Happy Birthday Mr. Bearer

Mitchum on Still Life
ink, pencil, and acrylic on found wood on found still life painting
7.24.09

Here's a little quickie for the jack-of-all-trades, Philly ex-pat, and patron of the arts both visual and verbal...thee Mr. Paul Bearer! Happy birthday man

This Dude is on a Roll

The Revivalist (Bunk Johnson)
ink, acrylic, and sawdust on wood
18" x 24"
7.23.09

The Patron Saint of Rhythm (Dave Bartholomew)
ink, acrylic, and sawdust on wood
18" x 24"
7.23.09

All right, all right, all right!! Two more pieces done for the big art extravaganza down in Alexandria, Louisiana. I painted these two gents back to back yesterday. Ol'Bunk was a lotta fun. He turned out real loose with colors going exactly where I wanted them too. Mr. Bartholomew was another story involving sweat, toyle, and a fair amount of cursing...but I figured it out and he looks mighty fine.
Now for a little bit of history (Vague and brief)...Bunk Johnson was the trumpet player all other famous trumpet players of the New Orleans Jazz scene of the 1920's claimed to be the best. We are talkin' King Oliver and Louis Armstrong here, sayin' ol'Bunk was the man. Now not much history or background can be proven about Bunk. Matter of fact he would lie and embellish every aspect of his life as much as possible (so the scholars tell us); so it is hard to say what is real and what ain't with Bunk... hence the name Bunk, as in "that's a lotta bunk"...But what can be proven is that once he got his new teeth Bunk lead the dixie land revival in the 1940's with his mean ol'trumpet blazin' the way until he passed in 1949.
So David Bartholomew wrote and produced a whole lotta hit songs from the New Orleans Canon of 50's R&B, which is really Rock'nRoll. He worked very closely with Fats Domino and several other NOLA artists during that time...he even wrote My Ding-a-ling! (I would have never guessed that) Anyway, I believe he is still alive and blowin' one bad trumpet when the muse calls!

A Postcard from Oblivian

Clutch @ the Newport
So after being a little disenchanted with Clutch's last outing, I am looking forward to this here play date with Doom/Punk axe wielding god, Wino. Clutch has dropped the blues, or made it less obvious and have promised a return to rock...now I really liked the bluesy/organ driven Clutch. That raw dusty dumptruck blues sounds fit them, oh well, I reckon I was in the minority, so we will see! Anyway, I have it on good word that the fine folks at the Newport will be using this one.

I Love this Guy!

This is definitely my son! Ezra handled turning one like a champ. He is a very contemplative young man, sporting his little sailor shirt that belonged to his Grandpa Jones, having his post party pipe. The melt down occurred about 26 hours later during bath time the next evening.

Soul Mechanic

Soul Mechanic
ink and acrylic on found wood
7.16.09

Awww sshhortnin'bread...one of my all time favorite favorite musicians of any genre period, the mighty Lee Dorsey. Mr. Dorsey was a soul singer from New Orleans who worked closely with super-producer Allen Toussaint and super funksters, the Meters, to record some of the funkiest soul ever to come outta anywhere, even New Orleans (the land of funky soul). You probably know more his songs than ya'll think: Workin' in a Coal Mine, Yes We Can, Ride your Pony...I don't know what it is about this guy, he seems very unassuming, great soulful chops, and spent time as a boxer, and mechanic and performed til the end of his days. He even opened for the Clash in the 80's.
The lovely texture on the painting is from painting on an old painting that also had lots of lovely texture...recycling, do it for Al Gore do it for you!

Nothin' But the Devil

Nothin' But the Devil
ink and acrylic on found wood
7.13.09

Thee wicked bluesman, Lightnin' Slim, played a mean swamp drenched blues in the style of label mate Slim Harpo. One great chracteristic of these Excello blues artist is the laid back atmosphere their music creates. It is never rushed, rarely urgent, and pretty damn groovy! Slim liked his shit stripped down and chill, usually accompanied by a drummer and harmonica...why dontcha blow dat harp boy!?

Man Man, Man tonight @ the Summit

A Little Touch of Man Man in the Night
ink and water color on paper

Talk about a killer live show, let's talk about a killer live show...this five guys in white know how to throw one hell of a live show. There sound is somewhere like a hairy Tom Waits/Beefheartian Surf Philly Soul Doo-Wop group playing ragged, gutbucket R&B complete with war paint, facial hair, and a melodica! Check'em out tonight, tickets are $15 at the Summit. This was my unoffical flyer that I am sure the Benco dude or dudes didn't use...oh well

The Night Tripper 7.09

The Night Tripper (Dr. John)
24" x 30"
ink, acrylic, sawdust, and bottle caps on wood

Well well well, it has been a long time since I have been up on here! Here is the latest to head to Alexandria, LA, I believe it is number 26 with about 5 more to go. Here is thee good doctor, Dr. John. Long before he was this cuddly, gruffed voice, Nawlins' Jazz Powerhouse Piana playin' cat with a fedora, suit, and ponytail, he was Dr. John the NightTripper. The Good doctor released four psych-o-delic voodoo swamp funk records: Gris-Gris, Remedies, Babylon, and the Sun, Moon, and Herbs. Gris-Gris sets the mood instantly with its snaky swampy groove and the album does not let up. Walk on Gilded Splinters is awe-inspiring and has been the catalyst for two different paintings: one has been dismantled and the other is nearly finished so stay tuned!