May 2, 2005

Versatile Five Man Trio to perform Friday during Arts a la Carte

From left, Gary Gackstatter, Chris Mayer and David Bostwick perform during Five Man Trio's CD release party April 16 in Hutchinson.

Many instruments, yet three musicians. There are few sounds the Five Man Trio can’t make.

The trio of musicians, all instructors at Cowley College, will be performing during Arts a la Carte, scheduled from 12:20-12:50 p.m. Friday at the Calder Bonfy Amphitheatre on Cowley’s Arkansas City campus. Admission is free, and audience members are encouraged to bring a sack lunch and a lawn chair. In case of rain or high wind, the concert will be moved to The Jungle inside the Nelson Student Center.

Five Man Trio is a three-member acoustic group singing original music composed by the group, as well as many classic rock favorites. The group is comprised of Humanities Department Instructors David Bostwick and Gary Gackstatter, and Social Science Department Instructor Chris Mayer.

Five Man Trio held a CD release party April 16 at Metro Coffee House in Hutchinson to promote its latest CD “Roam With The Buffalo.” Its first release years ago is titled “you do the math.” The multi-talented musicians play a variety of venues throughout south-central Kansas, including Hutchinson, Wichita, and Winfield. The group also participates in the Silverton, Colo., Jubilee Folk Music Festival. This year’s festival is scheduled for June 24-26.

Bostwick has performed at a variety of musical venues since moving to Kansas in 1987. Although he originally learned music theory on piano, he currently plays guitar, bass and harmonica. His songwriting reflects his eclectic tastes in music, ranging form blues to jazz to rock. And since he is originally from southern Oklahoma, an occasional country twang is inevitable. Bostwick teaches composition and is the faculty advisor to the Cowley Press student newspaper.

Gackstatter is director of instrumental music at Cowley and conductor of the Winfield Regional Symphony and the Arkansas City Community Band. He has arranged and conducted premiere performances of music with John McCutcheon, Tom Chapin, Three Dog Night, Kansas, and the Paul Winter Consort. His original band music is being played by many of the state’s colleges and high schools.

Mayer received both his bachelor of arts and master of arts degrees in anthropology from Wichita State University. Before turning to anthropology, Mayer studied percussion performance under professor J.C. Combs. He combines his interests in music and culture by pursuing research in the field of ethnomusicology, and world travel. Besides being a part of Five Man Trio, Mayer also is a member of the Temporal Mechanics Union, Cowley’s percussion ensemble.