The Michigan Daily
Laylum swings
Leroy Jenkins plays violin, and apparently very well; he was a big hit at E. Quad auditorium Friday night.
Soo ioi eratue
By WENDY GOODMAN
and MIKE TAYLOR
As the cold air of another Michigan-
winter becomes increasingly evident,
Ann Arbor folks can still find warmth at
the Ark coffee house, Friday night was
a fine example as Canadians Ian Robb,
Grit Laskin (both members of Friends
of Fiddler's Green), and Margaret
Cristl, collectively Laylum, brought
their beautiful three-part harmony
(four if you count the audience) to an
unfortunately small crowd at the Ark.
The trio'S superb singing voices were
not the only thing to recommend them.
Robb plays a mean concertina, and
Laskin plays excellent mandolin, gui-
tar, button accordian, dulcimer, and
penny whistle. Since almost endless
combinatiorns of vocals and instrumen-
tation are possible, the concert was rich
in variety and melodies.
The group plays old British and.
Canadian sohgs, mainly of the music
hall and English ballad traditidn. Even
so, they're careful enough in their se-
lection of rmaterial to present a'diverse
array of tunes. "We get our songs from
books, people, and records; and some
we make up ourselves," Laskin noted.
Christl pointed out, "it's getting to be
more and more important to avoid.
main sources.'"
On stage .the band is relaxed and
spontaneous, as the members trade off
leads and jokes. At one point, Robb put
a microphone on each side of his con-
certina. Laskin responded by calling it,
"stereo concertina - spelled e-g-o."
"If you can't get the words right
away, just hum or jnake some sound,"
said Laskin early in the evening. The
audience needed little encouragement
to sing heartily during many of the.
numbers. In fact, the performers some-
times applauded the crowd's singing.
Comical songs were an important
part of the evening. German Musician,
a tune "ostensibly about a piano
tuner," had naughty lyrics. Christl,
Robb, and Laskin also took an old
theme and modernized it with words
like, "As a freak and his old lady were
tripping through the heather, Said the
freak to ills old lady, 'my head is not
together."
The emotional intensity of other tunes
seemed heightened by the trio's soaring
harmonies. The Painful Plow was mov-
ing and thought-provoking, as was
Hard Times in England. Of the two
~a
songs they sang about war, one con-
cerned a woman who went away to war
disguised as a man. Another, described
as a "Canadian song probably written
by an Irishman about the American
Civil War," contained the haunting,
words,
There's nothing here but war
Where the murderous cannons roar,
And I wish I was at horne in dear
old Erin."
Instrumentals interspersed through-
out the program offered an effective,
change of pace. A series of slip jigs
showed how fast Robb and Laskin can
play. Robb's concertina was especially
tuneful on The Mason's Apron. Most
impressive was their rendition of
Women of Ireland, which moved from
penny whistle to penny whistle and con-
certina, and then to guitar and con-'
certina. It was a thrilling performance.
SOme of the evening's most striking
moments occurred during Laskin's solo
guitar numbers. These tended .to be
soft, rolling ballads, in more of a blues-
folk style than the rest of the tunes of-
fered by the group as a whole..,4
Another highlight 'occurred when
Laskin and Christl sang a song
-Sunday, October 9, }977-Page 5;
at A rk
together. Since he "had never learned
the words," he hack to sing a phrase
behind her. The effect, coupled with his
masterful dulcimer playgg, was
remarkable.
Although Christl considers herself
Welsh and Robb calls himself a London-
er, both emmigrated to Canada a few
years back with job offers in hand;
Laskin is a native of Hamilton, Ontario;
The trio tours whenever they have the
time. Laskin spends. most of his time
making guitars and mandolins, in-
cluding, of course, the ones he played
Friday night. Judging from their full
sound, he's an accomplished
tradesman. Robb is an electron-micro-
scopist at the Ottawa' Children's Hos-
pital. Christl raises two childreni and
spends more time on her music'than
Robb and Laskin can.
