Oakland Tribune from Oakland, California • 21

TBE TRIBUNE Tuesday, March 7, 1989 Eastbay Ear i At 90, Oaklands Siegriest gets bis due man By Janet Ghsnt Urn Martin Snapp time. I feel worse than I ever did. I cant see. I cant paint 1 cant telephone. Im in a helluva fix.

But he becomes animated when he talks about upcoming- -exhibits and his recent birthday celebration, attended by 300 people. And he enjoys reciting a centuries worth of anecdotes. Lou is a very colorful storyteller) said Terry St John, 1st and associate curator of the Museum, who painted outdoors with Lundy and Louis in the 70s. He can embellish and tell these stories over and over but he always adds something new. There are tales about his father, Louis Napoleon Siegriest, who walked halfway across the continent at age 18, to work on the railroad and seek his fortune.

There are tales about his maternal grandparents, Italian settlers in Oaklands Temescal neighborhood. And there are tales of his own checkered academic career. At Temescal elementary school, Siegriest was locked into a tower for drawing caricatures dents and teachers, "They got a little tired of me, he said. When 4 p.m. arrived and -nobody unlocked the door, Sie-griesiisltddown a drainpipe and slid right into the principals hands.

The principal transferred him to the Peralta school. Later he dropped out of University High School, because I thought I wanted to be an artist." When be; was 16, he met GHo. the leader of the Six, -through his laundryman. In those days, back doors were kept open and Siegriest joined the laundryman on his route to take a peek at Gile's work. Later the laundryman arranged an introduction.

Siegriest was invited to join Gile on his outdoor forays. I got behind Mr. Gile, watched him paint and I kind of imitated him," he said. I was tickled to 'death that he. invited mein.

But Siegriest stopped being an imitator, departing sharply post-impressionism. Sie-1-griest, wrote Boas, is the only member of the Six to have made the transition to the postwar contemporary art world. During the 30s, he worked as a WPA poster artist, developing a graphic style. During World ARTIST, Page C-S -f I RONICAtLYr on his 90th birthday, when he dhrf neither paint nor see the work I he has created over a lifetime, Oakland artist Louis Bassi Siegriest is suddenly receiving national recognition, with the publication of Nancy Boas book, The Society of California Colorists. Critical attention has caught up with them, said Boas.

"Suddenly people across the country have discovered they were an important period of American modernism. From 1917 to the early 30s, a group of Eastbay artists, inspired by the Impressionists, took their easels outdoors and captured the California palette. Considered an anomaly in their time because they painted in the style of an earlier era, the six, who had little influence beyond California, are now beihg reCog- nized outside their backyard. The youngest member and sole survivor of the group, Siegriest currently has a 90th birth-, day exhibition through Saturday at San Franciscos Triangle Gallery. In.

September, he will be featured in a Society of Six exhibition at Franciscos MJL.de' YoungMetnorial Museum, along with artists Selden Gile, August Gay, Maurice Logan, Bernard von Eichman and William Clapp. Ironically, it was at the de Young that Siegriest scandalized polite society in 1952 with an abstract hastily titled, Miner Going to Church. Still living in the same barn-red turreted Victorian home on Miles Avenue where he was born, Siegriest lives surrounded by his art, his memories, and family friends who look after him. The last years have not been good ones. In addition to health problems following a stroke in the 70s, failing eyesight and chronic pain from shingles, Sie- -griest has had other losses.

His wife, artist Edna Stoddart, died in 1966. His' only child, artist Lundy Siegriest, died of cancer -in 1985. Life, says Siegriest, is frustrating. He complains about con- stant pain, saying the seven bot-. ties of pills that friends make sure he takes are "a waste of FoolbaH Felon: Here, without comment, is a uote from last Thursdays sports section: "The University of Washington will give a football scholarship to running back Marc Jones when Jonesjs released from a California minimum-security prison.

