6. The Portland Observer, May 2, 1990
Ns
ENTERTAINMENT
Mt. Hood Jazz Festival Announces
Complete 1990 Lineup
an announcem ent by Paul Kreider,
Festival of Jazz Foundation President.
The Festival is Aug. 3-5 outdoors at
M l Hood Com m unity College.
The five jazz artists join the ninth
annual Jazz Festival lineup that al­
ready includes Mel Torm e, Tony
Bennett, the Terry Gibbs Dream Band,
Larry Carlton, Stanley Jordan, A1 Hirt,
M ichael Franksand the Harper Broth­
ers. Singer Anita Baket headlines the
popular Friday Night Event this year.
JOHNNY GRIFFIN
Saxophonist Johnny Griffin, conga
drum m er Mongo Santam aria, pianist
Ray Bryant, bassist Leroy Vinnegar
and the duo o f Tuck and Patti have
been signed to round out the 1990 Mt.
Hood Festival o f Jazz, a c c o rd in e jo
Parch man Farm
Continues To Boast Six
Nights of Jazz Each Week
Jazz is King at the Parchman Farm
and judging from the energy and ex­
citement generated every Monday night
at the w eekly jam sesion, this is one
king everyone likes.
Proprietor Rob A ndersen and jam -
session pianist G ordon Lee will cele­
brate all that jazz when the popular
lounge swings into a festival mode on
M onday, May 21. The Farm celebrates
the first anniversary of the Monday
N ight Jam with the first-ever Jammie
awards
Music is the backbone o f the Parch­
man Farm six nights a w eek, with the
M arianne Mayfield Quarter doing yeo­
man duty every Friday and Saturday
night. The quartet, focusing on M ay­
field’s swinging vocals, has a lock on
weekends, and now is in its third year.
The May calendar at the Farm fea­
tures the duo o f Andre St. Jam es and
Larry Natwick, a popular jazz twosome
that keeps on getting belter w hile draw ­
ing good Tuesday crowds.
L e Jazz Hot, the duet o f guitarist
Turtle Vandemarr and bassist Tom
M iller, continues to intrigue W ednes­
day night listeners with a varied offer­
ing o f ’30s swing and jazz.
Thursday nights are the province of
pianist Darin Clcndinin, whose trio fea­
tures bassist Dan Presley and drummdr
K urt Deutscher. Jazz listeners are find­
ing C lendenin’s presence on the Port­
land jazz scene one o f the distinct high­
lights of Portland’s increasingly crea­
tive jazz scene.
The Parchm an Farm offers live mu­
sic six nights a week and recorded jazz
from a wide selection o f com pact discs
(CD ) during all other open hours. The
club, at 1204 SE Clay, one block south
o f Haw thorne Boulevard, boasts a full-
service restaurant and bar.
Key LÆG
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T hurs . M ay 3
B ig H ouse
F ri .-S at . 4 & 5
S ho ck
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B o c h in c h e
M on . 7
L ew J ones B e T rue
T ues . 8
P .M .A . N ew B a n d
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W ed . 9
J osephine O cean
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Santamaria has long been at the top
o f the heap when it com es to conga
drummers. He left Cuba for the U.S. in
1948 and soon was working with Latin
bandleaders tito Puente and Cal Tjader
before forming his own band.
Bryant was bom in the ripe jazz a t­
mosphere o f Philadelphia, where he
began playing piano at 6, subsequently
learning jazz from listening to Art Tatum,
Teddy W ilson, Count Basie and others.
Chicago native Griffin has resided
in Europe for the past 25 years but
makes an annual visit to the Unitet
States to tour. A standout im provisa­
tional talent and known for his speed
and technical prowess, Griffin brings a
solid bebop style to the Festival.
He learned bebop via Bud Powell and
Red Garland while gathering steam
on his own distinctive style o f piano
jazz.
Bassist Vinnegar, who leads a quar­
tet, has long been in the company of
elite jazz musicians. H is first claim
to fame cam e in the ’50s, when he
joined Andre Previn and Shelley Manne
to record the best-selling “ My Fair
L ady’ ’ jazz album and went on to be­
come one ofthe leading bassists in
jazz.
Tuck and Patti play in the contem ­
porary framework o f jazz.
Additional information may be ob­
tained from the Mt. Hood Festival of
Jazz office by phoning 503-666-3810.
“227” Star Toukie Smith Steps Into the Spotlight
Stepping from the shadow of her late
brother, fashion designer W illi Smith,
top m odel-tum ed-actress Toukie Smith
finally arrives, to find prim e time show
business succsgs , reports the May Eb­
ony.
