JaZzArt en València

“Jazz is really America’s classical music,” he said. “Like our country itself and especially like the people who created it, jazz is a music born of struggle but played in celebration.” (Bill Clinton at the 40th anniversary of the Newport Jazz Festival)

Well, if Bill Clinton said it I am buying it! The greatest president that ever served the US talking about the greatest musical invention of the US! Wow! It cannot get better than that! Unless Jerry Lewis was there to dance and sing…

But I want to bring you the music of Billy Taylor, a great ambassador of Jazz. He was an American pianist, composer, broadcaster and educator. He was a distinguished Professor of Music at East Carolina University in Greenville. And since 1994 the artistic director for jazz at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. So I think this man is a true authority on music, as well as on the prevalence, complexity and compositional qualities of Jazz.

Dr. Billy Taylor, (he received his Masters and Doctorate degrees from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst) was a jazz educator. He gave lectures in many colleges and universities and served on panels, travelling the world as an authentic jazz ambassador. It was said by critic Leonard Feather that «It is almost indisputable that Dr. Billy Taylor is the world’s foremost spokesman for jazz.»

Dr. Billy Taylor was born in North Carolina in 1921… In 1944 he moved to New York City and started playing piano professionally with Ben Webster’s Quartet and on his first night with the boys he met Art Tatum. He also worked with Machito and developed a love for Latin Jazz… By 1946 he was the house pianist at Birdland and played with major stars like Charlie Parker, J.J. Johnson, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Actually he was Birdland’s longest lasting piano player… In 1949 he published his first book, a textbook about bebop piano styles… Then in 1952 Billy Taylor composed one of his best known tunes, «I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free«. This tune (song), recorded by Nina Simone was known in the UK as a piano instrumental for the BBC’s «Film…» programme… Dr. Billy Taylor died of a heart attack in Manhattan in 2010.

So, although «classical» music is intrinsically, historically and culturally European, Jazz is intrinsically, historically and culturally American, especially having been «born» in the USA.

CHEERS

Si no lo sabias yo te lo voy a decir… Pues en 2020 la coreógrafa Annabelle López Ochoa creo el ballet Frida para el Dutch National Ballet. La aclamada revista de baile Dance Europe lo nomino para el premio de mejor premier mundial y en 2023 el Dutch National Ballet lo presentó en Los Ángeles. La música para este opus la ha compuesto Peter Salem, compositor de la música de otros ballets como Un tranvía llamado deseo. Frida resulta ser una gran explosion de movimiento y música…como todo ballet…pero con un gran colorido, asociándolo, artísticamente, con la pintora mexicana que tratan de recordar. Yo no lo he visto, pero como trata con alguien relacionado con el mundillo del arte y tiene música, he decidido incluirlo en las entradas de hoy, jueves, dia de la música. Me imagino que este Halloween habrán mas disfraces de Frida que el del año pasado…

+++

If you didn’t know, I’m going to tell you… Well, in 2020, choreographer Annabelle López Ochoa created the ballet Frida for the Dutch National Ballet. The acclaimed dance magazine Dance Europe nominated it for the best world premiere award, and in 2023 the Dutch National Ballet presented it in Los Angeles. The music for this opus has been composed by Peter Salem, composer of the music for other ballets such as A Streetcar Named Desire. Frida turns out to be a great explosion of movement and music… like any ballet… but with great color, artistically associated with the Mexican painter they are trying to remember. I haven’t seen it, but since it deals with someone related to the art world and has music, I have decided to include it in today’s entries, Thursday, music day. I imagine that this Halloween there will be more Frida costumes than last year’s…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

