Democrat and Chronicle from Rochester, New York • Page 25

DEMOCRAT AND CHRONICLE, ROCHESTER. N.Y., FRIDAY, MAY 19, 1995 "hi ON Catch of the day A cockney fruit salesman (Peter Bisuito, right) inherits a fortune in RAPA Players' Me and My Girl, opening at 8 p.m. at Theater on the I Ridge, 200 W. Ridge Road. 15; 5 shows through May 27.

Celebrate "Lilacs Alive at Five" with Go Band and other local groups from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Downtown Festival Tent, 30 Capron St. $3. Rochester Community Players presents 1776, opening at 8 p.m. at Orcutt-Botsford Fine Arts Center, 3646 East Pittsford.

$15-518. Turn to page 8Cfora listing of more events. inside 8Q (DP PAGE ,4 By CLIFF SMITH Mezzo honors mezzo Many Rochester music lovers remember the hauntingly dark-hued voice and adventurous artistry of mezzo-soprano Jan DeGae-tani, who died of leukemia in 1989. Another outstanding mezzo, Alteouise DeVaughn, will pay tribute to her Sunday in a concert with the Rochester Chamber Orchestra and conductor David Fetter. DeVaughn, who con-certizes throughout the United States and Europe, will perform Che Faro from Gluck's Orfeo and the song cycle The Garden of Love by Minnesota composer Paul Fetler, David's brother.

(His work was written for and sung by DeGaetani and the RCO 12 years ago.) Also on the 8 p.m. program at Hochstein PREVIEW jazz in particular. He won an Emmy for his work as a jazz correspondent for the CBS show Sunday Morning. He likes to teach audiences to be "really prepared to listen and not just let the music wash over them. "You have to let the music speak to you.

Jazz does what music is supposed to do, at best. It says something. You get some kind of feeling melancholy, happiness, excitement, introspection if you focus on what is being said. "You also have to hear the interplay between various instruments. A lot of times what one instrument is playing is based on what another is Fresh out of Virginia State College in 1944, jazz pianist Billy Taylor arrived in New York City and sought out older musicians to pick their brains.

"If you didn't ask them, you didn't learn anything," Taylor recalls in a recent phone interview from his home in the Bronx. "It didn't occur to them to tell you anything. They felt everybody should develop his own personal approach to music." Duke Ellington was one of the older musicians whom Taylor music ocnooi, ou in. nymoutn will be -Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 2 with soloist Bonita Boyd, and selections by Puree 11 and Mendelssohn sung by the Eastman Bach Children's Chorus.

Buy tickets at $12 ($6 for seniors, 50 cents for students) by calling (716) 663-4693. in rail wtng reditdioiaung oui Noting that everyone is doing alternative music these days, the alternative hangout Freakazoid has altered its schedule a bit. On Thursdays, the club at 19fi N. Chestnut St. After learning from masters like Ellington, Billy Taylor has plenty of jazz lessons to teach Jazzed-up RPO What: Billy Taylor Trio and the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra When: 8 tonight and tomorrow Where: Eastman Theatre, 60GibbsSt.

Tickets: (20 percent discount on advance single-ticket purchases for students and seniors); $8 rush tickets for students and seniors on sale at 10 a.m. the day of each concert at Ticket Express and 90 minutes prior to performance at the Eastman Theatre Call: Ticket Express, 100 East (716) 222-5000, or TicketMaster, (716) 232-1900 or HD (800) playing. The bass player's line could be setting up what a horn soloist plays or a drum rhythm could be the focal point of what is happening." Will this work at the Eastman Theatre tonight, or is a philharmonic orchestra too ponderous to swing? "Many orchestra players, especially the younger ones, have had extensive experience playing in different styles. They're not intimidated," Taylor says. "Some older conductors, though, try to impose traditional standards; they want to bring jazz into their point of reference.

And the musicians have to play what the conductor conducts." approached. Taylor played a long engagement in the 1960s at the midtown-Manhattan Hickory House restaurant, where Ellington often would go for dinner. "We'd sit and talk, just casual conversation, but it was almost like a master class," Taylor says. "One of the things I asked him about was the evolvement of his approach to harmony, which was so different from any I had known. "He said it began as soon as he found out that sharp was not flat.

That was a very provocative thought. They're the same notes, but a sharp wants to go in one direction and a flat wants to go in another direction. Each leads to differing offers Nine Inch Nails Night. Fridays is tribal, house, funk and Euro-dance, and Saturdays turns to acid jazz. And scrawl tomorrow on your forehead to remind yourself of the debut of live music on nice, big patio area: The first show features Vlsionstaln, the Quitters, Claw-board and Rubber Nipple from 2 to 8 p.m.

