4>
h J v
i
y «
^
2
"
T
^
* *
" *
—
US° ‘ h~
Louie Sims
B u , , l ' n o h« Performed, -horeographed. and laugh, ,n
<T“ ,ed * un,<’ u i form ° * I«22 » " 'h rs ,r e d
fro m her training m A f r o i n h a n . balle,, jazz. and lap dance
n r, , jr OT r ’" ¿ h* rrMW«e" « o f > u , and tap dance. Ms Bufalino
perform ed in the A van, Garde av solo.», and . u h her company a.
PERFORMANCES:
or,g,nai mu vk composed by Ed Summ eri,n
In addition io her volo cocerlv guest a n n i appearances and
M ' B u U b 'K> P tf,< x ’n' " « ■ “ " • » " » » n ,
« " d n w n io , Together they have .oured
“ t l T "
Thn
4 p p tir rd
B B t Trlev,v,on
•n England, and on cable for " A tta n iK C il» Live " Thes
choreographed ,he M o rio n G ould T ap Concerto and per I or med (he
<■ o n c e n o » ,ib ,he Brook,vn Ph,Ib a ,m o n a and the Norwalk
documentary
Friday evening. April 1. Portland:
In Portland, the performance ■ at Civic Auditor,um
pickets at Evergreen Events. Steven, and Son. Lloyd
Center. Meier and Frank. Downtown and Salam
IJan.er
*• f
tr X 3 l 2 ^ ' " C2 2 W * C,O' ' ' h ,C “ “ ,r> She choreographed and
perform ed m a teles,tw o spedai for CBS. "L o v e U p and Ltve " . , t h
W ednesday evening. M arch 30. Eugene
In Eugene, the performance of Hon, Cole» and the
Copaaetc» « at the Silva Theater, Huft Center for the
Perform,ng A rt, Eugene p re « information Mona
m
345 8079 T« * « » «’ Umverwty of Oregon and
Huh Performing Art» Center
G reat Feats o f F e e t - A Portrait ot the Jazz Tap
t bis tape, avaitabte for
“ " d' ,nd m<M’ ,rvcn,h * * ' «•»•»'ed
featuring , be I upave, k >
..‘72*7'.'°"
1, the International D u M Ftlm and Video Fesnval. . .he Cieorge
Pompidou l enter ,n P a r,, France She has puN ohed .„ K ie s on lap
d am e, and i m m e v n i H on, Coles lor
Tfeature Archives smev
W B G H
PortUnd audiences (respectively) will revel in the
showmanship and legendary skill o f five o f the greatest
tap dancers alive— Hom Coles and the Copasetics
These unusual men. all in their 70». will be joined by a
Z
remarkable dancer in her own right. a former protege o f
Hom C oles, Brenda Bufalino. who began her stage
career al age six.
Each o f the Copasetics is a legendary figure in dance
In a recent visit to Jefferson High School’ s Dance
Department in Portland, guest artist Brenda Bufalino
commented on the tap style o f the Copasetics. Asked
what Oregon audiences might see. she replied. " I t will
look inform al, but it is rarely improvised Every
movement requires great attention to detail and a lot o f
finesse
" W e play m usic." she says. (The floor is their
instrument). " W e ’re not like Broadway tap. W e add
touring, numerous albums and awards, one o f
the greatest female jazz singers o f all time, Carment
M cRae, is on the road again and scheduled to perform
one concert for Portland audiences Saturday night.
A p ril 2, 1983. at the Civic Auditorium .
Carm en M cRae has been called a "singers’ singer."
She is in constant demant for public appearances by
fans both young and old. hip and not so hip. As an
established entertainer, she more than satisfies the
increasingly critical demands o f younger America with
such popular concert engagements as those at the
Monterey Jazz Festival and the Newport Jazz Festival
Her engagements at U .C Berkeley brought typical
reviews: “ The audience didn't want her to leave and
brought her back for several encores and a wild
ovation.”
As for the mature audiences. C arm er has an equally
ardent following which takes her to the poshest nneries
and concert halls in the world, including Ronnie Scott's
in London, the Lincoln Center in New York. Carnegie
H all, the Play boy Club in Los Angeles, the Caribe
H ilton in Puerto Rico, the Eden Roc in M iam i, the
M G M Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, along with the Great
American Music H a ll and the “ chic" M ocambo in San
Francisco, and the renowned Concerts By The Sea in
Redondo Beach. California.
