Saturday, January 27, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three Saturday, January 27, 1973 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Three I, By KENNETH ALTSHULER For the Roses (Asylum 5057) is not Joni Mitchell's best album. But it is good enough to be the best folk album of 1972, and it is the logical fifth album in a long series of musical successes. To analyze Joni's album, one must look at her total music concept; the cohesive nature of one of her singular albums is represented in the trend she has established in all five albums as a series. Songs for a Seagull is 90 per cent lyrics and 10 per- cent music; Joni emphasizes an incredible ability to explore a theme compl y in a rhythmic, patterned, lyrical way. In Clouds, she begins to balance her lyrics with more musical in- fluence - the lyrics are signifi- cant, but the music transports the thoughts more easily. Ladies of the Canyon is the height of perfect balance between music Joni*Mitchell surrounds poetry with intense music and lyrics. Here, each song in itself is a total album concept, and the poetry is so perfectly surrounded by music as to make the difference indistinguishable. And in Blue, Joni's best album, she goes one step further; she simplifies both the lyrics and the music, to make her purpose so beautifully clear, so perfect- ly understandable, that the lis- tener is no longer an observer but is now a participant. And in making the album simplified, she doesn't lose her depth or in- tensity - rather she refines and matures both. So Joni patterns continuous em- phasis on balancing music with lyrics, and in Ladies and Blue, she reaches the balance and sim- ply intensifies each - but they are still equally balanced. In For the Roses, the musical im- portance increases, but the ly- rics only continue their steady ex- cellence. So we hear intensified musical compositions, and stable lyrical complements - the trou- ble being that the balance is tip- ped and the transition and vary- ing importance between words and tune can be disturbing. There are examples of the im- Iwasaki creates new musical world in concert I. GIIL A great Saturday Night! Lenny Bruce at Basin St. West The famous show that led to his arrest on charges of obscenity. 5 Betty Boop Cartoons FIREWORKS Dir, by Kenneth Anger Underground classic of dreamlike homosexual fantasies. SUN. BLOOD OF THE CONDOR ARCH ITECTU RE AUDITORIUM 7 &9:05 $1 By ROY CHERNUS KO IWASAKI, cellist with Samuel Sanders, pianist. Wednesday, Jan- uary 24, Hill Auditorium. Choral Union'Series of the University Musical Society. Sonata No. 3 in A Major, Np. 69-Beethoven; Sonata, Op. 8 for Unaccompanied Cello- Kodaly; Sonata for Cello and Piano -Debussy; Elegy-Faure; At the Fountain - Davidoff; Orientale - Granados; Polonaise brilliante, Op. 3-Chopin. Japan isn't only threatening Western markets with superior manufacturing, but in young mu- sicians schooled in Western music, largely foreign to Japan up to the end of World War I. Ko Iwasaki is one such musician who promises absolutely nothing in greatness, he plainly exhibits it right now with his career hardly begun! He is indeed rarer than his Stradivarious cello. Often, one may hear a certain instrument for years played similarly in various ensembles. Yet when treated to such a di- verse and undisputably virtuosic display as were all who attended Iwasaki's r e c i t a 1 Wednesday evening, it is almost like hearing a new instrument. In a judicious- ly selected program, Iwasaki demonstrated consummate fi- nesse in several }musical styles over all ranges of emotion and sound. He utilized every musical expression to its fullest and wasn't afraid to liberally inter- pret his selections for greatest contrasts and depth. The few im- perfect intonations and loss of some notes served only to remind us of Iwasaki's mortality. The program opened and closed with familiar works of the roman- tic cello. Iwasaki displayed an ardor of alternating ferocity and throbbing lusciousness (particul- arly in the high registers). San- ders for the most part exercised utmost discretion in mingling his firm yet sensitively articulated parts wth Iwasaki's dense sonor- ity. The extensive use of rubato and fermata (pauses) by the duo were extraordinary