The late jazz bassist Ben Tucker. ( photo courtesy of MySpace music artist page ) It is always difficult to make peace with the death of someone who gives as much to a city as preeminent jazz-man Ben Tucker gave through his musical genius, philanthropy, and love to Savannah, Georgia. It is even harder when that death occurs violently and makes one feel like it should have never happened in the first place. Nevertheless, that so many are now taking time to remember and honor him is truly inspiring. It was never my privilege to know Tucker as well as many others in Savannah’s jazz and cultural arts community did but it was my good fortune to benefit from his expansive creative endeavors. The 2009 article A Son of Savannah Celebrated  was one small attempt to pay tribute to the man while still in his jazz swinging prime 2009: The City of Savannah Celebrates a Favorite Son - National African-American Art | Examiner.com Aberjhani

          “The Universe said, ‘let me show your soul something            beautiful.’”                  ––Aberjhani (from ELEMENTAL, The Power of                      Illuminated Love) If emergent expressionism lends chromatic form and substance to in-between states of metamorphosis, then transformative impressionism may be described as endowing such stages of transition with metaphorical narrative. These are images by Jaanika Talts in which her literary inclinations are most apparent and they evoke a clear theme, scene, symbol, or principle. The artist’s depictions of mythology’s (as well as history’s and literature’s) Venus and Cupid , The Siren’s Dream , Ophelia , and Salome are a few of the canvases and digital art compositions which borrow cues from classic stories. What makes them uniquely engaging is her own finely-honed perspective, which seems as culturally expansive as it is aesthetically versatile. She is equally comfortable with more contemporary reference

Image still from the video-poem Notes for an Elegy in the Key of Michael . “It’s very important to keep the historical context in mind as you contemplate the nature of love and service required in the 21st century.” –Cornel West, Hope on a Tightrope To what extent might the phenomenal entertainer and humanitarian Michael Joseph Jackson have been the target of an extended guerrilla decontextualization campaign throughout the second half of his life? Hardcore devotees to Jackson’s music and altruistic humanitarian vision would say there can be no question that he was targeted in such a manner. Hardcore doubters might say maybe he was the one doing the guerrilla decontextualizing through the evolving manipulations of his public profile as a performance artist. They point to his chameleon-like shift from a distinctly afrocentric appearance in one decade to androgynously multi-ethnic in the next, and in his final years to an almost ethereal projection––a figure solidly in