music
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
AURELIO MARTINEZ
Heat Waves
Hot sounds singe summertime concerts
T
he Shedd may be the hottest place
for music in Eugene this month,
and not just because of the former
church’s ancient, soon-to-be refurbished
cooling system. The Shedd’s latest new
theatrical production is Rodgers and
Hammerstein’s 1951 tale of cultural
collision, The King and I. Based on the
true story of an English woman who in the
1860s served as governess to the King of
Siam, it boasts some of the great musical
theater duo’s loveliest songs, including
“Getting to Know You,” “Shall We Dance”
and that poignant ballad of forbidden love,
“We Kiss in a Shadow.”
Directed and conducted by the veteran
team of Richard Jessup and Robert
Ashens , The Shedd’s production includes
Shirley Andress , Jay Españo , a kids’
chorus and three songs jettisoned from the
1956 movie starring Deborah Kerr and Yul
Brynner. Some of the racial stereotypes are
dated, but the story is perennial and
perhaps just as relevant now in our own
era of cultural clashes.
Along with the heat generated by the
cultural friction and parallel love stories
within The King and I, The Shedd also
sparks some hot jazz by hosting Aug. 7-11
the annual Oregon Festival of American
Music (OFAM), which this year returns to
the theme of Le Jazz Hot.
If you want to hear what was really
going on in the setting for Woody Allen’s
2010 movie Midnight in Paris, OFAM’s
kickoff concert provides a diverse
overview, ranging from the pop tunes of
Cole Porter and Hoagy Carmichael to
classical composers Francis Poulenc and
Heitor Villa-Lobos . The OFAM afternoon
concert Wednesday, Aug. 8, explores the
Creole influence on Parisian music, while
the evening show takes us into the cabarets
and music halls that spawned a different
pop music tradition, eventually imbibing
jazz influences with famous singers such
as the American expatriate Josephine
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Baker , Mistinguett , Maurice Chevalier
and others.
The great Porter’s music is featured
Thursday, Aug. 9, in the afternoon — but
not the familiar classics. Instead, the
concert focuses on Porter’s early songs
written in Paris, as well as a few older
songs about the city.
Classical music fans should check out
the OFAM afternoon show Friday, Aug.
10, starring singer Siri Vik . The show will
highlight one of the 20th century’s most
delightful musical phenomena: the pop-
influenced classical composers known as
Les Six.
OFAM’s closing concert Saturday, Aug.
11, offers a portrait of Sidney Bechet, the
incomparable New Orleans soprano saxo-
phonist, clarinetist and composer. Perhaps
overshadowed a bit these days by his friend
Louis Armstrong, Bechet was a fiery,
swinging player whose music still sounds
vital. This program spans his glorious
career from the 1920s through the 1950s.
As always, OFAM’s fascinating talks
and film screenings augment the music
and make the festival an educational as
well as entertaining experience — there
are more than a few history lessons worth
learning there.
OFAM isn’t the only summer festival
worth checking out next weekend. If
you’re willing to drive out to Siuslaw
National Forest Aug. 10-13, you can hear
some excellent world music at the Beloved
Sacred Art & Music Festival . In one of
the world’s most beautiful places, you can
hear some of the planet’s richest sounds,
including Gnawa star Hassan Hakmoun ,
Garifuna singer Aurelio Martinez , kirtan
chanter David Stringer , hand drummers,
throat singers, storytellers, yogis, healing
rituals and lots of late-night grooving. The
Oregon Country Fair crowd and other
world music fans should definitely
consider taking this particularly long and
strange trip.
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EUGENE WEEKLY
AUGUST 2, 2012 27