2007-03 Vital Source Mag – March 2007
Cé
By Evan Solochek + Photo By Richard Galling With Milwaukee’s strong Irish heritage, it’s no wonder that traditional Irish music is a fixture in this city. For proof, just check out Irish Fest, the Badger State Feis, the Cream City Feis, the renowned Celtic Irish Studies Program at UWM and the numerous pub sessions that occur on a weekly basis throughout the city. And prominent at each one of these Irish institutions is Milwaukee’s very own Cé. This local trio, made up of Asher Gray (flute, whistle, bouzouki, bodhrán), Randy Gosa (guitar, tenor banjo) and Devin McCabe (fiddle, concertina, whistle), play traditional and contemporary music from Ireland, England and Brittany. And while young, these three multi-instrumentalists have more than 35 years of musical experience between them and bring to this old-world craft a unique modern perspective, not to mention a level of skill often only seen in musicians twice their age. To hear more from Cé, check out myspace.com/cemusic or cemusic.net. 1. How did you three meet? I (Asher) met Devin when I was 14 or 15 and we’ve been playing together in sessions and different bands like Anam Rí and now Cé. Around the time that Anam Rí was coming to an end we started playing tunes with Randy in sessions around Milwaukee. It just seemed right that the three of us start a new group because we all shared a common passion for the music. 2. How would you describe Traditional Irish music to someone who had never heard it before? Traditional Irish music is dance music. It is directly connected to the roots in the dancing that accompanies it. Tunes provide a framework for dancing and for musicians to improvise over. 3. How does your young age affect your reception from either the audience or fellow Irish musicians? People who aren’t familiar with the music are sometimes surprised to see three guys in their 20s playing traditional music. I think it gives a little edge and helps to keep the audience’s attention. Anyone that plays it, though, knows that it’s music for all ages. I wouldn’t be surprised to see an 8 year old playing with an 80 year old. 4. Who would Cé like to collaborate with and why? We have always wanted to work with singers. As an instrumental band, our music yearns for that final element of vocal expression. Recently, Randy has been working with a singer from Boscobel named Andreas Transo, who would be a lovely addition. 5. What are your goals for Cé? We’re focusing on getting more gigs around the country and in Europe. There are so many great festivals and venues all over the world that focus on world and Celtic music. We’re also going to record a new album and hopefully release it this summer. VS
Mar 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
After the party – How to handle the pox
By Lucky Tomaszek In February, I shared with you all my friend Jesi’s successful quest to expose her two children to the chicken pox. The reactions I received from people were wildly varied, with some readers telling me about the chicken pox parties they had when their own children were young and others telling me that they unequivocally believe in the advances brought to us by mandated vaccination. The one common thread, however, was a memory of someone completely covered in pox and how awful it was. Most of the time, chicken pox is a minor illness that causes fairly minor discomfort. This is not always the case, however, as my own family discovered just days before my last column was published. My oldest daughter, Lena, woke up on a Sunday morning with three chicken pox on her belly and one on her scalp. She was running a low-grade fever and had the sniffles. We had exposed her to a young neighbor 23 days before this and I had assumed that it was going to pass her by again, as the incubation period is typically 14 to 21 days. In a rather self-congratulatory way, I picked up some colloidal oatmeal bath packets and Calamine lotion and prepared to spend a day or two comforting her through the worst of it. The typical varicella routine unfolds like this: one to two days of a low grade fever, the sniffles and maybe some coughing before any pox are seen; one to two days with the same symptoms and with pox erupting on the scalp and on the torso; one to two days of getting new pox; a couple final days of the pox crusting over and forming scabs. Pretty straightforward, right? Not this time. By Sunday night Lena’s fever had gone up to 103, where it stayed for four days. Each day, more than a hundred new pox appeared. She was exhausted, listless and had very little appetite. Party favors It didn’t take long to realize that colloidal oatmeal and Calamine lotion were not going to cut it. I turned to parents who had dealt with the pox for advice. One of the first things suggested was making Lena some Jell-o. I don’t usually keep that stuff in the house but my friend was right, Lena needed something. For about two days, it was one of the only things she could eat, and it even tasted good to her. She also recommended using a Burrows solution that you apply directly to the pox as part of a warm compress to help dry them out and promote faster healing. I found some at our local pharmacy. Every couple of hours I made a fresh batch and Lena found these to be very soothing. The colloidal oatmeal baths were also soothing but were made even better by making an oatmeal pouch for her to rub on her itchiest spots by filling a washcloth with oats and tying it off with a rubber band. Since […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Lucky Tomaszek
Céad mile fáilte
