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Title: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by SunShowerSharon on Mar 18th, 2005, 11:34am LIVE, FROM UB -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A series of Tuesday night art happenings teams the Center for the Arts with area bands, performers and artists By JEFF MIERS News Pop Music Critic 3/18/2005 WHAT: "Music Is Art Live @ the Center" WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesday WHERE: UB's Center for the Arts, North Campus, Amherst ADMISSION: Free INFO: 645-ARTS, www.ubcfa.org Robby Takac, in keeping with his overarching ethos of the commingling of art forms in Buffalo, is realizing one of his dreams with "Music Is Art Live @ the Center," a Tuesday-night concert series in the University at Buffalo Center for the Arts that combines live music performances, visual and graphic arts, and film. More than merely a concert series, the project marks a new creative partnership between Takac, Center for the Arts Director Tom Burrows and his staff, and a host of production personnel from Takac's ChameleonWest studios, the Center for the Arts, independent local video production teams and UB student interns. "Dude, it's gonna be totally amazing!" It's early January, and Takac is sitting in K. Gallagher's in Allentown, drinking strong coffee and watching the snow fall. Takac, who lives in both Buffalo and Los Angeles, without the benefit of a clone, was about to dive headlong into the recording of the new Goos record here in town. He was also running his record label, Good Charamel, helping his roster of bands - including Last Conservative and the Juliet Dagger - route tours and deal with the messiness of the music business, overseeing his ChameleonWest recording studio, struggling with the recent defection of Klear's lead singer just as attempts were being made to work the band's Good Charamel single to radio, and putting together the pieces for the third annual Music Is Art Festival, which takes place in June. But the particular bit of news that has Takac's eyes gleaming on this winter day is both a part of and separate from all of this. Takac as a businessman is given to flights of ancillary fancy; all of his ideas sprout new limbs and become much broader as Takac riffs on them. Hence, ChameleonWest gave birth to Good Charamel, which yielded the Music Is Art festival, which produced the two MIA recording projects, which led to the Music Is Art Foundation and its "instrument refurbishment for schools" program, which in turn produced a concert series in area high schools. Now, Takac and his team have turned their attention to the college crowd, UB in particular, where, according to Takac, "the opportunity for amazing synergies exists." Grandiose and ambitious Like so many Takac ideas, this one is grandiose and ambitious. And it already seems to be working. "The first night was a real success," says Burrows of the Center for the Arts. "We had between 200 and 300 people here, and the atrium, where the concerts are taking place, has been converted into a very tenable performance space by my staff, with gorgeous oriental rugs and intimate lighting. "The sound quality, happily, is quite good as well. The two bands who played (the first Tuesday night) - Rhubarb and Lazlo Hollyfeld - were simply excellent. I'm a jazz man myself, but I truly appreciated their musicality and musicianship, and so did the audience." Burrows, a refined and elegant man who appears intensely passionate about the work he and his staff at the center are doing, says that partnering with Takac is a perfectly organic, natural occurrence, one that he feels will be mutually beneficial. "First of all, I'm impressed with who he is; I truly like who he is," says Burrows, his tone suggesting that he's given the matter much thought. "I'm the chair of the Irish Classical Theatre Company board, and I met Robby there, when he was doing the release party for his "Music Is Art '04" CD package. I was so taken with the obvious love he brought to the project that evening, and with how professionally the whole thing was handled. "So I spoke with him, and he asked what we were up to at the center. I mentioned our desire to move into television with purpose and decisiveness, and I also expressed to him that we felt that music was the way we would do this. I quite literally saw his eyes light up. He grabbed me, and said, "We should talk!' " Ultimately, the films the production team (under the guidance of director Boone Enser) are making each evening during the series will be shown on television, though Burrows is not yet sure exactly where or when. "They'll be shown on the student network here at UB," he says. "And they'll also be shown on the new SUNY-wide network, which is going to be coming out of SUNY Albany and will be broadcast to all 64 SUNY campuses. We're also thinking of buying some infomercial time on cable and broadcasting it there." The right price Dave Wedekindt, part of Burrows' staff at the Center, points to the interdisciplinary nature of Takac's series - as well as it's price - as part of its appeal. "Our decision to not charge admission to these events furthers our mandate to keep the arts accessible to the community at large," Wedekindt says. Burrows says the project fits in well with what he calls the center's "dual mandate." Burrows and his staff - Rob Falgiano and Jamie Enser among them - place first and foremost their concern with integrating what happens within their walls into the broader cultural community. At the same time, fostering their relationship with UB students is never far from their minds. "We have a very earnest desire to look at community engagement, and that's exactly what Robby is doing as well, with his festival and his foundation, and his record label and so forth. So it's a perfect fit," Burrows says. "The students who come to the show benefit; the students who are earning course credit for their involvement with the film production element benefit; the bands and artists benefit, because this is a new venue and a new avenue to explore; and the broader community benefits as well, because what we're doing is celebrating the incredibly rich culture of Buffalo." Takac, it seems, was right - this thing is pretty amazing. e-mail: [email protected] http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20050318/1003943.asp |
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Title: Re: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by nmf016 on Mar 18th, 2005, 12:25pm It's pretty cool that they can write a whole article on what Robby's been doing and make the Goos sound like a small side project. I love Robby. :D |
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Title: Re: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by RogueUK on Mar 18th, 2005, 1:21pm on 03/18/05 at 12:25:09, nmf016 wrote:
I second that statement ;D Anyway, thanks for the article - always interesting to hear what the guys are up to, and Robby's projects always seem so exciting! ;D |
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Title: Re: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by googirl28 on Mar 18th, 2005, 5:50pm :flower: :flower: :flower: :flower:It is sooooo awesome to hear about Robby and his art stuff. It is well overdue!!!!! Sounds like everything is going GREAT for him with this!!!! GIVE YOURSELF SOME LOVE ------ ROBBY!!!!!! :flower: :flower: :flower: |
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Title: Re: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by blessed_by_goo on Mar 19th, 2005, 12:36am I'm so glad they are NOT the type of band that just makes donations to charities and then calls themselves INVOLVED! I mean they jump right in and get their hands dirty. THAT is what's so incredible about them. I can totally see Robby grabbin the dude and sayin WE SHOULD TALK! LOL that's so cool. Well I guess that's one more place I gotta put on the visit list! AWESOME news Robby congrats on it all comin together! |
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Title: Re: Cool Robby Article in the Buffalo News today Post by Raven on Mar 20th, 2005, 1:31am *Waves to Sharon* Thank you for sharing the Robby love G/F. You know how much I appreciate it! ;) :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: |
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