101-year-old jazz fan, author of Ukraine story, United Arts: Time for more Orlando kudos
A column a few weeks ago showered some congratulations around our Central Florida arts scene and proved popular — so let’s do it again. Here’s a quick look at some notable cultural achievements during the past few months.
“I know that I’ve had extra years because of jazz,” said Midge Bowman as she was honored by the Central Florida Jazz Society. “Jazz has been my life.”
And what a life it has been; Bowman was born on Dec. 21, 1921, making her 101 years young.
She and Central Florida musician Bill Allred were the inaugural inductees to the society’s Hall of Fame at the end of May.
Born in Upstate New York, Bowman grew up musical, playing multiple instruments and loved jazz — even though her highbrow teachers at Oberlin Music Conservatory wouldn’t let the genre be part of the curriculum. Bowman taught music in public schools for more than 30 years and never lost her love of or her commitment to supporting the art of jazz.
At the celebratory concert at Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts in Winter Park, pianist Michael Kramer saluted Bowman as a “grande dame” for her “encyclopedic knowledge of the jazz scene.” She even got on stage and sang a number while saying jazz keeps her going.
“I can feel like a dud and not want to get up,” she said, referencing her age. But then she hears the music, and “I’m another person — jazz does it.”
Allred, 86, grew up in Illinois but has been jamming on the trombone in Central Florida for years. A musician in the U.S. Navy, he was part of the original complement of musicians at Walt Disney World — landing on the cover of Time magazine in a grand-opening photo.
Like so many others, Mickey Mouse drew him here as Disney advertised far and wide for musicians to join its workforce as it prepared to open in 1971.
“There were good musicians in Orlando,” Allred said. “But not enough to staff a place like that. Musicians came from all over the country.”
He would later play at Disney’s Top of the World, form the Reedy Creek Jazz Band and create the swinging stage show for Church Street hotspot Rosie O’Grady’s Good Time Emporium.
After some time away, playing gigs on the West Coast, Allred returned to Florida in 1981 and became a founding member of the Central Florida Jazz Society.
“I’m probably one of the luckiest guys,” he said. “You can play OK — but luck is a huge thing.”
You can still watch the May 21 concert with Bowman and Allred at centralfloridajazzsociety.com, where you also can find out more information about the organization.
Music was also critical to the mother of Maitland author Greg Dawson, who tells her story in “Alias Anna: A True Story About Outwitting the Nazis,” a book he co-wrote with Susan Hood of Southport, Connecticut.
Hood and Dawson, a former reporter and columnist for the Orlando Sentinel, have won a Christopher Award for the novel in verse, aimed at readers ages 10 and older with lessons of sisterhood and survival.
Dawson’s mother Zhanna, who goes by the alias Anna of the title, and her sister Frina were children and piano prodigies when the Nazis invaded their native Ukraine and began rounding up Jews, sending them on a death march.
But Zhanna and Frina managed to “hide in plain sight” and then escaped the Nazis with nothing more than their musical talent.
Dawson previously has published two books on the Holocaust and a third, co-authored with his wife Candy, about coming of age in the 1960s. His first book, “Hiding in the Spotlight,” told how his mother used her piano skills to survive the Holocaust.
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The Christopher Awards, first presented in 1949, celebrate writers, illustrators, producers and directors whose work “affirms the highest values of the human spirit” and reflects the Christopher motto: “It’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.”
Congratulations, too, to the students at The Sarah-lee Dobbs Studio of Orlando for their successful premiere of the short film “Dream On” at Enzian Theater in Maitland.
A musical, the short tells the story of a budding thespian who hopes to attend a prestigious arts school, only to be plagued by self-doubt and some “Mean Girls”-type students.
The 22-minute film was written and directed by Central Florida filmmaker Dale Metz, with original music by Andrew Scott Foust of Oviedo. Dobbs served as music director and, of course, acting coach.
Dobbs said the movie is being shopped around to film festivals, and on social media she gave a succinct appraisal of her feelings at the achievement: “One word,” she posted. “PROUD.”
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Finally, congratulations to the team at United Arts of Central Florida for successfully navigating an office move to 3025 Edgewater Drive in Orlando.
“The new location, situated in the heart of Orlando, offers an ideal setting for United Arts to further strengthen its work of fostering, promoting and advocating for arts and culture, all under one roof,” stated the nonprofit advocacy and fundraising organization’s announcement.
Before the move, which was facilitated by Dr. Phillips Charities, the organization’s employees were working in adjacent but separate offices.
“This move represents an exciting chapter in our organization’s history, as it aligns perfectly with our desire to be at the forefront of driving artistic excellence and cultural enrichment in our community,” said Jennifer Evins, president of United Arts of Central Florida. “We are eager to explore the opportunities that this move presents and to continue our work of connecting, funding and advocating for the arts.”
Follow me at facebook.com/matthew.j.palm or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Find more arts news and reviews at orlandosentinel.com/arts, and go to orlandosentinel.com/theater for theater news and reviews.
