Jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz, jazz

Sunny Murray/Albert Ayler

Jazz music's been coming to me from many angles. From the "No Wave" facebook group, spending time with my best friend—and jazz aficionado—in Holland, to my own not too shabby jazz collection on vinyl. I became acquainted with a host of musicians from the past I had never listened to before and I re-listened to lot a familiar ones as well. All of the numerous jazz tunes in the Top 100 2022 are free jazz (or New wave in jazz, avant-garde, fusion, etc.) The double portrait format, moreover, results in many portraits of jazz musicians I never painted before. Sunny Murray, drummer with Albert Ayler is one of those musicians. Albert Ayler, and the song Ghosts, had been listed multiple times in the past, but never did I paint Sunny Murray, or bass player Gary Peacock before. Ghosts was recorded a week before I was born in New York City. It comes from the LP Spiritual Unity on the ESP (Esperanto) label. I bought the LP The ESP Sampler earlier this year that includes abridged versions of numerous outstanding jazz recordings, introducing me to a whole new clique of jazz men (they're all men, all 50 of them,save for Patty Waters.) Spiritual Unity is one of a handful of discs I already had in my collection from ESP (I own Spiritual Unity on CD rather than on vinyl.) 

Cecil Taylor/Jimmy Lyons

The Cecil Taylor track in the list is called Mirror and Water Gazing from the LP For Olim. [Soul Note 1987] The LP, that I've had for a long time but never featured in the Top 100, is a solo piano concert recorded 1986 in Berlin. The recording took place while Jimmy Lyons, his long-term collaborator, was on his dying bed due to cancer. The LP is dedicated to the "living spirit of Jimmy Lyons."

Miles Davis/Teo Macero

The remaining two new jazz paintings concern tracks that were also listed in 2021. Rated X by Miles Davis and Anthropology by Jon Ibragon are again both high in the Top 100. Last year I paired the Miles Davis portrait with that of the percussionist James Mtume. Mtume passed away in January this year. Teo Macero is a componist and sax player but is best known for his production work at Columbia Records. He worked extensively with Miles Davis and contributed greatly to the groundbreaking early 1970s records such as Bitches Brew and On the Corner. Rated X comes from Get Up With It that contains unreleased recordings from both Bitches Brew and On the Corner.

Jon Ibragon/Charlie Parker

Like last year I coupled Jon Ibragon with Charlie Parker as the LP Bird With Streams [Irabbagast, 2021] contains solo improvisations by the saxophonist Jon Ibragon on themes by Charlie Parker. Click here to read more on last year's painting. The Charlie Parker portrait comes from the LP The Happy "Bird" [1951, Charlie Parker Records] one of a handful LP's I have of his and that I all played while in my studio painting the portraits. Charlie Parker almost single-handedly started modern jazz in the 1940s.

Well known and Well Loved

Not all Top 100 entries come from anthropological sources. Like anyone else I do enjoy recordings from the contemporary music industry from the good old United States. Three examples of some exciting popular music happened to be up for painting conforming to their respective position on the lists. These are the number 9 of 2021, and numbers 68 and 70 of 2020.

Miles Davis with James Mtume, 11x14 inches, oil

Rated X by Miles Davis was recorded as part of the On the Corner sessions in 1972. The song didn't make it to the On the Corner album but was then released on the compilation Get Up With It. Rated X is one of those rare Miles tracks in which he does not play the trumpet but sticks to an organ. For the double portrait I paired Miles with percussionist James Mtume. The image is taken from a still from a 1973 concert in Vienna.

Wayne Coyne and Yoshimi P-We, 11x14 inches, ink

Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Part 2 by the Flaming Lips was next in the 2020 series that are all on 11x14 paper. I paired the main singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the Flaming Lips Wayne Coyne with Yoshimi P-We, who was the inspiration for the song and album it appears on from 2002, and whose cries and yelps are heard on this otherwise instrumental song. Yoshimi P-We is the drummer of the legendary Japanese band the Boredoms as well the singer of the all female OOIOO. The other Flaming Lips members at the recording sessions for the Yoshimi album are Steven Drozd and Michael Ivins.

Lana Del Rey, 14x11 inches, ink on paper

Then at number 70 is the song Love or Young and in Love as it's sometimes called. It was written and performed by Lana De Rey. This is the first time I did a portrait of Del Rey. Some of her peers (read: Cat Power, but also Fiona Apple) have been portrayed multiple times. Love comes from her 2017 album Lust for Life.

Top 100 Exhibition at Pincrest Gardens in Miami

John Coltrane and Miles Davis
13.25" x 10", oil on wood, 2008

While it's too soon to even think about the contents of the current top 100, there's big news concerning the exhibition of paintings that belong to this series. Nearly all of the 2012 paintings that are finished will be on display in November and December at Pinecrest Gardens, in Miami, Florida. The exhibition is a bit a of a 30th anniversary celebration of the Top 100. Besides the paintings from the current year there will be a large selection of last year's paintings on view as well as a selection of paintings from the top 100 dating back to the start of it in 1983. In total there will be exactly 100 paintings. The selected paintings can be considered the top 100 paintings from the Top 100 catalog. This time however it's not according to an objective list, but as a subjective pick from over 2,000 paintings I have made in the context of the Top 100. And... I've got to tell you... picking my favorite top 100 paintings  is the most fun project I've undertaken in along time. Going through all these boxes and boxes full of paintings gives me so much joy, and to select them in terms of visuals in stead of aural favorites gives it a whole new spin. For the first time the paintings are not an illustration of a piece of music but exist as painting. It's an art exhibition and the subject happens to be musicians. So if you happen to be in Miami in November or December be sure to come see it. The opening reception is on November 2nd in the evening and then there's an event on Sunday December 9th in the afternoon, where I will give a Gallery talk. That date, the latter, coincides with Art Basel in Miami. Well... hope to see you there. The above painting from the Top 100 2007 of John Coltrane and Miles Davis will certainly be one of the 100 displayed. At the time if functioned as an illustration for the track All Blues by Miles Davis accompanied by John Coltrane.

The 100 Greatest Recordings Ever: 15, Miles Davis

The 100 Greatest Recordings Ever: 39, Miles Davis