If I’m far from the stage, the resolution of the drawings drops. Here (just) is Christian McBride from the back of a marquee at Love Supreme in Summer 2014, and the Village Vanguard was so dark in February 2015, I pretty much mimed this drawing of Vicente Archer. The sketch of Burniss Earl is from Harlem Gate in May 2015, the first performance of many for the Supreme Sonacy album, but he pops up everywhere on upright and electric bass, and a good thing too.
I had better luck, and in fact a deep insight into the hand-to-brain drawing experience, with this sketch of Brandon Owens, at Art of Cool in April 2015: The original drawing was white ink on a black page. It wasn’t bad, it wasn’t great. Flipping it to black on white yields an almost decent likeness of him: Turns out I am faithfully recording what I see, even if white ink obscured the fact. Gawd bless Photoshop.
That said, nothing adequately captures the glorious insanity Thundercat creates on stage. Way to make a drawing feel 2d. The page needed glitter.
Derrick Hodge played such a fierce set at the Winter Jazz Festival show at Le Poisson Rouge in January, it was all I could do to focus on his hands.
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