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Posts Tagged ‘Berklee College of Music’

Jazz (Song One)

Posted in Influences, Music, Painting, Quote, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on September 12, 2015| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Jazz ( Song One)The artist is a man who finds that the form or shape of things externally corresponds, in some strange way, to the movements of his mental and emotional life.

—Graham Collier 

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I have been working on dream inspired patterned forms, as I’ve noted here several times recently.  I have been incorporating into the layers that make up my skies in simple landscapes where they serve to give added depth and texture.  It works really well in that context and it would be easy to just use it in that way.

But there is something about some of them that make me just push them to the forefront alone without masking them with any representational forms over them.  Something beyond narrative.  Elemental.  Like it is somehow tied to my own internal shapes and forms and patterns.

I was thinking this when I came across the quote at the top from the late jazz musician/composer Graham Collier.  It made so much sense because I think that is, in general, the attraction of art  for me– it’s an external harmony of internal elements.

I didn’t know much about Collier who died in 2011.  He was a bassist/bandleader/composer who was the first British grad of the Berklee College of Music.  He played around the world and also wrote extensively on jazz but he still wasn’t on my radar.  While I like jazz my knowledge, as it is in many things,  is pretty shallow.  So I decided that i should listen to some of Collier’s music.

The first song I heard was titled  Song One (Seven-Four) and it just clicked for me.  It was so familiar and seemed to be right in line with the piece at the top, a 12″ by 12″ painting on masonite panel.  It made me think about the connection with music, how sounds often take the form of shapes and colors in the minds of both musicians and listeners.

Again, very elemental.

So I began to think of these newer pieces as music.  It creates a context that makes sense for my mind, one that gives me a way of looking at the work without seeking representational forms.  It’s an exciting thing for me and I look forward to some newer explorations in this realm in the near future. For Graham Collier’s clarification, I am calling the piece at the top Jazz ( Song One).  Here it is :

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Michael Mattice Live at the Principle

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , on July 10, 2013| 1 Comment »

Michael Mattice bw 2013I just wanted to remind any readers in or near the DC area  that there is a free show in support of his new CD , Comin’ Home, from singer/songwriter Michael Mattice tomorrow night, Thursday July 11th, at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria.  It is a great chance to catch a rising talent in a really intimate setting and I urge you to come on out if you can make it.  If not, pick up a copy of his CD — you won’t be disappointed.  It is gaining steam and has been sitting at the top of the Hot New Releases on Amazon for some time now.

His acoustic  guitar work on it is impeccable, creating rich, complex  textures for his songs.  I was expecting that, having watched his guitar prowess  through his years at Berklee.    The guy can outright play.  But it’s the songwriting that caught me off guard.  I wasn’t expecting such a cohesive set of songs with choruses that I find myself singing along to and melodies and rhythms  that hang with you long after you stop listening.

This is a strong and consistent effort that excites me from a creative standpoint.  There’s a real purity in Mike’s work here, a genuine and confident voice that has evolved  as he has voraciously absorbed everything around him.  It’s what you want to see in any artist but it’s  a rare thing to find.

This is a wonderful CD but , moreover, it is portending a future- it is not a culmination.  It is a giant first step in what I see as  a creative arc that stretches high and far, a truly impressive debut that sets a really high baseline for his future work.  A baseline that I have no doubt he will exceed time and time again.

So, if you can, see Michael Mattice at the Principle Gallery Thursday.  The event starts at 6 PM and Mike is expected to begin around 7.

Check out his site for more info and to preview the CD.

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Comin’ Home/ Michael Mattice

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , , on June 26, 2013| 4 Comments »

Michael Mattice Comin' Home Cover 2013I was on the road  so I didn’t get a chance to post that a new CD titled Comin’ Home came out  yesterday from my friend, Michael Mattice.  I’ve talked about Mikey here before, most recently in the notes after my recent opening at the Principle Gallery.  I’ve known him since he was a gangly kid of 13 or 14 tagging along with his Dad at events at the gallery.  Even then Mikey gave off a tightly focused vibe, like  he was there  in the physical sense only while his mind was elsewhere, running through an unending set of musical charts that had his full attention.  I recognized his obsessive look that said that he something deeper to express, that it was in him and was eating impatiently at him from the inside.

Mikey had started his musical journey early,  taking up the flute and piano at age 8 , adding  a proficiency at electric and upright bass to his repertoire in his middle school years.  But the guitar always held his deepest fascination.  He studied guitar at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, graduating last year.  After graduation, he toured as guitarist with Jamaican Aria Morgan‘s tour to promote her album, Full Time Love, as well as playing with the progressive metal band Yantra that he had co-founded while still at Berklee.

But time came to begin to get back to that obsessive inner voice which led to the release of his new CD yesterday that features his compositions, voice and playing.  It’s a mix of folk, blues, country and indie rock but it’s all Mikey.  I had followed his work through the years from afar and knew primarily of   his prodigious talents as progressive metal guitarist so when he passed on to me a 3 song preview of the new CD at the gallery, I was expecting work in that genre.  But from the first moments I could tell that I had only seen a small glimpse of his talent in his previous work.  It started with a song, Train Hoppin’, that is drenched in the sound and feel of the early folk blues,  recorded on the same sort of  period recording equipment that Robert Johnson and other early blues pioneers used in the 20’s and 30’s.  It is his homage to the influences that paved the way for his own work, which is shown more fully in the next two songs, Back to You and Window Pane.  These songs feel like his authentic voice  which is exciting, making me eager to hear more from this CD.

Comin’ Home is available now on  iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Google Play, as well as a number of other online outlets.  You can also order it from his site, Mattice Music.  

Mike will also be doing a special acoustic show promoting the CD at the Principle Gallery on Thursday, July 11, from 6-9 PM.  If you can make it, this  should be a wonderful opportunity to experience his wonderful talent in an intimate setting.  It could be one of those things where you can tell your friends years from now about how lucky you were to see Mike play early in his career.

Just to show off a bit of his talent and dexterity, here’s a clip from his progressive work with Yantra.

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