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This is the third part of a series on the relationship between jazz and comic books. Would you like to start at the beginning? You got it! Go to Part 1 . Or go to Part 2

In the second part of this series on the relationship between Comics and Jazz, we mentioned the series of paintings from 1990, by American artist Gil Mayers entitled Jazz.

The work of Mayers is one among many examples that confirm that the connection between visual arts and comic books is a vivid, long-standing one.

Dutch painter Mondrian not only wrote bout jazz, he also painted it! He portrayed his impression of New York in abstract paitings mainly composed of vertical and horizontal lines in red, yellow and blue. New York City I (1941) is considered one of his late period. Mondrian uses yellow lines marking the bottom repeats. Difference in intervals represents the syncopation of jazz.

Mondrian uses colored strips of paper to create the composition, before painting them in oil. A similar technique to that used by Matisse to compose his Jazz series, from 1947, whose title refers to the experimental and improvisational character, typical of the genre.

Picasso, Mondrian and Matisse are examples of artists who, each in their own way, absorbed jazz or some aspect linked to the genre into their works. However, the relationship between jazz and comic books specifically tightened thanks to a small revolution that took place in the music industry, and a fundamental name in this endeavor was Alex Steinweiss.

Albums used to come wrapped in cheap paper until Alex Steinwess introduced designed covers. The use of the album cover not only as a wrapper, but also as a space that complements the main product, added extra value to it was a game changer. In other words, the packaging became part of the product, extending the consumption space of a vinyl.

By creating a new medium to be explored, Steinweiss and the pioneers in this task further strengthened the ties between graphic arts and jazz, and we will discuss more about the formation of jazz aesthetics. For now, I would like to cite one more example about the influence of the novelty brought by Steinweiss: 1968 Robert Crumb designed the album cover of  Big Brother and the Holding Company.

In this work, Crumb converted the album conver into a support for a comic book story, in which each member of the band, including vocalist Janis Joplin, are presented as comic book characters.

Beyond album covers, Literature often uses comic book narratives to represent jazz figures. In 2003, an entire collection edited in France of comic book biographies was released, and in 2021 Comics and Jazz also also the subject of an exhibition last year in Lisbon.

The intersection between jazz and comic books is a fascinating subject that has piqued the interest of many enthusiasts. The relationship between jazz music and its ability to enhance the mood and atmosphere of comic book adaptations on the big screen is a topic of discussion that continues to captivate audiences. One notable example that showcases this connection is the film V for Vendetta (2005, directed by James McTeigue). The use of jazz music in this movie effectively contributes to the transposition of the narrative from the original comic book to the cinematic medium, creating a captivating experience for viewers.

In particular, a memorable instance occurs during a romantic moment between the main characters, where a banned song, the jazz standard “Cry me a River”, sets the tone for a poignant slow dance scene. The haunting melody and evocative lyrics of “Cry me a River” intertwine with the on-screen emotions, enhancing the depth of the characters’ connection and adding layers of complexity to the storyline.

This incorporation of jazz music not only enriches the cinematic experience but also pays homage to the original comic book while adding a unique dimension to the adaptation., demonstrating the enduring impact of this art form across different mediums.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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This is the second part of a series on the relationship between jazz and comic books. Would you like to start at the beginning? Go to Part 1

American multimedia artist Gil Mayer, on his series of paintings called Jazz:

“I am trying to make it visually stimulating and aurally interesting. I like people to see my work and hear music. It is a testament to my creativity and my interest in this medium“

The spontaneous nature of jazz is often mentioned by musicians and listeners, but it was not always unanimous among its theorists. Among those who saw improvisation as a negative point is the philosopher Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno, one of the most voracious critics of the genre.

Between 1933 and 1953, Adorno published several articles distilling the purest hatred against jazz, even imagining connections between the genre and Nazism (!) (due to its supposed birth in military bands) and decreeing its end. Although Adorno, himself, backed down on several points, there is no denying that the philosopher, usually brilliant in his analyses, found in jazz a theoretical challenge, which he was unable to overcome.

The mistaken predictions of Adorno about jazz deserves to be highlighted in any list of basic analytical errors, starting with his rigid premises, completely inappropriate for his object (the disregard of the author for improvisation stands out).

When talking about jazz, Adorno sounds like an (excellent) pianist playing with boxing gloves: he hits the right one eventually, here and there, but, overall, the action produces a rather unpleasant result.

As a deep admirer of the Frankfurt School in general and, particularly a fan of Adorno, to the point of giving his name to one of my songs, I consider his articles on jazz as minor material in his production, with which, in fact, we will dialogue in different moments of our reflections, such as the famous concept of “cultural industry”, among others.

