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Jazz Fusion: A Conversation with Marcus Roberts

This sound reminded me of mint chocolate...

While listening I closed my eyes and envisioned a park set in the fall, surrounded by trees, golden-red leaves brushing through the cool breeze. I was listening to jazz, damn smooth jazz at that. Music meant to heal the listener. With “He’s always been there” on replay, I was waist deep in sentiment and reflection that put my daily stresses on hold and opened up the door to attainable bliss. Marcus Roberts creates a story that draws from his experiences while remaining universal, “I want to basically be transparent and let people into my head. I figure people are basically the same and some stuff I go through and overcome can help you with situations you come to.”

Marcus, head pianist for the Marcus Roberts Trio, “grew up less fortunate” than a lot of the musicians he’s worked with and throughout his success he still remains humble. “I respect the things I’ve achieved a lot more. I really thank God for puttin’ me in situations that made me work for my skills.” Most of the artists he’s “shared the stage with” received music lessons at an early age and “were cultured in music their whole adolescence”, but Roberts bears a history that yields the most unique creativity, the kind listeners can relate with.

Inspired by the likes of artistic greats such as Michael Jackson, Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, and Stevie Wonder, Marcus infuses classic and contemporary sounds. Under the name Mavrick Traxx, Marcus cooks up R&B and Hip-Hop styled beats, his goal being that secular artists become inspired and “get back to creating music that means something and makes you feel a certain way.”

There is nothing certain like the high you feel when great artists work together to create a piece that is profoundly satisfying. I have a huge appreciation for mash-ups, the type of music that’s mainstream, but can’t be aimlessly thrown into the pop genre because it’s that deep. Marcus serves this type of collaboration; he has worked with national artists from Montel Jordan, Ray J, and Eric Roberson to local and indie artists like Algebra Bassett, and Choklate. “I like working with others because of the different musical conversations that occur.”

These “conversations”, not to be confused with lectures, the type of shallow music that's merely "good" to listen to, (When music should remain multifaceted) can be found on Marcus’s upcoming jazz record entitled “3”. You can also find Marcus Roberts and a host of Hip-Hop artists at Park in Downtown Dallas on September 30 for “The Cipher”, the first in a series of Thursday night performances as a part of the Green Bandana Project: So hot you need a password.

Honey is sticky,but the bee is sweet …

8<3Track Honey

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The Top 5 Art Star Series Of All Time

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Happy Birthday Pic Muse

When I think of this guy: I can't help but think of a quiet tenacity. An unfailing impulse to get things done wrapped inside a simple joy for life.
I have lived with Cody, road tripped to Florida with Cody, camped with Cody, ran 150 member arts organization with Cody, gotten mono from Cody, rocked out with Cody, gotten drunk with Cody, and take full credit for Cody's current relationship (yes the drunken phone call freshman year really might have ruined it. Note to all readers - friends don't let friends drunk dial).

However, the great thing about my experiences with Cody is that they aren't unique.

Many of our readers who know Cody can create a similar list - it is just incredibly difficult to be around Cody Elder and not do something fun.

A college football players turned patron of the arts, Cody is the heart and soul of Art Star.

Simply put, you wouldn't be reading this blog if it wasn't for him.

So today we salute you, good sir.

Hope you have the best of birthdays.

Hell yeah.

Fuck yeah.

Ahhhwwaaaooooooo!

Love,

Art Star

Check out The Best of Cody Elder:

The Music Industry: Trendy Schiznit, Can Your Business Model Work?

Clicking Around With Music: DJ Bam Bam

Clicking Around With Music: Samantha Crain

Clicking Around With Music: Teen Wolf

Clicking Around With Music: Lori Kirk

Clicking Around With Music: Paleface

Megaman, I feel Your Pain

now in theatres: juneau

point and shoot: the sun is bright in my eyes

my olympic heroes part 4: pass the torch

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The Spray On Condom: Meeting People On The Internet

Today I had an interesting occasion to think about internet courtesy.

Basically, how much respect should one give to the veil of freedom provided by anonymous to anonymous interaction?

A young lady left a comment on one of my older blog posts, and usually I just get kind of happy when my Blackberry shows "[Art Star] New comment" on it, but today I actually felt led to respond to the person.

