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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 4, 2004)
•W B lack H istory M February 04. 2004 .W s p e c ia l cocer a r/e’ o n th Focus Nat King Cole Inspired Generations WicK steps ape ^alKin< Bandleader got start at age 4 in father’s church Diverse folklore meets new styles in an original, raw performance Teela Labrum as Liza Fox. Painting by Gwenn Seemel. “Trickster Tells This Tale,” is a devised piece for live perfor mance conceived and directed by Jamie Lynne Powell-Herbold. The result of a six-week work shop in experimental storytelling with a young ensemble of actors, this bold production begins with a gathering of tricksters doing what they do best: tell stories. Each actor takes the role of a trickster from diverse mytholo gies and oral traditions from around the world. In all mythologies, this arche type comes alive when tricksters make contact with humanity, pro voking profound transformation and upsetting the world order. They are insatiable, irreverent, unrepentant; they sum up the profane. Local painter and actorGwenn Seemel has painted the perform ers as their trickster archetypes. Her work is on display before and after the perform ance and at www.gwennseemel.com. Material in this production is sometimes bawdy and the play is rated PG -13. “Trickster Tells This Tale" is showing at the Back Door The ater, 4319 S.E. Hawthorne at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Satur days and 4 p.m. Sundays through Feb. 21. A “feed the actors” ben efit show is Friday, Feb. 6. Tickets are $ 10 and Sunday matinees are two for the price o f one. For res ervations, call 503-232-5375. Nat King Cole was one o f America's greatest musicians o f all-time. R hythm and B lues is re tu rn ing to C hinook W inds C asino and C onvention C enter in L in coln City Saturday, Feb. 21 with three talented acts perform ing: C urtis S elgado, G arry M eziere Band and Soul V accination. All th r e e a re new to C h in o o k W inds. C urtis S elgado has sung the blues and played the harm onica w ith som e o f the best in clu d ing, M uddy W a te rs, B onnie Raitt, The Robert Cray Band and A lb e rt C o llin s. H is g e n u in e Blues great Curtis Selgado jo in s Soul Vaccination with its funk and soul hits o f the 60s, 70s and 80s during a Feb. 21 performance in Newport. Service to social causes cited in civil rights tribute 11. The racially mixed music group includes drummer Carter Beauford, bassist Stefan Lessard, vocalist- guitarist Dave Matthews, saxo Pianist, singer and bandleader Nat "King” Cole may have made his name as a singer, but his work as a pianist is most musically significant. Taking the intricacies of Earl "Fatha” Hines' right-hand lines and coupling them with the more spare, left-hand ones devel oped by Count Basie, Cole’s impact on subsequent genera tions o f pianists is far-reaching. Cole was bom in Montgomery, Ala., on March 17,1917. By the age of 4, his family had moved to Chicago, where he started playing organ and singing in his father’s church. Along with his jazz musician brothers Fred, Eddie and Isaac, Cole made his recording debut on Decca (1936) for the group Eddie Cole’s Solid Swingers. Cole left Chicago that same year, and eventually settled in Los Angeles. He formed his trio with guitarist Oscar Moore and bassist Wesley Prince, a group that would become known as the Nat Cole Trio. The trio format was to influence Art Tatum. Oscar Peterson and Ahmad Jamal, among others. Cole maintained the group until 1951, recording for Decca, and later for Capitol. Arguably, C ole's most important recordings were from the early ‘40s. Among them is a 1942 date with Lester Young and Red Callendar, and a later date with Young and Buddy Rich for Verve. In 1943, the Cole Trio had a hit with “Straighten Up And Fly Right,” setting offhis career as a singer. From 1944 through '46, Cole toured and recorded as part of Norman Granz’ s Jazz At The Philharmonic. After his No. 1 hit “Mona Lisa” in 1950, Cole soon earned his own radio and television show. He died in Santa Monica, Calif., on Feb. 15,1965. In 1997, Cole was elected by the Readers into the Down Beat Hall of Fame. CASINO BRINGS BLUES TO THE HOUSE NAACP Honors Dave Matthews Band (AP) -T h e Dave Matthews Band will receive the special Chairman’s Award at the upcoming NAACP Image Awards for its devotion to social and environmental causes and its “dignified representation of people of color,” the civil rights group has announced. With the award:,, the civil rights group honors people and compa nies that support positive change for people of color in arts and enter tainment. The honor will be be stowed at the March 6 awards cer emony in Los Angeles. Fox will broadcast the program on March Page B3 blues vocal styling once caught the attention o f the great John B elushi. And since im itation is the sincerest form o f flattery, B elushi incorporated som e o f S e lg a d o ’s act into his infam ous ch aracter, Jake B lues. D oors open at 6:30 p.m . w ith the music running from 7 p.m. to 12:30 a m. T ickets are $15 for this ev en t w hich is open to guests 21 and over. For m ore inform ation, or to obtain tic k ets, call 1-888-624-6228 orTick-i ets W est, 1-800-922-8499. I Proud to share the journey... The NAACP will honor the Dave Matthews Band during its Image Awards in March. phonist Leroi Moore and violinist generosity, they have made a dif Boyd Tinsley. ference in the lives of many,” Bond NAACP Board Chairman Julian said. “To see and hear them is to Bond, who chose the group for the recognize great talent; to learn of special award, praised band mem their good deeds is to recognize bers for their distinguished service they are good souls.” to social causes and dignified rep Previous NAACP Chairman’s resentation of people of color. Award recipients include actor “Dave Matthews Band demon Danny Glover, cartoonist Aaron strated what commitment means in McGruder and singer-actress Janet an artist. With their music and their Jackson. E E I M o d e lin g Ride with us and bring a friend for FREE* In te Presents Portland Lingerie Fashion Show 2004 Saturday, February 7th, 2004, 8pm at Just take this ad to the Portland or Vancouver, WA, Amtrak stations by February 29, 2004, and you , RAM ADA can exchange it for a F re e C o m p a n io n F a re C o u p o n good on the California Zephyr. Portland Airport 6221 NE 82nd Ave. Coast Starlight,” Empire Builder,” Southwest Chief,” Sunset Limited" or Texas Eagle u routes. 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