On Campus - Stories June 29, 2001 - Vol. 54, No. 5 Jazz Ensemble embarks on European tour Graphic design students create, manage painting project Drake Neighborhood to swing with Jazz in July Legendary professor touched many lives at Drake

On Monday, July 2, Drake Jazz Ensemble I will embark on a European tour that includes two performances in Amsterdam at the North Sea Jazz Festival, the world's largest indoor jazz festival.

The 18-member ensemble, led by Andrew Classen, director of jazz studies at Drake, will travel first to Paris for several days of sightseeing, including tours of the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre.

On Friday, July 6, the group will fly to England and give two performances at Alexander's Jazz Club in Chester. Then the ensemble will travel to London to perform at the Jazz After Dark club in the city's Soho region.

After a day of sightseeing in London, the group will board the Eurostar train and cross under the English Channel enroute to Brussels, Belgium. From Brussels, they'll travel to Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands.

The Drake students will perform July 13 and July 15 at the North Sea Jazz Festival, which features jazz legends and progressive and contemporary artists from the worlds of jazz, soul, funk, blues and r & b. This year's festival will showcase 160 bands in 220 shows and workshops on 15 stages in the Dutch Congress Center at The Hague. Drake Jazz Ensemble I will perform selections from its standard repertoire, including works from the group's new CD, "Rush Hour." This spring the CD received a rave review from Jack Bowers that was posted at www.allaboutjazz.com.

Bowers described "Rush Hour" as "a splendid example of well-tempered and invigorating big-band jazz."
"Rush Hour" costs $15 and can be purchased at www.cdnow.com and through the Drake music department, x3975.
Classen said he believes the European tour will be a valuable learning experience for the students.

Sixteen Drake students majoring in graphic design will be helping hundreds of children paint a city MTA bus at the Des Moines Arts Festival this weekend (June 29 through July 1).

This is the fourth year that Mo Dana, executive director of the Des Moines Arts Festival, has asked Drake graphic design students to design and manage children's painting projects at the festival. Designs by Drake students were applied to MTA buses the first two years. Last year, Drake students worked on a street painting project for the Principal Financial Group. This year, Drake students created a city bus design for Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. The students submitted designs that were reviewed by festival staff and the corporate sponsor. Connie Webb's design was selected and transferred onto a city bus. At the festival, children are invited to paint a small area of the design, which is cut up into a paint-by-number theme, and by the end of the event the design will come alive. The bus will be parked near the Embassy Suites hotel on Locust Street.

"This is a wonderful opportunity for students to follow a large project from inception to completion," said design instructor Connie Wilson, who has been involved in the program all four years. "They get to experience all of the effort and details it takes to make a project of this scope happen. It's also a great opportunity for Drake design students to promote their talents."

Drake students who participate in the project will receive financial assistance to help defray the cost of attending the American Institute of Graphic Arts conference this fall in Washington, D.C. The financial support is provided by the Des Moines Arts Festival.

Jazz up your July by attending one or more of the three free concerts slated to get the Drake Neighborhood swinging next month. All three concerts are free and open to the public as part of the Metro Arts Alliance Jazz in July series.

The Drake Neighborhood Association and Generations Inc. are co-sponsoring the first concert at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, July 21, in Drake Park, 23rd Street and Cottage Grove Avenue.

The second concert at 7 p.m. Monday, July 23, will feature vocalist Tina Haase and her accompanist, David Larson, performing on the grounds of Grace United Methodist Church, 3700 Cottage Grove Ave.

Charles L. Smith, professor emeritus of religion and Near Eastern studies at Drake, died of a stroke Sunday at his home in Urbandale. He was 85.

Professor Smith, who was known to his students as "Smitty" and "C.L.," joined the Drake faculty in 1950 and officially retired in 1985 but continued to teach at least one course each semester through the spring of 1995. He chaired the Department of Philosophy and Religion for many years and received the Drake Medal of Service in 1994. He had previously been honored as Drake's Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher in 1979 and Humanities Teacher of the Year in 1972 and 1984.

"Professor Smith was a living legend at Drake for decades," said Jon Torgerson, professor of philosophy.

Smith was noted for his bow ties, cigars and jokes. "Instead of saying 'hi,' he would tell a joke, often a ridiculous pun," said Dale Patrick, professor of religion at Drake.

Smith's keen sense of humor was tempered by his devotion to his students. He often taught honors classes, which he would start by giving each of his students a piece of candy as a symbol of his hope that learning for them would be sweet.

Smith was fascinated by archeology and focused much of his research on the Dead Sea Scrolls. His research interests also included the ancient and modern Near/Middle East, the Old Testament and classical languages such as Greek, Latin and Hebrew.

A native of Indianapolis, Smith earned his bachelor's degree at Butler University and received a master of divinity degree and a doctorate in Near Eastern studies from Yale University. He also was the first Christian to study at Hebrew Union College as a Horowitz Foundation Fellow.
"He called himself a Jewish Baptist," Patrick said. "He could speak Hebrew quite well and had a tremendous sense of camaraderie with Jews and the local Jewish community.

Smith was the first recipient of the Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Peace Award in 1996. The award, named after the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated in 1995, was established by the William Jagiello family and the Jewish Community Relations Commission. In presenting the award, Dr. William Jagiello, LA'73, said, "Professor Smith has been a teacher and personal friend of my family for many years. His humor, wisdom and contributions to healing and peace have profoundly influenced all who know him."

Smith was ordained in the American Baptist Church in 1940 and served as a Navy chaplain in World War II. He also was a Protestant chaplain for the Des Moines Police Department. In addition, he was a volunteer at the Drake Relays for more than 40 years, serving as chief timer for the 1996 Relays.

Smith is survived by his wife, Mary; a daughter, Mary Carol of Urbandale; a son, Charles II of Rhododendron, Ore.; and three grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Drake, First Baptist Church or Yale Divinity School.