A&E
B 2• April 19, 2012
Faculty gets jazzed up By Andrew McNally COLUMNIST
On April 4, students and faculty filled the seats in the Helene Fortunoff Theater on a Wednesday night to watch the Hofstra Jazz Faculty Ensemble perform a blistering, two-hour set. Seven professors of music – Holli Ross on vocals, Steve Kenyon on woodwind instruments, Rick Stone on guitar, David Lalama on piano, Peter Coco and Martin Wind on bass and Tony Tedesco on drums – were on the bill, and were joined by yet another, Alejandro Aviles, on the alto saxophone. Professor David Lalama acted as the main emcee for the show, cracking jokes and introducing band members in between the pieces. Nearly every member got their chance for the microphone; however, the show did not go without accolades, too. Two of the pieces were written by performers. “Soccer Ball” was penned by Martin Wind, and “October” was written by Lalama, even though Lalama complained that
“October” was one of his early works that he forced students to play. They did not fail to mention, either, Steve Kenyon’s current involvement in the Broadway play “Porgy & Bess.” The band, with Kenyon on saxophone, performed “My Man’s Gone Now,” from the George Gershwin show. Naturally, all eight of the performers showed supreme talent. The concert’s opener, Gene DePaul’s “I’ll Remember April,” was percussion-heavy, and featured solos from four of the six musicians on stage. Still, the booming, gritty vocals provided by Holli Ross dominated over the backing instruments. One of the most entertaining parts of the concert, perhaps for its more unconventional feel, was Ray Brown’s “F. S. R.,” which featured just two musicians, Martin Wind and Peter Coco, both playing stand-up basses. The audience was treated to the story behind the song, and how it probably stands for “For Sonny Rollins.” The final song was a ‘contrafactual,’ where one song
was played – Maceo Pinkard’s “Sweet Georgia Brown” – and two subsequent songs were played over the background rhythm of the first song, instead of its own. The two subsequent songs were Thelonious Monk’s “Bright Mississippi,” followed by Miles Davis’ “Dig.” The song featured dueling solos between Lalama and Wind, where Wind used a violin bow on his stand-up bass. It was the only song that featured every performer playing together, something expected but still gratifying after a number of combinations built up to it. Nothing less than stellar was expected by such a line-up of talented musicians. And they delivered, displaying talents through eleven songs that used just about every combination of people as possible. Every performer got their chance to shine, and did so in a grand fashion. The concert was made possible thanks to a grant from the D’Addario Music Appreciation Initiative. It was featured as part of the Jazz Appreciation Month.
The Chronicle
Heather Raffo speaks out for Iraqi women on the stage By Jeanine Russaw STAFF WRITER
“Having something to say and being able to say it is what keeps you going.” This is how political activism actor/playwright Heather Raffo responded to an audience member during the discussion on her play: Heather Raffo’s 9 Parts of Desire. Performed by Heather Raffo herself, this one-woman show has run off Broadway nine months with the possibility of a revival in the near future. Interested in both the creative and political process behind her series of nonfiction speech patterns, the group of Hofstra students with various intended majors (including creative writing, political science, drama and journalism) eagerly participated. The play itself is a collection of monologues written in the voices of Iraqi women of all generations. There are nine women in total, hence the title of the play (in addition to a quote in another well-known book entitled Nine Parts of Desire by Geraldine Brooks). The chronicling of Ms. Raffo’s endeavors ever since she graduated from a New York masters acting program was quite inspiring. She began her career shortly thereafter, in 1998, mainly because there was no such thing as Arab-American theatre at the time. No Arab-American female characters where anywhere to be found in American theatre. Growing up half-Iraqi on her father’s side and not knowing how to speak the language, Raffo admits she struggled finding her place in society with respect to her ethnicity. However, while in college during the 1980’s, with CNN incessantly streaming footage of the war in Iraq, she knew what she needed to do. She participates in the world
of theatre simply because she enjoys tackling dangerous and controversial conversations in the completely safe environment that the art of theatre creates. For example, after just recently returning from a similar discussion in Malta, Raffo exclaimed her dissolution for the blatantly racist nation. They openly admitted the people’s denial of their Arab roots, as well as the terrible way they treated Africans. It was easy to get to the heart of these issues thanks in part to the openness of her direct presentations. While she claims to engage in politically motivated theatre because of its relevance, it was by no means an easy feat. While she had finished her play in 200l and persistently looked for a place to get it up and running, most producers shied away, much too afraid after the terrorist attacks. Eventually, she found the break she was seeking, and the show was a hit. Fastforward to the present where the University of Baghdad hired a big-name Iraqi actress to fill the role and New York theatres are scrambling to get the show running again. Somewhat irked and disappointed the cowardice of the American theatre, Raffo exclaimed “So now they want to bring in a bunch of Iraqis to come and see the show after we’ve decimated their f--king country?! New York wants to do this years later after they had the opportunity to do something about it?” On the whole, aside from the phenomenal acting (when she switches from her character and speaks as herself, you are suddenly reminded you have been watching a performance), the performance emphasized the importance of having your voice heard.
“Having something to say and being able to say it is what keeps you going.”