Live Music

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How Music is Made

The Rosewood Trio

Don Skoog, marimba
Bob Lovecchio, bass
Sam Koentopp,drums

     Everybody loves music but few people understand how it is created. Is it the divine inspiration of genius that the rest of us could never grasp, or is it the result of an understandable manipulation of melody, harmony, and rhythm? The answer is . . . BOTH!
     How Music is Made is a thoughtful, eccentric, opinionated, funny exploration of one composer’s approach to making sound into art. Why is music made? Why is it so important to us? Why is it so hard to talk about?
     How music is made depends on who’s making it, and whether we like it or not depends on who’s listening to it. Art is not created in a vacuum. It is the result of the relationship between composers and the cultures they live within. What is the connection between musicians and their audiences?
     Consider these ideas with the Rosewood Trio while they perform different styles of original music. But beware, this is an interactive show. No one will be allowed to just sit there.

Listen to Art Song

Listen to Mozambique

    For more information e-mail CMP

 



  Forgotten Masterpieces
of the
Marimba

Don Skoog, solo marimba, or marimba and piano

     The marimba came from Mexico to Chicago for the Columbian Exhibition of 1893 and America fell in love with its warm tone and lively rhythm. Composers scrambled to write new music for the virtuoso marimbists who played to packed houses from Vaudeville to orchestra hall.
     Clair Musser, Vida Chenoweth, Doris Stockton, and James Dutton, among others, became stars playing this beautiful instrument and its musical treasures. From light novelty foxtrots to classics of emotional power and enduring worth, this wonderful sound swept the country, changing it forever. But the advent of Rock put an end to the Age of the Marimba, and this rich tradition was forgotten, left in file cabinets, waiting for a new generation to discover it.
     Don Skoog brings these classics back to the stage in an informative and humorous presentation that explores the music and musicians who made the marimba the sound of America, and a legacy which is no longer lost.  

For more information e-mail CMP

 

The Story of Jazz Vibes

The Rosewood Trio

Don Skoog, vibraphone
Bob Lovecchio, bass
Sam Koentopp, drums

     The vibraphone was invented in Chicago! Although it’s one of the newest of instruments, few people know how it was created or of its influential role in American music. Did you know the first Rock tune was written by a guy who played vibes?
     Learn the story of this amazing instrument by exploring the lives of the men who played it: Lionel Hampton, Milt Jackson, Red Norvo, Harry Breuer, Victor Feldman, Cal Tjader, and Gary Burton are just a few of the innovators who nurtured the vibes and its music through the whirlpools of Jazz history.
     Ragtime, Swing, BeBop, Latin, and Fusion–––the story of American music can be found in the melodies of the ballad, the chords of the Bossa Nova, and the rhythms of the Blues. The Rosewood Trio guides you through this musical maze by exploring the sounds of the instrument, the lives of the musicians who loved it, and the history they made with it.

Audience comments from the Mount Prospect Public Library:

"Great-Wonderful integration of music from different eras. . . Lively. . . Very interesting and enjoyable. . . Quite unusual, very interesting. . . Up-beat. . . Good sound. . . Drummer outstanding. . . Marvelous. . . I especially appreciated the comments about the background of the music."

For more information e-mail CMP

     Don Skoog is a musician, teacher, and writer who lives in Oak Park, Illinois. He performs on marimba, vibraphone, drumset, Latin percussion, and Flamenco cajón (His hobbies are the Irish bodhrán and Arabic tabl).
     Mr. Skoog has performed at Northwestern University, Valparaiso University, Vandercook College, Kansas State University, Colorado State University, The Nashville Jazz Workshop, and the PAS Illinois Day of Percussion.
     Mr. Skoog creates programs for libraries and clubs, and has given hundreds of presentations in grade- and high-schools through The International Music Foundation, Urban Gateways, and Mostly Music. He was Lead Artist for The Gallery 37 Latin Big Band from 1993 to 2002, and has traveled to Cuba many times to study and conduct tours.
     He has taught percussion at The American Conservatory of Music, Sherwood Music School, The Merit Music Program, and The Contemporary Music Project, which he founded in 1984.

     Prices vary depending on the number of musicians, number of shows, day and time of performance, etc. but we will try to accommodate everyone's schedule and budget so please call or email to discuss our fees.