Airwaves

by Brian Goslow

WCUW's Cultural Connection Concert Series continues with a showcase of Scottish music this Friday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at Worcester's Elm Park. Performers include Doug Lamey, grandson of Bill Lamey, a popular Scottish fiddler in the '40s and '50s, guitarist Michael Kerr (who'll also play the Highland small pipes and Scottish bagpipes), Scottish and Gaelic songsters Kira and Scott McGann, and a special performance on the bagpipes by Joe Lennerton and longtime WCUW programmer Wullie Bauld, who hosted Sounds of Scotia for for almost 20 years before passing the reins to Tom Vantry a few years back. The program airs every Saturday from 11 a.m. to noon.

The series continues at Elm Park on Saturday at noon with the Eddie Forman Orchestra, who recently released their 10-CD, Everybody Loves a Polka. The Western Massachusetts-based group are celebrating their 30th anniversary in 1998. Forman, who sings and plays the accordion and keyboards, started the outfit while still in high school. He's joined by fellow Hadley residents trumpeter Aaron Muller and drummer Pat Cycz, guitarist Charlie Pajak of Ware, and clarinet and sax player Tom Orszulak of Palmer. Expect lots of numbers like the "Hammer and Nails Polka," "Wojenko Wojenko Polka," and "Hydli Dydli Polka." After the show, tune into the long-running Polkamania, which airs every Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. on WCUW (91.3 FM). The happy music can also be heard on Polkas in the A. M. Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. to noon and on Prime Time Polkas Tuesday nights from 8 to 10 p.m. For more information, call WCUW at 753-1012.

POLKA AUDIENCES are known for fanaticism. A recent posting on Polkanet (www.polkanet.com) by Jimmy Sturr (who returns to Sturbridge for Polkafest '98 on August 29) alerts fans to his group's August 23 appearance on the Nashville Network's Prime Time Country program. The polka superstar explains how important ratings are for that night's show as a means of displaying the music's popularity to the network, and he encourages burying TNN with letters of support for polka music.

THIS YEAR'S JAZZ at Sunset Series at the New England Science Center comes to a close on August 21 with a benefit concert for public broadcaster WICN (90.5 FM). The Donna Byrne Quartet attempt to capture the magic of Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and Anita O'Day. Reviews of Walking on Air (released in 1997 on Arbors), on which she teamed up with trumpeter Herb Pomeroy, suggests she's done the job. It was the vocalist's follow-up to her own solo effort, It Was Me (Daring). Admission to the 6:30 p.m. show is $12. Call WICN at 752-0700.

THE JUNE ISSUE OF VOX featured 10 songs that encourage listeners to start a riot. Included in the honor roll with the Rolling Stones' "Street Fighting Man," the Clash's "White Riot," Woody Gutherie's "This Land is Your Land," and X-Ray Spex's "Oh Bondage- Up Yours!" was Jimi Hendrix's legendary re-working of "The Star Spangled Banner" at the Woodstock Music and Art Fair 29 years ago. Performed at a time the country was immersed in and divided over the Vietnam War, the late-guitarist's presentation is thought by many to be music's ultimate moment of anarchy. The rest of the set? You can hear on WCUW's Sunday Night Concert Series on August 17 at midnight. Web surfers can return to Yasgur's Farm this weekend through the "A Day in the Garden" concerts which features a number of Woodstock's original performers. Listen in at www.DayintheGarden.com. Or drive real fast!