The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, October 27, 1989, Page 9, Image 9

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page. It is also available as plain text as well as XML.

    Arts & Entertainment
Yellowjackets
add acoustics
to jazz songs
By Julie Naughton
Staff Reporter
The Yellowjackets’ newly re
leased album, “The Spin,’’ com
bines beautiful jazz melodies with
acoustic instruments.
This wonderful blend is created by
band members Jimmy Haslip, bass;
Russell Ferrante, keyboard/composi
tion; Marc Russo, saxophone and
William Kennedy, drums/pcrcus
sion.
Especially pleasing cuts on this
album arc “Prayer for El Salvador,”
“Whistle While You Walk” and
“Enigma.”
“Prayer for El Salvador” is a
peaceful song that group members
call a dedication to the people of El
Salvador. The song was written by
Ferrantc. It is about a family friend
from El Salvador.
“Whistle While You Walk,”
another Ferrantc composition, is an
upbeat adventure, a marriage of
straight-ahead jazz and quirky ele
ments. The introduction is a variation
on the blues. Ferrantc said the cut was
inspired by work musicians Miles
Davis and Michael Brecker.
“Enigma,” a creation in B major,
is by far the best cut on the album.
The song twists and turns in strange
directions and somehow manages to
come together at the end. The song,
which sounds like a puzzle being
pieced together, was composed by
Ferrantc and Haslip.
Rounding out the album are the
cuts “Geraldine,” “The Spin,”
“Storytellers,” “Dark Horses” and
“Blues for Nikki.”
The Spin is the Yellowjackcls’
ninih album. The first four, “Yel
lowjackcts” (1981),’ ‘Casino Lights/
Live at Montruex” (1982), “Mirage
a Trois” (1983), and ‘‘Samurai
Samba” (1985), were released by
Warner Brothers Records.
After “Samurai Samba,” the
group moved to MCA Records,
which released “Shades” (1986),
“Star Trek IV Soundtrack” (1986),
“Four Comers” (1987), “Politics”
(1988) and “the Spin” (1989). The
Yellowjackcls produced “The Spin”
themselves.
The Yellowjackcls have won
Grammy Awards in two different
categories. In 1986, “Shades” won
the R&B Instrumental Performance
Award. In 1989, “Politics” won a
Jazz Fusion Album Grammy.
Courtesy photo
Cleveland Quartet
Cleveland String Quartet to begin
‘Beethoven Cycle’ series of concerts
By Mark Lage
Staff Reporter
The world-famous Cleveland
String Quartet will open the Lin
coln Friends of Chamber Music’s
1989-90 presentation of “The
Beethoven Cycle.”
In celebration of the Quartet’s
25th anniversary season, LFCM
has arranged a series of concerts,
lectures and master classes center
ing on the entire cycle of
Beethoven’s 16 string quartets,
said John Bailey, assistant profes
sor of flute at the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln School of Mu
sic.
The first two concerts are 8 p .m.
today and 3 p.m. Sunday at the
Sheldon Art Gallery Auditorium.
Bailey will give a pre-perform
ance lecture at 7:30 p.m. today.
“I will give a general introduc
lion to some of the melodies to be
played that night, and, since it’s
the beginning of the cycle, I will
talk in general terms about all the
quartets,” he said.
corty^rt
Since the goal of the cycle is to
complete all of Beethoven’s quar
tet work, each of this weekend’s
shows will be completely differ
ent, Bailey said.
‘‘His later quartets are monu
mental — very large, and very dif
ficult,” Bailey said. Therefore, the
works have been divided between
the early and late periods.
‘‘Every concert will have a
taste of each period,” Bailey said.
Sunday’s show will be pre
ceded by a lecture from Christo
pher Reynolds, a professor of
music history at the University of
Califomia-Davis, and a noted
Beethoven historian. Reynolds
will lecture on Beethoven’s “Opus
135” at 8 p.m. Saturday in the
Sheldon Auditorium. The lecture
is open and free to the public.
The Cleveland String Quartet is
just beginning its third decade as
one of the world’s premiere string
quartets.
Its members are William
Preucil and Peter Salaff, violin;
James Dunham, viola; and Paul
Katz, cello. The quartet has done
much recorded work, has toured
throughout the world and has
appeared on television several
limes.
The quartet members perform
their music on a rare, treasured
See CONCERT on 10
Famous organist
to bring talents
to college recital
By Mark Lage
Staff Reporter
Mary Preston, an organist known
throughout the country, will bring her
talents to the Nebraska Wesleyan
University campus next weekend.
