JaZzArt en València

Close enough to touch yet frightful, the shapes and forms of nature blend with time and time has allowed man his domination,

his creations stand, though sometimes withered, aged and rotten, yet still there,

the thoughts, not they, they are absorbed, defeated, and thrown into the boiling pot where no one cares…

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As a poet/artist, I have always engaged, wholeheartedly, in the search and I must say that what I find both amuses me and amazes me as well. In searching through Haikus…Japanese poetry…that I greatly admire, I realised that as a Western man I could not formulate a Haiku and give it the spirit that it recognises and desires. It is impossible. One must be true to one’s experiences, history and geography and because of that, and my love for expression…in its simplest forms…I developed the Euro-Ku (and the Ameri-Ku) on 02/02/2022 here in Europe, as I hail from Spain.

The idea remains the same, to express a thought, but not with the same intention of the Japanese original Haiku. The Euro-Ku must reflect our way of thinking and most importantly, our way of expressing thoughts, emotions, feelings et al. The three verses have no syllabic count restrictions, but they must flow into each other easily and smoothly. Rhyming is optional. The main difference is that the poem must be accompanied by an original, unedited illustration created by the writer. Spirituality in art can only be achieved by being faithful to the current time in which the writer lives. No one can write with the mind, the experience or the history of someone else, but we all can and should respect what is not ours…

C.2023, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 16 AUG 2023, Valencia, Spain

Venga, que no fue en España… De acuerdo, fue en Australia, pero es la misma cosa. Estuvo mal, pero muy mal hecho. Yo lo estaba mirándolo en la tele y enseguida pensé que eso no se hace y que ese tío, Luis Manuel Rubiales, director o no de la Real Federación Española de Futbol, se estaba aprovechando de Jenni Hermoso. Mare meua!

Pero bueno, no es para llamar a la Santa Inquisición tampoco. Vamos a no ponernos ahora a cazar brujas. Además, la jugadora enseguida dijo que no le había gustado. Con esa frase, punto y aparte. Ahora tenemos que oír la apologia de Rubiales y ya pasar la pagina que esto no es un crimen machista ni violencia de genero. Fue una autentica estupidez y una barrabasada de un descarado, pero nada mas.

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Come on, it wasn’t in Spain… Okay, it was in Australia, but it’s the same thing. It was wrong, but very wrong! I was watching it on TV and immediately thought that it was not right and that this guy, Luis Manuel Rubiales, director or not of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, was taking advantage of Jenni Hermoso. Good grief!

But it ain’t nothing to call the Holy Inquisition about either. We don’t need to start a witch hunt now. Besides, the player immediately stated that she didn’t like it. With that statement, end of story. Now we have to hear Rubiales’ apology and move on. This is not a sexist crime or gender-based violence. It was genuine stupidity and an outrage from a shameless person, but nothing more.

Gracias…

Cheers…

Vale, esta no es para ti pues ya tiene hogar en un lugar de Europa, pero quería mostrártela porque me encanta este dibujo. Creo que logré capturar muy bien el momento cuando el cuarteto Jazz esta en su punto, descargando las mejores notas, los mas distinguidos acordes y la locura que es el Jazz libre… Para mi el dibujo es como hacer jazz con un saxofón o con un contrabajo. Además estos son los dos instrumentos, junto con la guitarra, que me gusta incluir en mis combos de Jazz que dibujo…o pinto…porque tienen una forma deliciosa y añaden a la estética de la composición… Quiero que sepas que para mi dibujar es como meditar, pues se me convierte en una especie de relajación concentrada y me lleva hasta la luna… Pero vale che, te voy a dejar un vídeo que vas a flipar y en el podrás ver muchos mas dibujos que están de puta madre…

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Okay, this one is not for you as it already has a home somewhere in Europe. But I wanted to show it to you because I love this drawing. I think I managed to capture the moment when the Jazz quartet is in their element, delivering the best notes, the most distinguished chords, and the madness that is free Jazz… To me, drawing is like playing jazz with a saxophone or a double bass. These are the two instruments, along with the guitar, that I like to include in the Jazz combos that I draw… or paint… because they have a delightful shape that adds to the aesthetics of the composition… I want you to know that drawing is like meditation to me, as it becomes a kind of concentrated relaxation and takes me to the moon… But okay, I’m going to leave you a video that you’re going to love, and in it, you’ll be able to see many more amazing drawings…

Gracias…

Cheers…

So this is the Euro-Ku

Well, a traditional Haiku it is not…
It is hybrid, like all of us in the Western World. We are perhaps not as deep or as spiritual as the Japanese who invented the original poem that we know as the “Haiku”.
Those are structured rigorously. They are short poems that speak of the impression caused by contemplation of nature or of daily life. They are written in three lines, the first containing five syllables, the second one seven and the third one five.
We were not put in the Western World to live as if we were Orientals. It’s impossible no matter how many Yoga classes we take or how much we engage in Tai-Chi or Qi-Gong. However, we do admire and learn from our brothers of the East. Then, our attempts at creating Haikus…which are a very powerful way to express ideas…should not reflect the values or literary traditions of that ancient culture.
On the contrary, it should reflect the Greco-Roman culture that has nourished us but not in its classical splendour, instead in its contemporary manifestation and colour. It should be filled with our present-day madness and our psychedelic-surrealistic paranoia.
The Euro-Ku will still be a poem limited to three verses, but there are no other rules, except that there should be some degrees of consistency as well as coherence in the purpose and the meaning, i.e. the words used and the message transmitted. Although it need not rhyme or flow, the words should be as easy to understand as the lyrics of a popular tune.

