final lines ...

acceptance ...

quiet reflection ...

caught in a loop that’s breaking - happens from time to time - haven’t been plowing the ‘unified field’ - simply lost ‘in’ sight - reflection and reading helps - being good to your ‘self’ - the david lynch book - rothko’s artist’s realities - drawing - a cd of voices of history; lenin, churchill, pankhurst, salter, gandhi, nightingale, russel - coltrane and monk at carnegie hall in ‘57 - drawing - bill’s reflections - service - action - planning - drawing ...
lally’s blog bothered me the other day - the ‘year’s best’ - the same way truth exposes something ugly you’d rather not look at - there are things i don’t have to consider if i keep them comfortably distanced - thankfully, he usually has that effect upon me - i bring my own gas to the fire - thinking of things like; filters of quality - having to always search for the good - advertiser’s perception of what the public wants or needs - executive decisions about what is good for the ‘majority’ and the scary realization that it might be true - could the majority be a barbaric bunch of aggressive hooligans lusting after big meals, 4th meals, more and more cheap stuff, and horrific reality tv that exploits recklessness and careless daring with a tribalistic frenzy that resembles a pack of blood thirsty hyenas - or brutality, inhumanity, or waste as though karma forgives and mother earth is going to tit-feed us into eternity ... maybe our acceptance of the things that are so blatantly wrong today is in large part due to what the majority has been feeding their brains over the past generation - kinda like, we are what we eat - a soft diet of banality, low expectations, hostility, sloth, and creamy illusions - no wonder the war [or any war or conflict] is tolerable - or the slaughter of things for waste - or blindness beyond comfort zones - saw the ‘baraka’ movie last night - a picture of the planet ... and if that don’t make you want to strangle law making authorities or institute capital punishment for stupidity, nothing will ...
its pretty hard to be at peace when you can imagine the deafening roar of millions of cries of consequence [starvation, diseased, poverty, abused, used, etc.,] ... never-the-less, tellers say that if i’m in ‘fit’ spiritual condition everything is exactly as it should be - screw on the ray bans and ipod and kiss zero seven goodbye - and another day goes by ...

power trio ...

mitch shelly, bass + bob borso, drums + dave smith, guitar ...

of all places - easton again - porter's pub - haven't played with some of these guys in years - they have definately been honing their craft - ass to the wall creative energy and improv skills - can't remember hearing a guitar 'attacked' in that way since i saw mike sterns at 55 grand, or jeff beck, or the 3 string guitarist with miles at the hollywood bowl back in '88 ...
incredible talent - perhaps a little less finessed than what i prefer; but when you have as many chops as smith it must be pretty hard to 'contain' yourself ...

cool walk ...

not angry, just desperate - small worlds - backbeat accelerants - half is less than nothing at all - translucent veal - parched skin - tissue veils - riffling bins - de-spiting self - weather sets - a penny on the floor is nothing more - axiom of indifference - bright light, big shadow - arithmetic with doctor no - adam’s zones - omnipresent phones - mad manipulations - cerebral ejaculates - unbiased premonitions - falling like reigns - steadfast and true - humbling harshness - tamarind seeds - amber dawn - you can’t take back what you’ve given away - truncated hearts - thought counts - good cheese may not taste as bad as it smells - lamb less mangers - empty chairs - like harris in pollock - fireplace pissers - not tartan -acquired taste - excuse for reason - forgiveness - come hemmed - racquet ball deeds - gorgeous girly dreams - accept to not expect - prepare eventualities -

free from ...

Forgiveness does not mean condoning or excusing.
Forgiveness means giving up all hope of having had a different past.
When I forgive, I get free from the past.
Tim Meir

[see lally's alley for more insight]

peace ...

a wish for the best ...

peace on earth ...

enigma ...

linings ...

ten years of solitude - des pres with borges - bogie, bacall - year of the falcon - tied, ripped, and chewn - symbols of hope - timid tamed shrews - preposterous pigeon holes - frenzied fake news - money for rope - unimaginable cold - to the eyes of a dragon from a festering rat - geologically brazen - in spite of the fact - foretelling tales - end dropping reigns - brass rings spinning - fumbled refrains - visions of what will come - faculties tact - beleaguered towers - apple’s get back - angels’ display - insolent diatribes - deniably contrite - a coward’s persuasion - unstarving wolves win the fight - fly or move astray - upright positions - unwilling prey - on broken glass - to what mirrors say - surviving abrasion - looking away - smoke of gomorrah - diverting collision - yielding rights - chicken or raisin - baked salt and clay -

schets ...

