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Photo by Mary Ann Golon
Paddywhack tunes up . . . from left, Dan Newton , Jim Versch, Chris Sayre and Dave Marsh.
Intense9 concert pleases reviewer
By Penelope M. Smith
Many people went to the Zacher-Alb right organ con
cert expecting neo-Bach, perhaps electrified or a little
abstruse, but recognizable nonetheless. They expected a
pleasant evening settled in their seats with spiritual strains
wafting overhead.
What the audience experienced was shocking, intense
and, to some extent, esoteric. Zacber once said that a
good sermon results in a scandal-the audience is forced
to develop a "new orientation" to deal with the music.
Before his performance of Gyorgy Ligeti's 4Volu
mina," Zacher directed the audience to, "listen to the
different kinds and types of volumina (sounds) possible
on the organ. There is a little trick-there is no melody, no
harmony or rhythm in this piece, there is nothing to
distract."
'Volumina" was the most fascinating piece of the
evening. It presented the organ as a God machine with an
omnipotent ability to manipulate an audience that could
not predict but was forced to wait. The tones varied from
a soft, foggy resonance to an unbearable pitch. Un con
stricted, they were released into a void where they pene
trated, rather than surrounded, the audience. The power
Zacher creates can be either positive or negative, depend
ing, he says, on the individual.
After the cataclysmic effect of "Volumina," Zacher's
"Szmaty" was an anticlimax. The audience was restless,
not because the work lacked merit, but because Zacher
was asking for an intense reaction from an already drained
audience.
The evening was considerably lightened by Albright's
performance of three excerpts from C. Curtis-Smith's
"Masquerades." Albright fulfilled the promises of his
introduction when he said, "The organ can be lyrical,
smooth, witty and urbane, things that hadn't occurred to
avant-garde composers twenty years ago."
"In Dulci Jubilo: Like a Carousel," a carousel gets
stuck and begins to play backwards, slowly winding down
to silence. "Scherzo (Jig for the Feet") was a comical sort
of gargoyle jazz as perhaps a sly poke at horror-rhovie
musical accompaniment .
More than an aesthetic experience, the Zacher-Albright
concert was a "trial of Faith." There was a Brechtian
appeal to the intellect and a revaluation of music what
it is and when technical experimentation is art.
Art experts appraise area heirlooms
at Sheldon Art Gallery fund-raiser
By Bill Graf
Few treasures were found at the Nebraska Art Associ
ation's Heirloom Discovery Day, unless the treasure was a
good time.
As a benefit for Sheldon Art Gallery, the Nebraska Art
Association brought five art appraisers to Sheldon Satur
day. For a five dollar donation, a wide variety of art ob
jects could be appraised.
The day's appraisers were from Sotheby Parke Bernet
of New York, experts in Oriental art, furniture, minia
tures, paintings, prints, porcelain, pewter, silver and gold.
Jim Lally, an expert in Oriental art, said, "I haven't
seen anything here today that is outrageously rare, but
there have been one or two nice Japanese prints."
. Their owners had acquired the prints for a relatively
snail amount of money some time ago, he said, but their
values had increased considerably.
However, at tally's table, one gentleman discovered
that his two Japanese vases were worth much more than
he hid thought.
David Pumphrey, an expert in 19th-century furniture,
said the rtort exciting pieces he had seen Saturday were a
pair of 18th-century side chairs (armless chairs) worth
about $2,003.
Ifeka UZyttn expert in 16th and 19th century prints,
szii she hadn't utn anything of extreme value. But she
wis quick to aid thit this is uroally the case.
"Most people that have nice prists or paintings know
it, chased.
An expert on porcelain, pewter and glass, Barbara Deis
roth, also said she hadn't seen anything at the Sheldon
appraisals that was of great value but added that she had
appraised a 19th century silver English mirror for about
$3,000 the evening before at a similar appraisal fair at the '
Lincoln Country Club.
Gerald Hill, an expert in silver, gold, antique jewelry,
and watches, said he couldn't remember seeing any trea
sures. "It's hard to pick out any one item when you appraise
one item after another non-stop, he explained.
Martha Richardson, a Nebraska Art Association trustee
also said that there were few surprises.
Another trustee, Joanne Kirkpatrick said, "the
appraisers know geographically what sort of item people
collect. Usually it's something that has been passed down
through the family.
Richardson said that "even if their items aren't as old
as they had hoped, they're still happy.
Appraising has been educational, she continued.
"Everyone has a story to tell about their particular item."
While they Waited for appraisals people exchanged stories
about where they acquired the items, where they were
from, and what they thought they were worth.