Preston, who normally plays for
the King of Glory Lutheran Church in
Dallas, will play an organ recital
Nov. 5 in Wesleyan’s O’Donnell
Auditorium.
■ . A -
con^g^_
The recital will feature works by
Vivaldi, Mozart, Bach and other
lesser-known composers.
Preston received early training on
the organ in the San Francisco area,
and her studies since have led her to a
variety of universities, including the
prestigious Obcrlin Conservatory of
Music and North Texas State, where
she received her degrees.
Preston has played recitals at con
ventions across the United States,and
has appeared by special request in
Paris’ Notre Dame Cathedral.
The organist is being brought to
Wesleyan by the Lincoln Organ
Showcase, a standing committee of
the Lincoln Chapter of the American
Guild of Organists, said Lauren
Wisncr, publicist for the Showcase.
‘The group’s gen
eral philosophy is
that for a town the
size of Lincoln,
there are a good
number of good
sized pipe or
gans.’
—Wisner
“The group’s general philosophy
is that for a town the size of Lincoln,
there arc a good number of good
sized pipe organs,” Wisner said.
But not all notable pipe organs arc
big. The Showcase has had several
shows at Wesley Hall, which has an
organ that was built after the style of
Northern German organs of the 1500s
, and 1600s, Wisner said.
The Lincoln Organ Showcase has
been around since 1980, and sponsors
a scries of four or five organ recitals a
year, Wisner said.
Preston’s recital begins at 4 p.m.
Tickets arc 57 for adults and S5 for
students. Children under 12 will be
admitted free.
Music ranges from melancholic to manic
n ... . n _. . iMffr j mj in w .
By Mick Dyer
Staff Reporter
The Prairie Wind Quintet thrives
on the challenge to fill the commu
nity’s ears with new and unusual
woodwind chamber music.
conrprf
That’s no short order for such a
small, fledgling group to fill. But the
quintet’s performance Tuesday eve
ning at Grace Lutheran Church was a
rare treat. It demonstrated the quin
tet’s commitment to fine music, as
well as establishing it as a cultural
asset to Lincoln and greater Ne
braska.
The quintet played four pieces
written by German composers, in
cluding the Nebraska premiere of
“Serenade Without Serious Inten
tions,” by Flemming Weis.
.The quintet made the “Serenade
Without Serious Intentions” a real
musical experience for the audience.
At times the piece was manic and
high-spirited - at times it was sar
donic and melancholic. At times the
piece was conventionally beautiful
and melodic -- at times it was some
what surreal and dissonant. The piece
marched, traipsed, plodded and
reeled around the room, much to the
audience’s delight.
The quintet also played “Quin
tetto,’’ by Wolfgang Brennsteiner;
‘ ‘Quintet, op. 41,” by Edvard Moritz
and “Wind Quintet No. 1 in E Flat,’’
by Peter Muller. It was music that
required some intellectual effort on
the part of the audience, yet the quin
tet motivated the audience by making
the music fun and interesting. It was
evident from the quintet’s.perform
ance that all members are competent
and well-educated musicians. The
quintet also was well-balanced in
performance because no member’s
ability or presence outshined the oth
ers. This allowed the quintet to play
some difficult music with apparent
ease. It was an outstanding evening of
music.
John L. Walker, spokesman for
the quintet, said the quintet s purpose
is threefold: to give premiere per
formances of woodwind quintet
mbsic that has not been played live in
Nebraska before, to perform wood
wind quintet music by regional com
posers and to bring first-class music
to people who otherwise may have
little exposure to it
“What we try to do is unique,”
Walker said.
The Prairie Wind Quintet features
Mary Howell, flute; Douglas Stottcr,
hom; Xia Jin, bassoon; John L.
Walker, oboe and Mike Ledcrer,
clarinet.
Walker said wind quintet music is
common, but it is difficult to locate
sheet music for all but the most popu
lar pieces. That’s because the music
tends to sit on shelves in music clear
inghouses gathering dust, he said.
Walker said the quintet works very
hard to find these unusual pieces and
to premiere them to Nebraska audi
ences.
“I guess we would be musical
sleuths,” Walker said. “I spend a lot
of time and thought in the planning
Prairie Wind Quintet courtesy photo
and procurement of pieces.
“We literally unearth works that
otherwise wouldn’t be heard,’’ he
said.
Walker said it is exciting for the
quintet to work on pieces that have
nol been performed otten. He said
since there are few recordings and
even fewer written musical criticisms
of performances of these pieces, the
See QUINTET on 11