>Just One of Those Sofas

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I think it's wonderful that so many of you are getting involved with this project, and I appreciate all of your ideas regarding who should come to visit my beaded Airedale, Tawny Bear. However, I'd like this part of the series to be a bit different....

Since I graduated from Berklee College of Music, on rare occasions, I do listen to jazz. Although I was never a jazz player myself, I certainly appreciate it because improvisation is indeed a true art form. So, today's guest is one of my favorite jazz artists, Art Blakey.

Art Blakey was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He was born in Pittsburgh, PA in 1919 and he lived until 1990. He was one of the inventors of modern bebop- style of drumming, and he was known for his powerful grooves. His hard bop style of drumming had a profound influence on mainstream jazz. Art's band, The Jazz Messengers, was an ever-changing group of musicians, many of which started out young and went on to become prominent names in jazz.

I love Art Blakey's bluesy style, as well as his funky solos. If you have some time, check out "Hank's Symphony", "Roots and Herbs", and "Chicken An' Dumplins". I also love "Lost and Found" and "Ping Pong", as well as "Sincerely Diana", which was a song written for Blakey's wife.

Today, Art plays his solo piece "Split Skins" for Tawny Bear. Enjoy=:)

http://216.86.151.121/dovid.php?song=21091&med=go.asx

And, in the photo above, you can see how I'm mixing several different shades of seed beads to achieve Tawny's coloring. It takes me a little while to do this because I only pick up 2-4 beads at a time, depending on the direction of the stitches. It'll be worth the extra time in the long run...