curtis smith

In the news cycle this week: former Cuban leader Fidel Castro died. Last night I saw photographs of Cuba taken by Curtis V. Smith. He is a member of the Nelson Atkins Print Society. He teaches science at the Kansas City Kansas Community Center (KCKCC)  He is a photographer. He asked me to view his exhibit as one photographer to another.    Karl Marxhausen

Two minutes. Live jazz group at his photography opening.

On December 16, 2014, I arrived in Havana, Cuba as a photographer with the KCKCC Blue Devils Jazz Orchestra. The orchestra was scheduled to make two appearances that week at the 30th Annual International Jazz Havana Jazz Festival as part of an inter-educational island tour.
While in Cuba President Barrack Obama declared a new chapter in U.S. - Cuba relations by announcing steps to restore diplomacy which had been suspended in 1961.
The coincidence of these events set the tone for a unique photographic tour of an island will all Cuban celebrating a new spirit of hope for a better future. Three of these Blue Devil jazz orchestra photographs were featured in the March 2015 issue of Jam: Jazz Ambassador Magazine. Viva Cuba! Curtis V. Smith,  Artist Statement

Not knowing Curtis other than being with the print society, I felt like the swirl of people, playing drums for a set, the musicians behind the jazz arrangements, his cookbook, friends and associates, captured travels to the exotic -- this was a "slice of his community."   Karl Marxhausen

Three minute. Study in black and white forms with live music.

Six minute. Montage with live music.