music
Summer in the (Music) City
SYMFEST, MOOD AREA 52, CHAMBER MUSIC AMICI AND MORE COMING TO A VENUE NEAR YOU
By Brett Campbell
S
ummer brings sunshine, smoke (maybe)
and our annual influx of regular returning
visitors. Eugene Symphony’s third annual
SymFest returns to the Hult Center June
1 with an old friend, jazz trumpeter/
composer/flugelhornist Tony Glausi
back in town from New York, where he
moved a few years ago after a fine career at the UO and
in Oregon’s jazz scene.
Along with food carts, dance and craft brews, wines
and ciders, the show features Ballet Fantastique ,
Eugene jazz singer Halie Loren , South Eugene High
School’s The Dorians choir and members of the
Eugene-Springfield Youth Symphony . It’s a warm
welcome to summer and a sweet showcase for home-
grown talent.
Speaking of the ESO, its other annual summer event,
the free concert in the park, returns to the Cuthbert
Amphitheater July 26. So why are we telling you about
it now? Because those free tickets will be long gone
by then, so you might wanna hustle down to the Hult
Center starting June 25 to pick up yours in person.
ESO subscribers get a week’s head start… just sayin’.
And speaking of Northwest jazz singers, Seattle
jazz vocal legend Greta Matassa returns to the Jazz
Station with her trio, standards and a spankin’ new
album June 1.
Still another old musical acquaintance, trumpet
ace Guy Few , returns to Eugene Monday, June 3. But
not to the Oregon Bach Festival, whose concerts he
invigorated with sterling tone and virtuosity. He’s
actually joining Chamber Music Amici for that
excellent ensemble’s 10th anniversary show at The
Shedd. He’ll join Eugene classical music vets Sharon
Schuman (violins), Lillie Manis (viola), Steven
Pologe (cello) and Tyler Abbot (bass) in Schubert’s
famous “Trout” Piano Quintet and “Impressions de
l’Alameda,” composed by fellow Canadian Mathieu
Lussier. He conducts two of Canada’s finest historically
informed ensembles, Les Violons du Roy chamber
orchestra and Montreal’s Arion Baroque Orchestra.
Few commissioned him and other Great North
composers to write music for the Canadian Concerto
Project, and Lussier’s sparkling contribution to that
BELA FLECK AND
THE FLECKTONES
album, which he’ll play at The Shedd, reveals a listener
friendly composer of broad appeal and deep historical
musical influences.
The next night, June 4, The Shedd hosts yet another
returning visitor, banjoist/composer Béla Fleck &
The Flecktones . A roots-influenced composer with
wide-ranging interests (including a banjo concerto
he played with the Oregon Symphony a couple years
back), Fleck continues to embark on various musical
explorations while returning occasionally to the
original lineup of the band that vaulted him to fame 30
years ago, featuring pianist/harmonica player Howard
Levy , bassist Victor Wooten and percussionist/
drumitarist Roy “Futureman” Wooten . Cheerfully
disregarding genre boundaries, their music draws on
everything from classical to jazz to bluegrass to African
music to electric blues to Eastern European sounds,
but always maintains a tunefulness and originality that
make it much more than pastiche.
You know how sometimes an old friend you haven’t
seen in years visits — and you’re surprised how much
they’ve changed? That’s how I felt hearing Mood Area
52 ’s surprising new release Find Some Kind of Light.
The Eugene ensemble’s eighth album still features
Michael Roderick ’s signature gritty vocals (more
evocative and expressive than ever) and occasional
accordion, Amy Danziger ’s soulful cello, Billy Bar-
nett ’s sizzling guitars and other recognizable fea-
tures, including a dozen original personal and political
songs by all three.
But it also continues the band’s evolution from Piaz-
zolla-influenced tango rock through film soundtracks,
Henry Mancini covers, electronica, klezmer, jazz, blues,
Balkan and Mexican music into full-fledged rootsy music
— blues rock, folk rock, country and other classic Ameri-
can sounds, enriched by Corwin Bolt on acoustic bass,
Don Elkington on drums and Kee Zublin on tenor sax.
Like seeing that old friend again, what at first seems
like a sudden shift eventually reveals itself as continued
growth in a promising direction that has actually been
a long time coming — and a welcome alternative to
the stagnation that can afflict veteran bands. The
band’s June 8 CD release party at Sam Bond’s Garage
(with Baroque Betty opening) would be a splendid
occasion to make or renew your acquaintance with one
of Eugene’s singular musical treasures. ■
Slow down and
enjoy your life.
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