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Posts Tagged ‘Music’

La Vie en Rose

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , on July 24, 2016| 1 Comment »

west-end-gallery-160First thing this morning, many thanks to everyone who came out to the West End Gallery on Friday night for the opening of my show there.  I am most appreciative for anyone who takes the time on a hot Friday summer evening to come into the gallery.  It was great seeing old and new friends as well as seeing how they reacted to the work, which was hung beautifully by Lin and Jesse.  They did a great job pairing the paintings with original glass work —  each seemed to reflect and enhance the other.

Again, many thanks for making this a great show.  If you haven’t had a chance to get into the West End Gallery, please do try soon.  The show hangs until September 2.  I will also be giving a Gallery Talk on Saturday, August 6 from 1-2 PM at the gallery.  As is now tradition, there will be some sharing so mark the date and try to come on in.

This morning is the end of the Tour de France, the incredible bike race that is one of my favorite events of every summer.  This last day is generally a ceremonial stage, with the riders coming into Paris en masse for a final end of race for one final sprint to the finish line.

Tour de France Froome and Team SkyThe race leader this year is past two-time Tour winner Chris Froome, a Kenyan-born Brit whose skinny frame hides a huge diesel motor within that seems to just chug and chug without end.  Froome’s dominance is quite remarkable but just enduring such a race is incredible in itself.  Three weeks with only two days of rest that covers about 2100 miles that wind around France and neighboring countries, up and over the highest peaks and mountain passes in the Alps and Pyrenees.  

It is speed, strength and sheer endurance mixed in with the toughness to scramble up after hitting the road at 45 MPH and continue riding a tough course for another 50 miles.   Imagine running half and full marathons nearly every day for three weeks over rugged terrain in all sorts of weather.  That’s the Tour.

I always hate to see it end.

So for this Sunday morning music here’s a French classic, La Vie en Rose, sung by the wondrous Rhiannon Giddens.  It is a gorgeous version that she mad in response to the terror attacks in France last year.  Unfortunately, it applies this year as well.

But be optimistic and have a great Sunday!

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This Land Is Your Land

Posted in Current Events, History, Music, tagged , , , , , , on July 3, 2016| 2 Comments »

Woody Guthrie -This Machine Kills Fascists

Woody Guthrie -This Machine Kills Fascists

Since we’re in the midst of the Fourth of July weekend, I thought this Sunday’s musical selection should be something with a definite American flavor.   The song is This Land Is Your Land from the great Woody Guthrie.

You are no doubt familiar with this song, probably thinking of it as a cheery, upbeat song about the beauty and breadth of our democracy, sung often by smiling church and school choruses.  It’s become a kind of populist national anthem which is sort of ironic given its beginnings and the words of the song.  You see, there are verses that are seldom sung by the choruses and flag waving nationalists, verses that very much change the tone and meaning of the song.

Guthrie wrote the song in the late 1930’s in response to the immense popularity at that time of  the Kate Smith version of God Bless America, written by Irving Berlin.  Guthrie saw the world coming apart due to the nationalistic extremism that had spread through Europe, producing fascist leaders such as Hitler in Germany, Mussolini in Italy and Franco in Spain.

The original intro to God Bless America had the lines: While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that’s free / Let us all be grateful that we’re far from there, / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer.  That phrase that we’re far from there was later changed to for a land so fair.  Guthrie saw it as a call to an isolated form of nationalism, one that cast a blind eye to the perils lurking abroad that were beginning to spread here as well as our own problems at home.  Problems like poverty and inequality.

Guthrie wanted to address these problems in his retort to Berlin’s song.  At first, Guthrie sarcastically called his song God Blessed America For Me before naming it This Land Is Your Land.

Below are the two verses in the original version of This Land Is Your Land that are always omitted from those cheery civic versions speak to the ills of this country as Guthrie saw them, most noticeably  the greed which led to the great chasm of inequality between the wealthy and the poor of this land.  He questioned how a land with so much wealth and beauty, one based on the equality of man, could tolerate the extreme poverty and injustice he saw in his travels across this land.

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me.
The sign was painted, said ‘Private Property.’
But on the backside, it didn’t say nothing.
This land was made for you and me.