but risked treacherous re-entrances. The cues could be nothing less than perfect to avoid sore thumbs sticking out, and they were per- fect! The brisk Chopin Polonaise gave Iwasaki an opportunity for flamboyant Paganiniesque tech- nical and rhythmic fire for which he was more than willing. The other rarely-heard works on the program demonstrated the duo's awing dynamism in a variety of moods and tonal colors. Faure's Elegy was a som- ber work in which Iwasaki's cello weeped among the piano's plod- ding chords of a funeral proces- sion. Granados' Orientale, as its title implies, was a short poetic piece mixing exotic Iberian and Eastern harmonic influences. Iwasaki's refined nuances com- plemented the work's lyrical sad- ness and mystic quality. Yet, Iwasaki didn't overwhelm the audience with musical and emo- tional profundity. The Davidoff work was a delight in its bright, frisky disposition which provided "comic relief" to the other serious selections. This piece showcased Iwasaki's formidable technique in tremeloes and runs of blinding speed played so deli- cately as to conjure up images of scampering nymphs in a forest. Iwasaki's astounding perform- ances. of the two more modern works (by Debussy and Kodaly) clearly proved his expertise of expression in more demanding material. The Sonata by Debussy was surprisingly atypigal of his usual introverted, dreamy impres- sionism. Debussy was near death when he wrote this bitter work and was experimenting in new concepts of dissonance and rhythm. This aggressive work employed many striking (both figuratively and literally) affects including percussive horizontal and vertical bowings, grating me- tallic tones (from bowing near the bridge), and violent pizzica- toes. The constantly shifting moods in the piece made it fas- cinating. The Kodaly Sonata encom- passed all the innovations and fervor of the Debussy work and far more, beyond anything I had previously heard in the cello repertoire. This work was a para- mount virtuosic showcase in murderous technical demand and a landmark in the full exploration of the cello's capabilities as a whole. Every conceivable sound the cello could produce was re- quired by the piece, including pizzacatoes on one to four strings, frenetic arpeggios and runs, mul- tiple harmonics, tortuous glis- sandi, metallic grating, and trills in single and multiple notes in runs. At many points, the work took on two distinct parts (as in piano music) and alternating string and chordal plucking (as in guitar music). Kodaly, leader of the modern Hungarian school since Bartok's death, shows some influence of Hungarian folk rhythms in this work (beginning of the third movement), but very little, unlike Bartok. ' Kodaly's Sonata is atonal, pos- sessing no recognizeable melodic or structural development within its three sections. Thus, for the uninitiated in modern music, this work might appear to be long and tediouslytacademic as an etude of new technical, sonorous, and compositional elements. But for this listener, Kodaly's Sonata didn't need recognizeable motifs or structureto confirm the com- poser's mastery and fiery emo- tion in brutal dissonance. Iwasaki revelled in this challenging work, his bow almost smoking at its winish. The few rushed pasages and missing dynamics can be wholly justified in light of the technical difficulties and cer- tainly Iwasaki's youth. The ex- cellent usage of rubatoes and silence in the fermatas by Iwa- saki were especially effective in the Kodaly Sonata. Throughout the program I mar- velled how well Iwasaki and San- ders meshed with what I thought to be two months of rehearsal (I last saw Sanders accompanying Itzhak Perlman at Hill Audi- torium in late November). After the performance I was informed by Sanders that the two of them had rehearsed together for only three days! With an accomplish- ment like Wednesday's recital after three days of rehearsal to- gether, I daresay that Iwasaki and Sanders could probably create the world in seven. t.v. tonight 6:00 2 4 News 7 Golf Tournament 9 This Is Your Life 50 Star Trek 50 Star Trek 56 Thirty Minutes With 6:30 2 CBS News 4 NBC News 9 Untamed World 56 To Be Announced 7:00 2 Truth or Consequences 4 George Pierrot-Travel 7 News 9 It Takes a Thief 50 Hee Haw 