Pulse Podcast for December 2007 / LJWorld.com

Podcasts Pulse Podcast 2007

28 December 2007

Taking the 180-member Marching Jayhawks to the Orange Bowl is a big deal - both logistically, and in terms of what it could do for recruiting for the band.

In this week's Pulse Podcast, David Clemmer, KU's director of athletic bands, talks about what fans both in Miami and watching at home can expect to see from the Marching Jayhawks. He also talks about how he hopes to capitalize on the football team's success to bolster band numbers in the future.

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21 December 2007

Rick McNeely isn't quite sure why there are so many big band versions of Christmas songs. Maybe it's just the nostalgia factor.

Whatever the reason, McNeely and the Jazzhaus Big Band he co-directs have been capitalizing on the connection for 26 years. That's how long the band's Christmas Formal has been going on.

This week's Pulse Podcast focuses on the band and the formal, which is Saturday night at the Jazzhaus. McNeely talks about the broad appeal of big band music - and what kind of future it might have.

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14 December 2007

When it came to writing music for the documentary "Fall from Grace," which chronicles the beliefs of Fred Phelps and Westboro Baptist Church, Kip Haaheim wanted the tunes to stay out of the way.

"It's a supporting player in the scope of the film," Haaheim says.

Haaheim, a Kansas University associate professor, was hired by student K. Ryan Jones to write the documentary's score. The film is airing on the Showtime networks this month, and it should be available through the Netflix service early next year.

This week's Pulse Podcast takes a look at how Haaheim went about creating the music, and what role he hopes it plays in the movie.

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7 December 2007

Celtic fiddler Eileen Ivers loves touring throughout the year, but there's something special about doing a Christmas concert.

"We love playing music live, and then you couple that with a really beautiful message in the music and a positive outlook on things, and it really makes for a really special month of touring," she says.

Ivers, the daughter of Irish-American immigrants, has been called the "Jimi Hendrix of the violin" by The New York Times, and the Boston Globe says she "rocks the house" everywhere she plays.This weekend, that includes the Lied Center, where she has a show on Saturday.

In this week's Pulse Podcast, Ivers talks about the role Christmas plays in celebrating the holiday and how she tries to expand the limits of the fiddle.

After that, find out what else is going on on the Lawrence scene this week in our weekly Best Bets feature.

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