Certainly no stranger to celebrity
status and scrutiny, Ms. Smith, 35, who
has enjoyed high visibility careers in
modeling, catering and now acting, talks
about growing up with her better-known
brother, and explains how she dealt
with the tragedy o f recently losing her
mother, brother and baby. ” 1 te tta total
sense o f loss. I mean, how could I
not?” Ms. Smith said. “ You have to
take every tragedy, every obstacle, and
turn it around and make it positive,”
she adds.
A longtime companion of actor Robert
DeNior, Ms. Smith elects to keep the
details o f their much publicized private
lives private. “ Do you know how to
spell it?” she asked. “ P-R-I-V-A-T-E,
and that’s with a capital P .”
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“Stories About The Old Days”
To Receive West Coast Premiere
Oregon Stage Com pany, W ashing­
ton C ounty’s professional theatre, will
present the W est Coast Premiere o f
S tories A bout T he O ld Days by Bill
Harris, May 12-June 3 at the Forum
Theatre, 17705 NW Springville Road
(on the Rock Creek cam pus of Portland
Com m unity College).
Originally produced at New Y ork’s
Henry Street Settlem ent (where the re­
nowned “ For Colored Girls . . . “ also
originated), S tories A b o u t T he O ld
Days is a comic dram a about the friend­
ship that gradually develops between
two retired people who meet in a run­
down D etroit church. C laybom is a
former blues singer who has recently
become the church custodian in ex­
change for a place to sleep; Ivy is a
soloist in the church choir who is both
appalled and intrigued by this new ­
comer. C laybom likes to sing a little
blues w hile he sweeps, and Ivy feels
that type o f music belongs in a back
alley, not in a house o f God. Claybom
roots for the hometown D etroit Tigers;
Ivy prefers the more powerful New
York Yankees (it’s 1970). Through a
series o f conversations, stories, argu­
ments and a few games o f checkers, the
two progress from mutual animosity to
a deeper understanding and apprecia­
tion o f each other.
To The Neighborhood. Together, Brenda
and Anthony were in The Resurrection
O f Lady Lester, Zoom an And The Sign
and W ine In The W ilderness.
Oregon Stage Company Artistic Di­
rector Gary O ’Brien will direct Stories
A bout T he O ld Days. Scene design is
by Mark Loring, costum es by W anda
W alden, and lighting by Kobe Enright.
Stories About The O ld D ays will
have three low-priced preview s, Satur­
day May 12 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday May
13 at 7:00 p.m., and Tuesday May 15 at
8:00 p.m. Preview tickets are $10.
Regular perform ances begin W ednes­
day May 16 and continue through Sun­
day June 3. Curtain times are 8 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday nights, 7 p.m.
Sunday nights, and there are tw o Sun­
day matinees at 2 p.m . May 27 and June
3. Please note: the only performance
on Saturday June 2 will be a 2 p.m.
matinee (no evening show). Tickets for
all regular perform ances are $15, ex­
cept Friday and Saturday nights which
are $16. There is also a $2 discount for
students, seniors and groups o f 20 or
more. To purchase tickets for Stories
A bout T he O ld Days, call the Ticket
Office at 690-7328, or com e by during
the hours o f 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday at the Forum
Theatre, PCC-Rock Creek.
Oregon Stage C om pany’s produc­
tion o f Stories A bout T he O ld Days
features two o f Portland’s top actors,
Brenda Phillips and Anthony P. A rm ­
strong. Brenda won last season’s award
for Best Actress in a Musical for The
Colored M useum, and has also been in
A Raisin In The Sun, A . . . My Name Is
Alice, The Little Foxes and Little Shop
o f Horrors. Anthony recently played
Dr. M artin Luther King, Jr. in The
M eeting, and also appeared in Ma
R ainey’s Black Bottom, Short Eyes,
W oza Albert! and the video W elcome
NOTICE!
Elect a new state representative for
District 18. Non-Partisan means
common cause. W rite in Robert
Forthan M ay 15,1990.
Authorized by R o b e rt F o rth a n , 316
N. Beech St., Portland, Oregon
97227
The 12 Most Exciting Black Men
W ith their combined qualities of
talent, pow er and magnetic appeal, Eb­
o n y ’s “ 12 M ost Exciting Black M en”
possess the special ability to arouse,
motivate, thrill and inspire, reports the
M ay Ebony.
W hether it be their dazzling good
looks, personal charism a o r their in­
tense passion for their work, these Black
men, representing the fields o f politics,
entertainm ent, sports and the military,
have the essentials to catch many a
w om an’s attention, and hold it. The
allure o f celebrities,including talk show
host Arsenio Hall, and actors Denzel
W ashington and Blair Underwood, of­
ten arouse em otional resonses from
women.