Jones was convicted of assault and mayhem after a 1987 fight in San Diego. Said football coach Don James: His background is probably better than most players we bring in." Father Knows Worst other crime news, San Leandro Police have busted a purse-snatcher who left his 7-year-old son in the getaway car while he committed his crimes. The kid told police, "First we went to grandmas, then we went to steal two purses. Anybody seen a bunch of hot neon signs? The signs reading, "Burgers, Sushi, "Club and Cold Beer were swiped from Aargon Neon in Crockett Meanwhile, The Montclarion reports this entry in the Piedmont Police Log: "Jan. 25.

At 1:84 a.m. a Harvard Road woman told police that a thin man with medium brown hair wearing a raincoat came to her front door and said he was gojmg to take over her house. The woman said no and the man left. Just Say "AaahhP Dr. Lawrence Feld, a pro-fesssor at the Stanford Medical School, will present a report today at the International Anesthesia Research Society meeting in Orlando, Fla.

Heres the exact text of his report: Narcotic-laced lollipops are beneficial in calming children about to undergo anesthesia and surgery. It makes things much more pleasant for the kids. Ill bet! Meanwhile, Victor Powers of San Ramon is about to become the first person to take blood out of the Internal Revenue Service, instead of the other way around. Powers, president of Qual-Lab medical labs, has. been hired to do blood tests on the employees of the IRSs Sacramento office Dr.

Robert Charm of Walnut Creek has written his memoirs, tentatively titled, "Dont Drop Dead. Youll Make Me Look Bad. HypocrHic Oafs: Right after Rep. Pete Stark, D-Hay ward, made a speech attacking who make $600,000 a year, the Journal of the American Medical Association responded with a headline that asked, Where are the MDs who make $600,000 a year? The next day, it was revealed that the AMAs executive vice president (a doctor) was paid $697,718 in 1987. And Now, Equal Jimq For The Lawyers: According to the American Bar Association Lawyers are 30 percent more likely than the general population to buy a new vehicle.

Makes sense. Theyre 30 percent more likely to be able to afford one. V- Better Dead And Read: To celebrate its 15th anniversary, People magazine has released a list of its best-selling covers. No surprises here: John Lennon, Princess Grace, Princess Di, Fer-gie, and Karen Carpenter proving the old adage that the best way to get on the cover is to be either royal or dead. (Or, in the case of Princess Grace, both.) And who appeared on Peoples worst-selling covers? Michael Caine, Jay Leno, and the American hostages in Leba- -non Meanwhile, the San Francisco-based National Association of Short Adults has endorsed 5-foot-i John Tower, explaining, "Hes almost reached a high-up level in the Cabinet something we find difficult to do daily in the kitchens of our own homes.

Siegriest Is the Louis last living member of the Society of Six, the Impression is t-inspiredgroup of colorists now being recognized for its contributions to American Modernist painting. Below, Siegriest in the 1920s when hie and his feliow artists began to capture the California landscape on canvas. V- Jazz drummer inarches to a vibrant beat of his creation- -V ByLanyKofcte ftolHbMW Tonights Lets Hear It for Eddie Marshall! concert at Kimballs jazz club does something that should happen more often: It focuses attention cm one of the mainstays of the Bay Area jazz scene. In this case its Eddie Marshall, the hardest working and uiywiw'uw'j -Small-theater plays are big on screaming By Nsrriet Swift Trtbum DECIBEL LEVEL, it seems to me, is the real line of demarcation between professional and novice theater. My notes after attending two promising small stage productions in the Eastbay are regularly punctuated with the notations: Lots of screaming "-More screaming, apd finally, Sc-Sc-Sc.

Rip-roaririg emotional explosions have a great appeal for actors its really a chance to show their stuff. Its also, as many apprentice performers fail to appreciate, a chance to show what they drat have control, subtlety, discipline. Type-O, a.self-described Zen cabaret at the Berkeleys Julia Morgan Theater, and Getting Out, a Marsha Norman drama at Chabot College, are two -non-commercial stage offerings close to home good intentions that outrun their capabilities. Getting Out is Kentucky playwright Marsha Normans first play. She later won the Pulitzer Prize for 1983s night Mother," but Getting Out-established her reputation and was a hit in New York.