Here is Number One…

D U C K S

The sky dips carefully, his index finger melts the ice,

and makes the waters warm and blue,

but fear keeps ducks on the cold white ice, as it does you…

C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 22-02-2022, Valencia, Spain

My skin absorbs the dust of frozen centuries,

the dust remains like footprints in the sand,

and I stand frozen like a marbled drop of yellow rain.

“TEMPLES” is a poem in what I have termed the Euro-Ku.  This style borrows the name and part of the idea that gave form to the traditional Japanese Haiku.  However, I have changed most of the rules that govern the composition of that well known form. In the Euro-Ku the verses…they are still only three…do not have to have the same syllable count as in the Haiku.  The three verses should flow into each other in a coherent and obvious fashion and should be written in the contemporary vernacular, as if one were writing the lyrics of a pop song.  The meaning and the message should be intended for the proletariat; clearly understood by all.  It should not be hidden within confusing and archaic…researched…words.

C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 22/02/2022, Valencia, Spain

This is the proto-version of the Euro-Ku. But on very soon came the first actual Euro-Ku…

FOLLOW US:

Web/Gallery: https://www.fbcart.wixsite.com/jazzart

YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@FranciscoBravoCabrera

Instagram: @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera

Twitter (X): @euskadi_bakero

Artist Representative: “By Guloshka”

Instagram: @Guloshka

E-Mail: guloshka404@gmail.com

CHEERS…

Así que han censurado a Queen! Parece mentira que vivamos en el S. XX!!! Parece que todo lo que se publica, o se escuche tiene que pasar primero por la censura de los medios. Estamos peor que cuando nos juzgaba la Santa Inquisición…

Pero para que la disfrutéis, aquí os traigo a “Fat Bottom Girls”

If I stood alone, away from all distractions and focused only on one minuscule attraction,

a blu-green butterfly, let’s say,

would thoughts come easy?

C.2023, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 18 JUL 2023, València, España

Un hombre muy sabio que conocí cuando vivía en Miami, un filosofo y psicólogo cubano llamado Santiago Aranegui, que me dijo un dia, «si no piensas, te piensan.» Siempre me he acordado de ese consejo y creo que a través de los años la vida me ha enseñado que era verdad. Veo que hoy en dia nos dirigen hacia una mentalidad que nos lleve siempre a seguir a un líder y que lo que es correcto, políticamente, es que tenemos que estar siempre de acuerdo con el líder, o el supuesto líder. Nos tratan como tontos. Nos quieren alejar de todo lo que «ellos*» consideran obsceno, nocivo, sucio o violento. Mientras la violencia en las calles crece más y más. Claro lo dirigen todo y ahora llaman a la violencia domestica…de toda la vida…violencia de género para crear otra capa más de problemas. Así que estoy con Freud, te están pensando…

* Pueden ser los nuevos psicópatas del gobierno, los curas, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube o Elon Musk, o quien sabe…

Tengo que decir que no soy del campo pero debido a circunstancias de la vida, ajenas a mi voluntad, he tenido que pasarme mucho tiempo, valioso y muy intenso, andando por montes, junglas, montañas y valles y algo del espíritu que habita en esos Deus lares, misteriosos y bellos, se me ha quedado dentro y vivo fascinado con todo lo que sea la naturaleza campestre. Pero mis ojos de artista no ven las cosas como quizá la vea el campesino…

El cielo no es cielo porque el cielo es un océano enorme donde nosotros

somos los crustáceos que vivimos en el fondo del mar…

Las nubes son medusas enredadas unas con otras

y la lluvia son las ostras reventadas y sin perlas que flotan al fondo del mar.

Los peces somos tu y yo y no vemos los anzuelos

vivimos en el suelo

mendigando siempre el pan…

Ponte en contacto y visítanos:

Web/Gallery: https://www.fbcart.wixsite.com/jazzart

YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@FranciscoBravoCabrera

Instagram: @Francisco_Bravo_Cabrera

Twitter (X): @euskadi_bakero

Artist Representative: “By Guloshka”

Instagram: @Guloshka

E-Mail: guloshka404@gmail.com

Well we keep very strict hours for eating here in València. We have our breakfast, our lunch, dinner and tea time (supper at 21.30 hours). My favourite is dinner, which we eat at 15.00 hours and my favourite restaurant in town is La Perla de La Habana on Carrer de Borriana in the Eixample section of town.

La Perla is owned by a Cuban family who emigrated to Spain more than thirty years ago. They started off with a restaurant…of the same name…in Mallorca, then in Menorca and now in my neighbourhood. The food is excellent and the place is quite lovely indeed. The service is friendly and fast and all of this adds up to a phenomenal restaurant that I highly recommend, and I usually don’t recommend restaurants…

After dinner Alain, the owner/waiter offered me a «chupito» (a shot, something traditional after eating in Spain) and brought me a liqueur I had never tasted. It was ice cold and somewhat sweet and an authentic delight. I asked him what it was and he said it was a Cuban rum called Legendario and this one in particular was Elixir, seven years old. What a way to cap off a great dinner! Oh, by the by, I had shrimp creole with black beans and rice, with yucca on the side after banana crisps as a starter…

So, I hope you always leave satisfied after every meal.

Cheers…