To me, Jazz music is much like sliding one’s finger across a cool window pane…a smooth and effortless experience…and one to pleasure the senses, and smooth the pain of the human experience.

On the other hand, the Blues is more like running your finger across and against the fine grit of sandpaper…a slight, but still conspicuous, resistance and discomfort…borne of the “grit” of human suffering going back well over scores of years.

I hope when you see my images of the Blues musicians, you’ll actually see the purposeful grain in the blacks and whites, separated by thousands of tones of gray. The visual friction might hurt a bit, but when it stops, and if you’re lucky, your very soul may have been cleansed…at least for a little while.

Photo: Nellie “Tiger” Travis - Decatur, MS - June of 2006

A rhetorical question: Why do we choose to obscure with dull patina, when what lies underneath is much preferred in bright color and sure texture?

Photo: Double Cola Sign - Winona, MS - April of 2007