THE MICHIGAN DAILY A rts & Enterta inm ent Tuesday, January II, 1977 Page Five Zappa's latest has good instrumentals By JIM STIMSON I songs, and aren't as entertain- ing as the instrumental num- Zoot Allures, (Warner Bros. hers. Zappa's now-familiar voice BS 2970), the latest release by is blended with that of new; Frank Zappa, is in the tradition band member Davey Moire and; of many Zappa albums before old-time Mother Roy EstradaI it. It's a mishmosh of styles, - often to quite humorous ef- and istcharacterized by brilli- feet. Whether thensongs hold up ant instrumental work and ubi-! to repeated listenings is a mat- quitous, biting satire. ter of time and personal taste.' The title cut, "Zoot Allures," I like the vocals on "Gas Sta- is my personal favorite. It's a tion." pleasant, lyrical piece for gui- "The Torture Never Stops,", tar, bass, and drums, with harp on the other hand, is bad taste and marimba accompaniment. realized in living stereo. The Zappa sneaks in a mellow cut chorus of moans, screams, and like this once in a blue moon, various other effects serve on- and this time it's a good con- ly to assault the listener. It's' trast from the rest of the al- the song that never stops. Why; bum. Zappa wasted nearly half of "Black Napkins," "Friendly side one on this project is be- little Finger," and "Wonderful yond me. - Wine" are first-class rockers. Zappa carries the instrumen-I Zappa's hard-edged guitar work tal load on the album, playing evokes memories of Leslie West guitar, bass, keyboards, and in his heyday with Mountain, lead vocals on many of the "WIND UP WORKIN' In a songs. He is ably assisted byI Gas Station," "Ms. Pinky," and his new drummer, Terry Boz- "Find Her Finer" are vocal Iio, who appears on every cut.j il- ight show: Visual music By DENNIS SABO as Willifred performed them in the 1920's to "THERE'S ONLY SO MUCH a performer can do to excite an audience," con- tends Mike Gould, director of Illuminatus, a local light show. "Most bands are interesting only to the ear," he explains. "Light shows are inter- esting to the eye. We project musical images, so the result is a total musical-visual experi- ence." Illuminatus makes use of three carousel slide projectors, two overhead projectors, two Interosciter lasers, and three Amsterdam pro- jectors (projectors that create psychadelic designs). The Interoscitor lasers act like elec- tronic spiro-graphs creating red circular de- signs that change with the music's tempo. Gould and'Wayne Gillis, a member of Illum- inatus, designed and constructed the lasers themselves. THE AMSTERDAM projectors, named aft- er the capital of the Netherlands where they were invented, use slides mixed with colored oils, shampoo, shaving cream, and other com- mon oil-based solutions on phrex plates to create cell-type designs. "The patterns are similar to chemically induced hallucinations," Gould says. "We also use modern and classical art slides. The shows are a blend of art and technology." Light shows are not a new creation. Thom- Stravinsky's Firebird Suite. "Grateful Dead and the Jefferson Airplane used light shows in the mid-60's," Gould says. But "most shows were discontinued be- cause of their poor quality and high travel- ing expenses." "Several bands are now getting into lasers," Gould continues. "Lasers are spectacular as hell but are not very interesting if they just shine on the theater's roof for the entire evening. Our five milowatt Interosciter lasers at least create designs.'' '"War uses a laser three times later someone is gonna get zapped." ACCORDING TO GOULD, drugs do not play a major factor in enjoying light shows. "You don't have to be high to enjoy a light show," Gould says. "But they add that much extra," he adds with a slight chuckle. Illuminatus also performs light shows at Science Fiction conventions including one in Kansas City last Labor Day. During these shows, Illumiatus uses a variety of record- ed music to accompany its visual effects. "WE LIKE USING Jefferson Starship, Herbie Hancock, Stanley Clarke, or just about any 'space rock' like Pink Floyd's 'One of these Days.' " Gould says the five-member Illuminatus is contemplating offers from as far as Omaha, Nebraska. They also