One bright sunny morning in the shadow of the steeple,
by the relief office I saw my people.
As they stood hungry,
I stood there wondering if God blessed America for me.

It’s an interesting song that speaks to this crazy time in the world as blind nationalism rises abroad and here in the USA.  Give a listen to this wonderful version of the song from Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings and pay special attention to the words.  Have a great Sunday and a great 4th.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQ78uDio_ao

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Grandpa Stole My Baby

Posted in Current Events, Favorite Things, Music, Video, tagged , , , , , , on July 2, 2016| 4 Comments »

Mont Saint Michel-Jeremie Eloy-wanaiifilms-comI am really swamped in the studio getting work ready for my upcoming show at the West End Gallery.  Too much to d0 so I wasn’t going to write anything today except maybe mention the start this morning of this year’s Tour de France, one of the great spectacles of world sport.  This great bicycling event starts at Mont Saint Michel, an old abbey on a tidal island off the of coast Normandy, France.  As you can see in the photo above, it’s an amazing sight, one that always stirs some mysterious emotional response within me.

But since I am so busy I just want to share a video I stumbled across.  It’s from Moon Mullican, known as the King of the Hillbilly Piano Players in the 1940’s and 50’s and a huge influence on early rockers like Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.  This is Grandpa Stole My Baby with a video that features an early film, most likely from the time around the turn of the 20th century, well over a hundred years old.  I could not find any attribution for the film but it has two dancers, one a seemingly older gent, who show some pretty nice dance moves that fits well with the song.  I couldn’t look away.

Give a listen and take a look for yourself.  Have a great day and weekend!

 

 

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Spiegel im Spiegel

Posted in Early Paintings, Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , on June 26, 2016| Leave a Comment »

GC Myers- Endless Time-webI was looking at some older paintings in the studios, my orphans as I call them.  But some are not orphans, not without a home.  Some are just here because they are my own and have some sort of special meaning for me.  Such is the case with the piece above, Endless Time.  It’s a piece that I consider a link to my earliest works, a reminder of the inner forces that drove me into the work I now do.

Back in 2009, I wrote in a blogpost here about this painting:

This is really a direct descendent from my earliest work that focused on open spaces and blocks of color, work that was meant to be spare and quiet.  The weight of the piece is carried by the abstract qualities of the landscape and the intensity of the colors.  

With this piece, I have chosen to forego the  kinship that the red tree often fosters with the viewer, acting as a greeter inviting them to enter and feel comfortable within the picture plane.   In Endless Time the viewer is left to their own devices when they enter the picture.  There is no place to hide, no cover.  They are exposed to the weight of the sky and the roll of the landscape.  They are alone with not a sound nor distraction.

It becomes, at this point, a meditation.  One is not merely looking at a landscape.  To go into this painting one must be willing to look inside themselves as well.

This painting, like much of my early work, was in large part influenced by a piece of music, Tabula Rasa,  from the great contemporary composer Arvo Pärt.  It’s a piece that speaks of empty spaces and the meditative quality of silences.  The purpose of my work as I saw it at that time was to find silence, to find a sanctuary from  the cacophony and discord of civilization.  That is still very much the case although the work has evolved in other ways.

I thought for this Sunday morning music I would share another composition from Arvo Pärt which I think also very much fits this piece.  It is titled Spiegel im Spiegel which translates from the German as Mirror in the Mirror.  Think of an Infinity Mirror where two mirrors facing one another produce an image that is endlessly reflected back upon itself in ever smaller variations until it finally disappears.  In some ways, some art serves as an infinity mirror of sorts,  I know that this piece does so for me.

So give a listen but be warned that this is a quiet and meditative piece performed with only a piano and cello.  If you’re looking for a toe-tapper or a sing-along, you might be disappointed.  But like sometimes looking at art, one’s openness and patience is rewarded.

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Come Love

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, Quote, tagged , , , on June 23, 2016| 3 Comments »

Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks (Later known as The Band)I spent ninety percent of my money on wine, women and song and just wasted the other ten percent.

