page 12
monday, October 16, 1978
daily nebraskan
arts and entertainment
Dancer turns harsh rock into gentle melancholy wave
Up in the back, seldom on the floor,
and almost never near the stage-it's just
the way things have ended up.
After attending an eternity of concerts
at one time or another occupying every
position that an audience usually does
I've slowly gravitated to the rear. It's been
a natural progression. From a perch high in
the stands at the back of an auditorium,
you can stare through the smoke like you
are looking through the clouds at the shaky
world.
The rock n' roll show has been such an
intimate part of my growing up that it's
hard not to get just a little reflective some
times. Not long ago I fell into a rock concert
that is I found myself at a show I had not
planned on going to. The ticket was free,
and so was the evening.
It wasn't the type of concert I would
normally go to. Somewhere in the back of
my head though, was the nagging reminder
that live rock 'n' roll always made me feel
clean. It was something to do with the
atmosphere -the lights and the smoke, and
the ability to lose yourself in something
larger and louder than the static in your
head.
Single unit
Looking down on this particular evening
I watched the crowd bunch up in the front
of the auditorium. They moved as a single
unit, almost as a body of water-rippling
and flowing with whatever current was mov
ing them that evening. There is something
frightening and powerful about a crowd,
and on that particular night there was a
feeling of an impending explosion.
michael zangari
I decided that I should leave. It was a
move made out of the realization that rock
V roll wasn't working for me, at least not
that night, and that I didn't want to be
around when things turned nasty.
As I reached for my coat something at
the back of the crowd caught my eye. A
woman had separated herself from the
back where the crowd had begun to thin
out. She was visible only because she was
silhouetted by the exit light.
She held herself perfectly still in the
light. Without any indication that she was
going to do so, she very naturally slid off
into some incredibly gentle interpretive
ballet. She used the entire space at the rear
of the auditorium. Very few people could
see the motion, and there was very little
doubt that she was dancing for herself.
Intangible mood
Moved by some intangible mood, she
was taking the harshest rock V roll imagin
able, and turning it into a gentle wave. At
one point it would be incredibly melan
choly, at another she would spin it away
only to come up small and crumbled in
another space.
I was transfixed.
It was a crystal moment one of those
moments where the clarity of sight
emotional and physical melted into one
motion. She seemed to capture all that was
essential, and for a moment she provided
what a long series of concerts had failed to
do. I was caught for a split second in the
power and the warmth of her personal
statement. The music was real to me.
There were just a few of us at the rear
of the auditorium. Most of those in back
had their eyes locked on the stage. For
whatever reason this woman had managed
to be totally alone in that crowd.
I didn't want to disturb that, and yet a
part of me wanted to tell her about the few
seconds she gave me.
It was out of my hands. In the moment
it took for me to put on my coat she had
melted back into the crowd, once again
just a wave ebbing and flowing against the
stage.
My stomach sank when I realized what
had happened. Without anything to say I
walked quietly out into the street. I could
hear the echoes of the music from within
the halls, distant and ghost-like. It echoed
for the remainder of my night.
Somewhere in this city the dream of the
dancer is very much alive, and because of
it, so is the music.
Wild Willie Nelson
on stage in Lincoln
Willie Nelson, The "Red Haired Stranger" will be in
Lincoln tomorrow night at Pershing Auditorium.
It often has been said of Nelson that his music is before
his time. But the 44-year-old Texan has just recently come
into his own, gaining international acclaim.
When Willie Nelson climbed on stage at the 1976
Annual Country Music Association Awards Show and
accepted his three awards, it marked the climax of one of
the most impressive success stories in country music. It
had only been a few years ago that Willie was still singing
in the clubs and honky-tonks around Austin, Texas.
His three Country Music Awards (won jointly with
Waylon Jennings) included Country Duo Of The Year;
Album of the Year-Wanted: The Outlaws; and Song Of
The Year-"Good Hearted Woman" which ironically, was
written during a brief pause in a poker game.
Almost as distinctive as Nelson's physical appearance,
which usually includes tennis shoes, sweatband, and on-and-off
again beard; is his voice. At one time, musical
advisers told Nelson to not concentrate on singing because
his voice was "different."
He provide them wrong, explaining; "Actually the way
I sing isn't all that hard ... it's phrasing . . . Sinatra's been
phrasing for years, a lot of pop singers have . . . It's just
that nobody in country music in those days was doing it.
mil l couldn't imitate anybody else."
Tickets still are available for Willie Nelson, and special
guests Pure Prairie League and Ray Wylie Hubbard. Re
served seats are $6.50 and $7.50. The show starts at 8:00
p.m.
,rv.