my own fading hand - light touch of losing - station and canyon - seeing sebastian - fainting heart - feigning directions - fisting air - clutching, reaching - x’s despair - cross hatched insanities - zenith comparisons - mogador coffee - moroccan au pairs - things left undone - laundering lists - soil and sand - creatures stirring - culdesac fusion - scrims, limbs, and veils throughout the land - looking like ridley plots - petty recusals - stalled indignation - punk righteous moves - cryptic occlusion - cavalier fright- depraved conscription - depths of soul - eight cycles burning - vanishing playgrounds - central wholes - wounded inaction - ingratiating shoals - for whom the bell tolls - seventeen mantras - blistering hajj - one stoned devil - flesh like molasses - mockery of sins - despined and thin skinned - fragile lucretius - nature of knout -

“I’m not an abstractionist. I’m not interested in the relationship of color or form or anything else. I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on.”
Mark Rothko

doors ...

dinner parties - gate crashers - pumpkin smashers - famille reunions - porcelain noire - sit with usher - holy day spirits - francis’ benediction to charlie’s horn - nephew’s auto donuts- dunked and tarred - eric, al, leo, walt - leave it to lall, just doing it - steppen’ years - found sculpture in sydow’s silo - still questions abound - martha, laura, hemingway, huxley - syringe, binge, nerve - eclipsing the sun - sheltering sky - tea bowle ages - tavern green, russian room - gaming sages - hawk extremes - refuge in the road - rock orbiting millions - tenant brands - mcenroe, agassi, buddha, and bronson - thin line decisions - our fathers’ land - same words said twice - pythagorean nightmares - tortoise shy shields - pennies by trillions - posthumous stares - conscience of lies - buyer beware - revering by sea - three’th by air - greenpeace, kyoto - black rain umbrellas - 52, 88, 2000, hike - steroid aggression - maximus sandals - stoic oppression - press corps handles - fogged lens - west side thrills - natalie adrift - spencer’s thief - between heaven and hell - kreeft’s waiting room discourse - generations of virgins - shakers not stirred - q’s bag of tricks - relief able versions - ridges for ruffles - amazon clips - back on bracco - rocaille rococo - wilder shells - objets d’art, reading gaol walls - melmoth’s treaty, lachaise cemetery - vampire vanities - graffiti words melt - soul sucking sovereignties - dominican priests, babylon libraries - alexander weeping - gentlemans’ clothes through rat shit and lice - stacks of gray faces - history redeems at two for the price -

a lally party ...

as only michael can do it ...
visit the 'alley' to get the details ...

bridges ...

dinah gets kicking - delaware crossings - thrown money, pruned trees - pathetic myth use - polemic rivers - grate gold suspenders - legal defenders - hume’s disguise - humored abuse - stealth owl in flight - ice, moon, holiday light - damp venice nights - avoiding commitment, pressure, and pain - choosing nothing over more of the same - montana videos, salsa, and greens - books without pages - empty ocean sounds - what doesn’t change - dick clark, the faithful, quit funding nature - beasts to be pardoned - velvet hopper hard on - purveying perversions - big, more, and better for a limited time - secure a desire - spontaneous fire - persistence of - can’t a leaver be designed - from breast plates and aggregates true - crossroads in fashion - payment overdue - emerson, masterson, batman, and slaves - pigeon shit on morrison’s grave - henry dave saved it for mosquitos and fleas - miled progressions - counterpoint ease - written on blackboards with charcoal and ink - one thousand not to do’s - titanic helios - icarus wings - voices, reason - my favorites bring - turquoise, silver, amethyst, and amber - coins in a fountainhead - randy, but never a dancer - divesting enhancers - plasma tv’s - late nights with letters - drives through the gap - jazz at the dearhead with monterey jack - hot airplane chops - chicken or fish - widening scrolls - cartoon stupid pouts - bermuda scooters over after-dark toads - hamilton, lennon, over the bay - has no fury - totems of knots wrought - turkey hillsides - sons of blue dog - two for the taking - suite worn out raincoats - mainly the plain - crimelessly gouging charlemagne’s eyes - shadowless lobbies - i.m. pei - gore’s grand discoveries - gates’ tinted greed blinders - zeising green tea - three to get ready and - fortify aldous with film and bow - dern redneck glow - fruit laden willows - kamikaze flights through putrefied skies - for whom the bell tolls - andre’s chagrin - earnest moleskin from pablo’s hand - gitano, ducatti, marlboro man - sir tony forgot what hannibal knows - needling camels with surgical ease - lambs lay on broadway - elders’ decree simul spoke - gabriel’s horn dodging asymptotes - sound realignments - angels gloat - axis, axiom, deference, tar - moats around modernity - we know major toms’ a junkie - hey charlie, we coulda - instead of a foo fighting single - sympathizers and defenders - spilt milk, hemlock, and piss - etu popeye’s connection - fried eyed big city, eiffeling heights - harbor runt lies - righteously ranting in blue suits, red ties - moi hyperboli, vous goodbye - spider to a fly - flash cards used to be - doesn’t matter - transform animation - bridges too ...

