Win tickets to see Chris Mann + other goodies by joining the Jasper Guild TODAY!

Jasper is having a Guild Drive and everybody wins!

Join the Jasper Guild by noon on Saturday, October 19th -- at any level -- and be entered to win the following:

~

• TWO TICKETS to see The Voice star Chris Mann in concert at the Newberry Opera House on Sunday, Oct. 20th at 3 PM

~

• TWO TICKETS to Columbia City Ballet's presentation of Dracula  (with new music & choreography starring TV's Grant Show as Dracula)

~

• A 2013 2nd Act Film Festival DVD film collection & new MFP publication Jasper presents The 2nd Act Film Festival Screenplays, edited by Wade Sellers and Cindi Boiter

~

• A copy of The Limelight:  A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, volume 1 (MFP, 2013)

And since

EVERYBODY WINS

all new guild members will receive one of Jasper's limited edition backpacks and two Jasper coozies, all sporting Jasper's brand new banner & logo, designed by Jasper art director, W. Heyward Sims.

Here's all you do:

Copy and paste the form below, complete it,* and send it to Jasper's friendly operations manager Annie at

Annie@JasperColumbia.com

Drawing will be held on Saturday, October 19th at noon and winners will be notified no later than 3 pm on Saturday.

And remember -- EVERYBODY WINS!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jasper Guild Membership Form    

One of the best bits about working on Jasper Magazine is the support we get from our community. You’ve been gracious and generous with your words of encouragement — and it means the world to us. We’d like to offer you the opportunity to become even more involved — the chance to open up the next issue of Jasper and be able to say out loud, 

“I helped make this happen and here’s my name to prove it!”

You’re invited to become a member of

THE JASPER GUILD

Apprentice – 1 year delivery of Jasper Magazine to your home & your name listed in Jasper Magazine for 1 year $50

~

Journeyman –the above + your name in print in LARGE LETTERS $100

~

Master – all the above + a non-transferable laminated Econobar PASS good for 1 year

(DRINK FREE ALL YEAR!) $250

~

 “But I’m just a starving artist myself,” you say?

Artist Peer - Practicing artists in dance, theatre, music, visual arts, film, & literary arts are invited to join The Jasper Guild at a reduced rate & see your name in Jasper Magazine for 1 year $25

~

Jasper Guild Application

Please complete all of the info requested below.

Name ________________________________

Address ______________________________

City & zip _____________________________

Email ________________________________

Phone _______________________________

Level of commitment ____________________

How would you like your name to appear in Jasper? (Please Print)

__________________________________________________

Do you want Jasper mailed to your home? 

yes, please           or           no, thank you 

Credit card # ______________________________

Expiration date _________Security code ________________

Zip code _________________

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Please print and send the above form to:

Annie@JasperColumbia.com

*don't forget your cc #

On behalf of all of us at Jasper --Thank You!

Schedule for Muddy Ford Press at the SC Book Festival

Muddy Ford Press

at the

SC Book Festival

______

Saturday, May 18^th

11 – 12:30 Muddy Ford Press Booth #416

Don McCallister will be signing Fellow Traveler

11:20 – 12:10 in Lexington Meeting Room A

Cindi Boiter will sit on the USC Press Panel for State of the Heart with Aida Rogers, Pat Conroy, Ken Burger, Billy Deal, and Sandra Johnson. Signing will follow.

2:30 – 4 Muddy Ford Press Booth #416

Alejandro Garcia Lemos and Cindi Boiter will be signing Red Social:  Portraits of Collaboration

4:10 – 5 in Lexington Meeting Room B

Don McCallister, Janna McMahan, Aida Rogers, and Kristine Hartvigsen will present a panel on The Limelight – Highlighting Columbia’s Artist Community, moderated by Cindi Boiter. Signing will follow – all Limelight contributors are invited to join the panel for signing following the presentation

Sunday, May 19^th

12 – 2 Muddy Ford Press Booth #16

Kristine Hartvigsen will be signing To the Wren Nesting

1:15 – 2:05 in Lexington Meeting Room B

Cindi Boiter will sit on a panel for Collections of the South:  Anthologies Celebrating Writers in Community with Curtis Worthington and Brian Carpenter

2 – 3:30 Muddy Ford Press Booth #416

Laurie Brownell McIntosh will be signing All the In Between:  My Story of Agnes

2:20 – 3:10 in Lexington Meeting Room A

Cindi Boiter will sit on a panel on Short Stories with Cliff Graubart, Stephanie Powell Watts, moderated by Michelle Maitland

