Eugene Jazz (radio interview transcript)

DJ: Hey, we’re live on 106.22 Eugene Bop and today we’ve got a very special guest on today. Everybody put your hands together for Victor Miles, a student at University of Oregon. We keep getting emails asking why the world needs another jazz radio station, so we decided to bring in an expert. Thanks for coming in, Victor.

Miles: Thanks for having me—glad to be here.

DJ: So, you’re studying jazz at University of Oregon?

Miles: That’s right. Eugene actually has one of the best jazz studies programs in the whole U.S. We study the music itself, its history and the music business. It’s really great.

DJ: Sounds like it.

Miles: The goal of the program is… well, I go this excerpt off the university Web site, is it all right if I read it?

DJ: Go ahead.

Miles: It says, “our goal is to create an environment for learning that stimulates, recognizes, and rewards creativity and outstanding achievement in performance, composition, arranging, research, and education.    To this end, we are committed to providing our students with the most thorough education available in jazz and opportunities for personal growth and successes in the field that are second to none.” And that basically sums it up.

DJ: Impressive! I hear you’re from Washington.

Miles: That’s right. I came down here because Oregon has some of the best places to study music. It was a hard choice between University of Oregon and Western Oregon University, because both of them have awesome programs, but in the end I decided I wanted to live in a bigger city.

DJ: (laughing) So Eugene, it was!

Miles: That’s right.

DJ: So back to our listener’s question—why should our station be playing jazz? What’s so great about it?

Miles: Jazz has one of the richest histories of all music genres. It originates from Africa, when slaves were being brought over to America to work in the fields. The music mingled with all of the different European influences that were at work in America, so jazz really is the all-American music.

DJ: Like baseball is the all-American sport.

Miles: Exactly.

DJ: Well, listeners, we’ve got to go to a commercial, but don’t switch off that radio just yet. We’ll be right back.

Eugene Symphony Orchestra (musical crosswords…)

Rachel bit down on her pencil’s eraser, then spat out a few bits. “Okay, this is why I hate crossword puzzles.”

Owen looked up from his newspaper. “I told you that you didn’t have to do that. It’s my homework.”

She glared down at the offending piece of paper. “It was sitting on the table, mocking me. I had to complete it. Now what’s a five letter word that means ‘more than one instrument?’”

Owen thought about it for a moment. “Combo.”

“Perfect,” she muttered, scribbling in the answer. “What kind of professor makes a music-themed crossword puzzle for homework?”

Owen sipped his orange juice serenely. “The kind that doesn’t want to grade 45 papers.”

“Good point.” She frowned at the puzzle. “Okay, instrumental ensemble…?”

“Orchestra.”

“Do we even have one of those around?”

He gave her one of those looks, one that was one part exasperation, two parts good-natured amusement. “Um, yeah.”

“Really?” Rachel chewed on the eraser again. “In Portland?”

“Eugene, actually,” he said mildly. “I went and saw a chamber orchestra concert in Eugene. It was put on by the Oregon Mozart Players. It was really good.”

“An orchestra in Eugene, Oregon?” She stared at him.

“We’re not barbarians,” he laughed. “We have classical music, jazz, orchestras, concertos—the whole shebang.”

“Was it boring?”

He pointed a finger at her. “Orchestras are never boring. Especially when played by really talented and passionate people. The music at this Oregon concert was unbelievable. You would have enjoyed it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far.” Rachel fell silent, and then looked up again. “Okay, six letter word for stringed instrument?”

Eugene Concerts… chat room dialog…

(Owen_02 has entered chat room)

Owen_02: Um, hello?

(Rach-Rach has entered chat room)

Owen_02: About time.

Rach-Rach: Hey—I’m not late. Right on time. Not my fault you’re freakishly early.

Owen_02: I’ve got other homework to do. I want to get this done. Tara isn’t even on yet.

Rach-Rach: Really? Why not?

(Tara13 has entered chat room)

Tara13: Sense of self-preservation. Hey guys.

Owen_02: Finally.

Tara13: Is he being freakishly punctual again?

Rach-Rach: Yep.

Owen_02: Okay, lay it on me. What have you found?

Tara13: This is what I get for taking a marketing class. Fine, fine. I’ve been looking into ways to advertise Eugene, Oregon, and all I keep getting are concerts.

Rach-Rach: What kind? Rap? Pop?

Tara13: Think older. Symphony Orchestras and choral music choirs and some Bach festival.

Owen_02: We can work with that. Go on.

Tara13: First there are choir concerts—we’ve got the Eugene Jazz Concert Choir…

Rach-Rach: Kind of a self-explanatory name.

Tara13: Tell me about it. Then we’ve got the Eugene Vocal Arts Ensemble. That one has a wide variety of concerts, everything from opera to classic rock.

Owen_02: What about the Bach thing?

Tara13: Happens every summer and put on by University of Oregon. It began in 1970 and has continued on since then. It’s apparently one of Eugene’s biggest events of the year.

Rach-Rach: Like the Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.

Tara13: Exactly.

Owen_02: So in our pamphlet, we should focus on music.

Rach-Rach: More original than football.

Tara13: Sounds good to me, as long as someone else does a bit of research. I’m tired.

Owen_02: I’ll look for more stuff in the area. Continue the concert theme, only find places in Corvallis, Monmouth, and Salem. There’s got to be more…

(Rach-Rach has left chat room)

Owen_02: And maybe we could attend an Oregon orchestra concert or something…

(Tara13 has left chat room)

Owen_02: …Or the choir. Sounds interesting to me.

Owen_02: Wait, guys? Guys? Tell me you didn’t log out.

Owen_02: I need better project partners.

(Chat room is empty)