The Human Canvas - Smaugy in Riverside

So...

We were visiting Alex and a few other friends in Rivierside recently. 

Okay. NOT so recently. This was a couple of months ago by now. There's kinda been a lot going on. I've got a LOT of talking about Arlo Guthrie coming up. Got to interview him, get it on the air, then see him perform and speak to him in person a few nights later.

Actually quite a few interviews to talk about...Stanley Clarke, John Jorgenson, Jules Day, which also aired recently...

But Alex. Remember Alex? It's a song about Alex. (blatant Alice's Restaurant reference)

The cool thing about this session was that Alex knew I was joining my wife in the visit, knew about the Human Canvas series,  and wanted to be a canvas.

Actually though, she was too shy to ask. (I'll remove this fact if she asks) Everyone had eaten, we were hanging out by the fire pit, and Ricky asked, "Hey Dave, ya have your markers on you?", and pointed to Alex...quietly off to the side.

Boom! Off to the living room!

I'd been working on dragons recently...and castles...and a few shots at Marvin the Martian. These have been practice sessions for another large back-piece in the future.

You know who you are.

In the meantime...

...here be dragons.

I had a request for a unicorn dragon, actually.

So here's another case of getting to a point where I ought to be done...

...right?

But noooooo. I'd done a drawing recently (on paper) that I called "Smaugy on Mars".

So, with red markers in hand, this was my opportunity to do a Human Canvas version.

Really - just providing a landscape...a place for this dragon to be.

But it was Red.

You know...Mars.

And having put my initials on it...

...done!

So, meet Alex.

I've done better dragons than this...on paper, anyway...and would like another session with her.

I won't be too shy to ask.

The Human Canvas - Marci...Fade to Back

Okay. Several interviews to get to. I'll be talking to jazz vocalist Jules Day in the near future. Also, Andy Fraser - if I haven't blown my welcome on that one (we were gonna do it in October). A couple of others, Stanley Clarke AND John Jorgenson - both, having been done, are a few months old by now. Jules, by the way, has a gig coming up at the First and Hope Supper Club in Los Angeles. February 25th. 8:30 pm. It's a Friday. Just so ya know.


Meantime...back to the Human Canvas...quite literally. Now first of all, thanks to Marci for the title of this one...Fade to Back. I was going through some e-mail, and found a few photos of Marci. Remember Marci? This is Marci.

If you missed the beginning of this, a click HERE will take you to it.  Marci was good enough to send a few photos showing the progression of how quickly these things fade. Here's a look at the entire back-piece, a few minutes after I finished.

This next shot is after one - maybe two days of sleep and washing.

And after one more...

I'm still working out something to "erase" immediately, but my best attempt so far resulted in what looked like a big, horrible bruise. We'll show that soon.

In a way though, it's the "permanence" of the ink - as it's being done - that makes this an interesting study...and continuing experiment.

When you make a mark...it's there...you have to work with it.

But they can turn out quite nicely.

Ya think?

Jules Day - a future...and current...jazz great!

Most of my recent entries haven’t been album or artist reviews, but rather a showcase of SOME of the continuing adventures with The Human Canvas. Between this, and a recent week (or so) of fundraising at KVCR-FM, well…I feel like I’ve been away for a bit.

(photo by Alan Mercer)

So. My latest entry? Jules Day…A few notes…While it’s fresh on my mind. You’re going to hear of her.

Mimicry at an early age led to finding her own voice - this is what I’ve been able to gather from what little info is out there.

(photo by Alan Mercer)

When Jules was quite young, it seems that her grandfather, Kyle Peterson (founder of the Twin Cities Jazz Society), would have her learn jazz standards, one by one, by listening to records (or given her age…possibly cd’s). She would return able to sing it in the style of the person she heard, with the phrasing intact. When she was eighteen, she left Minneapolis to pursue a recording and singing career in Los Angeles. Fast forward a few more years now, and you have a person with a love for a type of music which started around 100 years before she was born. You also get someone who has clearly been influenced by many of whom she used to imitate. Jules became someone who sings with her own voice. She also became someone who would be headlining clubs she would normally be too young to get into. According to her website, she starting headlining some of these clubs when she was 20. She's 23 or 24 now.

Whether you go You-tubing, or see her live, you’ll hear a bit of Billie…a bit of Lena…you’ll hear influences from many past greats resonating in her voice. But these are only influences. The voicing, the phrasing, the inflection, and shaping…all belong to Jules. You’ll see it in her face…and in her body language. She’s not just putting on a performance. The feeling…and the mood…is there. She has a wonderful stage presence as well.

I had to dash immediately following the performance, so we didn’t get to chat – as we had spoken about, but it was Valentines Day. I was with my wife, at The Hip Kitty. The evening was ours. Jules and I have already sent messages back and forth about setting up an interview. We’ll have another entry after that. In the meantime…go see her. Go to her website or to her MySpace Music page. Find her on Facebook. Find her on Youtube. Get her discs – she’s just released her second.

(photo by Alan Mercer)

Again - She’s gonna be a name that people will know. You should too.