"Music of the Rain"

Long time ago, in my fourth year at the university, I made a series of music related sketches of paintings, the core idea of which was "Musicians and the City", I wanted to show musicians in everyday situations, in an urban environment, in the rapid rhythm of city life. It's a pity most of these sketches did not survive. And in some of the compositions, the main characters were two musicians with instruments in their cases. Now they explore the city, then they argue about something, or they return from the concert in the subway and doze, leaning on their cases. In one sketch they were walking along the wet with rain street. And there was something about this sketch that captured one’s attention, maybe that was contrasting dynamic movements, elasticity of silhouettes of the characters, or reflection in the wet pavement of architectural elements, cars passing by and people hurrying to hide from the rain, and two musicians, despite the rain, put their collars up and hurried somewhere, maybe they were late for a sound check or a rehearsal. The dynamics of the silhouettes' movements already seem to imply some kind of musical rhythm, some complex jazz atmosphere. However, the idea is forgotten, and a couple of years ago when I was working in my studio and listening to some random playlist on YouTube, I heard some smooth jazz, in which the trumpet sounded so shrill and strong that my heart skipped a bit. I looked up the artist’s name and it turned out to be Chet Baker, one of the best jazz trumpet player (as I found out later). I've never actually been a huge jazz fan, but the depth, the flow and the crystal clear sound of this music just mesmerized me. Like all brilliant musicians, Mr. Chet Baker was obviously a passionate man, that’s why his life was not that easy. You can read about that in his biography or watch the biopic ‘Born to Be Blue’, but in any case, Mr. Chet Baker made brilliant music. And after seeing the photo and "this look" as piercing as the sound of the trumpet, I knew I had found the main character for my "rainy" story! The central theme of the picture is the silent dialogue between the audience and the characters. The viewer is not just behind the picture frame, but at the same time he is also involved in the events, as if on the other side of the window of some café or store and he meets the musician's eye. If the guitarist passes by paying no attention, maintaining the horizontal rhythm of the whole composition, then the trumpet player, feeling eyes on him, slightly turns to the viewer, casting a fleeting glance. It's a brief moment, but it's enough to capture the mood and inner state of mind of the man who plays "the saddest music in the world."