Arts & Entertainment
Sharon Kreimer, a vocalist for the Brunettes, sings “Willow, Weep for Me” with Mother's Big
Band Jazz at the Zoo Bar. _
Lincoln jazz bands
jam past problems
with ‘family’ form
By Kevin Cowan
Senior Reporter _
The horns swell, moving —
gliding — slouring, to lucent azure
tones. The drummer, in two-four
time, rolls down the toms — to the
bass — then the high hat, leading
by the ear to the blessed bridge.
Jazz in Lincoln resembles a small
family. It’s interfunctional. There are
many players and only a couple of well
organized groups. Everyone knows the
others; if you’re good, they’re always
happy to have you jam.
Mother’s Big Band Jazz and the Lin
coln Jazz Underground comprise the
majority of the jazz scene. Both play at
regular intervals, but as Craig Lenz of
Mother’s and Bill Wimmer of the Jazz
Underground both said, the field is not
as lucrative as it could be.
"I think a lot of the problem,” Lenz
said, “is simply that people don’t really
know when or where we’re playing.”
Lenz started Mother’s Big Band Jazz
about 1 1/2 years ago at Chesterfield,
Bottomsley and Potts on Monday nights.
They ei\joyed a moderate following. But
it’s hard for a bar to support an 18
piece ensemble, sell imports for $1 and
still show a profit, Lenz said.
Something had to change. Mother’s
Big Band Jazz now plays at the Zoo Bar
from 7 to 9 p.m. on Mondays.
Different from any other nondescript
local band, Mother’s has about 50
members, all of whom play at any given
time. Those same 50 also play with
eight of 10 other jazz bands.
‘‘Mother’s is a practice band,” Lenz
said, We try and do modern arrange
ments of classic pieces that everyone
wants to do. We trade off doing the
solas.”
Lenz said he thinks a big band has
the advantage of more structure over a
smaller — say, four-piece — jazz band.
Because all the people in Mother’s
sight-read well, the band does many
reasonably complicated pieces of
creme-de-la-creme jazz. Contrary to
the stereotype, jazz musicians hold
hard reservations about mainstream
jazz tunes like “In the Mood.”
“Yeah,” Lenz said, “everybody hates
that one.”
Mother’s is sponsored, logically
enough, by Mother’s Music Co., 5610 S.
49th St. Lenz is considered the leader
but “it’s really a mutual effort by a
bunch of different guys.”
The cover for Mother’s on Mondays is
$1.
The Lincoln Jazz Underground “jams"
at the Clayon House each Friday from 5
to 7 p.m. Like Mother's, different peo
ple play on idfferent occasions — sax
to vibraphone, piano to stand up bass.
The Clayton House hasn’t always
been the Underground's sanctuary. For
a long time they played at McGuffy’s on
Thursdays, where they enjoyed a large
following. But since iazz nicht and
McGuffy’s died, things have been a lit
tle slow for Bill Wimmer, organizer of
the Jazz Underground.
‘‘McGuffy’s gave us a place to play,"
Wimmer said, ‘‘and the Clayton House
hasn’t had music for a long time. Peo
ple just don’t really know that we’re
still playing."
Up and coming for Wimmer and the
Underground are duo jazz jam sessions
on Saturdays and a gig at the Com
husker Place on New Year’s Eve.
Poet to read works
at Andrews Hall
Marilyn Krysl, nationally renowned
poet and essayist, will read from her
works in the faculty lounge of Andrews
Hall at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Krysl has written three books of poe
try, "Saving Things," ‘‘More Palamino,
Please, More Fuchsia" and "Diane
Lucifera" as well as two books of short
stories.
Krysl’s work has appeared in The
Atlantic, The Nation and the New
Republic.
Krysl received a grant from the
National Endowment for the Arts and
in 1986, was awarded the University of
Colorado Faculty Book Prize for a book
of short stories, "Mozart, Westmore
land and Me." She teaches creative
writing at the University of Colorado in
Boulder and is a past director of the
creative writing program there.
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