The influence of jazz in the work of Romare Bearden Romare Bearden was one of the most influential African-American artists of the twentieth century. He grew up in New York and contributed extensively to the progressive art of the Harlem Renaissance. He captured vibrant scenes of daily life in his former hometowns of North Carolina, Pittsburgh and Harlem. Some of his most popular works deal with the theme of music, particularly jazz and blues. He also composed music and played in various jazz bands. It is clear that Romare Bearden's artwork from the Of the Blues series was heavily influenced by Harlem jazz and blues music. In 1975, Romare Bearden created a series of nineteen collages which he titled Of the Blues. That same year, an exhibition was held at the Cordier & Eckstrom Gallery in New York to present these works. The gallery was filled with collages depicting New York clubs and other music scenes. This series explored jazz from every angle. Schwartzman states that "both series traced jazz from its folk, sacred, and secular sources, to the cities where its major styles evolved (New Orleans, New York, Chicago, Kansas City), then to its artists, and finally to its abstract sounds". ". The collages in this exhibition showed the extremely personal relationship and interaction that Bearden had with music. It shows us that loud, vibrant music was performed in the clubs. The music can almost be felt and heard while watching a representation of those scenes. A 1974 piece, entitled Of the Blues: Carolina Shout, was part of the series. It is a collage of what appears to be a baptism scene a body of water. The dark... the center of the card... the ground is bright red and has large graphic circles of yellows, pinks and blues flat figural shapes cut from vibrant paper. This was not the only album cover created by Romare Bearden. He also made another album cover for Wynton Marsalis called J Mood he was heavily influenced by music. It can be seen in the bright and lively club scenes of New York with couples dancing and bands performing. It can also be seen in collages depicting the raw musical culture outside of performances in Storyville. Aside from images, Bearden also used the improvisational method of collage which he strongly associated with jazz. Bearden was certainly a genius in giving us vibrant and cheerful scenes of life in jazz and blues culture.