Bono, The ‘Emerald Isle,’ and an Otter

Review of Anchorage Festival of Music’s Discovery Jazz Series

By Cazoshay Ward - University of Alaska Anchorage

What do an otter, the “Emerald Isle” of Kodiak, and Bono all have in common? All three were inspirations for songs performed at the Anchorage Festival of Music’s Discovery Jazz series. The evening brought together Anchorage’s jazz all-stars for this performance featuring the Dan Mac Quintet, the Rick Zelinsky Quartet, and Alaska’s resident “Jazzmom,” Melissa Bledsoe Fischer and the Melissa Bledsoe Fischer Quartet.

Sunday evening the Center for the Performing Arts’ Discovery Theater swayed and swooned to the varied blend of jazz styles presented. Beginning the evening’s performances was the Dan Mac Quintet featuring Dan McElrath on the piano and keyboards, Cameron Cartland on drums and percussion, Anthony Reed on trombone, Pat Owens on trumpet, Errol Bressler on bass and featuring Rick Zelinky on saxophone. They started the set with a fun take on Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Fur Elise” entitled “Furry Bach Elise,” which was McElrath’s “jazzed up” yet still recognizable version of the classic song. The players seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves as they presented five songs that evening, one of which was inspired by the peaks of Mt. Denali entitled “To the Great One.” The notes of the saxophone seemed to rise and fall as if following the majestic summits and crevices of the mountain itself while accompanied with the backdrop of bass and percussion creating a grandiose effect.

The Rick Zelinsky Quartet was the evening’s second group to perform and included Rick Zelinsky on saxophones, Cameron Carltand on drums and percussion, Nick Petumenos on guitar, Errol Bressler on bass and featuring Dan McElrath on piano and keyboards and Pat Owens on trumpet. One of the songs they performed that evening was entitled “Trane 1967.” Zelinsky gave the audience a bit of a jazz history lesson with the explanation for the inspiration for this song, stating that John Coltrane on his saxophone and his drummer would “battle” each other while performing, each one having to play louder and louder to keep up with the other. It’s safe to say there was no battling between Zelinsky and Cartland that evening, but rather a playful back and forth solo section with the two, highlighting both instruments during the song.

Finishing up the evening was Anchorage’s own “Jazzmom,” Melissa Bledsoe Fischer and the Melissa Fischer Quartet. With over twenty-five years of performing in Alaska, Mrs. Fischer flexed her vocal and musical muscles that evening with a varied set including classics like “Love for Sale” and a jazz version of “Ode to Billie Joe.” Perhaps a more surprising selection that night was her version of the U2 song, “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” Mrs. Fischer effectively remade the traditional classic rock song with her smooth jazz rendition perfectly accompanied by her effectual use of the piano.

The evening was capped with all the performers coming out for a grand finale performance of the song “Be Like the Sun.” The Discovery Jazz series successfully brought together the best of Anchorage’s jazz performers to provide music fans with a varied exposure to the best that jazz in Alaska has to offer.

Discovery Jazz Series
Anchorage Festival of Music
Sunday October 24, 2010 at 7:30pm
Discovery Theatre

Kathy Mattea, Still Singing From the Heart

By Charlotte Titus - University of Alaska Anchorage

The audience in the Discovery Theatre on Saturday night was witness to an entertainer who believes in the uplifting and life affirming power of music. By the end of the night, the audience could not only feel Kathy Mattea’s love of life in all it’s beautiful and tragic struggles and triumphs but had become willing participants as well.

Mattea began the night with The L&M Don’t Stop Here Anymore from her latest album, Coal. The upbeat tune, played with enthusiasm by Mattea and her band, captured the tone of the evening and set the stage for the stories Mattea is known for telling. Heartbreak, love, devotion, hard work and perseverance all made their appearance the evening of October 23^rd.

Starting the evening off, Mattea told the story of how the Grammy nominated Coal transformed her as a singer and a person. Telling her own personal connection to the stories, (both her grandfathers were coal miners), Mattea described pouring her emotions into the album and the healing power the music had when she was overcome with anger over the Sago Mine disaster in her home state of West Virginia in 2006.

Although some of the songs from Coal tell tragic tales, many of Mattea’s own stories had the audience laughing along with her. She told of finally hearing the real story behind one of her greatest hits, Where’ve You Been. The song, written by her husband about his grandparents, is a tender ballad of the triumph of true love over age and lost memory. The real story is her husband’s grandmother was really angry when, at the end of her life and lying in a hospital bed, she finally recognized her husband and asked, ‘Where’ve you been?’

Along with songs from Coal, Mattea sang her biggest hits during the night’s two sets. She asked the audience for requests and obliged with Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses, 455 Rocket and Love At The Five & Dime. But her desire to please went further than her own hits – not knowing the words didn’t stop her from gamely giving her all to the opening rift of Free Bird after the ubiquitous request and her rejoinder: ‘touché.’ The give and take with the audience peaked when she cajoled everyone to sing like no one’s listening to the chorus of 18 Wheels. She then ended the first set with what felt like the anthem to the evening, Come From The Heart.

