8A
Friday, March 3, 1995
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Come Blow Your Horns
Bands and choirs are jazzed up for KU's weekend Jazz Festival
Story by Jake Arnold Illustrations by Micah Laaker
T The Lied Center is getting all jazzed up for some out-of-state visitors. Jazz performers from the high school to professional
level came into town yesterday and will be playing today and tomorrow as part of the 18th Annual KU Jazz Festival. This is the first year the festival has lasted three days.
"Last year we had to start turning groups away," said Dan Galley, director of jazz studies. "We wanted to let more groups in."
The festival invited more than 60 high school and college jazz groups from seven states in the Midwest to perform in a non-competitive atmosphere. Professionals from outside the University of Kansas will hold clinics at intervals all three days.
Bands pay an entry fee to perform, which helps to offset the cost of the clinicians.
"We wanted a more regional festival than just local," Gailey said. "It is one of the biggest in the Midwest."
The clinics and performances throughout the day at the Lied Center and Murphy Hall are free and open to the public. Evening performances begin at 7:30 and cost $13 and $11 for the public and $11 and $9 for students and senior citizens.
Diana Reeves performed last night. The KU Jazz Singers opened for her.
Joe Lovano was on the 37th Annual Grammys Wednesday night.
KU Jazz Combo I will open tonight, followed by the Mike Stern Trio and Joe Lovano Quartet
Tonight will feature drummer Louie Bellson joined by KU Jazz Ensemble I and the University of Northern Iowa Jazz Band I.
"It speaks to the quality of the program," said Charla Jenkins, public relations director. "Here's our Friday night soloist on the Grammys. Sometimes we forget how top-drawer some of the stuff we do is."
A free jam-session at the Ramada Inn, 2222 West Sixth St., will follow the performances tonight and tomorrow. It is open to the public. Several clinicians will be playing from 10:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. Everyone is welcome to join.
"We wanted to give the festival participants something to do after the evening," Galley said.
The event expanded from one to two days in 1990, but even then it only was drawing about 10 groups. The last few years has seen the festival grow tremendously. Gailey said he saw several reasons why.
"We've gotten bigger-name artists," Gailey said. "We've also changed the structure of the festival, made it totally non-competitive.
"The Lied Center is a great attraction, too. They get to play in a first-class venue. It is especially attractive for those high school students who play in gymnasiums."
That, in turn, benefits the University.
"I think it is a very positive thing recruiting-wise," Jenkins said.
Galley said that jazz was again thriving.
"We have seen a renaissance in jazz in the last 10 years." Galilei said.
Jazz first appeared during the turn of the century with Black artists in New Orleans. Jazz is very similar to blues and is noted for its heavy reliance on improvisation. Jazz reached its height of popularity during World War II
ularity during World war with the likes of Glenn Miller and Benny Goodman. Recent years have seen an inclusion of different
types of world music in jazz and the use of a variety of instruments, even the banjo.
"Some say it is kind of a snobby art form," Galley said. "It can be a challenge to listen to because it is so complex, but when it was most popular, people just wanted to dance. It isn't art."
Galley said the festival drew a variety of people.
"What we have is the proverbial 'something for everybody,'" Gailey said. "Jazz is different things to different people."
Makin' music
The following are some of the schools that will be performing at the KU Jazz Festival today and tomorrow.
Today
Big Bands
Time School Group
12:30 p.m. Kansas City Kan.
Community College Jazz Ensemble I
3:00 p.m. University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble III
4:00 p.m. Morningside College Jazz Ensemble
7:30 p.m. KU Jazz Combo I
Joe Lovano Quartet Mike Stern Trio
Combos/Vocal Jazz
9:00 a.m. Texas Tech University Hope Smith (Solo)
1:10 p.m. Kansas City Kan. Jazz Combo
Community College
7:30 p.m. Evening concert
Tomorrow
Big Bands
10:30 a.m. Emporia State University Jazz Ensemble I
12:00 p.m. Baker University Jazz Ensemble
2:00 p.m. Kansas State University Concert Jazz Ensemble
3:30 p.m. Culver Stockton College Jazz Ensemble
4:00 p.m. Colby Comm. College CCC Jazzmen
4:30 p.m. Texas Tech University Jazz Ensemble I
5:00 p.m. University of Kansas Jazz Ensemble II
7:30 p.m. University of N. Iowa Jazz Lab One
Louie Belson with KU Jazz Ensemble I
Combos
8:00 a.m. University of Kansas Combo VII
8:40 a.m. University of Kansas Combo VI
9:20 a.m. University of Kansas Combo V
10:00 a.m. S. Illinois University SIUE Jazz Combo
10:40 a.m. University of Kansas Combo IV
1:30 p.m. University of Kansas Combo III
2:10 p.m. Texas Tech University Jazz Combo
2:50 p.m. University of Kansas Combo III
3:30 p.m. Washburn University Jazz Combo
7:30 p.m. Evening concert
'American Airborne' just misses the runway
By Ian Ritter
Kansan staff writer
They've drunk to the point that they aren't able to control themselves. Now they must try to purge their addictions.