Arte y sabiduría…

Venga, aquí dándoos a conocer más mujeres artistas, en este caso un fotógrafa, que no es que hayan quedado ignoradas por la historia de la fotografía o del arte, pero es que no se les ha dado el mismo reconocimiento que a los fotógrafos… Hansel (o Johanna) Mieth, fue una fotógrafa alemana que trabajó para la revista norteamericana Life, revista que se hizo famosa por sus fotógrafos y fotografías… A Mieth se le conoce por sus retratos de gente común y corriente, el proletariado norteamericano, durante las décadas de los años 1930 y 1940… En 1930, durante la gran depresión financiera, Hansel Mieth y su pareja, el fotógrafo Otto Hagel (1909-1973), comenzaron a documentar las pésimas condiciones laborales de los obreros migrantes que faenaban en las granjas de EEUU. Hicieron una crónica fotográfica de las malísimas condiciones y del sufrimiento de estas personas. En San Francisco, Sacramento, y en areas rurales documentaron las huelgas y a los campamentos donde estaban obligados a vivir los obreros sin techo durante esas décadas. Así comenzó Mieth a vender sus fotos a varias revistas norteamericanas… En 1937 Hansel Mieth se unió al colectivo de la revista Life, (siendo ella la segunda mujer fotógrafa en ser contratada por dicha revista), se casó con Otto Hagel y ambos se trasladaron a Nueva York… Mieth, que había nacido en Berglen, Alemania en 1909, murió en Santa Rosa, California en 1988…

+++

Ok, so let me introduce you to more female artists, in this case a photographer, who, although they haven’t been totally ignored by the history of photography or art, they haven’t received the same recognition as male photographers… Hansel (or Johanna) Mieth, was a German photographer who worked for the North American magazine Life, a magazine that became famous for its photographers and photographs… Mieth is known for her portraits of ordinary people, the North American proletariat, during the 1930s and 1940s… In 1930, during the Great Depression, Hansel Mieth and her partner, the photographer Otto Hagel (1909-1973), began documenting the terrible working conditions of migrant workers toiling on US farms. They created a photographic chronicle of the terrible conditions and suffering of these people. In San Francisco, Sacramento, and in rural areas, they documented strikes and the camps where homeless workers were forced to live during those decades. This is how Mieth began selling her photos to various North American magazines… In 1937, Hansel Mieth joined the staff of Life magazine (being the second female photographer to be hired by the magazine), married Otto Hagel, and both moved to New York… Mieth, who was born in Berglen, Germany in 1909, died in Santa Rosa, California in 1988…

GRACIAS – CHEERS

Un jurado ha declarado a este hombre culpable de asesinato por adjudicar correctamente a un ladrón que se coló en su casa y el fiscal le pide seis años de historia. Esto es una auténtica muestra del gran atraso del sistema judicial español. La casa es sagrada y uno la defiende como pueda y nadie tiene derecho a violarla y el ladrón que allane una morada se arriesga a todo y se merece lo que le pase. A este señor hay que darle una medalla y no una sentencia. ¡Que barbaridad!

El arte, mare meua, le gusta a la gente, sin dudas. Los museos están llenos siempre. Para entrar en los más famosos hay que sacar entradas anticipadas por sus webpage o si no hacer largas colas. En las subastas, de las casas grandes como Christie’s de Nueva York y Sotheby’s de Londres, se venden cuadros por millonadas, y cada día hay más y más estudiantes dispuestos a matricularse en las facultades de Bellas Artes de las universidades del mundo entero. Dicen por ahí que las carreras más populares son las técnicas o las de TI, asociadas con la computación, programación y demás cosas de esas, pero sin los artistas, ¿Quién va a diseñar las graficas para los video juegos? El mundo no puede existir sin el arte.

Pero no vamos a confundirnos que arte no es cualquier cosa. Si, hay que aceptar que arte es el resultado de algún trabajo creativo, hecho por el hombre, que sirva para recrear la mente, embellecer un salon o transmitir un mensaje filosófico. Es una de esas carreras que no requiere una licencia para practicarla ni tampoco un titulo universitario. Pero se precisa de aprendizaje. Aquellos que dicen que son «auto-didactas» mienten porque siempre se aprende de algo o de alguien. Los conocimientos artísticos no suelen surgir espontáneamente de la mente de una persona sin que esa persona haya estudiado, de una forma o de otra, la materia. Así que aunque no haya que ir a la facultad, hay que estudiar y aprender. Lo intuitivo no es arte.

