Tag: Dave Brubeck

S_V_H Take Five image2

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

TakeFive2

Dave Brubeck Take Five consists of six canvases  about eighty inches in length by twenty-four inches high. What you are seeing is the finished background.  Next up I will be drawing in the music.

Here is the popular record version of Take Five, which of course,  is still my favorite version.  You can hear the music that I will be portraying starting at the 1:42 and ending at 1:50.  It is a lot of work for 8 seconds of Jazz. It is here where you get that surprising strong saxophone up and down sharp sound,  that adds such an emphasis to this back-en-forth characteristic, of this music. In this version, I must say, I was first attracted to the drum part in the middle of the song, where you hear the  sharp bangs of the snare drum (my guess)  quickly followed with a hard slap to the bass drum.  I am so lucky to have this opportunity to produce this artwork, for it does not get better than Take Five

I am donating this artwork to the University of Wisconsin Marathon Campus Music Department, and to my Professor of Music who, when quite young, got hooked on jazz listening to the vinyl version of Take Five.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Take Five image 1

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

TakeFive1

Take Five, the classic music of Dave Brubeck. I originally, painted this work early in my music career, back in 2006. I have returned to it, to offer it as a second choice for the University of Wisconsin Marathon music department.  I first offered them Blue Rondo á La Turk last year, but because of a lack of room for such a large canvas there has been this long delay.  The hope of the Professor, back then,  was that some new remodeling would open up a wall, but that did not amount to as much change as first thought, and no good spot was found for the artwork.  So, when I recently received a new contact from the Music Department, apologizing for the placement delay, he asked if it would be possible for me to drop of the painting.  The Professor would keep it in his office, to help as a stimulus to update an area to accommodate the artwork. Over this last year, I have thought about the issues of finding wall space for large artworks.  So, what I have written back to the Music Department, is a new offer which will include this new Dave Brubeck work, that is a physically smaller artwork. The Professor will have the choice of either artwork.  My thinking is that the Take Five piece will be a lot easier to find a decent open wall for the artwork to hang.  But again, that will be the Professor’s choice.

I am working on the second image of Winter Allegro, with Take Five being worked on the side easels.   Nothing special going on with Take five, so far,  for I am still trying to get a feel for these canvases. I am keeping the look of Blue Rondo in my thoughts, for I thought that I might use a lot of the colors from that work, in this partner artwork.

Scott Von Holzen

S_V_H Dave Brubeck Blue Rondo á la Turk Finalimage

Published on by Scott Von Holzen

BlueRondoFinal This is the Final Image of Blue Rondo á La Turk. These 8 canvases, that make up this work, contain a piece of the music, that when arranged, as you see in the images above, produce the flow that is Blue Rondo. This sectioning of the music gives me more creative options, enhancing the overall look and emotional impact to a greater extent than canvas based on one look.  Each piece can stand out, but still remain part of an even greater whole.  A universal theme, I do believe.

In the past the look of an artwork was fairly consistent even across multiple canvases.  For examples take a look at Thunder Road, Hallelujah, or Body and Soul, all from 2011.  This trend continued through 2012 with Four Seasons Autumn Allegro, completed in December and  pictured on the main page of the website.  This pieces  look of Blue Rondo first showed up in early march, of this year,  with The Pretender.  That trend showed its strength with 2012 Christmas painting, Let It Snow.

TakeFive

Take a look at the only other Dave Brubeck piece, Take Five,  from March of 2006, and you will see how far this art has changed. What a different 7 years can make.  According to the words of  Robert Frank, a photographer must have both a sense of Purpose and a sense of Passion. I cannot help but think that is the same philosophy that drives every creative person and what pushes this art. Everyday, I interact with people who have purpose but no passion, and regrettable that has become a learned and a reinforced behavior, in today’s disposable work place.

Scott Von Holzen