drawing on ...

to draw - to produce an image using lines or marks on a surface; using ones’ experience to obtain something from a source; allow air to flow in and upward freely so a fire can burn; take in a breath; left standing for flavor extraction; disembowelment; be the cause of a particular response; to remove; attract, induce to reveal or do something; reach a conclusion by deduction or inference from a set of circumstances; formulate or perceive; finish with an even score; an act of selecting components randomly - dragen, tragen ...

meandering lines, no intent or design - pen to paper - moment by moment - energy, split second commitments - building facts of indifference to gradual interest - evidence - focal distraction - referential attraction - when the eye seems stayed, add another page - natural flows, chi to the pen tip - surface resistance - size, pressure, weight - experience - physics of knowing - intuition - rendition - obliteration - focused attention - balance and harmony - lines looking true to the moment - like music would look - energy passed ...

gorky - tiepolo - twombley - picasso - gehry - hunt - marden - mompo - dufy - masson - kandinsky - rothko - rembrandt - pollock - kline - christo - serra - rockborne - seurat - de chirico - michelangelo - carravagio - ruebens - da vinci - massachio - giotto - duer - klimpt - cezanne - de kooning - miro - beuys - van gogh ...

lines ...

reaping - lackluster reward - lassitude fiord - tom swift boating - ticketh over last stands - exits to - you who productions - zeitgeists are cruel - immendorf, baselitz, peter o’toole - dyslexic passion - teutonic brigades - bovine in braids - zappalni cheese - minnie d’apolis - prince with no name - miles’ pick - just a friend - files unending - lynchian mobs - velvet heads - duchampian chess - oldenberg sculpture - justified wars - practicing games - aggression by any other name - myopic patinas - cadillac eyes - rude, raw, spike - fecalmania mites - rights earned, lessons learned, bridges burned - cynical and spiteful - charming and delightful - one thumb jack - curly’s eyes - supernova - vampire casanova - viciously sid - viscous id - vicariously rid - oldman and izzy - pop rock cb’s - alphabet city - pj community - tompkin improvements - warhol cans - eye canty - yowzer - angel safety - doers shanty - woodshedding piles - miles of isles - flipping dice clay - snake jubilation - mental jerking - all in a day ticking nearer to further away - still hear her - sick pit moshing - railroad crossings - do right fell - distance relieves - links, finks, fury - big daddy’s corvair - make sense of friendships or elvis’ hair - kirk keeps expanding - enterprising queues - half asset blues in paten leather shoes - mud flakes, corn curls, munch, brisco - spiritual intent - scratch ‘n sniff hollyweird sets - illusion begets - stale baguettes - mistletoe falling - is carey dumber in lies - philanthropic whores with legal disease - willy shake had a clue - harris forgiven - misty to me - closely attracted - east of the deep wood, big fir, and spruce - rentzeimer, ellen, tobias, and 3rd - zed, zeta, zen - wall street mayhem - lithuanian chins - cold praying fingers - let begin what unends - holier than - prophetic legs - gazzarra speed - catacomb depths - concubine needs - altered proportions - gothic postures - dregs - not knowing when - innocence begs - darfur posters - hanna barbaric twists - fox north authority - loathing bush list - lisps through two lips - forked up the creek - pablo’s harlequins - repulsive conventions - ashcan sequins - deflowered generations - alfred e newman - fixed nominations - roberto alamo - sundancing limbs - klee and kandinsky - twittering extremes - atrophy, catastrophe, apostrophe - fission or fusion - vision confusion - dilapidated stakes - at political heights - bronte and heathcliff - binoche’s nose - audacious prose - foregone preclusion - storyline flows - glacial debris - sylvester fud - down to the count - basie refrain - lester, buddy, stage door canteen - red banking ella by starlight - avalon shenanigans - last vegas hooligans - paradise lost to disambiguation - concentric reigns serving pi ...

