paga 10
daily nebraskan
monday, September 29, 1980
GW3
Bluegrass musician, pops team for class act
By Bill Graf
Teaming bluegrasser John Hartford with
the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra at first
seemed like the mad pipe dream of a man
who has spent a life time trying to mix
oil and water.
However, Hartford and the symphony
proved at the "September Pops and Blue
grass Too" concert Saturday night that
although the two are from different ends
of the musical spectrum, they have one
thing in common-class.
The symphony kicked off the show
with a collection of classical pieces that
were enjoyable to even the most passive
classical fan. And as usual the Lincoln
Symphony Orchestra are top flight.
Lincoln's music scene is extremely rich,
and with Dr. Robert Emile at the helm
of the symphony, Lincolnites can be
proud.
Hartford soloed the second set. But it
was hardly a solo in the truest sense. Hart
ford is a one-man-band once he's cut loose
on his amplified sheet of plywood with
fiddle in hand. Hartford "clogg danced"
all through the second set and into the
third.
"Clogg dancing" requires doing three
things at once: singing, playing and dancing
a simple step to keep the beat going.
When it comes to clogg dancing,
Hartford is the master. But dancing is not
by far his greatest claim to fame. For the
last couple of decades he's written enough
material to fill 15 albums-songs that have
been a major force behind the revival of
bluegrass and other traditional American
music forms.
Black vest and gray corduroys
Although time limited the performance
of all the favorites, Hartford took the stage
dressed in an old black vest and gray
corduroys with a patch on the seat and
played a cross section of tunes that are
as much John Hartford as anything else.
Tunes like "Skipping in the Mississippi
Dew" and "Slumberin' on the Cumberland"
tell of his love for life on the big rivers.
Hartford, 42, was raised in St. Louis.
His childhood fascination with the Missis
sippi and riverboats has led to a number
of tunes about river life and eventually
earned him his riverboat pilot's license,
which to him is one of his more prized
accomplishments.
Other tunes played during the second
set broke with the river theme, but still
reflected his preference for a slower,
simpler way of life. For example, "Aereo
Plane" is a tune about how when traveling
on a 747 "you can't tell if it's sunshine
or rain." Instead, Hartford sings that he'd
rather be "sit tin in a deck chair, high
above Kansas City in a genuine
old-fashioned, authentic steam-powered
aereoplane."
Also Hartford showed that he is as good
as any kid on the block at making strange
sounds with his cheeks and lips. One song
about the difference between new and old
fashioned washing machines cheered every
one up when he mimicked washing
machine sounds.
Later he broke into "Boogie," which
was a real surprise, considering the song
contains a lot of heavy breathing and
lyrics like, "Hey babe you want to boogie.
We can boogie on the floor, we can boogie
on the table, we can boogie on the lamp,
if ya think ya might be able."
"Boogie" was especially surprising to
hear, considering that the majority of the
crowd was Lincoln's wine-sipping, Wall
Street Journal '-reading elite.
For the third set Hartford joined the
symphony to perform his rework of "The
Dusty Miller Hornpipe and Fugue in
A-Major for Strings, Brass and Five-String
Banjo," Six O'clock Train and the Girl
with Green Eyes" and his biggest hit
"Gentle On My Mind."
Not a one-tune musician
Afterward, he was asked how he felt
about having to do "Gentle On My Mind"
all the time when he isn't a one-tune musi
cian. "I'm perfectly glad to play it. I'll always
be appreciative to Glen Campbell for mak
ing it a hit. And I'll always be appreciative
of what it's done for my career. I don't
mind singing it," he said.
To date, "Gentle On My Mind" has
been recorded by more than 300 musi
cians. Hartford also said it was nice to play"
with an orchestra for a change.
"It's been four or five years since I've
done something like this. I enjoyed it. The .
last time I did a show like this the orches
tra was doing tunes like "Raindrops Keep
Fallin' On My Head." That kinda bummed
me out. But IVe really enjoyed doing this
concert," he said.
Also during the third set the symphony
let the highest bidder conduct the orche
stra. This yielded the crowd a few laughs
and the symphony more than $1,000. The
winning bidders were Walt Broer, Bob
Nettleland, Jim Stewart and Bill Albrecht.
The Pops concerts have always been en
joyable and this one was equally entertain
ing. However, if the crowd can't hear what
the performers are playing, it doesn't make
any difference how good the musicians are.
This was the only problem with the show
at Pershing.
