Original Abstract Jazz Bassist Music Art Painting

"The Bassist"

10" x 8"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

(Sold)

Original African American Art Jazz Guitar Woman Painting

"Guitar Woman"

8" x 10"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

(Sold)

From the "Me & My Guitar" series.

Nina Simone Jazz Pianist & Singer Music Art Portrait Painting

"Nina Simone"

8" x 10"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

(Sold)

From the "Legends of Jazz" series.

Eunice Kathleen Waymon (February 21, 1933 – April 21, 2003), better known by her stage name Nina Simone, was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music. Simone aspired to become a classical pianist while working in a broad range of styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

Born the sixth child of a preacher's family in North Carolina, Simone aspired to be a concert pianist. Her musical path changed direction after she was denied a scholarship to the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, despite a well-received audition. Simone was later told by someone working at Curtis that she was rejected because she was black.When she began playing in a small club in Philadelphia to fund her continuing musical education and become a classical pianist she was required to sing as well. She was approached for a recording by Bethlehem Records, and her rendering of "I Love You Porgy" was a hit in the United States in 1958. Over the length of her career Simone recorded more than 40 albums, mostly between 1958 — when she made her debut with Little Girl Blue — and 1974.

Her musical style arose from a fusion of gospel and pop songs with classical music, in particular with influences from her first inspiration, Johann Sebastian Bach, and accompanied with her expressive jazz-like singing in her characteristic contralto. She injected as much of her classical background into her music as possible to give it more depth and quality, as she felt that pop music was inferior to classical. Her intuitive grasp on the audience–performer relationship was gained from a unique background of playing piano accompaniment for church revivals and sermons regularly from the early age of six years old.

After 20 years of performing, she became involved in the civil rights movement and the direction of her life shifted once again. Simone's music was highly influential in the fight for equal rights in the US.

Original Abstract Jazz Art Pianist Music Painting

"The Mad Pianist"

8" x 10"

Acrylic Wash on 140lb Watercolor Paper. 2012

(Sold)

 

Original Abstract Jazz Art Trumpeter Musician Painting

"Mr. Trumpeter"

6" x 8"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

(Sold)

 

Dizzy Gillespie Jazz Art Trumpet Music Painting

"Young Dizzy"

8" x 10"

Acrylic Wash on 140lb Watercolor Paper. 2012

(Sold)

From the "Legends of Jazz" series.

This is a painting of a young Dizzy Gillespie.

John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer and occasional singer.

Allmusic's Scott Yanow wrote, "Dizzy Gillespie's contributions to jazz were huge. One of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time (some would say the best), Gillespie was such a complex player that his contemporaries ended up copying Miles Davis and Fats Navarro instead, and it was not until Jon Faddis's emergence in the 1970s that Dizzy's style was successfully recreated . . . Arguably Gillespie is remembered, by both critics and fans alike, as one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time."

Gillespie was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuoso style of Roy Eldridge but adding layers of harmonic complexity previously unknown in jazz. His beret and horn-rimmed spectacles, his scat singing, his bent horn, pouched cheeks and his light-hearted personality were essential in popularizing bebop.

In the 1940s Gillespie, together with Charlie Parker, became a major figure in the development of bebop and modern jazz. He taught and influenced many other musicians, including trumpeters Miles Davis, Fats Navarro, Clifford Brown, Arturo Sandoval, Lee Morgan, Jon Faddis and Chuck Mangione.

More on Dizzy Gillespie.

Original Abstract Jazz Art Bassist Music Painting

"Jazz Bassist"

10" x 8"

Acrylic Wash on 140lb Watercolor Paper. 2012

(Sold)

 

Charles Mingus Jazz Art Music Bass Painting

"Charles Mingus"

8" x 10"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

Contact me if interested @ kenjoslin@yahoo.com.

From the "Legends of Jazz" series.

Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) one of the most important figures in twentieth century American music, Charles Mingus was a virtuoso bass player, accomplished pianist, bandleader and composer. Born on a military base in Nogales, Arizona in 1922 and raised in Watts, California, his earliest musical influences came from the church– choir and group singing– and from “hearing Duke Ellington over the radio when [he] was eight years old.” He studied double bass and composition in a formal way (five years with H. Rheinshagen, principal bassist of the New York Philharmonic, and compositional techniques with the legendary Lloyd Reese) while absorbing vernacular music from the great jazz masters, first-hand. His early professional experience, in the 40′s, found him touring with bands like Louis Armstrong, Kid Ory and Lionel Hampton.

More on Charles Mingus.

Charles Mingus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kansas City Jazz Musician Piano Art Painting

"Kansas City Jazz Musician"

8" x 10"

Acrylic on Canvas Board. 2012

(Sold)

From the "Kansas City Jazz" series.
 

Kansas City Jazz is a style of jazz that developed in Kansas City Missouri and the surrounding Kansas City Metropolitan Area during the 1930s and marked the transition from the structured big band style to the musical improvisation style of Bebop. The hard-swinging, bluesy transition style is bracketed by Count Basie who in 1929 signed with the Bennie Morten's Kansas City Orchestra and Kansas City native Charlie Parker who was to usher in the Bebop style in the 1940s. According to a Kansas City website, "While New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz, America's music grew up in Kansas City". Kansas City is known as one of the most popular "cradles of jazz". Other cities include New Orleans, Chicago, St. Louis and New York City.
  
More on Kansas City Jazz