The Michigan Daily-Sunday, December 4, 1977-Page 5

Jazzmen perform
i htfree-form duets
By PAUL SHAPIRO.
THE CONCEPT OF an improvised jazz duet demands a unique under-
standing between the two musicians involved. While playing 'free' they
must interact with a subtlety and strength that ultimately binds them into
one creative force. Don Moye and Chico Freeman achieved this 'oneness'
Friday night in East Quad auditorium, offering a series of frenetic and ex-
citing improvised duets.
Appearing with painted faces, burning incense, and an awesome array
of reed and percussion on instruments, Moye and Freeman produced a set of
complex rhythmic music. Their performance was a synthesis of Eastern and
African music, as well as traditional American jazz, and always carried
strong mystical and spiritual overtones.
Don Moye is clearly one of the most imaginative percussionists in music
today. He is quick, agile, and a virtual powerhouse on drums. During the
performance he was at times a solo rhythm machine, simultaneously
playing bass drum, cymbals, an African drum, and a percussive mouth'in-
strument which he played by shaking his head back and forth. Moye at-
tacked his instruments with a rare type of ferocity - crashing gongs,
beating wood blocks, and blowing shells and whistles.
CHICO FREEMAN, son of the great Chicago saxophonist Von Freeman,
is a young musician of commanding talents. In his mid-twenties, Freeman
has already performed with musicians the likes of Sonny Rollins, Charles
Mingus, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Anthony Braxton, and most recently as a
member of the Elvin Jones quartet.
Whether on bass clarinet or tenor and soprano saxophones, Freeman
played with an energy and style often reminiscent of the late John Coltrane.
But there most definitely is Freeman's playing and for a musician so young
he covered a great deal of ground Friday night.
Freeman works primarily in sheets of sound, blowing non-stop for
lengthy periods of time, a technique enhanced by his ability to master cir-
cular breathing. This technique allows Freeman to play a note continuously
for several minutes and lent a rather hypnotic quality to the performance.
MOYE AND FREEMAN are both members of The Association for the
Advancement of Creative Musicians and have worked together in various
ensembles on numerous occasions. Their communicative abilities reached a
peak with a rendition of the jazz classic 'Caravan' which began with Moye
playing at least half a dozen percussion instruments, followed by Freeman's
eerie soprano sax. The two ultimately exploded into a final percussion duet
with Freeman joining Moye on wooden vibes.
This performance was the last of the,'Bright Moments' series presented
by Eclipse Jazz which has allowed Ann Arbor audiences a unique opportuni-
ty to view the finest non-commercial creative musicians playing today.

White and 'Madcat' relax

folks

By MIKE TAYLOR
"an ORT" LOOKED pleased. Singer
and guitarist Bob White and
harp player Peter "Madcat" Ruth had
broken into a rollicking version of
"Tennessee Stud," a song he'd re-
quested. In fact, he was jumping up and
down in his seat with more energy than
either of the performers.
Friday night's show at the Ark was
more a casual get-together between
friends than a concert. White's relaxed
singing style, off-beat stories and jokes,
and friendly stage presence encour-
aged frequent intercourse with mem-
bers of the small crowd.
During the break between sets, a
small group didn't seem to feel the least
bit uncomfortable about picking
White's guitar up and starting a sing-a-
long of their own.

BUT THE MOST spontaneous part of
the evening came when the young man
in the beret asked for "Shady Grove."
Saying he didn't play the tune very
well. White invited the lad up front to
sing it with him. Identified only as
"Nort," the bashful upstart attempted
a couple of verses alone. It was clear,
however, that "Shady Grove" is not one
of White's favorites. "Singing this song
is like eating dinner out of a kitty litter
box," he complained.
Get-togethers with friends do not al-
ways make for great music. A fine
songwriter, White sang mostly other
folks' songs. Besides slow, restful num-
bers and a few fast paced tunes, there
was little else. There simply was not
enough variety for the three-hour per-
formance. In addition, White's mellow
voice and soft guitar strumming bor-
dered, unfortunately, on being lacka-

daisical.
Still, White and Ruth offered enough
worthwhile moments to make the night
a pleasant one after all.
Though he hadn't been billed, Ruth
accompanied White on harp all even-
ing. Ranging from soft, emotional fills
to lively solos, Ruth's work added
greatly to White's songs. His use of a
coffee cup as a muffler brought repeat-
ed grins to people in the audience. His
exciting solo during "I Got Mine" was a
highlight of the evening.
One of White's most likeable assets is
his ability to connect pairs of songs into
one flowing unit. A lovely early Bob
Dylan tune, "Fare Thee Well," ran into
"Tomorrow is Such a Long Time."
Jimmy Rogers' spirited "Jailhouse
Blues" segued into "Hurry Home, or
I'll Be Gone." Welding "Almost Done"
to "Casey Jones" was another nice


