Featured Who's the saxophonist?

A few people here will already know that my ignorance is multi-faceted. I've asked about jewellery, weapons and carvings in both wood and stone. Today I'm wondering if Antiquers can succeed where my image searches and tours of "50 best jazz saxophonists" lists have so far failed. Who's this?



It's from a mixed-media piece of art, mainly oil, by Pere Pons, undated but a note on the back says it was purchased in Spain in 1988 -- so presumably our musician had died by then.

Here's the whole painting, in case anyone's interested. Approx. 65 x 75 cm.

 

John Coltrane?
There is a cross in the corner, I don't know if that is significant. If it is, Coltrane has been sancitfied/deified by a church.

 

Aha... I was assuming the cross signified that the musician was dead.

If it can be someone who at that point was still very much alive then Ornette Coleman would be my guess.

 

Well, Coltrane is also dead.

Agree, the receding hair could be Coleman.

 

Quite a few would qualify if "dying before 1988" was the only criterion, but I can't see sufficient likeness to Coltrane, Parker, Adderley or any of the other prime candidates.

I suspect that either someone here will just instantly recognise our man or it will be a detective story starting with "well, the sax he's playing is obviously a 1946 xyz, so......".

 

It would be good to know if you want to sell it.
I suppose there are no clues on the back, if there were, you wouldn't have asked.

 

There's nothing about the painting or its subject on the back, just details of the gallery and a note of the purchase date.

We're not currently planning to sell this one -- it's got a place on the wall and is happy there. But it would be nice to know. [DREAM]For that post-pandemic world in which guests ask us about it.[/DREAM]

 

I think he looks like Ornette Coleman, in about the 1980s, from what I can tell of his looks in various photos and videos. He also had a tendency to wear jackets that had patterns on them or were otherwise eye catching. I didn't find a picture with a jacket with that particular pattern though. Just my opinion, but I really think it is him. He died in 2015, so would have been still very much alive when this art piece was created. Not sure what the cross would signify... it probably had some personal meaning to the artist. And it also tends to draw attention to that part of the piece.

 

Do you think this Pere Pons is the artist? You could always ask/confirm.

https://www.facebook.com/Pere-Pons-Pons-Taller-187561064638771/photos/?ref=page_internal

Debora

 

Thank you, Figtree3. Funny how I'd ruled him out just because he was still alive. I've not been able to find that jacket online either, but I think the photo here is confirmation enough:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/ornette-coleman-the-man-who-set-jazz-free-44771/

 

Thanks for that and the Facebook link, Debora. (I posted a link instead of the photo because I wasn't sure about copyright, timid soul that I am.)

 

It's ok to show the picture, many people here are afraid to click on a link!

 

After looking at his artwork, I do think Pere Pons is the artist.

 

Pere Pons is indeed the artist, antidiem, and Debora has found the right one on FB.

Thanks to her link, we now have a fuller (or alternative) name -- Pere Pons Pons-Taller -- and a date of birth.

Of course Any Jewelry got the ball rolling by pointing out the cross could have a meaning other than "in memoriam" and Figtree3 then confirmed my feeling that Ornette Coleman was the most likely candidate.

So we can add a label to the back of the painting. For whoever inherits it next (!) or in case we do decide to part with it at some point.

Thanks everyone!