56 U.S. Industrial Film Festival 7:30 2 Young Dr. Kildare 4 Adventurer 7 Town Meeting 56 Eye to Eye 8:00 2 All in the Family 4 Emergency 7 Here We Go Again 9 NHL Hockey 56 Movie "Grand Illusion" 50 That Good Ole Nashville Music balances that is refreshing and musically progressive, but the few songs that this adversely af- fects reduces the greatness of the record. For the Roses is a condensa- tion of her thoughts of herself as a woman, a composer, and a writer, in that order. The title cut, with out a doubt, is the best song of the album. To under- stand the story she sings, one has to hear the lyrics in totality - to take out sentences would be to take her thoughts out of con- text. But in this song she sum- marizes her life at the moment she wrote it: As a woman (It seems like many dim years ago/ Since I heard that face to face/ Or seen you face to face), com- poser (The lights go down-/ And it's just you up there/ Get- ting them to feel like that), and poet (Now I sit up here/ The critic!). This is one of the best songs Joni has ever written. The lyrics are not a bare stripping of the writer, but a portrayal of what she feels about herself, her life, and her career at this moment in time. In perfect com- plement, the music has steady streams of notes, and then a dip and rise, using the guitar as steps to a higher level of thought. The most obvious song reflect- ing her thoughts as a woman is Woman of Heart and Mind; a truly touching commentary on an emotional part of Joni's identi- ty. "You think I'm like y o u r mother/ Or another lover or your sister/ Or the queen of your dreams/ ,Or just another silly girl/ When love makes a fool of me." But she's confident about herself and her feelings - she questions the man: "Do you real- ly laugh?/ Do you really care?/ Do you really smile/ When you smile?". Hauntingly questioning lyrics to go with the mellow, smooth-flowed composition. "See You Sometime" is a con- tinuation of her womanhood theme, questioning a situation with a past lover. "O.K. hang up the phone! It hurts/ But something survives." With an ap- parent reference to James Tay- lor (Pack your suspenders/ I'll come meet the plane", it's a comment to any past emotional involvement - even if the situ- tion changes, emotions are still there. And musically, she simply follows her statements with tune- ful answers. "The Blond in the Bleachers" is a different sort of woman. "She flips her hair for you/! She follows you home/... and she says 'You can't hold the hand/ Of a Rock 'n Roll man! Very long." A lively guitar pro- vided by Stephen Stills paces a rock and roll tune in which she simply describes a different kind of woman, either in herself or in another. The last touch of her theme is found in "You Turn Me On I'm A Radio." Though it touches on a relationship, it's basically a romantic tale: The country flavor 8:30 2 Bridget Loves Bernie 7 A Touch of Grace 50 Nitty Gritty 9:00 2 Mary Tyler Moore 4 Movie "Play Dirty" 7 Julie Andrews-Variety 50 Black Omnibus 9:30 2 Bob Newhart 10:00 2 Carol Burnett 7 Assignment: Vienna 56 NET Opera Theater 50 Lou Gordon 10:30 9 Document 11:00 2 7 9 News 56 skating spectacular 11:15 7 ABC News 9 -Provincial Affairs 11:20 9 News 11:30 2 Movie-Comedy "The Millionairess" (English; 1960) 4 News 7 Movie "Some Like It Hot" (59) 11:00 2 Golden Gospel 7 Bullwinkle 9 Hymn Sing 50 Movie "Man with the Synthetic Brain" (69) 12:00 4 Johnny Carson 1:30 2 Movie "The Crawling Eye" (English 1958" 4 News 7 Movie "No Room for the Groom" (52) 3:00 2 7 News fits her lyrics "I'm a little bit corny" and in the tightest musi- cal arrangement of the album, she sings a happy/sad tale with her guitar and voice. "Let the Wind Carry Me" is an example of her imbalanced mu- sical/lyrical importance t h a t comes off well. This saddened balladeer-type song tells of a fa- mily: a teenage girl who dresses in a "kick pleat skirt", w i t h "eyelids painted green" and "staying up late in (her) high- heeled shoes". Mama "thinks -she spoilt me" and Papa "some- how knows he set me free". The song is hollow in a musical sense - not incomplete but comple- mentary to the story. Her music allows time to view this family situation since that's her emnha- sis and should be our interest. "Banquet" is her best