under weight ...

bamboo + five months + friends ...

atmosphere - cold, gray, weight, fatigue - pain - still something shining - one with the flame - cohen’s greek isle - crooked smile - faces i never paint - chelsea hotel - bourgogne - sunset - don paco - blood running roman - bull balls and matadors - picasso carborundum - hands of the old man in red clay and stains - sir tony’s rendition better in doc - fractured from kilns - paloma’s tales in blue - hell suffered is made - hath no fury - why would it matter what i would say - angelica’s mold - characters not far true - sins of father - anyone, anyway - long since misplaced - pride in reverse - terse and pursed - looks of once worn - manic earth - whimsical sky - pens of struction - arrows, eyes - sure fire failures - lullaby alibis - cavalier disguise - suburban plight -hejeira - particles of change - defectors from the petty wars - borges’ penetrating focus - victories blind - fog lit fame - kierkegaard, joyce, kafka, and reyes - dancing to nero - did it really big bang - hawkin’s agility - skateboarding fool - another disease - without cousteau’s pool or amazon trees - corbusier lego design - half stacked clever - west of vine - mine forever, tonight save tomorrow - presents of pain - filigree and fire - roy haines - leather ‘n ice - inspired nights - too fast for safety - pale pasty flesh - frisell at brathan - thai on twelfth - birthdays with wilson - thanks for thoreau ...

minutes ...

first thing i see - predawn red sky - sailors’ warning - canine kiss - unconditional love - service - hard to identify where in my body i don’t hurt - not in my head - must be the only thing i use without abuse - cold again - snow in the air - how i long for sunshine, warmth and ocean - santa monica, venice to start - invisibility - maybe not - longing and kerosine fumes - 544 main, holes in the roof, bats in my hair / lair, kero, anything for fame - south of spain, or france, or somewhere in florida, or maybe along the hudson thirty degrees warmer - chinks in armor - driven - fear, pride, self - appearances - what’s in the heart - change of - insider transitioning - life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans - beautiful day, again - time for time with tribal elders - gratitude for chance and change - quietude - whisper rhythms - dejohnette - simple abstractions building - no need for rhyme or reason - evidence of life - stolen moments - oliver nelson - another last tango in paris - brando - corporate branding - big industry - ink - rap, pop filtration - litigation - mind control - morons and plebes - geeks and dweebs - g.o.p. - memory upgrades for genetic research - one day - unable to reason - in decision - wrong direction - navigationally challenged - rhetorically persuasive - bochner, acconci, burden, the ilk - sublime, green tea, brushes, and silk - kyoto temples - templates and plans - rising sun - clean sheets centered - loaded pen - going beyond where we’ve been - hardwire circuitry - presumption and judgment - what others may think - seconds to years - dali’s persistence - my own resistance - tired of minding - tempering metal - tantrums to tantras - don’t like white bass players - ‘cept maybe peacock - white chocolate - barnett neuman, ellsworth kelly, or frank stella despite his unstraight lines, exotic birds, or nascar designs - give me a gehry when he’s out of his way or a gaudi or rufino, ivorra, calatrava - most anything not self conscious or taught - or fraught with prescription, restriction, and rules - give me a reason and tools - fools at the wheel - one armed half lobed drivers - cell phones, refreshments, and commitments - seethe, pray, or get out of their way - been a conscientious objector for thirty seven years - probably because i know the extent of my rage - against the machine, the banal, and stupidity - turning, signaled without implication - back to the jazz head and harmonies; technicals and recipes - how do i do what i do but do it larger - to fill an atrium with the same sort of freedom - without density - scale changes -

fog, ice, and art ...

