Frames of Reference

Hallelujah Carla!

To celebrate Carla Bley‘s appearance tonight at the Wigmore Hall as part of the London Jazz Festival here’s a recording from 30 years ago when the LJF was known as the Camden Jazz Festival. The Lord Is Listenin’ To Ya, Hallelujah! was written as a tongue-in-cheek gospel showcase for Gary Valente’s gloriously raucous trombone. This performance was at the Roundhouse and I was in the audience that night with a big smile on my face. I’d been a huge fan ever since I first heard Escalator Over The Hill as a teenager and wanted to run away from home to join Carla’s circus. Praise the Lord for Carla Bley!

Canali & Campielli

Isobel Johnstone is showing her drawings and paintings of Venice in an open house exhibition in London from this weekend and by appointment through December. Here’s a sneak preview. Continue reading “Canali & Campielli”

I AMsterdam

We took a half-term weekend break to Amsterdam. It seemed like the city was being relaunched and rebranded/rembrandted. The Rijksmuseum reopened in April following an unprecedented 10 year renovation, the Stedelijk Museum reopened last year after a 9 year refurbishment, and 2013 marks 400 years since construction began on the city’s iconic canals. Continue reading “I AMsterdam”

Ana

A lovely film by Myles O’Reilly of Reiseger/Fraanje/Sylla performing in the music department of Ludwig Beck in Munich. I’ve known Ernst Reijseger’s versatile cello improvising for many years, with Trio Clusone, Uri Caine, Tenore e Cuncordu de Orosei and Werner Herzog. Sometimes he plucks, sometimes he bows and sometimes he picks it up and strums it like a guitar. But this trio is new to me; heartfelt collaborations and inventions, full of surprises. They’re playing tonight, November 16, at the Queen Elizabeth Hall on the same bill as the Arild Andersen Quintet. Continue reading “Ana”

+100

David Wiseman brought us a couple of vibrant and dynamic new paintings and an invitation to +100 The London Group Today where he is also exhibiting. It’s a centenary celebration by present day members of the London Group. Continue reading “+100”

Sylvia Plath’s Cows

Whilst she was at Cambridge University in the 1950s Sylvia Plath began making pen & ink drawings. They were rarely seen until they appeared in an exhibition at the Mayor Gallery, London in 2011 and now there is a book, Sylvia Plath: Drawings. Continue reading “Sylvia Plath’s Cows”

Jelly’s New Herd

Jelly Green came to visit us last week with a new herd of paintings. They include a group of Charolais cattle energetically rearing and stretching their necks, a Hereford in profile and a lovely portrait of a Jersey cow painted with all of Jelly’s distinctive enthusiasm and vitality. Continue reading “Jelly’s New Herd”

The Moo Man

The Moo Man has appeared before on Frames of Reference but now there’s a proper trailer we couldn’t resist another look.

In an attempt to save his family farm, Stephen Hook decides to turn his back on the cost cutting supermarkets, and instead stay small and keep his close relationship with the herd.

Arcadia

Artists’ attempts to envisage heaven on earth through painting landscapes is explored in works comprising rows of little houses built from discarded amateur pictures of idealized Nature, their facades incised with large letters to spell out mythical paradises such as Arcadia and Elysium. In Kenny’s vision the houses “become little streets or queues, identities waiting patiently dreaming”.

Chris Kenny’s recent work is being exhibited at England & Co from 12 November – 7 December.

Little Doric

Doric is the title of a family of paintings by Sean Scully, an ongoing series inspired by ancient Greek architecture, first shown as a group at the Benaki Museum in Athens last year. Since then there have been Doric exhibitions at IVAM in Valencia, the Hugh Lane in Dublin and the MACM in Mougins. Continue reading “Little Doric”