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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 1990)
Arts & Entertainment Heart Murmurs beating again in Lincoln oy uchiii rayiic Senior Reporter October, 1979: The debut release from six-piece blues ensemble Little Jimmy Valentine and the Heart Mur murs sells out in record stores in Omaha and Lincoln. No one is suprised. The Murmurs have been playing to packed houses across the Midwest, finding particularly receptive crowds in Kansas City and Chicago. They’re often called upon to open for heavyweights like Charlie Mus slewhite and Muddy Waters, and nearly as often they steal the next day press. On the cold sidewalks outside bass player Larry Bochmer’s Zoo Bar, folks get in line to sec the wailing R&B band inside. Fast forward to October, 1990, and after a 10-year absence, the Heart Murmurs are beating once again. This week members of the former Zoo Bar house band will be reunited for five aiivjwa ai uivu uiu 3iuiu[;iii5 giuunu — the Zoo. “It’skind oflike ‘The Blues Broth ers’,” jokes Boehmer. “We’re gelling the band back together.” And while Boehmer and his old males may not be on a mission from God, they arc nonetheless excited about the reunion. The Heart Murmurs held an impromptu get together last May, jamming at the Zoo. Saturday, they will lake it on the road, playing at Kansas City’s Grand Emporium. And the Murmurs are fully intact, with Boehmer on bass, Scan Ben jamin and Doug Rosekrans on gui tars, Jim Cidlik on piano, Marc Wilson playing drums, and Madison Slim blowing the harmonica. “We’re really a better band now than we were 10 years ago,” Boehmer said. “We’ve all kept busy with dif ferent blues and R&B groups. We’re better musicians.” Don’t look for the reuniting of the Heart Murmurs to break up the guys’ current bands, though. Instead this week’s shows would seem to be a nostalgic trip down memory lane. Or Blues Street. Boehmer, Cidlik and Benjamin are three-fifths of the Ta blerockers, the Zoo’s house band since See LINCLIVE on 7 ^’ Jett Wlllett/DanyT^brasl^n The Heart Murmurs jam at the Zoo Bar on Sunday night. The Zoo will host the Murmurs through Friday. Lied’s courses demystify the arts \ By Pat Dinslage Staff Reporter Drawing Nebraska children and adults into the world of theater, music and dance keeps Kit Voorhees on the stage, in the classroom and on the road. Voorhees, education and outreach director for the Lied Center for Per forming Arts, said the center offers more than events and performances. “If the Lied Center was only a presentation entity, we would be only an entertainment facility,” Voorhees said. “We arc a part of the university, so we must take the special opportu nities given by the performing events to expand Nebraska’s awareness and understanding of the arts.” One of Voorhees’ jobs is giving “performance talks” before the per formances. She talks about different aspects of the performance and back ground with the audience. Before the Marie Osmond performance, for in stance, she talked to the audience about the music and recording indus tries. “I’m taking the audience past the two-hour stage dimension to explore other areas,” Voorhees said. Sometimes, the artist or a member of the performing company will ap pear on stage with her to give a “unique insight” on the performer or the show, she said. “I prefer to put the performance in a picture frame for the audience,” Voorhecs said. Voorhecs also introduces Univer sity of Ncbraska-Lincoln freshmen to the Lied Center and the performing arts through the university founda tions and the Arts Today courses. The courses “demystify the disci plines” of dance, theater and music, she said. Performers visit classes and talk with the students, to help them understand the work and concepts involved in creating art, music and dances. But she also brings the arts and the Lied Center into the lives of upper class and graduate students, Voorhecs said. Sometimes the Lied Center of fers a performance that fils particu larly well with a specific class, and she will organize symposiums, lec tures and demonstrations of the art ist’s ability for UNL students. Voorhees also arranges “master classes” for upperclass undergradu ate and graduate students. In these classes, the visiting artist meets one on-one with a student, who performs for the artist. The artist discusses the student’s performance, offering sug gestions and a critique, she said. “For onc-and-a- half to two hours, the student studies under the master,” Voorhees said. “It may be a once-in a-lifetimc opportunity for the student” But taking the arts out to the communities of Nebraska occupies much of her time, Voorhees said. She developed an “Arts are Basic” pro gram for elementary and high school teachers and began summer work shopsduringthe 1988-89 school year. Part one of the three-part program is a two-week summer work shop. The workshop trains teachers how to teach the arts in the classroom, she said. The first workshop had a total of 39 teachers