BOOK FESTIVAL SPECIAL

ANYONE PURCHASING A MUDDY FORD PRESS PUBLICATION THIS WEEKEND WILL RECIEVE A FREE COPY OF

JASPER READS:  DOWNLOAD

A CHAPBOOK OF EROTIC POETRY EDITED BY ED MADDEN

The Next Big Thing - by Cindi Boiter

I feel a little guilty using What Jasper Said to post my answers to The Next Big Thing, the hot new meme going around our community in which writers tag one another and ask that they write about their newest projects. But given that my newest project was published by Muddy Ford Press and that MFP underwrites Jasper Magazine, there's a sweet symbiosis to it that I cannot deny. Here's how it works -- after having been tagged (my thanks to Cassie Premo Steele for tagging me), the newly tagged author is required to self-interview, answering 10 pre-determined questions. After having answered these questions, she tags another five writers to do the same.

Here goes.

What is the working title of your book?

The Limelight -- A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, volume 1

What is the genre of your book?

Essay collection

Where did the idea come from?

Columbia, SC is a city that is reeling with a multitude of artists from different genres, particularly the literary arts. We have an inordinate number of professional writers here, yet we don't really have a sense of ourselves as a writing community -- though we are. I'd love to play some part in helping us to form a more unified community of writers. I want Columbia to be known as a "writers' town." To that end, I invited 18 local writers to contribute first person narrative essays about another local artist -- writer, visual artist, musician, dancer, theatre artist, whatever -- who had influenced them in some way.  I had the pleasure of editing the essays.

Clearly, one volume is not enough to represent the artists and authors we have here, so I decided to serialize the compendium with the plan of publishing it on an annual basis.

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Columbia, SC essayists sing the praises of Columbia, SC artists.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of the manuscript?

I issued the call for essays in the summer of 2012 with an autumn deadline. We went to press in February 2013.

Who or what inspired you to write it?

The community of Columbia artists.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My book was published by Muddy Ford Press.

What other books would you compare this book to within your genre?

I don't really know of any other books with the same model.

What actors would you choose to play the part of your characters in a movie rendition?

Well, there are 36 "characters" if we include both the contributors and the subjects of their essays.

The essay I wrote was about the artist Blue Sky, so, naturally Clint Eastwood would play Blue. For me? Lisa Kudrow or Terri Garr.

Ed Madden would be played by Jon Cryer and James Dickey by Jon Voight.

Jeffrey Day? Woody Allen, of course. James Busby would be played by Channing Tatum (that's right, I said it.)

I'd like to cast Christopher Walken to play someone, but I'm not sure who ... a much older Chad Henderson, maybe? Just for kicks?

Patrick Wilson would play Kyle Petersen with Sheryl Crow playing Danielle Howle (though I like Danielle's voice far better).

Billy Murray would play the part of Stephen Chesley and the part of Susan Lenz would be played by Julia Louis Dreyfus.

Vicky Saye Henderson would play herself.

What else about your manuscript might pique the reader's interest?

Some of the first lines are spectacular. For example, poet Ray McManus opens his essay about Terrance Hayes with this, "When you're a boy growing up in rural South Carolina, and you want to be a poet, you should first learn to fight."

And ballet dancer Bonnie Boiter-Jolley's first line about her mentor Stacey Calvert is brutally honest when she says, "When I first met Stacey Calvert over a decade ago, she explained to me how being a dancer is a very selfish thing."

And there are 16 more.

~~

That's the end of the interview and I have to admit that it was fun. In an effort to share the fun and keep this meme going I'm tagging Aida Rogers, Don McCallister, Debbie Daniel, Kristine Hartvigsen, and Susan Levi Wallach. And I'm inviting them all to post their answers to me so I can share them with our readers. I think there's something about Wednesdays and deadlines also as I was tagged on a Wednesday and told to blog on the next Wednesday. So, by next Wednesday, I hope to have even more Next Big Things to share.

Thanks for reading,

Cindi

First Lines -- an invitation from Jasper

"As she sat stunned in her car on Charleston's rickety old John P. Grace Memorial Bridge, trapped precariously 150 feet above the swift-moving waters of the Cooper River, ..."

~

"When you're a boy growing up in rural South Carolina, and you want to be a poet, you should first learn to fight."

~

"It was a Tuesday night in the spring of 1988 and I decided to head down to Pug's in Five Points for the weekly jam session."

~

"This essay is not an act of revenge."

~

"Bastille Day 2001, personal date of independence."

~

"It's a particularly hot summer day, even for Columbia, when I parallel park my car on Washington Street and notice a tall, lanky gentleman as he moves stiffly to reposition an over-sized canvas by the curb."

~

"It began with a gift."

 Ahh, first lines.