Robb, Christl, and Laskin have an al-
bum out on Folk-Legacy records and
expect to release a new one next year
on Barn Swallow, a Canadian label.
While their first album contained only -
Canadian 'songs, the 'next one will
feature British ones as well,
Many people have the disturbing ex-
perience of going home and finding
their feiends gone and their, old hang
outs changed. In a recent' trip to Eng-
land, Robb encountered this phenom-
enon when he returned to his favorite
pubs. He complained' that "instead of
locals playing checkers or darts, there
are only teeny-boppers playing juke-
boxes." The song he wrote 'to express
his anger is universal in its message.
"Oh what has. become of the Old.
Rosen Crown, the Ship, the King's Ar-
ms, and the World Upside Down.
For the oak, brass, and leather and a
pint of the best
Fade away like the sun as it sinks in
the west."
By PAUL SHAPIRO
A solo concert of improvisation is the most demanding
and challenging undertaking in a musicians performing
career. During such a performance a musician is putting
himself completely on the line; his stamina, inventive-,
ness, phrasing; ultimately, simply, his artistry.
All alone on stage, he must find ways to satisfy the
audience, hold their attention, and avoid boredom and
repitition. Violinist Leroy Jenkins met this challenge head
on in Itast Quad auditorium Friday night, playing over an
hour of highly creative and stimllating music.
Jenkins has been a leader of today's avant-garde jazz,.
both asa charter member of the Association for the Ad-
vancement of Creative Musicians (which includes An-
thony Biraxton and the Art Ensemble of Chicago, who will
appear here in November), and as the leader of the Revo-
lutionary Ensemble. He has played with Archie Shepp,
Cecil Taylor, and AlbertAyler, and his performance
proved to be a'synthesis of the wealth of music he has been
a part of over the last two decades. _
' Throughout the concert Jenkins appeared to be totally
at ease, eyes closed, body -swaying back and forth, and
improvising with an incredible degree of fluidity. His
music had a strong emotjon and sensitivity, while at the
same time always retaining a solid craftmanship.
Jenkins utilized the bow in quite unusual ways, at
times bowing wildly and jumping octaves, at other tirmes
softly accentuating note with the tip. His fingers, agile and
quick, often played notes with a rapidity that was as-
tounding. He brought out dimensions of the violin that one
doesn't often experience.
Most importantly, though, is that playing solo gives
Jenkins the freedom to explore his musical concepts,
which is something he does so well. Whether working
through a blues progression, or wandering through hyp-
notic repeating trills, what Jenkins plays is always in-,
teresting to the audience and he demands and deserves
their total involvement. He is an exceptionally unique and
creative musician.
Lecturing to a student workshop earlier in ,the day,
Jenkins offered a few words of sound advice to the
aspiring musicians that reflects the philosophy of his
music. "I maintain that the modern composer is the im-
proviser," he told them. "Remember that you can't be the
judge and composer at the same time or you'll ruin every-
thing. Just play with thought and validity." After pausing_
a moment he added, "When you're improvising all you'
have is yourself."
When Leroy Jenkins plays his violin that's more than
enough.
Passionate, organic'
By MADELYN MEIJLMAN
:Bill Leach is a rvice, unassuming,.
realistic guy who doesn't just' hap-
pen to bean actor: he works at it.long
and hard. In Leach, the theater loses
its elitist, ego-driven image; for him
it becomes a natural outlet for artis-
tic expression.
The setting for Leach this fall is the
Power Center, where he has been
rehearsing with fellow guest artist
Nafe Katter, for the O'ct.,12 opening
of Peter Shaffer's Equus.
Leach plays Dr. Martin Dysart, a
calm, professional, dry psychiatrist,'
who puts things in a logical frame of
leference and rarely releases his
own emotions. Leach, who considers
himself a "passionate, organic ac-
tor"', feels ,that the difference be-
tween his technique andrDysart's
personality makes this one of the
most challenging roles he's under-
taken
As Leach said, he must "generate
the internal, quiet agony" of a man
who has "locked himself up" but
envies the emotional freedom of his
patient. Leach has had to make a
con-
conscious effort to keep all the parts
of Dysart's personality at work. He
also remains cautious of "superim-
posing" himself over the character
written into the script, which he
should, ideally,- bring to life rather
than change by his creative input.
