(ASBURY PARK, NJ) -- On Saturday, May 29th at 8:00pm, Jazz at the Shop kicks off the first performance of 1000Watts with an outdoor performance in Asbury Park featuring Antoine Drye and his selection of musicians. Throughout the evening, Jim Watt will continue to work on 1000Watts, a multi-dimensional project that centers on 1000 ink washes, painted with Japanese Sumi ink and water on paper. Art will projected from overhead for guests to watch while the band plays jazz music; the music will inform the painting, while the painting informs the musicians.Â
This will be an outdoor BYOB event held at 931 Asbury Avenue in Asbury Park, New Jersey. Please bring a lawn chair and refreshments to enjoy the performance. In the event of rain, this performance will be postponed to a later date (to be determined). Suggested Donation: $20, which will go directly to the evening's band.
1000Watts art paintings will be released in five series of 200. The first 200 paintings are now available to purchase for $350 through Jim Kempner Fine Art. With every piece sold, $100 will be donated to the jazz community, which has been especially hard hit during the Covid pandemic with the prolonged closure of most live performance venues. The goal is to raise $100,000.
The musicians for May 29th include Antoine Drye (Ellis Marsalis) on Trumpet; John Ellis (Jason Marsalis) on Sax; Donald Edwards (Freddie Hubbard) on Drums; and Mike Noordzy (El Noordzo) on Bass.
Drye is a creative partner on the project, as the ink washes are created in conversation with improvisational jazz. The interaction between the painter and an assemblage of featured musicians, curated by and including Drye, will be featured in live performances of 1000W. Footage of an overhead camera capturing the works as they are created will be projected for the artists and the audience to see. Each artist’s work informs the other. The music and the art are created in real time, in the same moment.
A film, produced and directed by Danny Clinch, will chronicle the entirety of the project, drawing from the overhead footage, live performances, and studio visits. His shots will be included in a final 1000Watts film, designed to chronicle and express the essence of this six-month-long project. In addition to the film, an album featuring the music produced in these sessions will be released at the conclusion of 1000Watts. Â
1000 ink washes will be on offer for $350 each, some curated selections will be sold together with a digital film of their creation. Beyond this collaboration, Watt and the gallery will donate $100 per artwork sold in hopes to raise $100,000 for the jazz community, hard-hit by the pandemic shutdown of performance venues all over the world.
The first two hundred are available now. Each series will include a few curated groups. 1-200 features a group of four, two groups of twelve, and a group of thirty. A short digital film capturing the painting of each group will be included with the purchase. The films will be scored by jazz trumpeter Antoine Drye.
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