"wd THE MICHIGAN DAILY Sunday, February 2, 1969 arts festival The Believers: Voices from the black experience By ED FABRE Jessie De Vore brought the Voices, Inc. to Ann Arbor last night and also a pow- erful message. The Believers, a B 1 a c k Experience in Song, did not use whip- like tactics. This last point annoyed many white viewers who were distressed over not having been flagellated, publicly. But, for those who came for enjoyment they left with the satisfaction of having seen an artistic and vocal gem. Simply clad, in plain red dresses or black slack and turtlenecks, the company displayed a wide and powerful range of voices. The tunes, traditional in ' the black idiom, were skillfully arranged and carried out with machine-like precision. Mr. De Vore showed a beautiful bass voice which excelled when he sang or spoke. The acting was at times a bit exagger- ated but this was part of the message. The black experience in America has never been one in which black people were not exposed to excess - of work, of bru- tality, of exploitation. With a group of eleven actors and actresses, the group acted out some of the meaningful episodes of the black man's existence. Commencing with a scene of a free. Africa-pre-white folks days-the ensem- ble proceeded to illustrate the significant contrast between free men and servile chattel. The most dramatic and moving scene was the removal, in chains, of the African to the "new world." Introduced -by moans and groans and in almost total darkness, the scene was the one most of the audience was moved by because it was the beginning of what was to later be "the Negro problem." As the scenes of brothers and sisters in slavery were acted out, one could see the demeaning effects of the "peculiar institution" and also the black man's desire to be free, by any means necessary. In church and in, drink, blacks sought an effervescent escape. While both the church scenes and those of 'party-time' were well done, one could sense they were only stops along the road to a confronta- tion. Free bodies with slave minds can co-exist but so long, no matter how sooth- ing the god or how potent the spirits. Voices, Inc., in a brilliant manner, at- tempted to show in the scenes and songs of the' freedom riders and sit-ins how op- pressed blacks were still willing to give whites one last chance to do our thing- freedom - their way - non-violently. It failed. After a journey, in song, which had -~ music Janis Ian: Getting past her past By, FRED LaBOUR It's tough for me to talk about Janis ian, playing at Canterbury House this weekend, solely in terms of her music because she kindles such innate resentment in me personally. I've seen her sing a couple of times before and each time I was almost made nauseous by what I supposed was a phoniness, the magnitude of which boggled the mind. I disliked her affected, cliched speech, her conscious hipness, and her, childish contempt for people she obviously considered inferior. But it's not fair to talk about that kind of thing for obvious reasons so let's instead try conscientiously tb look at her performance and ignore past prejudice. She's playing at Canterbury House accompanying herself on guitar and piano backed up by Dave Friedman on vibes and Johnny Miller on string bass. I've never been particularly in love with her style of singing or guitar playing but it can be moderately effective, as proven last night on a song she did about "working on a mountain" which{ was her best song of the set. Janis Ian wrote one really nice song, "Society's Child," which was a large'hit in 1967 after Leonard Bernstein had her on his rock special and some adventurous radio stations picked it up. As far as I can remember, this is the only song she's ever created that embodied tension, perhaps the crucial aspect of music. (Just to be snotty, a valid argument might 'be made by those who have heard her do "Society's Child" live that it's "tension" was solely 'the result of superb production in the recording studio. But I'm trying not to be snotty.) Since then, she's done a lot of songs which she'll sing for you at Canterbury like "Pro Girl" and "Janey's Blues" which aren't reali terrible songs, but just don't do anything to you. As evidepced by her work last night, and her latest album though, Miss Ian is getting more ambitious and possibly more adept at song- writing' but she still can't quite bring it off. I think there's probably some good stuff kicking around inside her but it's having difficulty being articulated. She's bright and she has a childish sense of true drama that someday . may mature into a very powerful source of artistic energy, but for now, it's a little boring. As for her particular show here in Ann Arbor, Miller and Fried- man are .a pleasure to hear unto themselves. Miller is a familiar, maybe' even famous face to Michigan music people and he's developed into a superb bassist. Friedman messes around behind Janis' guitar and piano and though the combination doesn't generate a frenzy of excitement, it does all right.1 Maybe if Janis could have spent a long time growing up in a shoebox somewhere, trying lots of musical things out, discarding what wasn't hers and keeping what was, she could soon present to us tough, perceptive, challenging music. But recording contracts and the media hold no store in shoe- boxes, so we'll have to suffer along with her. Someday it might be worth it. W. C. FIELDS HELD OVER TH RU WEDNESDAY 1;1 I -Daily-Peter Dreyfuss - - . IKTITAF KA DIRGA 0 M Shows Today at 1 -3-5-7-9 P.M. I Everybody's favorite dirty old man is back in town. Putting it down' once more for a whole new generation of potential Fields' cultists. And a whole generation of devoted Fields' addicts. Whatever the subject, whatever the treatment, W. C. Fields' humor is more up-to-date than the hippest of contem- porary flicks. Catch "My Little Chickadee" with the incomparable Mae West. Then see "You Can't Cheat An Honest Man." That's all it should take to make W. C. your favorite dirty old man, too. "MY LITTLE CHICKADEE" with MAE WEST-7:30 '%.. EXPLOSIVELY FUNNY.., DON'T.. ,s MISS IT!" \ y1~'- 'o> I UI