"Getting Out hasnt been seen in the Bay Area in years, and never has been staged as a major production. It says a lot about Chabot Colleges adventurous drama department that they tacklea this angry, demanding story of a young woman just out of prison. Arlene (Anita Torres) returns home to Louisville after a riotous tour of Alabama and its prisons. In a bleak, shabby apartment recently vacated by her prostitute sister, Arlene numbly tries to organize a new life. Shes haunted by Arlie (Robin Sconyers), her younger self, and almost defeated by the corrosive encounters with her bitter, trash mother (Cindy Hernandez) and manipulative lover-pimp, Carl (Sean Clifton).

Faini rays of bumanlty fall on Arlene in the persons of her upstairs neighbor Ruby, another one-time felon (Ruth Saia), and Bennie, toe dim. See PLAYS, Page C4 Sauce For The Gander The City of Oakland is seeking nominees for its 36th annual Mothei of the Year contest. And the winner doesnt even have to be female. "A man has never won, says spokeswoman Samee Roberts, "but the family has changed so much over the years. We would welcome the opportunity to honor a man who acts as a mother to his family.

To get a nominating ballot, call her at 273-3090 The Oakland Planning Commission will meet tomorrow to consider Lakeside Metals request to waive the environmental impact report requirement for its proposed scrap metal plant on the block between Madison, Oak, Third and Fourth streets. The South of the Nimitx Improvement Council (SONIC, for short) is asking neighborhood residents and business owners to call Couddlmember Aleta Cannon with their opinions. Her number 273-3611. Mark Levine and Eddie Marshall have had a long friendship. ICOHCEttyPftgYIgWi busiest jazz drummer around.

The show is part of the Tuesday night Jazz in Flight series at Kimballs, devoted to Bay Area musicians. But tonights show focuses not on Marshalls drumming brilliance (although thats part of it) but on his original compositions, played by Berkeley pianist Mark Levines Quintet The group includes trumpeter Pock Allmood, saxophonist Harvey Walnapel and bassist Larry Grenadier. "I thought it was another gig with Mark, Marshall said, so I asked if we could do a couple of my compositions, and he said, Sure. From there Jazz in Flight director Ken Schubert turned it into a Marshall night After years withvibraphonist Bobby Hutchersons band, Marshall gave up the road life a decade ago to become the house drtmme at San Franciscos Keystone Korner, where New Eastbay Eat appears four days a week, Monday through Thursday la the Lifestyle i tioa Have an item? Cali 645-278S. INSID vorites such post-bop jazz composers as Wayne Shorter, Joe Za-winul.

Herbie Hancock and the late Jaco Pastorius, said that his own tunes cover a wide stylistic range. With five sons from 10 to 26 years old, he said, "Since Im around home so much most of my pieces are about my family. Theres also a creeping Latin rhythm sense in Marshalls work, "Not the Afro-Cuban or salsa thing, he said, "but other Latin' feelings. I wrote some of ti0 concerts pieces three or four years ago, and others came from, a month touring Brazil last May with Toshiko Aklyoshi. Thats, definitely the epitome of multi- See DRUMMER, Page OZ biggest names requested him to back them.

These days he works locally and does recording sessions, most recently on the new albums by John Handy and Bruce Forman. Besides being a brilliant time keeper playing bebop and beyond, Marshall has long been a composer with little outlet for his work. Drummers dont exactly get to play up front melodies or anything else. Other than a 1979 Marshall album, "Dance of the Sun, (Muse Records) that featured his compositions and a few Marshall tunes that Hutch-' erson recorded on his Marshalls pieces remain unplayed. Marshall, who lists aanls fa Celebrity fUe PsgeC-2 PsgeC-2 Entertainment Page C-3 Television BilMam Page 04 .1.