Basie at the Apollo and The Empress-for Bessie Smith-demonstrate Jarrell's abilities as a master colorist. Jarrell's darker palette here--including dark ultramarine, magenta, and alizarin crimson--is set off by a juxtaposition with lighter hues to create a visual excitement equaling that of his more usual high-key cool-ade colors. Basie, in a crimson coat and medium-blue hat, sits in the right lower left front plane of the painting. Prez, wearing lime green trousers, is in the lower center, with his golden sax held high over his head. At top right is Joe Jones, pounding away on the drums; and in between the named musicians are the other members of Basie's orchestra in colorful outfits combed onto the dark-stained canvas. The swirling patterns of vines and leaves weave their way between the musicians in background and foreground, defining the spatial interior of the Apollo stage.

Wadsworth Jarrell, an authority on jazz and blues, celebrates African American music by depicting some of its most revered musicians. He was a member of the Organization of Black American Culture and painted the “Rhythm and Blues” section of The Wall of Respect mural that was located on the South Side of Chicago. In addition to being an artist, he was a professor at Howard University, the University of Georgia, Athens, and in Cortona, Italy. Currently, he continues to experiment in his practice with past and present topics surrounding blackness. He is married to Jae Jarrell.

Wadsworth Jarrell (b. 1929, Albany, GA) is a founding member of AfriCOBRA (African Commune of Bad Relevant Artists). The artist creates pattern-intensive portraits combining vibrant “Kool-Aid” colors depicting the intensity of political activism. AfriCOBRA stressed positive images of Black people and established a philosophical and aesthetic foundation for the Black Arts movement and the musical life that flourished in Chicago in the late 1960s and 1970s of the 1960s, and 70s.

Recent exhibitions include the 58th Venice Biennale, Cleveland Museum of Art, Smart Museum of Art, ICA Boston, MoCA North Miami, and the touring exhibition Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, which started at the Tate Modern. He recently participated in the Toronto Biennial of Art. With his wife, the artist Jae Jarrell, Wadsworth has a forthcoming show at Jenkins Johnson's new gallery space and atrium at the Minnesota Street Projects in San Francisco. Wadsworth recently debuted his book AFRICOBRA: Experimental Art Towards a School of Thought. Mr. Jarrell is in many collections including the Brooklyn Museum of Art, Cleveland Museum of Art, High Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, National Museum of African American History and Culture and The Studio Museum in Harlem. Wadsworth lives and works in Cleveland, OH. He attended the Art Institute of Chicago and received his MFA from Howard University. He later taught painting at Howard University and University of Georgia.