music
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
Dead Kenny Gs
Future
Music
New developments in music pushed to the
forefront in Eugene
P
ast, present and possible future
collide in the fi nal week of one of
the most exciting Oregon Bach
Festivals in memory. Thursday, July 7, the
young English conductor/keyboard player
Matthew Halls — top candidate to replace
festival founding artistic director Rilling
when the latter retires in a couple years
— shows his stuff in Handel’s grand Ode
on St. Cecilia’s Day and other gorgeous
celebrations by English composers Henry
Purcell and Benjamin Britten at the Hult
Center’s Silva Hall. On Friday, July 8,
another rising star, pianist Shai Wosner ,
returns to the UO’s Beall Hall to play more
Handel and music of Brahms and Beethoven,
including the latter’s “Appassionata” sonata.
On Saturday at Central Lutheran Church,
Eastman School of Music prof David Higgs
plays some of J.S. Bach’s greatest keyboard
music, including several preludes and
fugues, a trio sonata and more.
The festival is a UO program, of course,
and the school is also hosting a Big Brass
music festival with tuba-ular and euphonium-
ous sounds July 16-17 at Beall and the music
building amphitheater.
Several other concerts around town this
month offer glimpses of promising future
developments. A pair of boundary-crossing
instrumentalists converge Thursday, July 7,
when composer Michael “hyper-accordion-
ist” Ward-Bergeman joins mbira master
Richard Crandell at Cozmic Pizza. The
former plays “an acoustic accordion with
extended range and expressive capabili-
ties” that caught the ear of the great com-
poser Osvaldo, who used it on several of
his compositions. Ward-Bergeman himself
has received commissions from Carnegie
Hall and other prestigious classical institu-
tions. Crandell, who used to drive the bus
for Thomas Mapfumo’s band, won some
acclaim a few years back for his dazzling,
minimalist-infl uenced explorations on the
Zimbabwean mbira, or thumb piano. Each
is worth hearing individually; together they
should form a combustible compound.
Maybe Michael Ward-Bergeman should
tote his futuristic new instrument over to
Opus VII gallery, which this month fea-
tures sounds and images of various musi-
cal sound sources, from John Brombaugh’s
famous organs to David Gusset’s violins to
master producer Billy Barnett’s recording
equipment to a creation by noise music ex-
perimenter Don Haugen (whose work used
to rattle the walls at DIVA’s old space) and
Beta Collide trumpeter Brian McWhorter’s
“Extractorama.” Adventurous music has
long found more sympathetic homes in cer-
tain art galleries than in often-stodgy con-
cert halls, as composers from John Cage to
Steve Reich, Philip Glass and David Lang
can testify. Maybe this cool sound art exhi-
bition can ignite a similar trend here.
The young fret board virtuosi in
California’s New West Guitar Trio play
with an aplomb and integration that belies
their age, and which has already landed the
recent USC graduates a gig accompanying
jazz singer Gretchen Parlato’s last album.
The L.A.-based threesome just released
their fourth CD, Round-Trip Ticket, which
continues and deepens their exploration
of classical and rock-infl uenced jazz.
Devotees of modern jazz guitar legends
from Wes Montgomery to Jim Hall to
Pat Metheny will fi nd much to enjoy at
their Jazz Station gig on July 17. The
little downtown jazz venue also hosts the
excellent Joe Manis Trio on July 8.
Another not-quite-jazz-as-we-know-it
trio, the Dead Kenny Gs , plays July 13 at
Sam Bond’s Garage. The jazz punk trio’s
punning moniker is appropriate, as they
smash the Dead Kennedys’ punk attitude
into the strident anti-smooth jazz, purveyed
by Seattle saxist Skerik, a longtime
Rahsaan Roland Kirk fan who’s backed
by Austin bassist Brad Houser and New
Orleans percussionist Mike Dillon.
ew
Eirinn’s Bistro
“The Good Luck Deli”
M-Tu-W
Breakfast Specials
from $1.50
Great Games, Food and People
“Best Rueben in town!”
Th-Fri-Sat
Sandwiches
from $4
639 W. Centennial Blvd Springfield (Prescott & Centennial) 736-0605
28 JULY 7, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
WWW.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM • BLOGS.EUGENEWEEKLY.COM