MAKING NOISE

Once and and a while I get together with a few of my teacher friends to fool around playing some blues. This is a link to us playing as a fill during a show at the high school (me on drums).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8h-5qN_Hs

BLUES REVIEW

The concert was a good one and the proceeds go to a good cause. Big Bear's animal park has been taking care of wildlife that has either been injured or some body's exotic pet, then abandoned since 1956. These are animals that can't be released back into nature. Pretty neat people!



                                                              I Enjoy Good Sax - Reduction Linocut

BLUES

Blues concert in Big Bear today. I get to hear a little Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers. Weather couldn't be any nicer. Also a big bike race through the valley. Over 1000 cyclists in the event.

Blues - Copperplate etching

BATTLE OF THE BANDS

Our little group played the other night in the Battle of the Bands. We weren't part of the competition, just the closing music while the judges were voting on the bands. It's great to play with these guys because they are the most popular teachers in Big Bear which means we can do no wrong!!    Battle Night

A LITTLE BIT OF BLUES

Mr. Hooker's Hobo Blues. That's the way it was done!!



Bass Work - Reduction linocut on Japanese paper.

DOWN DEEP RHYTHM

"The discovery of song and the creation of musical instruments both owed their origin to a human impulse which lies much deeper than conscious intention:  the need for rhythm in life… the need is a deep one, transcending thought, and disregarded at our peril."

~Richard Baker~

Jammin - Reduction Woodblock print from a great blues painting.

BLUES ETCHING

Audiences like their blues singers to be miserable.  ~Janis Joplin~

Hand colored solarplate etching on Rives print paper

BLUES

As I started reaching deeper I realized that most of the blues of the day were done by men. Women just didn't have the nerve!  ~Etta James~

Diva

Reduction Linocut print on Japanese Gampi paper

THE OTHER HALF

One of my fellow bloggers (Wm Cook) pointed me to a link on his blog for Charlie Mingus. This reminded me of the second use my studio gets. One half of the area is set up with my drums plus guitars, keyboards and various other instruments. Some teacher friends of mine join me at every oppotunity to play what we think sounds like blues and other types of music. With apologies to my wife, who heads to the farthest reaches of the house, we do have a lot of fun.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0UjfkEo-0M

PHOTOGRAPHY, BLUES AND ART

I have found myself spending more and more of my time around music and art over the past few years. I guess it's never too late to do the things you enjoy and not just the things you're expected to do! One of the people who follow this blog sent me a link to a great site that shows some wonderful examples in these areas. Brandy Kayzakian Rowe is a photographer and painter who grew up and lived in the south (Memphis). Her photographs of the Delta and it's blues music are simply fantastic. She has recently moved to the Pacific Northwest and continues her work in it's rich jazz scene.

http://www.brandykayzakianrowe.com/

JAMMIN

Finished the last cut and pulled the prints on the reduction woodblock I've been working on. I ended up with an edition of five, two of which have already been promised to teachers at the high school.

NEW WOODBLOCK

I have been working on a new woodblock over the last month. Another Blues/Jazz theme. The reduction technique again and I'm down to the final cut which will be the details in a dark ink.

OLD BLUES

So many ways to put an image on paper. Each one unique and an adventure. 'Old Blues' is pulled from a solarplate etching and then hand colored.

MORE THAN ART

My downstairs sanctuary is also a place that gets it's fair share of music use. Each year the high school puts on a 'Battle of the Bands'. I, along with a few of my teacher friends have been invited to close the program the last few years. We aren't actual contestants, just a novelty act I think.

We worked on "Little Red Rooster' last night, and it wasn't half bad.