ice + fog + mind map #10 ...

gotta wonder if there’s an original thought out there, or in me ...
if it's a waste of time chasing, or presuming, pursuing, perpetuating some ambitious lie, or illegitimate pride ...
i’ve read so many books ... and remember [1647] , how things look through other peoples’ heads - or their description of it - that its hard not to see, referentially ...
last night’s walk through the forest during an ice storm:

somewhat treacherous - keep moving - caution through darkness - plato’s cave - forest philosophies - my father’s quiet wisdom - forest - gump - life is a ... - a box - a cell - dendrites - committed - sentencing - confining thoughts or feelings to words - syntax - context - opposed to an urn - three days for the soul to leave the body - what’s the big hurry - can you take what you’ve earned - touching the treasures of tut - to eternity - icicles everywhere - drops of frozen water - stasis - water is life - everything flows through it - it flows through - water memory - bowie’s looking for water - lennon says it’s cool and clear - jones drowns in a pool - frozen - like memory - stuck in my brain - pisces - seven - didn’t know they were born again - artaud - leftover - who has it over on the left - excuse our absolute freedom - or quest for it - penniless and toothless in an insane asylum - inane - lucas sumaras - robert hughes - never shocked by news - bushes and dark ages - castelli - pop sages - parallel lines - times - bushes, darkness, trees, and ice ...dark wood[s] to white rose - charlie rose’s interview with malcolm mudderidge explaining the meaning of life as ‘adapting to suffering’ - early sobriety - divine comedies - monty python - jai guru dev - nothings gonna change my world - mickey bush - rings of hell - walking in circles - camus - amsterdam canals - tres maggots in the rain with mona - under bridge and boardwalk realities - jersey poems by lally - triana ceramica - the guadalquivir - boats to the new world - isabelle’s money for nothing - or something - 3rd grade prize for a heart poster - he art hurts - live aide - i want my own pc - sade - angelic and statuesque - odalisque, obelisk - 2001 - twins and spirits - art can’t hurt - leigh’s wit and smile - crescent moon, impending gloom - occulting venus - desert skies and sha’lak’o - frozen, breaking limbs - a punch in the mouth - cracked cuspid - crumbling metal - ambulance silence - fear - original sin - bad trees and bad fruit - matthew - dogma foundations - gothic cathedrals - guilt without change - strange fruit - gil evans - spoonful - but at night it’s a different world - stranger than fiction - pulp - give me an ear - twin peaks - saturday nights alive - sicilian and pizza - forgiving sounds of altos - martin & john - 2525 - mayan calendar - jose algrues - everybody’s predicting - what about the weather - wet feet - immigration - feudal, futile systems - unknown grandfather preaching - austrian, jew, gypsy, or navajo - others buried in coal - the black stream, sting - coltrane, taylor, and monk - miles’ venom that he couldn’t write or speak himself - but so sweet the music - ascenseur pour l’echaud - to the seventh floor - life begins again - easy peasy - overlooking everything - overshadowing - eclipsing - why two k - black crow through blues - diving on anything shining - joni and gino in west l.a. - paco and jorge - 3rd street studio - run riot and panic - principles precede - robert wilson’s set designs - alternative enclaves - witten’s reviews - debts to humility - remembrance of things past - proust, kerouac - noble reds - scarlet letters - paris paintings - traffic, distractions - baroque, braque, barac - probably too cold for snakes - moon tigers - oprahic deeds - paik - av pleasantry - unrequited, patti smith - einstein’s beach - cab driving glass - serra - steel and wax - dripping sky - welding for money - chapped hands and blood - suffering succotash - psychedelic prayers - gibran - coattail weight - essentials of consequentialism - isolationism - schemes and dreams - schisms of isms - proof positive maintenance - what the center could and can’t - sludging from - chinua achebe - it’s all in a name - ann rhyss - good morning, midnight - an awkward young fawn - slivers and fragments - all that remains -time to make dinner - vestiges, vestibules, and venues - purgatory’s waiting rooms - garlic and cheese - pasta and greens - distant christmas lights - red, blues, and distant rants of green day conservation psalms - very noble prizes - contrived orchestrations - paul winter’s solstice - steve reich's brain - safe harbors - quaker meeting rooms - dunoon - icy rocks - don’t slip - still afraid of falling - never missed a chance to fly - just walk - acts of faith as if - indiana jones’ search for the grail - connery as father - alec's giveaway - ask not - camelot - one small step - easy to forget - is the final exam true, false, multiple, or essay ...