Every literary adventure you've ever been on began with one.

Please join the Jasper and Muddy Ford Press family today as we celebrate the first lines above and more than a dozen more when we launch our newest book,

The Limelight – A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists,

volume 1,

with a launch party from 5 – 8 pm at Tapp’s Arts Center on Main Street in Columbia.

The $15 admission to the event includes a copy of The Limelight ($18 after 2/24/13), music, food, and the opportunity to gather signatures from authors and artists in attendance at the launch. For couples wishing to share a book, admission is $25.

There will be a cash bar.

The Limelight, published by Muddy Ford Press, LLC, is the first volume in a serialized collection of 18 first-person, narrative essays written by professional Columbia authors and artists about professional Columbia authors and artists. It is the sixth book to be published by Muddy Ford Press since February 2012.

Edited by Jasper Magazine founder and editor Cynthia Boiter, The Limelight – A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, Volume 1 is a serialized collection of first person narrative essays written by Columbia, SC writers and artists about Columbia, SC writers and artists. As the Southeast’s newest arts destination, Columbia is bursting with visual, literary, and performing artists whose work has caught the attention of the greater arts world at large, and these essays tell the stories of how the influence of these artists has spread. New York Times best-selling author Janna McMahan, for example, writes about spending a day touring Beaufort, SC, the hometown of literary giant Pat Conroy, with the writer himself. Poet Ed Madden writes about the disconcerting words of advice he received from dying poet and professor James Dickey when Madden took over teaching the last academic course of Dickey’s career. Music writers Michael Miller and Kyle Petersen share insights on saxophone great Chris Potter and contemporary singer-songwriter Danielle Howle, respectively, and poet Cassie Premo Steele writes about the inspiration stemming from her friendship with nationally-known visual artist Philip Mullen.

These 18 essays include works by and about poets Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, Marjory Wentworth, Ray McManus, Cassie Premo Steele, Kristine Hartvigsen, Colena Corbett, and Ed Madden; visual artists Philip Mullen, Gilmer Petroff, Blue Sky, James Busby, Stephen Chesley, and Susan Lenz; musicians Chris Potter and Danielle Howle; dancers Stacey Calvert and Bonnie Boiter-Jolley; actors and directors Robert Richmond, Greg Leevy, Chad Henderson, Vicky Saye Henderson, Jim and Kay Thigpen, and Alex Smith; and writers and editors James Dickey, Pat Conroy, Janna McMahan, Aida Rogers, Michael Miller, Jeffrey Day, Kyle Petersen, Robbie Robertson, Don McCallister, Robert Lamb, August Krickel, and Cynthia Boiter.

For more information or to order online please go to

MuddyFordPress.com.

Chris Potter shines on "The Sirens," his debut album for ECM Records - by Mike Miller

I have to admit, listening to Chris Potter’s new album, “The Sirens,” is something of a surreal experience for me. The spacious and flowing songs conjured here by the Columbia native and saxophone colossus have been giving me a sense of being transported in time, something like Déjà vu.

Now let me be clear, this languid, mind-expanding mood is not being solely induced by the atmospheric and exploratory jazz that’s being played. (Chill, it’s not what you’re thinking. Chemicals were not involved.) Part of it can be attributed to the fact that “The Sirens” is Potter’s first album for ECM Records, a label known for putting the avant in avant-garde jazz. In other words, the stuff on this label is out there. (ECM was founded in Munich, Germany, in 1969 by a double-bass player named Manfred Eicher, so you get the picture.)

  But I’m getting ahead of myself. To better explain my depiction of ECM records, I need to go back to the 1970s when I was trying to expand my musical tastes by dipping into jazz. I discovered people like Larry Coryell, The Crusaders, and Grover Washington Jr. Then I traced their roots back to Wes Montgomery, Miles Davis, and Charlie Parker. In the middle of all this jazz teeth-cutting, I happened across an album by a pianist named Keith Jarrett that turned out to be the most non-conformist record I’d ever heard.

  The first thing that struck me was the stark but-alluring artistic packaging. Very sophisticated, I thought. Secondly, the quality of the vinyl was a notch above other albums I owned. Most importantly, the music played by Jarrett and his trio was mind-expanding, hard-to-categorize stuff. I checked the label, saw that it was ECM, and went in search of more music from this eclectic company.

I discovered artists such as saxophonist Jan Garbarek, bassist Eberhard Weber, and guitarist Pat Metheny. Time and again, I was rewarded with music that was as challenging as it was beautiful.

