Blue Lou at the UCO Jazz Lab

This weekend marked the fourth time Ann Hampton Callaway graced the stage at the UCO Jazz Lab. She was performing her tribute to the music of Linda Ronstadt. She did two shows this weekend and also gave a masters class at the university for music students.

Callaway opened the Jazz Lab 21 years ago and has remained a special supporter of the efforts there. The performance was a collaboration of the not for profit Tres Amigos Productions that raises money for music scholarships through the UCO Foundation and the UCO Broadway Tonight program.

They will be teaming up again for a show in April with saxophone great, Lou Marini also known as Blue Lou. If you saw the movie the Blues Brothers, there was a scene inside the café where Aretha Franklin breaks into her incredible rendition of THINK. Enriching that performance is Marini behind her on saxophone. He even gets up and dances on the counter. He will be bringing a few of his Blue Brothers Buddies with him so it will be a jazz killer of a night.

You will not want to miss this rare Oklahoma performance of Marini especially in the personal setting of the UCO Jazz Lab. The show will sell out. The performance is on Friday, April 7th at 8:00 p.m. and you can get tickets by calling (4050 641-6380. The ticket price is $60, and it will rock you off your heels.

The movie or his time on Saturday Night Live may be how people were first introduced to Blue Lou but there is so much more to him.

Often referred to as an “unsung jazz hero,” platinum recording artist, Lou Marini, Jr. is the seasoned soul and adept multi-instrumentalist, arranger, composer, educator, and producer credited with inspiring the origins of a fan-following cult across multiple genres of music.

Making a name for himself as a sideman in various high-profile groups, any top New York jazz musician will tell you he’s “one of the absolute best jazz musicians.” The New York based Marini is famed for his chameleon-like adaptability to imagine and perform inventive ideas in jazz, rock, blues and classical music. Describing Lou’s performances, the New York Times said, “(he ’ s) the focal point of the group… (who) gives the band most of its colors and shadings, and provides it with a strongly melodic lead voice.”

Five time Grammy Award winning arranger / composer Bob Belden had this to say about one of the time-honored contributions from Lou Marini, Jr., “This composition and arrangement reflects Lou ’ s mability to create exciting, new music that embraces rock and the most advanced ideas of jazz music.”

The statement helps illustrate Marini ’ s ability to inspire and traverse multiple music disciplines.

Highly Sought Sideman

Popular since the early 1970s, Lou Marini, Jr. continues to be one of the most sought-after sidemen and session musicians on the New York scene. Due in part to his incredible skill and talent of the highest caliber, Marini masters many styles and instruments. He is accomplished on soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxes, piccolo, flute, alto flute, bass flute and clarinet.

The ever-present influence of Lou Marini, Jr. is all around. Jingles, television, radio and concerts all reflect the irresistible, innovative sounds of this veteran performer who electrifies audiences internationally. He truly is one of the industry’s most prolific luminaries who demonstrates a tireless commitment to his craft.

Marini is best known as a member of several distinguished bands: Woody Herman Orchestra, Doc Severinson, Blood, Sweat and Tears, The Band, Levon Helm & the RCO All-Stars, Dr. John, Frank Zappa, Saturday Night Live (SNL) Band, The Blues Brothers, Maureen McGovern, Lew Soloff Quintet,

BlueBeck with Joe Beck, Eric Clapton, Red House, and the Magic City Jazz Orchestra. He has toured four times each with James Taylor ’ s Band of Legends and the John Tropea Band. A true blue lover of big bands, Lou has had the honor of performing with some of his childhood idols such as Thad JonesMel Lewis and the Buddy Rich Band, the latter with whom he also arranged.

In fact, it is Marini ’ s seven year association as an original SNL band member that led to his role as “Blue Lou” in John Belushi and Dan Akroyd ’ s cult classic movie, “The Blues Brothers.” To this day, the remarkable popularity of the Blues Brothers Band is kept alive. Lou and the other band members tour worldwide, giving live concerts to packed houses and hundreds of thousands screaming fans.

No stranger to film, Lou Marini enjoys a formidable roster of success in this arena, too. His character as a band member and the saxophone soloist, who performs with his sax on the counter of a diner as Aretha Franklin sings “Think” in “The Blues Brothers” movie, remains throughout the sequel “Blue Brothers 2000.” Dubbed ‘ Blue Lou ’ by Dan Akroyd, he is also well-recognized for his saxophone solos at the open and close of SNL episodes, and as the golden pharaoh who plays a solo instrumental hit for comedian Steve Martin ’ s “King Tut” sketch on a 1978 episode.

Happy St Patrick’s Day!

In 1995 I found myself in Chicago on St. Patrick’s Day. My travel was for business but it did not stop me walking into one of the many Irish Pubs that are located around Michigan Ave. It sounds like the start of a joke, “a Lebanese guy walks into an Irish Pub…”. I literally hurt the next day and it wasn’t from the drink. It was from laughing at all the jokes. None of them are below. The best Irish jokes cannot be printed in the pages of a family publication but here is our best shot at some of the clean ones.

After examining him, an Irishman goes to the doctor and says, “You have some problems with your heart, but if you take these tablets, I think it will be okay.

“So the doctor gives the man the tablets, and the patient asks, “Do I have to take them every day?” No,” replies the doctor, “take one on a Monday, skip the Tuesday, take one on Wednesday, skip the Thursday and go on like that. “Two weeks later, the doctor walks down the street and sees the patient’s wife.” Hello Mrs. Murphy,” he says, “how’s your husband?”

“Oh, he died of a heart attack,” says Mrs. Murphy.

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” says the doctor, “I thought if he took those tablets, he would be all right.”, “Oh, the tablets were fine,” says Mrs. Murphy, “It was all the bloody skipping that killed him!”

Paddy says to Mary if you were stranded on a desert island, who would you like most to be with you?”

“My uncle Mick” replies Paddy.

“What’s so special about him?” asks Mary. “He’s got a boat,” says Paddy

This one is for our British friend and owner of Prime Time Travel, Victor Neal:

A man is walking down the street in Dublin when he sees a sign in the window of a travel agency that says cruises on Liffey River – $100.

He goes into the agency and hands the guy $100. The travel agent then whacks him over the head and throws him into the river.

Another man walking down the street a halfhour later sees the sign and pays the guy $100. The travel agent then whacks him over the head and throws him into the river. Sometime later, the two men are floating down the river together, and the first man asks, “Do you think they’ll serve any food on this cruise?”

The second man says, “I don’t think so. They didn’t do it last year.”

(Ray Hibbard may be reached by e-mail at ray@edmondpaper.com)

Publisher Ray Hibbard Jr. ray@edmondpaper.com

Partner Christopher T. Hoke

“Four Seasons” in real life is located in front of the Center for Transformative Learning on the University of Central Oklahoma campus, but this week is hidden somewhere in our paper.

Please e-mail contest@edmondpaper.com with the correct location to be entered in the weekly drawing.

Commissioned as a partnership between UCO, the City of Edmond and the Edmond Visual Arts Commission, “Four Seasons” was created by sculptor Kevin Box of New Mexico and was dedicated on the campus on March 24, 2011.

Kevin is a member of the National Sculptor’s Guild. His Box Studio LLC is a strong supporter of the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle concept, using recycled metal as part of the casting process for his sculptures. All of his work is 100 percent recyclable.

For more information on Edmond public art, please visit http://visitedmondok.com/public-art.php.

Editor Steve Gust news@edmondpaper.com

Production Deanne York Advertising Director Business Editor Alexx Reger alexx@edmondpaper.com

Contributing Writers Mallery Nagle, Patty Miller, Rose Drebes, and George