Jazz series provides local music flavor
By Melanie Mensch
Staffwriter
Crowds of concert-goers armed with pic
nic baskets, blankets and lawn chairs will
make a pilgrimage to the Sheldon Memorial
Art Gallery and Sculpture Garden to sit amid
shady trees and metal sculptures and listen to
the cool sounds of jazz in the summer breeze.
This was the vision of the Nebraska Art
Association when Jazz in June began nine
years ago.
The NAA created the free weekly con
certs to entice a younger audience to the
Sheldon Memorial Art Museum.
Jazz in June became a success. Not only
did the series attract 200 people in its first
year, it has drawn thousands since then with
its successful combination of music and art
“We had no way of knowing whether
people would come when we first started,”
said Nancy Piper, executive director of the
NAA.
This year’s concert series kicked off on
June 6 and featured the UNL Jazz Quintet.
New to Jazz in June, this group features four
professors from UNLs music department.
Members are Tom Larson, piano; Darryl
White, trumpet Peter Bouffhrd, guitar, Rusty
White, bass; and Siguard “Fig” Lyles, drums.
The group will play original compositions
and familiar mainstream jazz works.
White, who has played with the quintet
for three years, said die public’s appreciation
for jazz has grown.
“Jazz in particular is one of die only true
American art forms,” he said. “Jazz in June is
a great combination of two great forms of art.
People who are not necessarily artists begin
to appreciate other forms of art”
Other featured acts include the Nebraska
Jazz Orchestra, which will play traditional
big band favorites on June 13. On June 20,
The Matt Wallace Group will dabble in every
jazz style from mainstream to pop, funk and
fusion. The Angela Hagenbach Sextet, influ
enced by the zesty Latin rhythms of the hand
Musa Nova, will treat crowds to the sounds of
TOM LARSON, Of the UNI. Jazz Quartet plays the piaao Tuesday daring the groep’s concert outside the Sheldon Memorial hitlialienN
The geaitet kicked iff the anneal Jazz hi Jim eerie* this week. The eerie* will ran through Jeea.
salsa jazz on June 27.
Daniel Siedell, curator for the Sheldon,
said Jazz in June offered a unique venue to
see and hear local jazz acts.
“It brings people to the Sculpture
Garden,” he said. “They’re sitting around art,
only a few feet away, the gallery as a back
drop. It helps people become more familiar
and comfortable being around museums.”
And with a crowd of music enthusiasts
within eye-shot of the Sheldon, more folks
may stroll inside the gallery to look at exhibi
tions.
Throughout June, the Gallery will fea
ture “The Perpetual Well: Contemporary Art
from the Jewish Museum in New York.” This
exhibit features a kaleidoscopic collection of
paintings, sculptures, prints and photography
by both Jewish and non-Jewish artists,
including Richard Avedon and Annie
Leibovitz.
Please see JAZZ on 4
Market adds to
UNL’s summer
events slate
MARKET from page 2
dors such as the East Campus
Dairy Store and the Department
of Horticulture.
“We feel it will be really suc
cessful,” Waite said. “It is
intended to bring together folks
interested in fine arts and fine
food.”
The Mid-Week Haymarket
Farmer’s Market will stretch
• from Q to R streets in front of the
Lied Center for Performing Arts
and extend eastward to 13th
Street. It will be held for seven
weeks, except for July 4, begin
ning June 6. The market will last
from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 ^.m.
dailyneb. com
^Doors open at 7:30^
W-esson begin at 8:(X)V
Frhe PLA MOrI
6600 WO St. .
EARN UP
TO $990
Call 474-PAYS
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