Oregon Art Beat; #820

Tonight, on Oregon Art Beat, join us for a musical journey to South America with guitar virtuoso Alfredo Murrow, who moved here from Peru. Speaking of guitarist, we'll see how four talented musicians blend their talent into the unique sound of the acoustic guitar summit, and you may read her Oregonian column, but S. Renee Mitchell is a multi -talented woman who raises cultural awareness through her powerful performances. Oregon Art Beat is next. Support for Oregon Art Beat provided by the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Kinsman Foundation, and viewers like you. Good evening. We're pleased you've joined us for another edition of Oregon Art Beat. I'm Jeff Martin, filling in for the still vacation in Casey Cowan. Some of our most popular stories on Art Beat feature musicians, and that's not

surprising since so many wonderful players now choose to live in Oregon. Over the years, we've featured many great guitarists from Mary Flowers' Piedmont Blues to Mason Williams' classical gas. Tonight, we have some more fine pickers, including the acoustic guitar summit, but let's start with a musical journey to South America with Portland Guitar Virtuoso Alfredo Muro. My name is Alfredo Muro, and I come from Peru, from the land of the Incas, from Lima. I played the guitar for more than 35 years. Alfredo Muro tells stories with his guitar, musical stories, from his native South America. The music that I really love to play is, of course, Latin America music, Latin America folklore.

I have a passion for Brazilian music, Samba, Bosanova, Shodo. This is a very rich folklore, and I really love to play. He can play the music of any Latin country, many folkloric styles, not only in Brazil where he has specialized. He also knows all the others from Cuba and Latin American countries as well as Mexico and Spain. He's a master of all the Latin rhythms. He lifts the music up with

that rhythm. Alfredo moved to Oregon in 1989, and he carried the rich cultural heritage of Latin America with him. Under the street lights, sack of tamales over one shoulder, and a hand cupped to his mouth. Local artists like writer Lynn Derrick seek out Alfredo for his authentic sound and style. I realized that I needed a different format to tell stories about Latin American artists and musicians, and so I decided to develop stories that would be performed to Latin music

and rhythms, and who better to anchor such an endeavor than Alfredo Muro? Beer bottles filled our table, while he told me about the Joaquero's, the grave robbers, who live in a world where even Gregorio is an outsider. Music for me is my mission. It's a mission that I have to share with other people to really build a very strong cultural bridge between your audience and the player, no? Music for me is my mission. Music for me is my mission. Music for me is my mission.

Music for me is my mission. Alfredo plays all around the world, and he's getting ready to head for a tour of Brazil, but you can hear him before he heads out. Alfredo is celebrating the release of his latest CD with a solo concert. It's March 10th at the Old Church in Portland. You can see Alfredo's concert schedule, and by his music at AlfredoMuro .com. We also invite you to visit the art big website where you can watch Alfredo play an entire song. If you read The Oregonian, you may have read columnists to Renee Mitchell. Her column appears three times a week. She has another talent, though, performing, and she uses it to help promote awareness of a serious and emotional issue. Music for

me is my mission. Music for me is my mission. Music for me is my mission. The poetry is original. The songs are original. The subjects, sadly, all too common. Yet, Renee Mitchell thinks we as a society don't talk about verbal and emotional abuse enough. She is on a mission to educate women that it isn't okay to be treated this way. Her performance comes from a very real place. Renee was herself in an abusive relationship. It took me by surprise. I mean, I just did not ever have that conversation with anyone. I always assumed that domestic violence was something that happened to other people. That weren't maybe as educated. I thought I had it all together kind of thing.

When I was trying to figure out what this was, I called this person's mother. They said, what is wrong with you that you are allowing yourself to have this person treat you this way. That was a wake -up call for me. That got me researching things on the web and buying books and realizing, okay, these were my symptoms. This must be what this is. And I finally felt the freedom that I was actually able to identify emotional and verbal abuse. Once she could name it, Renee started to write about it in poems, Haiku and Freeform Verse. My Haiku's, I like a lot. One in particular, call me dummy. Stuffed with all your lies. I feel full. Startin' sweet, but says so much. A columnist for the

Oregonian newspaper, Renee is a voice for many issues around the metro area. It's a column that I think really gets people to think differently about issues. It really, I think, tries to empower people, educate, sometimes entertain. But I write about all kinds of issues, neighborhood schools, politics, culture, race, quirky stuff. And I just want people to never feel like they'll know exactly what I'm going to say. I don't want to be predictable. I want to write about all different kinds of things. Privately, writing has always been an outlet for her to deal with emotional issues. What people don't know, I think, about me, or enough people know, is that I'm completely different than who I used to be. And I grew up very lonely and feeling unheard. And so poetry was my way

of being able to express myself. Because I didn't feel like I had anyone to talk to or whether anyone would listen. Renee wasn't satisfied with just writing poetry about her abusive relationship and keeping it in a private notebook. She published a book, Tangling with Tornados. Then she put her words to music and began performing. It's more important for me to get that message out. I didn't write the poetry to have it sit in the book somewhere. And I want people to be able to get the message in the form that I'm giving it to them. Because I think that they would be more open to receiving it. In their garden, whatever is green is poison. And the roses will make you blue. See, I remember when your jokes were

