I just found this article, "The 101 Most Important Painters of All Time". Quite a coveted list to be on I'm sure. Anyway, I thought i'd post the article
for you to check out. Growing up, i was bored with art, it didnt move me, i wasn't interested, etc... Turns out i just hadn't seen the right stuff yet. Growing up in Cincinnati, Ohio can certainly come with its share of vanilla. I went to college in Boston and discovered the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and that was pretty cool, but when a major Monet exhibit came to the Museum, i went to see and i was blown away. maybe 100 of his master works. huge paintings covering half a wall sometimes. Thick coarse brush strokes that made much more sense to the eye looking from 30 feet away than from 5 feet away. I was hooked right then and there. Monet remains one of my favorites.
I love art, but i'm basically a sucker for the Masters. I dont really care who painted what, and i dont personally care to know the deep meanings that the painter is trying to convey. I just know what catches my eye and what i like. Artists like Picasso I'm torn. some of his works i really dig, and some i'm like "OK, i see thats the nose, thats the eye, but its just not doing much for me".
My favorite living painter is Paul Guy Gantner, and I am very fortunate to have one of his large paintings on my wall. I still smile every time i walk past it, and i still think its as beautiful as the day i got it. Art makes me happy... physically, smiling, happy. I truly enjoy it.
One of my favorite dead painters is Salvador Dali. He's just about the only painter who can make me like pastels (usually i like muted and earthy tones). His work is intense and challenging, imaginative, insane, bizarre, all wrapped into one. I got to see the biggest Dali Masterworks collection ever assembled at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. over 200 of his big paintings, plus sculptures, sketches, you name it. amazing amazing stuff brought from galleries and private collections all over the world for this exhibit. Now i have my own Dali wood etching. Its a collectors piece, but in the grand scheme of things, a very small one. I just love it because its Dali and its beautiful, I'll have it til i die, along with my Gantner. This is the one i have....
Like i said before, I really am just a sucker for the masters. Some of my favorites are Monet, Van Gogh, Pissarro, Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Rubens, Renior, Rafael, Rembrandt, Seurat, Botticelli, I also love the sculpture of Rodin, Michelangelo, and a whole bunch of others i dont remember.
Funny, I also LOVE European Cathedrals, though i'm not religious. I can spend hours in them. Of course partly because of the amazing acoustics of those spaces. I was in Munich, Germany and wandered into a Cathedral there around 6pm. a boy's choir was beginning to sing and the chuch organist was playing the massive pipe organ. the Cathedral must have had about a 6 second long reverb, the sound just floating endlessly in the air like angels. Some of my favorite Cathedrals are The Notre Dame in Paris (because of the amazing gargoyles!!!), Westminster Abbey in London is MASSIVE, and dead people are buried under the floor and you cant help but walk on them, kinda cool in a weird way. Kings are buried there.
In Florence, Italy, the Santa Croce Cathedral is (all things considered) a fairly unassuming place as Cathedrals go, except for the fact that dozens of incredibly historic and famous figures are in tombs there in the main room, one next to the other, Dante, Michelangelo, Rossinni, Galileo!!!!! Holy cow. So many more. just to be in the same room with "them" was pretty inspiring. Their ghosts must have great parties. Pretty much everywhere in Europe I go, if there's a big Cathedral, its on the route. Maybe i'm getting a little bored with them lately, i mean there's only so many you can see before you've seen enough for a while, but mostly still they are awe inspiring from an artistic and acoustic standpoint.
So, I'm rambling, and i have mixing to do, and my break time is long over. time to get back to work. If you are not yet familiar with many of the names in this post. Start googling!! or better yet, if your in a major city with a good art museum, go check it out. I'll give you one secret. Art museums can be overwhelming. A part of you is always saying "i've got to see everything", or "How can i just walk right past this painting, its in a museum for gods sake, it must be good right?". The trick to enjoying museums is to learn to walk right past the stuff you dont care about until something catches your eye. Dont even slow down. normal walking speed until your eye tells you to stop, then enjoy THAT. Just about every museum just has way too much stuff, find the stuff that moves you and spend your time there.
What a run i've been having lately!! I havent been blogging much at all lately, which is too bad, i like to do it, but it might give you some insight into just how busy i am right now. complete craziness! First a NOTAR project update. The album is coming together beautifully. I am so proud to be a part of it (I'm producing, mixing, writing, performing, etc...). Most of the production is done, and I'm now finished with 5 songs, mixes and all. I feel like a Matador. I cant wait to let people start hearing the album, SO GOOD!!!!!
So....6 in 13. yep. I've worked on six #1 Albums in the last 13 months. Holy CRAP!!! I'm pretty happy about that. Not sure if there's ever been a 13 month stretch of my career that i could say that about. Though there have been 2 different times where i worked on 3 of the Top Ten Billboard albums. Thats a pretty crazy feeling as well. Anyway, this current run includes Danity Kane, Day 26, Young Jeezy, Kanye West, Notorious Soundtrack, and NOW Vol. 30.