hope to be on tour with a big name band in a couple years. "Playing with the Starship, Genesis, ;or BOC (Blue Oyster Cult) would certainly be nice," he said. "Hopefully it's not only wish- ful thinking. Light shows have so much to offer concert audiences." PERFECTED LIGHT SHOWS may just be what concertgoers need for a total sensorial experience and possibly a way to justify as- tronomical ticket prices. Illuminatus will perform at the Confusion 14 SCI-Fl Convention Jan. 28 at the Ann Arbor Inn. as powerful as they need," Gould criticizes. "If that bean accidentally fell on the aud- ience, it probably would blind someone. Sooner or later 1 i l 1 a I By JIM STIMSON The third cut is the experime tal masterpiece of the albun A NTHONY BRAXTON oper- It features Braxton on conti ates on the fringe of modern bass sax, which has almosts jazz. He is perpetually experi- low a register as a tuba. It hE menting with new sounds, and a repetitive theme carried has the musical skill to make the sax and piano, with impri the sounds work. His latest ef- visational bits in between. T fort is Duets. contrabass improvisations a Braxton plays alto sax, so-I ingeniously original, especial] prano sax, contrabass sax, clar- when Braxton begins to str inet, E-Flat clarinet, and con- from the theme. trabass clarinet. He is joined SCOTT JOPLIN'S "Mar on Duets by pianist Muhal Rich- Leaf Rag," which opens Sid ard Abrams. Both are members Two, is surprisingly tradition of the Association for the Ad- Abrams carries the ragtime vancement of Creative Music- ano off quite well. ians (AACM), and Abrams was The second cut on this sid president of the organization is another moody and errat when Roscoe Mitchell intro- number, represented by yet a duced Braxton to it ten years other inscrutable diagrar ago. Braxton alternates sho Braxton makes an honest squeaks and squeals with haun statement on the back cover: ing, sustained notes, remini "I hope this record can be en- cent of Charlie Mingus's "Sto joyed." I enjoyed it, but I'm my W'ather," again with Er not so sure everyone will. Dolnhv. THE FIRST CUT is Eric Dol- The last song on the albumi phy's "Miss Ann." Braxton re- "Nickie," a relaxed and melo sembles Dolphy perhaps more ic piano piece. Braxton's al than any other musician today, sax is smooth and mournfu While Braxton does not imitate and sounds like a Mickey Sp Dolphy on this number, ED's lane nightclub number playe influence is felt in the general at 3 a.m. mood and fast trills at the close This album, like Braxton of improvisational phrases. previous efforts, Creative O The second cut has no name, chestra Music, Trios and Duet and is instead named by a dia- and In the Tradition, is esoter gram of a deliberately obscure to extreme. Experimentatio nature, It is an erratic, textural here is almost excessive, buti piece, more concerned with can be tolerated for the par mood than melody. This is one where everything fall togethe number that many people will I would rate this "for afficion listen to and say, "Whaaat?" dos only." iI someone is gonna get zap- p~ed." "War uses a laser three times as power- fil as they need," Gould critimizes. "If that beam accidentally fell on the audience, it probably would blind someone. Sooner or r r .. I "mr . Bowers plays the By MIKE TAYLOR status as an ex-con. It was de and WENDY GOODMAN then that Bowers discovered thei fl_ R 0 M "Rye Whiskey" to magic of the autoharp. Sincei pi "Good King Wenceslas," then, he's been touring the coun-E de Bryan Bowers had the folk-lov- try with his phenomenal music,I ic ing audience at the Ark coffee and having the time of his life.r n- house last Saturday night bounc- "Music is like making love," he( M. ing to the b's in "My Bonnie asserts.t rt Lies Over the Ocean" and hum- "Thumb plays rhythm, second t- ming like a gospel choir tothe finger plays melody, first finger s. strums of "Amazing Grass." plays low harmony. . ." and r- Bowers, one of the world's fore- Bowers had explained to his ic most auto-harpists, was doing spellbound audience of 150 how what he likes to do best, mak- he produces the sounds of fid-; is ing people happy and having a dles, banjos, guitars, and organs d- great time himself. all with his