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Portland, Oregon
VOLUME XIX NUMBER 8
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February 23rd, 1989
"The Eyes and Ears of the Community"
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B lack H istory M onth
Jefferson H igh W restling team
shoots for a pin
Jefferson H igh wrestling coaches Donnie McPherson and Don Lierman have a
rig ht to be happy. Jefferson won its first P IL dual meet w restling championship
in 30 years. Thursday, February 16, Jefferson beat previously unbeaten Grant 32-
19 to take the championship in an action-packed wrestling finale which kept the
crowd on the edge o f their seats for most o f the evening. Jefferson fin a lly took
control o f the match when 171 pounder Jay K im won by m ajor decision over
LaCandra Teal, 7th Grade,
Ockley Green
G rant’ s Ethan Plam.
According to McPherson, Jefferson has a strong young team which w ill graduate
only three seniors. Through w orking hard and strict discipline, McPherson feels
that the team has reached a level o f respectability throughout the state. McPherson
says, * ‘ Here at Jefferson there’ s no secret to success in anything you do except hard
w ork and putting in quality time, whether i t ’ s sports or academics. We use sports
as a vehicle to teach young men to compete in life as w ell as on the wrestling mat. ”
Key people in the Demos’ line-up include Eric Metcalfe (20-2) a sophomore who
has worked hard over the summer to improve his wrestling skills and has unlim ited
potential. Look out for Eric in the state tournament.
Bobby Janisse, a ju n io r w ith w orld class experience and team leader w ho’ s actual
w eight is 119, but has wrestled in much higher weights for the good o f the team.
Janisse is 21-1, w ith his only loss coming when wrestling at the 130 pound weight
class, 11 pounds above his actual weight. Look for Jamsse to be a dominate force
in the state tournament at his normal 119 pound weight class.
Damon McPherson, a freshman w ith nine years o f wrestling experience, is doing
w ell at the 135 pound class. McPherson currently has a 18-4 record and w ill wrestle
at the 130 pound class fo r the state tournament.
Jay K im , one o f the three seniors on the team, is the only remaining wrestler from
four years ago when McPherson and Lierm an took over as coaches. K im has a 19-
3 record and looks to place high in the state tournament in March.
McPherson is happy to realize a dream he had four years ago, to establish a
championship wrestling team at Jefferson High, which is a predominantly basketball
powerhouse.
McPherson says, “ M y greatest jo y comes from seeing young men I ’ ve coached
over the years doing w ell in life ’ .
Heather Yost, 6th Grade,
Ockley Green
Teams Members are:
K’Zell Wesson 7th Grade,
Ockley Green
Eric Metcalfe
Jet Edwards
Hank Travis
Bobby Janisse
Chris Low ery
Damon McPherson
Tom m y L im ne ll
David Stephens
Shannon Wash
George Archer
Jay K im
Lawrence James
Carlton Slater
HW T
103
112
119
125
130
135
140
145
152
160
171
189
“ Great moves fo r a big fe llo w ”
SENIOR OF THE WEEK
Jitesh Patel, 7th Grade,
Ockley Green
BY Jimi Johnson
Donnie McPherson,
Wrestling Coach,
Jefferson High School
D aisylin Otcn came to Portland in 1968
after livin g in Queens New Y o rk for five
years. O rigina lly from the beautiful
island o f Jamaica, Mrs. Oten puts a high
premium on education.
In her homeland, she served as a teacher
and was an inspiration to the many young
people whose lives she
When
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Daisy (as Mrs.Oten prefers to be called)
arrived in Portland, she immediately set
out to complete her college education.
A fte r g ra du atin g fro m P o rtlan d
Com m unity College w ith a A A Degree,
Daisy attended Portland State University
and obtained a B.S. Degree in social
work. Mrs. Oten often says “ Y o u ’ re
never to old to learn.”
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THE ORCHESTRA THAT TOOK THE ‘A’ TRAIN
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AROUND THE WORLD
By Peggy Langrall
Smithsonian News Service
Wherever they w en t-N e w po rt, London,
Moscow or T a ip e i-th e ir fans listened,
spellbound, as the firs t delectable
dissonances o f the Duke Ellington
Orchestra pulsed through the hall. A
reporter in Orlando, Fla., in March 1971,
described an audience ju s t so -listen ing
“ w ith reverent awe” w hile the band
went on to “ wend its way through h a lf a
century o f jazz.”
Ellington, who headed a band almost
that long, until hisdeath in 1974, worked
his magic w ith exciting and complex
sound. His mood-weaving recorded music
continues to summon anything from foot-
tapping jo y to reflective solitude, and
today’s audiences often break into
spontaneous applause at the first
distinctive notes, just as they did when
the Duke was on stage.
