Arts & Entertainment
McFerrin joins classical and impromptu
By Steve Pearson
Staff Reporter
Friday night, a sold-out Lied Center audi
ence was the secondary recipient of a present
Bobby McFerrin gave himself for his 40th
birthday.
That present was a prom ise to devote four to
six weeks a year to conducting engagements,
and his performance with the Nebraska Cham
ber Orchestra was a fulfillment of that prom ise.
Those expecting to hear McFerrin’s vocal
acrobatics may have been disappointed when
they first read the program, but minutes into the
first number, they had to agree with McFerrin
that, “It’s all jazz!”
McFerrin’s association with classical music
comes naturally. Both of his parents were clas
sically trained vocalists, and his father was the
first black man to sing in a principal role for
New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
McFerrin took the stage in informal attire
and engaged the audience in a casual repartee
not often found at classical music concerts.
The moment McFerrin began conducting
the orchestra strings in Mozart’s “Eine Kleine
Nachtmusik,” his vivacious style(became read
ily apparent. His conducting was actually more
like dancing, as his joy of the music radiated
from every move. That enthusiasm continued
after the number was over and McFerrin shook
a fist in the air and embraced orchestra mem
bers.
The rest of the orchestra took the stage for
Gabriel Faure’s “Pavane.” McFerrin conducted
this piece with a baton in one hand and a
microphone in the other. While conducting, he
sang the main theme, normally taken by the
violins.
Up next was Bach’s Air on the G string.
McFerrin conducted this piece very informally,
sitting down and vocalizing with the orchestra.
McFcrrin displayed his innate musical abil
ity by singing a short ditty to each section of the
orchestra — in the range of the instrument —
that it then would begin to play. By the time the
whole orchestra was playing, McFerrin had
created a rich sound to which he added his
vocal improvisation.
No McFcrrin concert would be complete
without at least a taste of McFerrin ’ s a cappella
vocal magic, and after dismissing the orches
tra, McFerrin obliged.
He began his vocal exhibition by introduc
ing members of the audience to one another
and singing their names. He then involved the
audience in his vocal improvisation, teaching
each half of the audience a short phrase to sing
on his command.
An improv tunc about “drivin’ my car”
followed, in which McFerrin displayed his
smooth jazz tones and imitated the sound of an
accelerating car. It was during this song that
McFerrin accomplished the nearly impossible
— singing two notes at once.
After thunderous applause, McFerrin en
See MCFERRIN on 7
David Badders/DN
Familiar melodies greet
students between classes
Mueller Tower’s
format excludes
today’s Top-40 hits
By Garth Lienemann
Staff Reporter
Between Bessey and Morrill halls,
the Ralph Mueller Tower on the
University of Ncbraska-Lincoln City
Campus rings out every Monday,
Wednesday and Friday and adds music
to student journeys.
The manager of the tower’s music
is Jim Klein, a maintenance electri
cian with the facilities management
department. Klein is responsible for
the general upkeep of the lower as
well as the music that emanates from
it.
At 11:23 a.m., the tower begins its
day. It chimes a tune for a minute or
two and then plays hourly until 5:23
p.m. The tower’s working day ends at
6 p.m., when it signs off — once
again with a tune.
The tower used to sound at the top
of the hour, Klein said, but students
and faculty in Bessey Hall complained
that the music disturbed class.
In response to these complaints,
the facilities management department
adjusted the lower’s playing time to
coincide with the breaks between
classes.
The tower began its musical pres
ence in 1949 when it was dedicated to
the university by Ralph Mueller for
.. ihc free education given him by
the state of Nebraska,” as its plaque
reads.
When Klein came to the univer
sity in 1970, the lower’s music came
from a player piano amplified through
a pipe system similar to a church
organ. The piano aged and suffered
from constant problems, he said.
Eventually, it look too much time and
effort to keep the piano functioning
properly.
“That (piano) was a lot of trouble,”
he said.
The tower was renovated in 1980
and the system was replaced by a
sophisticated tape player. A pre-re
corded cassette is now the source of
the bell sounds. Audio signals travel
to a system of intricate bells no larger
than an inch in diameter. Once the
bells are struck, the sounds are ampli
fied by a 400-watt amplifier con
nected to eight 60-watt speakers in
the top of the tower. Klein said he had
no idea how far the music travels.
The cassette tapes that produce the
tower’s music are replaced at least
every other week, Klein said. Some
times, they are changed weekly.
The tower’s music collection con
sists of about 25 tapes, Klein said.
