Collegian (Hurst, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 19, 1989 Page: 17 of 30
thirty pages : ill. ; page 15 x 12 in. Scanned from physical pages.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
:
Features, Arts & Entertainment
Wednesday, April 19,1989 Section B, Page 1
TCJC professor swings in Brazil to wild fans
By Barry Davis
Staff Writer
Big band music is more
popular than ever south of the
border, as seen by Associate Music
Professor Jack Cobb on his trip to
Brazil in March with the Les Elgart
Band. Brazil’s largest city Sao
Paulo, just a stone’s throw inland
from Rio de Janeiro, swung for three
weeks to the big band sound of the
Elgart band, for which Cobb handles
the dual roles of managing and
playing trombone.
On the strength of their bossa
nova hit, Silver Rain, the band played
to a packed house every night. “We
sold out every night for three weeks
at the Maksoud Hotel, one of the
world’s leading hotels,” Cobb said.
“Silver Rain is the biggest hit
in the past three or four years in
Brazil,” Cobb said. “Big band music
is as, or more, popular now in Brazil
than it ever was in the United States.”
The popularity of Elgart’s
music outside of this country has
created a unique situation for the band,
which Cobb joined in 1968. The big
band sound is popular mainly as
nostalgia here, but in many other
countries it is one of the most current
sounds around, Cobb said.
The band rarely appears in its
home base of Dallas. It travels on
gigs around the world.
“Our next trip will take us to
Japan, England or New Zealand and
back to Brazil. And the last time we
played Dallas was about, two years
ago, at the Anatole,” Cobb said.
Here in America, the band is
best known for its hit Bandstand
Boogie, the theme song for Dick
Clark’s American Bandstand
television show. “It is the longest
running theme song ever for a TV
show,” Cobb said. Cobb points
to the band’s unique sound as a
reason for its success. “Unlike most
bands, we don’t have a piano — it’s
all wind instruments. This gives us a
transparent type of sound,” he said.
“All other bands sound similar. The
Elgart band is different, the most
stylized band since the second world
war. Anyone can hear us for just a
second and tell it’s us,” he said.
Cobb noted that in selling out
the hotel ballroom three weeks, the
band did so for $25 a ticket, a price
equivalent to $ 100 here. Brazil has a
1,000 percent inflation rate, and
salaries average less than $200 a
month.
“Many of the fans went
indescribably wild,” Cobb said.
“People would wait four hours in the
lobby for a chance to see us. They
offered to buy us meals, help us out in
any way possible. The fans really
treated us great there.
“We also did a TV show there,
MUSIC IS ON HIS MIND—Jack Cobb deliberates on his sheet music
from his Brazilian tour. photo by Ken Avery
and we released a record and CD
while in Brazil,” he said.
After all musical affairs were
attended to, the band had time left for
sightseeing. Cobb described the area
around his hotel as a former pirate
hangout that now is both a beautiful,
hilly city similar to San Francisco
and the worst area in Sao Paulo for
thieves and pickpockets.
Between playing with the band
and sightseeing, Cobb found time for
his other duty of managing the band.
“The manager has to keep track of
everything that goes on,” he said.
Keeping up with band
members, band equipment, doing
the arrangments, making the song
lists as well as taking care of travel
and hotel arrangements are just a
small part of his duties.
In addition, Cobb covers
contracts, music charts and handles
the complicated business of
copyright management, which
involves copyrighting all Elgart
original compositions, gaining
permission to use copyrighted
material from other artists and
dealing with agencies that make sure
any royalties the band owes or is
owed are paid.
The business enu of the music
world is something of which most
fans are unaware, but it is a very
time-consuming job, Cobb said, and
he set aside several hours daily to
take care of it all.
Cobb said he is fortunate to
have his role in the Les Elgart Band,
along with teaching at TCJC. “This
is my main gig,” he said, speaking
of his position at TCJC, “but it’s
great to be with the band, too.”
He also was grateful for the^
chance to go to Brazil. “I appreciate
the cooperation and understanding
of everyone here. The
administration, faculty and students
have all been great. I was just lucky
enough to be at the right place at the
right time so that I could make the
trip,” Cobb said.
Cobb leads the NE Campus
Studio Band and teaches jazz
improvisation and private lessons
on trombone.
Harper and Lively do Europe during Spring break
By Ken Avery
Photo Editor
While most students were enjoying spring break, two
TCJC foreign language instructors were busy combing France
and Belgium for up-to-date materials to aid in the teaching of
French classes.
Dr. Jane Harper, chairman of the Humanities division on
NE Campus, and Madeleine Lively, chairman of the foreign
languages department on NE Campus, traveled together in order
to “stay updated in culture, language and add additional materials
to the curriculum,” Lively said.
“We left on the 16th of March, the Thursday before the
start of spring break, and returned March 31,” Dr. Harper said.
“It was a multi-focus trip. We needed materials for the
classes and the summer teacher workshops and the children’s
program. We also try to represent as many different French
speaking cultures as possible. A packet has already been made
for the French IV classes, including history, culture, politics and
a comparison of the American and the French revolutions,”
Lively said.
Most of the current materials are from France and Canada;
and this year, Dr. Harper and Lively are adding materials from
Belgium, another French speaking country.
CONTROVERSIAL PYRAMIDS -The Louvres latest
addition has caused world-wide controversy.
photo courtesy of Dr. fane Harper and Madeleine Lively
“Belgium will be an important country in the near future
since Brussels will be the headquarters for the new European
Common Market. It will be good for students to learn about the
country,” Lively said.
While visiting Brussels, the two stayed with Lively’s
brother, who is a chief executive for Westinghouse.
While in Belgium, Dr. Harper and Lively visited the
Waterloo battlefield and an international school in Brussels, Dr.
Harper said.
While in Paris, they visited Palais Royal to see the Colonnes
de Buren, which are columns set at heights one to five feet tall.
The columns also extend down to eight feet below the surface in
places, and through grates, one can see fountains of water
around the columns.
“They are one of the new controversial structures in Paris.
But the children like to play on them,” Dr. Harper said.
“The pyramids of the Louvre have also been controversial
recently in Paris, but the Louvre has changed through the
centuries according to the present thinking of society,” she said.
“The lighting on the Eiffel tower has changed. Instead of
the lights aimed on the outside of the tower, they are mounted on
it and lighten it from the inside,” Dr. Hamper said.
In the past Lively and Dr. Harper have taken groups of
students to visit Canada and France, but with so many terrorist
threats, the liability for trips is too expensive.
“The drama of the world is played out in Paris at times, and
I can’t take that risk with students,” Dr. Harper said.
Because of the network of friends and the information they
have, Dr. Harper and Lively can still make recommendations to
students about travel in Canada, Belgium and France.
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Collegian (Hurst, Tex.), Vol. 1, No. 21, Ed. 1 Wednesday, April 19, 1989, newspaper, April 19, 1989; Hurst, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth1047673/m1/17/: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Tarrant County College NE, Heritage Room.