Jazz Ravings

Béla Fleck - Music from the documentary “Throw Down Your...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:44:56 -0400

Béla Fleck - Music from the documentary “Throw Down Your Heart”

Béla Fleck on the origins of the banjo

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:42:24 -0400

Béla Fleck on the origins of the banjo

Béla’s BanjoLeila Currah, 12 x 24 inches, acrylic on...

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:39:13 -0400

Béla’s Banjo
Leila Currah, 12 x 24 inches, acrylic on canvas

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:46:53 -0400

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part 2)

The best bass solo (Victor Wooten) in the history of ever.

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part 1)

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 17:42:00 -0400

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part 1)

Béla Fleck

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 15:01:00 -0400

Perhaps the world’s greatest banjo player, Béla Fleck bends and blends bluegrass, jazz, and funk into the finest infusion. He spent nine years playing in the band New Grass Revival before forming Béla Fleck & the Flecktones in 1988 with bassist Victor Wooten, percussionist Roy “Future Man” Wooten, and harmonica player Howard Levy. When Levy left the group, the Flecktones played as a trio for five years, then adding saxophonist Jeff Coffin. For a jazzy flippin’ trip, take off on the “Flight of the Cosmic Hippo” or dribble down with “The Sinister Minister.” If you can catch a Live performance, it is bound to be seamless and intoxicating. Béla Fleck has won 12 Grammies, including 5 with the Flecktones, and has been nominated in more categories than any other musician in Grammy history.

Written by Leila Currah

E.J. Gold’s Jazz Art stage panels and paintings graced the...

Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:50:00 -0400

E.J. Gold’s Jazz Art stage panels and paintings graced the performance space, Saturday, June 17, as Wynton Marsalis took the stage at the Grass Valley Veteran’s Memorial Hall in a gala concert presented by the Center for the Arts. Paintings by Kelly Rivera were also on exhibit.

Wynton Marsalis and Beverly Korenwaser with art by E.J. Gold “Bouquet of Brass”

E. J. Gold's JazzArt Takes Stage at Mondavi Center

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:34:53 -0400

E. J. Gold's JazzArt Takes Stage at Mondavi Center:

“When the Delfaeyo Marsalis Octet performs at the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts in Davis Nov. 3 through 6, E.J. Gold’s JazzArt paintings will join them on the stage of Mondavi’s intimate Vanderhoef Studio Theater…”

Jazz Art at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:23:00 -0400

Jazz Art at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts:

My Jazz paintings will be on exhibit at the Mondavi Center, beginning November 3rd, together with work by world-renowned artist, E.J. Gold, and fellow Grass Valley Graphics Group artists, S.L. Boyd, Douglass Truth, R.C. Trice, and Grace Kelly Rivera.

Stan Getz Leila Currah, 40 x 50 cm, acrylic on canvas

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 15:09:16 -0400

Stan Getz
Leila Currah, 40 x 50 cm, acrylic on canvas

Stan Getz and John Coltrane live in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960...

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:01:00 -0400

Stan Getz and John Coltrane live in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960 (with Oscar Peterson, Paul Chambers, and Jimmy Cobb)

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd - Samba Triste (composed by Baden...

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 08:56:12 -0400

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd - Samba Triste (composed by Baden Powell)

Stan Getz

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 04:36:00 -0400

Stan Getz was one of the few five-star tenor saxophonists of the 20th century. He was born in Philly in 1927 and played in a variety of swing big bands as a teenager since he was too young to make the draft during World War II. His prime influence was Lester Young, though he grew to develop his own musical identity and style that ultimately earned him the definitive nickname “The Sound” for his beautiful pristine tones. Throughout his career, he played with countless musicians including Benny Goodman, Horace Silver, Charlie Bird, Dizzy, Chick Corea, Gil Evans and Kenny Barron. The year 1963 marked the beginning of the Bossa Nova era when “Desafinado,” a track from his album Jazz Samba, won him the Grammy for Best Jazz Performance. Within the next year, he won two more Grammies for his collaboration with João Gilberto in an album entitled Getz/Gilberto which includes the famous sweet-sounding tune, “The Girl From Ipanema.” In spite of this tremendous success as a musician, he struggled with drug problems for many years of his life and it wasn’t until the very end that he finally found a road to recovery. He passed away in 1991.

Written by Leila Currah

"A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas."

Sun, 03 Oct 2010 12:28:58 -0400

“A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas.”

- Stan Getz

The Anonymous SaxophonistLeila Currah, 28 x 36 inches, acrylic...

Fri, 01 Oct 2010 04:34:00 -0400

The Anonymous Saxophonist
Leila Currah, 28 x 36 inches, acrylic on canvas

A little bit of history.. short interview with Bunk Johnson.....

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:10:46 -0400

A little bit of history.. short interview with Bunk Johnson.. (plus photos and a music recording)

Willie "Bunk" Johnson

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 07:05:00 -0400

It’s hard to get a straight story about “Bunk” Johnson because he had few qualms against making up his own history, reputedly making jazz historians work for their living. He was probably born in the 1880’s, and he certainly played his trumpet in the early 1900’s. He played with Buddy Bolden, Frankie Dusen’s Eagle Band, and the Original Superior Orchestra, with all the flavors of early jazz in New Orleans. In between these classy gigs, he toured with circuses and played with minstrel bands. His career took a dip in 1931 when he lost his trumpet and his front teeth in a brawl. However, as luck would have it, he was included in the famous book Jazzmen, published in 1939, and at that time, the authors took up a collection for a new set of teeth and a new horn. In 1942, he made his first recordings, and he was back on the scene. The best years were the last few years of his life, until a stroke in 1948. He died in 1949.

Written by Leila Currah

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:40:27 -0400

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:37:17 -0400

Thank you for your requests

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 16:34:51 -0400

Thank you so much for sending in your requests. I will be painting them in the order that they were received. Yours truly, Leila

Jazz Ravings

Béla Fleck - Music from the documentary “Throw Down Your...

Béla Fleck on the origins of the banjo

Béla’s BanjoLeila Currah, 12 x 24 inches, acrylic on...

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part...

Béla Fleck & the Flecktones - The Sinister Minister (part 1)

Béla Fleck

E.J. Gold’s Jazz Art stage panels and paintings graced the...

E. J. Gold's JazzArt Takes Stage at Mondavi Center

Jazz Art at the Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts

Stan Getz Leila Currah, 40 x 50 cm, acrylic on canvas

Stan Getz and John Coltrane live in Dusseldorf, Germany in 1960...

Stan Getz and Charlie Byrd - Samba Triste (composed by Baden...

Stan Getz

"A good quartet is like a good conversation among friends interacting to each other’s ideas."

The Anonymous SaxophonistLeila Currah, 28 x 36 inches, acrylic...

A little bit of history.. short interview with Bunk Johnson.....

Willie "Bunk" Johnson

Bunk Johnson acrylic on canvas © Leila Currah 2010

Monk Gazing at the New York Skylineacrylic on canvas © Leila...

Thank you for your requests