"American Airborne," a two-act comedy-drama that will be playing at the Renegade Theatre Company, 518 E. Eighth St., March 3 and 4, deals with the turnoff of alcohol addiction and the daily problems that go with it.
On the surface, the plot is simple. Three recovering alcoholics — Mickey, Betty and Iris — have been sent to a rehabilitation center by the state of New York, and their counselor, Marge, also is a recovering alcoholic. The characters talk, sometimes very heatedly, about the experiences that led to their stay in the center, which is referred to as "the Rock".
Throughout much of the play, the patients brutally argue with each other about the reasons they are in the Rock. Marge, played by Lanya Fent, often jumps in, reminding the other three that they are all alcoholic criminals who have been sent to the Rock because they were deemed unfit to interact in society and the prisons have no room for them.
Two small, dreary rooms, the counseling room and the bedroom, compose the setting, where the three inmates sleep in separate beds.
Betty, played by Jennifer Howrey-Diggs, is the most vicious character. Betty is a woman who, when drunk, attacked her husband and broke all of his teeth. Her brutality also led to 37 stitches on his face.
In the psychoanalytic process, Betty is a valuable source. She pushes the other two to admit why
Mickey, played by Ellen Tarver, is a woman dripping with sensuality. She talks of how her husband, who actually ends up sounding like a "tight-assed yuppie turd," wouldn't satisfy her sexually. Mickey ends up in the rock after drinking a pitcher of martinis and masturbating in front of her son.
they are in the Rock, sometimes profanely insulting them on a subhuman level. At one point, Betty refers to Mickey's husband as a "tight-assed yuppie turd."
Iris, played by Lea Burgess-Carlett, is a diabetic who ran the school bus she was driving into a Carvel ice-cream shop. Iris seems childish at times and is constantly trying to convince the counselor that she doesn't choose to drink anymore. Iris is very docile and tries to serve as a median between Betty and Mickey.
The main dilemma of the play.
despite the fact that all of the characters are fighting alcoholism, concerns why Mickey was thrown into the Rock. The wrongdoings of Betty and Iris are apparent: They both screwed up in ways that deserved punishment.
Mickey's case is not as clear-cut, though. Did she molest her son? Was she just partaking in something natural and was caught in the act? Did she have a strange but meaningful bond with her son?
Molestation is implied by Betty, but Mickey constantly denies the attack. The question is answered at the end of the play, after an insulin overdose and Marge losing her cool in a relapse.
The basic idea of the story, which was written by Doug Delaney, is good, but the dialogue often is cluttered with an uncreative variety of insults that sometimes can sound hastily chosen — or even stupid.
Betty's character could have been better enhanced by more unique word choices.
Also, too many climactic soap operas are going on at once. Not only are all of the characters in the Rock for tragic reasons, but other events in the play that accompany their depressing lives, such as Marge's relapse, add up to be too much.
Finally, the happy ending of the play is just way too ironic. Sorry, I won't give it away.
Don't let my criticisms discourage people who were planning on seeing this play, though. With the material they had to work with, Tarver, Howrey-Diggs, Burgess-Carland and Fent did some lively and colorful acting. The four make the play more than bearable and turn a piece that must look pretty average on paper into a good watch on the stage.
Events
Curtia Lee Band, 9:30 p.m.,
$3, at Cadillac Ranch, 2515
W. Sixth St.
Tonight
Turquoise Sol, 10 p.m., $3, at
The Jazzhaus of Lawrence,
926 1/2 Massachusetts St.
Mango Jam with Blueshead Beggars, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
Smoot Mahuti, 9:30 p.m., $2,
at Johnny's Tavern, 401 N.
Second St.
Tomorrow
Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium, 3832 Main, Kansas City, Mo.
Lonesome Hounddogs, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's, 1016 Massachusetts St.
Smoot Mahuti, 9:30 p.m., $2,
at Johnny's Tavern.
Lip Smacking Kitty Lunch with Monterey Jack and G. Love and Special Sauce, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Bindle Stiffs, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
Turquoise Sol, 10 p.m., $3, at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence
Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Sunday
Destroyer, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottieneck.
John Paul and the Hellhounds, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Monday
Open Mike Night, 9:30 p.m. no cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Acid Jazz, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
G-Love and Special Sauce,
9:30 p.m., cover charge, at
The Grand Emporium.
Tuesday
Sloppy Seconds and Meatmen, 6 p.m., cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Typewriter Man, 10 p.m., cover charge, at The Bot tlenck.
Live Jazz Music, 10 p.m., cover charge, at Mulligan's.
Wednesday
Eric Marienthal, 8 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Guy Stephens Benefit, featuring Ricky Dean Sinatra and Monterey Jack, 10 p.m., $3,
at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence.
1015 with Priss and Frog Pond, 10 p.m. cover charge, at The Bottleneck.
Green Card, 9:30 p.m., cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.
Thursday
Isaac Green with Scrot
Belly and Pie Tasters, 10
p.m., cover charge, at The
Bottleneck.
Dan Bliss, 10 p.m., cover charge, at.Mulligan's.
Acoustic Juice, 10 p.m., $3, at The Jazzhaus of Lawrence.
Blues Society Jam featuring Big John and 39th Street Band, 8 p.m., no cover charge, at The Grand Emporium.