Art in the Land of Jazz

Synesthesia: the subjective sensation of a sense other than the one being stimulated. For example, a sound may evoke sensations of color.

I recently shared a photo on social media of a painting by the Ukrainian artist Alexander Bolotov.

When a friend commented on it, she observed: “This is what Jazz looks like in my head.”  I countered with another photo-this time of a painting by American Abstract-Expressionist Jackson Pollock, saying: “This is what jazz looks like in MY head.” 

While I was trying to be humorous in my response, it did get me thinking about the ways that people internalize music.  Specifically, it made me reflect on what, if any, influence jazz has exerted on visual artists.  And, at the same time, whether or not visual arts have influenced the music of jazz musicians.

Jazz and the Avant Garde

In 1959, saxophonist Ornette Coleman brought his quintet to New York City for an extended series of gigs at a club called the Five Spot.  Owned by brothers Joe and Iggy Termini, the Five Spot featured jazz by such cutting-edge artists as Thelonious Monk, Randy Weston, David Amram, Eric Dolphy, and Cecil Taylor.  This set it apart from the more “mainstream” artists appearing concurrently at clubs such as the Village Vanguard.  Ornette’s group performances set off a firestorm of controversy, pitting jazz fans against one another vying to define whether or not what they were hearing was truly “jazz.”  Fans of the old guard were labeled “moldy figs” by those with ears more attuned to the “New Thing.”

Amongst those in the audience were artists Franz Kline and Robert Rauschenberg.  The club also attracted other artists as well, including Willem de Kooning and Joan Mitchell.  These visual artists, much like their jazz musician counterparts, were pushing the boundaries of art and artistic expression.  In the process, they were redefining what “art” was and how one might relate to it.  Musicians like Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, and Albert Ayler were essentially doing the same thing with jazz.

A few years earlier, Abstract Expressionist painter Jackson Pollock was actively drawing inspiration from early jazz and blues recordings, listening to artists like Louis Armstrong, Fats Waller, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, and Jelly Roll Morton and others while he created.   Then in 1960, Ornette Coleman would repay the favor by featuring Pollock’s painting “White Light” as the cover of his album “Free Jazz: A Collective Improvisation.”

What’s an artist like you doing in a jazz club like this?

One may wonder what the appeal of jazz might have been for painters like Pollock and de Kooning.  They must have found an affinity in the freedom of expression that jazz affords the performer.   Similarly, like visual art such as painting or sculpture, jazz can be both cerebral and emotional-sometimes simultaneously.  Both art and music require countless hours of discipline in the process of refinement that comes with honing a personal style.

Part of the appeal, too, may have been the confluence of time and place that drew so many artists, writers, musicians, and thinkers together in New York City in the 1950s-1970s.   The city has always been a mecca for jazz musicians and the epicenter of major stylistic changes in both the jazz and art worlds.  However, these decades specifically saw an influx of talent that put many talented artists-musical, visual, and otherwise-in close proximity.

Other artists such as Henri Matisse made explicit their jazz affinity.  In his series “Jazz” he used cut out pieces of paper to assemble works that mimic the harmony and cohesion of a well-honed jazz ensemble.  Bright colors and abstract shapes abound.  There is a balance amongst the shapes.  Certain patterns emerge, just as in jazz.  The title was suggested to him by Teriade.  Matisse approved of the title because it implied a connection between art and musical improvisation.

For some artists, such as Romare Bearden, the link to jazz was more immediate and personal.  He co-wrote the jazz standard “Sea Breeze” with high school classmate (and jazz vocal legend) Billy Eckstine.   Later, his paintings would draw heavily from the music world, and jazz especially.  Works such as “Lead Trumpet,” “The Train,” “Out Chorus,” and “Jammin’ At The Savoy” present images of jazz musicians actively engaged in their craft.  Indeed, the titles alone make explicit references to jazz parlance.

Likewise in the 1980s, painter Jean-Michel Basquiat included specific references to jazz and jazz musicians in works such as “Horn Players,” “Charles the First,” and “King Zulu.”   

What’s in a Cover?

Aside from the fine artists previously mentioned, consideration should also be given to the commercial artists that record labels employed to create original works for album cover art.  Amongst these, some of the finest examples come from artists such as Richard Slater “Prophet” Jennings.  Born in Youngstown, OH, Jennings began his professional career as a journalist.  In 1947, he started writing for the Detroit Tribune, covering the music scene including mostly jazz happenings.  His art career began after a long hospital convalescence from tuberculosis in 1949 and 1950.  He began with a set of pastel chalks given to him by a doctor.  From these he graduated to oil paints.

By the late 1950s he had established himself enough as a painter that musicians such as Thelonious Monk commissioned him to do album cover art.  The resulting work graces the cover of Thelonious Monk with John Coltrane.

Further commissions followed, including covers for the Eric Dolphy releases Outward Bound (1960) and Out There (1961).  His style shows a decided influence of surrealists such as Yves Tanguy and Salvador Dali, at turns atmospheric and otherworldly-both terms that could well apply to the music contained therein.

