Arts & Entertainment

&Ab o ut

410

Stone's Throw

Stone is drawn
An unlikely set of circumstances has
to musicians who
endowed Canadian-born, Boulder-based
invent their own
Jewish banjo-playing composer Jayme
worlds. With such
Stone a broader set of reference points
unlikely influences
than most banjoists; and those early
as Japanese poetry
beginnings have influenced his sound,
and Brazilian literature, he even composed
choice of material and collaborations.
what he calls a tiny symphony that takes
Stone picked up a passion for music
place inside an imaginary light bulb.
The latest chapter in Stone's musical
from an eccentric uncle who listened to
records endlessly, placing his ashtray on
travelogue takes place in Africa. He went
the speaker so Stone could join him in
knowing that the hide-covered instru-
watching how the cigarette smoke swirled
ment with an "extra" drone string we
to the music. He started playing banjo,
call the banjo actually comes from West
Stone says, because the instruments'
Africa. Stone became particularly curious
quirky physics align with his thinking.
about what aspects of banjo playing did
Soon after his calling to the banjo,
Stone had a chance meeting with
revered Indian sarod musician All
Akbar Khan. "I spent the better
part of the week soaking up these
ancient songs:' remembers Stone.
"You could say it was my first banjo
lesson:" The librarian who stocked
his local public library with a vast
trove of banjo recordings landed
him long-lasting lessons with a
series of maestros, from Bela Fleck
and Tony Trischka, to Dave Douglas
and Bill Frisell.
Jayme Stone and Mansa Sissoko

not make it across the
ocean on slave ships
headed west from
Senegal and Mali in the
1700-1800s.
What he found was
a musical culture that spawned the many
branches of roots music. During his seven-
week trip to Mali, Stone found himself sit-
ting in with Toumani Diabate's Symmetric
Orchestra in downtown Bamako, lost in
circles of Wassoulou polyrhythms and in
a rural Dogon village with no electricity
where he inadvertently discovered a banjo
predecessor unheard of in the West.
Now, after studying with the likes of
Djelimady Sissoko, Adama Tounkara
and Bassekou Kouyate, he realizes that
old-fashioned oral transmission suits
him best. "There's just something spe-
cial about one-on-one learning:' says
Stone. "There's more to music than just
the notes."
From Africa to Appalachia, his new
collaborative album with Malian griot
singer and kora player Mansa Sissoko,
features special guests Bassekou
Kouyate (African ngoni) and Casey
Driessen (Appalachian fiddle). Stone
and Mansa Sissoko will introduce

songs from the album to Michigan
audiences when the duo appear 8 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 15, at the Ark in Ann Arbor.
Tickets are $13.50. (734) 761-1451 or
www.theark.org .

Art In The Park

More than 200 artists from around the
country will showcase original work in
the areas of ceramics, jewelry, painting,
sculpture, photography, glass and more
when the 34th Art in the Park to benefit
Common Ground takes place 10 a.m.-6
pm. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday,
Sept. 13-14, in Shain Park in Birmingham,
where admission is free. Other attractions
include live musical entertainment, food,
artist demonstrations and children's drop-
in workshops.
Common Ground is an Oakland
County-based nonprofit crisis intervention
agency that offers a 24-hour resource and
crisis helpline, shelters for youth in crisis,
family counseling, support and education
groups and outreach to homeless and
runaway youth. This major fundraiser for
Common Ground also will feature a ben-
efit silent auction. Contact: (248) 456-8150
or www.commongroundhelps.org .

❑

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Photos are appreciated but cannot be returned. All events and dates listed in the Out & About column are subject to change.

Om= Nate Bloom
Special to the Jewish News

New Flicks
The Women, which opens Friday,
(110 Sept.12, is an updated remake of
the classic 1939
film of the same
name (based on a
(11)
play by Claire Booth
Luce). The remake,
like the original,
features only female
\\
characters. Men and
Debi Mazar
boys are referred to
but not seen.
Meg Ryan stars as Mary Haines, a
woman who seems to have a perfect
life: a handsome Wall Street tycoon
husband, a nice young daughter
and a part-time job as a fashion
designer. Her best friends include
Sylvie (Annette Bening), the editor

B12

September 11 . 2008

of a chic fashion magazine, and Edie
Cohen (Debra Messing), an eccentric
with a lot of kids. However, Mary's
husband is having an affair with a
fancy department-store clerk (Eva
Mendes). Mary and Sylvie find out
about the infidelity from the store's
manicurist, played by Debi Mazar,
44 (Entourage).
Mazar's mother was born a
Catholic but often switched religions;
for a short time, she converted to
and embraced Judaism. The actress'
Latvian Jewish father was hidden
during the Holocaust and was raised
a Catholic. The actress, who isn't
religious, didn't know her father was
Jewish until she was an adult.
Mary's life spirals downward as
she loses her designer job and Sylvie
betrays her. A popular gossip colum-
nist (Carrie Fisher) agrees to work for
Sylvie's magazine when Sylvie agrees

to give her the dirt on Mary's hus-
band's affair. Devastated, Mary goes to
a mountain retreat where she meets a
saucy Hollywood agent (Bette Midler).
The agent helps Mary get the confi-
dence to go back home and effectively
cope with her situation.
Opening the same day is Ethan
and Joel Coen's new comedy, Burn
After Reading. John Malkovich plays
a CIA agent who writes a memoir
about his life at the agency. His
estranged wife copies the draft on
to a computer disk that acciden-
tally falls into the hands of a guy
(Brad Pitt) who works at a gym.
Pitt decides to blackmail Malkovich.
George Clooney plays a CIA agent
who is assigned to recover the disk.

Hollywood Insiders

The HBO series Entourage, airing
10 p.m. Sundays, began its fifth

season on Sept. 7. After appearing
in last season's finale in Cannes, a
regular new character this season is
Jacqueline, Johnny Drama's (Kevin
Dillon) pretty French girlfriend,
played by Julia Levy-Boeken, 23.
The actress was born and raised in
France but has Israeli citizenship.
Levy, who is fluent in Hebrew, co-
starred in a hit Israeli TV show and
served in the Israeli army.
Emmanuelle Chriqui (Sloan) and
Martin Landau (Bob Ryan) each
will each appear in at least one new
Entourage episode, reprising charac-
ters from prior seasons, as will Debi
Mazar (PR agent Shauna). Jamie
Lynn Sigler will appear as herself in
this season's third episode.
Emmy-winning Entourage star
Jeremy Piven (talent agent Ari
Gold) is set to co-star on Broadway
this fall in a revival of David Mamet's