Karol ...
Charles Mingus as seen by Raymond Moretti
"The whole is other than the sum of the parts"
Composition based on excerpts and fragments extracted from a lithography by Raymond Moretti.
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader. His compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop, drawing heavily from black gospel music and blues, while sometimes containing elements of Third Stream, free jazz, and classical music. He once cited Duke Ellington and church as his main influences.
Mingus espoused collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, he looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists, whom he utilized to assemble unconventional instrumental configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.
Nearly as well known as his ambitious music was Mingus's often fearsome temperament, which earned him the nickname "The Angry Man of Jazz". His refusal to compromise his musical integrity led to many onstage eruptions, exhortations to musicians, and dismissals. Because of his brilliant writing for midsize ensembles, and his catering to and emphasizing the strengths of the musicians in his groups, Mingus is often considered the heir of Duke Ellington, for whom he expressed great admiration. Indeed, Dizzy Gillespie had once claimed Mingus reminded him "of a young Duke", citing their shared "organizational genius".
Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.
Gunther Schuller has suggested that Mingus should be ranked among the most important American composers, jazz or otherwise. In 1988, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts made possible the cataloging of Mingus compositions, which were then donated to the Music Division of the New York Public Library for public use. In 1993, The Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history". Source Wikipedia.
Raymond Moretti was born in Nice on July 23th, 1931. His Italian parents were fleeing fascism.
In 1947 he painted "Moses breaking the Tablets of the Law," now at the Museum of the University of Jerusalem.
Spotted by Jean Cocteau, also living in the south of France, they painted together gouaches and one oil on the theme of "The Age of Aquarius." Moretti met and worked with another great artist, Pablo Picasso, who will be present all along his career and in difficult times.
In 1965, Raymond Moretti holds an important exhibition, " World Screaming" in Paris, with twelve oils of 12 m² each, including his version of "Guernica". His career was launched. In 1973, his sculpture "The Monster", so named by Joseph Kessel, is exposed at "La Defense" in Paris. This monumental work occupies an area of 1000 m² on five floors.
In 1977, he committed to publishers Armand and Georges Israel, to defend him on the national and international scene. An alliance that will last over twenty years in which they will create many bibliophile books and more than two hundred exhibitions of the painter in the world. Among the major projects Moretti, a decoration of the Forum des Halles in Paris of a gigantic mural of 200 m² dedicated to the history of humanity, and book illustrations like "De Gaulle" by Malraux, the "Haggadah of the Fifth Cup "(1980)," Massada ","initiatory path" with the great Master Michel de Just (1981), "Man of La Mancha"(1985) and "The poetic works" (1986) by Jacques Brel, or the book "Les Illuminations" of Rimbaud, who will receive the Golden Eagle, the highest award given to an international art book (1982)...
Passionate about music, especially jazz, he devoted part of his works to this art, culminating with the book "Jazz" (1984) with Frank Tenot, Daniel Filipacchi, Michel Legrand, Claude Nougaro. Still very present in the 1990s, we note that decoration of a tower at "La Defense" in Paris which rises to 32 meters adorned with 672 tubes of glass fibers, or 20 years of collaboration with the literary magazine on the occasion of the commemoration of the 300th issue in 1992. Source artsper.com
Charles Mingus as seen by Raymond Moretti
"The whole is other than the sum of the parts"
Composition based on excerpts and fragments extracted from a lithography by Raymond Moretti.
Charles Mingus Jr. (April 22, 1922 – January 5, 1979) was an American jazz double bassist, composer and bandleader. His compositions retained the hot and soulful feel of hard bop, drawing heavily from black gospel music and blues, while sometimes containing elements of Third Stream, free jazz, and classical music. He once cited Duke Ellington and church as his main influences.
Mingus espoused collective improvisation, similar to the old New Orleans jazz parades, paying particular attention to how each band member interacted with the group as a whole. In creating his bands, he looked not only at the skills of the available musicians, but also their personalities. Many musicians passed through his bands and later went on to impressive careers. He recruited talented and sometimes little-known artists, whom he utilized to assemble unconventional instrumental configurations. As a performer, Mingus was a pioneer in double bass technique, widely recognized as one of the instrument's most proficient players.
Nearly as well known as his ambitious music was Mingus's often fearsome temperament, which earned him the nickname "The Angry Man of Jazz". His refusal to compromise his musical integrity led to many onstage eruptions, exhortations to musicians, and dismissals. Because of his brilliant writing for midsize ensembles, and his catering to and emphasizing the strengths of the musicians in his groups, Mingus is often considered the heir of Duke Ellington, for whom he expressed great admiration. Indeed, Dizzy Gillespie had once claimed Mingus reminded him "of a young Duke", citing their shared "organizational genius".
Mingus' compositions continue to be played by contemporary musicians ranging from the repertory bands Mingus Big Band, Mingus Dynasty, and Mingus Orchestra, to the high school students who play the charts and compete in the Charles Mingus High School Competition.
Gunther Schuller has suggested that Mingus should be ranked among the most important American composers, jazz or otherwise. In 1988, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts made possible the cataloging of Mingus compositions, which were then donated to the Music Division of the New York Public Library for public use. In 1993, The Library of Congress acquired Mingus's collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence and photos—in what they described as "the most important acquisition of a manuscript collection relating to jazz in the Library's history". Source Wikipedia.
Raymond Moretti was born in Nice on July 23th, 1931. His Italian parents were fleeing fascism.
In 1947 he painted "Moses breaking the Tablets of the Law," now at the Museum of the University of Jerusalem.
Spotted by Jean Cocteau, also living in the south of France, they painted together gouaches and one oil on the theme of "The Age of Aquarius." Moretti met and worked with another great artist, Pablo Picasso, who will be present all along his career and in difficult times.
In 1965, Raymond Moretti holds an important exhibition, " World Screaming" in Paris, with twelve oils of 12 m² each, including his version of "Guernica". His career was launched. In 1973, his sculpture "The Monster", so named by Joseph Kessel, is exposed at "La Defense" in Paris. This monumental work occupies an area of 1000 m² on five floors.
In 1977, he committed to publishers Armand and Georges Israel, to defend him on the national and international scene. An alliance that will last over twenty years in which they will create many bibliophile books and more than two hundred exhibitions of the painter in the world. Among the major projects Moretti, a decoration of the Forum des Halles in Paris of a gigantic mural of 200 m² dedicated to the history of humanity, and book illustrations like "De Gaulle" by Malraux, the "Haggadah of the Fifth Cup "(1980)," Massada ","initiatory path" with the great Master Michel de Just (1981), "Man of La Mancha"(1985) and "The poetic works" (1986) by Jacques Brel, or the book "Les Illuminations" of Rimbaud, who will receive the Golden Eagle, the highest award given to an international art book (1982)...
Passionate about music, especially jazz, he devoted part of his works to this art, culminating with the book "Jazz" (1984) with Frank Tenot, Daniel Filipacchi, Michel Legrand, Claude Nougaro. Still very present in the 1990s, we note that decoration of a tower at "La Defense" in Paris which rises to 32 meters adorned with 672 tubes of glass fibers, or 20 years of collaboration with the literary magazine on the occasion of the commemoration of the 300th issue in 1992. Source artsper.com