Friday, March 28, 2003 | 8:38 a.m.
Spencer Patterson covers music for the Sun. His music notes column appears Fridays. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-2309.
Johnny Pate began his career as a jazz man, but it's hard to blame the legendary arranger, composer and producer for turning to R&B and soul music in the 1960s.
"R&B music put three of my kids through college," Pate said. "Jazz is my first love; that's where I got my feet wet. But when people start waving money in front of you, you start doing some R&B stuff."
Pate had a hand in some of the most well-known hits by the Impressions, Curtis Mayfield and Sam Cooke, along with such noted blues acts as B.B. King and Muddy Waters.
But on Sunday the University of Nevada, Las Vegas' Arnold Shaw Popular Music Research Center will pay tribute to Pate's jazz career. At 2 p.m. in the Judy Bayley Theatre, the UNLV Jazz Ensemble will perform a concert in honor of the 79-year-old Las Vegas resident, with help from some very special guests, not to mention Pate himself.
"I'll tell you what, none of this was my idea," Pate said modestly. "I'm like Nixon on this -- none of it was my idea."
Eight topnotch jazz musicians are scheduled to join the celebration: vocalist Shirley Horn, vocalist/pianist Marlena Shaw, saxophonists James Moody and Phil Woods, pianist Monty Alexander, guitarist Kenny Burrell, bassist Ron Carter and drummer Harvey Mason.
All of them have recorded with Pate, though it has been several years since he saw many of them, making Sunday's concert a reunion of sorts.
"I haven't been in contact with most of these people for years," said Pate, who moved to Las Vegas 20 years ago. "Seeing them all at once, all together will be quite a thing. I'll need three or four boxes of Kleenex that day."
The event was organized by Ken Hanlon, director of the Shaw Center. He said getting the musicians to agree to participate proved quite easy, once they heard who was being honored.
"I really didn't have to talk anyone into it," Hanlon said. "What I'm paying all eight of them probably wouldn't pay one of them on a normal night, but they love this guy. They think he walks on water."
The ensemble will perform original Pate compositions, many of which were hand picked for the show's out-of-town guests. For example, Woods is slated to solo on "Fill the Woods With Laughter," a Pate-penned cut from the saxman's 1969 Verve album "Round Trip."
The festivities will also be recorded, with a CD release of the concert expected to coincide with Pate's 80th birthday this December. The disc will be the third installment in the Arnold Shaw Historical Recordings series, coming on the heels of "The Manne We Love: Gershwin Revisited" and "Music is Forever: The Music of Pianist Russ Freeman."
Tickets for Sunday's event are $20-$25 and are available at UNLV's Performing Arts Center box office or by phone at 895-2787.
Music notes
Rebel rock: UNLV has announced the lineup for this year's edition of its annual spring "Rebelpalooza" festival, scheduled for April 5 at the UNLV intramural field across from the Hard Rock Hotel on Harmon Avenue.
Among the diverse collection of acts slated to appear: Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Face to Face, Guttermouth, Strung Out, Tsunami Bomb, the Movielife, Atreyu, 18 Visions, OPM, Phunk Junkeez, Happy Campers, Onelinedrawing, Vendetta Red and Demone. The all-ages event is expected to run from 10 a.m. through 10 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance, $17 at the door, and are available at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 or online at ticketmaster.com. Admission is free to UNLV students.
Road blues: Blue Man Group, a trio best known to Las Vegans for its regular performances at Luxor, has announced dates for its first U.S. rock tour.
The trio -- Matt Goldman, Phil Stanton and Chris Wink -- will play both days of this year's Coachella Music & Arts Festival in Indio, Calif., April 26-27 before traveling to Washington, D.C., New York City, Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Ore., during the month of May.
Blue Man Group's Atlantic Records debut, "The Complex," is due out April 22.
Quick hits
Two festival shows highlight the weekend's concert schedule:
The 2003 "Ska Summit" -- part of the annual eXtremeThing Sports & Music Festival -- kicks off Saturday at 10 a.m. at the Desert Breeze Skate Park, 8245 Spring Mountain Road.
On the bill for the four-stage event: Reel Big Fish, Buck-O-Nine, Fishbone, Monique Powell (Save Ferris), Attaboy Skip, the Toasters, Voodoo Glow Skulls, the Selecter, Mustard Plug, RX Bandits, Let's Go Bowling, the Skeletones, Suburban Legends, Mobtown. the Know How, the Debonaires, the Return, Go Jimmy Go, the Ska Daddyz, the Forces of Evil, the Knuckle Brothers, Neville Staple (the Specials), Codename: Rocky, the Toast, Big D and the Kids' Table, Monkey, the Fabulous Rudies, Dan Potthast, Deadball 38 and Over the Line.
The 12-hour extravaganza will also feature competition in three extreme sports -- BMX, skateboarding and in-line skating -- along with amateur contests in freestyle rapping and breakdancing. Tickets are $14-$16.
The "Jaggermeister Music Tour" visits the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay Saturday at 5:30 p.m.
Teaming up for the touring rap-metal festival are: Saliva, (head) Planet Earth, Breaking Benjamin, Systematic, Stereomud and Hemlock. Tickets are $17-$23.
On sale
Tickets for Fleetwood Mac's July 5 show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena go on sale Saturday at 10 a.m. Tickets are $85-$250 and will be available at the MGM box office, at TicketMaster outlets, by phone at 474-4000 or online at mgmgrand.com or ticketmaster.com.
The House of Blues continues to beef up its roster of upcoming acts. Tickets are on sale for four recent additions to the venue's schedule: the Blasters on April 18 ($20), Cheap Trick on May 2 ($20-$40), the Donnas on May 3 ($12) and Everclear on May 12 ($20-$40).
Tickets for another House of Blues show -- Jason Mraz with Michelle Penn on May 15 -- go on sale Saturday at noon, Tickets are $12 and will be available at the House of Blues box office, by phone at 632-7600 online at hob.com or through TicketMaster.
The Aladdin Theatre for the Performing Arts plays host to a trio of rock throwbacks on May 10: Journey, REO Speedwagon and Styx. Tickets are $55-$95 and are on sale at the Aladdin box office, by phone at 785-5000 or through TicketMaster.
Howard Stern sidekick Stuttering John brings his heavy-metal band to The Joint at the Hard Rock Hotel on April 24. Tickets are $25.50-$35.50 and go on sale Saturday at noon at the Hard Rock box office, by phone at 693-5066 or through TicketMaster.
Tickets for two shows at the Huntridge Theatre are on sale: Rise Against with the Arrivals on April 6 ($8-$10) and Sepultra with Voivod on April 22. Tickets are available through TicketMaster or at Balcony Lights records, 4800 S. Maryland Parkway.
archive
