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-
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