All That Jazz

Mark McMenamin -- Interior Design, 2/1/2010 12:00:00 AM

 
Design is often improvisation, a veritable next-of-kin to the spontaneous riffs of Satchmo, Lady Ella, and Trane. It was that parallel that inspired Kate Korten to channel her partiality for upbeat prints and assertive colors into Improv, a 10-pattern set for the Aláxi brand at Silver State. But what's key about this textile homage to jazz culture is that the jam session takes place in the open air—as solution-dyed acrylic wovens prevent Korten's bold vision from fading away in the sun or rain.

Ad-libs begin with Hop, scattered with stylized frogs. Flourishes take a free-flowing path in Noodlin. The after-midnight groove resounds in a trio of musically themed efforts: oversize linear Boogie, striped Bebop, and the inevitable Jazz, an abstraction of a star. And Jive looks like a syncopated take on piano keys. The gig closes with two patterned chenilles and two solids, one a chenille and the other a flat-weave.

Widths are mostly 54 inches, though Jazz is 50 inches wide. Available colorways range from three to a dozen. 800-453-5777; silverstatetextiles.com. circle 408