistic talent. The more you paint the better you get. The more you play the tuba the better you get. In other words, the more talent you develop.

So, as an artist, I am asked all the time about the process of art and my reply is always, more or less, the same. Art is a profession. Not everyone is an artist, and not every one can make art of the same quality. Let us say that we all have the potential, but not all have the will, the drive or the desire to be an artist. And no, your five year old who just drew a «beautiful» picture of your family that you proudly hang in the refrigerator, they are not an artist. They might want to be, some day. I mean would you say just because that same five year old built a lego structure that they are an engineer?

And please do not misunderstand. I am not saying that every artist must go the academic route and graduate from uni. An artist can train at a private academy, or at any type of school. Or they can train themselves through books, videos (nowadays videos are the new books and there are many), or with other artists. But remember, no one teaches themselves, we all learn from someone or some thing. So if you have the inclination, go for it!

+++

CHEERS

Art Digital is digital art created through many digital, computerised means but always touched by the hand of the artist.

Look for me on Instagram: @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera and @Guloshka (artist rep)

CHEERS

¿Qué pensáis? D’acord?

This is one of the great British bands of all time. They went through the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and 90’s only to crash and burn in the 2000’s. They were basically a trio and now the only surviving member is Barry Gibb…

The three Gibb brothers, Maurice, Robin and Barry formed the group in 1958. They had great songs in the early days. Songs like «Words», «To Love Somebody», «I Can’t See Nobody», «I Started a Joke», «Massachusetts», and others…

Then came Saturday Night Fever, (1977), the movie, to it’s soundtrack they contributed six songs. The soundtrack album sold over 22 million copies and catapulted the Bee Gees into history, making them one of the most successful bands in the history of pop music. And their falsetto became super famous.

Then came songs like «Night Fever», «How Deep is Your Love», «How Can You Mend a Broken Heart», «Jive Talking», «Staying Alive», «Too Much Heaven», «You Should be Dancing», and so many others. During the 70’s the Bee Gees placed themselves as the disco band.

In 2003 the band made history by winning the Grammy Legend prize. They are the first, and so far, the only band to possess one. And the band also disbanded in 2003 following the death of Maurice (1949-2003). Although Barry and Robin did decide (2009) to perform again under the name Bee Gees. Robin Gibb (1949-2012) died in London from complications of cancer.

Needless to say The Bee Gees were one of the most successful rock/pop groups in popular music history. They were together for nearly forty years and sold over 220 million records.

I hope you like this one, it is one of my faves…

CHEERS