Seriously, there are SO MANY ACTIVITIES to do this week! Here is what I'm most excited for:
• Les Thimmig's Faculty Recital, 2:00 p.m. Sunday in Mills Hall, Humanities
Okay, so this already happened this afternoon. But it was fantastic. I always enjoy going to Les' recitals because of the array of instruments on the stage (two years ago he played nine instruments in a nine-movement piece he wrote).
• President Obama's visit to UW-Madison, Library Mall, 4:45 p.m. Tuesday
Ben Harper will also be there. Enough said.
• Michele Norris' "The Grace of Silence" at the Wisconsin Book Festival (Capitol Theatre in the Overture Center), 7:30-9:00 p.m. Wednesday
As a big NPR nerd I'm very excited to see someone I listen to on a fairly regular basis. Plus, beforehand, I imagine someone will introduce her by name, which will finally end an argument of mine (a friend thinks it's "Mishan.")
• "I am Mary Lou": A First Wave Hip Hop Theater Ensemble Presentation, 6:30-7:30 p.m. Friday on Library Mall
This is an event whose planners hope to bridge the gap between Mary Lou Williams' jazz fans and youth hip hop fans. Professor Richard Davis is involved with the project.
• Wicked, Overture Center, a lot of times and dates.
On Friday I waited in line to get Wicked lottery tickets--10 sets of two tickets were raffled off at $25. The person waiting in line behind me AND in front of me won, so I may try my luck again.
• The Recordings of Mary Lou Williams: A 50-Year Retrospective, St. Paul's University Catholic Center, 7:30 p.m. Friday
This event is hosted by Father Peter O'Brien, Mary Lou Williams' former manager and close friend. He is a major reason why the Mary Lou Williams Centennial Celebration is happening here in Madison, so I'm eager to hear what he has to say. (I'm also waiting on a phone call from him right now for an interview.) The UW Jazz Orchestra, of which I am a proud member, is dedicating our semester to Ms. Williams as a part of her centennial. Our sheet music is from a Rutgers University collection, which has been brought to us by Father O'Brien.
• Concert by the Mary Lou Williams Collective, Overture Center, 7:30 p.m. Saturday
The concert will feature Geri Allen and Carmen Lundy, two well-renowned jazz musicians that UW students can see for as a low as $10 ($15 for general public). Not to be missed.
• Mary Lou’s Mass, Mt. Baptist Church, 8:00 a.m. Sunday
The mass will feature Lundy and George Shirley, who was the first African-American to sing lead tenor with the New York Metropolitan Opera.
• Robert McChesney & John Nichols, Playhouse at Overture Center, 2:30 p.m. Sunday
They will be speaking about their work, The Death and Life of American Journalism. They were here last year and I had to miss it for work, so I'm excited to have another opportunity to see them speak.
Phew, well that's all I can think of for now, let me know if I missed anything... some pesky things called "school," "sleeping," "eating" and "work" have gotten in the way of my finer things consumption (I haven't even listened to any of my podcasts in over a week!), but hopefully this week will bring me back to a healthy diet.
Stay classy!
** I'll be writing a piece for the Book Festival AND The Mary Lou Williams Centennial Celebration for my new found home, The Badger Herald. The former will be published Tuesday and the latter Wednesday; I'll post the results here.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Jazzin' in Madison
I just came across this "jazz compatibility" test on NPR. To say that most avid jazz listeners are pretentious is completely unnecessary, but come on...Eric Dolphy? Really? Miles Davis is probably the most basic/concrete example to use for this kind of thing.
But on to more timely affairs: Tonight's Jazz at Five concert (just off Capitol Square) will feature the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra at 6:30 p.m. The MMJO is dedicated to the great Stan Kenton and his love of mellophoniums. (The group I play in, The UW Jazz Orchestra, dedicated the fall semester of last year to Johnny Richards/Stan Kenton's Cuban Fire Suite. The complete live album recording can be found here.)