idea. Later on, White matched Jackson
Browne's "These Days" with "One Too
Many Mornings."
* * *
"IT'S A BANJO and it's not a banjo,
and that's the fun of it," said White
as he held up a wooden sextagonal in-
strument. "It's only $20, but you can
play it - that's one of the better things
about it. But yhou have to put it togeth-
er - which is probably at least $30 wor-
th of labor. Just construct it like an or-
dinary stop sign."
UNFORTUNATELY, the instrument
had a weak, indistinctive sound. Songs
like "Little Birdie," White's first sing-
a-long, and "Way Out There" might
have sounded better on an ordinary
banjo or some other instrument.
Back in 1970, White wrote a quiet song
in Ann Arbor right after an Ark per-
formance. The tune, "I Like to Be
Alone," is a good indication of White's
very personal form of songwriting:
Some folks they call me lonely,
But Iflike to be alone.
Towards the end of the evening,
White suggested that if the house lights
were turned off, he could put everybody
to sleep with lullabyes, go upstairs to
get blankets to cover people with, and
wake everyone up for breakfast in the
morning.
Accordingly, the lights were turned
very low, and people 'stretched out.
White followed with a beautiful succes-
sion of soft ballads, beginning with the
ironically titled "Awake-You Drowsy
Sleeper" and finishing with Tom Pax-
ton's "The Last Thing on My Mind."
"Nort" like that one too.
Idiophones are musical instruments
which produce notes without the aid of a
sounding board or resonator. There are
eight general classifications: struck-
together, struck, stamped on, stamped
against the ground, shaken, scraped,
plucked, and rubbed.
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A rt a la carte Daily Photo by PETER SERLING
ONE OF THE MAN ARTISANS at the Annual Arts and Craftsmen Guild's Annual Christmas Art Fair displays a piece of
jewelry to a potential buyer. The fair is open today at the Colesium from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Bernsteinthrives on new releases

I

By JEFFREY SELBST
F OR AN OLD FELLA, Leonard
Bernstein has been keeping him-
self remarkably active. Conductors
usually do last well into old age, mostly
the active kind of old age. Toscanini,
Paray, Stokowski - all kept their musi-
cal wits about them and -advanced in
their art as they grew older. Bernstein
is no octegenarian - heaven forbid -
but he will likely last for a long time.
Conductors keep themselves very fit,
with all that gyrating on the podium.
The reason for these reflections is
that Bernstein is represented conduct-
ing three different orchestras on re-
leases from Columbia and Angel this
month, which is more than he could
ever manage with the New York Phil-
harmonic post.
One recording, Berlioz's Harold in
Italy, has Bernstein leading the Or-
chestre National de France (Angel S-
37413), an accomplished but by no
meangspectacular group of musicians.
Another recording, Columbia 34551,
features Bernstein with the New York
Philharmonic in the Poulenx Gloria
(Judith Blegen, soprano), and with the
London Symphony Orchestra in the
Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms.

HAROLD IN ITALY is typical Berlioz
- worse, it is the type of piece that de-
fines typical Berlioz - and has a kind of
dreamy quality to it, even in the loud
parts. The piece includes the idee fixe,
the motival monotony, of his immense
Symphonie Fantastique. Yes yes, it is
not the repetition of the theme that be-
comes significant, it is the development
and handling of the repetitious mate-
rial.
While Harold in Italy is unspectacu-
lar, the other recording is neither more
nor less than a treat. Who could resist
the inherent humor in Poulenc? And
Bernstein seems so attuned to its nuan-
ces. Poulenc mentioned that when he
was writing his conventional, six-part
Gloria, he remembered frescoes by
Gozzoli depicting angels sticking out
their tongues, and how he'd once seen a
group of Benedictine monks playing
soccer.
So the Gloria has a contrasting tone, a
kind of somber religiosity always war-
ring with the playfulness for which the
iconcolcastic French composer has al-
ways been known. He was, in fact, a
disciple of Erik Satie, and the influence
is always evident.
On the flip side, however, is an alto-
gether pedestrian version of the
Stravinsky Symphony of Psalms. This
piece was written in 1930, a product of

Stravinsky's so-called "neo-classic"
period, much as was the in many ways
dissimilar Pulcinella suite (after
Pergolesi). This features the London
Symphony Orchestra with Bernstein,
and the entire affair lacks energy. The
tempi are labored and the tone monoto-
nous. Oh, well. One of three ain't bad.


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Christmas Art Fair

Daily Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
Chico Freeman

By TIMI
BLUE OYSTER
been a dominan
scene. Its music is a
rock. Music with a to
often leaves a quest
mind as to what the
getting at; but the in
works has built them
Although the gro
ed before its Agents
which contained the
"Don't Fear TheF
given a lot of at
propelled the playe
position in the roc
wondered if there co
"Reaper's" success
Their new album
JC 35019 should pr
The LP opens wi
medium rocke~r witl

intrigues again
YAGLE side of things with a soothing piano,
CULT has never then returns to semi-raucousness with
t group on the rock Roeser's guitar glittering in the
"different" kind of background.
ouch of the occult. It "Celestial Queen" (note the last two
ion in the listener's song titles) is a relatively simple tune,
lyrics are actually and the melody and rhythm are rather
ntrigue of the Cult's unimaginative. A piano and syn-
n quite a following. thesizer are added to spruce it up a bit
up was recommend- but it remains dull.
s of Fortune album Staying with the nice and simple
phenomenal single stuff, "Goin' Through The Motions" is a
Reaper", it wasn't peppy song with Beach Boys overtones.
tention. "Reaper" A nocturnal ambiance takes over in
ers to a prominent the eerie "Nosferatu" (your guess is as
k field. Many have god as mine as to what this means).
ould be an encore to Low-keyed and sporting a smooth
rhythm, the guitar work occasionally
Spectres Columbia sparkles.

PRODUCERS AND DIRECTORS
Needed
to work with new theatre company doing mime,
children's theatre, improvisations, etc.
Applications Accepted Until 5 pm Dec. 6
2nd Floor Michigan Union
763- 1107
CENTRAL CAFE

The University
of Michigan
Artists & Craftsmen
Guild

Saturday, December 3,10a.m.-8p.m.
Sunday, December4,10a.m.-5p.m.
U-M Coliseum, Ann Arbor
Fifth Avenue at Hill Street

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rovide the answer.
ith "Godzilla", a
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SPECTRES is a fascinating album. A
spectre is defined as a "visible disem-