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CULTURE
continued from page 1
the International Lounge in the
EMU.
The main attraction of the night
was the show in the packed EMU
Ballroom. The theme of the night
was "Kaleidoscope: Seeing cultures
in a new light." The show began
with a video of students saying what
they thought "kaleidoscope" meant.
ISA Director Matt Yeow welcomed
the audience and said that like a
kaleidoscope, cultures are a fusion
of patterns and colors that come to
gether to make beautiful combina
tions.
"We hope you will come away
with new perspectives on culture,"
he said.
Throughout the show, kaleido
scope images were projected on
the wall behind the performers.
There were 14 numbers in the
show, with performances coming
from many countries, including
Japan, India, Germany, China,
Ukraine and Latin American coun
tries. Dance was the most popular
medium, but performers also sang,
played musical instruments and
performed martial arts.
"1 was touched by it because of
the importance of the time," said
sophomore Elana Mater about a
German peace song.
Robert Hafenbrak, a performer
and exchange student from Ger
many, said he enjoyed participating
in the show.
"Sometimes it was exhausting,
but when you're done the more you
enjoy it," he said.
Hafenbrak said he enjoyed meet
ing all the performers from other
countries.
"This year's show was a great suc
cess compared to other years," said
Dipa Malakar, co-director of Inter
national Week and Night. "This year
there were a lot of people involved."
She said the hard work and plan
ning since the middle of winter term
was worth it. She said the best part
was getting positive feedback from
the audience about the food, deco
rations and show.
"If people missed it this year, I'd
recommend for them to come next
year," she said.
Jonah Schrogin is a freelance reporter
for the Emerald.
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Lauren Wimer Photographer
Bassist Dave Trenkel and DJ J.D. Monroe groove during Eleven Eyes’ performance
Saturday night at Luna. The Eugene band combines jazz with funk, rock and more.
Eleven Eyes hints
at jazz salvation
The local band draws from
a variety of sources and
techniques in an uneven
but promising concert
By Ryan Nyburg
Senior Pulse Reporter
It's always sad to see a once-great
style of music slowly slip into irrele
vance. Jazz and blues both were once
the most dynamic forms around; now
fans wince at every step they take clos
er to the grave. Every House of Blues
that opens, every new soft jazz station,
every increasingly worse Wynton
Marsalis album drives the stake deep
er into the hearts of these formerly
powerful genres. Once a musical style
requires an institution to stay alive,
you can pretty much declare it the be
ginning of the end.
So give thanks to whatever higher
power watches over these sorts of
things for giving Eugene the band
Eleven Eyes. While blues is finding
salvation through labels like Fat Pos
sum Records, jazz might be saved by
experimental ensembles such as
this. Combining jazz with funk, rock
and a wide array of other influences,
the band creates an oddly eclectic
style that is as thoughtful as it is in
vigorating. After seeing the group's
concert at Luna on Saturday, I think
it could safely be said that it is on its
way to becoming one of Eugene's
best bands.
Tlie group's whole style seems to be
based on a synthesis of odd elements,
which swirl and groove within the
compositions. The best expression of
this aesthetic is the inclusion of a disc
jockey in the band, who flung out
oddball samples and scratched like a
maniac over the blare of the horns
and guitars. Different genres and mu
sical references popped up at odd in
tervals, such as the guitarist and bass
player moving into a reggae groove
during a trombone solo, or the horn
section suddenly blurting out a riff
from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man." The
band members seemed perfectly ca
pable of moving from standard mod
em jazz to Sun Ra-style space jazz to
whatever else took their fancy, all
without missing a beat.
I
Sometimes things didn't coalesce
as well as they could have, and the
band would end up playing messy
unformed compositions. But this was
the exception rather than the rule.
Most of the time, the band laid out a
pretty mellow groove, often pulling it
together as tight as any classic jazz
unit, going off on wild improvisations
and free associating through every
thing from fusion-era Miles Davis to
Jeff Beck. It's great to hear a band so
tuned in to its music.
There were some weak points in
the group though. One was the
ten dull. Scratching, itself, is such a
limited technique that it has never
really made for interesting solos, so
it seems folly to make it so preva
lent. DJ J.D. Monroe was at his best
throwing out pure sounds, particu
larly remixed vocal tracks. It would
be nice to see the group use this to a
further extent.
The performance also contained
very few standout solos, though this is
a minor complaint. The two strongest
soloist in the group, trumpeter/band
leader Tim McLaughlin and guitarist
Mike Pardew, are both skilled per
formers who will only improve with
time. McLaughlin was a particularly
sure-fingered player, bringing strong
elements of classic and fusion jazz
into the mix, while Pardew bears
more than a passing resemblance to
some of the better jazz-rock fusion
players.
Overall, Eleven Eyes deserves just
about any positive expectations one is
willing to heap on it. It will be nice to
see the band branch out and join the
upper echelons of Eugene's music
scene currently occupied by other
tight, experimental groups, such as
the tango outfit Mood Area 52.
Maybe the Eyes will go on to bigger
things, but there's no reason to get
your hopes up. It's not like we can ex
pect one group to save jazz or any
thing — though that would be nice.
CONCERT
REVIEW
overempha
sis on the
DJ's scratch
ing, which
was repeti
tive and of
Contact the senior pulse reporter
at ryannyburg@dailyemerald.com.
1
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