What's special about tonight's concert is that the group will be led by Joel Kaye, who played baritone sax with the Kenton band. And my saxophone professor, Les Thimmig, will be playing lead alto. EDIT: For some reason I didn't realize he would be playing, but my jazz director, Jim Doherty, was also featured on trumpet. He told me the sax section is particularly heavy--normally, Kenton preferred using one alto, two tenors and two bari players (as opposed to the typical two altos, two tenors and one bari), but tonight there will be one alto, one tenor, two bari and one BASS sax.
I am extremely excited for tonight's performance. They're also playing tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. in Baraboo's Town Square and again here on Sunday at First United Methodist Church for the service and a following concert at 9:30 a.m.
One last thing: if any jazz musicians are reading this, every Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. there's a jazz jam at Zander's (118 State Street). If Humanities is open after Jazz at Five I'm going to grab my alto and hopefully play there tonight. Come one come all!
But on to more timely affairs: Tonight's Jazz at Five concert (just off Capitol Square) will feature the Madison Mellophonium Jazz Orchestra at 6:30 p.m. The MMJO is dedicated to the great Stan Kenton and his love of mellophoniums. (The group I play in, The UW Jazz Orchestra, dedicated the fall semester of last year to Johnny Richards/Stan Kenton's Cuban Fire Suite. The complete live album recording can be found here.)
What's special about tonight's concert is that the group will be led by Joel Kaye, who played baritone sax with the Kenton band. And my saxophone professor, Les Thimmig, will be playing lead alto. EDIT: For some reason I didn't realize he would be playing, but my jazz director, Jim Doherty, was also featured on trumpet. He told me the sax section is particularly heavy--normally, Kenton preferred using one alto, two tenors and two bari players (as opposed to the typical two altos, two tenors and one bari), but tonight there will be one alto, one tenor, two bari and one BASS sax.
I am extremely excited for tonight's performance. They're also playing tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. in Baraboo's Town Square and again here on Sunday at First United Methodist Church for the service and a following concert at 9:30 a.m.
One last thing: if any jazz musicians are reading this, every Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. there's a jazz jam at Zander's (118 State Street). If Humanities is open after Jazz at Five I'm going to grab my alto and hopefully play there tonight. Come one come all!
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Summertime and the [east side] living is easy
It's been quite a repose since my last post--the last few months have been filled with various fine and not-so-fine things, including outdoor Shakespeare in Spring Green, Concerts on the Square, Jazz at Five, Madison nightlife, Monday night movies at the Terrace (all fine things), introductory biology, rental disputes and Craigslist scouting (not-so-fine things).
But here a few things worth sharing from the last week or so:
• On Wednesday, my wonderful friend Sarah and her friend Rob, visiting from the UK, came into town. Together we went to Henry Vilas Zoo, a quintessential Madison landmark. Curiously enough, nearly all the animals were stricken with pure lethargy. The most extreme case of this was the penguins, who all seemed frozen in time as they steadfastly stood with their wings slightly out with absolutely no movement. Freeze tag? The giraffes weren't sparring, the tiger was pacing and the prairie dogs weren't kicking around dirt at the same energetic level as usual. Even the mean old goat at the petting zoo was not particularly aggressive. All victims of high humidity. But the rainforest building was open (the first time I'd been there), so gawking at piranhas and various jungle birds was a good time.
• After listening to the first group at Jazz at Five, a jazz concert near Capitol Square (side note: last week's performance by Madisalsa was absolutely incredible), we headed to dinner at Flavor of India. The chicken pansanda was amazing, but be sure to order nan with it if you ever go.
• Last night Ryan and I saw Piranha 3D. Although the opening scene is tragic--it involves one of my celebrity crushes (who clearly needed a bigger boat) and his untimely demise--the movie is one of substantial camp and entertaining gore. Ryan and I thought it would have been really fun to have been an extra for the film, and I wished that each extra would have been credited by how they died. SPOILER ALERT: "Hair stuck in boat motor girl" was my favorite. And Christopher Lloyd and his "Back to the Future" neurotics stole the show.
• This morning I got together with two dear friends and fellow saxophonists, Alyssa and Kristen. We had our farewell brunch (Alyssa got her first job!) at Sophia's, a very cute restaurant on East Johnson St. It has very limited hours (weekends 8 A.M.-2 P.M.), but if you have those hours free, it's worth a visit.
