Illinois State University ISU ReD: Research and eData WGLT Program Guides Arts and Sciences Fall 11-1-2011 WGLT Program Guide, November-December, 2011 Illinois State University Follow this and additional works at: https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/wgltpg Recommended Citation Illinois State University, "WGLT Program Guide, November-December, 2011" (2011). WGLT Program Guides. 239. https://ir.library.illinoisstate.edu/wgltpg/239 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Arts and Sciences at ISU ReD: Research and eData. It has been accepted for inclusion in WGLT Program Guides by an authorized administrator of ISU ReD: Research and eData. For more information, please contact [email protected]. GLT Jazz Cabaret with Roderick Harper Chicago Sun-Times writer Lloyd Sachs calls Roderick Harper, "a smooth and serious singer." Baton Rouge Morning Advocate writer Rod Dreher says he's "a very Saturday, February 11, 2012 special talent." Originally from 7:30 pm - Hot Jazz meet and greet Washington, DC, Harper sang from an early age and learned 8:30 pm - Cool Jazz admission numerous instruments while growing up. After 3 years in Marriott Hotel & Conference Center the Southern University Jazz 201 Broadway Avenue Normal, Illinois Ensemble working with Alvin Batiste, then Batiste's band the Jazztronauts, Harper went on to work with Ellis Marsalis, Dizzy $100 Hot Jazz tickets include: Gillespie, Cyrus Chestnut, and • Meet and greet with Roderick Harper prior to concert Max Roach - to name just a few. • Autographed Harper CD The GLT Jazz Cabaret creates the • Harper cabaret concert with dance floor intimacy of a jazz club within the • Appetizers elegant and upscale ballrooms of • Champagne the Marriott Hotel & Conference Center in Uptown Normal. Two ticket levels are • Custom champagne glass available (see fo llowing page for details), but both include champagne and appetizers. • Personal box of chocolates The GLT Jazz Cabaret is a night of pure magic highlighting one of today's finest jazz vocalists. There's a large dance floor for sweeping your valentine off their feet. Take $50 Cool Jazz tickets include: advantage of the photographic services of Larry Ogelsby with a keepsake photo to • Harper cabaret concert with dance floor remember the evening. Larry will donate a portion of every photo fee to GLT. • Appetizers Proceeds from this event benefit the GLT Equipment Fund. • Glass of champagne Read an interview with Harper beginning on page 4. Tickets available online at wglt.org or by phone at (309) 438-2255. This GLT event is sponsored by: The Marriott is offering a special overnight hotel package just for GLT Tarvin's Culligan that includes a guest room and Sunday breakfast for two at $129 . Cortese Foot & Ankle Clinic P.C. Call 309-862-9000 or 800-627-7468 for reservations and request the "GLT Jazz Cabaret Package''. better water. pure and simple.• -2- -3- The Roderick Harper interview listening to Ellis You may have heard a tantalizing snippet of his vocal quality on a Folger's commercial. perform, and I said You'll get a chance to hear a whole lot more in just a few months as we welcome vocalist how much I wanted Roderick Harper to the GLT Jazz Cabaret on Saturday, February 11, 2012 at the Uptown to perform with him. Normal Marriott. A native of the south, Harper now resides in the jazzy city of Chicago. Alvin said I should just He told GLT Jazz host Laura Kennedy he first became interested in jazz after purchasing go up to him on the Wynton Marsalis' album, Think of One. He says that work really sparked his passion for break and ask. Ellis jazz and also made Marsalis his first musical hero ... said, 'Well, let me see what you've got.' Roderick Harper: I really admire Wynton Marsalis because of his drive and the level of understanding and consciousness he has about the music, and all the time and diligence When I was done that he took learning his instrument. It wasn't until I really got into my craft that I began singing, he said he really liked what I to respect my voice as an instrument. As I learned how to use it, I gained more control over it, which allows me to let all the ideas in my mind come out of my mouth as opposed did and I could come to staying up there. down to New Orleans and sit in with him anytime. After I sat in with him regularly, he asked if I'd like to do it permanently and I said, 'Yeah!' Laura Kennedy: Wynton isn't the only Marsalis to have an impact on