Thomas Pearce had such a story to tell. While he
waited for Helen Lally to return, he said that an art
appraiser at Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha had told him
that his painting was an original Grandma Moses worth
several thousand dollars.
But Lally said the painting was a silk-screen reproduc
tion. Like most people there, Pearce went away with a
smile.
Local band offers
old Irish tunes
By BUI Graf
Since last St. Patrick's Day, Paddywhack, a Lincoln
based band, has been flavoring local barrooms with a taste
of old Ireland. , . , .
"Most of the tunes are out of 17th, 18th and 19th
century Ireland," band member Chris Sayre explained.
Sayre, 25, sings and plays guitar and the English con
certina. To play the concertina the player holds the in
strument between his hands and presses buttons on either
end while expanding and contracting the bellows.
"The tunes we play are descended from the old Irish
clans," band member Dan Newton said. "Each clan had a
story teller and historian who sang their tales."
The songs and skills to play them were passed down
through the generations from father to son, he said.
Newton, 23, sings and plays piano, mandolin, tin
whistle and hammer dulcimer.
The hammer dulcimer is a trapezold-shaped instrument
three inches deep, with 98 strings that the player hits with
two felt covered hammers, he explained.
"It works a lot like a piano," he continued. "Except
with a piano you push a key which in turn causes a felt
covered hammer to strike the string."
The tin whistle, or falgeolet, is a recorder-like instru
ment, Newton explained.
Hie other members of Paddywhack are: Dave Marsh,
23, who sings and plays the five-string banjo, bodhran (a
sheepskin drum), accordion, tin whistle, spoons, and
bones; Jim Versch, 22, who sings and plays mandolin,
mandola, four-string banjo and vocals, and Terry Keefe,
25, plays the fiddle, mandolin and vocals.
"MOSTLY WE PLAY what are called contra-dance
tunes, which are made up of jigs, hornpipes and reels,"
Newton said. "We also do a few bluegrass tunes and some
original music. The original music is written in the 19th
century tradition."
"They're all dance tunes, but there isn't anyone around
here that knows the traditional dance," Versch said. "It's
hard to get people in to see us unless they've heard us be
fore, It's so unique."
"But the bar owners love it," Marsh said. "The music
gets the people drinking a lot. Also, there are more people
drinking Guinness Stout, (An Irish dark beer). The bar
tenders love to ring up a buck and a quarter on the regis
ter when they sell a bottle." .
Newton said they usually draw 75 to 150 people at a
job.
"It's a small but loyal following," Sayre said.
Newton and Versch were the first ones to take an
interest in forming Paddywhack. In December 1978 Sayre
joined them.
"At this time (December 1978) we had no plans of
playing in bars," Sayre said. "We weren't sure there would
be a crowd. It was mostly for our own enjoyment."
Early the next year, Sayre said he learned that an
Omaha bar was in need of an Irish band for St. Patrick's
day.
"DAVE JOINED the band and from January to March
we got ready for our first gig," Sayre said. "After that, we
started getting regular jobs in Lincoln and Omaha. Since
then we've found that there is no generation gap with
Irish music." '
"It's really neat to see people of all ages together hav
ing fun ," Versch said .
However, more varied than the crowds that see Paddy
whack are the backgrounds and early influences of its
members.
Marsh, a baker by trade, said his father is responsible
for his early interest in music. Marsh's father is a classical
pianist and nationally published composer.
'Most of my playing experience prior to Paddywhack
had been playing classical piano and percussion, he said.
Keefe, affectionately called a small-time farmer by the
other members, says his roots are in bluegrass. .
"I feel kind of out of place. I've only been playing Irish
music for a few months, but I like it, and I plan to stick
with it, he said. Keefe spent a year and a half in Minne
apolis playing fiddle with the Pocono Mountain String
band.
Versch, an underground sprinkler serviceman, also said
he has played mostly bluegrass in the past.
Versch said it was about a year ago, whn he saw Kenny
Hall, a blind mandolin player, that he became interested
in Irish music.
"HE WAS PLAYING all these great Irish tunes and it
sort of tickled my fancy, he said. Verschs four-year In
terest in bluegrass included some time with American
Standard, a local bluegrass band.
Besides playing with Paddywhack, Sayre does a single
act a few times a month.
"It wasn't until I moved to Boston in 1974 that I got a
real interest In folk musk, he said. "I used to hang out
around Harvard Square where there were some very good
street musicians. It was in a bar in that area that I saw
someone play the concertina for the first time.
