ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, April 26, 1996 TAG: 9604260034
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
COLUMN: out & about
SOURCE: DONNA ALVIS BANKS
Presenting the musical gourmet's Top 10 list of "golden oldies" as noted in this week's issue of Cupboard magazine:
1. "Caraway to Heaven"
2. "Gimme Just a Little More Thyme"
3. "Cloves to You"
4. "Fennel on My Mind"
5. "Sitting on the Dock of the Bay (Leaf)"
6. "Dill There Was You"
7. "Catnip in the Cradle"
8. "The Sage of Aquarius"
9. "I Never Promised You a Rosemary Garden"
10. "Shake, Rattle and Oregano"
Herbs and music, music and herbs! That's the ticket Saturday at Springfest, a full day of musical entertainment, herbal crafts, gardening seminars and tasty herbal foods and drink. It runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Passionflower Herb and Perennial Nursery on Barringer Mountain Road off U.S. 11 between Christiansburg and Radford.
Springfest entertainment starts at 11 a.m. with a performance by Grace Note, a local group playing the gamut from folk to soft rock to jazz. At 1 p.m., the Red Clay Jazz Quintet performs, followed by Barb Martin at 3:15 p.m. Martin, an award-winning singer and songwriter who lives in Central Virginia, cites Cajun, Dixieland, blues and mainstream Country and Western among her musical influences.
Saturday's festival also offers hands-on seminars for those who want to learn more about herbs. Mark these times:
n11 a.m. - Nursery operators will give a tour of the propagation greenhouse and a discussion on methods of pest control and fertilization without the use of chemicals.
n12:30 p.m. - Local herbalist Catherine Moonflower will lead a garden walk to discover wild edible and medicinal plants.
n2 p.m. - Martha Sayers, a local artist and teacher, will conduct a flower pressing workshop for adults and children, offering ideas on how to use pressed-flower art to make jewelry and other crafts.
n3:30 p.m. - Charlotte Chan will lead a cooking class, demonstrating simple recipes using herbs. Participants will sample and learn how to make a salad dressing, dip and pasta sauce.
Admission to Springfest and all seminars and music is free. Of course, the nursery will have lots of plants and herbs for sale if you're looking to buy.
And if you're looking to embellish that Top 10 list, don't forget to add a few songs by the King - Elvis Parsley.
OK, OK, all together now ... "ARRRRGH!"
I HEAR A SYMPHONY: Yes, the classics await you in full splendor tonight at Virginia Tech's Burruss Hall. The New River Valley Symphony performs its spring concert at 8.
James Glazebrook will lead the orchestra in renditions of Liszt's "Les Preludes" and Tchaikovsky's "Capriccio Italien." Pianist Leslie Amper is the guest soloist for Bartok's Piano Concerto No. 3.
Tickets for tonight's concert are available at the box office in Squires Student Center or you may pay at the door. General admission is $5 and admission for students and senior citizens is $3.
GONE FISHIN': "Greater Tuna," the laid-back comedy set in the laid-back town of Tuna, Texas, is the current Playmakers & Company community theater production. You can catch it tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. in Playmakers' Playhouse at Blacksburg's University Mall.
Jeff McCoy and Brian Compton star in this one. If you've been a Playmakers patron for any length of time, you've seen their acting before. They're both veterans of the troupe.
Tickets, available at the Weight Club in University Mall, are $6 for adults or $4 for students and senior citizens. The play's final run is next weekend. Call 381-1913 for reservations.
4X4X4: Get ready to hear a dozen of Virginia Tech's finest sax players Sunday. Three student quartets - Critical Adjustment, KDRL 93 and Synchronicity - will perform all kinds of music for saxophone at 8 p.m. in Squires Recital Salon.
Numbers on the program range from a fugue by Bach to a snappy "bop" titled "Sahib Supreme." The concert features transcriptions and original works.
The quartets are coached by Virginia Tech music professor David Jacobsen. They'll combine forces for the finale, a setting from Gabrieli's "Canzona Noni Toni."
The concert is free and open to everyone.
IT TAKES A GORILLA... to teach a truth!
A gorilla named Buzz is the wise one in the current Radford University student production of "Kind Ness," a play that offers thought-provoking notions about being true to yourself and understanding those who are different.
Robert Pomo, chairman of the university's theater department, said "Kind Ness" is a play that works on many levels and appeals to many ages.
"People definitely won't be bored," Pomo noted.
The play is free and you can see it Saturday at 8 p.m. in the Studio Black Box Theatre at Porterfield Hall.
FOR THE KIDS: Bring the little ones to Blacksburg's Margaret Beeks Elementary School Saturday for the annual spring fair. It starts at 4 and runs until 7 p.m.
What's on tap? Games for preschoolers and elementary age kids, as well as a crafting area where kids can create art with recyclables.
There's stuff for moms and dads, too. A silent auction, plant sale and cake walk are among the offerings. You'll find plenty of food and baked goodies to keep you energized.
The fair is sponsored by the Beeks Elementary PTA.
JAZZ-MA-TAZZ: For the past 16 years, Virginia Tech's Jazz Ensemble has carried on the tradition of performing the spring concert on the last day of classes. This year's no different.
The ensemble will present "An Evening of Instrumental and Vocal Jazz" Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Squires Student Center's Haymarket Theatre. Singers from the New Virginians will join the jazz musicians. Soloists are Wendy Humphreys and Darden Safley.
Director Chip McNeill has a great program planned. Selections include "Papa Lips" by Bob Mintzer, "Tall Cotton" and "Ya Gotta Try" by Sammy Nestico and "Our Love Is Here to Stay" by Mike Lewis. McNeill, who now directs Tech's jazz studies program and formerly was musical director for jazz man Maynard Ferguson, has contributed some of his own arrangements for this concert.
Tickets are $2 and you can get them at the door.
LENGTH: Long : 126 linesby CNB