I supposed I could have responded on the blog but it was a very old post, and I wasn't sure she would see my reply but it had an email address attached to the userID.

So, I emailed a nice little reply and she emailed me back.

Now by this time, gmail had provided a full name.

And any regular reader of this blog (yes I'm talking to the 20% of you who have read Art Star over 200 times) knows one of my guilty pleasures is googling peoples names.

So, I googled her name, found out some interesting stuff about her.

She seems to be young, a good writer, graduating from a well respected school, attractive (not that it has anything to do with it, but I love adding the pretty, not pretty, cute, adjectives when it comes to girls, one of the few ways that I am not a feminist).

After looking at all of this I am thinking, okay, she seems like a legit person, I should friend her on facebook.

Now, at this point, I realize - whoa - this is just a random person who randomly left a message on your blog post - and not just any blogpost (but one of the most honest blogosphere moments of your life) pre-bar tales series.

Is it okay to just friend her on facebook, or keep emailing her, or would you be crossing some sort of digital line of etiquette?

But then I started rationalizing, well ya'll are just a year apart, she might become successful in life, and friendships have started in much stranger ways (like randomly bumping into someone at a grocery store, or a concert, or anywhere).

And she is a journalist and I wrote my thesis (one of them) on political journalism (basically), so maybe I should recruit her for a writer (since all of my writers have unilaterally decided to take the entire month of April off, even though it is my birth month...bastards).

Is writing on someones wall or leaving a random person a comment, the digital equivalent of bumping into somebody at the grocery store?

And if it is, does the guy have to strike up a conversation, tell a funny joke, and give the girl his number?

Is that the equivalent of a facebook friend request?

Well as a former dating columnist, I never think you should go with the status quo (every guy is asking for the number).

So, maybe this post is really the digital equivalent of a bouquet of white roses, or a hot cup of coffee from a stranger when you have been studying in the same union, library, lounge for a couple hours.

Maybe it will even make her smile, or brighten a fairly conventional day.

Maybe she will even tell me to go ahead and friend her on facebook.

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Art Star First Quarter Report

So Art Star has survived it's first quarter!

It is amazing to me, how this blog which was and is really just a conversation between friends has grown so much so quickly.

Especially considering none of us have done this before and none of us have any great technical or internet skills.

In our first quarter from July 2nd (when we first started counting) to today we have had 4,018 visitors to this site from 68 countries and 48 states.

There are 30 people who have visited this site over 200 times.

The average person spends over two minutes on this site.

We have made a grand total of 5 cents on Art Star, which we have added to our war chest to upgrade the site at some point in the future.

However, as great as these statistics are, we are primarily concerned about the content. There are a million tricks to drive up view counts and things like that, and usually we are too lazy to do any of them. But we always strive to provide a real reason to keep coming back.

We are increasingly providing you with exclusive content (beyond our own wonderful opinions) that you can't find anywhere else as we interview people who we find interesting.

The excuse to engage with the world is one of the best things about writing for Art Star. I salute all of our bloggers here. I encourage you, the reader, to join our team and blog.
And I look forward to the next three months!

Thank you for reading and your comments and support. It really helps us not to feel stupid :)

Here is the best of our first quarter:

Pursuit of Perfection
This was the first post in Art Star history. It is fitting in a way that we started with question what is perfection, what should we be striving for, why are we here.

Praise and Redemption
The first in a series of posts concerning different aspects of the Christian faith.

Buzz Buzz Buzz Goes The Honey Bee
One of the best things about Art Star is that it doesn't "specialize" in anything. Oftentimes the most random things are posted on this blog. Like this in depth review of the board game Hives.

Art Star's Top Ten Guilty Pleasures
Our most controversial post of all time.

Lapel Pin Patriotism
An interesting piece about patriotism and what it means to be American.

Living With Bi-Polar Disorder: Three Lessons
The day after this post was made the New York Times published a big piece about living with Bi-Polar disorder. This post got linked to that. It marked the start of our blog coming of age.

When Cool Kids Implode
A wonderful warning on the dangers of hipsterism

Love Me Already
The name womenartmoney comes from an art ad campaign. Here is the latest I AM ART ad.