funny. And they had nothing to do with my thighs or my weight. And now, now you just hate the way that I chew. You hate the rhythm of my breathing. And I'm wondering when you're going to reach out and hit me next. You're right, baby. Well, I'm not at my best. You're right. You're right. You're right. So I will try. I will try. I will try. I will try. I will try to ignore your deep sides. Renee also felt she had to speak out because surprisingly, even her own girlfriends discounted the impact of emotional abuse. Brother got a job, doesn't he? You didn't beat you down, did he? And then he must be okay. And so I wrote poetry

specifically to that point. The piece that I have that's called Hit Me speaks directly to that. That you don't have to hit me. And I'm carrying around all of this pain that you brought into my life. And it lasts longer than any bruises would last. You would have hit me. I would have been justified to seek refuge in the emergency room. Request a doctor's note that said this woman, this woman is sick of this relationship. And she can no longer be expected to participate. So pack your bags and find yourself a new mailing address. Because love doesn't live here anymore. Yes. This doctor's note expires the day that you do. You don't have to hit me to hurt

me. I turn away from love when I'm away. Renee says it's been healing for her to go public. And she believes she's helping others. What I've gotten from men is that they were not aware of how they were impacting, how their behavior was impacting the person that they were involved with, or a person that they had been involved with in the past. I think I was making them more aware. I was getting that feedback from them. Especially when we were doing talkbacks during the play. I heard a lot of that. From women, it's more of finally somebody knows what I was dealing with. And I'm getting more of the emotional response of letting loose and feeling connected with another woman who has experienced that same thing. See, I thought I could be happy as the she upon his show. Advocating through her written and spoken word, it may not always be popular, but Renee doesn't know any other way.

As a columnist, I just put it all out there. And what you see is what you get, kind of thing, with me all the way around. And so I felt like I had to keep pushing through all of that fear and that shame and that guilt that people carried around because of their own circumstances and putting on to me. And once I did that and continued to talk to women, then I would find out, yes, that happened to me. Yes, that happened to my mother. That happened to my sister. And I just felt like, okay, well, then why aren't we talking about this some more? Oh, Lord. I just know. I do. Why do people feel so reluctant to admit the truth? And the first way to have some social change is by education. It's by talking about it. It's by communicating. I gave you the power to make me laugh. First time. I'm a victim. Second time. Second time. I'm a

volunteer. I gave my power to you. Just so I can keep your name. And for some, I'm a victim. Second time. I'm a volunteer. I gave my power to you. Just so I can keep your name. Renee was recently honored for her work with the Ida B. Wells Award for Brave Rein Journalism. While in New York for her award, she also performed tangoing with tornadoes at Tavern on the Green. Tangoing with tornadoes is available on DVD and CD as well as in book form. Renee also has several other books of poetry and self -help, including 12 things sister should know about verbal and emotional abuse. Written especially for women of color. As we've already heard on this show, Oregon is blessed with a wealth of fabulous guitarists. A number of years ago, four of Oregon's best got together to play as the acoustic guitar summit. It might not have worked after

all. You can't have four guitarists all playing lead at the same time. But in this case, it worked really well. Time to Antoni caught up with them at one of their concerts to find out why. If somebody has an idea and somebody else doesn't like it, does that ever happen? It's happened and usually what happens is, it's not because we don't like it. Something's just not working and everybody just kind of realizes it once. Yeah, this isn't really

working. You know, I'm able to try it later some other way or just, you know, the nice thing about that is that often times the person who voices that has another idea. Let's try it this way. What are we finishing with? Oh, we always finish. What are we finishing with? Well, yeah, we're doing the madly. Oh, we do the cowboy thing. I don't know, are we? We can save it for an encore. Yeah, that'll be okay for you to do. Yeah, because it's an encore. An encore? Yeah. All right. What if they don't want us to do an encore? We'll play anyway. Of course, just a minute ago, you were kind of rousing these two about putting that other tune on to, oh, a pass out, weren't you? Well, that's because that was called light -hearted teaser. Is this angel book? No, that's because we have this cowboy medley that just keeps getting more and more songs thrown on. So that's what the joke was about the issue. Well, let's see what you were doing. It caused him to make this joke.

