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By Tanith L. Balaban
Arizona Daily Wildcat
February 11, 1998

Nice place to read in, wouldn't want to chill there


[Picture]

Tanith L. Balaban
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Cass Preston (trumpet), Rick Shosie (bass), Dickie Thompson (guitar) and Dave Jeffrey (drums-not pictured) play at the Tucson-Pima Main Library Sunday during an event for Black History Month.


February is Black History Month; the Tucson-Pima Main Library and the Tucson Jazz Society tried to add to the celebration by bringing in a jazz band and a guest lecturer, Yvonne Ervin, who sped through her talk, "From Armstrong to Zoot: A Brief History of Jazz." While a good idea in theory, in practice it fell flat.

Unless I'm mistaken, Black History Month is supposed to extol the virtues and accomplishments of the African American population. One would think that the band would be predominately black, or play only music written by black musicians. Cass Preston and the Individuals opened up Sunday's event, and only one of them (Preston) was black - the rest of his inappropriately named band was white. Inappropriately named because somehow "The Individuals" just doesn't fit a bunch of older men in conservative business suits. The bassist (who was playing an upright bass, mind you) was the only one who made a small break from the rest of the group - he had a beret on. Nice touch.

Continuing in this vein, the 60 or so people in the audience were retired men and women who seemed to have stumbled upon this concert by accident. Most had their library cards on their persons like badges of honor. The sea of white or, in some cases, no hair, was broken only once or twice by someone under forty.

There were exactly four black people in the room. One was the singer for the band. One was the announcer for the event. The other two were there to listen to music. You would think with it being Black History Month, there might have been a more diverse crowd.

Tanith L. Balaban
Arizona Daily Wildcat

Cass Preston (trumpet), Rick Shosie (bass), Dickie Thompson (guitar) and Dave Jeffrey (drums-not pictured) play at the Tucson-Pima Main Library Sunday during an event for Black History Month.

In general, the music was of the lounge variety. You know the kind - music that you don't care if you and a bunch of friends drink beer or coffee and talk over. It was mellow and uninspiring, but the best kind of background music you can find. The sound had this old recording feel to it - kind of scratchy and apparently coming to you from a long way away. They played such "oldies but goodies" (as Preston was fond of saying) as "Take The Eight Train," "I'm A Lucky So-And-So," "Indian Summer" and "Just Friends."

To the band's credit, the music was pretty tight. You could tell that these men have practiced together for awhile and learned how to effectively play off of one another. Of course, you really can't get into the jazz mood when you're in a brightly lit room in the library, surrounded by teal, gray and maroon carpet. There was no energy, no vibe, no smoking, no club atmosphere. But if anyone wants to check them out, they will be playing this Sunday at the Jazz Jams at Cottonwood Club. Maybe playing with a younger set will liven this band up.

Ervin, the guest lecturer, ended the afternoon with a 40-minute lecture ranging from the beginnings of jazz in Africa to Miles Davis and Fusion Jazz. It was a good comprehensive talk, even if a bit short to fully get across all the information. Ervin played snippets of music and movies to illustrate some of her points. She failed, however, to connect with the crowd on a basic level; by the time her lecture was over, about ten people had walked out.

 


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