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13th
& M
Oak
(formerly
Field’s)
• 434-6553
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
Alasdair Fraser and
Natalie Haas,
May 15, Shedd.
Folkier Forays
Fraser, Haas light up Shedd.
A
fter bringing us the most exciting
month of jazz in Eugene’s history,
the Oregon Festival of American
Music now inclines in a folkier direction. On
Saturday, May 15, the great Scots fiddler
Alasdair Fraser returns, this time with
cellist Natalie Haas. Although we mostly
think of the cello as a classical instrument
(and Yo Yo Ma’s appearance here the night
before bolsters that claim), it once supplied
the rhythm in Scottish dance bands, much
like a string bass in other folk music.
Haas, a student of the great classical/new
music cellist Fred Sherry, does much more
than lay down a dance beat — she turns the
warmer-toned instrument into a full partner
for Fraser’s buoyant fiddling.
One of folk’s most charismatic and audi-
ence-friendly performers, Fraser enchants
listeners way beyond the hardcore Celtic
music fans (that’s his haunting fiddle on the
theme to KLCC’s “Mist Covered Mountain”
show), and this show is warmly recom-
mended to anyone who likes a good tune or a
good dance or both.
The Shedd hosts another prominent folk
duo, Jay Ungar and Molly Mason, on
Saturday, May 22. Ungar’s “Ahshokan
Farewell” was inescapable during PBS’s
presentation of Ken Burns’ “The Civil War” a
few years back, but the duo’s coffeehouse
credibility stretches way beyond that unex-
pected crossover hit; they play and teach
most American traditional music styles, in-
cluding Appalachian, country and swing.
This concert will also feature them on man-
dolin, guitar, banjo and piano.
Fretboard fans will also want to be at Café
Paradiso this Thursday, May 13, when the
great guitarist Adrian Legg makes his latest
visit to Eugene. The experts have voted Legg
best acoustic guitarist so many times in so
many polls that his finger-picking virtuosity
is beyond question. But he’s also a splendid
composer, teacher and raconteur whose wit is
as quick as his fingers. Traversing folk, jazz,
classical and other idioms, Legg’s music de-
lights a whole range of listeners, not just gui-
tar nerds.
A slew of fine music from beyond
American borders infiltrates our town this
month, too. On Friday, May 21, the WOW
Hall brings the Afrobeat sound of Albino to
town. Composed of members of the bands of
Fela Kuti, Spearhead, Sonny Okusn, and
24 MAY 13, 2004
other world beat ensembles, the Berkeley-
based big band channels the effervescent,
revolutionary sounds of Fela Kuti. They’re
joined by another fine world music fusion
group, Taarka, whose violin, mandolin and
polypercussion should make this a colorful,
danceable evening.
On May 14, Cozmic Pizza hosts the
Balkan ensemble Trio Slavej, featuring the
great Bulgarian multi-instrumentalist (key-
board, flutes, accordion, tambura) Kalin
Kirilov along with UO professors Mark Levy
(clarinet, bagpipes) and Carol Silverman (vo-
cals), performing Roma (gypsy) and other
tangy music from Eastern Europe.
The classical season — as well as the
Eugene
Symphony’s
Beethoven
Symphony cycle — draws to a fabulous fi-
nale on Thursday, May 20 when the orchestra
performs the master’s alpha and omega — his
first and final symphonic statements.
Symphony #1 is, not surprisingly, reminis-
cent of Beethoven’s teacher, Haydn, yet al-
ready shows signs of breaking classical
boundaries. The glorious Ninth has, of
course, become the embodiment of European
unity (played at the fall of the Berlin Wall)
and symphonic grandeur, which makes it
easy to forget how revolutionary its innova-
tions were.
If you’ve never heard it, by all means, go.
But even if you’ve heard it too often, try this
concert, because music director Giancarlo
Guerrero’s use of new editions of
Beethoven’s scores has brought a leaner,
lither, fleeter feel to these warhorses, revivi-
fying them while bringing them closer to the
composer’s intentions. And the ESO has
proved up to the challenge.
Meanwhile, for a taste of today’s cutting
edge, classically inspired sounds, try the
UO’s Beall Hall. On Monday, May 17, the
Oregon Percussion Ensemble plays a
couple of large-ensemble pieces — “Diabolic
Variations” by Raymond Helble, and “Duo
Chopinesque” by Michael Hennagin, along
with works for solo marimba and quartet. You
never know what kind of extra-musical hi-
jinks these brash players will pull, but their
concerts are always worth hearing for the
music alone.
And on Tuesday, May 25, the UO’s al-
100th
Monkey
ways-rewarding
Ensemble plays contemporary West Coast
avant garde music in a free concert.
ew