Cats vs. dogs

Several smooth-jazz acts have employed cartoonish images of cats—set in various, typically palm-studded, locales—on their album covers. This rigid adherence to the shopworn cats vs. dogs cliché—well, they’re jazz cats, so dogs would be inappropriate, wouldn’t they?—has robbed erstwhile local painter Rod Swenson of a prime venue for his paintings of Bob the Dog, an eyeless, abstract figure with a starfish-like head. As you can see, Bob would provide near-perfect imagery for a savvy business-jazz act interested in memorable self-branding, and there are enough Bob paintings to do a 10-CD catalog, plus the greatest-hits disc and boxed set that follow. And it would give the Rippingtons’ jazz cat a run for its money, too. Swenson’s Bob, and other things, will be up at the 20th Street Art Gallery, 911 20th Street, through September 4. Don’t miss them—especially if you play soprano sax.

Several smooth-jazz acts have employed cartoonish images of cats—set in various, typically palm-studded, locales—on their album covers. This rigid adherence to the shopworn cats vs. dogs cliché—well, they’re jazz cats, so dogs would be inappropriate, wouldn’t they?—has robbed erstwhile local painter Rod Swenson of a prime venue for his paintings of Bob the Dog, an eyeless, abstract figure with a starfish-like head. As you can see, Bob would provide near-perfect imagery for a savvy business-jazz act interested in memorable self-branding, and there are enough Bob paintings to do a 10-CD catalog, plus the greatest-hits disc and boxed set that follow. And it would give the Rippingtons’ jazz cat a run for its money, too. Swenson’s Bob, and other things, will be up at the 20th Street Art Gallery, 911 20th Street, through September 4. Don’t miss them—especially if you play soprano sax.