The Cool: Black Suits, New Music, and Great Bars
A great run down of fashion, dallas, and music. This is Art Star at its most practical.

My Olympic Heroes: Part 3 -I Am Number One
We tend to follow current events pretty closely at Art Star (I mean what else is a blog good for!?) Our coverage of the Olympics was fascinating and even got a shout out from an Olympian!

Point and Shoot: The Sun Is Bright In My Eyes
We love sharing original content on this blog. From pictures, to poetry, to songs, to interviews, and of course our own ideas and writings - its what we do.

Palin in Comparison
Art Star can be very political. It isn't surprising right now - our country is in a very unique moment and we are all tuned into it. This one sparked some commentary.

Twisted World of Mick Foley (Mankind)
I think this post scared people. For me the question, "What makes a man love pain so much..?" is the question of the year.

Compare and Contrast
Simply put our most read post of all time.

What T.I. And Ben Bernanke Have In Common
I know I wrote this but like WHayes When Cool Kids Implode - I feel like people slept on this post. It don't get no better!

Smart Is The New Gangsta
Our first podcast! A great interview with Dangerous Negro.

Omar Miller Is A Fucking Giant: Part 1
I don't know if you caught it - but we interviewed a fucking movie star.

Clicking Around With Music: Paleface
The first of our 25 part band interview. My bet is that by the time we are done with this series, Art Star will be a very different place :)

Thanks folks, if you've gotten this far become a follower, subscribe to this blog, favorite us, send us a message, let us know you are alive, and remember You Can't Fake Real!

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My Kid Could Write That: The Return Of Art Star

I was watching the special features to a documentary "My Kid Could Paint That" about wunderkid Marla Olmstead who started selling paintings for thousands of dollars at the age of four.

Pretty much she got caught up in a huge media frenzy and people question whether or not she actually makes her paintings or if it is her dad. There was a 60 minutes special. You can get a sense of the debate if you read the Art News Blog here (read the previous posts and especially the comments) and the NYT article here.

Although Marla's story is indeed interesting I was taken by the more general conversation about art, particularly post-modernist art, that Michael Kimmelmann attempted to take on in a separate interview.

"The majority of people have to be outside or there is nothing cool about being on the inside, that is just the way of things."

This statement is old news, however, he later started to make one of the most interesting arguments I have heard in a while about art vis a vis the viewer when he posed the question: At what point does it become obligatory to understand art?

Unfortunately he immediately backed away from the idea a few sentences later by saying that art is not an obligation.

However, the idea that we as humans have some sort of obligation to understand art that is not instantaneously accessible - and more precisely "at what point" that obligation begins is fascinating.

If we do have an obligation to understand art then that would mean that we do not fulfill our potential as human beings - that we do not become fully human - until we have met this obligation.

I would like to think that we have an obligation to try to understand a genre of art that isn't readily accessible to us at least once in our lifetimes. Of course it would be great if we could always try but most of us do not have the time nor the inclination to do that - so perhaps once suffices for us to be a "good viewer".

Still, the "insider" versus "outsider" reality of art might undermine this argument. If most of us are "outsiders" how can we have any obligation to understand art that is selected, defined, and presented by "insiders". As "outsiders" what stake does one have in the post modernist art world? And if there is indeed a stake - is it strong enough to make an "outsider" obligatory to understand the creations and artifice of the "inside world"?

At this point you might argue that there is really no distinction between "outsiders" and "insiders" - that we all take part in the defining of art because what is art (and especially post-modernist art) but the memory and the concept that is left in our minds after we have viewed the piece.

However, if we take two late examples - John Cage and Yves Klein - it becomes hard to argue that "insiders" don't exist.

John Cage composed a piece of music that involves no instruments playing (aka silence).

Yves Klein sold invisible paintings.

Now if you were to make an invisible painting and try to sale it most people would think you were crazy. Same if you tried to compose silence.

Some may say it was the fact that they were "first" to do these things, but I would posit that there were probably bums, madmen, and geniuses on the streets who also had invisible paintings and great symphonies of silence.

However, if you made an invisible painting and I blogged about it on Art Star and then the New York Times wrote an article about it, and then you had a gallery showing of invisible paintings that collectors bought for $10,000 each - well now art students have to learn about you.

