Arts & Entertainment
Wasting no tune, time
Marsalis grabs Lied crowd
By Michael Stock
Staff Reporter
Jazz saxophonist Branford Mar
salis said in a talk Saturday afternoon
that “unless the music sounds like
your own ... it’s a waste of time.”
Saturday night, Marsalis proved
just that. Taking the Lied stage for a
sold-out crowd, Marsalis grabbed the
audience in the opening minutes and
didn’t let go.
Jeff Watts on drums and bassist
Robert Hurst joined Marsalis’ saxo
phone playing Saturday night to spin
a frenzy around the audience at the
Lied Center for Performing Arts.
Opening with “A House from
Edward,” Hurst’s streetwise bass line
should have found the stage strolling
with cats in dark glasses, showing a
beatlike style. Occasionally, the simple
stroll of bass would speed up, sound
ing more like a shuffle than a walk.
Watt’s pounded rhythms of the
trap and the “skish” of the cymbal set
out on an involved inspection of rat
tletrap and rimshots, as Marsalis
strolled about the stage listening to
his partners’ solos.
As Marsalis noted in his talk, the
rhythm of the bass line is a straighter
rhythm to follow than the percussion.
He said that the bass guides the pace
of the song, marking time for the rest
of the band to follow.
The integration of both straighter
and more complex syncopated ihythms
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of drums and cymbal gave the trio a
very thick sound.
Parts of the trio’s interpretation of
the classic “Embrace Me, My Sweet
Embraceable You” and Ornette Cole
man ’s “Toy Dance” offered a slower,
sweeter sound.
Marsalis’ solos showcased glis
saridos and the power of his wide
range. Filling the enormous Lied with
a flood of warmth that should only fill
a smaller hall, the bluesy background
of the music shone through.
The lustier-throated sound of
Marsalis’ tenor caught the audience
as he strolled to and from the micro
phone, keeping a close watch and ear
on volume and sound.
Picking up the tempo and main
taining the same rhythms built the
song to a fervor, highlighting the in
tricacies of the involved bass line.
The demand and complexities of
Watt’s rhythms at times sounded with
African influences of bullet-fast sharp
ness and moved into Latin rimshots
and cymbal rhythms.
The second half of the show incor
porated “Royal Garden Blues” with
Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” “All
God’s Children Got Rhythm,” “Chero
kee” and Sam Jones’ “Unit 7.”
Marsalis’ clever modernization of
the old New Orleans standard, “Royal
Garden Blues” featured the sweeter
sound of Marsalis’ soprano saxophone
— which he played on Sting’s al
bums.
The speed of Marsalis’ rolling licks
seemed quicker on the soprano, re
vealing the beautiful upper end of the
scale. The wonderful searching feel
of the soprano solo was free of inhibi
tions, as Marsalis “Yeahed!” approval
of Hurst’s change of playful rhythms.
The feel of the bustle of New Or
leans’ Mardi Gras streets could be
found in the denseness of the percus
sion, and the bustle and business of
the bass solo.
Marsalis’ rendition of Ellington’s
“Mood Indigo” was a raspy 1930’s
image of the throaty, lustful tones of
a sexy smoking strapless — tempting
and full of allure. The bluesy mix of
lilted sounds at times picked up to a
kind of cocksure strutting feel, each
lick melting into the next with ease.
Every exchange of solos and licks
in the astounding show was greeted
with grins and approval from mem
bers of the trio and the Lied audience.
See MARSALIS on 10
‘Incorrectness’ show teaches Hanna
how to be wrong the American way
My palms were sweating in sloppy an
ticipation. I gripped my buzzer button and
tried to concentrate on the production man
ager’s final warning to the contestants.
“Remember to smile. You’re having so
much fun you can’t believe it. Laugh at all
of Billy's jokes. You’ve never met a funnier
man. And above all, have fun. It is, after all,
only a game. OK. we’re going in five ^. .
four... three ... and we’re on the air!’’
The studio lights exploded into life. The
applause signs flashed, and crowd members
beat their hands together furiously. The
game show announcer began to speak from
some mysterious, unseen place.
“It’s time once again for the game show
of tomorrow, where contestants fight it out
to see who has the least acceptable socio
political beliefs! It’s ‘The Battle For Politi
Jim
Hanna
cal Incorrectness!’ And here’s your host,
Billy Wasp!”
“Thank you,” Billy said as he came run
ning onto the studio set. “It’s great to have
you all here for another ‘Battle For Political
Incorrectness.’ Our contestants today are
Stan Plutarch from Reactionary, Penn., and
Jim Hanna from Lincoln, Neb.”
I applauded and smiled right along with
the studio audience and nervously hoped I
would win.
Ukay, Man and Jlm, let s get right to the
questions. As you know, the first one to get
three points is the big winner. Our first two
questions arc worth one point each and our
third question is a bonus worth three points.
The loser will go home with no prizes and
forever be pegged with that most horrible of
monikers, politically correct.”
A gasp of fear went up from the audi
ence.
“Gentlemen, here’s your first question.
You arc a president of a major university. A
bunch of whiny chicks come to your office
and start crying for a women’s studies pro
gram. They claim that the contributions of
women to the worlds of literature, politics
and history are being ignored by an exclu
See HANNA on 10
Saxophonist Branford Marsalis speaks about jazz music and
his own experiences to a group in Westbrook Music Building
Saturday before his performance at the Lied Center for
Performing Arts.
Career, rear
draws cheers
for Harrelson
By Robert Richardson
Senior Reporter
When Woody Harrelson took the stage at
Nebraska Wesleyan University’s O’Donnell
Theatre, nobody really knew what to expect—
including Woody.
Harrelson, the slow-witted bartender of the
hit television comedy “Cheers,” spoke to a
crowd of about 300 Friday night. He was in
Nebraska as part of a four-day fundraising tour
for the Nebraska Indian Community College.
He came on stage to roaring applause and
comments from the audience like “nice butt.”
As he talked, he posed for pictures from the
audience, smiled and told his life story.
Harrelson grew up in Texas, where he got in
a lot of fights in grade school. Nevertheless, he
was awarded a scholarship to a private grade
school. Harrelson said that what he needed was
a lot of love, and he got it at his new school.
He grew up, started getting good grades and
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ana. He got degrees in English and theater arts
and moved to New York.
He got his current job a year and a half later.
He walked into the audition wiping his nose
and the producers from “Cheers” immediately
liked him, he said.
His talk quickly turned into a question and
answer format. He opened up the floor for
questions but before he took any, he answered
the money question.
Saying that people usually ask how much he
makes, Harrelson said that he has “more money
than I know what to do with.”
“I make more in a week than any teacher or
professor makes in a year,” he said.
But Harrelson said the fact that he makes so
much money is not right, and he challenged the
audience to change that.
A lot of the questions from the audience
centered around the cast of “Cheers.” Audi
ence members wanted to know if Ted Danson
(Sam) “really got laid a lot.”
Harrelson said that it depended on if Dan
son’s wife was in the mood and whether or not
his children were in the room.
One audience member asked — to the groans
of the crowd — Harrclson’s views or the war.
“I feel that we have to move into a new era
See HARRELSON on 10