In Washington, D. C , Ellington’ s home
to w n -th e high school fo r performing
arts and a bridge are named for h im -
there is going to be a monthlong
celebration in A p ril, m arking the 90th
anniversary o f the band leader’ s birth.
Among other events, the Ellington
International Study Conference w ill
convene its far-flung fans, w ith a band to
include alumni o f Duke E lling to n ’s
orchestra. The Smithsonian Institution’ s
National Museum o f Am erican History
w ill present daily performances and
programs and an exhibit, “ Duke
Ellington: American M usician.”
A p ro lific composer, Ellington drew on
A fro-A m erican, Latin and many other
traditions. He was inspired by everything
that happened to him . “ Having fun
through freedom o f expression,” is one
way that Ellington defined jazz. Such a
unique tonal palette, from the mellifluous
chords he scattered over the piano to the
w ild ly original voicings and harmonies
he wrote fo r his players, had never been
heard from any dance band before.
“ The O ld Man knew how to get the best
from each individual player,” Mercer
Ellington, Duke’s son and present leader
o f the band, said at the Smithsonian’s
acquisition ceremonies in 1988 fo r a
huge collection o f Ellington scores, tapes
and memorabilia. M ost o f the band’s
jazz virtuosos, like Johnny Hodges, Harry
Carney, Paul Gonsalves, Lawrence Brown
and Cootie W illiam s, have moved w ith
the Duke into legend. B ut music lovers
can recapture the feel o f their now vanished
w orld in the archives o f the Museum o f
Am erican History.
Com prising about h alf o f E lling to n ’ s
total output o f more than 1,000 pieces,
the collection contains orchestrations-
some 200 in E lling to n ’ s own hand­
ranging, alphabetically, all the way from
“ A w fu l Sad” through “ Zurdsay.” The
collection w ill open form ally fo r study
when the cataloging, m icro film ing and
all other processing is completed in several
years. Musicians and scholars w ill find
examples o f “ the major stages through
which an Ellington composition generally
progressed,” says Columbia University’ s
M ark Tucker, the firs t music scholar to
go through the materials.
Much o f jazz originates in improvisation-
not on paper-but it w ill now be possible
to trace the genesis and form o f Ellington’s
compositions from these scores. Once
he had sketched out an idea at the piano,
often w orking alone far into the night,
the leader would collaborate w ith his
players to develop the score. Ellington
had a genius for bringing out talents the
players sometimes didn’ t know they had.
Smithsonian jazz authority M artin
W illia m s says that, thanks to the scores
in the collections, “ jazz bands can perform
Ellington's music as he wrote iL bringing
to a new generation the sounds once
heard in New Y o rk C ity ’ s Colton Club
and at uncounted on-night stands around
the country. Moreover, the collection
documents E lling to n ’ s place as on e o f
this century’ s m ajor composers.”
Among the numerous reels o f audio tapes
the museum now owns is a group made
in the late 1960s but never issued. There
are also literally hundreds o f photographs
o f the band members and their leader.
More than 50 scrapbooks document the
journeys, dance gigs and concerts. Stashed
in boxes are some o f the band’ s business
papers, as w ell as portions o f E llington’ s
autobiographical manuscript and a
lifetim e o f jottings on hotel stationery.
•y • f
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the A T rain’ ’- the subway to Harlem—
was w ritten by E lling to n ’ s b rillia n t
collaborator, pianist-arranger B illy
Strayhom. A number o f his hand-written
compositions are also in theSmithsoman
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collection.
“ F or musical wizardry and subtlety,
Ellington was far above any o f his
comtemporaries,” W illiam s says. The
glamorous show band reached a peak o f
creativity in the 1940s, w ith such blow ­
outs as “ Braggin’ in Brass,” which
W illia m s describes as “ a tour de force
o f unsurpassed brass virtuosity” ; “ Harlem
A irsha ft,” evoking urban apartment
liv in g , and * ‘Cotton T a il,’ ’ an incredible
version o f “ I Got R hythm .” W ith 250
quarter notes per minute, it has been
called “ one o f the landmarks o f the
era.
E llington, who frequently said “ I d o n 't
believe in categories o f any kind ,” in
1941 branched out musically w ith the
review, “ Jump fo r Joy,” abreakthrough
fo r black musical theater. A series o f
Carnegie H all concerts began in 1943
when Ellington composed the extended
w ork, “ Black, Brown, and Beige,” w ith
the beautiful anthem “ Come Sunday.”
