Tucson Citizen from Tucson, Arizona • 53

May 13, 1999 Calendar Page 15 POP ROCK JAZZ COUNTRY ETHNIC NOTES COMMENT Grant Amy Grant gala You can imagine the armtwisting involved in getting Amy Grant to headline the celebrity dinner concert at the Ara Parseghian Medical Research Foundation's fourth annual gala weekend, "One More Victory, Ara!" Enticement No. 1: It's for a good cause. The foundation has earmarked an expected $300,000 in proceeds for research to develop treatments and a cure for Niemann-Pick a devastating neurodegenerative disorder involving the body's ability to transport cholesterol within cells. She likely agreed to come just hearing that. But for extra incentive Enticement No.

2: Golf! Grant is a devoted golfer. One of her favorite golfing buddies is fellow Nashville artist Vince Gill. The gala weekend, May 14-15, includes the celebrity dinner, golf and tennis tournaments and an awards dinner. All I events will be held at Westin La Paloma Resort and Country Club, 3800 E. Resort Drive.

Celebrities scheduled to participate in the golf and tennis tournaments include Joe Garagiola, actor Lee Majors, future baseball Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg and NFL Hall of Famer Gale Sayers. The 6 p.m. May 14 celebrity dinner costs $200 per person. The tennis and golf tourneys begin at 7:30 a.m. May 15 with the awards dinner at 5 p.m.

Cost is $500 per person for tennis and $1,000 for golf, both including celebrity dinner tickets. Sponsors of the gala weekend include University. Medical Center, AlphaGraphics, Bon Voyage Travel, Jim Click Automotive, the Westin La Paloma, United Airlines and many dedicated volunteers. For information about Niemann-Pick the gala or to order tickets, call Flick Thorson makes jazz an adventure They always pop in out of the blue, like those tropical songbirds that dart up here from Mexico in the offseason. Jazz singers with the most amazing chops spring fullblown from somewhere.

By CHUCK GRAHAM Citizen Music Critic Rock singers are always preceded by waves of publicity. Jazz singers arrive without fanfare, get up on stage and pin back the ears of everyone in the audience. We know where Diane Schuur was before she became nationally famous in her '30s. She was right here in Tucson, singing in clubs several nights: a week, paying some serious dues. Now we have Boston jazz singer Lisa Thorson headed our way, a gifted improviser of the most musical kind.

She doesn't sing songs. She sings music. Harmonic shifts and rhythmic alliances fill the phrasing Thorson draws from classic pop standards. Original material feels like i it arrived from some distant place where lyrical ideas have been nurtured by happy people untouched by Top 40 radio and MTV. We know this because Thorson was here for the first time a few years ago, booked by the Tucson Jazz Society for its summer outdoor concert series.

She bounced in with no reputation around these parts and left the next day with people still shaking their Ricky Martin From Citizen Wire Services Ricky Martin, "Ricky Martin," It looks like we finally have a solo male pop star for the latter part of the decade and just in time, huh? As former Menudo star Ricky Martin's first full-on Englishlanguage single, "Livin' La Vida Loca," rides the No. 1 rail on The Billboard Hot 100, this glorious Top 40-aimed album covers all the bases; the question here is, What's not a hit? With Martin conjuring equal parts Jon Secada and George Michael with his own brand of bravado and overt sensuality, it's not difficult to forecast this title topping the album chart. The label has coupled the 27-year-old with some of the best producers in the biz, including Desmond Child, Emilio Estefan Walter Afanasieff, and Secada all destined for a Grammy nomination and songwriters Eric Bazilian and Diane Warren. Then, of IF YOU GO What: Lisa Thorson in concert. When: 6 to 9 p.m.

May 16 Where: St. Philip's Plaza, at North Campbell Avenue and East River Road. How much: Tickets are $11 general, $6 for Tucson Jazz Society members. Call 743-3399. heads in wonder at the imagination in her voice.

Now the engaging singer has a new album out, a new reason to tour and she's booked for the TJS outdoor concerts at St. Philips Plaza Sunday. She'll be arriving with her own pianist, Tim Ray, and drummer George Schuller. Local bassist of renown, Ed Friedland, will join them. "We'll be playing three said Thorson, sounding cheery on the telephone from Boston.

"Some standards, some original material. I try to strike a balance between what is fun and what is challenging." It's the challenging part that's always been the most 1 fun for me as a listener. Thorson says learning to sing "better" is a lifelong pursuit. "Jazz is always an adventure. I feel like my improvising now is at a higher level than it was the last time I was in Tucson.

"Sometimes that means the music is more intricate, but sometimes it is simpler. What I want to be is more thoughtful." FUN, continued on 16 'Livin' RICKY MARTIN releases Spanglish "The version Cup of Of Life" and a Sounds like Elton John isn't the only male diva in town anymore. RICKY MARTIN course, there's that last-minute William Orbit -produced duet with Madonna, a lovely Spanish guitarinflected dollop of cool sherbet. Other best bets among the 14 tracks include the No. 1-destined ballad "She's All I Ever Had" (also in Spanish, as the singalong bootytrembler "Shake Your the funky and resplendent slow jam "I Am Made Of and the Latin dance hall-ready "Love For A Day." Also included are previous Boston jazz singer Lisa Thorson sings for Tucson on May 16 at St.

Philip's Plaza. large on new album Various artists "Lilith Fair: A Celebration Of Women In Music, Volumes 2 and 3," Arista, If the first volume of live Lilith Fair recordings was a fun souvenir of the concert, these two follow-ups packaged separately make up a truly fabulous document reflecting the maturation of the event, the later depth of its lineup, and the focused intensity of each act. Indeed, there are no faint tracks on these two fine CDs, which together aptly make for a 28-track tour de force. "Volume 2" opens with Sinead O'Connor's fiercely beautiful "Fire On Babylon" and then flows into the potent force of mood of Angelique Kidjo's "Never Know," Queen Latifah's bittersweet "Life," and Heather Nova's lovely "Island." By the time Shawn Colvin has sung a pensive, poetic "New Thing Now," Sarah McLachlan has dueted with Emmylou Harris on a soaring "Angel," Bic Runga has done its lovely "Sway," and Tracy Bonham has leapt into the powerful "Meat Hook," the artistic might throughout is fully manifest. Morcheeba, Lisa Loeb, Natalie Merchant, Cowboy Junkies, Holly McNarland, and Wild Strawberries are just as excellent.

On "Volume 3," you get Me'Shell Ndegeocello's funk-hop "Soul Record," a sinuous "Never Said" from Liz Phair, a giddy "Kiss Me" from Sixpence None The Richer, an exquisitely sad "Luka" from Suzanne Vega, a beautiful "Black White" from McLachlan, a compelling "Not An Addict" from K's Choice, a poignant "Little Black Girl" from Rebekah, and a scary "Deeper Well" from Harris. Plus more peaks from Luscious Jackson, Holly Cole, N'Dea Davenport, Chantal Kreviazuk, Bonnie Raitt, and the exhilarating Indigo Girls. Essential listening, all..