Jazz in June 2016 by Lani Elizabeth Ann Hanson

ISSUE 1 OF 4

JUNE 7, 2016

PUBLISHED BY THE

DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

LOOKING BACK, LOOKING FORWARD HELD ON THE WEST LAWN OF THE SHELDON MUSEUM OF ART EVERY TUESDAY IN JUNE, JAZZ IN JUNE HAS BECOME A STAPLE FOR SUMMER ACTIVITIES IN LINCOLN. WITH THOUSANDS OF ATTENDEES EACH NIGHT, THE FESTIVAL HAS GROWN TO PROVIDE MORE FOR ITS ATTENDEES THAN JUST JAZZ. THE DAILY NEBRASKAN COMPILED A TIMELINE OF THE HISTORY OF JAZZ IN JUNE, STARTING WITH ITS FIRST CONCERT IN 1991 TO ITS 25TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION KICKING OFF THIS WEEK.

ANNIE ALBIN | DN – 1991 –

– 1998 –

– 2001 –

– 2002 –

JAZZ IN JUNE STARTS AS A GAMBLE

JAZZ IN JUNE FEATURES ITS FIRST INTERNATIONAL PERFORMER

JAZZ IN JUNE MARKET GETS A REVAMP

GARDEN TOURS MAKE A COMEBACK

Hoping to draw more young people to what was then the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery, the Nebraska Art Association – now known as the Sheldon Art Association – launched an outdoor jazz series. Kathy Piper, then-executive director of the Nebraska Art Association, found that outdoor jazz concerts were attracting large, youthful audiences and, with the help of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s director of jazz studies David Sharp scheduled four jazz groups to play, including the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra and a group Sharp was a member of. The first performance drew an estimated 500 attendees. “We had no money, absolutely none, and no idea if it would work,” Piper told The Daily Nebraskan in 2009. “It cost us very little... It was a real gamble, but I’ll never forget that first night. We set up at 6 p.m. on the steps of the Sheldon and people started coming from every place.”

During its first few years, Jazz in June often featured local bands. As the budget for the concert series grew, more regional and national acts were booked. Jazz in June’s first international act, Belgian pianist Ivan Paduart, made his debut at the concert series during its seventh season. “The Belgian government is sponsoring (Paduart) to come to the United States for two jazz concerts, one in Kansas City and one here,” then-execuvie director of the Nebraska Art Association told The Daily Nebraskan in 2998. “This is new and exciting, for both us and him, as he’s never been in the U.S. before.”

Under the direction of Linda Hubka, the Jazz in June market shifted its focus. Hubka said the original market had been more of a farmer ’s market, with vegetables and other foods from local vendors, but it didn’t quite stick. The attendees at Jazz in June wanted food that they could eat while they were there, not food they would have to take home. The market became a place for local food vendors to sell ready-to-eat foods, as well as arts and crafts. With more than a dozen vendors, attendees can now find anything from gourmet oatmeal to Greek food at the market.

While tours were a part of Jazz in June in the mid-1990s, they didn’t become a regular part of Jazz in June until the early 2000s. Kay Kottas, then-manager of education and plant records for the University of NebraskaLincoln botanical gardens and arboretum, told The Daily Nebraskan in 2002 that the university decided to resurrect the garden tours because of increased interest from Jazz in June concertgoers. “We just felt that it would be a good addition, particularly because the gardens are very close to where Jazz in June is held, and because people are curious about the campus,” she said.

ABOVE LEFT FILE PHOTO BY STEVEN R. BENDER | DN

ABOVE RIGHT FILE PHOTO BY STEVEN R. BENDER | DN

FAR RIGHT FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL MODRCIN | DN

Fans have front-row seats at a 2001 Jazz in June concert outside the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery. The Nebraska Jazz Orchestra performed despite the cool, damp weather.

Pianist Eldar Djangirov, 14, performs at Jazz in June in 2001. Djangirov, originally from Kyrgyzstan, had been on the jazz scene since 1996.

Drawn more by adventure than a love of music, brothers Ethan and Logan Bell climb on William Tucker’s 1985 bronze sculpture “Ouranos” at a 2002 Jazz in June concert.

DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 7, 2016

– 2016 –

JAZZ IN JUNE TRANSITIONS TO INDEPENDENCE The 25th season of the concert series will serve as a transition year – from a promotional concert to bring visitors to the Sheldon Museum of Art into its own cultural entity. Read more about the transition here. Though the leadership of the festival might have changed, Jazz in June is still the same event attendees have grown used to over the years. “The things you have to do to ensure that Jazz in June is Jazz in June, they haven’t changed.” chair Martha Florence said. Before the performances this June, UNL’s Campus Recreation will be offering basic yoga classes led by fitness instructors. The free classes will begin at 5:30 p.m. For more information, click here. “The cool thing about Jazz in June,” Florence said, “there’s something for everybody.” Spencer Munson, Jazz in June’s current coordinator, said that he hopes the future of the festival will bring more university factions, as well as bring in more of Lincoln’s youth.