Christmas music, school fight music,
and Beatles songs are among the
musical features. Some of the indi
vidual titles include “Yesterday,”
“Over the Rainbow,” “The Sounds of
Silence" and “On Wisconsin.”
“There’s nothing to it,” Klein said
See TOWER on 7
^^^^^jHacTMcKee/DN
Jim Klein, a UNL maintenance electrician, programs the
Mueller Tower on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln City
Campus. The system is programmed with a clock timer and
various cassette tapes.
Friendships ripen in fresh film
“Fried Green
^Tomatoes” —
By Anne Steyer
Staff Reporter
What is life all about? Well, ac
cording to Ninny Thrcadgoode, it’s
about friends — best friends.
Friendship and small-town sister
hood are the basic themes of “Fried
Green Tomatoes,” (Cinema 1 & 2,
201 N. 13th St.) although a little ofd
fashioned murder mystery is tossed in
for fun.
Based on Fannie Flagg’s book
“Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle
Stop Cafe,’’ the film takes place in
and near the back-country town of
Whistle Slop, Ala.
it centers on the friendships of four
women in two different stories. Story
No. 1 is the developing relationship
between Evelyn Couch (Kathy Bates)
and Ninny Threadgoodc (Jessica
Tandy), and subsequently, Evelyn’s
personality transformation.
Evelyn stumbles upon Ninny at
the Rose Hills Convalescent Home in
modern-day Alabama. Evelyn is an
overweight, lonely and emotionally
unfulfilled woman. Ninny is also
lonely, but definitely has a more
positive outlook on the world.
Their relationship is an important
aspect of the film, but it lakes a back
seal to story No. 2, told to Evelyn by
Ninny through a scries of flashbacks
to the 1930s.
The lead characters in the flash
back story arc Idgie (Mary Stuart
Mastcrson) and Ruth (Mary-Louise
Parker), dear friends who see each
other through joy and hardship in pre
World War II small-town America.
They arc initially brought together
through tragedy and their friendship
blossoms. Together they experience
joy and hardship — and murder.
The story is sot up to explore the
relationships between the women, but
writer Flagg also incorporates the
compelling whodunit into the pic
ture. Both the audience and Evelyn
end up completely charmed by Idgie
and Ruth and enthralled with their
story.
In fact, story No. 2 makes up the
bulk of the film, but Bales and Tandy
were both nominated for Golden Globe
awards for their performances as best
See TOMATOES on 7
Ratings on a 1-5 real scale to
the speed of celluloid are:
5 reels - Run
4 reels - Jog
3 reels - Racewalk
(See It If you've seen the others)
•. W, :
:<X
r* L ■ f ;
2 reels r Stroll
(Bring |tternate entertainment
source)
1 reel -- Crawl
' "x^Scott Maurer/D N
Fresh ideas
stimulated by
Fifth Column
revolutions
By Bryan Peterson
Staff Reporter
The most revolutionary music is
that which we make ourselves.
That sentence has been ringing in
my head for som^ time now, and
when things like that will not go away,
it is time to examine them with more
scrutiny.
The Fifth Column is about revolu
tionary music, although it has branched
out to look at related catalogs, maga
zines and books.
Initially, only punk bands were
covered, but over the semesters the
range has broadened to include nearly
every genre of music.
But who could write with consis
tent freshness and vivacity about
screaming punk rock demons across
11 semesters and nearly 40 Fifth
Columns? Eventually the theme goes
stale, unless invigorated with new
ideas and energy.
I wou Id con sidcr m yscl f to be more
evolutionary than revolutionary these
days, but it was in the second area that
the Fifth Column got its start.
To quote a previous introduction:
“In writing this column I have been,
and will continue to be, concerned
primarily with music that has some
sort of social or political message.
Fifth Column: music as a subversive
activity.”
The term “fifth column” comes
from the Spanish Civil War. At that
time, it referred to those working to
overthrow the stale by aiding the fas
cists and monarchists against the
Spanish Republic.
According to my dictionary, it was
first used by the Spanish Nationalist
General Mola who, “besieging Madrid
with four columns from the outside,
boasted of having a ‘fifth column’ -
within.”
1 have no intention of supporting
fascists in any way, but 1 do find
interesting the idea of working to
overthrow the stale from within, es
pecially as the state takes 6n fascist
tendencies.
Even overthrowing the state is a
rather narrow interpretation — any
music (or other medium, for that
See FIFTH on 7
