Sunday Music Muse Day - Rhiannon Giddens, Leni Stern

For today Sunday Music Muse Day I'm present two female performers who i assumed would at opposite poles for the musical spectrum. But my first listen of both CD, they could made a nice double bill for concert date.

First up is Rhiannon Giddens Freedom Highway, I've been aware of her for sometme through media interviews and spotlights, for her banjo based Blues/Roots music, the last being a appearance on "Finding Your Root", the PBS ancestry show. I finally, decided she deserved a proper listening. I really enjoyed the earthiness of this CD, I'll be picking up more of her music.

Next, Leni Stern - Finally the Rain Has Come.  I have early Leni Stern albums and CDs and think of her as a jazz fusion guitarist. The music on this CD shows a different side of her.  Here, she is more the singer/songwriter, with a eclectic mix of jazz sidemen, including guitarists John McLaughlin and Bill Frisell, sax player Michael Brecker, plus tabla player Zakir Hussain. This is an adventurous, and very aecessable  CD.

I hope life is treating you well, take care.

The Futurist Art of Mike Hinge Book

This week, received this limited edition 384 page The Futurist Art of Mike Hinge book, and extras package, The book is a amazing collection of Mike's work. Mick was friend of mine, met through Jim Steranko back in the early 1970's He was a truly talented artist, graphic designer and wonderful human being. The book is a great tribute. My only regret is that it should be a hardback, not paperback. I plan to have bounded sometime, so it will withstand the wear and tear I'm going to put it through by viewing it so much.

Sunday Music Muse Day - Bill Bruford, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble.

This Sunday Music Muse Day finds me presenting an similiar artist, and a totally unknown group. First up is Bill Bruford Earthworks. This is the drummer's post Yes, King Crimson, and solo outing group minus a gutiar player. This 2 CD set is taken from live recording dates from 2001.  It's nice collection of driving ensemble playing and thoughtful  group interaction.  Worth a listen.

      

My second selection is totally new to me, and honestly I picked it purely on the cover art.  It reminds me of the Transformer designs.  The Hypontic Brass Ensemble Bu;;etproof Brass.  Just by instrumentation a brass band is not a favorite of mine. First impression is, it's not bad, but the overall feel is of a hip hop-space  marching band for a college. That maybe from the spoken vocal  by Sun-Ra on one cut. I think they need more variety in the beat.

This weekend has been rainy, and stormy weather with high winds. We were spared, but many experienced fallen tree, unfortunately, including a neighbor one block away.  We hope the worst is over., for the rest of the the Memorial Day holiday. 

Coming of T-Metal Cat

HELP!!! I can't decide how to finish this. Options: Leave it B&W, and gray-tones, ot full color? It for a upcoming charity auction. I'm so out of practice ,I'm second-guessing myself at every turn. I was resistant to do Thundercat drawing at all. Especially after the heavy-weight comic artists contributing to cause. I did the T-Metal Cat figure a year or so, back , hintiing at the T-Cats without it being a Thndercats drawing. Now with the Thundercats/Silverhawks crossover, I added the Thundercat type style and added "ghost" figures of Charr, the blacksmith, and Two-Time, the robot, both villians I designed for the show, to hint at future story, where they treturn and team up to create robot to battle the T'Cats/SilverHawks team. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Any thought?

                          

 Here's the earlier sketch.

I’m leaning toward submitting the original B&W line, than experimenting with a scanned image in digital painting app at my leisure. I’m getting too old to stress out about this stuff. 

Reviewing RICE -Rochester Independent Comic Expo

For Wednesdays, Hump Day: Odds & Ends. Reviewing my RICE appearance, There's nothing like being a week late and, a dollar short. Here's my finished Warrior in the MIst comic and the two posters, The "Helgon" and "Who Goes There?" I wanted for RICE. At least one patron want to buy the comic, but I only had a sample. They look good. I'll be doing a full recap of my first time at RICE. I'll plan to offer all my art on my Ebay shop, soon. (Note my new embossed stamp I'll be using for my art)

Sunday Music Muse Day - Orbital Lounge Volume #

 I'm trying to get back on track with my Sunday Music Muse Day post, after the passing my mother-in-law, and all the prepping for the RiCE comic expo (I"ll do a separate post on that) Ok, I admit, it's AI art, but as a space art nut, I'm digging it. This looks cool and the space lounge is good backround music to draw to. I tolerate this better than any smooth jazz. Enjoy.

Preview for the RICE (Rochester Independant Comic Expo)

Here's my preview of my set up for the RICE event. I may not have my comic delivered by start of the Expo, but I'll have a sample issue to show. Hope to see you there.