– 2015 –

VIP TICKETS OFFER PRIME SEATING While Jazz in June is typically general admission, a $25 VIP ticket offered attendees a spot on the green space in front of the stage, a beverage and sandwich and an opportunity to meet the week’s performers. VIP tickets for the 2016 season of Jazz in June are available on the Lied Center for Performing Arts website, and include a guaranteed space in the VIP section, free food from one of the sponsoring vendors, a meet-andgreet with the week’s performers and a halfprice Jazz in June T-shirt.

– 2009 –

– 2010 –

– 2011 –

– 2014 –

JAZZ IN JUNE GOES GREEN

WEATHER THREATENS FIRST WEEK OF JAZZ

JAZZ IN JUNE CELEBRATES ITS 20TH YEAR

BIKE UNL OFFERS VALET SERVICE

Thanks in part to the Sheldon Museum of Art’s building operations manager and chair of its green committee, Lynn Doser, Jazz in June took steps toward a more sustainable future. “We want it to be public that the Sheldon is going green,” Doser told The Daily Nebraskan in 2009. “We wanted to be a community leader in following the green practices” with the festival serving as a kick-off public event. The first was doing away with plastic bottles of pop in favor of recyclable aluminum cans. Water sold at the event, for lack of an available greener option, remained in plastic bottles, but bins for recycling those, as well as festival programs, were provided. Balloons, which once marked donation baskets, were replaced with flags made from recycled material. “We have five, six thousand people, which creates a lot of garbage,” Doser explained. “I hope they think about (recycling) at least during Jazz in June.”

As the last microphone was connected and sound tested for the show, the members of the Darryl White Group started to unplug. “As you can tell, it’s not a bright, sunny day in Lincoln, Nebraska,” Rand Wiese, a security worker for the Sheldon, announced to the crowd. “Normally, the weatherman never knows what’s going on, but looking up at the sky, I’d say he has a fifty-fifty chance.” But the rain didn’t stop the music from playing. The band just moved inside, into the auditorium in the Sheldon. The room can hold 300 people, and Sheldon employees had planned for the possibility of storms. Many attendees left before the rain started, but those that chose to stay filled up the small auditorium within the museum.

For its 20th anniversary, the concert series highlighted bands that have played in the past, including the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra – which appeared at the very first Jazz in June concert in 1991. The event also featured limited edition posters and T-shirts, and included a welcome from the mayor in correlation with Cleaner, Greener Lincoln, which sponsored the event, and the Joshua Collingsworth Memorial Foundation, which promoted water safety. Martha Florence, chair of the event, dispelled rumors that the Jazz in June program was coming to an end. “Hopefully, it will continue on for another 20 years,” she told The Daily Nebraskan in 2011.

An effort to make the festival more environmentally friendly led to advanced recycling efforts, as well as the introduction of a bike valet program. The service, which continues today, is student-run and raises money for bike racks, pumps and repairs on campus. Placed in the intersection of 13th and R streets, the bike valet program requires photo identification and contact information at the time of drop-off. The valet begins at 5 p.m., and patrons have an hour after the musician’s final song to retrieve their bikes. Outdoor Adventures Center Assistant Director Jordan Messerer said the program was started to encourage people to think of cycling as a more viable mode of transportation. “We’re just trying to help people recognize that not only is cycling a great form of recreation,” he told The Daily Nebraskan in 2015, “it’s also a great form of transportation.”

ABOVE LEFT FILE PHOTO BY RICK TOWNLEY

Pat Fuenning and her 4-year-old daugher, Sarah, clap to the music at a 1999 Jazz in June concert. Sarah celebrated her birthday that same day.

DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016

STORIES BEHIND 6 UNL SCULPTURES THERE’S A STORY BEHIND EVERYTHING, AND THE SCULPTURES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKALINCOLN’S BOTANICAL GARDENS HAVE THEIR FAIR SHARE OF HISTORY. HERE IS A BIT OF BACKGROUND FOR A FEW OF THE SCULPTURES STREWN ABOUT THE 624 ACRES OF UNL CAMPUS. MAURA GILLAN DN

PHOTO BY LANI HANSON | DN

DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 28, 2016

FILE PHOTO BY JAMES LIU | DN

PHOTO BY LANI HANSON | DN

“Old Glory” by Mark Di Suvero was installed in 1986. Di Suvero creates works that require viewer interaction, describing his work as “painting in three dimensions.” “Old Glory” invites the viewer to lie beneath it and look up at the sky. On a mostly clear day, with just a little bit of cloud and the red bars running the length of the sky, it reminds the viewer of the American flag.

