JaZzArt en València

One of the greatest guitarists of the XX C. and part of the XXI C. as well. Paco de Lucia died at the age of 66 of a heart attack on the 25th of February 2014.

He was born in Algeciras in Cadiz province in 1947. He was considered the greatest Flamenco guitarists and a virtuoso of the instrument. Paco de Lucía learned from the two best schools in Spain. First from the school of Niño Ricardo, who died in 1972, but is considered one of the greatest guitarists in the Flamenco world. He also was greatly influenced by Sabicas, who died in 1990 and is considered the guitarist that perfected the use of the instrument as a solo instrumento on stage instead of just being an accompaniment to the singer.

Paco de Lucia is credited with internationalising Flamenco music, especially the guitar. He played all over the world and as well with many other guitar virtuosos of other countries and other styles of music. And not just great guitarists, but he played with singers like El Cigala, Alejandro Sanz, and with jazz pianists like Chick Corea. He has recorded several times with John McLaughlin and Al Di Meola, and appears in many of the recordings of legendary Flamenco singer Camarón de la Isla, the great Spanish singer-songwriter Jean Manuel Serrat, the popular singer Dyango and many others.

To me, Paco de Lucia was…and his records still are…an inspiration. I saw him many times and I have missed him and will miss him always. His music, his compositions and his interpretations are phenomenal and considered as the finest in Flamenco and as well in jazz and really in any type of music that he played. Rest in peace…

Cheers…

And being that this great artist was a musician, I think it’s only fitting that I refer you to some of his best work to be found on YouTube:

As smoke that always finds the cracks and crevices to pass through wood that’s seen centuries race,

I pass each day through my front door like a ghost with a happy heart and a smiling face,

knowing that the door that lets me out keeps out the rains…

C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 20 March 2022, Valencia, Spain

Always one of my favourites. If someone knew how to sing this kind of slow rocking, country music it was Kenny Rogers, what a guy! Kenny Rogers released this song in 1978 and it went straight to number one!

«The Gambler» was written in 1975 by Don Schlitz. Besides writing a catchy tune, he wrote in some very good…outstanding I would say…advice. Something a wise man would listen to and subscribe to is the knowledge of when one should walk or haul arse!

Johnny Cash also recorded the song in 1978. Here it is:

And in conclusion, I think the gambler was right when he said that «the secret to survivin’ is knowing what to throw away, and knowing what to keep». And of course, everyone knows that there is no better way to go than to «die in your sleep».

Country Yossi must have loved the song so much that he parodied it in «The Rabbi». Of course you know Country Yossi, the American Orthodox Jew from, where else, Brooklyn, USA. And he also sold diamonds on 47th Street (Manhattan). I truly admire Yossi, and his parodies of these great country songs are incredible! Hope you enjoy them:

Cheers…

As timeless as space and in spaces within moments that surround us, filling our miseries with gladness,

his power is carved into the rocks of the Earth, with a love so long, so deep, so ageless,

that it guides our life with light though hidden in the mountains, carved into the cliffs or sculpted in the bottom of the Sea…

C.2022, Francisco Bravo Cabrera, 19 March 2022, Valencia, Spain

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The Euro-Ku is a form of poetry that I developed very recently, see: (https://paintinginvalencia.wordpress.com/2022/02/23/my-new-poetic-invention-the-euro-ku/)

Basically it is my homage to the traditional Japanese Haiku. I’ve always loved its simple structure, its short verses and the way that Haiku poets used the power of synthesis to express a thought intimately linked with nature, or with daily life and turn it into a meditation.

Of course the «Euro-Ku» does no such thing. On the contrary, it seeks simple words, easily understood verses and the language of the common man/woman. It still has only three verses, but there is no need to count syllables, the verses can be as long as they need to be to allow the content message to be developed. Rhyming is optional. One thing that the Euro-Ku must have is an accompanying original photograph that also, in its own unique way, illuminates the message that the verses transmits.

The reason why I’ve called it «Euro-Ku» is because it is written from the philosophical perspective of a European and not with the mind of an Oriental. There are vasts differences. That is why, even though I loved the Haiku, I knew that I could not do it justice writing from the perspective of how I think as a European. The sister form is the Ameri-Ku, of course, the same rules apply but the perspective might differ quite a bit in new and exciting ways.

Cheers…

Of course when one thinks of abstract expressionism one thinks of action painting and when one thinks of that one thinks of Jackson Pollock. However, he was not the only one in this unique group of vanguard artists, most from the United States, working a style that was developed thoroughly and completely in the States. Others like the ones I have featured here, especially the forgotten female painter (as so many are in Art History), Janet Sobel and Pollock’s own wife, Lee Krasner…

In any event, this is not a very exciting type of art for me, but it may be for you and it is important to know about it. So enjoy the video. If you don’t know much about action painting, i.e. abstract expressionism, then this will be a good introduction. But my main intention is getting you to look further, look beyond and get to know more, especially if you are an artist, or a collector or a lover of art…

Cheers…

These are from places that I love, places that I spend time in and have spent many years of my life enjoying, getting to know and appreciating. Hope you like them. The first one and the third one are from the Aegean Coast of Turkey (2019) and the middle one is from a beautiful beach in the southern-central region of Cuba, Rancho Luna.

Cheers…

Jazz comes in black and white and in colour. This collection is from a series I did in watercolour and now have turned them into Art Digital here at Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. Now I make them available as fine art prints through my cooperation with Fine Art America so you can take a look here: Francisco Bravo Cabrera and you can see some more of my Art Digital turned into prints…and other cool things…and available now.

Cheers…

(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia, All Rights Reserved)

These Art Digital works are now available as prints through my participation with Fine Art America and there is more, take a look here: Francisco Bravo Cabrera .

Cheers…

(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia, All Rights Reserved)

These are from my collection of scenic photographs converted to Art Digital here at Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. Now I make them available, through Fine Art America as high quality prints. You can see these and more by visiting here: Francisco Bravo Cabrera .

Cheers…

(Images are the property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia, All Rights Reserved)

These are prints made at Fine Art America of some of my abstract…ok you got me, Bluester looks figurative…works of Art Digital here at Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia. You can also access much more here at Francisco Bravo Cabrera .

Hope all of you are having a smashing good week. We are out for the week, we will be back on Friday.

Cheers…

(Images property of FBC, Omnia Caelum Studios Valencia, All Rights Reserved)