The May 27 lineup is The FKsners, Lalaland, Race-car Bob and Malcolm the Vampire the Enochs. A special May 28 show is a benefit for the late club creature Luke Warm, featuring Koo Koo Boy, The Chinchillas, Dave Ripton and Luke's old band, S.L.T. If it rains, the bands move inside. Admission is $6 for ages 18-20, $4 for those 21 and over. Bands looking i 1 1 1 11 1 Tl-1 I uook.

a snow can can rwo uarao ai i. id; 242-0295. Otherwise call (716) 987-0000. Telling symphonic tales The Rochester Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, recently back from its concert tour of Ene- Tilt Taylor's big, new teaching project is T3illy Taylor's Jazz at the Kennedy Center," live performances by jazz artists followed by discussions with the audience. The two-hour presentations are being taped by National Public Radio and then condensed into one-hour programs for a 26-week series, starting in October.

WXXI-AM (1370) is waiting to hear when it can start its airings. Taylor also is working on a new orchestra piece to be performed next spring by the National Symphony. And he's preparing for his annual, it two-week summer jazz camp at the University of Massachusetts, where he earned a doctorate and is currently the Wilmer D. Barrett professor of music. A CD, Homage, has just been released on the GRP label, featuring his trio and the Turtle Island String Quartet.

Taylor, 73, has no thought of retirement: "I'm in total agreement with Ellington, Eubie paths of harmony." Now Taylor is himself an institution in jazz. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz calls his piano playing "a light, fluid and inventive bop style." Jeff Tyzik, the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra's principal pops conductor, admires him for more than his playing: Taylor, who always tried to learn from the masters, is now a master teacher. "I've also been very impressed with what Taylor has done in educating people about jazz," Tyzik says. Taylor and his trio join Tyzik and the RPO tonight and tomorrow at the Eastman Theatre in a tribute to jazz and the music of Duke Ellington. The program is in conjunction with the "Beyond Category: The Musical Genius of Duke Ellington" exhibiti at Strong Museum, 1 Manhattan Square, through June 18.

This isn't the first time Taylor has seen Tyzik's arrangements. "I remember when Jeff was a student at Eastman School of Music," Taylor says. "I was music conductor of the David Frost Show on TV. (The late) Rayburn Wright was a friend of mine and a great teacher. As Eastman's director of jazz studies, he called and asked if I'd be interested in looking at the arrangements that Jeff and some of his other students had written as a class project for my band.

"The musicians picked the one that was played on the air. I can't remember if Jeff was the winner or not." Tyzik recalls he was actually runner-up. The winner, Doug Walters, is now playing and recording in Los Angeles, where he's also the music conductor for singer Connie Francis. Taylor has won many awards for his articulation of the arts in general and land, will give its final concert this season at 3 p.m. Sunday.

And the theme is telling stories through music in this case, 1001 Arabian Nights as portrayed in Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade, and Romeo and Juliet in Bernstein's Overture to West Side Story. Guests of honor under David Harman's baton will be the student winners of the orchestra's spring concerto competition. Flutist Cristina Ballatori, an East Rochester senior, will play the first movement of Mozart's Flute Concerto No. 2. Cellist Benjamin Wensel, a senior at Penfield High School, will be the soloist in the first two movements of Elgar's Cello Concerto.

Tickets for the concert at Hochstein Music School, 50 N. Plymouth are available for $5 ($3 for students) at the door or by calling (716) 377-3537. Cool stuff Tonight, the James Young Band performs for free at the House of Guitars, 645 Titus Ave. Young, the guitarist for the '70s rockers Styx, plays the HOG at 5 p.m. and at 7 p.m.

at the Downtown Festival Tent Frenetic local alternative band Muler plays a free show at 8 tonight at Record Archive, 1394 Mt. Hope Ave. Call (716) 473-3820. Woody Dodge plays Richmond's at 10 p.m. tomorrow, and it's bringing along Buffalo roots-rocking pals Scott Carpenter and the Real McCoys, whose new CD is called 2 a.m.

Tragedy. Admission is $5. Woody Dodge's first CD was released in January, and Sunday the band goes back into the studio to start recording its second release. Kanda Bongo Man, a premier world-music dance experience, is part of a 7 p.m. Sunday benefit at The Creek, 300 Jefferson Road, Henrietta.

Proceeds from the $12 admission fees ($10 with a college ID) help orphans in Rwanda. Call (716) 424-1080. STUART LOW and JEFF SPEVAK Call them at (716) 258-2282, or write to 55 Exchange Rochester, N.Y. 14614. 7 7 Blake and Dizzy Gillespie, who said that music keeps you young." Free-lancer Cliff Smith writes about jazz.

Tuning in Pianist Billy Taylor likes to teach how to listen to jazz: 'You get some kind of feeling 1 melancholy, happiness, excitement, introspection if you focus on what is being said. CAROL WEINBERG CHART TOPPERS 'My Family' takes a sentimental journey to the barrio Some of today's most talented By JACK GARNER STAFF FILM CRITIC REVIEW Latino actors fill key roles in My Family, including Olmos as the observant brother Paco, Esai Morales as the doomed Chucho and Jimmy Smits as Jimmy. The direction by Gregory Nava is taut and engrossing in some segments, loose and undisciplined in others. Momentum comes in unexpected spurts. He efficiently uses period details and music of the '20s, '50s and '80s to frame the major segments of the family history.