The musicians accompanying Mattea were skillful musicians in their own right. Dave Spicher on bass, Bill Cooley on guitar and Eamon O’Rourke on fiddle and mandolin all kept pace with Mattea’s eclectic mixed sets of ‘folk-n-roll,’ as she called it. But the most beautiful instrument of the evening, Mattea’s full alto voice, resonated with clarity, deep soul and range on her a capella version of Black Lung, from the Coal album, a heartbreaking but beautiful telling of the tragic ending to one coal miner’s life.

Her compassion for the plight of miners was evident in her performance of songs from Coal throughout the night, some uplifting and others haunting in their telling of broken bodies, disease and darkness. But there was always a story to lighten the mood or bring home the idea that life is to be lived and celebrated, especially in music. Which, as she pointed out in her own mother’s story of being able to sing songs from memory long after her memory of everyone and everything else was gone, is where music lives – in the heart.

Kathy Mattea

Whistling Swan Productions

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Discovery Theatre

The Just So Stories
By Lisa Maloney – Center Facebook Fan

Only children could properly act out Rudyard Kipling’s The Just So Stories. Joseph Robinette’s script adaptation and Janet Stoneburner’s direction lead the young cast to excel by trading heavily in their native currency: Imagination.

Opening night was spotted with the occasional unevenness one finds in novice actors of any age. But for every child that could have taken a breath between words or turned a little more toward the audience, there was another one spot on cue. And when the children stampede over to Elsie, played by an impressively poised Barae Hirsch, they’re completely authentic. Even if a few lines assume the speech patterns of a bygone era, the way the children clamor to act out another story--then assign each other the roles--is familiar to anyone that’s ever been a kid.

So is the make-believe. With little more than a conspicuously fake palm tree, the contents of an off-stage costume chest and a length of blue fabric, the children take you with them as they imagine their way from far-off desert lands to the Amazon jungle. Of course, you’ll find more than just one tree and some water (the fabric) on such a journey. The kids fill in the gaps themselves, taking turns as everything from mountains to blades of grass.

Every uneven spot was compensated by the unabashed sparkle of talent in development. Hirsch displayed projection and enunciation that any adult actor would envy, even when speaking from offstage. Chloe Hebert, as Faith, brought a mischievous, sprightly energy that fit her role perfectly. And Cade Harris, as Girard, threatens to steal the show when he becomes a painted jaguar. All the elements of a great performance are there, and once they’re all synced up--both for individuals and as a group--this play will really shine.

Most adults in the audience were escorted by children. But unaccompanied adults with an hour to spare would enjoy this play, too. After all, you never really forget what it’s like to be a child--but sometimes you do need to be reminded. As one young audience member explained to her mother on the way out: It’s all about imagination.

The Just So Stories
Alaska Theatre of Youth
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sydney Laurence Theatre

Mamma Mia!

By Emily Klopfer – Dimond High School

Mamma Mia! garnered a standing ovation at its performance on the night of Monday, October 18^th 2010. Crowds cheered and clapped as the actors took to the stage for their final bow. After their bow, they danced to repetitions of the songs as the main actors came out to sing an encore.

This year in Anchorage, the big Broadway play of the season is Mamma Mia! Mamma Mia! is a musical about a girl who discovers that she has three possible fathers. The girl, Sophie, then invites each of her three potential fathers to her Greek wedding. The musical surrounds the reconnection between the mother and her three past boyfriends, the daughter’s connection to each of her three fathers, and the daughter’s internal journey to find herself and who she is.

Dancing throughout the musical was superb. Each actor was enthusiastic and brought an incredible amount of energy to the stage. The choreographed dances seemed to come off flawlessly with each actor making each precise step. The actors also went through their steps with a certain amount of happiness and enjoyment. They engaged the audience with their facial expressions and brought up the energy level of the auditorium.

The singing was another aspect of the musical that warranted the standing ovation. The solos of both Sophie’s mother and Sam Carmicheal were fantastic. The audience was in awe of Sophie’s mother after she finished her singing “monologue” with the song, “The Winner Takes It All.” The actor who played Sam Carmicheal, John Bisom, was able to hit perfectly each note of his songs. Chloe Tucker, the actress who played Sophie, and Happy Mahaney, the actor who played Sky, were also great in each of their songs.

Dancing and singing aside, the acting itself was also fantastic. The emotions of the characters were clearly visible. Each actor presented a character that was believable and able to be followed by the audience. The way the actors threw themselves into their characters made the entire audience pay attention.

The two songs that evoked the most laughter from the audience were, “Does Your Mother Know,” and “Take A Chance On Me.” In “Does Your Mother Know,” Tanya, the mother’s friend, attempts to ward off a young man who claims to love her. The dancing, lyrics, and acting within this scene brought the audience to laughter at every moment. During “Take A Chance On Me,” Rosie is chasing her love, Bill Austin around the church set. The lyrics for this song brought laughter, but mostly the humor came from the acting of both Mary Callanan (Rosie), and John-Michael Zuerlein (Bill Austin). The facial expressions and energy between these two actors was one of the more humorous and enjoyable scenes during the show.

Throughout the musical, the audience could be heard singing along to each song, and laughing at all the humorous acts. One thing is for certain, Mamma Mia! received a level of participation and enjoyment from the audience that had not been seen in the Performing Arts Center for a while. It deserved every bit of its standing ovation.

Mamma Mia!
Anchorage Concert Association
Monday, October 18, 2010
Atwood Concert Hall