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About Eugene weekly. (Eugene, Oregon) 1993-current | View Entire Issue (July 29, 2004)
SOUNDS Thursday, Aug. 5, 2004 The Fabulous Fifties Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, 7:30 pm OFAM’s opening big band concert provides an overview of the festival and the fifties, with music by Brubeck, Leadbelly, Lieber & Stoller, themes from TV shows, musicals and movies, and more. Friday, Aug. 6 Instrumental Gold from the ‘50s Shedd Concert Hall, 2:30 pm Hyman has put together an eclectic program of songs from the movies (e.g. The Magnificent Seven), obscure pop jazz, a few standards like April in Paris, even the campy exotica of Martin Denny. Not really jazz as we know it, this is the stuff you might have heard on pop radio that shunned jazz, rock and soul, and you’re unlikely to hear it anywhere else. Saturday, Aug. 7 My Fair Lady Swings Shedd Concert Hall, 2:30 pm In 1956, the West Coast drummer/bandleader Shelley Manne’s trio jazzed up Lerner & Loewe’s score in best West Coast jazz style, and that’s the basis for these arrangements with Hyman and a sextet featuring horns and vocals. reading music, Brubeck early on demonstrated a phenomenal ear for music. While studying with the great French composer Darius Milhaud at Mills College, Brubeck formed an octet that experiment- ed along some of the same lines (and around the same time) as Miles Davis and John Lewis’s famed Birth of the Cool nonet, then won acclaim in a trio with the great San Francisco drummer/vibist Cal Tjader. Brubeck’s classic quartet with Paul Desmond was probably the most popular jazz act of the decade, crossing over to white audiences through college performances and landing Brubeck on the cover of Time magazine — the first jazzer to win that honor, beating out Duke Ellington, who, to Brubeck’s embarrassment, first showed Brubeck the issue. Often unfairly stereotyped as intellectual cool jazz (mostly because of their race, San Francisco origins, Brubeck’s Bartok- and Stravinsky-influ- enced rhythmic and harmonic innovations, and Paul Desmond’s breezy alto sax), Brubeck’s sound relied as much on his own fiery (some said too heavy) piano and a driving rhythm section that liked playing with time signatures. He was greatly admired and covered by such paragons as Miles Davis and Charles Mingus, and by all accounts his current quartet is still making strong music. This is a chance to see a real legend. Monday, Aug. 9 Anyway ... Onward: An Evening with Mort Sahl Shedd Concert Hall, 7:30 pm DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET Saturday, Aug. 7 The Dave Brubeck Quartet Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center, 7:30 pm Though his father hoped he’d take over the family’s California ranch, and his poor eyesight prevented him from Sahl is a comedy pioneer: the first comic to appear on the cover of Time, to tour col- leges, and to riff off the headlines (a genera- tion before “Weekend Update”). Topical, innovative, direct, Sahl’s sharp, lefty politi- cal satire inspired standup comics from the early, funny Woody Allen to Lenny Bruce. A self-described radical, Sahl retains his jazzy, populist, anti-establishmentarianism in a time in which too much mainstream comedy has been politically neutered by corporate media. The former actor, screenwriter, and speechwriter for that other JFK from Boston is as tough on wimpy liberals as greedy con- servatives. The uncompromising Sahl will be a revelation to younger audiences who think that political humor started with Al Franken or Jon Stewart. Inspired by cool jazz and a veteran of hip jazz clubs like San Francisco’s famed Hungry I, he’ll be work- ing with Hyman’s jazz group at this show. Tuesday, Aug. 10 Goodnight Irene: The Folk Revival, 1947-1960 Shedd Concert Hal, 2:30 pm Bob Dylan and Joan Baez emerged at the tail end of a ’50s MORT SAHL folk revival sparked by pioneers like Leadbelly, the Weavers (featuring Pete Seeger) and continued by their watered down, white bread spawn (like the Limelighters and Kingston Trio) so gently satirized by the movie A Mighty Wind. In this con- cert featuring a quintet of veteran folkies dubbed the High Street Singers (David Bersch, David Gross, Kriss Crowley, Kathy Burleson and Jim Dotson), expect folk ballads and spirituals like “This Land is Your Land,” “Midnight Special,” “I’ll Fly Away,” “If I Had a Hammer” and more. Tuesday, Aug. 10 At The Hop EMU Ballroom, 6 pm Musicians from OFAM’s Young Artists Academy will bring back happy days at this dinner dance. Wednesday, Aug. 11 Purple People Eater: Silly Songs of the ‘50s Shedd Concert Hall, 2:30 pm Every summer, it seems, OFAM programs one off-the- wall show, and this year, wacky Ian Whitcomb is back with a sextet that will explore the mysteries of doggies in the win- dow, minuscule bikinis, and poison ivy, as well as early rock classics like “Whole Lotta Shakin’,” “Rock Around the Clock,” and more. Thursday, Aug. 12 Fullblown Mermaids: Jazz & The Beat Generation Shedd Concert Hall, 2:30 pm Hipsters, flipsters, finger-poppin’ daddies — knock me your lobes! A part of the San Francisco/ New York connection that pops up throughout the decade and this festival, the fer- Get your menu in the hands of 100,000 hungry Eugene and Corvallis readers SPACE RESERVATION DEADLINE: AUGUST 12 • CAMERA READY ADS DUE: AUGUST 19 CALL NOW! 484-0519 x12 • 484-4044 (fax) • mark@eugeneweekly.com JULY 29, 2003 13