In recent years, I’ve become reacquainted with ECM records and been blown away by releases from trumpeter Tomasz Stanko, The Tord Gustavson Trio, and pianist Nik Bartsch. Now comes the ECM debut from Chris Potter, Dreher High School grad and veteran of many jazz sessions as a teenager at Pug’s in Five Points. Granted, Potter, who's 42, has appeared on ECM records before, giving marvelous support to artists such as Dave Holland, Steve Swallow, and most notably, the late drummer Paul Motian, with whom Potter played on the stellar 2010 live album, “Lost in a Dream.”

But seeing his name displayed prominently on one of those cool ECM CD covers gave me chills. I’ve long considered Potter to be Columbia’s most important musical export ever, and this CD goes a long way in confirming that. Potter has almost 20 albums under his belt as a bandleader, including the masterful “Traveling Mercies” on Verve Records in 2002. But his entry into the ECM fraternity is especially gratifying, given the high standards for boldness and quality the label has set through the years. I could use words like sublime, transcending, and illuminating to describe Potter’s playing on “The Sirens,” but you really have to hear it for yourself. If you’re a jazz fan, check this record out. If you’re thinking about dipping into jazz, give this Columbia native son a try.

--- Mike Miller

(Editors note: For more of Mike Miller on Chris Potter, check out the forthcoming book, The Limelight (Muddy Ford Press, 2013) which releases on February 24th with a launch party at Tapp's from 5 - 8 pm)

Jasper Calendar (Salon Series & Release Events) January thru March 2013

Last October, Jasper began a series of Salon events in which we invited local artists to give a brief and informal presentation on their work to a small group of fellow artists and arts lovers. Our Salon subjects have ranged from authors to artists to artistic directors with the size of our group ranging from a half dozen to more than 40. Every single one of the events has been a success. Attendees leave more engaged with the arts, better educated and informed, and with a greater sense of community. There have traditionally been no fees to attend, (though we usually have the Jasper Econobar open and, this year, we’re adding an unobtrusive donation box for folks who’d like to throw in a buck or two to help pay the rent.) We’re delighted to announce the Salon schedule for the first couple of months of 2013. Please check back soon though – the schedule is rapidly evolving as we all get a handle on the fact that the new year has started whether we were ready for it to or not! All of our events are also offered publicly on Facebook, too, so please try to RSVP there when you can.

Thanks for all your support and happy New Year from all of us at Jasper!

January

Thursday 1/10 at 7pm in the Jasper Studios at the Arcade, Author Janna McMahan  talks about her new book, Anonymity, published January 2013

Tuesday, 1/15 at 7pm at the Tapps Arts Center, Jasper Release Party for Jasper vol. 002, no. 002 – Our 1^st Photocentric issue with photography from the Jasper staff photographers and their choices of some of the best local photographers in town.

Thursday 1/17 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade, Trustus  “The Trustus ‘Motherfu**ers : Looking Under the Hat” – Jasper invites members of the cast and crew of "The Motherfu**er with the Hat" to give you a behind the scenes look at the new Trustus play, opening on February 8^th.

Thursday 1/24 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade presents “The Dark Side of Snow White with Columbia City Ballet featuring William Starrett” as Starrett shares his new vision of the ballet Snow White.

Tuesday, 1/31 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade -- Jasper’s book club, Jasper’s Nightstand, is up and running again and, by popular demand we’re reading Don McCallister’s new book, Fellow Traveler with discussion led by a surprise reader and Fellow Traveler author himself, Don McCallister.

February

Tuesday, 2/12 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade, USC Vagina Monologues director Alexis Stratton will talk about the history of the Vagina Monologues and this year’s edition. Plus, you’ll get to hear a reading of one or more monologues from the play.

Tuesday, 2/19 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade – Lecture and discussion “Patriarchy & Gender Roles in The Dry Grass of August: The Good Old Days? Sister, Please!” USC Women's and Gender Studies Adjunct Instructor and Jasper editor Cindi Boiter will lead discussion on the social constructs in this year's One Book, One Columbia selection, The Dry Grass of August by Anna Jean Mayhew.

Sunday, 2/24, time and location TBA, Book Launch – The Limelight: A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists, Volume 1 published by Muddy Ford Press.

Thursday, 2/28 at Jasper Studios at the Arcade  Jasper’s Nightstand – The Dry Grass of August – 8:30 or immediately following the author Anna Jean Mayhew's presentation at the Richland Library one block away.

March

Thursday, 3/7 at 7pm at the Jasper Studios at the Arcade -- Panel Discussion with Authors from The Limelight: A Compendium of Contemporary Columbia Artists. More information to come.

Friday, 3/15 at 7pm location TBA -- Join us as we celebrate the release of Jasper vol. 002, no. 003 -- The Women's Issue!