Jazz Paintings will “Play” During Live Jazz Jam
(Bellevue, WA -- March, 2009) – World renowned musicians and painters Lenore and Emanuel Vardi – recent transplants to the Pacific Northwest – are creating 2 dozen paintings for a musical art show that will hum to life during a live performance at the Bellevue Jazz Festival. All the paintings will feature jazz musicians or jazz instruments. They will be displayed throughout the Sherman Clay piano showroom in Bellevue when the Greta Matassa Quartet performs on May 23rd at 4:30 p.m. “It’s amazing to look at paintings of musicians while a live performance is underway because it’s easy to start believing that the musicians and instruments in the paintings are playing the music you are hearing. Your eyes and ears synthesize a whole new work of art in your head. It’s a unique experience,” explains Lenore. Her husband continues her train of thought, “Each person is experiencing their personal creation moment by moment – and they are moments that can not be preserved or duplicated. We’ve done shows like this in the past, but with classical art and musicians, and people love it.” Although the Vardis are best known as classical musicians, they have deep roots in jazz and American popular music. Between them they have performed live, recorded with, and produced albums for artists such as Duke Ellington, Sarah Vaughn, Nat King Cole, Louis Armstrong, Al Hirt, the Dukes of Dixieland, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. To help the Bellevue Jazz Festival continue its recent trend of featuring more national headliners, the Vardis will be donating 10-percent of proceeds from their Sherman Clay art show to the Bellevue Downtown Association which organizes the annual jazz festival. It’s not hard to get Lenore to talk about why they want to contribute: “Excellent public school music programs and a conservatory scholarship helped me get to Carnegie Hall. Understandably, the Arts get pushed down the ladder of importance in hard times, but we actually need them more than ever. Being surrounded by beauty can make us feel better.” Lenore’s most recent local arts donation was one of her paintings and a photograph she took of Mt. Si that she has given to Mercer Island’s Northwest Yeshiva High School. “One of the reasons we moved here is the impressive arts scene, and we want to make it known that we are willing to participate fully, as contributors, performers and teachers to help keep it as dynamic as it is,” says Emanuel. • The Vardis’ show will hang May 22nd through 24th at the Sherman Clay showroom in Bellevue located at 1000 Bellevue Way NE • The Vardis are on permanent display at Revolution Gallery in Issaquah’s Gilman Village and The Laurel Tree Gallery in downtown Duvall, WA. • More on the Vardis work and life can be obtained online at www.vardiart.com and www.vardiartgifts.com Contact: Lenore and Emanuel Vardi at (425) 292-0137 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it