About a week ago I moved to Madison's east side (well, near east side) and while I'm still exploring the area, I am definitely falling for the quirks of this part of town. In The Company of Thieves has quickly become my new favorite coffee shop. Slightly closer to downtown is Come Back In, a restaurant I will probably frequent Monday nights--$2 margaritas and $.50 tacos.
I hope to make it downtown now for Wisconsin Capitol Pride.
Hopefully my next post will be less list-y and not two months from now!
Stay classy.
But here a few things worth sharing from the last week or so:
• On Wednesday, my wonderful friend Sarah and her friend Rob, visiting from the UK, came into town. Together we went to Henry Vilas Zoo, a quintessential Madison landmark. Curiously enough, nearly all the animals were stricken with pure lethargy. The most extreme case of this was the penguins, who all seemed frozen in time as they steadfastly stood with their wings slightly out with absolutely no movement. Freeze tag? The giraffes weren't sparring, the tiger was pacing and the prairie dogs weren't kicking around dirt at the same energetic level as usual. Even the mean old goat at the petting zoo was not particularly aggressive. All victims of high humidity. But the rainforest building was open (the first time I'd been there), so gawking at piranhas and various jungle birds was a good time.
• After listening to the first group at Jazz at Five, a jazz concert near Capitol Square (side note: last week's performance by Madisalsa was absolutely incredible), we headed to dinner at Flavor of India. The chicken pansanda was amazing, but be sure to order nan with it if you ever go.
• Last night Ryan and I saw Piranha 3D. Although the opening scene is tragic--it involves one of my celebrity crushes (who clearly needed a bigger boat) and his untimely demise--the movie is one of substantial camp and entertaining gore. Ryan and I thought it would have been really fun to have been an extra for the film, and I wished that each extra would have been credited by how they died. SPOILER ALERT: "Hair stuck in boat motor girl" was my favorite. And Christopher Lloyd and his "Back to the Future" neurotics stole the show.
• This morning I got together with two dear friends and fellow saxophonists, Alyssa and Kristen. We had our farewell brunch (Alyssa got her first job!) at Sophia's, a very cute restaurant on East Johnson St. It has very limited hours (weekends 8 A.M.-2 P.M.), but if you have those hours free, it's worth a visit.
About a week ago I moved to Madison's east side (well, near east side) and while I'm still exploring the area, I am definitely falling for the quirks of this part of town. In The Company of Thieves has quickly become my new favorite coffee shop. Slightly closer to downtown is Come Back In, a restaurant I will probably frequent Monday nights--$2 margaritas and $.50 tacos.
I hope to make it downtown now for Wisconsin Capitol Pride.
Hopefully my next post will be less list-y and not two months from now!
Stay classy.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Welcome to the Finer Things Club!
I've been thinking about this for a long time. Forming a Finer Things Club to discuss only the classiest of affairs while sipping wine and celebrating culture "in a very civilized way." (This is an homage to "The Office.") Initially it was to be more of a book/art discussion, but as a survivor of several failed book clubs, I wanted this to be a bit different.
Topics may include but are definitely not limited to the following (let me know if you have any suggestions!):
- Special summer events (Concerts/Art Fair on the Square, Opera in the Park, Jazz at Five)
- Theater (UTA, Memorial Union, Overture Center, Broom Street, StageQ)
- Art shows (MMoCA, Overture, Chazen)
- Concert info/previews/reviews (UW School of Music, concerts at Overture, many other random events)
- Literature (readings at A Room of One's Own, Avol's)
- Lectures (DLS Series, Center for the Humanities)
- Restaurants/locally owned businesses
It'll be eclectic. I'll try to keep things locally based, but certain things that scream for attention might need to be addressed as well (i.e. link below).
This entry is more for induction than exploring finer things, but nonetheless:
- I saw a woman carrying a parasol on University Ave. this afternoon. Classy.
- This invention--though perhaps more useful in South Africa than Madison--is brilliant. (To be used for good!)
Unfortunately this is midterms week for the summer session, but hopefully I'll be back with an interesting update soon!
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