your career. You've sung with Ellis Marsalis. What was that experience like? I learned so much from him. Although he's not the kind to just say 'do this and do that,' he knew how to push me. When we got on stage, sometimes he wouldn't even tell me RH: That was education at the highest level! I was working with Alvin Batiste, the great what songs we were doing. I'd get up and he'd start playing and I'd have to figure out what clarinetist and a good friend of Ellis Marsalis. One day we were hanging out in New Orleans song it was and what key! (laughs) That helped to build my ear as well as get rid of some of the fear. It keeps you on your toes and I learned about listening to the instruments and communicating with them back and forth. LK: That's a PhD in jazz right there! RH: (Laughs) Absolutely! LK: How do you like using Facebook as a way of reaching out to your audience? ls that something that's really excited you? RH: I must confess I'm somewhat addicted to Facebook (laughs). My whole life is on Facebook. It's almost like my diary. LK: Roderick, I was wondering ... is the best part of waking up really Folger's in your cup? Love your voice on that commercial! RH: That was fun. I got a call at seven in the morning one day from a friend who asked me to come do this commercial. It was that simple. I didn't even know what I was supposed to do until I got to the recording studio. LK: What can we expect from you when you come to perform at the GLT Jazz Cabaret? RH: You'll get to see a more personable side of me. I'll have some faster tunes, plus some ballads. I'm working on some special treats for everybody. I'll be taking you through a little bit of the history of jazz and I might be doing a few of the songs that I'm preparing for my next project. I'm really excited about it! I'm going to give you my all; I'm definitely going to give you my all. -5- Roderick's influences 3. Wynton Marsalis During Laura's interview with Roderick (see previous page), she asked him about Think Of One (Columbia) some of the people who had the biggest influence on him as an artist. Not only This was the first jazz album I ever purchased. did he share who those were, he added some comments about what made each It blew my mind and I was hooked immediately. one important to him. You can hear songs from all of them during GLT Jazz. Wynton is my inspiration and an example of excellence of the highest form in music. 1. John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman John Coltrane & Johnny Hartman (Impulse) The richness of Johnny's voice is so pure, it's like biting into a homemade butter pound 4. Shirley Horn cake hot out of the oven. You can see, hear, Travelin' Light (Impulse) feel, and taste every morsel. My dear friend. She taught me to lay back and take my time. I miss her. ELLA FITZGERALD & LOUIS ARMSTRONG 1. (Tied} Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong Ella & Louis (Verve) This is where all real jazz vocalists begin S. Wynton Marsalis their study of voice. Standard Time Vol. 3: - The Resolution of Romance (Columbia) This is a great album. It's a textbook in lyrical phrasing. Nancy 2. Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley Nancy Wilson & Cannonball Adderley • (Capital) The soundtrack to my parents' first date. 6. Sarah Vaughan It has class, sophistication, and elegance. In The Land of Hi-Fi (EmArcy) Nancy has such a beautiful voice - she Sarah's voice was truly a musical instrument. reminds me of my mother. She swung hard - you can't help but feel it. -6- -7- Meet Audie Cornish, new host for Q: What's the most challenging thing about making this transition? NPR's Weekend Edition® Sunday A: Well, there are some challenges in terms of reorienting your mind from the kind of reporter/scavenger-hunt approach to stories, versus the host as surrogate. As the host, you are really the voice of the listener and trying to ask the questions that they are thinking In September, Audie Cornish traded and you are part of the story in whatever interview you are doing. That takes some her role as an NPR reporter for an getting used to when you are like me - prone to ducking out of view. But the fact is, the entirely different one, hosting NPR's challenges with this transition have been really manageable because they are actually venerable Weekend Edition Sunday. giving us time to transition. We are getting to think about what makes the show unique, what my role will be and really define its sound.