Description
Many years have passed since I first carved this whimsical homage to a bygone generation of jazz greats. At the time, I was hosting The Wednesday Night Jazz Detour on Aspen Public Radio—a three-hour set where I shared not only timeless recordings but also bits of history about the artists behind the music. It was a time of deep listening, rich learning, and heartfelt connection with the music I’d grown up with.
What struck me, then and now, is the bittersweet legacy so many of these musicians left behind. Their brilliance lit up smoky clubs and late-night airwaves, yet their lives were often marked by hard living—cigarettes, alcohol, relentless touring. Few were family men, and fewer still lived long enough to enjoy the full measure of their genius.
This sculpture emerged from that reflection. Part caricature, part tribute, it began with a photo of Humphrey Bogart, then morphed into something more—an echo of Count Basie, with perhaps a dash of Sinatra’s cool. It’s not a portrait of any one man, but rather an embodiment of the jazz spirit: smoky, soulful, worn at the edges, but always playing on.
