Courtesy Photo
VAN HALEN, new frontman and
all, returns to the rock arena
today with the release of “Van
Halen 111.”
Van Halen
debuts 3rd
lead singer
By Jim Zavodny
Staff Reporter
Yes, ladies and gentlemen,
Van Halen is back.
The band debuts its third lead
singer, Gary Cherone of Extreme,
on the new album, which is its
first record that contains new
material since 1995’s “Balance,”
Sammy Hagar’s last album with *
Van Halen.
Stone Temple Pilots lead
screamer Scott Weiland comes
out with his first solo album today
after his battle with drug prob
lems that caused his temporary
break from STP.
Two spoken-word albums
debut today - from the influential
poet Maya Angelou and beat gen
eration writer William
Burroughs, who died last year.
Burroughs’ best-of collection
comes with four compact discs.
“The Complete Wailers” is
part one in a series of Bob Marley
and the Wailers material planned
for release. Part one’s box set con
tains three compact discs.
It’s a rapper’s delight this
week as the soundtrack for Ice
Cube’s new film, “Player’s Club,”
and an album from those clock
wearin’ studs Public Enemy come
out. “Player’s Club” includes
music from the Cube himself,
Master P and Scarface.
New Releases: March 17,
1998
Maya Angelou: “Black Pearls:
The Poetry of” (Rhino WordBeat)
Louis Armstrong and King
Oliver: “Creole Jazz”
(Tradition/Rykodisc)
William Burroughs: “Best of”
(Mouth Almighty/Mercury)
Marc Cohn: “Burning the
Daze” (Atlantic)
The Great Divide: “Break in
Storm” (Atlantic)
Mach Five: “Mach Five”
(Island)
Bob Marley and the Wailers:
“The Complete Wailers 1967
1972 Part 1” (JAD)
Movie Soundtrack: “Player’s
Club” (A&M)
Public Enemy: “Bring the
Noise 2000” (Polygram)
RuPaul: “Go-Go Box
Classics” (Rhino)
Van Halen: “3” (Warner
Bros.)
Scott Weiland: “ 12 Bar Blues”'
(Atlantic)
Multitalented author visits UNL
By Jason Hardy
Senior Reporter
School is expensive.
Experience is free.
Tonight Frank Conroy, a national
ly acclaimed author and the recipient
of this spring’s University of
Nebraska President’s Distinguished
Visiting Artist award, will conduct a
free public reading of his work at the
Westbrook Recital Hall.
Conroy, who is also the director of
the prestigious Iowa Writers’
Workshop, will be on campus today
and tomorrow to speak with English
and jazz classes about his work as a
writer and as a jazz musician.
Kit Voorhees, coordinator of edu
cational outreach for the College of
Fine and Performing Arts, said it was
quite an honor for the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln to be visited by
Conroy, who will visit the University
of Nebraska at Kearney next.
“To have a writer who is not only a
very successful novelist, but who also
is intricately connected with the Iowa
Writers’ Workshop is about as fine a
thing as we could get,” Voorhees said.
She said Conroy was a good
example for UNL students to follow.
“He’s a writer who is able to
address many themes, not just one
continuum. He doesn’t conform to a
formula for writing,” Voorhees said.
“I think that’s something that’s very
good for our students to see being
practiced.”
Gerald Shapiro, associate profes
sor of English, said he agreed that
Display showcases artist
who overcame depression
By Sarah Baker
Senior Reporter
Most people turn to their shrink
when they are looking for happiness.
Elizabeth Layton turned to the
mirror.
“Reflections on Life and Well
Being: Drawings by Elizabeth
Layton” runs through April 30th at
the Great Plains Art Collection in
Love Library.
The exhibit showcases 26 draw
ings by the late Elizabeth Layton, a
68-year-old grandmother who over
came severe depression through
making art.
Don Lambert, organizer and cre
ator of the show, said the type of art
Layton did is not a unique form.
“It’s known as the blind contour
method,” he said. “Elizabeth learned
to draw pictures of herself while she
looked in the mirror, but didn’t look
at the paper.”
Layton originally started drawing
after she suffered from severe bouts
of depression because of a divorce
and later the death of one of her chil
dren.
Lambert said that over a 15-year
period, Layton did nearly 1,000 draw
ings.
“Her art cured what 13 shock
treatments couldn’t,” he said, refer
ring to Layton’s depression. ..
Lambert said he first discovered
Layton’s work while working as a
reporter in Kansas.
“I first met Elizabeth right when
she started drawing,” Lambert said.
“I saw two of her drawings and I
thought they were remarkable and I
asked her if she would let me show
her work to people. She said ‘You
can, but no one is going to like them
because they are all ugly.’”
Lambert said the first reactions to
the works confirmed Layton’s belief.
“I knew there was great truth and
Cji
beauty in the drawings, and that is
why I persisted in showing them,”
Lambert said.
Because of his persistence,
Layton’s art has been shown in more
than 200 museums across the United
States, including the Smithsonian.
Lambert said the art has been
shown in Lincoln before, but it was
about 10 years ago. He encouraged
people to take advantage of its return.
“It’s not like anything you’ve ever
seen before,” he said. “Although
some people don’t like it, many peo
ple, when they see the drawings of an
old woman showing her struggles
and joys, say ‘this is me.’” .
Lambert said many of the self
portraits reflect social issues such as
women’s rights, prejudice and AIDS.
“Her work triggers a wonderful
response of solidarity that we don’t
often see in art.”