Others included among the m ost ex­
citing Black men are the Rev. Jesse
Jackson, NBA basketball star Michael
Jordan and actors Eddie M urphy, Billy
Dee W illiam s and Morgan Freeman.
COLUMBIA THEATER
COMPANY PRESENTS
A PLAY BY
JOHN FORD NOONAN
DIRECTED BY
PETER FORNARA
MAY 4 - JUNE 2
THUR, FRI, SAT.
8 :0 0 PM
SUN. MAY 2 0 & 27
2 :0 0 PM
2 0 2 1 SE
HAWTHORNE BLVD.
RESERVATIONS
I b ?»
2 3 2 -7 0 0 5
t
• Behind The Scenes I Behind The Scenes I Behind The Scenes / Behind The Scenes I
•
Behind The Scenes / Behind The Scenes
by Lisa Collins
All In the Sam e G ang: The site was
Nickerson G ardens, one o f the deadli­
est projects in the United States, wrecked
by poverty, gang shootings and drug
abuse.
The crowd included M.C.
Hammer, N.W .A., Tone Loc, the Fresh
Prince, JJ Fad, Body & Soul, M i’chell
Le, and Eazy-E. The reason? The
taping o f a music video “ W e’re All In
The Same G ang” , a collaborative ef­
fort on the part o f west coast rappers to
call a halt to gang violence. (Ice-T and
Young M.C. were taping their parts
later). The video was the brainchild of
Crips co-founder Mike Conception, “ I
was just tired of seeing 90% o f our
youth turn around and kill one another,”
said Conception, who has formed his
own record label. Conception, who has
done hard time and was left a paraple­
gic after being shot. The bottom line
for Conception is love. " T o show some
unity and love for one another and to
show that we want to try to alleviate
some o f the stuff that’s going on to­
day .” The song calls for an ending to
gang violence, at the very least a na­
tionw ide peace truce beginning Friday,
July 13, 1990. The song and video are
scheduled for release from W arner
Brothers on M ay 15. Proceeds will go
to an em ploym ent and referral service
for W atts residents. Ironically, word
was that some of the rappers and pro­
duction crew w eren’t so sure oftheir
safety, but security was tight. And
while Denise “ Dee” B arnes, one half
of the group Body & Soul, and hostess
o f the syndicated TV show Pump It Up
(featuring the lifestyles as well as vid­
eos o f hip-hop music celebrities and en­
joying a great deal o f success in cities
like Los Angeles and New York) says
she’s been at some parties where gang
violence has erupted, through the New
York native knows little firsthand of
LA street gangs. “ For us, it’s all about
unity, and that’s what our group. Body
& Soul, is trying to prom ote”
“ It’s very real,” said T one-L oc, look­
ing right at home as he signed auto­
graphs in a T-shirt and jeans. “ Every­
body thinks that back East is so rough
and tough, and that Los Angeles is all
Hollywood and stars, but as quiet as it’s
kept, this is one o f the m ost dangerous
places to live right now .” An LA
native, Tone-Loc was one o f the first
rappers to embrace the idea. “ This is
real im portant to me, because I am an
ex-gang mem ber, so I can identify. I
was a sc ra p p e r-a little hard head, but
today I’m giving a positive image. I’m
trying to say you can overcom e all of
this.” As to his own future plans?
“ Music is ju st a stepping stone. I d on’t
plan on being rapper more than another
year and a half. I ’m into real estate.
One thing about it, they may think it’s
all a rap but I do have an education and
I know w hat to do with my money when
I make it.”
W illS m ith ,a k a “ T he F resh P rin c e ” ,
(of D.J. Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince
fame) was perhaps most out o f place. In
fact, the East Coast-based rapper was
drafted into the video after having
dropped by to show his support. Smith
was in Los Angeles to tape a pilot for a
TV show, entitled “ The Prince o f Bc-
lair” , based on the exploits o f a kid
from the projects of Philadelphia who
moves in with a family from Belair.
Those already cast in the pilot are Denise
Nicolas and veteran com edian Don
Rickies.
S h o rt T akes: As E ddie M u rp h y fin­
ishes up productions on “ Another 48
H ours” , rumors are flying as to his
leaving Paramount. W ord is h e’s been
grumping about the le rm s-a measly $9
million (plus 15% pcccntagc) for some
time now. He calls it the worst deal in
Hollywood. (Sorry Eddie, you’ll get no
sympathy here)
ME’ AOPOG'AN AHIS COMM-SÜOH
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