Arts & Fntertainment

Jazz Hebraic's

Meet the octogenarian pioneer who introducecthe cello to
jazz — and melded three musical traditions.

Fred Katz: "I studied different cultures — what they thought, what they felt, even their laughter."

George Robinson
Special to the Jewish News

W

hen the folks at Reboot
Stereophonic told Fred Katz
they wanted to reissue his
long-unavailable album Folk Songs for
Far Out Folk, the cellist was amused but
slightly baffled.
"At first [my reaction] was,'Who, me?"'
the 88-year-old Katz said in a phone inter-
view from his home in Fullerton, Calif.
"This album was written in 1958 for God's
sake. I was very pleased, of course, but I
didn't feel an enormous amount of great
exultation because as someone who is

Jazz Ingenue from page 49

"Make Someone Happy is about my life

transformed over the last three years,

[reflecting] a time spent trying to make

everyone happy — family, friends, loved

ones and my fans."

54

August 30 • 2007

.114

constantly writing and creating and com-
posing, I'm into what I'm doing right now."
You might say that this latest event is
just one more highly unlikely turn in a
highly unlikely life. Unlikely, but always
punctuated with Katz's boisterous laughter
and undaunted good cheer.
Katz grew up in a family in which, as he
recalls, "the conversation at the breakfast
table between my father and his three
sons was about Spinoza, the Brooklyn
Dodgers and Karl Marx."
It was his father's deep love of human-
ity — his boundless concern for the little
guy — that fed Katz's interest in other
cultures, leading him to combine a love

of music with academic training as an
anthropologist.
"I studied different cultures — what
they thought, what they felt, even their
laughter," he says. He is probably the only
professional jazz pianist and classical cel-
list to teach anthropology at two universi-
ties.
So it was inevitable that Katz — who
was also one of the first musicians to
play cello in a jazz context (with Chico
Hamilton) — would combine those two
passions when offered a chance to do his
own record.
"It came to me that I would love to do a
jazz thing about three different cultures,"

he says when asked about the genesis of
Folk Songs.
It wasn't quite that straightforward,
though. Nothing in Katz's life ever is.
"I got a call from Warner Brothers
asking if I wanted to do an album with
Brigitte Bardot," he explains. "Hey, it's a
gig. It's not like Moshiach has come. It's a
gig. So I said, 'Yeah, it's good money.'"
But when the project failed to material-
ize, the record company asked Katz what
he would like to do instead.
The result was Folk Songs for Far Out
Folk, a startling record that dips into three
different folk music traditions: African,
American and Jewish.

on Entertainment Tonight.
"It took a lot of people believing in me
before I believed in myself," she adds.
"Bit by bit, after I started touring, I was
becoming a professional.
"I had been a commerce student, and
I'm still trying to finish my degree at the
University of Toronto. I actually realized I
was a professional singer when I started
focusing a little bit less on school and
more on my career."
Since her career has taken off, Milman
has had some coaching to maintain her
vocal health. As a self-taught artist, she did
not know exercise techniques.
Milman connects her natural abilities
to her maternal grandfather, who was a
cantor in Ukraine. Her religious practices
involve observing the High Holidays and

participating in seders.
When Milman ends her concerts, it's
often with the song "Bye Bye Love," made
popular by the Everly Brothers. With new
arrangements emphasizing a confident
vocal quality, her version sounds sultry.
"Some songs need a live show because
they don't translate well on recordings,"
says the vocalist, who has appeared with
the Neville Brothers, Chick Corea and Jesse
Cook.
Milman likes to read, paint ceramics
and make her own jewelry during free
time, mostly while touring. Just before her
visit to Berrien Springs, she will have trav-
eled considerable distances to stages from
New York to Shanghai.
With her first appearance in Michigan,
the entertainer will be in the state that

launched the career of her favorite singer,
Stevie Wonder. His song "Rocket Love" gets
a fervent urgency on her new CD.
"I usually finish three or four books on
one tour," Milman explains. "The books
take me away from the stresses of the
road. I'm working toward a long, healthy
career and a long, healthy life. I'm not
going to allow music to devour my entire
being."

Sophie Milman performs 8 p.m.
Saturday, Nov.10, at Andrews
University in Berrien Springs. $10-
$20. (888) 467-6442. CDs are
available in stores or though her
Web site, www.sophiemilman.com .