Carmen has been the subject o f feature story in Time
Magazine, as well as a cover story in the “ bible" o f the
music business. Downbeat Magazine, which stated:
The impact o f the M cRae charisma is being widely
felt: the cull is expanding into popular acclaim ."
The road to the top, to success as one o f America's
favorite ladies o f song, was not easy. But. as Carmen
N M A R C H W an d Apnl I . 1983. Eugene and
The biographical sketches below are so
interesting as a group that they are all included At this
writing. Oregon w ill see Hom Coles who plans to use
Bubba Gaines. Cookie Cook and Buster Brown in
performance Protege Brenda Bufalino joins them Be
cause the group is a club, and because contingencies and
says. "T h e only answer to trouble is to survive it.”
W hile growing up in M anhattan. Carmen took classical
piano lessons and. after falling under the spell o f the
_greai Billie Holiday, decided to become a singer.
recent trium ph, an album on the Concord label with
George Shearing. Two T o r The Road, the October 1982
number one album on the Billboard charts
In the past few years. Carmen has been more in
demand than ever with appearances that have spanned
the continents, including Japan. The Far East,
Australia, South America aru/M exico She has just
recently concluded a very successful tour o f Europe with
George W ien ’s Newport Jazz Fesetival. The critics
raved at Carmen's recent appearance at the Hollywood
Bowl as part o f the 1980 Playboy Jazz Festival, and she
appeared again at the Bowl recently in the Los Angeles
Philharmonic's Jazz Series with M el Torme
1
ApoSo
* " * <■ < W
from
through
O
:
A
T
M r c oles
'
c 'r 19 " * * * Bu fa l,n ° received a fra n i ,ro m the Sanonal
_
_
Z7ie N e w
The image of a lough, salty tad> lh al Carm en McRae cuDtvaled for
interpretation and sensitive shading than she once die And she n a
much more compelling singer as a result
M ist S k Rae hav no, abandoned ihe I w sk elements o f her style But
her declamatory manner o f projecting lyrics »luch » a t once cun and
flippan t. has been slowed dow n, filled oul. given coloring She is
X
involved in her songs rather than gazing a, them cooty fro m a
distance She has opened herself up. made herself vulnerable and. ,n
ihe process, changed ,o one » h o can get the em otional depths o f a
song
k- ~ "
B t ° W 2
" * “ “* ' *
IE .
h -
She is nil using her hahii o f seizing ihe words o f a tync. very
detiberaiety. one by one Bui instead o f throwing them aw ay. she n
-
w fv»,. . „ h the dance ,n n t
Carman M e Baa h a t baan called a amyar i wnyar
" * " • « « & - » , » , , , ro Shout
During the '40s she worked intermittently as a band
vocalist (w ith Mercer Ellington. Benny Carter, and
Count Baste, among others), filling in the gaps with jobs
as a chorus girl and secretary. By the time a Chicago
club hired her as a singer-pianist in 1940. she was so
broke she had to borrow money from the owner to join
the local union. But in the early 5 0 s ^ a n h e r « U p p e d *»
out from behind the ivories as a solo singer, cuffier ffn i
C ah « i L “ ' 7 7 J* k ° ’ k* H '
« * '*
i
r7 7 ? *'
* nJ « • vommtvvKvoed hv ,he
l " - « l Stales Oepanm em o , S tair ,o lo w
A, r x „
H » » iv e a .o n m w n d P e r,o rm a n .,
lhe tale Empetov H , , i e Saka,.ve
«nd arp rared in Duke E H,n»,on v Sacred M uck C o k c t ,
Charles Cooki
C oo.-and Ernest
Brown SMh beyan ih e,, careen m vaudeville
Brownie
Thev became . e l
k n o -n a , the d am e «earn Cook and B r e n , famous for ih n r eccem rx
vtapUKk vomedv u vle Thes have loured « n h the orchestras of Duke
E lb n r o n and C oun ,
kttr
Leslie Bubba
k m
Ba-e
C lta rtn Cook appeared on B ro w l.a v ,n
We
Games . a c h a re ,
member of The Three
Dukes, the " , M erna,«m a, am tocratv o t dance " H e has had a io n ,
Thursday. 12/10/81
many years has recently been softening In her performances here.
