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June 4, 2004BOB IS BACK Record-Eagle/John L. Russell Bob James, shown here in his studio at home near Traverse City, plays in a second annual fund-raiser to benefit the City Opera House on Friday, June 11. Opera House fund-raiserByRecord-Eagle staff writer You don't have to be able to pronounce it to have a good time at Restoration Recherche II. In fact, the City Opera House Heritage Association is banking on it. The June 11 jazz concert featuring Bob James and friends is a benefit for the City Opera House, Traverse City's 1891 theater. Proceeds will help further the $8.5 million restoration of the Victorian showpiece, which is taking place in stages. James and long-time friend and musical partner Earl Klugh teamed up for the first Opera House jazz benefit in June 2003. The Heritage Association netted more than $100,000 from the affair, making it the organization's most successful fund-raiser to date. This time around, James will bring a host of new friends, including smooth jazz saxophonist Kirk Whalum, jazz violinist Regina Carter and the Bob James Trio. It's a match made in heaven, said Heritage Association Executive Director Gerie Greenspan. "He has that ability to put together fresh talent and fresh people in a combination to make magic," Greenspan said. Whalum landed his first break in 1996 as James' opening act. Since then he has topped the U.S. jazz charts and has been nominated for two Grammy awards. Currently he divides his work between jazz recording and live engagements including the Las Vegas City of Lights Festival and the Hollywood Bowl this year. A Detroit native, Carter is a five-time winner of the Down Beat Critics Poll and creator of one of Time Magazine's top 10 recordings of 1999. She captured international attention as the first jazz musician and African American to play the most famous violin in classical music, Paganini's Guarneri violin. She appeared in the area earlier this year as part of the Interlochen Arts Festival. Besides pianist James, the Bob James Trio features bassist James Genus and drummer Billy Kilson. The group's latest recording, "Take It From the Top," is a tribute to some of the great pianists who have influenced James' career. James, 64, has vacationed in the area for years and now lives full-time in Traverse City. While maintaining a low profile, he has contributed to several community projects including the Dennos Museum Center and the City Opera House, which has undergone $4.3 million in restoration so far. "He just loves to perform and to play, whether it's for one person or a crowd of 2,000," said friend Bob Stehower. "The area is so lucky. Here's a guy that would do anything for the Opera House." Restoration Recherche II is being held at Interlochen's 952-seat Corson Auditorium because it is the only venue large enough to guarantee a sizable return, said benefit organizer Karen Smith. Last year's concert was nearly a sell-out and Smith, who attended the University of Michigan a few years behind James, is predicting a full house this year. "Bob has his own following but the jazz fans come out in droves," Smith said. "And some people just like a good party." General admission tickets for the concert, at 8 p.m., are $42. Patron tickets are $250 and $100 and include a reception with the artists and a signed, limited-edition print created especially for the event by nationally known artist Jean Larson. Smith said it may be the only opportunity area audiences will have to hear all three jazz artists together. "To put the three of these people on stage, it's like it will be an historic moment," she said. The concert may also mark the last time James will headline the Opera House benefit. "There's always the danger that people will get tired of you," he said. "I can see myself gradually drifting more to being a presenter." That's OK with Greenspan, as long as his star power continues to draw other Grammy winners to the stage - and to the Opera House cause. "I hope the event will grow and that each new artist that becomes an opera house supporter will attract other big names to the cause," she said. Artist creates original painting to boost benefit By MARTA HEPLER DRAHOS Record-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - Jean Larson's oil paintings command up to $12,000 in major urban galleries. And they are never, repeat NEVER reproduced. But when the Traverse City native was asked to create an original piece of art to be sold as limited-edition prints to help further City Opera House restoration, she jumped at the chance. Her oils-on-wood rendering, "Les Harmonies Anciennes," will be unveiled at Restoration Recherche II, the Opera House Heritage Association's second annual jazz concert. The upscale benefit takes place at 8 p.m. June 11 at Corson Auditorium. With its lyre and floral motif, "Les Harmonies" marries music, art and the Victorian era in which the Opera House was built. Its luminescent sepia tones are suggestive of the theater's newly restored vaulted ceiling and dome, from which she drew her inspiration. "Probably the painters I think the most of are the old Italian masters, because of that old patina, the old colors," said Larson, who now lives and works in the South of France. "And then when you walk in the Opera House and look at all the details - the carving, the plaster, the stencils - it's really reminiscent of all those old Italian frescoes." Larson said she used many fine layers of glaze to give her painting the same quality and incorporated gold leaf into the work. The thin sheets of precious metal have been used to gild opulent theaters around the world and are a decorative element of the City Opera House. Larson, 48, studied painting at Central Michigan University and Northwestern Michigan College before opening the Larson Studio and Gallery in downtown Traverse City in 1981. She moved to Boston in 1984, where she found resonance within the city's historic districts. While in her 30s, she bought a crumbling old house in rural France, a two-hour drive from the Mediterranean. She spent the last 11 years restoring it and moved there permanently four years ago. Nestled in the foothills of the C‚vennes Mountains, miles away from the nearest well-known city, her small village and its gardens provide much of the inspiration for her recent work. The artist returns to Traverse City each summer and will be on hand for next week's benefit concert, where her 18-by-20-inch signed-and-numbered Giclee prints will be offered for sale. Her original paintings are available in galleries in many major cities including Boston, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta, Santa Fe, N.M. and Scottsdale, Ariz. Larson is looking forward to breaking into the New York City and Los Angeles markets next. "I'm really pleased with what's happened so far," she said. "It's taken a long time, but I'm patient and I have perseverance." "Les Harmonies Anciennes" and its predecessor in the City Opera House Limited Edition Art series - Bob James' "Restoration" - will be available after the benefit concert through the Opera House Heritage Association. For more information, call 941-8082 or visit www.cityoperahouse.org.
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