I am not passing judgment on whether this is good or bad, but I am suggesting that perhaps an "outsider" might have no obligation to understand being confronted with invisible paintings and pieces of silence that is made entirely possible by the machinations of insiders.

I am saying that if we are indeed obligated to understand art, then until western art is democratized (I would argue that non-western art already is) that the point of obligation should be low and should be fulfilled quickly so that you can have the right to ignore the invisible paintings all around you.

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Happy Birthday Chris Burton!

Few people in our generation can compare to Christopher Devon Burton.

The amount of awards and recognition he has racked up thus far in staggering.

Funny thing is - he barely seems to notice.

A lover of both his God and his Country, Chris Burton has devoted his entire life to helping people.

If you want to do something for Chris Burton on his birthday - go to the hood nearest you, find a kid who has it a little worse off than you did, and mentor him or her.

Don't just give your money to a cause. Don't just volunteer at a food bank.

Find one person, one family, one community - and start building relationships.

Sometimes we have to stop helping, and start saving lives.

This is what Chris Burton does on a regular basis. This is why we salute him. This is why we are proud that he writes for Art Star.

Chris we wish you well in Seminary and look forward to hearing about that truth you find on those mountaintops.

We will be right hear listenin'

Happy Birthday!!

Love,

Art Star

Check Out The Best Of Chris Burton:

Keith Olbermann Went In!

Swag Science 101

A Letter Of Apology To The Boston Celtics

Dis Blog Shall Continue Even Bloggers Have Stopped Blogging

Yes We CAN Style On You

Magic Tricks With Pencils Are No Laughing Matter

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You Can't Fake Real

The first slogan of Art Star was "where the best young artist's live and play"

It was a solid slogan. It indicated that there would be a level of excellence associated with the blog (best) and that the focus would be artistic. It also showed that the blog would have lots of content (live) but would also be fun (play). Finally it showed that the emphasis of the blog would focus on a younger demographic.

The second slogan of Art Star was "where the best young artist's and thinkers live and play"

I had realized that some of our writers weren't artists and neither were a lot of readers. However, there was definitely an eclectic vibe to the whole thing, and it was becoming fun and we didn't want to limit anybody.

The third slogan for Art Star was "where we're never caught chasing cool".

While the first two slogans attempted to define both the writers and the readers of Art Star, this third slogan actually started to get at core values. Most everything the blog was doing was unconventional. From having multiple writers, to not having a set subject matter, to how we were growing, isn't what is recommended. The blog was definitely eclectic but not necessarily trendy. It reflected the opinions and interests of the bloggers - in a holistic sense - you might get a post about politics, pop culture, religion, music, sports, etc.

But the value was that the people who write Art Star are real people who are genuinely interesting and have lots of different interests and tastes. We aren't always serious, or always artsy, or always anything. We are just ourselves and not trying to live up to any sort of ideal. The bloggers write about whatever is on their mind - there isn't an agenda - not even "coolness".

The fourth and fifth slogans are "unofficial" slogans from the Art Star facebook group.
They are "fresh good news" and "damn those boi'z gud". These slogans represented a new emphasis in the blog to highlight emerging talent (fresh good news) and the fact we were starting to realize the impact of our previous slogans (damn those boi'z gud).

Our new slogan is "you can't fake real".

This slogan might be here to stay. It both attempts to define and transcend what Art Star is - and also what it is not. It holds the guidelines for which we judge our content. Like "coolness" realness is something that you either have or you don't. You can't manufacture it, you can't bottle it, you can't sell it - all you can do is recognize it. In a world that is constantly bombarded with illusions (hollywood) , with fake press releases, with marketing campaigns that sell absolutely nothing - we wanted Art Star to be different.

We want it to be a place where smart, talented, creative people can share their ideas, their influences, and their opinions with each other and our readers.

We want to expose our readers to other people who are doing "real" things that we like and admire.

The quality of Art Star is more a reflection of who we are as "real people" than of any overarching agenda or purpose.

It is rooted in the belief that just as we try to be "real people" our readers are also "real people" as well.

We aren't always one way, we change our minds, we like different stuff, we have lots of interests, we have dreams, we have aspirations, we fail, we love, we struggle, we try to do good, we can be mean, we can be ugly, we can be great.

