Roald Dahl - The Twits, 1980 / illustration: Quentin Blake
“If a person has ugly thoughts, it begins to show on the face. And when that person has ugly thoughts
every day, every week, every year, the face gets uglier and uglier until you can hardly bear to look at it.
A person who has good thoughts cannot ever be ugly. You can have a wonky nose and a crooked mouth
and a double chin and stick-out teeth, but if you have good thoughts it will shine out of your face like
sunbeams and you will always look lovely.”
with arrangements of candles and skulls placed in varying degrees of natural light, sitting atop
otherwise barren tables.
Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation, 1988
Sonic Youth used a painting of his for the cover art for their album Daydream Nation in 1988.
He was a fan of the band and did not charge for the use of his image.
The original, over 7 metres (23 ft) square, is now showcased in Sonic Youth's studio in NYC.
Melba Liston in the Dizzy Gillespie Big Band, 1948
Melba Doretta Liston (1926 –1999) was an American jazz trombonist, arranger, and
composer. She was the first woman trombonist to play in big bands during the 1940s and
1960s, but as her career progressed she became better known as an arranger particularly
in partnership with pianist Randy Weston.
Born in Kansas City in 1926, Liston chose to play trombone at the age of 7 as part of her
school’s music program. A year later, Liston was talented enough to play trombone at her
local radio station. At the age of ten, she moved to Los Angeles, California. She was
classmates with Dexter Gordon, and friends with Eric Dolphy.
She started playing with the up-and-coming major names of the bebop
scene in the 1940s.
Melba Liston, Start Swingin, 1945
Her most notable recording as a soloist was with Dexter Gordon in 1947.
Liston worked with Count Basie (1948-1949), Dizzy Gillespie's big band (1949-1950)
Melba Liston with an old school friend, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, recording for the
Dial sessions : "Mischievous Lady", composed by Dexter and dedicated to Melba, and
"Lullaby In Rhythm" written by Benny Goodman.
Melba Liston, Charles Fox (piano), Chuck Thompson (drums),
Ross Russell (founder of Dial Records) and Dexter Gordon
Hollywood, June 5, 1947 / Photo by Ray Whitten
Dexter Gordon Quintet - Mischievous Lady / Dexter Gordon Quintet - Lullaby In Rhythm
"Mischievous Lady": Melba Liston and Dexter Gordon during the Dial Records recording session on June 5th 1947 / Photo by Ray Whitten ^
Matthew Gee, Trummy Young, Henry Coker, Benny Powell, Al Gray, and Leonard Feather,
with Melba Liston
Walter Page, Charlie Persip, Buck Clayton, Melba Liston, and an unidentified musician performing
on stage. Photo Courtesy: The Buck Clayton Collection
When Liston went on tour with Billie Holiday she was so discouraged by the abuse from
her male peers and audience members that she quit playing for a period of time.
She returned to music in the mid ‘50s and recorded her only solo album,
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