Lambert said these works are the
kind that make people look within
themselves after seeing them.
“After you look at the twenty
some drawings in the collection, I
think you’ll come to a better under
standing of yourself and of the aging
process, which we’re all a part of
whether we admit it or not.”
“Reflections on Life and Well
Being: Drawings by Elizabeth
Layton” runs through April 30 at the
Great Plains Art Collection, 205 Love
Library, 13* and R streets.
Lambert also will present a spe
cial slide show and lecture concern
ing Layton’s art. The presentation
takes place April 2 at 4 p.m. in the
Great Plains Art Collection.
Hours for the exhibit are Monday
through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Sunday 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. For more
information, call (402) 472-6220.
UNL students could learn a lot from
Conroy’s work ethic and his ability to
branch out into different genres of
writing.
“He’s someone who hasn’t felt
constrained by one genre. He’s a nov
elist, a memoirist and a short story
writer, and he’s been very successful
in all three areas,” Shapiro said.
He said Conroy’s success didn’t
come overnight.
“It takes patience because he has
n’t been a wildly prolific writer. He’s
a person who’s really stuck with it
year by year,” Shapiro said. “He’s a
craftsman, and I think the pleasure of
the craft is apparent in all his work.
That’s a wonderfUl lesson for the stu
dents and the rest of us as well.”
Voorhees said students also could
learn from the way Conroy combined
his love for jazz music with his ability
to write.
“There’s an absolute connection,”
Voorhees said. “Learning the theory
that’s the infrastructure to jazz trans
lates to learning the utilization of lan
guage. He takes language and impro
vises it into something very, very
good.”
She said students should take
advantage of the opportunity to visit
with such a renowned author.
“He’s a man of ideas, and the uni
versity campus is a place of ideas, and
it’s a time in the lives of the students
when they can see this within the
rhythm of their lives,” Shapiro said.
“It’s like eating fresh fruit when it’s in
season.”
Conroy’s reading begins at 7 p.m.
in 119 Westbrook Music Building.
Woodwind quintet
a sure crowd pleaser
Group will play the classics
- ^ ^
By Barb Churchill
Assignment Reporter
The Moran Woodwind Quintet
doesn’t do requests.
But if it did, chances are good
that a hefty portion of tonight’s
concert would stay the same.
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln’s faculty woodwind quin
tet-in-residence, the Moran
Woodwind Quintet, will play a
recital tonight in Kimball Recital
Hall. The program includes pieces
such as John Harbison’s “Quintet
for Winds” and Jacques Inert’s
“Trois Pieces Breves,” two stan
dard works for woodwind quintets.
The Moran Quintet has been
UNL’s resident woodwind quintet
for 12 years. The newest member
of the group is Assistant Clarinet
Professor Diane Cawein, who
joined the group*in 1994. Other
members of the group include
John Bailey, professor of flute,
William McMullen, associate pro
fessor of oboe, Gary Echols, pro
fessor of bassoon, and Allen
French, associate professor of
french bom.
Tonight’s recital features
works from France, the United
States, Germany and Great
Britain. The pieces range from
• contemporary American classical
music, intimations of jazz and tra
ditional classical woodwind writ
ing from the French and German
schools.
The works on this concert
include Jacques Ibert’s “Trois
pieces breves,” John Harbison’s
“Quintet for Winds,” Theodor
Blumer’s “Kinderspielzeug,” and
Jim Parker’s “Mississippi Five.”
The Ibert and Harbison are stan
dards, and the Blumer
“Kinderspielzeug” and the Parker
“Mississippi Five” are audience
pleasers.
However, breaking down
pieces by function is not the
Moran Quintet’s style. It can be
hard to tell “standard” from “audi
ence pleaser,” especially when one
(the Ibert “Trois pieces breves”) is
both, McMullen said.
“Audiences really enjoy the
Ibert,” McMullen said.
Perhaps it is the structure of the
Ibert that audiences enjoy so
much. “Trois pieces breves” con
fcfc
Audiences really
enjoy the Ibert. It
is one... woodwind
quintet piece " ■
everyone plays.
William McMullen
associate professor of oboe
sists of three short movements.
The first movement is very lively,
the second movement is a very ten
der and intimate duet between the
clarinet and flute, and the third
movement also features the clar
inet in a quick, waltz-like melody,
McMullen said.
“The Ibert piece is one of the
standards. It is one of the top-five
woodwind quintet pieces everyone
plays, and has been that way ever
since 1930 (when it was com
posed),” McMullen said.
ine naroison quintet ior
Winds” was composed in 1978
and is highly regarded around the
world as a major late-20* century ~
work. It’s not strange or avant
garde, but there are very dissonant
and intense moments. It is very
rhythmic and serious, McMullen
said.
The Blumer
“Kinderspielzeug” is an extremely
enjoyable, programmatic work
consisting of six short movements
describing children’s toys. The
movements include “a ball,” “a
teddy bear,” “a little doll,” “a little
march with some dolls,” “a music
box” and “a sled in the snow.” This
work is very descriptive and fun to
play, McMullen said.
Parker’s “Mississippi Five” is
based on different styles of jazz
from the New Orleans area. Parker
is British, yet captures the
American jazz and blues style with
great flair and skill, McMullen
said.
“This is a newer work (com
posed in 1993) in a lighter mode.
The audience should really enjoy
it,” McMullen said.
The Moran Woodwind Quintet
concert is tonight at 8 in Kimball
Recital Hall. Admission is free.