Can you do that? Um... Out in the west Texas town of El Paso I fell in love with a Mexican girl Night time would find me and roses can't enough music would lay and flina would world Hey, minor. All right. It was just like that house song. Yeah. The original concept was not for all of them to play together, but to all play

on the same show separately or sometimes in various combinations. They still do that, but it took a crowded space to bring out the ensemble in them. We were on this road trip and we played this place in Sacramento where it was small. It was an in -store, a music store. We couldn't escape from each other really, so we had to stay there. And it kind of felt good and worked, so we kept it that way. Music I don't know about everybody else. For me, it's really kind of a relief because it's so easy to play with these guys

and fall back on them and not always have to be holding everything together. So it's a nice place to just kind of relax and have a good time. Music I'm coming from a blues background. And Doug, he's coming from another different place, more of a contemporary finger style. And he's somewhat classically trained and very musically educated in that sense. Music Terry's knowledge, like he said, he's kind of known as a blues player, but his knowledge of music is incredible. And it's been really good for

me to be in the quartet, especially learning a lot from Terry because I've listened to him solo a lot. Music Paul, I think that Paul can be the real driving for a set of times behind our quartet. He will bring in new tunes that he's writing. He's classically trained, so he puts the parts together well and you thought that kind of thing through. Just musically, you know, bringing in tunes that we wouldn't thought of doing. Sometimes we're quite difficult and we have to really learn them. And it's nice. Yeah, keeps us on our toes.

Music Mark is a particularly good listener. He really knows how to listen. He really pays attention to what's going on and is able to respond and play off of people. He's really solid, he's really rhythmically solid, really clean. Music I have to tell you that when we shot this story, Mark was not 100%. My hand is in one

piece, thankfully. This bone right here, the fourth metacarpal that's called was actually in two pieces. I'm one to go. Four and a half weeks ago. Five metacarpals. Yeah, so I had... That one was broken all the way through while I was playing basketball. Music You might know them as Terry Mark Doug and Paul, but they have nicknames for themselves. He's Uncle Dad. Mark is Uncle Dad. He's the old left. Doug is the electric man. Electric man. And Terry is Nanook

of the North. Old Blues dude. He wants to be called Old Blues dude. He's really Nanook of the North. I thought you were Terry Bob Love. Terry Bob Love would have been a catcher. My everybody calls me Earl. Music The first time we played together as a quartet, it just worked really well. Because all four of us know how to listen to each other. And we know how to not step on each other and kind of find a place where we fit in. And so we knew that the first time we played together that was cool. Thank you. Since we taped that story, Paul Chasman has left the summit to pursue a career as a writer. The Doug, Terry, and Mark are carrying on and sounding better than ever. In fact, Doug and Mark want to Grammy for their instrumental work. You have a rare chance to catch them next month when the acoustic

guitar summit and three together perform in the old Liberty Theatre concert series. It's Saturday, March 10th, at 730, right on Main Street in Ridgefield. You can get details at oldlibertytheater .com. Now here are some other ideas to get you out of the house and experiencing Oregon's diverse artist. Art Beat alum Connie Keener has a show opening next Thursday at the Laura Russo Gallery. It's a great chance to see her imaginative and detailed ceramics done in the Italian myolic style. And you can see the work of well -known Portland sculptor Mel Katz at the same show. The artist reception is first Thursday starting at 530. The exhibition runs through March. The Laura Russo Gallery is at 805 Northwest 21st. You've got just a little more than a week to catch the popular treasures of ancient Egypt exhibition at the Portland Art Museum. There is an extra admission charge for this special event, but all tickets include a free audio guide. Prezures runs through March 4th. The museum is open Tuesdays through Sunday. More information at portlandartmuseum .org. The attention of the ballet world may be focused on Portland next week, as Oregon

Ballet Theatre performs two brand new works. The world premieres will be from master choreographers Helgie Thomason of the San Francisco Ballet and Kent Stoll, founding artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Ballet. The OBT Winter Program runs March 3rd to the 10th at Keller Auditorium. And the Salem Concert Band is doing a joint concert with the Festival Corral, Oregon. If you haven't heard these fine groups from Salem, here's a chance to hear them both at once. The concert is Sunday March 4th at 3 p .m. in Salem's historic Elsinore Theatre. It's Tails on the Salem Concert Band website, SCB .org. And that's it for tonight's Oregon Art Beat. Thanks for joining us. And thank you, Jessica, for filling in for Casey Watts. She was on vacation. It was my pleasure, Jeff. Casey returns next week, but Art Beat doesn't. That's right. We give way next week from March Pledge Programming. Of course, if you aren't already a member, we certainly encourage you to call in and join us, as we often say. OBT programs really are made possible by viewers like you. That's right. And the Art Beat crews will be hard at work on new stories, including what I'm doing on Catherine Newell, a highly innovative

glass artist. And Casey has a story from band on Christina Acosta. She's not only a fine artist, she's also written books on how to unlock that creative person within you. Those stories and more when Art Beat returns on March 22nd. Thanks again for watching. We leave you with some more of the fabulous guitar playing of Alfredo Muro. Good night. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much. This week on Oregon Art Beat, join us for a musical journey to South America with guitar virtuoso Alfredo Muro, who moved here from Peru. Speaking of guitarist, we'll see how four talented musicians blend their talent in the unique sound of the acoustic guitar something. And you may read her Oregonian column that S. Renee Mitchell is a multi -talented woman who raises cultural awareness through her powerful performance. Thank you very

much. You You