Cool is Kul is “Cool”

What makes something or someone “cool”?

The whole concept has become blurred by so many personal interpretations that to some, it may have even lost meaning.

I keep hoping, at the very least, that it maintains a certain conceptual dignity in true reference to its roots.

According to the Oxford dictionary, it was originally an African-American usage that became popular in the 1930´s as a general term of approval, meaning something akin to admirable or excellent, combined with certain aloofness that is meant to give it an aura of mystery.

Yet some have concurrently developed the idea that the concept of “cool” originally developed from the Swedish word for “fun”, kul, which sounds very much like cool.

When one thinks about it, it is a nice idea to join both competing interpretations, as “cool” was popularized among jazz musicians and enthusiasts in the late 1940s to describe the music, art and scene that evolved with the great American Jazz revolution.

Cool to me is still that.

Cool is excellence, aloofness, and fun. And all of these terms relate perfectly to Jazz.

What I try to do as an artist is also “cool” in its own way.

My light synesthesia has embraced my most creative instincts around jazz. I consider jazz to be the best example we have of a creative community. Forget about brain storming sessions. Just think of Miles Davis and his band in 1958/61.

This is the perfect combination of extremely creative individuals combining to make something sublime, without losing the characteristics of each musician. It is the perfect example of cool.

My art feeds on that brilliance. I admit my talent would not be able to show itself in the same way without musical creative geniuses like these.

And it is my hope that my art reflects that same aura of coolness.

Art that is fun, intellectually challenging, and aloof enough to make the path to its full discovery, something interesting and worth doing.

I leave you with a Miles Davis Quintet full concert, from 1967. Enjoy.

Until the next time.

Ignacio

©2014 by Ignacio Alperin Bruvera