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.
