Category: Music

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Waves of Leaves

“Waves of Leaves” painted with acrylic paint on canvas board by Sanford Ross Bender.
“Waves of Leaves” composed for guitar, concertina, harmonica, wind, and red tail hawk by Sanford Ross Bender on December 12, 2021.

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Silver Sky of Sadness

“Silver Sky of Sadness” composed, performed, and recorded on three tracks for guitar, clarinet, and concertina by Sandy Ross Bender on December 4, 2021.
“Silver Sky of Sadness” painted and drawn with watercolor and charcoal by Sandy Ross Bender from a while ago,

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Pictures from from an unknown place

“Pictures from an unknown place” Acrylic Painting by Sanford Ross Bender from a while ago
“Glittering planets” composed, performed, and recorded for guitar, glockenspiel, and harmonica by Sanford Ross Bender on February 3, 2021

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Two dancing pigs

“Two Dancing Pigs” Pastel Drawing Detail by Sanford Ross Bender

“Two Dancing Pigs” composed, performed, and recorded on one track with acoustic guitar and harmonica. Previously included on “Terrain” CD 2015 by Sanford (Sandy) Ross Bender

“Two Dancing Pigs” was improvised by playing harmonica and guitar simultaneously. Any discomfort in physically managing two instruments was alleviated through closed-eye visualization of two dancing pigs squealing with delight in each other’s company. The artwork is a detail of the pastel drawing used in my previous post, “The Listening Drum.” Looking closer allows one to see two dark pig-like shapes appear (among other creatures such as a spider, a bat, or a raven’s tail). Perhaps, rainbow colored waves are perceived as dancing while the pig duo floats and soars overhead in sea spray and thermal undulations. A colorful drawing appearing to depict a single slice in time awakens and sequentially shape-shifts to melodic rhythms of musical joy.

You can find “Two Dancing Pigs” and other pieces on Sandy Bender’s album Terrain.

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The Listening Drum

“The Listening Drum” composed, performed, and recorded on three tracks for harmonica, guitar, and snare drum by Sanford Ross Bender on July 14 and 15, 2021
Untitled Pastel Drawing by Sanford Ross Bender

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Long snowy walk home under a crescent moon

“Snowy forest” drawn with pen and ink on paper by Sandy Bender in 1981.
“Winter Spruce in snow beyond” drawn with pen and ink by Sandy Bender on January 23, 1995
“Snowy hills” drawn with pen and ink by Sandy Bender in April, 1996.
“Long snowy walk home under a crescent moon” composed. performed and recorded with acoustic guitar (with and without metal tube slide on separate tracks) by Sanford R. Bender on September 12, 2021.
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Dance with an Octopus

“Dance with an Octopus” composed, performed, and recorded with guitar and concertina by Sanford R. Bender on September 9, 2021.
“Crabs and Octopuses” drawn and painted with ink and watercolor by Sanford R. Bender in 1995.

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Clarinet, Concertina, and Guitar Trio in A minor

“Clarinet, Concertina, and Guitar Trio in A minor” composed, performed, and recorded by Sanford R. Bender on August 30, 2021.
“Accordian Creek “painted with watercolors and gouache by Sanford R. Bender in May, 1982.

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Sailing beyond the moon

“Lift off” drawn with colored pencil and painted with watercolor by Sanford R. Bender sometime in 1982.
“Sailing beyond the Moon” composed, performed and recorded with guitar, concertina, and glockenspiel by Sanford R. Bender on August 23, 2021
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She runs through my mind like an apparition

“She runs through my mind like an apparition” composed, played, and recorded with guitar, mandolin, and concertina by Sanford R. Bender 081521
“Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy” drawn with pen in sketchbook by Sanford R. Bender in July, 1992.

“Bees. diamonds, and other flying creatures” drawn with pen and colored pencil on cardboard cutout by Sanford R. Bender in September, 2002.
“Arizona buttes, pinnacles, and canyons” drawn with pen in sketchbook by Sanford R. Bender in April, 1995.