UAA's jazz week gets under way Monday

Galper has toured extensively with Chet Baker and Cannonball Adderley. He has performed and recorded with Phil Woods, the Brecker Brothers, Lee Konitz, John Scofield, Slide Hampton to name a few and made numerous recordings as a leader and sideman.

Johnson and Bishop are also heard on numerous albums. The Puget Sound alternative weekly The Stranger called Bishop "Seattle's most furiously gigging drummer."

Local talent will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Monday, with a "Tribute to Wayne Shorter." The players will feature Kerry Maule, trumpet; Richard Baum, saxes; Kevin Barnett, piano; Dirk Westfall, bass; and John Nyman, drums.

Galper, Johnson and Bishop will present open-to-the-public workshops, with a session on rhythm sections at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday and a piano master class at 11 a.m. on Wednesday and a jazz theory class at 1 p.m., also on Wednesday.

The trio will present Jazz Week's featured concert at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. All programs will take place in the UAA Arts Building Recital Hall, except for the Wednesday workshops that will be in room 124. Advance tickets range from $20 for the featured concert to free for the Wednesday classes. Purchase tickets by calling 786-4849.

Setting the record straight

A profile of mezzo Vivica Genaux in the February issue of Opera magazine catches us up to date with the world's most famous Alaska-born singer.

Among other things, she notes that her repertoire includes more male roles than female roles.

"I have something like 25 major pants roles and 16 female roles," she says.

Baroque and bel canto has put the chanteuse from Fairbanks on the international map. The article includes several photos of Vivica in trousers, in ornate gowns, in Jackie Kennedy ensembles and more.

But what most roused our attention -- if not our indignation -- was writer George Hall's observation in the British publication that "Alaska is not the cultural desert the ignorant may suppose."

Thank you for noticing.

Curious boxes at APU

(From "First Friday Rambles" at adn.com/artsnob.)

The Grant Hall space at Alaska Pacific University -- now the ConocoPhillips Gallery -- hosts quirky box art by Margo Klass.

These pretend shrines and reliquaries honor imaginary saints like "St. Mame, Patron Saint of Willful Ignorance."

Each item comes with jocular texts by Frank Soos, such as: "When St. Mame lived it was the best of times. Everybody liked each other or at least pretended to."

Some, like the idle pulley on a wood block for St. Randall, patron of fidgeters, suggest their honoree. Others are more opaque.

All are entertaining to view and read.

The recently revamped space features new floor and walls, but the main benefit for art-viewing is vastly improved lighting.

Rasmuson grants made

Rasmuson Foundation announced that in the final quarter of 2008 it made 25 awards of $25,000 or less for capital needs in its Tier 1 and Tier 2 programs, for a total amount of $465,364.

The awards did not go exclusively to arts groups, but include $25,000 to Denali Arts Council to improve the Sheldon Community Arts Hangar; $25,000 to the University of Alaska Press to print "The Aleutian Islands: Living on the Edge;" and $23,313 for Skagway Village's computer classroom and Internet lab.