wondrous auto-harp. to Life has not always treated Bower's music is vivid and var-c l, Bowers so kindly, though. Un- ied; diverse influences are evi- il- like most musicians who enter dent in his choice of tunes,t d the profession with years of which range from gospel ande musical, experience, Bowers, old folk standards to new com-i 's who hails from New Bohemia, positions of his own. He includess r- Virginia, turned to music out in his performance instrumentalt s, of sheer desperation. After three and vocal numbers, sing-a-longs, ic attempts to pass one last math and mellow songs, interspersedt n course, Bowers gave up on col- with witty anecdotes. Describ- it lege and bounced from job to ing his concert style, Bowers ts job to selling dope until he land- remarked, "I sing for audiences,l r. ed in jail. Paroled three months not at them."t a- later, he found himself jobless BOWERS OPENED the eve-c once again, due to his new nigh with a few perky instru- mentals, followed by the amus- ing Jimmy Driftwood tune "Get up and Go" and the more som- ber "Monday Morning," a song by Britisher Cyril Towning. His next selection, an instrumental called "The Rights of Man," was an impressive as its title as Bowers used his harp in ways incomprehensible to any- one else. Later, he taught his audience Leadbelly's original version of "Goodnight Irene," including the censored line, "I'll get you in my dreams." Perhaps the most moving song f the evening was one of Bow- ers' own Autobiographical in na- ture, the tune recalls his prison experience with deeply felt lyr- ics. The chorus, "the world out- side don't want to know" leads to the conclusion, "and the truth is, none of us wants to know." Bowers divides his time equal- ly between small, intimate set- tings like the Ark, concerts, club dates, and festivals. While' he enjoys the opportunity to Ark I play softer tunes to small audi- ences, "when I play a festival,! something happens. It's another energy level." When he's not touring, Bowers lives in Wash-' ington. Right now, he's in the process of recording his first al-I bum, for Flying Fish Records in Chicago. When Bowers' performance was over, enthusiastic applause brought him back for an im- 1 promptu encore. Making the words up as he went along, he smiled at his experiences at the Ark. He sang of David and Linda Siglin, owners of the Ark, celebrating their twelfth wed- ding anniversary, and of their nine-year-old daughter and their "crumb-faced dog.' Before the show began, one returning fan commented that the Ark was "a refuge from the turbulence of the world." Bowers support- ed that feeling by ending his encore with the line, "we should be thankful ,for a place like this." THE LANGUAGE OF COLOR AND FORM A demonstration of painting and sculpture by Artists-in- Residence of Rudolf Steiner House ROBERT LOGSDON; painter MICHAEL HOWARD, sculptor in the OPEN HEARTH SERIES, at the Pendleton Room, Michigan Union Thursday, Jan. 13, 1977, 12noon The public is welcome No admission charge Lr Beautiful laser caused patterns emerge, from complicated equipment, part of a light show produced by Photon Drive, Inc., a lo- cal business. NEW BOG DANOVICH FLICK Nickelodeon: Shopworn bore THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC and THE DANCE DEPARTMENT PRESENTI JAVANESE DANCE CLASSES Guest artist-in-residence: SOEDARSONO JAVANESE FEMALE DANCE MWF 9-10 JAVANESE MALE DANCE ...... T Th 10:30-12 Information: Dance Departmerit, Barbour Gym,764-6273 '9 By DAVID KEEPS TAKE A CLOSE LOOK at any Peter Bogdanavich film and you're sure to notice something old, something new, and a hellu- va lot borrowed. A case in point. in his latest, Nickelodeon. Ostensibly, Nickelodeon is a comedy about the pioneer days of filmmaking, but in Bogdana- vich's hands it becomes a bor- ing contrivance with more than a hint of Hollywood necrophilia. The guy has no shame. Several years back he reworked the Cary Grant-Katherine Hepburn screwball comedy Bringing Up Baby, and turned it into What's Up, Doc? Despite the pilfering, What's Up, Doc? had a lot of funny antics, most of which have resurfaced in Nickelodeon. The only exvlanation I can muster is that Bogdanavich has a lot of obsessions and a