JaZzArt en València

Those were hectic years, travelling to many places, many shows, many art events… And here are some of my creations from 2006 and 2007…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

El 2003 fue un año fenomenal porque recibí mi primer contrato con una galería en Estambul y mi carrera se hizo internacional de la noche a la mañana… Aqui algunos de los cuadros que pinté ese año…

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2003 was a phenomenal! That year I received my first contract with a gallery in Istanbul, and my career went international overnight… Here are some of the paintings I created that year…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

Pues hoy nos remontamos al 2005… Estas son algunas de las obras que pinté ese año en Miami, Florida…

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Well, today we take a look back to 2005… These are some of the paintings I did that year in Miami, Florida…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

This fine art print, Canvas Print, of one of my digital paintings is now available (as are other prints) only through Fine Art America, the only company I use to sell prints of my artwork. Follow this link to my gallery at Fine Art America.

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CHEERS

One of my favourite of the jazz pianists and composers, Thelonious Monk, born in North Carolina (US) in 1917… This cat was one of the founders of bebop back in the 1940’s… Monk composed «Round Midnight«, «Straight No Chaser«, «52nd Street Theme» y «Blue Monk«… The only jazz composer with more tunes is Duke Ellington… Another interesting fact about this outstanding jazz musician is that ​he was among the only five jazzmen to be featured on the cover of Time magazine (1964). The other four are Louis Armstrong, Dave Brubeck, Duke Ellington and Wynton Marsalis.

Thelonious Monk retired from performing in 1973. He died of a brain haemorrhage on the 17th of February 1982.

ENJOY HIS MUSIC

Well, as the ones who read my blog know, I have dedicated many posts to bringing forth women artists and that means women musicians as well, especially great and famous ones that perhaps might not have reached your eyes and ears. Today I, a lover of Jazz, feature the great female drummer Viola Smith!

This great woman of the world of percussion (mostly dominated by male drummers) and of Jazz, who lived to the age of 107 years! She was born in the US, in the state of Wisconsin in 1912 and died in 2020! She studied piano as a child along with her nine siblings, seven of which were female. Her father created an all female band and Viola chose the drums. The band played in a dance hall owned by her family in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin…

You have to hear her, there isn’t enough I can say, and the all female band as well! Phenomenal!

CHEERS

Me acuerdo que aquí en España había fiebre de Simply Red y bueno, todos caímos por temas como este que vais a escuchar… La canción «If You Don’t Know Me By Now» fue escrita por Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (los creadores del sonido de Filadelfia) en 1972 para Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, y cuando ellos la lanzaron fue un gran éxito, pero para nosotros cuando la lanzó Simply Red en 1989 fue la ostia…

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I remember that here in Spain there was Simply Red fever! And, well, we all fell for songs like this you’re going to listen to… The song «If You Don’t Know Me By Now» was written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff (the creators of the Philadelphia sound) in 1972 for Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes, and when they released it, it was a great success. But for us, when Simply Red released it in 1989, it was amazing…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

This is one of the most famous (and my personal favourite) of all of the fabulous Brazilian singers, Gal Costa…

She was guided into music by her mother who had said that while she was pregnant with Gal she continuously listened to classical music hoping that the baby inside would listen and absorb the power, the structure and the sensibilities of the melodies…

Gal Costa was born in Salvador de Bahia, Brasil in 1945. Unfortunately we lost her much too soon in 2022. Her professional career began on the 22nd of August of 1964 performing at the inauguration of the Teatro Vila Velha in Salvador de Bahía. That night she sang together with Brazilian greats such as Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Maria Bethânia, Tom Zé and others.

Her career was long and fruitful. In 2008 she sang the national anthem of her country at the start of the match between the verdeamarela (Brazilian national team) and the albiceleste (Argentina’s national team) for the classification to the South Africa 2010 World Cup.

Her death came sudden on the 9th of November 2022. After 57 years gracing the stages and arenas all over the world, she succumbed to a fulminating heart attack. She was 77 years old.

Enjoy…

CHEERS

George Harrison (former member of The Beatles) wrote a song in 1970, «I Me Mine«, which described exactly what was happening at the time the band was disintegrating. It was the worst moments for John, George, Paul and Ringo, because they, who were colleagues and friends, suddenly couldn’t stand each other. Quarrels and fights, over almost everything, flared up, and as you can imagine, most were about money. «I Me Mine«, whose lyrics speak of selfishness and greed, turned out to be the last song recorded by the «Fab Four» (as they were called), but without the participation of John Lennon. Harrison concluded, quite rightly, that what they were going through was a war of egos, and big egos they were.

As George was not yet up to the artistic standards of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, they mostly excluded him from the band’s artistic affairs, so he devoted himself to observing the quarrels between the two «leaders». He noticed that it all boiled down to «this is mine» or «I did it,» and back to mine again, and again, ad nauseum. At those moments, nothing had to do with the concept of «us» anymore. The Beatles no longer existed. What those four lads from Liverpool, who made (and still make) history, had been, no longer was. Yes, they were famous, they would continue to be so in perpetuum, but in 1970, they fought like cats and dogs.

And as I ponder upon this story, lamentably so well narrated in the movie Get Back, I wonder, how many relationships, marriages, partnerships, etcetera, have been broken due to ego issues, specifically egotistical attitudes and selfishness? There must be thousands and thousands! The ego is a fragile thing. In narcissists it is aggressive and knows how to defend itself from what it perceives as evils, whether real or imagined, and this could result in a war. Values, education, and humility can go to hell because the selfish person thinks that only fools give in and continues with his arrogance even if it ends in his own ruin.

Never doubt the fact that the ego is self-destructive. It makes you believe that you are truly one hell of a guy/gal, invincible, good-looking, irresistible and worth a million. And you, the idiot that you are, don’t even realise that the ego is leading you right to the edge of the cliff, and you will tumble and fall. We see that terrible trait in those that «supposedly» are leaders and those who aspire to be leaders, in bankers, in generals and in common every day people. Egotists have hubris to spare and a scarcity of humility. George Harrison saw it all quite clearly back in 1970 when he wrote “I Me Mine”. The truths narrated in those lyrics is a story that repeats itself so often not only in rock’s super-groups but in many aspects of our society as you well know.

CHEERS