Ultimately, My Family tells a universal story that can be appreciated by any people who have leaned on blood ties and cultural traditions to get through the challenges of life. This film, under the watchful eye of executive producer Francis Ford Coppola, is far from seamless and could use a bit more humor and spice. But its intentions, its passion, ring true. From Billboard magazine. POP SINGLES 1 This Is How We Do It Montell Jordan 2.

Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman? Bryan Adams 3. Wafer Runs Dry Boyz II Men 4. Ill Be There for You Method Man 5. Freak Like Me Adina Howard 6. Total Eclipse ol the Heart Nicki French 7.

Know Dionne Farris 8. Red Light Special TLC 9. Believe Blessid Union of Souls 10. Donl Take It Personal Monica ALBUMS 1 Cracked Rear View Hootie and the Blowfish 2. Throwing Copper Live 3.

'Friday' Soundtrack Priority 4. 'Forrest Gump' Soundtrack Epic 5. Hell Freezes Over The Eagles 6. Me Against the World 2Pac 7. II Boyz II Men 8 John Michael Montgomery John Michael Montgomery 9.

Astro Creep: 2,000 Songs of Love. Destruction White Zombie 10. The Hfs Garth Brooks COUNTRY SINGLES 1 What Mattered Most Ty Herndon 2. Standing on the Edge of Goodbye John Berry 3. Summer's Comin Clint Black 4.

Adalida George Strait 5. You Ain't Much Fun Toby Keith 6. Gonna Get a Life Mark Chesnutt 7. Don'f Believe in Goodbye Sawyer Brown 8. Stay Forever Hal Ketchum 9 When You Say Nothing at All Alison Krause 10.

Can Love You Like That John Michael Montgomery SINGLES 17 Be There for You Method Man 2. This Is How We Do It Montell Jordan 3. Donl Take It Personal Monica 4. Can't You See Total 5. Ask of You Raphael Saadiq 6.

Grapevyna Brownstone 7. Freak Like Me Adina Howard 8 Water Runs Dry Boyz II Men 9. 18 Kut Klose 10 Crazy Love Brian McKnight Writer-director Gregory Nava explored aspects of the Latin-American immigrant experience in his award-winning film El Norte. With his new film, My Family, he broadens his canvas considerably and adds more colors to his palette. The new drama spans three generations of a Mexican-American family.

Its episodic structure doesn't always maintain momentum, though certain family stories are quite powerful. The tale starts when a courageous but naive orphaned Mexican teen-ager crosses the border, seeking a long-lost relative in the Los Angeles of the 1920s. It concludes on a day some 60 years later when his son and grandson are reunited, restoring the family vision of unity. Family certainly is the theme at the core of the film's several stories, which are punctuated by weddings, dinners, social gatherings and other family rituals. Whatever happens to the characters, they know they can always depend on their parents, siblings or children, and on the values established over time.

Paco (Edward James Olmos) narrates the family tales, looking New Line Cinema 'Family' reunion Jimmy Smits (left) plays a Chicano who reconciles with his estranged son, Carlitos (Paul Langdon). back from the East L.A of the 1980s. He tells of his grandfather, Jose Sanchez, the young man who walked hundreds of miles from Mexico to Los Angeles to live with a distant, elderly relative. Like many of the immigrants, Jose works as a gardener for wealthy families in Beverly Hills, where he meets his future wife, Maria. They marry, have children and struggle through a society in which racism and class division are the standard.

Maria, in fact, is swept up in a raid of illegal immigrants and shipped deep into Mexico (even though she's a Los Angeles-born citizen). She, too, lives through a story of difficult migration, taking two years to get back to her home, carrying her new son, Chucho, in her arms. The film shifts to the early '50s, when Chucho is a rebellious young man, caught between encroaching American values (typified by macho gang life) and his Mexican heritage (typified by the family values he rejects). His story ends tragically, in a hail of police bul- learns the lesson of his older relatives: The family is a great source of comfort, strength and support. At times, it's all you have.

Along the way, we also learn of a sister who became a nun, only to leave the order to get married and become a social activist. And we see, too briefly, the st ruggle of another brother, who moves into the Anglo world, graduating from the UCLA law school and marrying into a wealthy, blond family. My Family Starring: Edward James Olmos, Jimmy Smits, Esai Morales Directed by: Gregory Nava Opens today at: Ridge Road Rated: profanity, nudity, sex, lets, before the eyes of an impressionable brother named Jimmy. The movie shifts into its third major chapter the '80s with Jimmy as a grown man who has never escaped the vision of his idolized brother. He has become withdrawn and troublesome, also intent on fighting the system.

But after bouts with the law, he finds salvation in an unexpected love affair and a resulting son. By the film's finale, Jimmy violence. Jack's rating: With 10 as a must-see, this film rates 7.