The Michigan Daily---Wednesday, September 27, 1978-Pge,
Ellington's spirit lives at jazz Lest finale
By R. J. SMITH
In the pages of one book anyway, it is
.proclaimed that Sunday is a day of rest.
But the musicians performing in the af-
ternoon and evening shows of the Ann
'Arbor Jazz Festival 1978 last Sunday
must have left that book at home; for
by the time Art. Blakey walked off the
stage at around 2:00 Monday morning,
numerous hell-raising performances
had been delivered, and the musical
equivalent of fire and brimstone hung
heavily in the air.
Sunday's lengthy festivities began
early in the afternoon with the big band
sound of Ann Arbor's own David Swain
and his II-V-I orchestra.
OPTIMISTICALLY surveying the
relatively sparse crowd (it was the
poorest-selling show of the festival),
Swain thanked all for coming and said,
"I understand we have some com-
petition today, I guess some people are
rallying to save the whales ... I just
fierce, riveting intensity that leaped out
to the listener even in the quietest of
passages.
Indeed, Freeman himself expressed
a fiery nature, barely acknowledging
the sizable response to their playing,
and only speaking at the very end of the
set, when he gruffly mujmbled out the
song titles and introduced his band.
Freeman stands firm at the front of the
stage, his eyes glowering at the Hill
Possessor of much technique, Freeman
let it out smoothly here; mercurially
ripping apart scales, screeching at the
very top of his range, holding out a note
for almost a minute- with circular
breathing.
To the end Freeman seemed a little
ill-at-ease, at least a bit undesirous and
uncaring of crowd response, which was
very appreciative. I do not know why
this is - one hallmark of this avante-
garde movement is a mistrust, and
sometimes contempt, for the audience.
Certainly his stage manner was not
contemptuous, but it smacked of being
quite chilly.
And know what? After his Sunday
performance, it couldn't have mattered
less.
SUCCEEDING Freeman on stage
and closing the afternoon show was
flutist Hubert Laws and his quintet. Of
the "crossover" artists playing this
weekend, Laws seemed the one most
amenable to the crowd, and certainly
more the jazz artist than Stanley
Turrentine. Still, after hearing Chico
Freeman's set, I cannot imagine what
Laws could have dne to hold my atten-
tion.
Even in a version of Sonny Rollins'
"Airerin," Laws classical influences
and technique dominated rather than
his feel for swing.
Putting Hubert Laws after Chico
Freeman was like the after-dinner mint
that follows a meal of flaming cordon
bleu. It might be real nice, it might be
the choicest mint in the world, but who
would remember?
* * *
THE SHOW Sunday night was a fit-
ting climax, even though the Duke
Ellington orchestra needed to be
featured as the show's climax, and not
at the beginning.
Instead, finishing off a long and
joyous weekend of jazz was Art Blakey
and his Jazz Messengers. Drummer
Blakey, just one of the many fine
drummers who have appeared at this
festival, has garnered a deserved
reputation for his ability to select
quality young musicians such as Cedar
Walton and Lee Morgan and nurture
their individual styles.
The Messengers Blakey brought to
town Sunday did nothing to tarnish his
reputation.
LEARLY, ALTO sax player Bobby
Watson was the star of Sunday's show.
Playing in a sweet style that
nonetheless grabbed the listener and
pulled him up close, the lean Watson
was given ample space to work out his
solos, often played to songs he had pen-
ned for the group.
A song described by Art only as "a
ballad" held Watson's finest moment,
and a powerful, strong-swinging coda
was sweet icing on the cake. Watson's
"Time Will Tell," with a beautiful and
compelling melody line, showed him to
also be a songwriter worth paying at-
tention to.
None of the others were slouches
either. Valerie Ponermarev, a Russian
trumpet player, had sounded cold and
unfocused much of the night until his
moment of truth came on "I Remember
Clifford," when his warm be-bop style
came together fabulously.
AND TENOR David Schnitter's
playing, while it had few high spots,
featured much consistently fine im-
provisation.
The ensemble was a joy to watch -
there was great enthusiasm evident, as
they fingered solos they would never
play from the back of the stage, and
grinned and hooted throughout at good
solos.
Although it's rarely his desire to do a
goodly amount of soloing, Blakey
seemed to even keep the loud back-up
work to a minimum Sunday night,
giving the space over to the others. But
there was no sag in his drumming -
that impressive slow burn was in fine
form, and as always his timekeeping
was impeccable.
THERE WAS,'unfortunately, a great
sag throughout the performance of
Mose Allison. I have always had great
respect for Allison's wry tunes and his
patented "man of worldly ways" vocal
style, but a great deal of his delivery
was ruined for me by his boorish, insen-
sitive rhythm section.
Mose did many of his hits, such as
"Seventh Son," "Everybody's Crying
Mercy," "Your Molecular Structure,"
"Hello There Universe" and others, but
they were doodled over and often trod-
den over by the bassist and drummer,
who ignored the simple, controlledly
impactive feel these songs need.
In all fairness, Allison did not help
matters, for he plays piano now with a
swirling, modern classical approach
that often shows little sight of being
bluesy. Still, a gently swinging rhythm
section would have made those
keyboard inventions sound more
natural - indeed, a solid bottom might
be enough contrast that they would
even sound ingenious.
MOSE .STILL had that great voice,
and no matter what he did, nothing
could destroy "Your Mind's On
Vacation, And Your Mouth's Working
Overtime." It's just a shame that his
unit was on vacation Sunday night.
Preceding Allison, unfortunately
scheduled to lead off the show, was the
Duke Ellington Orchestra under the
direction of Ellington's son, Mercer.
