Reflections on Henni Matisse's Jazz

In 1941 the artist Henri Matisse found himself ill, bedridden, and unable to pick up a paint brush. He found, however, that he could maneuver scissors through prepared sheets of brightly colored paper. He referred to this technique as “painting with scissors.” Among his first adventures with paper cutouts was a book called Jazz, which Matisse prepared in 1942 and published in 1947. The book containing twenty color plates as well as his written thoughts was initially only printed in a hundred copies.

Matisse viewed jazz as a “chromatic and rhythmic improvisation.” The title Jazz evoked for Matisse the idea of a structure of rhythm and repetition broken by the unexpected action of improvisations. He wrote, “There are
wonderful things in real jazz, the talent for improvisation, the liveliness, the
being at one with the audience.”

Both the text and the cut outs inspired pianist and composer Christopher Bakriges and his son, violinist David Bakriges, to make what they refer to as musical reflections on Matisse’s work. Matisse used the energy of a still young musical idiom called jazz in enticing the art world to “teach the eye to hear.”

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Gary Henry, Northern Track Studio, June 2009
All compositions Christopher Bakriges, BMI
CD design by Marlene O’Connor
© Succession H. Matisse 2009, for all works by the artist copyright@2009