Paga 12
Daily Nebraskan
Friday, August 27,1032
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Jazz association
helps city swing
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Larry Boehmer, owner of the Zoo and Scoreboard bars
Staff photo by Davt Bentz
New name, owner to light up Scoreboard
By Pat Higgins
More than anyone else, Larry Boehmer
is responsible for any kind of music scene
in this town. Boehmer started booking
bands into the Zoo Bar nearly a decade
ago. He is now poised to begin a new era
with the opening of his new club, Larry's
Showcase, at 13th and N streets.
"There is quite a difference in the feel
between the Showcase and the Zoo,"
Boehmer said. "I hope it will be just as
much fun at the Showcase but somewhat
less intense than the Zoo can get."
The showcase is much larger than the
Zoo, especially with the downstairs game
room. Wall-to-wall carpeting and many
paintings, mostly by Boehmer, add to the
ambience of the place.
"When I first walked into the Zoo, it
was really funky," he said. "It looked like
a juke joint or a honky-tonk, so it seemed
appropriate to slap a bunch of posters on
the wall. At the Showcase, it seemed right
to have framed paintings instead."
In 1973, the Zoo Bar was a colorful
place. Boehmer described the clientele as
a mix of ex-cons, garbagemen and heavy
drinkers. A graduate student of art at the
time, Boehmer was out to put together the
art department's annual Christmas party.
In December of 1973, he threw his first
bash at the Zoo, starring the Megatones in
their first night ever. The Megatones
included the basics of the current Charlie
Burton and the Cutouts.
"That first night was so crazy," he
said. "We had the place all decorated for
Christmas and the whole art department
was there. By the end of the night, people
were eating the glass ornaments off of the
Christmas trees."
Starting as a bartender, Boehmer was
a classic Horatio Alger success story. He
became manager and eventually the owner
of the place. This enabled him to begin
booking blues, his first love.
"The whole reason I got into this busi
ness was to hear blues," Boehmer said.
By 1977, the Zoo had become basically
a blues club. The purchase of a bass guitar
brought Boehmer on stage, beginning on
Valentine's Day of 1977 when the Heart
murmurs began their long, successful run.
"At first, I was sitting around the house,
thumping along with old Jimmy Reed re
cords, then all of a sudden I was in the
Heartmurmurs."
The pressures of raising a family, run
ning a business and playing in a band wore
Boehmer down, so he gave up touring with
the Heartmurmurs.
"My business needed help, so I had to
spend more time on it," Boehmer said.
"The next thing I know I'm in another
band."
Cocktail Shorty and the Tablerockers was
the end result. Boehmer said band mem
bers didn't want to get going as hot and
heavy as the Heartmurmurs had. However,
the Tablerockers soon reached the level
of touring status, backing up bluesman
Carey Bell. Once again, Boehmer decided
to devote more time to taking care of
business.
"I decided to move the Zoo to another
place with more room," he said. "I was
looking at places like the old Russell
Stover building as possibilities. Just by
chance, I came into the Scoreboard one
night when Sean Benjamin was playing and
found out the place was for sale. Now I
own the two bars."
By early next week, all the formalities
should be taken care of and the title should
officially become Larry's Showcase, al
though he has been booking shows in there
already. The Scoreboard and the Zoo will
book acts of a competing nature as much
as possible, such as a rock'n'roll at one
place and a blues act at the other.
Because business for bars featuring live
music has been the worst he's seen in eight
years, there is an element of risk concern
ing the new place, Boehmer said.
"If I had enough money in the bank, I'd
like to sit around and paint and play mu
sic," Boehmer said.
By David Wood
Jazz enthusiasts know how to keep in
swing. Lincoln may not be a capital of jazz,
but the Capitol Jazz Association is helping
to keep jazz in Lincoln.
The jazz audience is not a large
or visible faction of the city's music scene.
It never has been large or visible, but it
always has been. The main outlet may
shift from year to year - from the Clayton
House to Jesse's to the Glass Onion -but
jazz followers always find it. They now
are finding it at East Park Plaza, 6600 0
St., in Chelsea's Pub.
The recently banded Capitol Jazz Asso
ciation has organized the Chelsea's Series, a
weekend lineup of regular performances
by some of the best jazz acts in the region:
Aug. 27-28 Luigi Inc.
Sept. 10-11 Universe Trio
Sept. 18 Neoclassic Jazz Orchestra
Sept. 24-25 Wayne Rollins Quartet
The association is seeking new members.
With membership, one gets a monthly
newsletter of updates and upcoming
events, as well as various discounts. For
example, $1 will be returned to any
member who buys a ticket to George
Shearing, the fine jazz pianist who will
appear Sept. 17 in Pershing Auditorium
for the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra's
September Pops program.
Jazz can be found elsewhere in town,
too:
McGuffey's
Live jazz every Thursday
Larry's Showcase (formerly the Scoreboard)
Aug. 26-28 Jay McShann (from Kansas
City)
Sept. 10-1 1 Cat's Night Out (from Denver)
Sept. 15-16 Rich Hill & Ida McBeth
Quartet (from Kansas)
The Zoo
Sept. 17-18 Rich Hill & Ida McBeth
Quartet
In related jazzy news, Manhattan Trans
fer will appear at the State Fair Sept. 4.
Also on a swing through the Midwest will
be B.B. King, who will be at Kansas City's
Starlight Theater Sept. 5, after an Aug. 30
performance at Denver's Red Rocks with
Muddy Waters and Spyro Gyra. Sept. 4-5
in Colorado, at the two-day Winter Park
Jazz Festival, will be Ray Charles, Chick
Corea & Gary Burton, Pat Methany, Art
Blakey & the Jaza Messengers, Freddie
Hubbard Quartet, Jack Degohnette Special
Edition, Betty Carter, Dave Liebman,
Charles Haden, Al Foster and a few Denver
jazz musicians.
Shoo bop debop!
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Photo courtny of Ftytina Prtsants
Diana Ross, soul superstar and former Supreme, will
appear in Lincoln during Homecoming Week, the
University Program Council announced Thursday.
She will perform Oct. IS in an in-the-round concert-
at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Tickets go on
sale Sunday at the Nebraska Union and Monday at
the East Union and Brandeis.
I rn
Say McShann and his Jazz Trio from Kansas City
are playing tonight and tomorrow night at the
Scoreboard, 1316 N St. Their special guest is singer
Priscilla Bowman. (For more on jazz around Lincoln
and the Scoreboard - soon to be Larry's Show
case - see the above stories.)
Original worlds wanted
Like to see your writing, photography or art
published?
So does the Arts & Entertainment section of the
Da0y Nebraskan. Original works by UNL students
will become a weekly feature in future issues.
Short fiction, poetry, black-and-white photo
graphs, drawings, etchings and so on are equally
welcome. Coten needn't be campus-oriented. What
counts is high-quality, reproducible work. UNL
student status is mandatory.
Works will be judged informally, Winners will be
published and paid for. Hie others will be kept on
file or returned on request. Please Include with the
submitted work your address, phona and a self,
addressed envelope, if needed.
Those interested should write to: David Wood,
Entertainment Editor, Daily Nebraskan, 34 Nebras
ka Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Ne 68588, or call
472-1756.
