Listen to my recent musical composition entitled, ” She Runs Through My Mind Like an Apparition” for guitar, concertina, and mandolin. My boxwood engraving of a vine covered oak is evocative of the haunted James River floodplain in Virginia. The musical composition is reminiscent of stories sung in ballads that migrated from Europe and Africa to the southern regions of North America. The diverse musical instruments express the fleeting polyphonic thoughts that run through my mind, forever changing in time. I fondly acknowledge my son, Adam Bender for assisting me with graphic layout and production. Sandy Bender
“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.
“The Mending Meadow” composed, performed, and recorded with acoustic guitar and concertina on two tracks by Sanford R. Bender on September 19, 2021.“Hillside Meadows” painted with watercolor by Sanford R. Bender on September 3, 2006
“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.
“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.
“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.
This artwork came about during my fine artist days in Manhattan, while I was attending both New York University and the Art Students League of New York. I was also studying music in the former institution which required an explanation in a master’s degree thesis of how art and music may be interrelated. My research included biographical as well as theoretical investigations into the paintings of Wassily Kandinsky and the musical compositions of Arnold Schoenberg, both of whom found inspiration within the interplay between painting (and drawing) and music. In my case, I found expression and solace in the practice of both mediums, whether or not I could describe rationally the necessity of dual participation. Although art is primarily associated with the visual sense and music with the aural sense, they both share commonality in the tactile sense.
This musical composition includes guitar, my primary instrument, banjo, a secondary plucked string instrument, and concertina, the most recent wind (bellows) instrument in my musical arsenal. “Serenade for guitar, banjo, and concertina” is reminiscent of various styles in jazz, blues, folk, and classical music. The music came together in this manner through improvisation and just hit the right spot for me.
“Serenade” drawn with colored pencil and oil crayons by Sanford R. Bender a while ago.“Serenade for guitar, banjo, and concertina” composed, performed and recorded on three tracks by Sanford R. Bender on August 5, 2021.
“Creekside” (“My first concertina piece!”) composed, performed and recorded with guitar and concertina on separate tracks by Sanford. R. Bender on July 31, 2021“Creekside” painted and drawn with watercolor and colored pencil by Sanford R. Bender a while ago
I just bought a 40-button “Anglo” concertina a week ago. Wind instruments operated with bellows and their “old world” sound had intrigued me for quite a while. I was also fascinated by the difference of this instrument from the harmonica and clarinet where I have to rely on breathing and embouchure. Producing the joyful or wistful sound of a concertina would however, require the dexterity and theoretical understanding of pressing buttons on each side while pulling and pushing the bellows in rhythmic time. The painting “Creekside”, seemed appropriate to the music in its depiction of a meandering stream flowing through its carved channel of forested and stone armored embankment.
“After a hard day’s work” composed , performed and recorded with guitar on two tracks by Sanford R. Bender.“Scallops” drawn with colored pencil by Sanford R. Bender in June 2015.“Scallops and Conches” drawn with colored pencil by Sanford R. Bender in June, 2015.
“Recovery and Relief” composed, played, and recorded on solo guitar by Sanford R. Bender on May 3, 2021“Sea Mountains” painted with acrylic paint on paper by Sanford R. Bender a while ago.
