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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 23, 1979)
tuesday, October 23, 1979 pag3 10 daily nebraskan Earth, wind, fire and air influences jazz trio's music By Bill Graf and their attitude is, who cares about the band, which is too bad. People are basically Saturday night, The Leroy Critcher lazy, they would rather have a simple beat Trio played to a sparse crowd at Jessie's that they can follow so they don't have to 14th Street Lounge. listen to the music." . "I think that it's disheartening that the . About disco, Critcher said, "It's for lazy university crowd doesn t come down and minds, androids and air heads." union for allowing this to happen." hear us. If they would listen to us. then decide they don't like the sound, I Drummer Jim Skomal added. "I'm not a member of the SLA or the PLO, but I'd wouldn't be so bitter, but they don't even like to throw a bomb in. each one ot those make the effort" Critcher,. 27, said, places." Bass player Andy Hall said, "You have "I don't blame the owners of those to listen to jazz to understand it. Most joints, anyone can see that they're making people go to the clubs or discos to socialize money. Instead I blame the musician's Critcher said the quartet, which also winHes kevboard player Tom Larson, CRITCHER WENT ON to say that most drummer Jeff Johnson and bassist Andy of the people in the School of Music were Hall, is where he does most of his labora- fairly hip". But he was quick to add, 1he tory work". rest of them (students) are lazy minded, jhe quartet plays only original tunes, it's very discouraging." written by Critcher and Larson. The band kicked on tne iirst set wiin Miles Davis', "Freddy the Freeloader." The band that played Saturday night was sort of a hybrid of the Critcher trio and quartet. However, the performance Critcher explained that his original tunes follow the basic form that modern jazz as taken in the last decade. "Jazz has become "simpler and more was tight enough that any one who didn't complex at the same time," he said. 'The know better would have thought that Critcher, Skomal and Hall always play together. The evening's repertoire was made up of personalized arrangements of traditional jazz tunes. j Catcher's guitar style was bright, clean, precise and extremely fast, Skomal's drumming was tasty and pre cise, a style that has grown out of nearly 30 years of experience as a professional drummer. Hall, a French horn major at the UNL harmonies are more complex but the (chord) .changes have become simpler, there's just more of them." CRITCHER CITED the earth, wind, fire, water and air as the main influences on his music writing. "I try to imitate both natural and unnatural sounds," he said. As for the source of his licks, he said, "I listen to everything, I steal licks from local musicians, television, anywhere I can." Critcher credits Victor Lewis with School of Music, plays the bass like few being responsible for getting him out of Photo by MaryAnne Golon Leroy Critcher, Jim Skomal and Andy Hall, the Leroy Crifcher Trio; per formed at Jesse's 14th Street Lounge. can. tie treats tne oass as an instrument capable of standing on its own, often escaping from the "time keeper" role that most bass players fill. CRITCHER 5 OTHER 'ciGS include -playing banjo in .a Dixieland jazz band called The Big: Red Stompers, giving gui tar lessons, doing recordings for the Back. To The Bible broadcasts, writing music for Dances For Passers-By, doing a solo act, playing with a blues band called the Blues Boppers, gigging with classical gui tarist Bob Popek and writing and perform ing with the Leroy Critcher Quartet. rock and into jazz. . "Victor taught me that a musician's first responsibility was to himself. Group efforts are like a marriage, if you jammed with some other musicians it was like going out on your wife." However, Critcher still looks back on his rock 'n' roll days with a smile. "I used to play with a band called Heaven. It was insane, there were 12 people that traveled with the band. There were always crazy parties, hotel rooms used to get destroyed, the roadies were always drunk, and I even discovered that there are small-time groupies." - No practice before Show features local,, f emale taleimt band's 'last tango' By Cheryl Kisling . They mingle with the audience, they dance, they do magic, and once in a while, the Sweet Potato Band might even sing a song. All of this, however, will not last for long because the members of Sweet Potato are doing what they term "the Jast tango in Lincoln" and everywhere else. Next Saturday at Suite 9 will be their last performance as a band, accord ing to member Paul Newton. Newton said the group, with other members Doug Dickeson, lead guitar; Jim Rupert, drummer; and Fred Meyer, bass guitar; has existed three years and only prac ticed twice during that time. '. . "This band never gave a day's worth of thought to it self," Newton said. "Our first practice was after we had been playing together for a year," Dickeson said the. informality has been a big influence on his guitar playing and he added that he likes perform ing that way. "When a song is first played, it is very new and fresh," Dickeson said. "No one has played.it. We add harmony and accents as we perform it more. The last band I was with had practiced it until the music was already stale when we played it." . Dickeson recently joined Sweet Potato on a temporary basis while he was in between bands. Newton said the group was strictly a three-piece coun try band, but that Dickeson added rock to the perfor mances. Drummer Jim Rupert also joined within the last year, . Newton said. He replaced Jeff Gallop, who thought up the name Sweet Potato. Newton said a newsletter reporter from the company they were playing for came up to the band at their first performance. "The reporter was concerned that he didn't have enough to write about our band since we had never played anywhere beforeso Gallop told him things like we played in Las Vegas and that we were just on tour as the Sweet Potato Band," Newton said. After Saturday, Rupert and Dickeson plan to turn their attention to their multitrack recording studio, West End Studios in Lincoln. Meyer said he intends to continue playing the bass guitar, but is uncertain of what group he might join. Newton, who manages World Radio, said he isn't inter ested in joining another band right away. He added that he will miss the Sweet Potato Band even though "it never made a claim to fame." By Mary Kay Wayman T From photography to prints and from macrame to mixed media, the University Program Council's women artists show in the'Nebraska Union lounge gives local amateurs the chance to exhibit their work. The show is a "forum for female artists," according to UPC committee chairwoman Bonnie Lutz, It is the first of its kind for UPC,, she said, adding that the Women's Resource Center did a similar show a couple yearsago. "A women's art exhibit is one way to focus on art," she said. "It's something. we hope will be continued." About 20 artists working in various media will exhibit their work until Nov. 3. UPC posted advertisements for artists, Lutz said. After receiving as many as 20 to 30 pieces of. work from some artists, her committee picked those that would be shown. Not all the artists are students, Lutz said, adding that none of them could be classified as professionals. "If they're not full-time artists, they don't have an opportunity to show their things," she said. Black-and-white prints featuring small jagged creatures are the work of Carol Fay Hartman, a UNL graduate with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Hartman works for the Lancaster,. Office of Mental Retardation. She said she hopes to combine her work with the mentally retarded with her art. While working on her major, there wasn't as much time to exhibit her work in shows, Hartman said . She said an artist who keeps her work to herself begins to think, "I must be doing this for some reason. I'm doing it for myself, but I'm putting it down for someone else to Bantz said he will become involved in more shows "when I feel it's right for me. When I feel I've accom plished what I want to accomplish with my work." Bantz said she hopes to work as a college pro fessor after receiving a master of fine arts degree. As a professor, she will show her work frequently, so this show is a start for her. She previously exhibited her work in high school. Lutz said, the next show planned is a national touring show of paintings. see. Hartman said there is a need for communication between women artists, to see, what others are doing. "It's nice to know that people are seeing what I'm doing "she said Laura Bantz, whose weavings are exhibited in the show, said the show is a big step for her. Bantz is a sophomore art major. "I think it will really help with my experience," she said. Bantz said her work is not for sale, but. that maybe as a result of the show someone will commission, her to do some work. . V X- TV X ' 4 . 4" Photo by Mark Billingslty These prints and other art . works can be viewed until Nov. 3 in the Nebraska Union lounse as a forum for.female artists.