participating, Voorhees said, who were primarily from Lin coln schools. By summer 1990, the program had grown to include 70 school teachers from across the state, including North Bend, Fremont, Waverly and Hebron. Voorhees said she expects next summer’s workshop to have a similar increase in partici pants as teachers see the program’s value. “We take general classroom teach ers through the same process the artist goes through to create a work,” Voorhees said. “They find out how to work within the discipline. It’s not art appreciation, it’s an experimental process.” See LIED on 7 ente^ain^nent_ Harpsichordist to present recital Bradley Brookshire, described as one of the most important American harpsichordists of his generation, will present a recital at 8 p.m. Oct. 13 at St. Mark’sOnThe Campus Episcopal Church, 1309 R St. The concert, sponsored by the Lincoln Organ Showcase, will feature works by Bohm, Bach, Forqucray and Domenico Scarlatti. Brookshire has been the recipi ent of numerous awards and prizes in international competitions. He has appeared often on radio and television throughout the world including National Public Radio, American Public Radio, Radio Free Berlin, North German Television and Hungarian State Radio. In addition, Brookshire main tains an active career as a solo recitalist and continuo performer in Europe and America. A noted interpreter of modern repertoire, Brookshire has been invited by West German Radio to record a recital for broadcast including “Four Fancies for Harpsichord’’ by the celebrated American composer William Albright. Single admission tickets arc S7 at the door or S5 for students or senior citizens. I Kenny Rogers, Dolly Parton to perform The University Program Coun cil and North American Tours will present “An Evening With Kenny and Dolly” on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. The program will feature coun try recording stars Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. Rogers is best known for his smash,’The Gambler,” and still is active in the music industry. Par ton is a movie star as well as a country singer, appearing in films like “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas” and “9 to 5." Tickets are $22.50 and $18.50. Ticket outlets include the Nebraska Union, Pershing Auditorium and Younkers. This will be the only concert appearance this fall in Nebraska by cither performer. Waldo’s surreal mishmash lacks originality By Mark Munn Staff Reporter Waldo the Dog Faced Boy “Gifts of Finest Wheat” W.I.N. Records The second album by Waldo the Dog Faced Boy, “Gifts of Finest Wheat,” was recently released after the band took a two-year sabbatical. This mishmash of pseudo-intellectu - alism combines surrealism, industri - alism, slide trombone and Mary Ellen Mason’s narrative vocals into 11 tunes. One might even go so far as to call it artsy, though it lacks any sense of originality. What began as a one-time joke performance at Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles has burgeoned into an alternative favorite. At that time, Mary Ellen Mason read lyrics from a religious manual over the band’s noise in an attempt to verbally assault the audience. Instead, the 30-minutc performance was tagged a “Hindu.Nightmare” by one music critic. This clued the band to take itself more seriously. Waldo released an album, “Wood,” then went through some personnel changes. The band is now a six-piece, including veterans Mason, Tom Grim ley on guitar and Devin Samo on bass. They are joined by Jim Richards on slide trombone, keyboardist Tim Gallagher and drummer Eli Koenig. Mason’s lyrics ramble from psy chic, ethereal delirium to trippy, impressionistic sex. All members contribute to the lyric writing. At times, as in “Wild Kingdom,” the lyrics make very little sense: “What I think happened was traffic/ What else equation/ Religion taking over when church is closed in the Wild Kingdom/ Man is not alone.” !n the opening number, “Jcllo,” there is obvious symbolism: “Your eyes swing me down behind the rub ber couch/ Refrigerator white is all that I can sec/ And one ton lids sweep over human sight/1 don’t want to feel my head or my body.” It’s too bad it makes no sense to the listener. The trombone work by Jim Richards on this tune makes up for the senseless muck. The album has some glitches in it. Some songs sound like they were recorded in a trash can, evidence of eight-track recording. That is proba bly the sound they were reaching for, though it can be quite unappealing. Waldo the Dog Faced Boy has been compared in the past to X and f the Cocteau Twins, but the band is L not deserving of such compliments. 1 Waldo is more like a New Age Edie Brickcll These guys worship the detuned guitar sound, which can be a wonderful thing if used properly. Waldo doesn’t know how to apply this expertise. Waldo the Dog Faced Boy is di recting its industrial pop towards a college alternative scene. It is for the pseudo-intellectuals to decipher. John Bruce/Dally Nebraskan