That said, let us move on to perhaps the first partnership between jazz and the visual arts, the partnership between Stravinsky and Picasso.

First of all, a few words on Ragtime, the genre:

Scott Joplin is one of the main exponents of ragtime, a genre that incorporates African and European syncopation. It should be noted that, like classical music, classical ragtime was based on a written tradition, being distributed in sheet music. Keep this information in mind, as it will be very useful when we talk about the importance of improvisation in jazz.

Stravinsky comes into contact with some of these transcriptions of ragtime music brought from the United States by his friend, conductor Ernest Ansermet in the late 1910s.

Later, in 1918, Stravinsky released “Ragtime”, a work composed for a small orchestra of strings, winds, brass and percussion, which cover ilustration was signed by Picasso, a friend of the maestro.

The work is doubly a reading of the Russian composer, both in the sense that Stravinsky knew ragtime written but not played, and in the sense the version of Stravinsky for ragtime incorporates elements of Russian modernity. For critic Lawrence Budmen, “Ragtime for 11 instruments” represents the uniquely personal take of Stravinsky on the new genre coming from the United States: “At once witty, dissonant and hard-driving, the work might be considered “ragtime with a modern Russian accent.”

The fact that Picasso illustrated the cover of the composition only reinforces the ties between jazz and the modernist avant-garde, which identified with the genre precisely because of its free character. Like Stravinsky, Picasso recognized jazz as a new field of artistic experimentation.

Almost a decade later, in 1927, Dutch painter Piet Mondrian made the relationship between the visual arts and jazz even more explicit in “Jazz and Neo-Plasticism”. As mentioned in part 1, in this series of articles, Mondrian argued that jazz and the then-new visual arts movement represented nothing less than movements. revolutionaries capable of dealing with the impositions of the new use of time and space brought by metropolises.

And the plot was just starting to thicken.

Be seeing yuo!

G.F.

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Summary

The journey of the research on the softening of borders between comics and jazz is explored, starting with considerations and anecdotes from the past. Billie Holiday’s connection to comic books, the transformation of jazz and comics into accredited forms of art, and the evolving relationship between jazz and comics are key points of exploration in the research. The impact of recognition on these art forms and the representations of jazz in comics are also critical topics for discussion.

In 2017, I presented a paper at a communication conference in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, entitled On Comics and Jazz and, since then, I have been dedicating myself to the subject from both an academic and artistic point of view. In fact, one of the issues raised concerns precisely the softening of borders.

I would like to share with you the journey of this research, starting with some considerations that served as starting points. Enjoy!

In the Spring of 1948, the promoter Ernie Anderson met legendary jazz singer Billie Holiday in midtown Manhattan. They discussed details of her much waited come-back to show-business in the Carnegie Hall stage the following night. After leaving the Federal Reformatory for Women at Alderston, Virginia, where she served 10 months for ‘receiving and concealing a narcotic drug’, Billie depended on that act to re-establish her career.

As Anderson prepared to leave, ‘Lady Day’ asked him for some comic books. In that crucial evening, comic books made company to the great artist.

Forty-five years later Billie herself would become a much praised graphic novel by the hands of Argentinean authors José Muñoz and Carlos Sampayo (1993) and much before, in 1927, the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian had published “Jazz and the Neo-Plasticism”, claiming that jazz and the new movement he helped to put up were nothing less than expressions of a new life and considered them revolutionary movements capable of dealing with the new time and space impositions of the metropolis.

In 2015 jazz performer Kamasi Washington released his debut album called The Epic, a three hour piece, comparable to an opera and deliberately inspired in comic art both musically and also in the art of the album. Washington revealed he was actually working on a graphic novel and album final structure was directly influenced by it.

Both considered during long time marginal forms of expression, comics and jazz proudly arrived in the twenty first century as accredited forms of art and a regular subject for thesis and dissertations. But does this recognition also have a price? Did it implicate in some sort of compromising?

How (far) did it change jazz and comics features? Since the links between both jazz and comics continue to develop, how are these two languages interacting, that is, what are the representations in comics about jazz?

These are some of the questions we will develop throughout this topic.

Be seeing you!

G. F.  

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Three years ago I started the Red Flower Press. Back then, I did not really know what I wanted to do with this space and, to be, as usual, very honest with you, this is always an issue for me, when I start writing.

“What do you want?”, I keep asking myself. Blogs are so ove! Noboby read them anymore, says the voice in my head. And yet., I keep writing my weekly music-related experiences. Why? Basically, because I want to tell you something, but have I really? Ever?