The tendency is to think of this group as
almost a novelty - their whole reason
for playing is because Duke Ellington
died and the musicians in his band
decided to split up.
But this would be a sad mistake. Cer-
tainly, they do exhume Ellington star-
dards - could they do otherwise anti
call themselves the Duke Ellington Ok-
chestra? - but they breathe some nett
passion into them, and leave no dout t
that they are quality musicians no mat-
ter what they call themselves.
OF COURSE, with the materiall1ey
See ELLINGTON'S, Page 7
.. THE COLLABORATIVE
fillot ond croft closs4
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Classes and workshops including:
PHOTOGRAPHY I & II OPEN HOUSE 1-5pm,
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gPORTFOLIO WORKSHP Collaborative Room-,
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U-M Artists & Craftsmen Guild, 763-4430
2nd Floor, Michigan Union
The ARK Presents Sept. 29,
ai
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Daily Photo by BRAD BENJAMIN
Anita Moore, the featured vocalist with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, sings at the
Sunday evening finale of the Ann Arbor Jazz Festival 1978 as Mercer Ellington,'
Duke's son, looks on fondly.
hope they don't mind if we do some
unauthorized wailing on our.own." As a
group, Swain wasn't far from his mark
as the orchestra delivered a well-paced
tasty selection of big band charts.
II-V-I alternate between icily cool
arrangements and crisp, snazzy
arrangements that rarely go fast
enough to be called stomps. Their per-
formance included an appropriate
tribute to Fats Navaroo (it was the late
trumpeter's birthday Sunday) by doing
"Our Delight," a Tadd Dameron song
that was a favorite of the great trum-
peter's.,
Several other Dameron songs were
played, including the suite "Fontain-
bleu."
IT SEEMED essential that a few big
bands be booked onto the bill of this.
festival, as it was after all dedicated to
the music of the greatest bandsman of
all time, Duke Ellington. And while a
more famous band like the Jones-Lewis
aggregate might seem more in accord
with the rest of the bookings, there is a
truthful significance to the II-V-I Or-
chestra's appearance.
The influence of Ellington works on
all levels, and it is a sad truth that the
big band is becoming, if it has not
already become, a jazz dinosaur that's
rarely economically feasible. Thus
perhaps the best representatin of the
Ellington legacy carried on in current
big bands is not at all reflected in
groups like Jones-Lewis or Akiyoshi-
Tabakin), but in units like II-V-I.
The virtues of Swain's group are ob-
servable - but they are marred by
such things as a plodding rhythm sec-
tion on the slower songs, lack of quality
soloists (spare trumpeter Marcus
Belgrave) and an unnecessary vocalist.
NEXT UP WAS tenor sax player
Chico Freeman and his quartet, whose
music was a distant cry from the war-
mth and structure of Swain's big band.
Playing only three tunes - but playing
them long - the unit telegraphed a
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Pinioned on the tumultuous, often
rock-oriented drumming of Don Moye,
the. group confidently worked out bur-
ning explorations of frenzy (quite dif-
ferent, it should be said, from Sun Ra's
celebrations of frenzy).
THE SECOND tune recorded the vir-
tues of bassist Reggie Workman and
vibist Jay Hogard. Workman was adept
at fleshing out the skimpy melody while
launching into melodies, while Hogard
showed himself to be a greatly suppor-
tive musician, handling Freeman's soft
flute lines nicely. His solos often were
dominated by long-hanging notes that
pierced through all playing and haun-
tingly filled the auditorium.
The final song, a tenuous run-on sen-
tence of bass and drum work, was top-
ped by Freeman's best playing.
i the Power Center
f
The University
of
Michigan
Professional
Theatre
Program
Guest
Artist
Series
1978
1979
Season
The BMack Sheep Repertory Theatre
in Manchester, MI
presents
MUDDY WATERS
OCTOBER 23 and 24; 7:00 and 9:30pm
FOR TICKETS AND INFORMATION
Call: 428-9280 or 428-9287
Write: P.O. Box 507, Manchester MI 48158
W ILL IAM
LEACH in
SHE STOOPS
TO CONQUER
OLIVER Directed by
GOLDSMITH's Andrew Mendelson
delightful 18th Wed. - Sun.
Century romp, Oct. 18 - 22
subtitled "The
Mistakes of a
Night," offers an
uproarious
comedy of errors.
Bumbling
bumpkins, fatuous
fops and
languishing ladies
join forces to
make this
marvelous
entertainment set
against 18th
Century manners
and elegance.
FREDERICK
COFFIN in
THE INSPECTOR
GENERAL
CH RISTOPH ER
WALKEN as
RICHARD
THE SECOND
WILLIAM
SHAKESPEARE's
masterful
chronicle relates
the fall of King
Richard II who
was defeated by
weaknesses in his
own nature, but
ennobled by
>'dering. More
poet than lord of
the realm, Richard
proves no match
to the strength of
Bolingbroke, his
cold, calculating
usurper.
Directed by
Richard Burgwin
Wed. - Sun.
Nov. 29 - Dec. 3
t
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1 4
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MEL
WINKLER in
THE RIVER
NIGER
NIKOLAI
GOGOL's satire
describes
deliciously the
comical events of
a Russian village
which mistakes a
young opportunist
for the
government
inspector and
proceeds to offer
him bribes -
including the
mayor's daughter
- before finally
discovering its
error and losses..
Directed by
James Martin
Wed. - Sun.
Feb. 14 - 18
JOSEPH A.
WALKER's
award-winning
and gripping
drama describes
passionately the
struggle of a
Harlem patriarch,
housepainter and
sometime poet as
he strives to make
a place in history
for himself, his
familymand his
people.
Directed by
Rhonnie Washington
Wed. - Sun.
Apr. 11-15
i