Cutting-edge art and music herald Lowell's new ... - Vyu Magazine

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ART
ENTERTAINMENT
POETRY
PHOTOGRAPHY
MUSIC
Cutting-edge art and music herald Lowell’s new artist district
Cutting-edge art and music herald ongoing development of Lowell’s new
downtown artist studio district on Saturday, Oct. 30, at the day-long
Cyber Mass Eve 1999 taking place at the emerging Evos Arts Institute.
Organizers Maria Moran of Lowell’s new Voix Exploratorium for the Arts
and Mary Ann Kearns of 911 Gallery promise a state-of-the art exhibit of
computer-generated and video art, a variety of well-known guest speakers,
and performances by some of the hottest avant-garde bands.
“We are very excited about the artists who have agreed to participate and
the interest the exhibition is sure to generate for the Lowell arts scene,”
said Moran, a multi-media artist and performer who came to Lowell
about a year ago from the West Coast and who performs with her band,
Zipperspy. Her husband is the internationally-known “noise” artist Emil
Beaulieau, also known as Lowell vintage record merchant Ron Lessard.
“The exhibition will celebrate the new art of the millennium and a
thriving new area arts community,” Moran said.
Kearns, who directs 911 Gallery, curated a number of well-received
exhibits in last spring’s Boston Cyberarts Festival. She and her husband,
Walter Wright, a well-known video artist and designer of computer
games, moved recently to North Chelmsford from Boston’s Fort Point
artist studio district to escape The Big Dig.
Cyber Mass Eve 1999 is envisioned as educational and informational,
with a variety of well-known speakers lined up for the afternoon hours
of the exhibition followed by an evening pre-Halloween dance party
(costumes encouraged). Admission will be free to the non-alcoholic
event, but a $10 a person donation is requested.
The exhibition, which will be on view through December 31, will include
stereoscopic digital images, virtual sculpture, lenticular prints, interactive
kinetic exhibits and video installations, as well as photography, painting
and mixed-media art by dozens of regional artists.
Groups expected to perform include members of Harvard’s Toneburst
Collective; Hecate, from London; Christoph Fringeli, from New York;
The Haters; Sickness; Advance; and Moran’s Zipperspy, as well as her
husband, Beaulieau.
The Evos Arts Institute at 100 Middle Street in the heart of Lowell’s
new artist studio district is an ongoing cultural project designed by
owner/developer Suleyman Celimli to provide studio, classroom,
performance and exhibition space for artists of all kinds.
Times and additional information are available from Voix at
(978) 458-8649; Gallery 911 at (978) 251-8138; or the
Lowell Office of Cultural Affairs (LOCA) at (978) 441-3800.
Feature:
beyondthepale.com

Vyü
BLUE FUNK
In a blue funk
He roams through his day
Pushing the “borrowed” shopping cart
Stopping, can to can
On his self appointed position
Of street archeologist
His finds are varied
Aluminum is his gold
Five cents a can
Half a days work
Buys a six pack and butts
He’s excited when he
Uncovers... a buried treasure
Something he can wear
Or better–sell or trade
He likes to barter...
Be the one in control
In a blue funk
He studies their trash
Like a doctor
Examining a valuable specimen
He knows about their lives and encumbrances
And wonders to himself
Why anyone would want to be
So tied down- to-
Monotony- responsibility-
Another.
In a blue funk
He stands across the Road
Clutching his coffee
This rainy morning
He’s the sentinel
To their children
while they wait
For the school bus
He understands the kids
They are his people
People of the streets
People often overlooked
and seldom heard
But they’ve got a bead on simplicity
Children like him
Understand the essence of living
They feel what he does
Rain on their feet
The smell of it... the feel of it
Step in the puddle soak right through
Your socks to your skin
and it is good
The sun on your head
Making your hair toasty warm
Invisible strength being transferred
From the gods
And the quiet
Of dusk and darkness
In a blue funk
He goes about his day
Trying to begin his next dig
Before some thief takes it
The garbage truck and dogs are his enemies
And them... and you...
And he understands what you do not
He’s unhurried...
He sees what you miss
And he pities...you
Being...
In a blue funk
K.J. Nutter
P R I N T E R S
117 MARGINAL STREET, LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS 01851
TELEPHONE 978.458.6333 FAX 978.458.1420
2

