Where Do I Start? Is There a Map?

I am convinced that from the beginning, there is a thread that weaves itself  through our lives.  We don't have any idea what it will be, but it gets there.

This is a digital collage I made yesterday.  The first thing is to find images that are cool.  Intertwining them is lot of fun. Giving the work a title is really the hardest part for me.  I love putting jazz with the works I create.  I should start with that instead of the other way around.

Here are two people deeply related by DNA and sharing the talent that runs in those mysterious strands.

Are You In or Are You Out?

Jazz festivals are happening all over the world — yeah, right now! Musicians form groups and fill the air with cool sounds. Everyone loosens up and lets the music get deep inside. This is an abstract print of an original painting of mine. It’s all jazzed up for summer!







Ramsey Lewis was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ramsey Lewis, Sr. and Pauline Lewis.[2] Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz; he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac "Redd" Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio.




By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation’s most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with "The In Crowd", "Hang On Sloopy", and "Wade in the Water". All three singles each sold over one million copies, and were awarded gold discs. Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the 1970s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups.



Lewis still lives in Chicago, Illinois, the city of his musical roots. He has seven children, fourteen grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.


—Source: Wikipedia

Summer and Sambas

What would summer be without the bold big sunflower?  And how could it be summer without the samba played by Brazilian Eliane Elias?

Eliane Elias (eh-lee-AH-neh eh-LEE-ahs) (born March 19, 1960 in São Paulo, Brazil) is a Brazilian jazz pianist, arranger, vocalist and songwriter.  She is one of my favorite jazz pianists.  Her mother was a classical pianist who had a huge collection of jazz records.  When Eliane was a little girl she grew up listening to jazz music being played in her home.