except when i paint ...

far from blues ...

an icy night + proof positive ...

a view through
to the studio
to center
clue ...

proof positive, © 2001.
acrylic paint on wood.
5' h x 3' w.
allentown art museum collection.

sentencing ...

some days the keyboard feels so alien,
like trying to form sentence and reason
for feelings and fragmented thoughts;
a good day for my brain
to move through woods and roses ...

to moma ...

' coda ', © 1991.
40" h x 30" w, three color lithograph.
edition of thirty. collection of :
philadelphia museum of art, pa
zimmerli museum, nj
berman museum, pa

improv - addendum 2 ...

other
current
moment
circumstance
visceral
virtuosity
process
exposing
forces
dynamic
finesse

choices

energy
ineffable
difference
navigating
frequency
channel
searching
vehicle
journey
consciousness
transcending
collective
intuitive
eloquence
mastery
liminal
extrasensory
mediums
found ...

image = word fields, © 1990 .

weather ...

12-9-07 ,

usually despise fox radio and new shows ....
today i was out erranding on a bleak, gray, ne, winter, cold, rainy, icy, sunday afternoon and decided to get off my jazz to some local am weather - thumbled on a fox radio broadcast of robert scott bell’s program and got an unsuspected forecast - judge andrew napolitano pitching his new book - ‘a nation of sheep’ - pretty impressive, since they were talking about the abortion of constitutional rights by the bush regime - and criminalizing speech and thought - [looks like i’m busted - guantanomo life spa] - how our lawmakers don’t read the bills they pass and how they’re shocked at the details - or so they say ...
glad to see oprah’s out pitching obama - we need voters, providing the supreme court doesn’t render another decision/choice [we all know how those southern balloteers work] ...
it’s a great day ...

jack is back ...

simon pettet + jack kerouac + michael lally ...

jack kerouac spoke to me tonight ...
saying more than before
in a 'flat-footed', non histrionic way -
as etta jones would say,
to me and thirty other people
at the open center on spring street, nyc ...

remarkable, insightful, enlightening ...
lally and pettet - notable poets in their own right,
'dialed into' kerouac's spirit
of casual articulation, rapid fire entente,
and voices of experience -
things these guys know ...

the newly published 'scroll' edition
of 'on the road' is now out there -
a remembrance of things past,
too bad only thirty of us were ever there ...
jack is back,
gotta go ...

improv ... addendum ...

‘other’ dialogues ...
familiarity - current
insight - experience - vagaries
the moment
circumstance
visceral language
surfing - driving - diving
virtuosity
artist against - with
unknown
chops
skeleton process creative
artist exposing
whatever forces
dynamic sounds
extended - happening
conceptual ‘out-takes’
stuff - intent
finesse - form
choices - what not to
consciousness elevating
impact tones, colors, vibrations, and energy -
natural ineffable
difference profound accumulation
intimate - chants
tonal navigating - vibration
operational frequency
clear channel recipient - host
appropriate tonality [mantra]
‘voice’, harmony, and rhythm
slowly - searching
‘vehicle’ - journey
tapestries sound experimentation,
dissonance, rhythmic patterning
mesmerizing
trancelike and meditative
transition exercise
losing ‘self’ consciousness
transcending
beyond conventional code
flow stream ‘collective consciousness’
interval
current - ‘vehicle’
state of consciousness
intuitive focus
eloquence - interchange concentration
alpha, beta, theta,delta
sustain simultaneous
rejuvenating intensity
condensed mastery
intuition - extrasensory - liminal ...
found passage
gradual - frenetic - abrupt
dissipated new
accessible mediums ...

improvisation ...

apophysics + space / time model + vibration frequency + chakras + color frequency ...

dictionary definitions:
makeshift, ad lib, extemporaneous ...
inaccurate ...

what is improv ... ‘other’ dialogues ...

familiarity with the idiom, environment, instrument, materials, audience, spirituality, knowledge, the current, the past, the present, insight, experience, and a list of vagaries too innumerable to mention ...