The crowd seated to the right of the
stage were at the listening end of a speaker
column that would be more useful as a
door stop. Also, those in the cheaper seats
are reminded, by the echo, that Pershing is
for basketball games and not musical per-formances.
We don't ask the Huskers to play their
games in Kimball recital hall. Then why do
we ask fine musicians to play in a basket
ball arena. It's easy to understand why the
concert was at Pershing. But in the future,
the quality can be improved tenfold if
some effort is maJe to kill the echo and
find a real sound system.
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Photo . by Mark Billingsley
John Hartford teamed up with the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra Saturday night at
the September Pops and Bluegrass Too" concert at Pershing Auditorium.
Time , thought go into Sheldon exhibits director
By Penelope M. Smith
A lot us wander into the Sheldon Art Gallery to re
cover from our own hectic worlds; from professors who
are abstract on a day when you don't know your ABC's or
just to escape from the seething mass of bodies. At Shel
don we notice that the exhibitions change but there is al
ways a feeling that they weren't hung, but materialized
overnight.
A great deal of ingenuity and time goes into the work
ings of the Sheldon, however.
Norman Geske, Sheldon director, talked about the
considerations that go into an exhibit, some of which are
unique to Sheldon because of its affiliation with the uni
versity. Our budget is a little more than $100,000 a year. This
covers everything, salaries, operation, only general main
tenance is done by the university. We're at the bottom of
the list of galleries. A comparable gallery is at the Univer
sity of Kansas at Lawrence. They have a $300,000 or
better a year budget and a professional staff of 15 to 20
poople. We have a staff of five professionals," Geske said.
Geske said Sheldon concentrates on regional artists and
purchases primarily 20 century American art.
Sheldon has planned 25 exhibitions for 1981 . Exhibits
usually are arranged at least a year in advance or longer.
The arrangement of these exhibitions takes a great deal of
time and thought. Sheldon's staff relies for the most part
on finding their own material for exhibitions, Geske said.
The staff of the gallery and the assistant director have
an idea of whose work they want to show. We go out and
find the material. Many museums can pay a great deal for
exhibitions to such organizers as the American Federation
of Arts or the Smithsonian, but our budget is almost nil.
We try to arrange it such that the exhibitions cost as little
as possible," Geske said.
Because they arrange their own shows, the staff works
on a one-to-one basis with the artist.
"We contact the artist and discuss the general prob
lems. The invitation is issued to the artist at least a year
in advance. We don't allow the artist to put up the exhibi
tion but the artist is frequently present and has some in
put if we have editing because of space," Geske explained.
Because of its budget, Sheldon cannot afford publicity
for shows,
'We pay for the insurance of the works and the ship
ping but because of our budget we do not print posters or
catalogues, but the artist is free to do what he likes to
promote his show," Geske said.
One of the reasons the gallery functions so well is the
long-term support of the Nebraska Art Association. The
association has been responsible for exhibits such as the
Georgia 0Keefe show.
Many times we've had to raise the money for a show
through the Nebraska Art Association. They're nearing
their 100th anniversary in Lincoln. They're purely a lay
organization in the community with a membership of 800
or 900 people,' Geske said. "Their primary purpose is to
support the gallery and manage one major exhibition a
year. Secondly, they support our permanent collection.
About one-third of our collection belongs to the associa
tion. The art association is our historical source, they paid
for our first picture."
The quality and response to the exhibitions attest to
Sheldon's and the art association's ability to make the
gallery work. Some shows such as the Duane Hansen
sculpture exhibition in 1976 have had overwhelming
response.
International pianist
performs at Kimball
Internationally recognized pianist Garrick Ohlsson will
be performing at Kimball Recital Hall, Thursday, Oct. 2
at 8 pjn.
Harold Schonberg of The New York Times has de
scribed Ohlsson as "a powerful technician with a strong
musical mind" and Newsweek praises him with having
". . . a spectacular technique and crystalline tone. . ."
Ohlsson began playing the piano when he was eight
years old. At the age of thirteen, he left his home in White
Plains, New York to study at the Julliard School of
Music.
There his talents were nurtured by his teachers, Sasha
Gorondnitzki and Rosina Lhevine.
Ohlsson was recognized and rewarded for his exquisite
playing by being the first and only American to win the
coveted Chopin International Piano Competition in
Warsaw, Poland. Since winning the award ten wears ago,
he has recorded twelve albums and last year toured the
United States and Europe with violinist Miriam Fried.
Tickets go on sale today at Kimball Box Office. Tickets
will be $3.50 for UNL students and $7.00 for the general
public.