On his foray into the classical realm with cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin put his trademark vocal calisthenics to stunning use as an eerie, versatile duet partner–part falsetto, part bazooka. Emboldened by that success, McFerrin has taken on the challenge of conducting members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in this New Year’s Eve concert. The […]
Tag: Vol. 24 No. 11
Issue of Dec. 22 – 28, 1994
Posted inNews & Politics
Good News, Bad News
To the Editors, Your News of the Weird feature sometimes runs a segment called “Unclear on the Concept.” Based on his reply to a letter about the environment (November 18), Harold Henderson may qualify for a mention. Mr. Henderson tells us that the “good news” is that life expectancies are increasing. For those of us […]
Posted inMusic
Avant-Guardians
8 Bold Souls HotHouse, December 11 Today’s jazz scene is a battleground. Just ask Wynton Marsalis, the most influential figure in jazz, who recently described it that way in the New Yorker. As artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the 33-year-old trumpeter and composer has unprecedented opportunities to showcase the music through concerts, lectures, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Views of the Weird
Dear Mr. Chuck Shepherd: I am writing to express my objection to an item I read in your column in the December 2, 1994, issue of the Reader. I regularly read your column [News of the Weird] and usually enjoy it, but I must express how offended I am at “The Weirdo-American Community” entry. In […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Steel Wool
For the last three years Boston drummer Curt Newton has flown to Chicago to join his old Beantown compatriot Ken Vandermark for annual tribute performances; recipients of their musical homages have been Eric Dolphy, Jimmy Lyons, Sun Ra, and George Clinton. This year’s excursion, however, marks a departure: the two will be joined by bassist […]
Posted inArts & Culture
On Exhibit: the fetishes of Nancy Bromberg
“I’m terribly superstitious, unbelievably, frighteningly,” says Hyde Park artist Nancy Bromberg. Whenever she takes a trip, she wears a curious talisman around her neck. It’s loaded with keepsakes–an evil-eye pendant, her cheerleader’s megaphone charm from junior high, teeth from her son Jake and daughter Ruth, a lock of Jake’s hair, and the piece of paper […]
Posted inNews & Politics
The Ultimate Sports Poem
“Dear Jay: Your column on Pippen and the brawl was superb,” a fan wrote in May to Sun-Times sports columnist Jay Mariotti. “You shouldn’t be wasting your time on sports. You should write great works of fiction.” Now that Mariotti is on indefinite leave from the paper, perhaps he will have time to pursue his […]
Posted inArts & Culture
The Love of a Good Man
THE LOVE OF A GOOD MAN, Shattered Globe Theatre. I’ve seen walk-in closets with more space than Shattered Globe has. Yet the company consistently turns this drawback into an asset, sacrificing sweeping sets for claustrophobic intimacy in stagings that quickly boil large issues down to the personal. Their current production is no exception. Howard Barker’s […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Mazel and Schlimazel
There’s something about a well-told folktale–as long as the storyteller doesn’t junk it up with lots of hokum: talking teapots, singing crabs, workaholic dwarfs. Maybe these stories appeal to my inner child, maybe their archetypal characters stimulate the unconscious, but I love things like Lynn Shapiro’s musical adaptation of Isaac Bashevis Singer’s children’s story, Mazel […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Clark Terry, Red Holloway, Jesse Davis
More and more, I keep hearing from people who just want to stay home and quietly wait out the New Year’s hoopla. But if the calendar shift still shouts “party” to you, the pairing of trumpeter Clark Terry and the alto-tenor man Red Holloway–which has turned into something of a tradition at the Jazz Showcase–is […]