Leach's co-worker, Katter, is di-
recting as well as assuming the role
of the young boy in this production..
Fortunately, he and Leach agree in
their ; interpretation of the .show.
Leach has directed a few produc-
tions, but prefers acting as long as
the directors' views don't conflict
strongly with his own. Grinning, he
adds, "I would really like to direct."
He has 'worked in the past in
IMOGEN
CUNNINGHAM
75 YEARS AS A
PHOTOGRAPHER
October 4-28
Reception:
October 13, 4-6
Hours.=
Tues-Fri,10-6
WoP.P.kPoriC' ^ 9 -
Camino Real, Death of a Salesman,,
Cyrano de Bergerac, and others.
"Cyrano was fun," he recalls. "He'd
really like to perform in . some of
O'Neill's works.
Thinking about how he gets, "into"
a character, he says, "I don't have to
personally like a character to play.
him, but just feel empathy or appre-
ciation."
Leach enjoys Equus, and getting
under Dysart's skin. He is looking
forward to performing again in Ann
Arbor, where he has always found a
"responsive and' open" audience that
really appreciates the theatre. This.
is his sixth production in Ann Arbor,
working for the Professional Theatre
Program. He especially enjoyed his
Bill Leach
year as resident artist during the
1974-75 season. Prior to that, he
belonged to the Professionat Reper-
tory Company at the Asolo State
Theatre in Sarasota, Florida, which
he joined in 1971 after ten years of the
New York City-Broadway scene.
Leach has a permanent home in
Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where he..
has settled with his wife and 4/-
year-old son. His wife recently
returned to school to finish her
undergraduate degree, and Leach
thinks he will follow suit. Hopefully,
he would then earn his master's
degree in the theatre and continue his
career both in actively performing
and in teaching. He would love to do
that in Ann Arbor.
WC1AJ
n8 pF,
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I ' UAC SOPH SHOW 1977 announces 1
AUDITIONS
I FOR THE MUSICAL3
I I
I AS APPLAUS E
MASS MEETING FOR ALL PERFORMERS I
I AND CREWS (technical, publicity, financial, I
I .costume):.I
* SUNDAY, OCT. 9-:00 p.m.,
I The Kuenzel Room in the Michigan Union. I
* ' AUDITIONS Oct. 10. 11 I
(for further information cat! 763-1107)
-When - yrd - h 4h - - - -
Whnyo rdr3,tet
JAZZ-BLUES-ROCK & ROLL.
RHYTHM & BLUES-REGGAE-SALSA'
GOSPEL" COMMUNITY AFFAIRS
Capu,#eceaf Free 4.a
24 f4 4 I -
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
SCHOOL OF MUSIC
FACULTY CHAMBER CONCERTS
Second Program Music and Dance
ROSEMARY RUSSELL, mezzo soprano
PAUL BOYLAN, piano
WILLIS PATTERSON, bass
BENNING DEXTER, piano
GAY DELANGHE, dance
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 16,4:00 P.M.
RACKHAM AUDITORIUM
ADMISSION FREE
Wolf, Charles Jones, Schumann, J. S. Bach-Bill Evans
I '
r
Limited time offer on
KODAK Color Prints made from
your favorite slides.
" Get one print free when you
order four.
. Ideal for photo albums or
photocubes.
. Carry extras in your pocket or
purse.
. Offer ends October 26.
" Act now and be sure to ask us for
K
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111 1Yyr w Y Mw^ yj'
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Directed by NAFE KATTER-
Featuring WILLIAM R.LEACH
Guest Artists in Residence
Wed-Sat.,Oct.12-15, 8pm.
Sun.,Oct.16, 2pm. only
Or'1WA~r C:Ptc Pr
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t
The University of Michigan
Professional Theatre Program
Guest Artist Series1977-78
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