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Jazz

The oil painting “Jazz” originated in 1959 after attending a concert of the Modern Jazz Quartet in the Concert Hall (now Philharmonie) in Haarlem, with Milt Jackson, vibes, John Lewis, piano, Percy Heath, bass, and Kenny Clark on drums. The concert impressed me.The numbers they played can be found on the record Longing for the Continent.

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At an early age I discovered the rich expression of music as a member of a ‘childrens choir’ (1947-1953) and by learning to play solo guitar (1953-1956). 
The painting is an expression of the form and content of jazz music. Four instruments, drum, trumpet, piano and strings of the double-bass, form a composition of flowing shapes. The yellow expresses the cheerful sound jazz can have; the blue the coolness of the measured rithm. The bars of course depict the piano, and the orange-red and violet represent the warmth of sound and song. The nearblack sky expresses the darkness of the concert hall against the flood lights.
Jazz is lively, vibrating and dynamic. It is the expression of emotions that may run deep and of silent sorrow in the blues.