THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Arts & Entertainm ent Thursday, April 1 5, 19761
Poge Five
Short disservices Rodgers, Hart
By JEFFREY SELBST BUT ON this album, Bobby' ADMITTEDLY, this b o i1 s'
Short Celebrates Rodgers and down to a matter of taste. Ia
BOBBY SHORT is obviously Hart (Atlantic SD 2-610), the , happen to think that George M.
fond of show music. In var- only songs which provide any Cohan's songs are a crock. ButI
ious albums, he has taken the real joy in the hearing are either then, if someone like Short werel
Gershwins, Cole Porter and songs so incomparably ccafted to parody them on a record, I1
Noel Coward to task. Now 'he by the composer and lyricist, or wouldn't buy the record for a
displays his affection for the songs where Short is backed up malicious laugh or two - I
works of Rodgers and Hart, and by an irresistible arrangement. sincerely dislike the music
I think, somewhat curiously. enough not to buy one no matter
You see, Short is a slick, sty- One of the best is "On Your what was being done to the I
lized, consummate performer, Toes," from a show by the same music.
except for one thing: he can't name. The arrangement is prob- And that attitude is most like-
sing to save our ears. ably the closest to what Rodgers ly transferable to Rodgers and
g and Hart meant - which is not Hart as well. The audience for
I suppose I'm just crabbily to say that innovation withinardwhic claims toacele-
picking away at those nits. After the genre is not welcomed, but brae Riodghrs and Hart is like-'
all, has has some marvelously any kind of playing around has ,a dmirn one, and t's
Kurt Weillesque arrangements, to keep to the essence both of ly an admiring one, and iG s.
and he invokes the spirit of the songs and the times. Short probably safe to assumme iat
'prewar Berlin very nicely. The sin'gs in a cabaret in New York, they want to hear something
problem is, he is warbling about and his performances are gear- sufficiently close to the original
prewar America, and he is hard- ed to that milieu - and New so as to provide some measure
ly Lotte Lenya. York is a considerably different of their original pleasure.
This music should sound a place than it was in the thirties. have a remarkably large ego.
little jazzy, a little dissonant. It seems, too, that Short =s and yet, all performers of old
But the characteristic of this trying to cash in on the camp music today share the same
music, as practiced both by subculture, which is particular- affectations. Stylization occurs
Porter and Rodgers and Hart ly offensive when this music can, when a performer wishes to dis-
(and to some extent Coward), is and should, be taken seriously. tinguish himself from the great
a sassy lyric and a driving It isn't a relic we can make fun mass of people performing the
rhythm. Even in the slow, ro- of, such as Bette Midler and her same numbers earlier (and he
mantic numbers, you get none "Chapel of Love" or the ubiqui- secretln susoects, better). Md-
of the stagnant goo of Frederck tous "Bugle Boy": this is viable ! er does it. Cleo Lae does it;
Loewe (such as "f Ever I stuff. The original cast albums Ella Fitzgerald does it - no,
Could Leave You"~ or "I HaveI can be heard with the same wait - herei ifrne
Often Walked"); what you have pleasure today as in their own there is a difference.
is the ironic "Wait 'til You See times. Why, then, do we feel WHEN ELLA came out with
Her" (Rodgers and Hart), compelled to snicker (My, these the Rodgers and Hart Song
"Night and Day" (Porter), or songs can't stand up on their Book in the fifties, she stylized
the insistent "Smoke Gets In own - let's add some spice to the versions of these same songs
Your Eyes" (Jerome Kern. it!)? that Short sings here yet she
managed to respect them as real yet annoying to the point of
music and keep within their utter and complete distraction.
spirit when rednin them. Per- I
p yt1 II C lg ucu. rr
haps something is to be iearned!
here?
And I have gone this far
without really mentioning Bobby
Short's biggest flaw - he can-
not sing. In Rex' Harrison
fashion he talks his way con-
vincingly through many of the
numbers - but there are simply
some he cannot negotiate with-
out a voice. When he turns on
his vocal cords his voice shows
itself to be harsh and grating,
and more than a little metallic.