Success fo llo w ed upon success. The
tumultuous trium ph al the 1956 Newport
Jazz Festival, generated by a performance
o f “ Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue,”
featuring Paul Gonsalves on saxophone,
landed E llington on the cover o f Time.
Ellington made news again when he was
There are awards and trophies, posters form ally presented to the Queen o f
and the actual band stands bearing replicas England, after a concert in 1958. In
o f the elegantly calligraphed Ellington 1963, the band was selected by the U.S.
signature-all communicating a sense o f State Department to conduct a good-w ill
tour o f the Near and M id dle E a st-
Duke E lling to n ’ s enormous energy.
unprecedented in the annals o f diplomacy.
Born in Washington, D.C., on A p ril 29, The Maharajah o f Cooch Behai, w lio
1989, Edward Kennedy E llington grew flew in fo r a concert from Kashm ir w ith
up, beloved and happy, in a moderately a large portion o f his fam ily, owned a ll
w ell-to-do fam ily. His father, a butler— o f E llin g to n ’ s records.
at one time, at the W hite H ouse-m ade a The composer’ s output in 1963 alone
point o f picking up and passing on a included “ A fro Bossa,” incoroorating
fe llin g fo r refinement to his children. Latin rhythms, and the suite “ Such Sweet
Thunder,” commissioned by the Stratford
E lling to n ’ s adored mother gave her son
(O ntario) Shakespeare Festival. The
every confidence in his worth and future.
equally acclaimed “ Far East Suite,”
He took his first piano lessons w ith a
including “ A d L ib on N ippon,” came
M iss Clinkscales in 1906, studied art,
from E lling to n's hand when he toured
and worte his first song, * * Soda Fountain
Japan.
Rag,” at age 15.
Ever surprising, the composer turned to
In 1922, like many a musician since,
serious liturgical expression in the decade
E llington gravitated to New Y o rk C ity.
before his death, w ith the firs t in a series
He and some Washington pals formed a
o f sacred concerts that was held at Grace
band and gradually found dance hall
Cathedral in San Francisco. W orld­
jobs in Harlem and on Broadway. B y
hopping almost incessantly, the composer
1927, the band was playing at H arlem ’ s
represented the United Stales at the World
famous C otton C lub where a featured
Festival o f Negro Arts in Dakar, Senegal,
section o f the nightly review was a
in 1966, performing another sacred concert
betwecn-scus concert piece. Though much
that year at Conventry Cathedral, England.
o f the band’ s early music was w ritten for
A t his 70th birthday party, held in the
overtures and specialty dances or to move house where his father once worked as a
a comedian on and o ff stage, fo r the set
butler, Ellington received the Presidential
breaks E llington was able to w r i t e
Medal o f Freedom. A series o f acclaimed
“ Creole Love C a ll” and “ Black and
tours in Eastern Europe, Russia, the Fir
Tan Fantasy,’ ’ the first o f his extended
Pact, Australia and South America
works.
follow ed.
The band went to H ollyw ood to appear A fter a concert in Buenos Aires, the fans
in the first o f a series o f movies, and
were s till on hand at 5:30 in the morning
now-world-fam ous compositions came
when the bus departed w ith die musicians
along such as the eerily voiced “ M ood
fo r the a irp o rt
In d ig o " and em inently danceable
“ E llington changed the notion o f what it
“ Sophisticated Lady.”
In 1933, the
was possible to do w ith die standard jaza
Duke made his first European tour and
b ig band,” Colum bia U niversity’ s M ark
wrote “ Daybreak Express,” a musical
Tucker says. Few know , fo r instance,
re-creation o f the sounds o f a tram as it
that the stunning score fo r the 1 9 ^) Otto
pulls out o f a station, hurtles through the
Preminger film . “ Anatomy o f a Murder,**
night and comes to a halt at dawn.
was c o m p o s e d ly Duke E llin g tt» .
E llington loved trains, and through the
Am ong the band's artifacts there is even
1930s and 1940s, he and the band spent
a scenario he wrote for a opera that was
thousands o f hours on them. He used the
to be called ‘ ‘ Boola,” about an A frican
almost m ythic quality about trains in
brought to this country as a slave.
several o f his pieces, and “ Daybreak
So rich a variety of works interests and
Express' ’ demonstrates his pure love Of
refreshes even after many listening!.
sound. Even the train w histle-m ade by
Ellington, himself, “ loved it all,” Tuck«
a combination o f tig h tly voiced clarinets
- ring old
says. N o r d id he tire o - f playing
and muted trumpets-is uncannily soulful
favorites fo r fo lks w ith fond m e m o ria l
and real.
saying, " Y o u have to respect
The band's famous signature tune, “ Take
memories.”
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