Reflections on Henri 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."

A bit about the performers...

David Bakriges has been first violinist with the Toronto Youth Symphony, North York Symphony and the Orford Symphony in Canada, and with the Albany Youth Symphony in New York , L'Orchestra Symphony in the Berkshires of Massachusetts as well as the Wesleyan University Symphony in Connecticut. David's studied classically with Elizabeth Baker (Los Angeles Symphony), Leza Terry (Atlanta Symphony), Yascha Milkis (Israel Symphony), Joseph Pepper (Philadelphia Symphony),  Josef Firszt, conductor emeritus with the Lima Orchestra, and Alla Zernitskaya Saint Petersburg Symphony).  His studies in jazz have included New York's Jazzmobile, Barry Harris, John Blake, and Yusef Lateef. David currently free-lances around New York as well as with vocalist Stephanie McBee, the wife of legendary bassist Cecil McBee.

Chris Bakriges studies with Motown's Earl Van Dyke, Nadi Qamar (aka Spaulding Givins), Harold Danko, Jaki Bayard, Billy Taylor, Frederick Simmons, and Oscar Peterson. Chris's composition studies have occurred with Jimmy Guiffre, Alvin Lucier, Anthony Braxton, and James Tenney.  He was mentored by Max Roach, Victor Gaskin, Jay Hoggard, George Benson Jr., and Paul Evoskevich.

Materials

News:

The Republican, Chicopee Plus - Musician Inspired by art

Other:

MatisseJazz Benefit concert BROOKS MEMORIAL LIBRARY program

Bakriges_matissePoster for A Benefit ConCert for Brooks Memorial Library Paris “City of Lights”