social commentarv since "Fiddle and the Drum" from Clouds. "Some get the gravy/ And some get the gristle/ Some get the marrow bone' And some get nothing' Though there's plentytto spare." Driving notes to drive home a thoiieht. When Joni speaks of starving, she makes you feel the hunger in her pounding notes and her striving lyrics. Her musiz makes her thoughts positively un- nerving. "Cold Blue Steel and Sweet Fire" has the best guitar work on the album, provided by James Bw- ton. If one does not derive the mesage of heroin by the title, the "Looking for S w e e t Fire/ lyrics "Looking for Sweet Fire! Shadow of Lady Release/ "Come with me/ I know the way" she savs/ "It's down, down, down, the dark ladder" sells out Joni's message. Her downtrodden pace and taunting invitation to deatI makes von fear the power of the song as much as the heroin. "Lesson in Survival" has in- credible lyrical construction. The words are loose and unclear, but this snoradicness spells out the confusion this story is meant to convey. Back to back lyrics state "Maybe it's paranoia/ Maybe it's sensitivity/ Your friends pro- tect you/ scrutinize me" and "I need more quiet times/ By a riv- er flowing! You and me! Deep kisses/ And the sun going down." The music is a marked contrast to the lyrics, though a definite bonus. The piano is constant, as the notes spell out the questions and confusion in a meloncholy fa- shion. The two sore spots of the al- bum, and the examples of the harm done by the musical/lyrical imbalance are "Barangrill" and "Electricity." "Barangrill" ap- pears to be filler material, and though Joni's fillers are far su- perior to other folk singer's best songs, it doesn't help her album. The inadequacy is that the ly- rics are insignificant though poe- tic, and the music isn't aestheti- cally pleasing. It's just not that good. "Electricity" has good mu- sic - its tune is indeed electri- fying, really jumping and live- ly. But the lyrics, though they possess electrical terms, do not complement an otherwise g o o d composition, and thus is a dis- appointing part of the side. * "Judgement of the Moon a n d Stars (Ludwig's Tunt)" is my favorite song of the album. It's not well balanced; except for the second half, the composition far outshines the lyrics. But the whole song is so successfully ex- perimentative, the imbalance can be overlooked simply because of its professionalism. She speaks of Beethoven as if she was his best friend, and just as you get to know Joni personally in For the Roses, you certainly discov- er Beethoven after this song. The tune possesses fantastic keyboard work as befits Joni and/or Lud- wig; Joni makes Beethoven her central theme and surrounds him with music, just as Beethoven would in his works. First she sees him in respect to other peo- ple: "Cold white keys under your fingers/ Now you're think- ing "T h a t' s no substitute." She follows with a moment's de- dication to Ludwig in a piano in- terlude; not one of his symphon- ies, but one of hers. The wh o 1 e song belongs to the second seg- ment in which, like a personal friend, Joni says "If you're feel- ing contempt/ Well then you tell it/ If you're tired of the silent night/ Jesus, well then you yell it." Musically and lyrically high- lighting the second side, it com- pletes the album on a perfect note. For the Roses is a combination of many things. It's technically Joni experimenting with the bal- ance of music and lyrics. But thematically, it's an in depth review of herself, primarily as a woman, and secondarily as a composer/ poet. It's not a bleed- ing-heart, self-pitying analysis - more of an independent look at herself as an individual. Her sen- timentality is that of a romantic, and her introspection and state- ments are probing and confident. But if anything is true about Joni's albums, it's that they are for her more than for us. Joni loves to tell stories, propose thoughts, and make the listener laugh, cry, and feel. Her being a composer and poet achieves this, but more importantly, it enables her to see what she feels about herself and her life. It's an attempt to portray an individual and convey the discovery to oth- ers - For the Roses accomplish- es both. CULTURE CALENDAR_ DRAMA--Professional Theatre Program presents