MUSIC
BY BRETT CAMPBELL
SIRI VIK
SONGBOOK STANDARDS
Oregon Festival of American Music celebrates
the show tunes of the mid-20th century
T
hese days, we take pop songs and turn them into musicals:
Mamma Mia!, Jersey Boys, Beautiful, etc.
It used to be the other way around, back in the day.
Songs started in musicals, usually those on Broadway and
later Hollywood, and then were recorded by pop and jazz
stars (maybe Hamilton will revive that). This summer’s annual Or-
egon Festival of American Music is dedicated to those timeless
hits from the 1920s-50s in 14 concerts, films, talks and the staged
musical Good News!, which continues through this weekend [See
Bob Keefer’s review in this issue].
Performed at The Shedd by a mix of national talents (Byron
Stripling, Ian Whitcomb, Howard Alden, et al) and local music
aces (director Jesse Cloninger, Tony Glausi, Shirley Andress,
Vicki Brabham, Evynne Hollens, Siri Vik and many others),
the concerts begin with next Wednesday’s opening sampler fea-
turing classic tunes by the Gershwins, Cole Porter, Irving Berlin,
Hoagy Carmichael, Jerome Kern, Rodgers & Hart, Harold Arlen,
Duke Ellington and more.
Some of the original stage and screen vehicles remain familiar
— Pal Joey, Kiss Me, Kate, Pennies from Heaven — but for any-
one under, say, 70, individual songs even more so: “Bewitched,
Bothered and Bewildered,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “How
Deep Is The Ocean?” and a dozen more. In fact, part of the fun is
realizing just where that Sinatra or Miles Davis hit came from.
The next night, Aug. 3, the “If I Were a Bell” concert showcases
the music of Frank Loesser (Guys And Dolls, the film version of
which will be screened free at The Shedd that morning, How to
Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and many other musi-
cals) and Cy Coleman (Sweet Charity and more). Singer Siri Vik
fronts a crack jazz sextet on songs like “The Best Is Yet to Come,”
“Big Spender” and “If I Were a Bell.”
Friday morning kicks off with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rog-
ers’ Gershwin-graced film classic Shall We Dance. In the matinee
concert, Cloninger and the Emerald City Jazz Kings play unfor-
gettable hits from mostly forgotten musicals (or no musicals at all,
but rather revues or jazz records), including “My Blue Heaven,”
“Skylark,” “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” “I Can’t Give You
Anything But Love,” “Mood Indigo” and more.
The evening concert celebrates one of the 20th century’s great-
est lyricists, Ira Gershwin, who kept writing hits (“The Man That
Got Away”) even after his brother George’s tragically young death
ended their string of collaborative classics, including “Nice Work
if You Can Get It,” “They Can’t Take That Away from Me,” “Love
is Here to Stay,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” and more, sung by
a vocal quartet featuring Shirley Andress, backed by a big horn-
fueled band.
Saturday morning’s movie is a rarer Astaire-Rogers gem, Ro-
berta, featuring a stellar score by Jerome Kern. Vik returns Saturday
afternoon to lead a jazz septet in poignant songs by the unmatched
team of Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart, not just standards like
“My Funny Valentine,” “The Lady Is a Tramp” and “Blue Moon,”
but also rarer gems. Cloninger, Andress and a small combo return
Saturday night to perform music by one of the earliest superstars of
the American musical, Jerome Kern (Showboat), including num-
bers like “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” “All the Things You Are,”
“The Way You Look Tonight” and a dozen more, some seldom
encountered these days.
The annual afternoon jazz party takes place Sunday, Aug. 6, and
includes both reserved and cabaret seating, a full bar and Cloninger
leading a nonet in jazz versions of songbook standards. After a day
of recuperation, action resumes at Tuesday morning’s screening
of Easter Parade, the 1948 Judy Garland/Fred Astaire film that
spawned hits like “Steppin’ Out with My Baby,” penned by Irving
Berlin, whose music (“Cheek to Cheek,” “Blue Skies,” “Alexan-
der’s Ragtime Band”) is on the bill at that night’s “Heat Wave”
concert.
Wednesday’s film, Night and Day, covers the life and music of
Cole Porter. You can hear many of his famous tunes (“I Get a Kick
Out of You,” “Just One of Those Things,” “Let’s Do It,” “Love for
Sale,” “Anything Goes,” “Night and Day” and so many more) that
night when Cloninger leads Vik, Bill Hulings and other singers
plus a jazz quintet.
Before all that old music arrives, check out the new original
music at the July 29 Broadway House concert at the bungalow at
911 W. Broadway, featuring young jazz lions like trumpeter Josh
Deutsch, joined by a former UO colleague-turned-New Yorker,
saxophonist Hashem Assadullahi, plus keyboardist Torrey Ne-
whart and other excellent young jazz artists. ■
23RD ANNUAL
JULY 28, 29, 30
Free Admission!
Great Entertainment
Delicious Food
Parade
Classic Car Show
Horseshoe Tournament
Quilt Show
5K Race
Fishing Derby
Kids’ Activities
RC Flyers
Crafts & Other Gifts
Pie Eating Contest
and more in beautiful
downtown Lowell!
1-866-516-5534 or
BlackberryJamFestival.com
eugeneweekly.com • July 27, 2017
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