El arte es producto de la imaginación, de la formación y del (buen) gusto del artista. Hay que currar bien los cuadros o las esculturas. Un cuadro tiene su trayectoria, su principio, que usualmente es en forma de maqueta o boceto, su desarrollo, porque hay que tener en cuenta las dimensiones de la obra, el concepto, la composición, los colores y el mensaje. No se logra intuitivamente, se tiene que planificar, planear y luego ejecutar. Por eso hay que saber hacer arte para que el resultado sea arte.

Finalmente, os doy mi definición. ¿Qué es arte? El arte es la búsqueda. Pero no os quedéis buscando ad infinitum, tenéis que encontrar y lo que encontréis, eso es arte.

+++

Art, bloody hell, is loved by people, no doubt. Museums are always full. To enter the most famous ones, you have to get advance tickets through their websites or else wait in long lines. At auctions, from big houses like Christie’s in New York and Sotheby’s in London, paintings are sold for millions, and every day there are more and more students willing to enrol in Fine Arts faculties at unis all over the world. It’s said out there that the most popular careers are technical or IT-related, associated with computing, programming, and other things like that, but without artists, who will design graphics for their video games? The world cannot exist without art.

But let’s not get confused, art is not just anything. Yes, we have to accept that art is the result of some creative work, done by humans, that serves to entertain the mind, beautify a room, or convey a philosophical message. It is one of those careers that does not require a license to practice it, nor a university degree. But learning is required. Those who say they are «self-taught» are lying because you always learn from something or someone. Artistic knowledge does not usually arise spontaneously from a person’s mind without that person having studied the subject, one way or another. So even though you don’t have to go to college, you have to study and learn. Intuition is not art.

Art is the product of the imagination, the training, and the (good) taste of the artist. Paintings or sculptures must be crafted well. A painting has its trajectory, its beginning, which is usually in the form of a model or sketch, its development, because the dimensions of the work, the concept, the composition, the colours, and the message must be taken into account. It is not achieved intuitively; it has to be planned, designed, and then executed. A work of art is contrived. That’s why you have to know how to make art for the result to be art.

Finally, I give you my definition. What is art? Art is the search. But don’t just searching for the sake of searching, you have to find, and what you find, that is art.

Y algunas se vuelan las primeras dos y van directo al abuso…

Martha Holmes fue una fotógrafa norteamericana (1923-2006)

Comenzó a trabajar en la revista Life cuando solo tenia 20 años de edad y ejerció su profesión en else reconocido medio 40 años, especialmente durante la época dorada de la revista, considerada la editorial más popular de fotografía en EEUU. Se le recuerda por su retratos íntimos y por ser foto-cronista deportiva en una época cuando eso era patrimonio exclusivo de fotógrafos masculinos. Holmes murió en su casa de Manhattan en 2006 a la edad de 83 años. Captó imágenes de Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Van Johnson, Joan Crawford y John Garfield, Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dalí y hasta de Eleanor Roosevelt bebiéndose un zumo de tomate.

+++

Martha Holmes was a North American photographer (1923-2006)

She began working at Life magazine when she was only 20 years old and practiced her profession at the renowned publication for 40 years, especially during the magazine’s golden age, considered the most popular photography editorial in the U.S. She is remembered for her intimate portraits and for being a sports photo-journalist at a time when that was the exclusive domain of male photographers. Holmes died at her Manhattan home in 2006 at the age of 83. She captured images of Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Van Johnson, Joan Crawford, and John Garfield, as well as Jackson Pollock, Salvador Dalí, and even Eleanor Roosevelt drinking tomato juice.

Tambien la de este personaje que creo que todos conoceréis…

+++

She also captured an image of this character whom I think you all well know…

GRACIAS – CHEERS