–Ronnie Hawkins

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I wasn’t going to post anything today but while I was doing a few morning exercises a song came on that really sparked me.  I realized soon after that I had never played it on the blog which I found kind of remarkable since I consider it one of my favorites.  It’s a song called Come Love from the great Canadian  rocker Ronnie Hawkins.  I say Canadian because though he hails from Arkansas  he gained his greatest fame and settled down in Canada.

He played his music and lived his life on his own terms– that being hard and furious– from the 1950’s onward.  A lot of great musicians played behind him over the years as part of his band, The Hawks, most notably the entire group that later formed The Band.  You can see them in the photo above as they learned the chops that carried to their own greatness.  A renowned showman, Ronnie also was famed for his own version of the Moonwalk many years pre-Michael Jackson.

This song is not one of his hard chargers although its guitar lines do have a bite in them.  It has a really cool flow to it.  When  I hear it I think that it sounds how I would like to go through life, like a cool trickle of water in an easy flowing stream.

Just saying…

Give a listen and have a great day.

 

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Stranger to Stranger

Posted in Favorite Things, Music, tagged , , , , on June 12, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Paul Simon by Chuck CloseIt’s hard to believe that Paul Simon has been a major part of the American songbook for over 50 years, since The Sound of Silence arrived back in 1964.  If you want to get technical, Simon has been writing and recording since 1957.  So it’s closer to 60 years.  And through all that time, he has continued to move forward, never opting to cruise by on a well-built reputation and a deep body of stellar work.

His work has been a document of our times and a constant companion to many of us through out or lives.

At age 74, Paul Simon has released a new album, Stranger to Stranger, that continues his journey ahead.  On his terms.  The voice is not diminished.  The rhythms are still intriguing and the words and melodies bear his signature.  It’s all strong and distinct.

What more can you ask from an artist who you have known so well for so long?

The cover art for the album is a detail from a painting, shown above, of Simon painted by artist Chuck Close in his signature style.

So, for this Sunday morning’s music, here’s the title song from the new album, Stranger to Stranger.  Sit back, relax and have yourself a great Sunday.

 

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Oops!- Pick Yourself Up

Posted in Music, tagged , , , on May 22, 2016| 3 Comments »

logo

Soarway Foundation Logo

Yesterday’s roll-out of the fundraiser for the Soarway Foundation‘s work for the recovery of Nepal seemed to be going along smoothly when we hit a snag.  Apparently there was a problem with the the site.  Although live and working,it was not yet ready from a legal standpoint.  The rules for donating had not yet been posted  and this legality (and there are a lot of them!) made any donations made ineligible for the drawing for the painting.

So Crowdrise, who is the administrator for the event, determined that it would be best to hit reset, refund any donations immediately and start all over again.  The event will reopen within a few days once they have all the loose ends tied up so that everything is square with the law.  We let you know when it goes live and kick off the whole thing again at that point.

You always wants things to go off without a hitch but sometimes that just isn’t possible so you make the best of the situation.  So, we’ll consider this a dry run, a rehearsal for real thing to come.

Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconvenience and my heartfelt thank you’s for those of you who took time  and generously made the effort to participate.  I hope you’ll return in a few days because it’s a cause where I believe that the funds raised can make a huge and immediate impact.  It is basically a volunteer organization  which means that every donation can make some sort of difference for  the people who truly need this help.

Please take some time and go the Soarway Foundation’s site and read about their efforts.  As I said, this is the first of their efforts that will feature wonderful artists from Nepal, Uganda and here in the United States.  In fact, if you are an artist and would like to participate in some way, please let Scott DeLisi know through the contact info on the site–it’s right at the top of the page.

I guess today’s Sunday morning music should reflect what happened yesterday so I chose the Diana Krall version of the classic standard Pick Yourself Up.  Good advice for any day.  Have a great Sunday and I hope to hear from you all when we go live with the fundraiser later this week!

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Ascending Bird

Posted in History, Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 15, 2016| 2 Comments »

GC Myers- Ascending BirdI’ve been looking for a title for this new painting, an 18″ by 18″ canvas, for a week or so now.  A lot of things come to mind and I thought I had it for a while.  Then I was listening to some music and one of the songs just hit me.