“Torn Notebook” by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen was fabricated in 1996. The loose pages strewn about are made to look like they were blown by the wind, which there’s a lot of in Nebraska. The words within the pages are notations of observations the artists made while driving to the university site.

“Sandy: in Defined Space” by Richard McDermott was brought to the campus temporarily in 1970 but never left. The sculpture came on loan from New York when the Vietnam War was in full force and student protests at Kent State had led to four students’ death. Sandy’s position inside the box seemed to perfectly describe the feelings of the students. Captivated by “Sandy,” the students raised $12,000 to buy her.

PHOTO BY LANI HANSON | DN

“Breach” by Roxy Paine is a stainless steel sculpture camouflaged to look like a tree. Installed in 2004, “Breach” is part of a collection of contemporary art by Paine. Her work “Maelstrom,” is of similar construction, which was first installed in Central Park but has now been moved to a private collection.

“Fallen Dreamer” by Tom Otterness is a bronze head installed in 1995. Otterness worked as a guard at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he was inspired by giant Olmec heads of ancient Central American cultures. The head is thought to represent fallen heroes or icons.

“Wind Sculpture III” by Yinka Shonbibare was installed 2013 and is one of the university’s most recent additions. The 20-foot-tall fiberglass sculpture was shaped to look like billowing fabric. The work represents the sails of Dutch ships that transported wax fabrics. Despite being a colonial invention produced in Southeast Asia, the colorful patterns have become a sign of cultural pride and identity for Africans. JAZZINJUNE@ DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM

14 DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2016

UP NEXT: JACKIE ALLEN NEXT WEEK’S JAZZ IN JUNE CONCERT BRINGS JACKIE ALLEN, A RESPECTED JAZZ PERFORMER AND EDUCATOR. ALLEN, WHO TEACHES AT DOANE COLLEGE, LIVES IN LINCOLN WITH HER BASSIST HUSBAND, HANS STURM, WHO IS ALSO AN ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA-LINCOLN’S GLENN KORFF SCHOOL OF MUSIC. THE DAILY NEBRASKAN SPOKE WITH THE COUPLE IN 2013 ABOUT THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH MUSIC AND EACH OTHER. GABRIELLA MARTINEZ-GARRO JAN. 24, 2013 Hans Sturm and Jackie Allen’s love, for music and for one another, has stretched across continents and decades. Sturm, who teaches double bass at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and Allen, who teaches jazz vocals and songwriting at Doane College, first met in college while attending the University of Wisconsin-Madison and playing in various music combos. “We performed together quite a bit. Hans even convinced me to do a little duo with him, just voice and bass, so we would perform in coffee shops and things like that,” Allen said. “I had a quartet that he also

played in, but we never dated at the time. Many years later, I was living and working in Chicago in the club scene and Hans was working on his doctorate at Northwestern. He saw me in the listings and remembered his old friend, Jackie, and came out to one of our gigs. We both found out we were available, and that was sort of the end of it.” After a whirlwind audition process, the couple – now married with a nine-year-old son, Wolfgang – relocated to Lincoln after Sturm was offered a job teaching music at UNL. “I hadn’t even seen the house until we closed on it, so he had like two days to find a house and buy it,” Allen said. “I hadn’t even been to Lincoln until we drove down here.” Although they had just moved to Lin-

coln, Sturm said it didn’t slow them down. “I rented the moving truck to come down here and once we hired the moving company here in Lincoln to unload the truck, I took the shuttle the next morning and flew to China for five weeks to teach and play,” Sturm said. In addition to touring nationally and performing locally, the musical couple has traveled across the globe – sometimes even bringing their son along with them. “Traveling-wise, I’ve done a lot. A lot with Jackie and sometimes just as a duo, just bass and voice stuff,” Sturm said. “As either a duo or a group, we’ve been to Taiwan, China – we were the first jazz artists to play the Beijing Music Festival – Brazil and Europe.” Although the couple does perform together frequently, Allen said their partner-

ship does not translate well into one facet of their music process: songwriting. “We almost never write music together,” Allen said. “Hans is a stronger writer than I am, but Hans is also a faster writer and he knows my voice and my style, and he knows the type of material that I choose. Because we perform so well together, and he knows the combination of musicians that we like to work with, it works well. So when he writes, he’s writing specifically for me.” Since their arrival in Lincoln, Sturm and Allen have also worked and traveled with fellow music professor, Thomas Larson. Sturm said he first met Larson while auditioning for the job at UNL.

