Author: Sipp Mosaic

I have been a fan of Hugh Masekela since the 1960’s. Masekela was a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, and singer. He died in 2018 at the age of 78. He has been called the father of South African jazz. He was known for his antiapartheid songs like “Bring Him Back Alive”, a song about freeing Nelson Mandela when he was imprisoned. Continue reading “Hugh Masekela”

I started listening to Gladys Knight, the Empress of Soul, in the mid 1960’s. She is 74 years old, in this mosaic she is approximately 62, she has been performing through her teenage and adult life for almost sixty years. And she still has strong vocals and a hard working performing style. She just performed at the Super Bowl this year. Continue reading “Gladys Knight”

This mosaic shows Sonny musing, contemplative and reflective. I started listening to jazz when I was in the 8th grade in 1961. At that time Sonny Rollins was 31 and he was already an established celebrated jazz tenor saxophonist. Continue reading “Saxophone Colossus, Sonny Rollins”

Aretha Franklin is an American icon. Aretha grew up in Detroit, the heart of R&B in the 60’s and 70’s. She was the ‘Queen of Soul’ for her whole career. No one during her life time dethroned her. Aretha was in life and even in death one of a kind. There are many things I think about when I do a mosaic. One thought is, “What image am I going to use?” Continue reading “Aretha Franklin”

I just finished my mosaic of the jazz saxophone genius Charlie Parker. I will be showing it, as a vendor along with my other mosaics, at the Chicago Jazz Festival, this Labor Day weekend. Charlie along with Thelonious Monk, Dizzy Gillespie, and others created a style of music called Bebop. This style of music was created in the early 1940’s by African American musicians who wanted more freedom of expression and a more individual sound than the Big Band sound of the time could provide.

Continue reading “Charlie Parker”

I started listening to Nancy Wilson when I was in college over 50 years ago. She made an album with Cannon Ball Adderley in 1961, that I listened to and became a Nancy Wilson fan for life. Continue reading “Nancy Wilson”