This is who we are.

This is something we can't fake.

This is Art Star.

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Happy Birthday Will Bryan!

This past season Davidson College Men's Basketball saw the rise of many young stars - Stephen Curry, Jason Richards, and Andrew Lovedale to name a few.

However, there was one more star who, while following the rise of the team, had to deal with his own meteoric ascension - Will Bryan.

Three years ago Will was simply happy to get a job at a bakery.

Now Will works in the Communications department of the Carolina Panthers.

Although best known for his coverage of Davidson basketball by "live blogging" at basketball games, Will loved and covered all sports at Davidson from football to women's club soccer.

The word "covered" does not do justice to Will's reporting style.

He was able to apply in his writing what one hopes to get from a liberal arts education - the ability to think creatively and logically about important issues that - at it's best - transcended sports and delved into deeper issues such as loyalty, community, and celebrity.

Here are some of my favorite posts from Will Bryan's former blog - Will's World:

The Humble Beginnings

Some Memories Can't Have Asterisks

Taking Representation Too Far

Still Having Fun?

It's Been A Great Four Years To Be A Wildcat

Best of 2007

Davidson Grows Up Tonight

Good Times

We are so happy that Will has joined our talented group of bloggers at Art Star, and we wish him the happiest of birthdays.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WILL BRYAN!!!

love,

Art Star

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The Rebirth of Artist's Night Out

Real recognize real.

Art Star is gonna be real as it gets.

Put that on everything.

Dallas Texas - Artist's Night Out is coming back soon and Art Star is going to do everything we can to make sure it survives.

For those who don't know - Artist's Night Out is a highly acclaimed multi-genre art event that transcends cultures, creeds, and races for a magical evening of art, music, and spoken word.

It was the rawest of raw events - most people who went there were artists of some sort or creative spirits.

We had the best improv jazz band this side of the Red River in Faint Image.

Poets from HBO Def Poetry would perform alongside high school kids who would perform alongside christian white girls who would perform alongside old militant black poets.

People like Amir Sulaiman who doesn't normally book a performance for less than $3,000 these days did a whole set for free. Just for the love. Just cause ANO is filled with people who understand - who are real - who realize that there are things bigger than money, bigger than politics, bigger than religion - that in the beginning there was art, and art was pure, and art was beautiful, for ever and ever, Amen.

And if this makes you feel uncomfortable - good.

"Whether you agree or disagree with him, he is profoundly frustrated, both with black people, and with America, and with the world - I can understand that." - Cornell West

And just for kicks: Sonny Weems

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The Values of Art Star

Art Star

Mission: To develop the next generation of young artists while nourishing the young artists of today.

Values: The values of Art Star are inclusiveness, collaboration, appreciation, “realness”, and being on the cutting edge.

1. Inclusiveness – Art Star will be inclusive of people from all walks of life. We realize that the young artist at the rich, mostly white, prep school is just as isolated as the young artist at the poor, mostly minority, inner-city school – and we seek not just to help each of these groups (and every group in-between) but to bring them together as colleagues and peers.

2. Collaboration – Art Star will take a collaborative approach in all of our programs. The North Texas area is full of thriving schools, non-profits, churches, and government agencies that have tremendous resources, expertise, and passion for improving our community. Whenever possible Art Star would like to work with other organizations to achieve common goals.

3. Appreciation – Art Star will have a culture that practices the saying, “you can never say thank you too many times.” From our clients to our donors, from our staff to our board, from big contributions to small – everyone will know that no matter what their level of support is – that it is appreciated, needed, and is being used to help shape and change lives.

4. “Realness” – Art Star will encourage an approach to the arts that is routed in open-mindedness and humility. We will encourage a culture of authenticity that will allow artists to be true to themselves while still respecting the exact same need in the other. Art Star will not be pretentious, and no matter what our individual level of success might be, we will realize that everyone’s creative spark comes from a place outside of their control.

5. Being on the cutting edge – Art Star will use the most cutting edge non profit business practices and technology in running its programs and this organization. We are committed to being as efficient as possible in serving our clients, and thus always open to new ideas, new practices, and new ways of solving problems.