ALLEN: SEE PAGE 15

DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2016

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ENJOY TONIGHT'S JAZZ IN THE GREAT OUTDOORS C

“I was immediately struck by his phenom- tiation to get the best thing that you can posenal abilities,” Sturm said. “We’ve played all sibly get, but it’s still a statement of the now. If you try to make everything absolutely perover the country with different piano players fect, well, you’re never going to succeed.” and Tom is a very, very fine pianist, and he’s Allen also said she teaches outside of Dowritten a lot of music, so he plays piano with ane with a project called Torch Singer 101, in a composer and arranger ’s ear. He’s very which eight adult singchameleon-like, and he ers can work on two will find a really wonThere’s always going standards. The group derful way to play mumeets once a week for sic. You could say he’s to be a negotiation two-hour sessions for not the flashiest pianist, five-to-six weeks. but I don’t care about to get the best thing that “I teach (“Torch flashy. I care about makyou can possibly get, but Singer 101”) out of the ing music together, and house,” Allen said. “We that’s why I love mak- it’s still a statement of the meet down at a club ing music with him so now.” and they invite all of much. Tom is a gem.” their family and friends Both Sturm and AlHANS STURM to a packed house at a len have been involved UNL ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR free concert. It’s like a in numerous recordings lounge singer class, so both together and apart. they get to pull out their Allen, who is currently working on multiple projects, has put out inner Frank Sinatra or Billie Holiday.” As for the couple’s upcoming live events, nine albums, while Sturm said he has been involved with nearly 50 recordings. In addi- the couple said they will be featured next Tuesday with the Nebraska Jazz Orchestra. tion to performing in recordings, Sturm has “We are also going to be the featured artalso worked as either a composer or producists at the Sheldon on Valentine’s Day,” Allen er on many projects, including Allen’s. “We’re not working on projects that have said. Hans added, “How romantic.” $500,000 budgets,” Sturm said. “So, you’re JAZZINJUNE@ always going to get into a situation where DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM you have what you dream to have happen and then you have the reality, there’s a pragmatism. So there’s always going to be a nego-

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DAILY NEBRASKAN JAZZ IN JUNE

TUESDAY, JUNE 14, 2016

STEVEN LAWHEAD

MIKEY AMOS

SHELBY CLAUSEN

BRENDON HENNING

“I’ve been coming since I was a kid. I wasn’t born in Lincoln, but my aunt would take me every time. Now it’s me and (my girlfriend); it’s our third year coming. I introduced her to Jazz in June three years ago, and we’ve been coming ever since.”

“This will be my second time. The fact that it’s outside is really nice. There are a variety of artists and it’s free, what more could you ask for? They’re all good memories, we’re very excited to come here, and it’s just to come and listen to good music.”

“I first came to Jazz in June the summer after my freshman year of college, so that was four years ago. And I’ve come a summer since then. It’s fun, I get to hang out with people that I don’t get to see all the time in the summer. We would play Frisbee sometimes while listening to the music.”

“I’m from Lincoln originally, and it’s one of those things you do if you’ve been in Lincoln. You just come here and see everyone you know. It’s kind of hard to avoid. Normally I sit in the same spot and then count the number of people who walk by that I know.”

AUDIENCE MEMORIES AS JAZZ IN JUNE REVVED INTO ACTION LAST WEEK, THE DAILY NEBRASKAN SPOKE TO CONCERT-GOERS ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE CONCERT SERIES MEMORIES.

JACOB ELLIOTT | DN PHOTOS BY NICK HOAG | DN

KATY COLEMAN

ANGELA YOUNG

ROD PORATH

TERRAN ALLEN GREEN

“I’ve been coming since my kids were young... and my oldest son is now 38. I’m a jazz fan, my youngest son is a professional jazz player in New York. It’s the music that talks to me. It lets me think, and I use it when I’m doing art. Jazz music is a conversation, more so than any other form of music. People go back and forth, and they’re not necessarily playing anything that’s heavily charted.”

“This is my first time in a very long time I’ve been to the event. I don’t really remember much of it. I remember hanging out with my mom’s friends and just having a good time in general. It’s just something fun that Lincoln does.”

“(I’ve been coming to Jazz in June for) six years or seven years. Our daughter and son-in-law live here, and they’ve been here prior to that. They brought us along. All good memories. I like it.”

“I just came to check out the crowd and meet some new people. I’m new to Nebraska. I was given a Lincoln, Nebraska pamphlet so I decided to come on out.”

DO YOU HAVE JAZZ IN JUNE MEMORIES TO SHARE? REACH US AT JAZZINJUNE@DAILYNEBRASKAN.COM