KING OF THE BLUES

Blues legend B.B. King — born
Riley B. King in 1925, on a cotton
plantation in Itta Bene, Miss. — has
received presidential citations, hon-
orary degrees and has even starred in
commercials for Wendy's and
Northwest Airlines. He was the first
blues artist to enter mainstream
American culture, influencing virtually
every electric blues guitarist to follow
and inspiring countless rock guitarists
as well.
King's technique is complex, featur-
ing delicate filigrees of single string
runs punctuated by loud chords, sub-
tle vibratos and "bent" notes — all
played on Lucille, his guitar. Why
does he call his guitar "Lucille"?
In the mid-'50s, while King was
performing at a dance in Twist, Ark.,
two men got in a fight and knocked
over a kerosene stove, setting the hall
on fire. King raced outdoors to safety,
but upon realizing he'd left his $30
guitar inside, he rushed in to retrieve
it, narrowly escaping death. When he
later found out the fight had been
over a woman named Lucille, he
decided to give the name to his guitar.
Each one of B.B.'s guitars since has
been named Lucille.
Mixing traditional blues, jazz,

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touring musical stage pro-
swing, mainstream pop
ductions, Sesame Street Live
and jump into a unique
has taught children of all
sound, King's singing is
ages that they can become
richly melodic, both
anything if they only put .
vocally and in the
their minds to it. When I
"singing" that comes from
Grow Up, a musical coming
"Lucille."
to
Detroit's Fox Theatre for
"I'm trying to get peo-
24
performances Jan. 19-
ple to see that we are our
30,
once again emphasizes
brother's keeper," said
GAIL ZIMMERMAN
that
lesson.
King, who received a
Arts & Entertainment
In
this brand-new pro-
B'nai B'rith Humanitarian
Editor
duction,
Prairie Dawn gath-
Award in 1973 from the
ers
her
Muppet
friends to
Music and Performance
stage a pageant about growing up; Telly
Lodge of New York. "I still work on it.
Monster dreams of becoming a baseball
Red, white, black, brown, yellow, rich,
player; Cookie Monster hopes to own
poor, we all have the blues,"
the world's first drive-in cookie restau-
Sidney A. Seidenberg, King's long-
rant; and Elmo, of course, wants to be
time manager, likens King to Louis
everything.
Armstrong and Frank Sinatra. "B.B.'s
Tickets for When I Grow Up are
goals have always been to be like an
$10-$25. Call for show times. (248)
American ambassador of blues music
433-1515.
to the world, like Louis Armstrong
and Frank Sinatra are to the jazz
world," he said. "B.B. is still the king
SIMON SAYS
of the blues."
If you enjoyed Neil Simon's The
B.B. King takes the stage, with a
Prisoner of Second Avenue at Jewish
special guest, blues singer Bobby
Ensemble Theatre — it runs through
"Blue" Bland, 8 p.m. Sunday, Jan.
Jan. 23 for those who haven't seen it
16, at the Fox Theatre in Detroit.
— and your appetite has been whetted
Tickets are $35/$27.50, and are
for more of that crackling Simon wit,
available at the Fox Theater box
you're in luck.
office and all Ticketmaster locations.
One of Simon's more recent works,
(248) 433-1515
Jake's Women will enjoy a run of nine
performances at the Players Guild of
B.B. King:
Dearborn, 8 p.m. Fridays and
The most renowned
Saturdays, Jan. 14-29, with a 2:30
blues guitarist of the last
p.m. matinee on Sunday, Jan. 23.
40 years performs at the
The play, which opened in 1992
Fox Theatre on Sunday.
and starred Alan Alda in the title role,
earned a Tony nomination. Exploring
a theatrical blend of reality and
thought, the comedy tells the story of
STILL SUNNY
Jake, a middle-aged writer facing one
Sesame Street Live, the
of the most difficult periods of his life
longest-running chil-
— a separation from his second wife,
dren's tour in the indus-
Maggie. Trying to bring the situation
try, dates back to 1980,
to resolution throughout the show, the
when Jim Henson's love-
five women who have influenced Jake's
able Muppets first took
past and present life emerge to help
to America's neighbor-
him though his predicament.
hoods. Since then, 40
Tickets are $11. Call (313) 561-8587.
million Big Bird fans
have been entertained
CELEBRATING DIVERSITY
and the curtain has been
Looking forward to Martin
raised on more than
Luther
King Jr. Day and its spirit of
18,000 performances.
racial
harmony,
the Jeff Haas Trio
Through 20 years of

and Friends with special guest
Marcus Belgrave will present a
musical celebration of diversity 8
p.m. Saturday, Jan. 15, at The Ark
in Ann Arbor.
In addition to Haas' original com-
positions, the musicians will perform
arrangements of jazz classics by
Gershwin, Ellington and Coltrane.
In 1996, Haas' unique blend of
Jewish and African-American musical
traditions received national attention
after the release of his first recording,
L'Dor VaDor — Generation to
Generation. Said jazz great Dave
Brubeck, "In combining two great
musical traditions, [Haas] has created
a soulful music that transcends ethnic
barriers."
Tickets are $15 and are available at
Ticketmaster outlets or The Ark box
office, (734) 763-8587.

SCREENING

Room

The Detroit Film Theatre at the
Detroit Institute of Arts opens its
winter/spring season with Spanish
director Pedro Almodovar's All
About My Mother, a vibrant, funny
portrait of women who, all in their
own way, discover the power within
themselves to heal their lives. The
film won a Best Director Prize for
Almodovar (Women on the Verge of a
Nervous Breakdown) at last year's
Cannes Film Festival. It will be
screened for two weekends, at 7 and
9:30 p.m. Fridays; 1, 4, 7 and 9:30
p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, Jan.
14-23.
At 7:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17,
the DFT presents Chuck Workman's
The Source, a collage of archival
clips from movies, TV, and news-
reels about the Beat Generation.
The film brings the audience up
close and personal with legendary
figures like Jack Kerouac, Allen
Ginsberg, William Burroughs, Billie
Holiday, Bob Dylan, Norman
Mailer and more. Johnny Depp,
John Turturro and Dennis Hopper
supply new readings of the most
provocative works of the era.
Tickets to all screenings are $5.50.
For more information, call the DFT
box office, (313) 833-3237.

For Arts and Entertainment related events that you wish tr.; have considered for Out & About, please send the item, with a detailed description of the event, times, dates, place, ticket prices and publishable phone number,
Notice must be received at least three weeks before
FYI:
JN Out & About, The Jewish News, 27676 Franklin Road, Southfield, MI 48034; fax us at (248) 354-6069; or e-mail to gzimmerman@thejewishnews.com
to: Gail Zimmerman,
the scheduled event. Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.

1/14
2000

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