The Michigan Daily-Sunday, September 30, 1979-Page 5
The jazz fest is the place

By MARK COLEMAN
The second annual Ann Arbor Jazz
Festival is off to a strong start. After
the experience of last year's marathon,
the festival this year has been trimmed
down to two acts a night, plus a Sunday
afternoon concert, for the three-day
festival. The stylistic diversity of jazz is
stilt well represented however, in a
program palatable to beginner and
long-time enthusiast alike. Friday
night's performance was rich'evidence
of this, bringing together performers
from opposite ends of the universe.
BOTH DEXTER GORDON and the
Sun Ra Arkestra are familiar to Ann
Arbor concert-goers. This is Gordon's
third local appearance since his return
to America in 1977, and by his own ad-
mission, he seems to get better each
time. Dexter is probably the most ex-
perienced tenor saxophonist alive, with
a career stretching back to Lionel
r Hampton's big band in the early forties.
He was on the forefront of the bebop
movement that illowed, and. can be
seen as the stylistic "missing link"
between Lester Young and Charlie
Parker. After some legal hassles in the
mid-fifties, Dexter cooled out and
moved to Europe, establishing residen-
cy on the club scene there. For the next
20 years or so, he kept a low profile in
the states, issuing a brief but brilliant
series of Ip's on Blue Note in the early
sixties. I
Since his triumphant return two
years ago, Gordon hasn't paused to
bask in the refocused spotlight, but in-
stead has experimented with orchestral
forms on record while touring steadily
with a quartet of American musicians.
THEGROUP appearing here Friday
night was basically the same quartet of
past visits; Rufus Reid on bass, Eddie
Gladden on drums, with Kurt Lietze
replacing George Cables on piano. This
is not a group of well-seasoned hacks,
wading through a watered down
rehashing of past achievements: it is a
' dynamic, well-attuned unit that can
follow their leader's improvisation
wherever it may go, both spurring
him on and pointing out new directions
through their accompaniment. Opening
with "Fried Bananas," Gordon's rich,
melodic riffing sounded sharper and
fresher than ever on a song he has per-
formed countless times. From the very
start, Kurt Leitze's manic piano soloing
provided a fresh counterpoint, con-
trasting with his predecessor's more
pensive style.

-'-ti

A Slipp'ry Rock coach I shan't name
Told his players right after the game:
"Now let us proceed
To The League for a feed.
That's really the reason we came!"
o
Michigan
Next to Hill Auditorium
Located in the heart of the campus,
it is the heart of the campus ...

CAFETERIA HOURS;
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Send your League Limerick to:
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You will receive 2 free dinner
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Daily Photo by JIM KRUZ
Sun Ra, skipper and chief astro-telemeter of the Solar Arkestra airship, practices some of his trans-constellation-
pentatonic - mytho - biographicl - hybrid - revelatory - archeo - historic - lunar - didactic - monolithically /biomorphic-
Calculus doctrine on the Hill Auditorium crowd Friday evening. He also had 'em dancing.

The stylistic versatility of this group
became amazingly apparent on Donald
Byrd's composition "Tania." Typical of
his early work, it combines the "cool"
rhythmic momentum of post-bop Miles
with the slightest funky strain of
rhythm and blues. In Gordon's hands it
became downright sensuous as he ex-
panded and expounded the theme,
gradually incorporating the full range
of his tenor. Things picked up con-
siderably during another rapid-fire
Lietze piano solo, then took a turn for
the weird as Rufus Rei d gave an eerie,
sparse bowed bass solo. Pushing it out
closer and closer to the edge, the band
paused and Gordon slid back into the
theme, reassuring the audience and
then shattering that confidence with a
wild cacophonous free-form cOneldsion
unprecedented by anything I've heard
him perform.
AS ALWAYS,' Dexter performed a
number on soprano sax. Although

"Alone Together" benefits greatly
from the rhythm-heavy approach of the
band, (especially Eddie Gladden's
sustained, varied cymbal attack), the
soprano instrument seems to lack the
emphatic ringe that makes Dexter's
playing so warmly expressive. And yet
the ongoing spirit of adventure was not
lost at any point during the performan-
ce. Even a standard ballad such as
"Easy Living" is a study in controlled
contrasts: from Gordon's stark, bluesy
first solo to the flourishing, well-
ornamented piano, through an up-temp
rhythm break to a- climactic solo
restaurant of the tenor theme. Billie
Holliday couldn't have imagined this
song being performed like this, butr
chances are she would have ap-
preciated it.
Thai's part of the reason Dexter Gor-
don is so successful at this late date in

his career. He is well aware of where
he's been musically, and combines his
maturity with a consciousness of
current innovations, accessibly
integrated in a well-disciplined style. As
the quartet encored with some
revitalized bop, someone shouted "Bird
lives!" Indeed, the spirit of im-
provisation characterized by Charlie
Parker is alive, well, and playing in
Ann Arbor at least once a year.
LIKE DEXTER Gordon, Sun Ra
brings an impressive musical
background to current performances.
By all accounts a child prodigy, Sun Ra
(he acknowledges no other name)
brought his extremely formidable
playing and arranging ability to the big
band of Fletcher Henderson in the for-
ties. When Henderson, the aging,
forerunner of Basie and Ellington,
See SUN, Page 7

STO
Hospitality
{ t All employees c
Restaurants admi
Students ad
_1' for more in

)NIGH T A T
& Student Night
of Ann Arbor Bars and
itted FREE with Pay Stub
and
mitted for SOC with I.D.

7-TI T

fo call 994-5350

INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS SERIES
Films from Millenium Film/ Workshop
Millenium Film Workshop, established in 1966, functions as a resource center
for film in New York City. They offer workshops, classes, pre and post
production facilities, and a newsletter for the filmmaker. The films that will
be shown represent a variety of attitudes and aesthetic stances in the art of
independent filmmaking.
Mon: NANOOK OF THE NORTH (free at 8)
Tues: LITTLE BIG MAN
CINEMAGUILD TONIGHTA OLDARCH.AUD.

eying at Butteri

Theatres

"Long, tall Dexter" does what the inveterate bebop tenor man has always
done best: lay down some of the coolest lines this side of Charlie Parker,
and the warmest sounds this side of anybody. Dex did this all Friday eve-
hing, when he kicked off the second annual Ann Arbor Jazz Festival in Ilill
Auditorium.
Karim Khalaf
Mayor of Ramallah

214 S U iv.ity 668-6416
Music By:
STEVENS
P SAT-SUN MATINEE ONLY 1:00 & 5:20

and

I-

Fahd Kawasmah
Mayor of Hebron