Godspell today at the Power Center at 3, 8; Junior Light Opera shows Mousetrap tonight at Mendelssohn, 7:30. FILM-Cinema Guild shows Lenny Bruce at Basin St. West tonight in Arch. Aud. at 7, 9:05; Cinema II presents a Clint Eastwood double feature: Fistful of Dollars, The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly tonight at 7, 9 in Aud. A; Couzens Film Co-op shows Hotel tonight in the cafeteria at 7, 9:15; UAC-Mediatrics presents My Fair Lady to- night at 7, 9:30 in Nat. Sci. Aud. MUSIC-The Musical Society presents Michael Lorimer play- ing guitar tonight at 8:30, Rackham Aud.; the Music School presents Robert McFadden playing piano tonight at SM Recital Hall at 8. WEEKEND BARS & MUSIC-Blind Pig, Okra (Fri., Sat.) cover; Golden Falcon, Majo Boogie Band (Fri., Sat.) cov- er; Mackinac Jack's, Ramble Crow (Fri., Sat.) cover; Mr. Flood's Party, Brooklyn Blues Busters (Fri., Sat.) cover; Odyssey, Store Front (Fri., Sat.) cover; Bimbo's On The Hill, Cricket Smith (Fri., Sat.) cover; Rubaiyat, Iris Bell Adventure (Fri., Sat., Sun.) no cover; Pretzel Bell, FFD Boys (Fri., Sat.) cover; Del Rio, jazz combo, (Fri., Sat.) no cover; Ark, Steve Goodman (Fri., Sat., Sun.) admission. romb e rg fulfill musclpromises, By LORRE WEIDLICH Wednesday night's concert sponsored by UAC-Daystar, at Power Center brought back viv- id memories of two years ago when David Bromberg did the warm up set at Hill Auditorium for a group called Sea Train. Anyone who saw him had a fore- taste of even finer things to come. Time has passed, Brom- berg has been back in Ann Ar- bor several times, and he has lived up to the promise of even finer things. Last night's aud- ience greeted him like an- old friend. The night opened with a warm- up set by Tery Tate, one of Ann Arbor's local musicians. About the only reason anyone w o u l d put Tate on the same bill with another artist is to make that artist look good, and Bromberg doesn't need that kind of build- up. Coupled with the fact that Tate is almost completed devoid of talent - his guitar-playing consisted of strumming, which got to be pretty monotonous, his harp-playing was crude and un- original, and his yodelling made me cringe - was the fact that he didn't have enough regard for himself or his audience to make sure he knew his songs before performing them. His singing con- sisted of miscellaneous groans and long held semi-screams that brought laughter from the aud- ience. He .went from one song to t h e next without a break, punctuating them with long series of 'hum, hum, hum's." It was a good thing he stuck those in, because everything he did sounded so similar that without them you would hardly have known where one song ended and the next be- gan. Besides turning a series of fine songs - "TB Blues." "Me and Bobby McGee," "The Mid- night Special," "Winding Boy," "He's in the Jailhouse Now" - into parodies of themselves, he was pretty repulsive to watch, too. Apparently in an attempt to be more "bluesy," he went through a series of facial con- tortions calculated to make him look wasted and agonized. ___________________ A thru Classified Jm "Some of my favorite movie moments of the year! Sophisticated, Biting and Droll. Donald Sutherland again demonstrates he is one of our most extra- ordinary contemporary actors." I -William Wolf, Cue Mag "At least I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have changed several times since then!"-Alice's Adventures in Wonderland-Lewis Carroll LATE SHOW-FRI. & SAT. open 11:05-start 11:15 not continuous with "Travels ,... ALL SEATS $2.00 ALEX IN WONDERLAN An MGM Presentation in METROCOLOR [ EIt'TH u"''U11 azine ARK D LEL I can only say, if he was, in that much pain, he should have gotten off stage and spared the audience the agony he was put- ting them through. There are all kinds of musicians, but he does- n't fall into any familiar cate gory. By the time, David Bromberg came on, the audience was rest- less and impatient, and a lesser musician could probably not have held their attention for long. But Bromberg was in complete con- trol from the moment he stepped on stage. He began with a hard- driving country song, "H a rd- Working John," that was the per- fect attention-getter, and from there went on to "You've got to Suffer