Miss McRae ,s tinging » u h more emphasis on thoughtful
pm,armed
' •* —
York Times
• ho n r,rml» rnirenshed h i the
philovophy o f p u n l) o f jazz
believed ,n by h n early heroes
Cabaret Carmen McRae
by John S. H iison
tn t.h u lev Lhollv
Coles and Atkins became legend, ol
ihe prolevvKvn »hen thev developed a s lo . »oil shoe vivle a llih e ,,
* * " " DrM,°
P E N IN G ihe Carm en
M vRae concen » i ll he
Portland O re fo n v own ,a z /
drum m er. Ron Sieen. and h »
trio H e ptavs ihe kind of ia e j he
^ ¡ ¡ ¡ ^ ¡ ¿ ^ ¡ ¡ ^ A n M o d ^ e c r a n d produce a t.o - h o u , .«Sewage
BuM' hn» B ,l” n Sugar. and h a first performance
on B r,v » d ..s .a s ,n N rtm I M ,
hop as an intermission pum si and sometime singer Borh espenensr-
laught her ihe importance of portraying em otion in her mutts, and
com rihuied lo her ability ,o turn a song into a tlo ry . lo make 11 come
vom prom iiev A U year o ld
muvKian. voung in ihe muwc
busmen, ptayv lo d a y 'i m uiK bui
« . . . . manager
„e p C o rm ^
Born m Brooklyn ■» IM J . Carm en had ,he good fo r,une lo befriend
Billie Holiday in I9 W . and taler appeared a, M in io n ’i in the heyday o f
» a m i io ptav » iih o u , making
anv kind o f com m eroal
Tha Copesetics
fraternity of Black entertainers
dedicated to 8,11’’ Bojangles Robinson
” ° hn i vCv ° ,'* ?
1« Caim an M cR ae a amqmg doaan i pur you M a fo o d m ood,
hor amdo w M rum you on She makoa lynca kvo and rhtoh "
On the same program:
Ron Steen Trio
3.
opportunities do arise, we may see a substitution, or an
addition?
of
Carmen McCrae
her offerings. Lyrics, content, time and sound fall
together, each one nourishing the other "
"M iss M cRae delves to the hear,, touching the
listener with her understanding, passion, craftsmanship;
her ability to transmit a song into a personal
happening " And, as Time Magazine pul it, when you
experience Carmen M cRae in person and she "m olds a
song’s line and beat like a favorite sofa pillow
you
know you have experienced something special "
In the past few years. Carmen has released many
albums. The first, a two-record set for Atlantic is
entitled "T h e Great American Song B o o k ," and was
recorded live at Dome's in Los Angeles For admirers o f
great jazz singing, this one is a must. The second album
is for Tern pome Records and is entitled simply,
"C a rm e n ." The album consists o f ongianal songs
written by Bob Friedman and arranged by Benny Carter
and his A ll-Star Orchestra.
On the Blue Note Label o f United Artists. Carmen
has the following albums in release: I A m Music, C a n ’t
H ide Love. Blue N o te A I The Roxy, and Carmen
M cRae A t The Great American Music H a ll. And now.
Carmen greets ihe ’80s with her debut album on
Versatile. I'm Coming Hom e Again, and her most
B u 66 <
The TV. Incredible
Copasetics:
a-:_
Not«
k « • A •• t
ETER T H R E E D E C A D E S o f awards, worldwide
Among her fellow entertainers, her fans are legion—
Billy Eckstine, Sarah Vaughn. Della Reese. Ella Fitz
gerald, Dizzy Gillespie. Sammie Davis, Jr., with whom
she has loured, and mans more » hose encouragemcn,
has helped Carmen to reach the top o f her profession.
Teles ,s.on , M ah o n a
” ®nl Colas w ill kn o ck you o u t w ith ong o f his
,Th* Hoor ia hia instrum ent I
revival is long overdue . . A fter decades o f neglect,
up-dancing is in the spotlight again, thanks largely to
(he resurgence o f jazz in the 1970». nostalgia for the
Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers era and the re-staging of
musicals like No, N o, Nanette. Having survived ihe lean
yean, some o f them as messengers and clerks, these
marvelous entertainers are hack on view, as
astonishingly good as e v e r."
The Copasetics formed their club in 1949 shortly after
H ill
Bojangles Robinson died. In his memory, the
dancers named their club ihe Copasetics. As the story
goes, it was Bojangles who coined the phrase.
"Everything is copasetic " " H o m Coles. Busier Brown.
Charles ’C ookie’ C ook. Ernest ’ Brownie’ Brown.
Henry Baby’ Phace Roberts, and Leslie ’ Bubba’
Gaines make sure ii stays that way . " (Linda Winer
New York D aily News).