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Photo courtesy Feyline Productions
Outlaw Willie Nelson will spill country tunes at Pershing Auditorium tomorrow along with the Pure Prairie
League.
Jazz orchestra returns from abroad for new season
By Kent Warneke
Billed as "Nebraska's Internationally
Acclaimed Jazz Orchestra," the Neoclassic
Jazz Orchestra will open its 1978-79
season Tuesday at O'Donnell Auditorium
on the Nebraska Wesleyan campus.
The jazz orchestra recently returned
from a three-week tour of England and
Scotland where they were the 1978 United
States representatives in the International
Festival of Arts.
The festival was non-competitive and
international. The Neoclassic Jazz Orches
tra performed at the Crystal Palace Bowl in
London and the Aberdeen Music Hall in
Aberdeen, Scotland, where its performance
was broadcast live by the BBC.
Founder, business manager, and
trumpet player for the group, John Tavlin,
said its music is similar in structure and
sound to that of the Tonight Show orches
tra, "The music we play follows traditional
instrumentation of the big band,' but it's
contemporary, meaning songs from the last
10 years a far cry from the 'golden old
ies.' " Tavlin said.
"The name of the gr"jp Neoclassic
Ja Orchestra, typli f lev !,-. . p- , ,f music
d'n." cot: figuration o ,.. Xavlin
jre a nev. Jassic or
standard types of music in the big band
era."
The current jazz orchestra is the second
in existence. The original Neoclassic Jazz
Orchestra, formed in the fall of 1975,
lasted for six months.
In summer 1976, Tavlin, Bart
Bartholomew and Dr. Randall Snyder,
UNL music professor, reorganized and
formed the second Neoclassic Jazz
Orchestra.
"We looked into why the first band
wasn't successful and we realized that we
needed a different kind of approach,"
Tavlin said.
Tavlin financed the second orchestra
from its beginning, purchasing and pro
moting, as Tavlin said, "We can have real
concerts, real ticket sales, real guest artists
and be the jazz equivalent to the Omaha
Symphony Orchestra."
The performance and the quality of the
band is something Tavlin said they can be
proud of.
"We practice every week and rehearse
more than any professional music group in
Nebraska and consequently, we will have
56 tunes ready for performance this year,
which will allow a different repertoire for
every show." he said.
Bill Watrous, 1977 Downbeat maga
zine's trombonist of the year, has been
quoted as saying, "The Neoclassic Jazz
Orchestra is as good as the North Texas
State Jazz Band, the premiere college jazz
band in the country."
Tavlin said, "When we sound good, we
really sound good. We never expected to be
able to go to Europe for the International
Festival, but we now have applied to the
UJS. Department of State for a tour of the
Middle East."
The orchestra includes 20 members for
Tuesday night's concert, but the number
can fluctuate, according to Tavlin.
Ed Love, Barry McVinney, Walter
Wamsholz, Bob Reigle and Orville "Scad"
Voss perform on saxophones with Steve
Henderson, Loy Hetrick, Terry Rush, Jeff
James, and Dave "Doglips" Wampler on
trombones.
Mike Brownson, Tavlin, Dean Heist,
Brian Grasmick and Steve Erickson play
trumpet. Rex Cadwallader plays key
boards, Dennis "Putz" Stearns on guitar.
Jim Lawson on bass guitar, Jeff Johnson
on percussion and Tod Barnard on the trap
set.
All members of the orchestra have taken
college level music except Tavlin. and al!
but two are in the music field as either pro
fessional musicians r musu edu. ;jf.rs
Tuesday night's concert will C,ltlir,
guest artist Don Mena or, saxophone and
flute.
Menza, who has performed with Stan
Kenton, Woody Herman, Maynard
Ferguson and Henry Mancini, has excelled
as a studio musician and according to
Tavlin, "very proficient in technique."
The concert will start at 8:00 p.m. and
includes a United States premier of original
arrangements, but mostly tunes made pop
ular by other recording artists.
"We really get a mixed audience-high
school aged to the 45 to 55 age group-and
right now we're trying to appeal to the
symphony crowd," Tavlin said.
"One wish we do have is that we could
have bigger crowds, although our attend
ance has increased with every perform
ance." The concert tour is a subscription series
with season tickets available. After
Tuesday night's performance, the orchestra
will perform the following night at the
Joslyn-Witherspoon Concert Hall in
Omaha.
The tour will continue to consist of
alternating consecutive dates between
Omaha and Lincoln through the end of
April.
Ik-kcts tor the concert can be
pmj.jx-d jt Dirt Cheap and the Bnmleis
Ii OM'ki tor s4 in advance or S4.0
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