s l THE MICHIGAN DAILY
rs&Entertainrent Tuesday, February 15, 977 Page Five
Taj shares uscious blues blen
/
By KURT HARJU ' TAJ'S ABILITY to constantly cat" Ruth opened the concert
?jHOUGH Taj Mahal has just innovate and transform his work with a short but downright
changed record labels and is has been evidenT for some time, bluesy set that concentrated on
now on tour proinoting his de- His last three albums on Colum- his fine harmonica playing. One
but on Warner Brothers, he bia, Mo' Roots, Music Keeps Me number even incorporated a
made it enjoyably clear at two Together and Satisfied N' ringing t e 1 e p h o n e that just
sold-out performances last Fri- Tickled Too are examples of it. wouldn't let him alone.
day night that he hasn't for- Performing classics from these TAJ HIMSELF proved an ex-
s'aken the exotic mixture of and earlier albums at the con- cellent stage performer. He
musical influences and interests cert-"Ain't Nobody's Business, more than once added to the
that has made his work so di- "E-Z Rider" and "Desperate impact of a song with a gesturei
verse and popular in recent Lover" - he gave them new or bow, occasionally even a few
years. twists with the help of his tal- words-though he warned that#
Playing before a total of 1400 ented back-up crew on saxo- talking onstage was only "ver-
at the Michigan Union Ballroom, phones, steel drums and other bal diarrhea" and that the music
Taj and his excellent band con- percussions. His latest material, spoke for itself better than he
tinued his far-ranging experi too, came across with unmistak- could.
ments in meshing traditional able enthusiasm, fromn the jazzy
forms like folk-blues, jazz and "Curry" to the soul-flavored When asked to describe a
soul with such recently popular "Baby You're My Destiny." music so rich and diverse as
styles as calypso and reggae. The audience responded with "his backstage, Taj replied that
Thus he created a seething, orig- a fervor that belied the impa- its just music. Its 'at we
inal potpourri of music. tience most had felt after hav- now an e to play.
Drawing largely on his latest ing to wait in line for over an "My band," he continued, "is
album, Music Fuh Ya' (Musica hour while Taj went through his composed of c o 1 o n i a I black
Para Tu), Taj displayed an ex- sound check. He wanted it just Americans who come from dif-
citing ability to converse in a right-and when the crowd fi- ferent places-the West Indies,
wide variety of musical Ian- nally got a taste, it appreciated South America, all over - and
guages. He began with "Freight the extra effort. It's unfortunate we've all heard different types
Train," an old folk number,, and the concert couldn't have been of music. It shows in what we
completely updated it with a held at Hill, where the acous- do"
driving new arrangement. Then, tics and seating would have
he just as easily launched into been improved. THOUGH TIRED from an ex-
electric blues. Local musician Peter "Mad-
hausting road schedule that had in it. During his ch'sing number,
him leaving Madison, Wisconsin the pounding "You've Got It,"
at 4 a.m. Friday in order to get he quickly addressed the audi-
here on time, Taj clearly enjoy- ence with the lyrics
ed the music he was playing' - This next whole verse
and claimed he would ask for Is unrehearsed
no other career. I hope you get it.
"I might have been a preach-
er," he added. "I had
something. When I was
I heard a lot of music
to do!
young,
and it
The point was' that it wasn't the
message but the music that
mattered most.
r .
t
.
,
t
a
r
$,
stuck to me." While Taj's material and ap-
In the current music scene, proach to music may be impos-
Taj likes The Wailers ("I'vei sible to classify, it was im-
had Bob Marley over at my mensely satisfying. The audi-
house") and the Spinners, thinks ence gave him a standing ova-
Earth, Wind and Fire is getting tion even though he did not re-
fairly sophisticated, but doesn't turn for an encore. The audi-
care much for the type of rock ence understood him, and un-
being played today or the disco derstood that there is only one
trend. name for his music-and that is
Taj Mahal.
"IT'S JUST the same thing - -
over and over again," he com-
plained, "and music is more Midwest's Larest Selection of
than that."
_
i
;
i
His own performances cer-
tainly back him up on that state-'
ment, for he seemed to show a'
special feeling of reverence for;
his work that made each sod g
a celebration of life and his role
Canadian and U.S..
from $289
CALL 769-1776
Great Places ;;
f lAVEL CONsULTA'IS
216 S. 4th Ave, Ann Arbon
'Dalv Photo by ANDY FREEBERG
Taj Mahal, performing last Friday night at the UnionW Ballroom, pours out his excellent mix-
ture of many musical styles.
Kubelka:
Film's
freedom
fighter
By OWEN GLEIBERMANI
ETER KUBEL1KT inA i tict
can be. I resent the term 'ex- politics, books
Ierimental cinema' very much I don't like. to see
jnS m A ~ iA s an rts s l1. A1 1tt111,1Q ~y 111,1I111 ,ll . C v
of extraordinary creativity because it implies that you are cheaper theatre
and individuality. A legend in trying something out in order to popularize politic
the world of experimental or achieve something better or find cinema to be as g
avant-garde film, Kubelka ap- something by chance, which is in painting or mu
peared in the Natural Science not at all the case. Nobody I be as good."