"Bojangles" made the leap from Shirley Temple to
the silver screen. For the most part, though, tap-dancing
thrived on ghetto street corners, in black clubs and
theaters, and especially the Hoofers Chib, the “ Harlem
paradise o f T ap Dancing" ( A in e w M I) . Some
performed as children in vaudeville teams and all have
spent their lifetime developing unique styles all their
•
*
On the seme program with the Copesetics
will be
»•nging. and historical anecdotes. Bui above all. evry
ticketholder will have reserved a little piece o f u p dance
history— still in the making
” *tory. Each has seen several eras in entertainment
come and go and all are enjoying a revived interest in
their art As A/ewjwre* ( A p ril 2«. 1980). reports "T h e
,
‘ H eappni n
dOCU,ntnUr'
u h
BX
Singers Singer"
A
P«
W<h
kn~ " d u b ’ “ " * Casino de
P u n . the London Palladium . the Em pire in Dobho and N e » Y o rk -,
competitive w o rk -e x c itin g challenges between artists
There will be collaboration, too. Shim Shunt, for
example, is a group piece, choreographed by Hom
Coles. IP ii /* A round is a Cole piece, as well.
t omedy is always a big part o f the Copasetic show
and audiences will delight at the zany repartee, the
O
-b
Copasetics (and all good, original tap), everyone is a
stylist. And the goal over a lifetime is to develop one’s
own individuality as a dancer The steps are very secret
and sometimes dancers try to steal steps from one
another There are endless possibilities; otherwise, how
could you stay with it for fifty year?”
So, Oregon audiences can expect some very
<ui
p A H
Brenda B u falino (le ft) and Charles
Cook fright)
end members of the Copesetics w ill st
it you on fire
»rtth their fancy fo otw ork
records, and the rest is history .
The Saturday Review Magazine has stated that " C a r
men McRae today commands attention on her own
terms Sonas seem not merely songs to her. but
experience, about »hich she has intimate knowledge.
Most important, a delicate balance has been struck tn
nurturing them and finding ihe colors in ,hem II is a method lhal she
uses w ith grea, skill on such ballads av " T o o Laie N o . and My
Foolish Henri
And »hen she takes o ff al faster tempos, she si,II
•he swinging vemibiliiv [fiat gives these songs a lusty spin, that
pis-vides a foundation for mannerisms ihal never quite work oa •
-ong'
\p » York Post 12/2/81
M c C rs s a w is d o m is q uio t. in te rn a l
by C u rt Davis
You d o n 'i go to see C armen M cRae for sitmutanon or anim ation
•"pPJ
U Aw"
her < ‘:<>ua% e o fly n c a l »isdom and a >0 * 1
mohsBly »,<Jun a small but » e ll comroSed range She vnings bui no,
al»ass along ihe metodv line She seems lo enjov some hop but her
heart is in her ballads And that’ s »here her ,azz is ,oo
Jazz Scene
Lynn Darroch. E ditor
According io the tale Ralph Gleason. "She occupies a place m Use
hearts o f lazz musicians that is s e n special "
C a rm e n M c fla a is o n e o f Ih e g re a te s t je e r smgoea o f all tim e
Long live th a g re a t C a rm a n M c R a »
t armen McRae recorded her firs, album m the earl, I »so, in d
since rha, lim e has ahd a vpeitacutarlv successful career for a jazz
m usKon « u h a home in I A s BenedKr C e n s o r and numerous
albums lo show to r rt. as well as a continuing siring o f concert
appearans m jn d near unanimous cntical ac\ taim Bui all this has no,
turned her from ihe path o f iru ih and jazz " I don 1 »an t a household
name hkr Pat Boone for ansrhuigin the » o rld
From »here I tu if
that’s w hai you tike ih to there’ , nothing I could even begin io sas
lhal you d und rruand The Pa, Boone »as o f singing doesn , make
you fhink
For a singer, ihe onls thing lhas have for you lo
under viand is ihe » te d s And if s o u re nor going to listen then » h a i
are rhes o ffe rin g ' Nothing And if that*, « h a , sou » a m — nothing—.
risen don t listen t o me 'Cause I have somefhing io ta s and I don 't
» a n n o talk ,o ihe atr
Av Ralph Gleason put „ . She can get a
q u a lm o f ntnmacs into a puhhc performance tha, is almost
embarrassing, u ’s so real
A