BY BRETT CAMPBELL
Cozmic Pizza hosts Paul Prince's CD release celebration March 2.
Naughty Monks and
Tainted Jazz
UO, WOW bring provocative music to town.
I
n 1935, composer Carl Orff encoun-
tered a 13th-century manuscript con-
taining secular poems by some
Bavarian monks and decided to set them to
music. But these poems weren’t the usual
austere, ascetic hymns of divine praise.
No, these frisky friars were a fun-lovin’
lot, and their poems celebrated sex, gam-
bling, drinking — ideal material for 21st-
century American college students.
Accordingly, the UO’s University
Singers and University Symphony join
forces to present Orff’s ever-popular
Carmina Burana , in Roseburg (Feb. 27),
Florence (Feb. 28), and at 3 pm Sunday,
Feb. 29 at in the EMU Ballroom on cam-
pus.
It’s not just the salacious subject matter
that’s made Orff’s dramatic cantata so
popular. Drawing on the model of some of
Stravinsky’s earlier works, yet simplifying
the music, Orff set the Epicurean ballads
to tunes that were rhythmically propulsive
and instantly catchy, so much so that one
of them is still used in TV commercials.
By turns bawdy, funny, raucous and occa-
sionally tender, Carmina Burana isn’t the
20th century’s most profound music, but
it’s a lot of fun.
The university’s World Music Series has
brought some of the most powerful sounds
on the planet to Eugene, and some of the
most transcendent have emanated from
South India. On Friday, Feb. 27, the WMS
hosts a mother-daughter team of vina virtu-
osos. The vina is a large plucked lute, and
Rajeswari Padmanabhan is a ninth-gener-
ation master of the instrument, as well as a
venerated university teacher. Her daughter,
Sreevidhya Chandramouli , is carrying on
the tradition. They’ll be accompanied on
mridangam (South Indian classical double-
headed drum) by Karthik Gopalaratnam .
You’ve probably never heard of them or
even their instruments, but every Indian
musician I’ve heard in the WMS has been a
jaw-droppingly amazing performer who
produced moments of musical ecstacy, and
this concert promises more of the same.
One of the best things the UO has
brought to town in recent years is profes-
sor Marc Vanscheeuwijck , who’s
imbued Baroque and earlier music con-
certs with the latest discoveries about how
live music
every friday!
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that music was actually performed in its
day, and on the instruments and in the col-
orful tunings of the period. At 8 pm
Saturday, Feb. 28, Vanscheeuwijck will
play some of the most sublime music ever
composed: JS Bach’s first three suites for
solo cello at St. Mary’s Episcopal Church
(13th & Pearl).
The Oregon Mozart Players host the
annual return of conductor Frank Graffeo
to the town where he put on so many fine
productions. The Candlelight Concerts on
Feb. 27 and 28 at First Christian Church
present a pair of perennial favorites:
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and movements
from Mozart’s A Little Night Music, along
with Haydn’s delightful Cello Concerto in
D and more.
At Cozmic Pizza on March 2, you can
celebrate the release of Paul Prince ’s gor-
geous new CD, Ocean Bells. But even if
you can’t make the party, do score the disc
— one of the most enchanting guitar
albums I’ve ever heard, and one of the
finest by an Oregon artist. Drawing on
Zimbabwean mbira and kora (a beautiful
lute) and Hawaiian slack key guitar tradi-
tions, the former Thomas Mapfumo side-
man has forged an eloquent and distinctive
style that’s far more powerful than most
so-called world music fusions. The show
also features dancers from Wongai.
Don’t miss Seattle all-star ensemble
Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet show
at the WOW Hall on Feb. 21. Given that
Skerik has played with John Scofield,
Charlie Hunter, and Medeski Martin &
Wood, you’d expect a fair amount of funk,
but Skerik calls his music punk jazz, draw-
ing from Hendrix as well as Bird and
Monk. The show would be worth the fare
just to see the opening act, our own Eleven
Eyes, a turntable- and horn-driven ensem-
ble that’s blazing electric new trails in
improvised music. This should be a wild
night of hot music that appeals to jazzers
and funksters alike. Unfortunately, it’s also
the same night some of Eugene’s finest
jazzers (saxman Craig Bender, trumpeter
Tim Clarke, bassist Rob Kohler, drummer
Brian West) convene at Luna under the
auspices of the Gerry Rempel Jazz
Syndicate — another strong recommen-
ew
dation.
Feb. 20 - Bill Willie Bluz
Feb. 27 - Forrest T. Black
Coming Soon - J.C. Rico
L ive!@
Julian Marley
& the uprising
Special guest: Norma Fraser
Sunday, February 22nd
Doors open at 7pm • 18+
welcomes
TS
K LE E NOW!
C
I
T SA
ON
Indigenous
Native American Roots Rock & Blues
TIC
KET
S
ON
SAL
E N
OW
!
PLUS SPECIAL GUEST
Wednesday, February 25th
B LUE O YSTER C ULT
Wednesday, March 10th
Doors open at 7pm • 21+
E N T OW S !
K
C
T I SALE
ON
Tickets on sale now at The Jungle, Joe's Bar & Grill, CD World, House of Records,
Face the Music & all TicketWest locations. Call 338-9000 for info.
23 West 6th • Eugene • 338-9000
FEBRUARY 19, 2004 21