to Sing the Blues," both his own songs. His band, whih he described as "a Salvation Army band with strings," back- ed-him up on bass, fiddle, man- dolin and a variety of wind in- strments, with generally fine re- sults, although there were times when I wished he would have toned down the back-up music and put more emphasis on his guitar-playing. By now he knows Ann Arbor audiences well, and enjoys them as much as they do him. He car- ried on a running conversation between songs, about the pres- sures of being on the road - "If you were to travel with us for about a week you'd under- stand Alice Cooper"; about his cautiousness in introducing "Jug- band Song" as a song about "a terible woman" - "I have to be careful what I say in Ann Ar- bor. Listen, there are terrible women;" and about why he doesn't follow requests - be- cause in order to give his best he has to do the songs that fit the state his head is in, rather than what someone else wants to hear. Bromberg usually does several new songs on each trip to Ann Arbor, and last night wastno ex- ception. He dugup an old blues from the Bessie. Smith era, "Judge, just send me to the 'lec- tric Chair," and performed it with a very effective back-uon trumpet. Another old blues piece, 'Statesboro Blues," was also new. He performed it without back-up band, as he did several things during the evening. It's always nice to hear Bromberg alone, be- cause the emphasis is then to- tally on his fine picking and his voice, not a great voice but one that grows on you. His picking on band pieces was also excel- lent, especially on "Six Days on the Road," and his mandolin playing, introduced with the com- ment, "I just like picking a man- dolin. We ain't got nothing work- ed out for it," about wiped out the audience. "Sharon," the song with which Bromberg closed, was about the heaviest rock he got into. The band lengthened it from the re- corded version, added material, and produced a masterpiece that the audience responded to with a standing ovation. The song, about a belly-dancer, went from o n e extreme of Bromberg alone on 71-70 The University Players Proudly Announcea -THE MAGISTRATE Jan. 31 - Feb. 3 by Sir Arthur Wing Pinero Lydia Mendelssohn nd. Tickets $3, $2. Theater "Riotously Funny Piece of Classic Farce" -London Daily Telegraph, Dec. 21, 1972 Lydia Mendelssohn Box Office opens Mon., Jan. 29, 12:30 to 5:00 Dept. of Speech Communication and Theater Magistrate Mail-order Coupon o*l mm = m m m m m m mmm C/uc'S k.44Ahp iengice4 FIRST CHURCH OF CHRIST, SCIENTIST 1833 Washtenaw Avenue SUNDAY: 10:30 a.m.: Worship Services, Sunday School (2-20 yrs.). Infants' room available Sunday and Wednesday. Public Reading Room, 306 E. Li- berty St.: Mon., 10-9; Tues.-Sat., THE FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH 502 E. Huron St., Phone 663-9376 * * * FIRST CONGREGATIONAL On the Campus at the corner of State and William Sts. Rev. Terry N. Smith, Sr. Minister Rev. Ronald C. Phillips, Assistant *I * * PACKARD ROAD BAPTIST 2580 Packard Road, 971-0773 Tom Bloxam, Pastor, 971-3152 Sunday School, 9:45 a.m. Worship: 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. Training Hour: 6 p.m. LORD OF LIGHT LUTHERAN CHTTRiH(AT.LC LCA) (frmerly FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH 1432 Washtenaw Avenue Services of Worship at 9:00 and 10:30 a.m.-Sermon: "A Sense of Urgency." Preaching: Robert E. Sanders. COLLEGE PROGRAM Bible Study - Sundays at 10:30 a.m.; Tuesdays-12:00 to 1:00. Holy Communion - Wednesdays 5:15 to 5:45. Supper Program - Wednesdays 6:00. * * * CAMPUS CHAPEL 1236 Washtenaw V_ n_.._-__ i PLEASE PRINT Name ------- - WED. THURS. FRI. SAT.. JAN. 31 FEB. 1 FEB. 2 FEB. 3, .... NO. PRICEJ OFFICE , USE 10-5; Closed Sundays and Holi- FIRST UNITED METHODIST I b A ) 1U\1111WLI days. CHURCH and WESLEY FOUNDA- Lutheran Student Chapel) For transportation, call 668-6427. TION -State at Huron and Wash. 801 S. Forest (Corner of Hill St.) S* * 19:30 and 11:00 a.m. - Worship Donald G. Zill, Pastor UNIVERSITY LUTHERAN Services. "Christ's Purpose for the Sunday Folk Mass-10:30 a.m. CHAPEL (LCMS) Church." Sunday School-9:15 a.m.I 1511 Washtenaw Avenue Broadcast on WNRS 1290 AM, Sunday Supper-6:15 p.m. l. __%. )...,s.. XTTD7 AX11, n-m- - _ Poam _7:.nnm