"The freedom to improvise inside and outside a structure, not having to do things the same every time, to make something full of spirit and beautiful in spirit." That's how artist Mark Weld describes one of his favorite subjects – jazz. It is also an apt description of Mark's paintings of which jazz is a frequent subject.

Charles Mingus (1922 - 1979), was one of the all time great jazz composers. A virtuoso bass player and an accomplished pianist, he recorded over a hundred albums and wrote over three hundred scores. He toured all over the world and his work has been performed everywhere from backwater jazz bars to the great concert halls of Europe.

In 1978 Mingus contacted Canadian singer/songwriter Joni Mitchell to propose a collaboration. Mingus died shortly before the album was completed but Mitchell finished the project and the resulting album, titled simply, Mingus, was released in 1979 and consists of music written by Mingus with lyrics written by Mitchell. The works in the show were inspired by the album.

"The work in this show is about the collaboration between these two giants of North American Music," says Weld, "what I've tried to do is paint the Mingus album. There is a painting that deals with the lyrics of each song and a painting that deals with the music of each song."

Joe Buczkowski, Director of the Market Street Art Center, calls Weld's work "one of the most startling uses of color I've ever seen. Watercolor can be subdued but Mark, who often uses a bit of black enamel with his watercolors, creates a vibrant portraiture of jazz music and it's musicians. Looking at one of his paintings you can practically hear the music, hear the primal life force of it. You don't even have to be all that familiar with jazz and yet, you find yourself easily imagining sitting in a smokey den somewhere, listening to a band pound out numbers."

Assistant Director Sally Bisher relates a story of a customer who purchased one of Weld's paintings then returned a week later to purchase another one because, "he wanted to fill the space next to it but nothing could compete with it. Mark's painting dominated and overwhelmed everything he tried. He finally concluded that the only thing that could stand up to a Mark Weld painting was another Mark Weld painting."

The show opened Saturday, August 16th, with a reception and wine tasting by Leonard Oakes Estate Winery.