for most of my life, i’ve enjoyed improvisational music
as long as it remained dynamic -
first with the sounds of flamenco virtuosity,
later with extended rock solos,
happenings, jazz, and conceptual performances -
i’ve also enjoyed the ‘out-takes’ of audio recordings, video, and film -
stuff that ends up on the cutting room floor ...
it shows process and intent -
the artists’ ability to finesse, sculpt, or form a concept -
choices - what to show and what not to ...
and at times, with live music and ‘good’ painting,
the consciousness elevating impact of
the right tones, colors, vibrations, and energy -
[something so natural and ineffable]
proves that the difference between before and after
the experience is profoundly recognizable ...

some insights into ‘improvisation’
became known to me through an accumulation of experiences
marked by two distinct events:
one was an all night, ‘holy’, zuni tribal celebration
at their pueblo in new mexico
at the beginning of the winter solstice;
the other at an intimate cecil taylor performance
at lehigh university in pennsylvania ...

both began with quiet voice chants
or humming or tonal navigating
until it seemed that a certain vibration was located -
in both cases, the pitch became the operational frequency -
the clear channel or line of communication
to whatever recipient the host was looking for ...
once the appointed ‘leader’ found the appropriate tonality [mantra],
they invited others to find their appropriate ‘voice’, harmony, and rhythm ...
it started slowly - searching -
gradually building the search
and suitable ‘vehicle’ for a journey;
with the zuni, it took more than an hour -
with taylor, perhaps twenty minutes -
but the tapestries of sound, playful experimentation,
dissonance, and rhythmic patterning
was mesmerizing - trance like and meditative ...
this transition seemed like a necessary exercise
toward losing ‘self’ consciousness -
a period of transcending
toward something beyond conventional codes ...
if a flow, stream, or ‘collective consciousness’ exists,
this is the interval where the artist skirts the banks
on their way to their place in the current ...
once found, maintenance of the ‘vehicle’
[ state of consciousness ]
becomes an intuitive focus
while participants develop dialogue ...
this is where skill, experience, virtuosity, and eloquence
become necessary tools for effective / meaningful contributions
to the energy, prayer, or interchange ...
the concentration required;
both physical and mental
[alpha, beta, theta,delta],
to sustain this level of involvement
is simultaneously exhausting and rejuvenating,
and stamina seems dependent upon familiarity with the idiom ...
the zuni ritual lasted twelve hours
accompanied by scores of replacements sustaining their intensity ...
taylor’s concert was a condensed,
focused exhibit of energy, mastery, and commitment
to a form that speaks to intuition - extrasensory - liminal ...

the endings were quite different ...
taylor, gently found passage from a journey -
back to the real world ...
whereas the zuni,
after twelve hours of gradual crescendo,
frenetic dancing, chanting, and drumming -
stopped abruptly -
the moment the sun appeared
above their sacred mountain ...
everyone departed, dissipated, quietly ...
left in the middle of a desert
at a new time, new day,
and a new beginning;
with the experience
that there is something
much bigger than all of us,
accessible
through appropriate mediums ...

outsider - addendum ...

so i ‘chatted’ with a guy this morning
from the contemporary art center in lithuania -
that just left an ‘art discussion’ room in berlin -
who talked to a friend in beijing who was setting up his show -
who spoke to a performance artist in tokyo -
that’s going to london to speak at a symposium -
with a friend in nyc -
who has a studio down the road -
that i’ll be showing with at moma -
inside out ...

outsider ...

entropy + black holes

[ inspired by keith jarrett's 'out-of-towners' ]

to qualify ...

how far out of ‘town’,
or off the mainline
in this megalopolis,
or global village,
do you have to be ...

what do you need
to ‘not’ look at,
or read ...
how many
city streets, traffic jams,
garbage piles, cabs, cars,
buses, subways,
bridges, tunnels, and people
do you need to refrain from ...

which search engine,
operating system,
cable subscription,
radio, web host,
or chain of bookstores,
and cyber cafes,
chat rooms,
or magazines,
and newspapers
should you avoid ...

how many times a month
do you need to visit
galleries, museums,
lectures, parties, meetings,
friends, restaurants, and shows ...

what dialogues, diatribes, or soliloquies,
secret handshakes,
or life-altering trends
at ‘next’ big things
can one miss
to fulfill ‘hip’ ...