It was Ascending Bird, a traditional Persian folk melody, played by the Silk Road Ensemble which is a large and loosely knit group ofmusicians, including the great Yo-Yo Ma, who hail from along that fabled route and play many of the traditional instruments. The Silk Road was the network of  ancient routes that traders used in linking the East and West over the centuries, from China through the Middle East to the Mediterranean. Both goods and ideas moved along the Silk Road.

This song is the Persian version of the Phoenix myth, of a bird who flies higher and higher toward the sun until it is engulfed in flames.  It then rises from the ashes as a new creature.

And that’s kind of how I see this painting.  The paths moving from dark to light signify a transformative journey and the Red Tree appears as a Phoenix-like figure emerging from a hillock bursting from a treed hillside.  The Red Tree almost seems to ready to take flight.  I see it as a moment of realization and redefinition.

Here is the Silk Road Ensemble with Y0-Yo Ma performing Ascending Bird.  The version here is a shorter one but has the dynamic punch that struck me.  You can hear a longer version here. Give a listen and have a great Sunday.

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Highest Ground

Posted in Music, Painting, Recent Paintings, tagged , , , , , , on May 12, 2016| 1 Comment »

GC Myers- Highest GroundI’m so glad that he let me try it again
‘Cause my last time on earth I lived a whole world of sin
I’m so glad that I know more than I knew then
Gonna keep on tryin’
Till I reach my highest ground

— Stevie Wonder, Higher Ground

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Another new painting headed for my show, Part of the Pattern, which opens June 3 at the Principle Gallery in Alexandria, VA.  This piece is 8″ by 14″ on paper and is titled Highest Ground, borrowed from the chorus of the great Stevie Wonder song.

This is an easy piece to absorb at first take with its mix of deep warm and cool colors and simplified composition.  But despite that, there’s a lot of going on in this piece. It both feels soothing as though it represents a sort of safe haven but it raises questions.  If this is a safe haven, what is it safe from? Is this an end of the world scenario?  There’s a boat but nobody seems to be present– where are they?

And the ladder is a new element here.  I see it as a symbol of a continual upward climb toward some sort of final personal fulfillment.  A spiritual endpoint.  As the song says– gonna keep on tryin’/ Till I reach my highest ground.

 Here’s Stevie Wonder’s song to help me along as I continue to look at this piece for a while.

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Be Cheerful, Live Your Life

Posted in Music, Neat Stuff, Video, tagged , , , , , , on May 9, 2016| 2 Comments »

2200-year-old-Antakya TurkeyMosaics 2Be Cheerful, Live your life– that is the translation of the words on this mosaic.

Archaeologists recently uncovered this wonderful mosaic floor with those words in Antakya, formerly the Greek-Roman city of Antiocheia, in Turkey that dates back over 2200 years, back to the third century BC.  This is an area that is famous for the discovery of a multitude of floor mosaics that once decorated the homes of the upper crust of society.

This particular mosaic feature three panels with the final panel being a reclining skeleton with bread and wine just chilling out.  The central panel shows a man with butler in tow heading anxiously toward his evening bath which was a communal event at the time.  9 PM was the time for bathing and to be late was frowned upon which  he obviously is as he is pointing to a sundial which indicates the time as being between 9 and 10 PM.  The first panel, which is damaged, is thought to have a figure throwing fire which is symbolic of the preparation for a bath.

But it’s the skeleton with it’s message that kind of lines up with Bobby McFerrin‘s song from a number of years back, Don’t Worry Be Happy, that catches our modern eye.  I think we don’t give the people from the past,  both from the near past and the very distant past, with having  a sophisticated view of life or sense of humor.  To see something like this gives us a closer connection to how they saw their own world as well as allowing us to see that they were not so different than us even though 2200 years separate us.

So, if you’re fretting on this Monday, hurrying around to beat the clock (or sundial), just remember that partying skeleton and heed its advice–Be cheerful and live your life.  If you need an accompanying beat to start the week off on the right foot, there’s little dose of the Booby McFerrin song at the bottom.

2200-year-old-Antakya Turkey Mosaics 1

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