Live at Live Oak
Second Concert Scheduled for September 3
Saturday, September 3, at 8:00 pm, come celebrate America’s quintessential music – JAZZ.
Jazz is an improvisational art, making itself up as it goes along – just like the country that gave it birth. And like Unitarian Universalism, it has basic principles, but no dogma. It rewards individual expression but demands selfless collaboration. To quote Wynton Marsalis: “Jazz music celebrates life – human life. The range of it. The absurdity of it. The ignorance of it. The intelligence of it. The sexuality of it. The profundity of it. And … it deals with it.”
The Live @ Live Oak Jazz Series is proud to present The John Fremgen Trio, featuring Jeff Hellmer and Brannen Temple. Arguably the best jazz players of their respective instruments – bass, piano, and drums – in the Austin area, they will perform a program of classic jazz piano trio music, which they describe as “a convergence of influences from the great piano trios of jazz history, with shades of Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Ahmad Jamal, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and Chick Corea, blended into a contemporary approach to the jazz piano trio.”
So mark your calendars now, open your heart, mind, and ears to this extraordinary art form, and come out for an evening you won’t forget soon.
Sponsored by the Music Committee, the cost is $10 at the door, with 25% going to the Danielle Martin Scholarship Fund. John Fremgen and Jeff Hellmer are both professors of music at UT and knew Dani Martin well. After she was murdered last year, Live Oak bought her piano, which she had named “Sasha”, with the purchase price going to the scholarship fund set up in her name. So it is poignantly appropriate for these musicians and colleagues of Dani to be giving a concert featuring her beloved piano.
Don’t miss what is sure to be a very special concert! For more information, contact Glenn McIntosh (791-5090, mgmcintosh@earthlink.net)
Announcing a New Live Music Venue: The Live at the Live Oak Jazz Series
Our first concert is going to be Saturday, April 30, at 8:00 pm in Live Oak’s sanctuary, featuring Slim Richey’s gypsy jazz Band, Yo Gadjo. Not only is this a jazz concert, but also a CD Release Party for Yo Gadjo’s new album. (For a preview, listen to KUT on Monday, April 25, at 12 noon. The band will be interviewed and will play a few numbers live on John Aielli’s show.) Though the name means “not a gypsy”, which is technically true of this band, if you close your eyes you will swear you’re hearing Django Reinhardt and Stephan Grapelli playing live for your listening pleasure.
About the band: Slim Richey has been dubbed by critics “the most dangerous guitar player in Texas”. He is internationally recognized for his distinct style of Southwestern jazz guitar, and he’s equally adept at blues, bluegrass, country, and, of course, gypsy jazz. On bass is Slim’s wife, Francie Meaux Jeaux (MoJo). She is a veteran of many Jazz festivals, including the San Miguel de Allende International in Mexico. Django Porter (yes, he was named after Django Reinhardt, and he does do his namesake justice) has played and recorded his fantastic gypsy style guitar with Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and the Asylum Street Spankers. Ross Holmes is a championship winning fiddler who has to date played Carnegie Hall, the Today Show, the Grand Ole Opry, Las Vegas, with the symphony orchestras, and with numerous bluegrass and country stars. But his passion is playing gypsy jazz fiddle.
About the music: hard to describe if you have never heard this kind of jazz before. It’s listenable, danceable, melodic, foot-tappin’, soul-stirrin’, FUN music. A great way for the uninitiated to be introduced to the wonderful world of jazz.
Tickets are $10 at the door. 25% will go to a charity (yet to be determined) and 75% to the artists. The venue is kid-friendly, alcohol and smoke free, with snacks and beverages being served at the break, donations requested to off-set cost. Doors open at 7:30 pm with the music starting at 8:00 pm.
The Live Oak at the Live Oak Jazz Series, sponsored by the Music Committee, is planning a jazz concert about every other month. Each will be different, each will be fantastic. Be on the lookout for future announcements, and “be there, or be square”!
Copyright
©2006, Live Oak Unitarian Universalist Church.