Merced Sun-Star from Merced, California • 19

Vf -T t' ti' i i A -V Tues February 3 1931 Merced Ca Sun-Star 19 tjCjjLo -r TI i -if T-vX ByMARYCAMPBELL ratimc wu never heard it played APNfWMtutuni Writer well Tint weekend changed us from Eubie Blake age on Feb 7 1981 playing ragtimc because wtM been In- really likes the Amherst Saxophone vltod to be they also to being Quartet and he says it Just ragtime fanatics" because they play his music They flew from St Louis to San Fran- The Amherst Saxophone Quartet ciacoto play a classical concert really likes Eubie Blake and they say it had to wort very hard to be able to play i classical music again in a style that would really Now they play rag and classical about 50-50 as easily as strictly -classical musicians switch from the styles of Mozart to Wagner Rosenthal's expectations about Eubie Blake did a turnaround when they met too kind of expected here wu a guy who wrote great ragtime in the aos and be was a celebrity now because he wu old and the only one left the last night 1 wu absolutely knocked over by his playing tor 48 minutes He pushed away and siid he beta those things wu standing in the back and heard week of lessons- every note and every word he said And Stephen Rosenthal who plays tenor su at Sin the morning at a party with only ed be- microphone istes those things I 3 I -1 lx 8 or 10 people left he sat down at the piano and played 00 a Clear Day' It wu one of the meet beautiful things ever heard In my life I got the clarinet switched to soprano su and same feeling I get listening to Segovia the new member came fat ob alto sal like he hu distilled his art down to the Nasdmben alu brought with him purest essence1 EUBIE MAKES A WISH Eubie Blake left celebrates Jds Feb 7 birthday early at a restaurant in New York With Blake are Lynnie Godfrey right and Alina Reed both cast I members of the Broadway musical Inspired by lake 80-y ear career Rosenthal says "Eubie played terfly the last night None of us had heard ft before Sal fen far love with it and said Mike had to arrange it We got tunes from two books of his music that are available Marion sent us and Max Month sent us In Jessamine Rosenthal considers ragtime bott classical music In the tradition of Chopin and popular musk The sheet musk of Scott Leaf sold a mlllioa -copies when it came ouL In the -1870s he says classical musicians often played ragtime too stiffly trying to stsovy respect for ft Blake listened to the quartet's for flKJWW record and said "They themrightjust the way I wrote and played them-Onef 'Flzzwater' they played too He demonstrates on piano the tempo at which played it and the more deliberate po he said wu right to modified it writing is so rich and fuflWe play about 80 rags about 17 of than IS Scott Ruble's are hardest can sit in with ui Just read the musk and play them wonderful musk to play and people the audience enjoy it so Rosenthal says RAY ANTHONY tapes got them they tern-' they Ms -and the and in The Amherst Saxophone -Quartet named for a suburb of Buffalo Ny that Rosenthal used to live in met Blake arid Ms wife Marion at the airport in SL Louis They decided to greet the Blakes with oomie rag mdsic se they got out instruments and music stands Airport officials pretested but they swung into by Zez Confrey which turned out to be one of Blake's favorites and 200 peqpto In the airport started to dance The same officials told them to come back and turn the airport Into a happy party anytime three saxophone quartet arrangements of Scott Joplin rags Rosenthal says "Sal Uked theUL The rest of us thought they too Then the organiser of the Ragtime Festival fat St Louis who is from Buffalo and knew Andollna invited them to participate Rosenthal -says the time we wait we had something like 8 rag arrangements It takes me eeverel dayo to do an' arrangement It takee Michael several hours to do an arrangement that Is Just amazing realized in four days in SL Louis the reeson we particularly like big bands supplanting disco OfF-KXn SPINE-MUON arJTJQSSK GALLAGHER I AN UNCENSORED EVENING afoot wtorebe started gettlngenougb -Jobs to reassemble Ms band after almost 80 years decided to 'do something to nourish Mg band listener-ship "So I called a group oflocid handle sders who were he says out with 10 we eventually got itupto around The first thing the bandleaders did was to pool Oielr maOlng lists bey came up with names of about 800 radio station 000800 eent out tetters of- ferlng to supply them with recordings Including an anthology LP put out by the organisation and featuring tunee by each of half a doseq mettjtten The stations ranging from a few dozen with a 100 percent Mg bauid to thorn who feature the music once or twice a1 week responded cn- and others began writing In at a gratifying dip "That list Is now up to An- thouy uys thousand came within the last few months There are more stations every Anthoqy Is In the procese pf arranging to buy Mg bud recordings from record companies at wholesale prices -and in turn offer them through a catalog which will initially go to shout 150000 fans on a matting list resembled fay the band members ByYABDBfAARJlk' AMQcitledPrm Writer LOS ANGELES Where have an the dancers gone now that disco's bubble hu burst? A group of Mg band leaders left out in the cold by two solid decades of rock dominance Is seeking to fill the boogie vacuum end gutting unexpected support from young FiMflfiKTV Disco music is fading but It crated a whole group of says veteran trumpet player and bandleader Ray Anthony "And dancers wind to hup dancing once they get going It's the ideal time to come up with something So Anthony founded Big Band 800 'whdu members include such Mg Mg band figures Harry James Lee Brown Alvino Ray and Buddy Rich Originally the group's efforts were aimed at promoting members' recordings on radio stations recently aet up a mail-order record dub to sell directly to consumers Their records are fay no mean on the verge of the multlmflllon sates commanded by a Fleetwood Mu or Eagtes album Anthony acknowledges But there are unmistakable sign of a renaissance more radio stations playing the music more demand for' live Mg bands And for the first time in quite a few years Frank Sinatra thht most enduring of Mg band singers came up with haH a dozen Grammy nominations for Ms album and its Jaunty "New York New York track Anthony sensing that something was Stephanie Zimbafist stars in Elvis drama HOLLYWOOD (AP) Stephanie yimhiet and Don Johnson star in and the Beauty an NBC novte about one-time Tttneseee ty irf" Thompeon and Elvis Presley Ann Dusenberry and Rick Lnnz star for David Gert)er Productions natrium WHENA STRANGERCALLS BESTHORSE ARE YOU A NEWCOMER? The Welcome Newcomer Service hoi been welcoming new re lido nil Ip Merced Atwater and Winton for brochures gifts and dit- MOT TICKET" OSCMWMNEM NAMNEROSA Mty local merchants the service is WEI NO SHUNG obligations PllASECAU 71J-5M1 713-3731 3SS-SSM HNlEiWf2r4lH01UiRlWiEiEmiEiNlDlSlEiRkVllME SHOWTIME is a whole new dimension in pay TV The blockbuster SHOWTIME Classic and foreign films Movies for'children and the movies everybody tooUngfor Uncut and uninterrupted by whole family SHOWTIME It's more choices more variety more commercialsPiusadiAmwiestoadedwithactionandromance entertainmentsevendaysa week-tfslikenothingetseon pay TV Drigbatseries toohotfor the networks tahandle Sroadwayhits CaW now to order v' LssHcgas revues nightclub acts concertsAll taped live Just for AMERICAS MOST ORIGINAL fWW i A SERVICE OF GENERAL ELECTRIC CAbLeVISION 23-3104" 1 '4 0 7V--1 "T'.