By Catherine McGarry Miller + Photos by Kevin C. Groen Be forewarned; if you toddle over to County Clare on St. Paddy’s day for an Irish Coffee, have your designated driver on deck or cab fare in fist before you take a swig. Oh, there might me a shot or two of coffee in it, but the rest is pure Irish whiskey slathered with whipped cream and a chocolate cookie straw. One sip’ll knock your shamrock off. Roy Huth, kitchen manager of the County Clare Pub and Restaurant, says that natives of the Emerald Isle “feel at home here. Milwaukeeans feel like they’re on vacation.” I fall in the latter category and can aver that this establishment credibly recreates the charm of an Irish inn. Though Irish cookery is not renowned in the gourmet kingdom, I had fabulous food in Ireland and the County Clare made me feel like I was back in the old country. His menu reflects wonderful dining experiences I had there, though probably not the way you would expect. It’s the seafood that takes me back to the sod, not the corned beef or lamb – I don’t remember even seeing them on a carte. What people tend to forget is that Ireland is an island whose inhabitants have always lived off the water. Though not of Irish descent, Huth has a mastery of seafood preparation that goes back to his youth cooking for his family. The Wauwatosa native always enjoyed trying new things and particularly liked smoked fish – not your average kid’s top favorite. His specialty back then was Shrimp Creole. Now he applies his intuitive talents to the likes of smoked salmon with capers and mussels steamed in a buttery tomato broth served with Irish brown bread to sop the delicious juices. The portions, like Irish hospitality, are generous and the flavors fresh as a sea breeze. The whole grained bread (available in small loaves to purchase) is exactly as I remember it in the Irish inns and cafes I frequented. Not surprising, since it’s imported from there. For St. Patrick’s Day, however, the menu will feature the expected Irish fare: Shepherd’s Pie (the Inn’s top seller), Irish Stew and Corned Beef and Cabbage. Huth presents a delicious, colorful plate of thick slices of lean, tender corned beef, al dente cabbage, bright carrot medallions and notably delicious mashed potatoes. Everything but the steak is under $15, so you’ll have plenty of change for your stout. Huth, who just turned 50, learned his craft on the job. His degree from UWM, earned in the early ‘80s, is in painting, drawing and printmaking. His father, a lithographer, planted the seeds of love for the craft. Huth became a successful artist whose works have been exhibited around the city for the past 15 years and at annual shows at Gallery H2O in the Third Ward. In 1999, one of his paintings was juried into the prestigious Wisconsin Artists’ Biennial Exhibit at the Haggerty Museum. Still, art […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Cate Miller
A Lesson From Aloes
By Russ Bickerstaff Juxtapose three people in a domestic setting and you probably could end up launching a production of just about anything. Milwaukee Camber Theatre uses three actors and a domestic setting to launch a particularly moving bit of drama with Athol Fugard’s A Lesson From Aloes. All appears reasonably peaceful on the set as the lights rise but it’s an illusion. Aloes takes place in the oppressive days of the early 1960s in South Africa. We see the effects of a police state on three distinctly different individuals. It’s an interesting set up that is masterfully executed by three talented actors under the direction of a Milwaukee theatre icon in a lush and detailed set that is tastefully illuminated. A Lesson From Aloes is a compelling evening of drama. As the play opens, Piet Bezuidenhout (Brian Robert Mani) is feverishly studying tiny potted aloes that he had collected. The stage is decorated in great numbers of them and he is talking about them with great passion. It’s easy to get caught up in Piet’s interest as the intensity of Mani’s performance animates Fugard’s subtly poetic bits of dialogue. As preoccupied as Piet and much of the play seems to be with Aloes, we find out later on that it’s only a recently acquired hobby for him. There’s a lot more to him and his life and his relationship with his wife than breathes through the surface. The brilliant thing about Mani’s performance is that, as central a figure as he is onstage, the complexity of his personality comes as something of a surprise as it is slowly revealed. While there is very little direct foreshadowing to this complexity, it doesn’t seem to come out of nowhere when it finally becomes apparent. As the lights come up on that first scene, Piet’s wife Gladys (Tracy Michelle Arnold) is sitting not far from him wearing a big, dark pair of sunglasses. As simple as this seems, she’s a bit of a mystery even in the opening minutes. We’re not even seeing her eyes. The character slowly seems to get more and more comfortable with the third wall as things progress. Fugard slowly coaxes her into greater and greater prominence as the plot navigates its way to the end of the last act. Tracy Michelle Arnold plays it with a style and poise that gazes right into the heart of the character. The role requires much of her expression to be nonverbal. Nowhere is this more apparent than when she is alone at a writing desk in the bedroom. As the audience, we’re seeing the bedroom from a cutout in the wall. It feels very invasive watching Arnold in the bedroom even though she’s actually doing very little. It’s one of the most delicate bits in the entire play and she carries it off remarkably well. Patrick Sims rounds out the cast as Steve Daniels – an old friend of Piet’s. Steve is a black man reluctantly moving to England because […]
Mar 1st, 2007 by Vital Archives