Another artist who created beautiful original paintings for jazz album covers was Marvin Israel.

A photographer, painter, teacher, and art director, Israel studied at Syracuse University, studied painting for 2 years in Paris, where he had his first one-man show, and later got his Masters of Fine Art from Yale University.  From 1957-1963 he worked as a freelance art director for Atlantic Records.  It was here that he created stunning original portraits of artists such as John Coltrane (Coltrane’s Sound; 1964), Sonny Stitt (Stitt Plays Bird; 1963), and Charles Mingus (Tonight At Noon; 1964).  These images belie a decided modern aesthetic featuring portraits that skirt the boundaries between formalist and surrealist traditions.  They refuse to commit themselves wholly to one camp; abstract or figurative.  Again, that artistic tension serves to reflect the dynamic nature of the music contained therein; constantly in flux, multilayered, multifaceted.

What’s in a picture?

Until now we have focused our attention solely on painters who have had an affinity for and with the jazz world.  Artists in other media have certainly been influenced by jazz.  What about photographers?  Mention must be made of Francis Wolff. One of the co-founders of legendary jazz label Blue Note Records, Francis Wolff- like his cofounder Alfred Lion- was a German Jewish émigré who fled Berlin in 1930s for New York City.  A devoted jazz enthusiast, Jakob Franz “Franny” Wolff (as he was born) began as a commercial photographer in his native Berlin. 

In 1939, he cofounded the Blue Note Records label with childhood friend Alfred Lion.  There, Wolff served as executive, producer, and photographer.  It was in this last capacity that he captured some of the most iconic and beautiful images in the history of jazz.  Many of them graced the covers of Blue Note releases, both front and back.  Several of his photos have been compiled into a book The Blue Note Years: The Jazz Photography of Francis Wolff.

Known for his stark black and white photos of jazz artists in the midst of recording sessions, his style favors rich tonal contrasts.  Stark black backgrounds silhouette the closeup details of horn players, pianists, bass players, guitarists, and drummers.  He would often shoot his portraits from low angles, creating imposing figures that seem to loom larger than life, caught in the act of creation.

Other photographers would leave their mark on the jazz world.  Lee Friedlander, in particular, created beautiful images that graced the album covers of artists such as John Coltrane, Miles, Davis, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, David “Fathead” Newman, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman.

Influence in reverse: Art in the jazz world

What, if any, influence has visual art exerted on jazz?  Several jazz artists have used preexisting artworks for their album covers.  As previously mentioned, Ornette Coleman’s “Free Jazz” LP made use of Jackson Pollock’s “White Light.”    Henri Matisse’s artworks have similarly graced the covers of albums by jazz artists like Wynton Marsalis (his LP “The Majesty of the Blues” features Matisse’s iconic work “Icarus” on its cover) and Sonny Rollins, whose album “Falling In Love With Jazz” included Matisse’s work “The Heart.”  This last work is a kind of two-way influence in that it is taken from Matisse’s book “Jazz.”

Saxophonist Steve Lacy found inspiration in the works of painters Arshile Gorky and Keith Haring, recording a series of tributes to them.  The unresolved nature of his lines sometimes draws comparison to the brushstrokes of abstract expressionists.

On his 2003 album “Romare Bearden Revealed,” saxophonist Branford Marsalis shone the jazz spotlight on the eponymous artist by fashioning an entire album concept around Bearden’s works.  Beyond just the cover art, Bearden’s paintings serve as source material for the song titles and lend the album a kind of blues-inflected ethos.

But wait; I’m also a painter

Multiple jazz artists have turned to the visual arts at different points in their careers.  Both Tony Bennett and Miles Davis took up painting.   Similarly, Sun Ra and members of his Arkestra would regularly decorate their album sleeves with felt-tip markers, paint, xeroxes, photos, and assorted materials – even trimmed squares of shower curtain. 

Context is Everything

Finally, mention should be made of the ways in which the art world has served to provide new contexts for jazz artists to perform.  Starting in the 1950s, jazz gradually was supplanted in popularity by other styles of music like rock and R&B.  Consequently, jazz clubs began either changing their format or simply closing altogether.  Jazz artists looked more to the concert stages of symphony halls,  theater palaces, opera houses and music festivals to make their livelihood. 

Another forum for them to present their music was provided by the art world.  Galleries began featuring jazz artists to accompany gallery openings.  Museums began featuring jazz groups in their performance spaces as well- a practice that continues to this day- further strengthening the connection between jazz and art.

Art is Jazz is Art

The links between the art and jazz worlds comprise a rich tradition of mutual influence.  Art has inspired, and will continue to inspire, jazz musicians looking to visual expression as source material for their sonic explorations.  Similarly, visual artists have found the creative impulse and spontaneity of jazz improvisation to serve them well in composing their works.    May both traditions continue to flourish in their spirit of mutual admiration and respect.