Alas, (i said it, alas) i have more big news on the horizon. don't wanna jinx it. So much good stuff happening right now. I really feel like the planets are beginning to align and much of what i've worked so hard for the last several years laying the groundwork for is beginning to come to fruition.
Oh, one of those things, that is current public knowledge is 15 year old Ariana Grande. I produced four songs for her late last year. She is utterly awe inspiring to watch perform and to hear sing. Like a young Christina Aguilaria who can also act. Ariana finished a run on Broadway in January and then went out to LA. She was recently cast in an as yet to be titled Nickelodeon series that i think comes out in August. The show will make a pilot run of six episodes (i could be making that up, not sure) and hopefully (probably) the show will get picked up for a full season. She's also currently negotiating a contract with a major label, and if that label has any sense they will sign her in a heartbeat. No worries though, if that label doesnt sign her, she's already got significant other interest from other majors. This girl is on her way and its no surprise to me, she's gifted, driven, and has a great support network. I'm glad I'm a part of it.
OK, now I've REALLY got to get back to the mix currently on my console. another great song, and I'm inspired.
It has been WAYYYY too long since i blogged, but i saw this video tonight and damn near cried it was so moving. Things like this remind me how much i love music. This is so brilliant, i wish i would have thought of it. I'm not gonna give it away, you just gotta watch. Enjoy!!
Well, I eluded to it in a previous blog. Now that I've got one song completely done and mixed, and about 12 more songs going in various stages of development or mixing, I feel comfortable blogging about this project. I am currently working with an exceptionally talented artist name NOTAR. You could call Notar a rapper, and in some ways thats spot on accurate, but I really like to just think of him as an artist. Musically, this project is a true combination of rock and hip hop. There are songs with straight up down south hip hop drums and loud raw rock guitars on top. Notar is an accomplished musician (trumpet), so its easy for us to speak in a musical language creatively, we can talk the language of hip hop, or rock, or music in general, which makes my job of producing so much easier and more creative. As songs get finished and posted, I'll give you links. So, the team behind this record could be considered a bit of a dream team. Bruce Kirkland of Tsunami Entertainment is on board consulting on the non studio stuff. Bruce and Cael Kirkland connected me to the project, thanks guys!!!! The General behind the project is none other than Adam Duritz, lead singer of Counting Crows, and he is Executive Producer of the album. Adam signed Notar to his record label, Tyrannosaurus Records (one of my favorite record company names ever!!). Adam also performs on one of my very favorite songs on the album, called "Stranger", a very timely song about Iraq. Adam sings the hooks, Notar tackles the verses. As much of a pleasure as its been to work with Notar, its truly an honor to be working with Adam Duritz, as i am a big fan of Counting Crows and have seen them perform live more than any other label artist. Side Story..... sometime back in the 90's, my friend Mike Habig came to NYC for work and i went in to have some dinner with him. On the way to his hotel, someone asked me if i wanted to buy scalped Counting Crows tix. They were playing at Hammerstein Ballroom right around the corner from the hotel and Mike and i decided, what the hell, we'll go. Neither of us were really fans at the time. that all changed. The show was being recorded for a live album called "Live Across A Wire" and it was also being broadcast live on MTV's Live at the Ten Spot. Lets just say that if you find the recording of "Round Here" from that concert album, well...... it probably changed my life. Counting Crows are one of the most musical bands on Earth. Anyway, that show changed my life. So, you can guess that while i dont think i've ever been star struck by anyone, it is immensely fun to be working with Adam Duritz to make this Notar record. With some luck and plenty of hard work, hopefully we'll be able to make Notar as big a household name as the Counting Crows. I think he possesses the talent. Last weekend i brought in the lead singer of rockers "Silvertide" to sing a hook for Notar's album. OK, if you dont know who silvertide is, www.myspace.com/silvertide just listen to Walter's voice. then imagine him belting a raspy powerful rock vocal over a grimey hip hop beat. gave me chills. There are also rumors that Chris Carraba, the singer of Dashboard Confessional, might come in and sing a hook as well. And maybe if we're luck we'll get Adam on one more hook on the record. but dont get it twisted, Notar can sing a bit himself, and he tackles a few singing hooks himself very well. Notar's album will be called "Devil's Playground" and all of the songs on the record kind of fit that mood and theme, life on the dark side. Anyway, keep your ears open for Notar. I've been brought to this project to bring it home. There are about ten songs that have been started but not finished, that i'll be doing (am currently doing) additional production on, and many songs that we're starting from scratch that i'm producing, and of course I'll be mixing the whole record as well. And i'm doing some writing on it, especially on the songs i'm producing. So far its coming out really hot and i'm very excited to be working on the record. I'm sure it'll be a running theme on this blog for the duration of the project, which could go for another month or two. Stay tuned!!! -Ken Lewis
For those who havent read my blog recently, I played the staccato flute in "Heartless" that is the main drive of the song. "Heartless" hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Charts this past week. YEAH!!!
