Music

Spring 2004

In search of the perfect stringed instrument

Bill McCaw was always interested in music. But he waited until he was about 50 before he began thinking about playing the guitar. When a search of music stores failed to turn up a guitar that could accommodate his broad fingers, he decided to make his own instrument. Since then he’s made 17 acoustic guitars, and now is taking on a new challenge-building a cello.

“You’re not going to make a perfect instrument the first time,” he says. “You just go ahead, and when you string it up, you’ll be enthralled with the sound.”

Some guitar makers work with an apprentice to master the craft. … » More …

Spring 2004

Crossing the line

Snoqualmie singer-songwriter Garr Lange released a new CD last fall. Crossing the Line, recorded at Rainstorm Studios, Bellevue, and released by Sentry Records, includes a 12-song mix of the blues, country, and rock.

Lange (’79 English) tested his skills for writing music and plays in New York City after graduating from Washington State University. One play, The Water Table, was produced by the Renegade Theater Co., Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1989. On the music front, he formed The Big Rig band, Boston musicians with a bent for country-rock-rhythm and blues. He also had a short stay in Nashville during the mid-90s. In both cities, he … » More …

Summer 2005

Happy 25th, KZUU!

It was a rock ‘n’ roll idea in a Bee Gees world.

In 1977, a time of flared pants and patchwork shirts, a small group of determined students at Washington State University wanted a voice that could reach beyond campus. They wanted an outlet that wasn’t commercial, one that didn’t play Billboard’s top hits, and one that wouldn’t dream of playing ABBA or Wings.

KZUU-FM was born of the idea that there was a world of good music out there, and no one was hearing it. “We were influenced by a lot of other radio stations at a lot of other universities,” says Jon Etherton … » More …

Spring 2005

Jennifer Lynn: Barreling out of the Chute

A couple wanders in to Portland’s White Horse Grill & Bar on a late fall evening as Jennifer Lynn’s alto soars into “Blue Moon of Kentucky.” The two look at the packed house, look at each other, and reel into country swing in progress just inside the door.

Despite the lack of a dance floor, Lynn and her band’s barreling-out-of-the-chute style soon have four women line-dancing to the Bill Monroe tune. The crimson and gray baseball caps of onlookers nod smartly in time. Lynn flashes her husband-rhythm guitarist Tim Cowan-her Missouri-wide smile and sings on with an air of pure enjoyment.

Jennifer Lynn Bryant ’03, … » More …

Fall 2009

Poised for playing

Anyone who has taken music lessons has probably absorbed enough instructions about posture to feel like a raw recruit at basic training: Stand straight! Head up! Toes forward!

Leah Jordan, who is starting her senior year at Washington State University, says not to worry about forcing yourself into the “proper” position for playing an instrument. In fact, she says you’ll probably play better if you don’t—and she has the hard scientific evidence to prove it.

Jordan converted her personal experience as a trumpet player into an honors program research project that showed that most players play better if they stand the way their bodies … » More …

Winter 2007

Jazz Down the Middle

A little before 8 a.m. one Tuesday last spring, the jazz band at Pullman’s Lincoln Middle School, a bit bed-headed and bleary-eyed, was working on a tricky rhythm. Standing at the whiteboard in Room 806, the director, Joe Covill, wrote out the notes and sang the syncopated notation.

“This is how it looks,” he said, “and this is how it sounds.”

It was only a refresher lesson, one they’d heard before, not only from Covill, but from the composer himself.

Greg Yasinitsky, a music professor at Washington State University, has been the middle school’s composer-in-residence for the past four years. In two days’ time, this … » More …

Spring 2009

One More Mile

What caught my attention from the first time I heard album was the silky-smooth blending of tonality this jazz quartet presents. The interplay between instruments (soprano sax, piano, bass, and drums) is balanced in such a way that one initially forgets there are four individual voices, and yet, upon further analysis, the skillfulness of each performer becomes apparent.

The opening tune, Sweet and Lovely, hints at modal journeys, while other selections such as Birks Works have what might be described as smoky and sultry tones. The more up-tempo Punt, and to a lesser degree E.J., contain more driven tempos with a nice bounce that allow … » More …

Winter 2008

When the Circus Leaves Town

Seattle-raised Brooke Ludwick spent time as a creative director and artist in the advertising field before recently returning to her first love, songwriting and performing. With her talents and understanding of the music business, she has created some well-crafted, thoughtful, and very listenable tunes (she shares composing credits with several other songwriters).

This album fits snugly into the genre of the contemporary country sound, blending familiar lyrical motifs with the Nashville/soft rock mix that currently predominates in this market (the iTunes store placed Ludwick in the company of Carrie Underwood, Emmylou Harris, Taylor Swift, and Jewel).

There are some very nice grooves to be had … » More …

Winter 2002

Sonata Concertante for Cello and Piano and other works

In the course of his 26 years at Washington State University, Lothar Kreck, who retired in 1997, served as director of Hotel and Restaurant Administration (1971-79) and was the program’s first Ivar B. Haglund Distinguished Professor. He also pursued an avocation as a composer and performer, playing viola in orchestras in the U.S. and Europe. Sonata Concertante for Cello and Piano and other works presents seven of his compositions.

Although he began writing music in 1953, the earliest piece on this CD dates from 1985. The disc includes performances by WSU piano faculty Susan Chan, organist and pianist David Hatt, and the Maui … » More …

Winter 2002

Sojourner

Style, phrasing, and rhythmic acuity are hallmarks of a great jazz singer. Julie Silvera displays all of these and more on her debut CD, Sojourner. A graduate of Washington State University with an M.A. in music, Julie cut her “jazz teeth” singing in Pullman with the Charlie Argersinger trio at Rico’s Smokehouse.

How refreshing to hear a singer dig into the literature of the American Songbook and pick out rarely recorded jewels! Sojourner boasts three such gems: “Sweet Georgie Fame,” “Lost and Lookin’,” and “All Alone.”

On Sojourner, Julie covers the gamut of emotional expression, flashing the extremes of her range and dynamics … » More …