By TUREKA TURK
Michigan Citizen
Packaging is re I impor­
tant. Especially when it
comes to female singer.
Take En Vogue for example.
It is the elaborate costuming,
hair pieces, and sexy moves
that stick in the mind, more
so than the voic of th "di-
vas".
And then-there's Joi. You'd
of itself in the background.
SH IS, INDEED, the
funkiest thing to come out of
the Dallas Austin 'pa3Se, fa­
mous members including
TLC, Boyz II Men, and ABC.
But she doesn't look like she's
going to be the most success­
fulone.
Joi's ound and package
have already been accepted
by the underground club
scene, who rave at her r em­
blance to them and her un­
usual sound. But that's about
as far as it goes.
Her music isn't pIe ant or
ufficient enough to carry
over to a popular R&B audi­
ence or any other audienc
she could b accepted by,
which is too bad for h r voice.
She may very well remain in
the mix of House music clu
penned a song that tak
sexuality to the v rge of con­
ceited androgyny. It is v ry
plain that Joi was on ar h
for the meani ng of her own
exuality with lyric like:
"One for the girls
And, two for their noise
And, three for all specta-
tors
And, four for their toys"
r.
With hi f t firmly roo in
th rthy pi u of th juk
joint and hi mind hopecotching
unfettered acr th mu ical
continuum, alto xophoni
Sonny Simmo n an
vant-gard paradigm in today'
all-too-conservative jazz ne.
Afterfourd d of perform-
ing (both as a I der and with
uch legends Eric Dolphy,
Chari Mingu and Sonny Rol­
lins), Simmons till PO!�SSE�
every nuance of the combination
of warmth and ferocity, brain
and brawn that prompted Clif­
ford Jordan to dub him "the best
saxophone player in the world. "
Ancient Ritual. Simmons'
first album for Qw�t/Warner
Bros., bre ks a twelve-year hia­
tus in his recording career. The
eight extended originals, which
pit Simmons' horn against th
fluid, intuitiv rhythm ection of
Charnett Moffett and Zarak
Simmons (Sonny's kinsman
son), give ample evidence of hi
kills as composer, improvi r
and master of spatio-temporal
constructs.
From the soft, languid ton
of "Theme for Linda" to the ex­
plosiv title track, with its Col­
trane-esque barrage. of
asymmetrical phrasings and
rapidfire changes, Simmon
makes one instrument peak
velum .
One I' ten to ,pi like th
propulsiv It incarnation" or
the intrigue-cloaked "The
Other East H may conjure up im­
ages of Bird blowing hot or Or­
nette setting off on A cosmic
flight, but intens scrutiny
vea Simmons' unique, fully r -,
alized phrasing nd
ph nom nal i tin
Hu y "Sonny" Simmo w
born ixty-on y go on Sic­
ily land, Lou' iana, into mu­
ical family (both hi pa n
ng and his minister father w
also a talented trap drumm r).
Before Sonny r ach d hi
, the family moved
country to Oakland, California.
It w there that he took up the
English horn (an instrum nt he
remai connected to, born
out by th re plendent ton
that billow from Ancient Ritu-
-al " undoum in Egypt") be­
fore hi expo ure to Charli
Parker prompted a switch to alto
x at the age of 16. .
TER T with blu
and R&B stars like Lowell Ful­
som and Amos Milburn, Sonny
found a niche in the explosive
Bay Abe-bop cen of the lat
'50s alongside such mu icians
onny Stitt, Cal Tj der nd x-
t r Gordon.
B for long, how v r, im­
mons found him elf fling
w ighed down by tr dition. Lik
many kindred spirits, he threw
off those hackl and turned to
the avant-garde "new thing,"
joining Charles Mingus' J zz
Workshop in 1 961 (whe . h .
played with Roland Kirk and
Charles McPherson). The nex
y r, itnmona form h 0 n
oup, a tt by nut t/r
m n Prin ha.
Their first recording, TIu!
Cry, ha been h iled as a s mi­
nal arly f music work.
A mov to N w York ex­
panded immons' band (by thi
tim rechristened th Firebird )
to include Ga ry Peacock and
Moffi t.
GTOhBy
Ar in 1960, immo met
trump ter B rbara Don Id,
with whom he'd unite both per-
onally (they married that y r,
and on Christma Day, she gave
birth to on Zarak) and prof -
sion lly, beginning with a pairof
album they recorded for th
grou ndbreaki ng ESP label
(hom to Sun Ra and Al rt
Ayler, among others)
H 'd concentrat on r cord­
ing with Don ld, including
brief in in am Riv rs' big
band, to which he added his in­
gul r Engli h horn ound
throughout th lat '60 ,
Simmo took a break from
th mu ic bu in in the mid
'70, ide from collabor tions
wi h Phar oh Sander nd
Marvi n Gaye, h con ntr ted
on r i ing a family, bu hi horn
w n v r far from his sid ,
Wi h th mu ic orld cl rly
in th throe of a climactic
ch n , imrnons unded th
imrnor I Institute for Cultur
in order to "play music without
ny b rri r in the jungl of
Am rica." It's worthy cru d
ind nd it would b h rd to
nvi Ion mor potent opening
alvo than Ancient Ritual.