…another composite portrait of several of the faces I’ve noticed at recent art and music events.

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Tomorrow’s drawing will be another group scene/composite portrait. But today I’m feeling very inspired by my memory of one of the attendees at The Art of Living Black exhibition at American Steel (on Mandela Parkway). His bright white hair and plain black dress stood out against the large and colorful collage paintings* on the wall behind him (only his t-shirt is visible in this drawing, but he was also wearing black trousers and a pair of black oxfords).

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*The paintings were created by South African artist Fortune Sitole, whose depictions of South African townships are absolutely beautiful.

I spend most of my working days in relatively quiet and sparsely populated settings–libraries, cafes, my office. Even so, I get a lot of inspiration from the Black folks I encounter in these locations. So, when I find myself in big crowds–concerts, opening night at the theater, plays, well-attended gallery openings–I often see more wonderful subjects for art that I have time to transfer to individual drawings. Lately, I’ve attended a number of events in large, diverse crowds, and I’ve decided to make each of the next few drawings a compositive portrait of the men who populate Oakland’s Black art and music scene. From galleries to concert venues, Oakland’s men of African descent represent a wide and wonderful range of aesthetics inspired by everything from politics to film to sports to 80s prep. If you know of any interesting art or music events coming up in the East Bay or San Francisco, send me a message a eightrock@ymail.com and I’ll try to check it out.

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Here’s another portrait inspired by the Blue Danube Coffee House in Alameda. (I’m still a little disappointed that this cafe no longer calls itself Java Rama. The old name was so much more fun to say!) Over the weekend I made a quick stop at the coffee house, just to see what kinds of tea were on the menu, now that the place was under new ownership. Waiting at the counter was the man who inspired this drawing. I was immediately struck by the curious fact that he had almost the same haircut as Roy Orbison, except that his hair was super curly and Roy Orbison’s hair was completely straight. I offer this drawing as a salute to the brotha with the Roy Orbison hair. If you happen to see this, you know who you are.

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Two kinds of people who always capture my eye are 1) people with cool glasses and 2) nerds. So, when I spotted this guy at Blue Danube (A.K.A. the coffee house formerly known as Java Rama) I immediately took notice.

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I was thinking about age and wisdom today, and the importance of experience. I’m thinking especially about my maternal and paternal grandmothers and my maternal great-grandmothers, both of whom I knew throughout most of my childhood. When I think about about these amazing Black women–all of whom, in addition to their intelligence, also bore the wisdom of having seen and experienced so much change in their lifetimes–I think of the older Black men I know, most of whom I met during a 3-year stint volunteering with a local service agency for seniors. I think of one gentleman in particular, named George. I called him on the phone every Friday morning, and I would always look at his photo while we were speaking. His expression was contemplative and accepting, but not complacent. This was also reflected in the tone of his voice and in the things he said during our short conversations. We rarely spoke more than 15 or 20 minutes, but I think of him to this day. Wherever he is, I wish him well, and I thank him for his example. If he is still living, may he have health, happiness, and family all around. If he has died in the years since we last spoke, then I say rest in peace, George. Rest in peace.

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If you’re a fan of the UFC, then you know that tonight’s event features an exciting fight card that will culminate in a decisive battle for the light heavyweight championship. The fight will pit regining champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua against against top light heavyweight contender Jon “Bones” Jones. At the present moment, Jon Jones is the number one African American contender in the UFC. Mixed martial arts is much more racially diverse than boxing, and while there are African American competitors, the proportion of Black fighters to their white and Latin American counterparts is much closer to the proportion of Black people in the U.S. population at large. Today’s drawing is a tribute to all of the Black fighters in the UFC. Best of luck to Jon Jones. I’m hoping to see him win with 2nd round submission against the champ, but I settle for a unanimous decision at the final bell.

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This in another drawng inspired by the Me’Shell Ndegeocello concert at the New Parish. I saw this guy up at the bar and I was immediately struck by the luxurious thickness of his awesome beard, and by the fact that he had no mustache. It was like a Black-hipster-Abe-Lincoln look, and I knew it would end up in a drawing. 8-Rock

This drawing is composite of several men I saw  on line at the bank. The line for customer service reached almost to the front door and no one seemed very happy about the wait.

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The Me’shell Ndegeocello concert last Friday at the New Parish was a great example of how satisfying a good cover can be in the hands of the right music ensemble. Me’shell Ndegeocello did a great set of Prince covers. The highlights included her versions of “Pop Life,” “Controversy,” and “Party Up.” While I would have loved to hear her do more from Purple Rain, her interpretations of key early hits were more than enough to make this an outstanding show.

The biggest surprise of the night, however, was the opening band, headed by singer and musician Martin Luther. Their set was amazing. Their Beatles covers were soulful and tight, and they threw in songs by The Police and U2 that had the whole crowd singing along.

About this drawing: Even though they were standing near the stage, in full view of the band, the men in this drawing never sang along to any of Martin Luther’s songs. It was hard to tell whether or not they were having fun at all, though they did clap energetically at the end of the set. They might have been saving all their enthusiasm for Me’shell, but I cannot say. I lost sight of them before she went onstage.

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