“Sure”, you will say, but I cannot trust you. Why? Because you are too kind, that is why! I need some unbiased evaluation made by the most unparcial judge: time. So, let us celebrate the third anniversary of The Red Flower Press by taking a look to what we have done so far.

Since Januay 15th, 2021 I have delivered over one hundred and forty chronicles. From the name of the page (reference to an episode of The Simpsons) to the farewell catchphrase (borrowed from the series The Prisoner), this space has always been my playground, the place where I spread my toys, so to speak.

Once a week I visit my playground. It is my place, my little house in the immense forest of the world wide web, my backyard. Here I talk freely about all the areas to which I can add something, such as literature, visual arts and, of course, music, which acts as a glue that holds these universes together.

Glue? Um… no, glue might not be the right term. Allow me to rephrase it: music is the thread that unites the different patterns. The final result? A patchwork quilt called Red Flower Press. Make yourself cozy and enjoy the reading!

I have carefully selected a very personal top-ten list. It includes some of the most interesting patterns created over these three years:

  1. The normal, the weird and the grand: Embracing uniqueness can be rewarding. Who needs normal when you can have grand? Expression is key.
  2. Perseverance will take you everywhere: The landing of the Perseverance on Mars landing evokes pride in human achievements, yet prompts questioning of human behavior during the pandemic.
  3. Made of gold: Do you have in your life someone, who is so important that is worth her/his weight in gold? Time for a family story.
  4. More intelligence? Ask me how: When was the last time you learned something new?
  5. Big mouth and the time machine: Hop on the time machine! (A reminder of authenticity and self-recognition.)
  6. Ugly Duckling and Superman: Family matters and other complex stuff
  7. Resumes, popcorn and champagne: What does your resume tell about you?
  8. Changing of the guard?: Pressure to work, scarce leisure, and the illusion of democratized fame challenge our digital reality.
  9. Not impressed: Reflections on the modern obsession with dazzling concert presentations. Has music been degraded to mere entertainment and overshadowed by visual spectacles in the age of social media?
  10. A Christmas present from the past: My dad, the unlikely hero

Last but not least, I would like to thank you immensily for your company. It is the nurture that keeps our beloved Red Flower always thriving. Long live you! Long live the Red Flower Press!

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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It is not new that I complain here about my noisy neighbors and about the apartment building where I live, which seems like a real acoustic shell, which amplifies any type of sound. Therefore, I will not go back to the details of my problem.

Today, I would like to shed light on the solution. No, unfortunately, I do not bring a “one-size-fits-all” solution, that will suit to all your problems, just a strategy that worked for me and that might work for you, too. It has to do with getting out of your “acoustic shell”. Oh, yes, you do have one, trust me on that.

In this case, what I am calling the acoustic shell has nothing to do with where you live, that is, with external influences, which you, ultimately, cannot control, but with what resonates inside your head. The pattern repetitions that we develop have to do, of course, with such external factors, but they usually go far beyond that.

Our acoustic shell will resonate accordingly to how much we nurture this reaction. Asking yourself; “Is my reaction proportional to the action received, or am I adding a generous dose of other problems to them?” may help you take that step aside, whch allows you to have a provileged view of the situation, thus making it easy to manage a problem or critical situation.

Practical example? I recently finished a task which, in theory, was very pleasant (producing the second season of a podcast about comic art research), but turned out to be a nightmare to medue to my, say, technical diffculties.

During over ten weeks I was busy recording and editintg episodes, repeating to myself “get real” mantras (“I volunteered for the chore, nobody asked me to. I did it because I wanted, I made my choice” etc). Despite my goodwill, it did not work at all and I spent the whle time feeling a mix of self-pity and anger.

Okay, but where is the magical solution?, you ask yourself.

The solution (I never said it would be magical), darling is to take things as a grown up. Am I saying you should mute your inner child? Yes, but only for a short time, just enough for you to remember that doing stuff we would rather not is part of life, but it is not the only one.

Grown ups know that, although most of our life is fullfiled by obligations that do not always make sense to us there is also the other part: the things we do because we are passionate about, because we believe they must be done, we believe they must exist.

Stepping aside for a moment, I finally could see the situation through a diffferent perspective and, suddenly, there was no room for feeling miserable anymore. I did what I had to do, and I did it professionaly. Frankly, the result is quite good (check it out), despite the circunstances.

Another thing that grown ups know is how great it feels to get the job done.

Be seeing you!

G.F.