Auditorium last Friday night to would call Picasso an experi- THE TRUE P(
speak and show his films. mental painter; film is very ma, says Kubelk
Kubelka's work defies classi- much backward in this re- does not have to
fication into any present form of spect." of nature. His ox
cinema. Born in 1934 in Vienna, Kubelka feels that freedom for use of this outloo
the artist turned to film-making the author must be there in as only two of t
at the age of 17 and has been every process, that film-makers chronized s o u
pursuing his unique personal must be free from economic re- method is to edi
vision ever since. In addition to straints. Both during his lecture pendent images
being co-founder and co-director and in an interview afterwards, gether, thus cri
of the Austrian film museum, he he stressed how the world of complex meanir
has taught and lectured widely. film is dominated by corpora- otherwise be ac
In twenty-five years, Kubelka tions that put severe constraints ample of this is
has produced six short films on any film-maker. As a result, this film Unse
ranging in length from one-and: Kubelka c 1 a i m s, "Industrial where two men
a-half to 13 minutes. The pau- cinema doesn't obey the laws the sound of thun
city of his output is the result of of the medium, it obeys the For Kubelka,c
an incredibly meticulous method laws of economy. I have always other processesi
of working, a method in which acted in opposition to. what I ting together a fi
every detail down to the indi- have seen in industrial cinema; footage comprisf
vidual frame is worked out. it handled the medium incor- of the creative p
Kubelka refers to all tradi- rectly" See KUBEL
tional cinema (both foreign and Kubelka views cinema as hav-
American) as "industrial cine- ing an entirely different poten- U) ON-
ma." According to him, "indus- tial from what it has been used
trial cinema is everything which for in the past. He despises the TONI
is shown by distributors, where work of "artistic" directors (i.e.LM
the author (director) is not the Godard) because he feels that LY
owner. they have compromised with the WOOL
cinema industry. According to
"IT IS APPLIED art," he ex- him, "(these films) are not
plained. PI have nothing against really good entertainment, and
it, but it is not all that cinema when it comes to philosophy or
are better. , I
e cinema as a
or as a way to;
al ideas. I vant
good as the best
usic, and it can
OWER of cine-
a, lies where it
obey the laws
wn films make
k to the fullest,
hem have syn-
n d. Kubelka's
it various inde-
and sounds to-
eating a more
ng than could
hieved. An ex-
a moment in
re Afrikariese,
shake hands to
der.
editing and the
involved in put-
ilm from actual
e 98 per cent
rocess. He says
KA, Page 8
GHT
AN
DARO
I
Daily Photo by CHRISTINA SCHNEIDER
Peter Kubelka'
:: l
LEONARD BERNSTEIN'S
MASS
ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY by the
Howard Hangar Performers
Tuesday, Feb. 15-7:30 p.m.
ANN ARBOR'S
FIRST UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
STATE & HURON STS.
Ticket donations far non-students ore $3, $2 donation for
students; ($2 non-students and $1.50 students for groups
of 15 or more ordered in advance) from the Wesley
Foundation, in person or by mail. 602 E. Huron St., Ann
Arbor, Michigan 48108.
Tickets and more information 9-12 & 12:30-3 week-
days. 468-6881.
The Eastern Michigan University
Office of Campus Life
PRESENTS THE
Concert Performance
OF
Don Cherry and4 Oregon
March 5, 1977-8:00 p.m.
Pease Auditorium .
For further info-(313} 487-3045
$4.50 Tickets available:
IN ANN ARBOR: School Kids rlecords, Bonzo Dog Records
YPSILANTI: Wherehouse Records
EAST LANSING: Wherehouse II
DIVISION OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
University Of Michigan
Dance Company
in Concert
I ov
Dance
Guest Artists
Ditins ble
Projections
Sculptures
Song
'.
,''
n.
r
<
1
yi
:,.
' .t
t U N WITH
DICK&JANE
Shows at 7:00 & 9:00
a
F I&M CkTeCS
ssocNIA~o
4)':
U
D C NG TLIVE BANDS
AT THE
NO COVER
REandalwo
CASUALDRESRESTAURANT & LOUNG
--A LSO-
JAZZ
IN OUR 1st FLOOR
PU
FRI. AND SAT. EVES.
7
NIGHTS
A WEEK
LADIES NIGHT
TUESDAY & THURSDAY
High
atop
the
A Multi-Media Dance Collage
Power Center for the Performing Arts
March 18
8pm Friday
March i
8pm Sdturday
March 20
3pm Sunday
$4.00! /$5.00
1.00 off per seat for Students & Senior Ctizens)
Tickets: Liberty Music, Hill Auditorium, Jacobson's, Dance Dept. Information: 763-5460
Presented by the School of Music & Dance Departnwnt
To get Yourself the Best Seat in the House . ..ORDER as SOON as POSSIBLE!!
MULTI-MEDIA DANCE COLLAGE/MAIL ORDER FOR
To Order by Mail:
1. Mail order form to: U of M Dance Company Help support U of M Dance Company:
Dance Building Friend @ $25.00 (4 tickets)
Ann Arbor, M1 48109-FrndC@l$500 (4 tickets)
I
WS -I m
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