the fast faceted ‘inside’,
compared to other worlds, outside;
the scale of concrete and steel to nature,
maintenance, diversity ...
centralized
being ‘in’,
fitting ...
in footprints of trophies,
fearlessness, arrogance,
causes, humility,
varieties of survival ...

there’s no one
nowhere
that can’t speak,
or email,
or communicate
with anyone
at any time
anywhere
day or night
if they answer ...

connected ...
a little south of chelsea,
east of hollywood,
north of the liberty bell,
a safe distance from d.c.,
as far west
as i want to go
before running into my self again,
twenty minutes from
any airport in the world,
just a ‘click’ away,
just outside
your insides ...
in or out,
sides ...
touching,
versions of reality ...

a click away ...

nature ...

[ most times, the left hand doesn't know
what the right hand is doing ]

contrast
unbearable heat
intolerable cold
darkness and light ...

incomprehensible scale
measurable components
universal digestion, assimilation
constant transformation ...

changing
nothing static
adapting
mixing ...

sensory
wonder and amazement,
serenity, fear,
majesty, brutality,
sublime creation
evolving ...

word ...

if i mention the words;
lafayette - jazz - seedy bar - cold winter night - empty city streets - parking problems - cozy, cramped interior - cool grooves - hot solos ...
one might be inclined to think of some local jazz haunt on the lower east side of nyc on a late saturday night - something like the once reputed 55 grande or bradley’s, et al ...
nope, this was the lafayette bar in downtown easton, pa - which is still suffering from unfocused revitalization and urban sprawl - but last night it was cooking ...
friend, michael stephans - who has been around the block [and globe] a few times playing with some ‘real’ legends - gene perla, once bass player to miles davis, viktorija gecyte, a young eastern european women with great pipes and phrasing - sean gough, an obvious jarrett disciple - and matt vashlishan blowing some inspired tenor ...
they did a great rendition of ‘night in tunisia’ - one of my favorites - in easton ?
to all - best of luck and keep it cooking ...

One ...

mind map no. 1, 24" h x 18" w .
acrylic paint on paper. © 2007 .

i’ve always been interested in what lies beyond
what we see and appreciate ...
components of the present ...
their evolution and potential ...
variables of change ...
consequence ...
editing ...

i’m interested in contrast , interacting rhythms and melody,
cumulative harmony and disparity ...

in part, i’m influenced by the work of:
tiepolo; graceful lines, composition, unique perspectives, and heroic themes -
masson, dufy, kandinsky, gorky, mompo; their lyrical, playful assemblage of image and color -
pollock, motherwell, de kooning; the physicality and complexity of their ‘marks’ upon a surface -
rauschenberg, tapies, baselitz; circumstantial composition and pedestrian palettes -
schnabel, basquiat, kiefer, twombley; their brutal and erratic approach to materials and image -
smithson, rabinowich, serra, rockborne, polke; their conceptual organization of focal points ...

i’m interested in the appearance of ancient and prehistoric works;
cave drawings, frescoes, pottery, manuscripts -
their effacement, disintegration, encrustation, patina, and palimpsest ...

i’m interested in time as an element, and the components of a thought as ingredients to the notion of painting ...

[ to be continued ]

too ..,

no. 9, ink on paper . © 2007 .

too much data, to consolidate, to develop ‘one’ today ...

yeah, it’s about improvisation, free form, abstraction, expressionism, inclusion, reductionism, lyricism, nature, alchemy, editing, materials, techniques, outsider, palimpsest, morphology, philosophy, spirituality, art histories, music, poetry, dance, literature, politics, sociology, science, and any number of additional things in the course of the day ...

a song, a symphony, a composition, a dream, a prayer, a news clip, birds chirping, wind, light, temperature, words filtering through, structures, color, pain, and all the things they conjure up in terms of memories, issues, debates, responsibilities, methods, etc. ...

yet i still feel obliged to complete a task; i’m told, would benefit my work and career - after more than thirty years of painting and drawing nearly every day - chasing down solutions, experimenting, and manifesting images - marketing, working the systems, inventing some, and keeping the studio afloat - i’m asked to define ‘it’ ...
what ‘it’ is i do ...
there’s a simple answer, a complex answer, and countless paralyzing choices in-between ...