Oct. 99
TEXTILE LUNCH
Donald McHale, guitars, vocals; James Pittman, bass guitar, vocals, piano; Bob Nash, drums, vocals
POORHOUSE RECORDS 1999
Donald McHale has been described in Lowell
‘Zines, poems, paintings and song as “an
eloquent sensitive Kerouac scholar/poet” and
as “a thuggish bellicose beer-monster.
“The former guitar-bully from the infamous
Lowell mainstay DAM shed his noise-rock outfit
for a roots rock suit on the 1994 poorhouse
Sessions#1 compilation CD, playing bass, guitar
and various percussion as well as writing and
performing the undeniably bouncy standout
“Mishawum.” When DAM subsequently imploded
in the studio, McHale took the remaining studio
time, fledgling bass player Jim Pittman and a
couple of Shods to flesh out his new songs, pop
songs. These songs and other lo-fi two track and
four track demos have made up the myriad
releases thus far from Textile Lunch. Usually
home made and only sold at gigs, they typically
mixed off beat guitar pop and unapproachable
“free form jazz explorations.”
In the last two years Textile Lunch has shared bills with the
Shods, Hank Crane, The Chris Ware Band, Permafrost,
The Red Telephone, Huck, The Deliriants,
Quintaine America, 8-Ball Shifter, The Sterlings,
Kung Fu Grip, The Figgs, Kearney Square,
Kevin Oman Signal, Random Road Mother,
Big Top Vertigo, Heavy Stud, The Mad Cap Laughs,
The FlyingNuns, The Unforgettables, Greed Seed, Tricycle,
Rev Nik and the Pompous Lovejoys,
Charlie Chesterman, Super Id, Frank Morey, Bob Martin,
Lux 66, Curious Ritual, Zola Turn, Rumble, Eddy Dyer,
Frigate, Eric Stevenson, and Brober.
In May 1997 Textile Lunch
released “Shibboleth” a
thirty minute musically
varied, yet straightforward
demo. Textile Lunch plans to
release a full length CD
entitled “Lole” on Poorhouse
Records this spring. The first
glimpses of “Lole” come with
the demo versions of “Goog
As God” and “The Pigs
Have Gone Crazy”
produced by Textile drummer
Bob Nash at Wonka Sound,
Lowell, MA.
Contact: Jim Pittman
(978) 454-6414
Donald McHale
(978) 452-9616
Please join us for our Premiere Art Exhibit featuring paintings by
Pamela Trubey
Open During Restaurant Hours
Tuesday - Friday 11:30am to 2:30pm
Tuesday - Saturday 5:00pm to 9:30pm
La Boniche, 143 Merrimack St., Historic Lowell 01852
3

Vyü
Photos by Jim Higgins
4

Oct. 99
VISIONS OF LIFE WITHOUT RULES
Beyond the pale is an actual term/phrase
dating back to the 15th century. It refers to the
land beyond the reaches of the law in ancient
Ireland. This photo collection represents a
reality that exists not only in Irish history but
around the globe: the underground, the
outlaws, the misfits, the people who are easily
overlooked in everyday life.
Beyond the pale is also a website designed to
bring people from the “fringes” and give them
a forum to share poetry and expression. The
original photos were taken in Northern Ireland
and the
Republic of
Ireland over
a six-year
period. The
mannequins represent alternative realities that
exist today—a twilight zone of which we are not
always conscious . . . beyond the pale images
can be seen or purchased at
www.beyondthepale.com
5

Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü Vyü
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OPINIONS ON JAZZ AND OTHER TOPICS
Warning: The author is highly opinionated, and
given his relationship to the main topic, could be
accused of having a "conflict of interest." Further,
unless otherwise noted, his research is most unscientific.
Greetings! I am a musician and educator active on
the Jazz scene in New England. Lately I have seen a
renewal of interest in Jazz locally and in general,
and have decided to take advantage of the space
offered me here to try to encourage that interest.
Some folks in the area, myself included, have gathered
together to create the Merrimack Valley Jazz Society. Our
purpose is to facilitate communication among those who have
an interest in Jazz in the Merrimack Valley (roughly from
Concord, NH to Haverhill, MA), and to further jazz education
in this region. On Sunday, October 17, from 1:00 to 3:30
PM, The Society will present its second Jazz Brunch and
Membership Call at Madden's Restaurant, 37 Crystal Ave. in
Derry, NH, 603-432-8403. Hosting the jam session will be
Joan Watson-Jones and her Trio, with special guests Paul
Combs and Jay Ford. Also featured will be the art work of
internationally known painter, New Hampshire resident, Mel
Bolden. Refreshments will be served, and if you are a player,
bring your instrument and join in the fun.
Although Jazz music is alive and well in all corners of the
United States, and most urban centers of the rest of the world,
it gets little attention in the mainstream media. Much of the
media attention is focused not on those things that people are
doing because it matters to them–and often to many others as
well–but on the things that make a lot of money quickly. The
latest "pop" music star, who may be forgotten in a couple of
years, will sell, thanks to the hype, one, two or three million
copies of his or her CD. This person will be profiled on TV
entertainment news magazines, and invited to shmooz with
the late night comedian/hosts. Whereas, artists who have
worked all their lives at their music (and made a living at it,
too) such as Clark Terry or Tokisho Akioshi, in Jazz, Koko
Taylor or Gatemouth Brown, in Blues, are rarely, if ever, seen
on TV or mentioned in the press.
I have struggled against this trend all my adult life. When I was
a child I watched and heard Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington,
and Nat Cole, as well as Leonard Bernstein on "mainstream"
TV stations. I first heard Ellington's early music accompanying
the old "Farmer Brown" cartoons. Can you imagine a child of
today watching cartoons to a sound track of, say, the music of
Charles Mingus? How about being able to watch a great symphony
conductor sit down with a bunch of kids and talk about
Classical music with them on prime-time television?
I would raise the "Burn Your TV" banner here, except it
sounds too much to me like killing the messenger because one
does not like the message.
Speaking of Jazz locally, I would like to introduce the work of
some of your neighbors whose CDs have come into my possession
in a rather random fashion.Whenever I run into a colleague
who has just released a CD, I swap one of mine for one of his or
hers. The equipment and the process of replication have become
relatively affordable, so one no longer needs to wait for a record
company in order to make the music available.
Joan Watson-Jones’ album, her second release, is titled "One
More Year." Some of you may know Joan from her cable TV
show "Joan's Jazz Jam." Others of you may know her from her
performances over the last twenty years. Stylistically, Joan is very
interesting. She performs with a "modern" piano trio and horn
players, yet her singing recalls singers from earlier in the century,
like Ethel Waters or the "classic" blues singers. Jazz is a continuously
developing art, and this stylistic juxtaposition is a bit like
the "post-modern" movement in architecture. Joan is accompanied
by the trio of Hakim Law, piano, Skip Smith, bass and
Gordon Grottenthaler. She also has several fine horn players: Jay
Daly, trumpet; Fred Hass and Curtis Rivers, saxophones; David
Eure, violin; and Sonny Stanton, flute.
6