short- term memory. What were fun- ny antics in What's Up, Doc? and Paper Moon are simply shopworn gimmicks in Nickelo- deon. THE FILM opens in Chicago, where Leo Harrigan (Ryan 0'- Neal) accidentally becomes a writer for a silent film com- pany by ripping off a story from the Saturday Evening Post. That day he meets a beautiful stranger (Jane Hitch- cock) who is on her way to New York. They trip over each other and fall somewhat in love, an indication of the pseudo-slick slapstick pratfulls and puns to' come. Meanwhile, Buck (Burt Rey- nolds), a Floridian stumblebum, fumbles his way into the film business in New York, where- you guessed it - he meets th1e By this time, Harrigan is sent reincarnates his Cary Grant im- i difficult to predict her to- take charge of a stranded personation one more time, and. as an actress. As I sat 1 film unit in Cuckamunga. There it's minimally effective. Unlike all the rehashed comedy to meet him is Alice, played by Paper Moon, the animosity be- rarely raucous film, I a Tatum O'Neal, who owns a dog tween father and daughter O'- help wondering, among named Leo, which is also Har- Neal comes off as artificial, things, "Why this gir rigan's name, and the butt of leaving Tatum with very little wasn't until nearly thre too many jokes. to do in this film. Burt Rey- ters through that I fou PRESENTLY BUCK turns up nolds comes off the best, answer. As her profile as a hired assassin, but eventu though his role isn't exactlytax- toward the camera, I c ally turns into the star of Leo's ing upon his comedic talents. help noticing a distinct r productions and future husband The only surprise the film has lance to Cybil Sheperd. of the aforementioned Hitch- to offer is yet another Peter cock, who arrives with a road- Bogdanavich discovery - Jane What did I tell you show. Hitchcock. At this point it is obsessions? future through in this couldn't other r?" It e-quar- nd the turned couldn't esemb about: The cast assembled, Bogdana- vich plays out his well known hand, with no aces up his sleeve, The slapstick is tired, the characters vapid, thetdia- logue flat and the comedy thin. Although te screenplay suf- fers- from terminal stupidity, some of the cameo actors man- age to put in better than ade- quate performances. Brian Keith heads the list playing a grizzly bear of a movie mogul, with Stella Stevens willfully tragic as his mistress. Also excellent is Phillip Bruns, on hiatus from his role as Mary Hartman's father, as the manager of the roadshow. AS FOR THE principals, the less said, the less humiliating for them. No doubt they are chagrined enough. Ryan O'Neal MODIFY YOUR UN DESIREABLE BEHAVIORS IF YOU WANT TO: 1) LOSE WEIGHT 2) STOP CIGARETTE SMOKING 3) INCREASE STUDY SKILLS 4) STOP BITING FINGER NAILS 5) EXERCISE MORE FREQUENTLY 6) MEET MORE PEOPLE 7) COMPLETE YOUR DISSERTATION 8) CHANGE OTHER MINOR MALADAPTIVE BEHAVIORS Students in Psychology 414 (Advanced Laboratory in Bahvior Modification) in Cooperation with the Institute of Behavior Change, will work with you in changing your undersidable behaviors. For Registration Information CALL: 994-3332 2200 FULLER RD.-Suite 209 I CHAPLIN'S 1925 THE GOLD RUSH (AT 7 ONLY) The tramp goes north to strike it rich during the Klondike rush of 1898 and nearly ends up as dinner for a partner who thinks he looks like a chicken. Chaplin's finest. SHORT: Keaton's THE BLACKSMITH. KEATON'S 1926 THE GENERAL Buster runs a locomotive during the Civil War until the Yankees steal it from him. The chase he makes to get it back is one of the funniest in American Cinema. SHORT: CHAPLIN COMEDY. CINEMA GUILD Double feature $2 for both OLD ARCH. AUD. 0 I " TUES.-WED.$ TACOMA RECORDS NORMAN BLAKE 3.50 '4. ANN AL1pCL? [lM CC-o)) TONIGHT ROBERT DeNIRO and HARVEY KEITEL IN MARTIN SCORSESE'S MEAN STREETS IN NOW --MOON" I ENJOY MIME CLASSES AT guitar, fiddle, mandolin of the three flatpickers (MARTIN SCORSESE, 1974) 7 &9 Robert DeNiro and Harvey Keitel burn up the screen in Scorsese's sensual evocation of the underside of New York's Little Italy. Explosively original and daring, at times frighten- ening and funny, MEAN STREETS is above all honest, "Exquisite, savage, compassionate and brilliant"--Joseph - One y best I 9