April 8, 1994

   

By Candice Lee

OnWednesday, March 23, Yi
She Beijing Opera Troupe, a Beijing
Chinese Opera Group came for an
afternoon performance of tradi-
tional Chinese opera for Douglas
College students.

The performance was done in
Chinese and it was an unusual yet
interesting experience. For those
who have never seen a live Jin Jue
(Chinese Opera), it was an experi-
ence worth seeing.

The costumes that the actors
wore seemed to serve their purpose
but were not as elegant as those of
the really big shows. They served
their purpose. 1 a

All the music in the opera was
live and a little demonstration was
given prior to the main act for each

Lowest Hype Can't Bring Down Posies

By Chad Iverson

The opening band was mildly
amusing dressed in jacket and tie
and covering some vaguely famil-
iar tunes. There was not too much
else that I would consider memo-
rable about them.

The second band started to set
up and the atmosphere became
charged. The Posies are from Se-
attle, yet they have managed to
evade being labeled Grunge. Ac-
tually it is difficult to put any sort
of label on The Posies.

The band thinks of itself as
more album orientated, rather than
producing one-shot radio singles.
The albums which The Posies have
produced (Failure, Dear 23, and
Frosting on the Beater) demon-
strate their close attention to unity
of sound throughout. Each album
has evolved to sound a little differ-
ent, but is always uniquely Posies.

Jazzing up New Westminster

by Tony Sousa

The Douglas College Music de-
partment presents an Evening of Jazz on
April 15 at the college's Performing Arts
Theatre . The concert will feature Dou-
glas College's Vocal Jazz Ensemble di-
rected by Patti Fletcher, the big band
sounds of the Dues Band by Robin Shier
and the rhythmic salsa and contempo-
rary stylings of the Night Band directed
by Blair Fisher.

The Vocal Jazz Ensemble will start
things off with selections such as“ Geor-
gia” and “In the Wee Small Hours of
the Evening” which made a come back
since being featured in Sleepless in Se-
attle. Following them, will be the Dues
Band performing Nat Addlerly’s classic,
“The Work Song” and Stan Kenton’s
piece “ Here’s that Rainy Day.” The Night
Band will then pick up the tempo with
“Freedom Jazz Dance” by Eddie Harris
and “On Purple Porpoise Parkway” by
Tom Kubis.

Evening of Jazz begins at 8pm in
the Performing Arts Theatre. The Dou-
glas College New Westminster campus
is located at 700 Royal Avenue. General
Admission is $5 and $3 for students
and seniors and will be available at the
door. Doors open at 7:30pm. Proceeds
from the concert will support jazz re-
cording projects at Douglas College. It's
a golden opportunity, to hear jazz mu-
sic performed by well groomed jazz per-
formers.

So come one, come all to An
Evening of Jazz.

instrument individually.

This Chinese Opera experience
is an asset to the college because of
how it promotes a multicultural
experience for the students. Chinese
opera, although difficult to under-
stand because of its unique nature,
not to mention the language bar-
rier, is a good example of Chinese
culture and its meanings.

Every story and play of the Chi-
nese opera is a little parable which
converys a truth or moral lesson
about life. Though the meaning of
this play is not directly understand-
able , the music must and acting
conveys a meaning beyond words.
In the spirit of multiculturalism,
this kind of cultural integration
should occur more often at Dou-
glas College.

Their stage show has always
lacked props or banners, but the
talent displayed through their in-
struments does not leave you want-
ing more. Playing at the Commo-
dore has marked a beginning of
larger venues. The band still pre-
fers intimate clubs for their filling
sound and the proximity to the
crowd.

A band that I have never heard
of before, The Lowest of the Low,
seemed to have their act together
and are ready for clubs like the
Commodore. I don’t think that Iam
alone in this opinion. Because if
some promoters have their way the
band won’t remain unheard of for
long.

Greeting patrons at the door
were people handing out “Lowest
of the Low” stickers advertising
their new album-and the C-FOX

 

Other Press

Chinese Visits Douglas

 

inviting you to buy a “Lowest of
the Low” T-shirt. As you walked
by you wondered if you really
needed (or wanted) any of the of-
ferings? If you were like most
people you tried to find a creative
way to get rid of the tacky stickers
and just enjoy the music.

Their performance was enter-
taining (amid attempts to plug their
albums.) They are probably des-
tined for some radio-play, more due
to the Canadian Content Law than
actual public interest. I don’t think
that the Lowest of the Low was
truly disappointing, but all the pro-
motion and hype might have left
people wondering if they had
missed something.

 

Mall Photo of the Week: Jason Kurylo and Denise Walker

 

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