abstract expressionism – IGNACIO ALPERIN: THE ART OF THINKING OUT LOUD / EL ARTE DE PENSAR EN VOZ ALTA

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.

Charade_(2014)_90x130 — CHARADE (2014) 130CM X 90CM ACRYLIC, INK AND OIL BASED PAINTS ON WOOD. Copyright 2014 Ignacio Alperin

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

An afternoon with Mr. Evans (and if it is in Paris, even better…)

Bill Evans is one of those artists who are constantly present in my work.

This great piano genius was born in New Jersey, in 1929. He passed away in 1980 from health complications related to his hepatitis and his cocaine drug abuse, in what was described by a close colleague as “the longest suicide in history”.

At the height of his career, Evans was as emblematic to jazz and his instrument (piano) as Miles Davis was to the movement and trumpet playing.

He is seen as the main reformer of the harmonic language of jazz piano and was influenced by impressionist composers such as Debussy and Ravel. His versions of jazz standards, as well as his own compositions, always featured thorough changes to their original harmonies. Musical features included added tone chords, modal inflections, unconventional substitutions, and modulations.

From Wikipedia:

Above is an example of Evans’s harmonies. The chords feature extensions like 9ths and 13ths, are laid around middle C, have smooth voice leading, and leave the root to the bassist. Bridge of the first chorus of Waltz for Debby (mm.33-36). From the homonymous album of 1961.

One of Evans’s distinctive harmonic traits is abandoning the inclusion of the root in his chords, leaving this work to the bassist, played on another beat of the measure, or just left implied. “If I am going to be sitting here playing roots, fifths and full voicings, the bass is relegated to a time machine.” This idea had already been explored by Ahmad Jamal, Erroll Garner, and Red Garland. In Evans’s system, the chord is expressed as a quality identity and a color. Most of Evans’s harmonies feature added note chords or quartal voicings.

Thus, Evans created a self-sufficient language for the left hand, a distinctive voicing, that allowed the transition from one chord to the next while hardly having to move the hand. With this technique, he created an effect of continuity in the central register of the piano. Laying around middle C, in this region the harmonic clusters sounded the clearest, and at the same time, left room for contrapunctal independence with the bass. Evans’s improvisations relied heavily in motivic development, either melodically or rhythmically.Motives may be broken and recombined to form melodies. Another characteristic of Evans’s style is rhythmic displacement. His melodic contours often describe arches.Other characteristics include sequenciation of melodies and transforming one motive into another.^”

Beyond his brilliance as a pianist and musician, and his technical excellence, Evans managed to imbue his music with a such warmth and melancholy that listening to him playing, even today, generates a deep emotional vibration.

This new work of mine, from 2013 and simply called “An afternoon with Mr. Evans” is one more of the many jazz and Evans inspired works in my own artistic repertoire.

An afternoon with Mr. Evans_2013_50x65 b — AN AFTERNOON WITH MR. EVANS (2013), ACRILYC, INK AND OIL BASED PAINTS ON CANVAS, 50CM X 65CM, c Copyright 2013 Ignacio Alperin

I leave you while I hope you enjoy these next few minutes listening of this genius playing live in 1972 .

See you next time.

Ignacio

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