Oct. 99
Kathleen Kolman has just released her first CD "The
Dreamer." Kolman is returning to the scene after taking several
years off to focus on being a parent. Kolman sings not from
the "standard" English language repertoire, but also has great
affection for the work of Brazilian songwriters. She has studied
the Portuguese language and the singing of it with Brazilian
singers. At the piano is Mark Shilansky, the bassist is John
Lockwood, Les Harris is on drums, Catherine Birrer percussion,
and Charlie Jennison is heard on flute and saxophones.
Charlie Jennison, also has a new CD available. Jennison has
been on the area scene for a long time. "Iridescence" finds
Charlie in the company of pianist Jim Butka, bassist John
Hunter and drummer Ken Clark, and features his compositions
as well as his performance on soprano, alto and tenor
saxophones. Whether accompanying someone else or leading
his own group, Charlie always plays with taste and a sensitivity
to the whole piece. The tunes here are also outstanding. Hey
Charlie! Could I have the lead sheets for a few of these?
recordings from the artists themselves. More often than not
they are worth it; and when you find one that you really like,
go back and get one for a friend.
Paul Combs
c/o BoMuse Music
14 Berkshire Pl.
Cambridge, MA 02141
617-576-1004
http://www.paulcombs.com
Another veteran saxophonist from our neighborhood is
Richard Gardzina. His CD "Play This" features his own compositions,
presented in a "radio friendly" adult-contemporary
or "smooth" jazz style. As with the other discs mentioned here,
we have some more of our musically strong neighbors: Steve
Aubert at the keys, Roger Kimball, bass, Dave Berman, drums,
and on three of the tracks guitarist Joe Gattuoso.
These discs may be difficult to find in your local record store.
Only Charlie Jennison's disc is on a label with any kind of distribution;
see Web-site: http://www.invisiblemusicrecords.com.
Joan Watson-Jones can be contacted at 800-544-2931; Rich
Gardzina at Diamond Cut Productions 617-267-1310. You
will have to keep your eyes and ears open for Kathleen
Kolman; however she’s performing more and more frequently
these days. In most cases, you need to get these kinds of
UPCOMING
Oct 27, 7:30 PM; Kid Rock with Powerman 5000, Tsongas Arena,
300 Arcand Dr., Lowell, MA
Thu Oct 28, 5:30-9 PM; Paul Combs Trio, Sidney’s Grille,
20 Sidney St. (University Park Hotel), Cambridge 617-551-0444
Through Oct 30; Watercolor Paintings by Kevin Dadoly, Whistler House Museum of Art,
243 Worthen St., Lowell, MA
Sun Oct 31, 7:00-10:30 PM; Workingman’s Jazz Band w/Paul Combs, Sit’n’Bull Pub,
163 Main St., Maynard, MA 978-897-4663
Tue Nov 2, 6:30 PM; Paul Combs/Jay Ford Duo, Hermanos,
11 Hills Ave., Concord, NH 603-224-5669
Nov 14-Jan 2; The Last Picture Show, Whistler House Museum of Art,
243 Worthen St., Lowell, MA
Sun Nov 28, 11 AM-2PM; Ray DeMarco/Paul Combs Duo, Poco Diablo,
Portsmouth, NH
Thu Dec 16, 8 PM; B.B. King, Lowell Memorial Auditorium,
50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, MA
107 Merrimack Street, Lowell, MA 01852
Bridal Gowns • Pagent Gowns • Elegant Mothers Gowns & Suits
Tel. (978) 446-0700
Fri Dec 31, 9PM; Ray DeMarco/Paul Combs Duo, Mimmo’s,
York Beach, ME, reservations required 207-363-3807
Feb 5, 8 PM; Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Lowell Memorial Auditorium,
50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, MA
Tue March 7, 6:30 PM; Paul Combs/Jay Ford Duo, Hermanos,
11 Hills Ave., Concord, NH 603-224-5669
Apr 8, 7 PM; Bill Cosby, Lowell Memorial Auditorium,
50 E. Merrimack St., Lowell, MA
Tue. & Thu. 12-8 • Wed. & Fri. 10-5 • Sat. 9-5
7

Vyü Oct. 99
Letter from the staff
This is the premiere issue of Vyü Magazine
designed specifically for the arts: music,
photography, poetry, exhibits, virtually anything
to do with art. We invite you to contribute to the
publishing of the magazine (P.O. Box 2333,
Lowell, MA 01851) to make it a vehicle to
promote your art and for promoting community
involvement in the arts as Lowell experiences its
cultural growth spurt.
We would also like to thank Sullivan Brothers Printers
for its generous contribution to this issue.
Vyü Magazine/Issue #1/Oct.’99
Copyright © 1999
CONTRIBUTORS
James Dyment
Publisher/Designer
Norma Beaulieu
Layout Artist
Paul Combs
Writer/Musician
Kevin Gath
Writer/Photographer
Kathy Nutter
Poet
Otto Erbar
Writer
Jeannie Judge
Editor
Jim Higgins
Photographer
Joan Ross
Design Consultant
Bob Paré
Photography
Phone (978) 970-2137 P.O. Box 9002
Fax (978) 446-0837 Lowell, MA01853
www.mdc.net/~bobparephoto
bobparephoto@mdc.net
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