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Art and Artists

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When I paint my masterpiece

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Federico Moreno Torroba y su orquesta en Pinceladas Musicales de Agustin Lara  TK Records

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (21 votes, average: 3.38 out of 5)
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Head over heals

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Max Jacob and Fancis Poulenc  “Le Bal Masque”  Vega Records  Art by Joan Miro.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (29 votes, average: 3.48 out of 5)
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Heavenly horns

Cool Gabriels Groove Records  (1956)  Andy Warhol illustration and design.

This rare and longtime hard-to-find album was conceived to show how enjoyable cool trumpets can sound. Featured “Cool Gabriels” are Conte Candoli, Nick Travis, Don Stratton, Bernie Glow, Phil Sunkel, Al de Risi and Dick Sherman.  With a rhythm section of Elliot Lawrence (p), Burgher Jones (b), Sol Gubin (d)

The tune contained in this album were selected specifically to give each “Gabriel” a chance to show his stuff and also to demonstrate the various moods that could be brilliantly exemplified with a trumpet ensemble. The fun that the musicians had making these recordings is apparent on every selection.

Elevation (Mulligan-Lawrence) 2:54 / Five O’Clock Shadow (Lawrence-Reichner) 3:56 / Happy Hooligan (Mulligan) 2:54 / Spooky (Cohn) 2:54 / Each Other’s Arms (Lawrence-Reichner-Glenn) 3:59 / The Swingin’ Scot 1 & 2 (Lawrence) 3:10 / Nick (Benson Brooks) 2:59 / Cupcake (Cohn) 2:59 / Mostly Latin (Lawrence) 2:21 / Love is Just Arround the Corner (Lawrence) 2:49 / Something Blue (Selden) 3:59

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (23 votes, average: 2.74 out of 5)
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Pictures at an Exhibition

George Siravo and His Orchestra  “Portraits in Hi-Fi”  Decca Records

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (22 votes, average: 3.64 out of 5)
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Daliwood?

“Dali in Venice”  London Records.  1962.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (31 votes, average: 3.81 out of 5)
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Native dancer

Thunderbird Records Present “Indian Songs of the Southwest” (Gems for Collectors) Includes a paste on cover of native American art by Gerald Nailor from 1948. Interesting liner notes too.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (20 votes, average: 3.3 out of 5)
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Storyville

A nice illustrated cover by Ben Shahn (1898-1969). “Chicago Style Jazz” on Columbia.

Art, as I saw it one day when I helped hang a National Academy show while I was a student there, was about cows. In those days, early in the twenties, there were many cow paintings. More than that, the cows always stood knee-deep in purple shadows. For the life of me I never learned to see purple where there was no purple — and I detested cows. I was frankly distressed at the prospects for me as an artist.

But there came a time when I stopped painting, stopped in order to evaluate all these doubts. If I couldn’t see purple where there was no purple–I wouldn’t use it. If I didn’t like cows, I wouldn’t paint them. What then was I to paint? Slowly I found that I must paint those things that were meaningful to me–that I could honestly paint in the shapes and colors I felt belonged to them. What shall I paint? Stories. - Ben Shahn

Ben Shahn was an artist who spoke to the world. A man of uncompromising beliefs, he became the most popular artist of his age – his work was on the cover of Time as well as in the Museum of Modern Art.

Shahn came to prominence in the 1930s with “The Passion of Sacco and Vanzetti,” a politically pointed series about the Italian anarchists who many believed were framed for murder. He went on to paint murals and take photographs for the government during the New Deal, and to become a successful painter and commercial artist.

In 1956-57, Ben Shahn was the Charles Eliot Norton Professor of Poetry at Harvard University (poetry was broadly defined as “all poetic expression in language, music, or the fine arts.”) During that time he gave a series of lectures, later collected and published by Harvard University Press. The Shape of Content has been in print and widely read since its publication in 1957. In fact, many people come into contact with Shahn’s writing before they are aware of his art.

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (21 votes, average: 3.86 out of 5)
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Monet (That’s what I want)

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“Passion in Paint”  Henri Rene and his Orchestra.  RCA Victor  “Famous Paintings Set to Music”  We’ve seen this concept executed differently already.  Compare with this Vincent Price cover.

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Smile

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Tschaikowsky “Pathetique” Symphony on HALO Records.   (Thanks to Mona Lisa)

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (12 votes, average: 2.33 out of 5)
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Dr. Phibes rises again and now he’s a docent

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Vincent Price Presents Great Paintings in Musical Impressions by Ned Freeman and Performed by the Orchestra dei Concerti di Roma, Paul Baron Conducting. Dot Records.

In 1951, Price donated some 90 pieces from his own collection to East Los Angeles College in Monterey Park, California, thus establishing the first “teaching art collection” owned by a community college in the U.S. Today, the Vincent Price Art Gallery continues to present world-class exhibitions, and remains one of the actor’s most enduring legacies. The collection contains over 2,000 pieces and has been valued in excess of five million dollars. - Wikipedia

1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (13 votes, average: 4.08 out of 5)
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