It is like drumming on a large
sheet of tin - sort of hollow,
THIS IS NOT to say that I
didn't receive a great deal of
adjustment from listening to it.
The songs shine through, no
matter what is being done to
them, no matter whose picture
of slick decadence in the nane
of 'modernity you're suffering.
The lyrics are sharp and incred-
ibly clever - you have to listen
a couple of times to catch some
of the topical thirties references,
and the music is that great
Rodgers before he teamed up
with that awful Hammersten.
So the last word: buy at your
own risk.
'
.
;
kf ;:
k'f,;.
Daily Photo by PAULINE LUBENS
'The Word on Film'
i
John Simon, drama and film critic, speaking yesterday at Rackham Auditorium. His topic was
"The Word on Film," dealing with verbal vs. visual imagery and the uses of each in the me-
dium. This was the 46th Annual Hopwood Lecture.
COREA, JOHNSON, HENDERSON:
Jazz I
By STEPHEN HERSH
A NUMBER of jazz musicians'
these days are suffering
from a failure to negotiate an,
effective compromise between'
two musical opposites: tradi-1
tional and "disco-jazz" styles.
On the disco side, the musi-1
cians draw on the Motown/'
Sly Stone style. Most electric.
jazz-which today is the jazz
mainstream-has taken on the
soul music sound. It's largely1
loud rock n' roll.
AND ON the traditional side,
there are the classical and old
j a z z traditions, contributing
technical agility and diversity'
of form.-
Miles Davis is one artist who
is consistently able to produce
effective blends. His music has|'
as much rock 'n' roll quality as
any disc ever to come out of |
Motown, but it also features
interesting structures and tech-'
nical showmanship.
But Miles is an unusually
tasteful arranger - jazz musi-.
cians such as Alphonso Johnson,
Eddie Henderson and Chick Co-
rea are three of many who'
.P's-lackluster
, _
swing 'either too heavily to soul)
music or too far toward classi-
cal techniques.
MOONSHADOWS, Al John-
son's first solo album, is oneI
who has swung too far over to!
soul. During his tenure as bass-
ist for Weather Report, he dem-
onstrated a capacity to move
effortlessly t h r o u g h strange,
time signatures and unorthodox
key changes. And with his com-
position on Weather Report'sI
latestalbum "Black Market,"
Johnson showed that he can
write as well as perform intri-
cate, unpredictable and technic-
ally impressive tunes-all the
while sticking to a tough rock
n' roll style.
But on Moonshadows, the rock
'n' roll stays, but the intricacy
is lacking. It's good dance
music, and there are a numberj
of excellent solos, most notably;
by guitarist Lee Rittentour and
keyboard player George Duke
(playing under a pseudonym).
It's a disappointment, how-
ever, to hear only this kind of
music on a Johnson solo effort.j
Some intricacy and some of his
flashy bass solo work would
have given the album a shot in
the arm.
SIMILAR PROBLEMS afflict
trumpeter Eddie Henderson's'
new album Sunburst, which
Bernstein's new recording
i
Hopwood writing
awards presented
Te 46th Annual Hopwood Awards were announced yes-
terday at Rackham Auditorium. Recognizing literary excel-
lence, each year the Hopwood Committee sponsors a speaker
and makes awards to University students. This year's
speaker, John Simon, spoke on "The Word on Film."
ESSAY: Freshman - Loralee Ann Horton, $100; Jane
Rene Sajewski, $75; Michael George Deloro, $50; Alec E.
Friedman, $50; Loralee Ann Horton, $50; Janet Ann
Smereck, $50.
Minor - Mary Margaret Long, $700; Jimny Jest
Anthony, $500; Cynthia Lee Hill, $400.
Major - Jonathan Dale Rowe, $1000; Lawrence I. Russ,
$800; Scott Howard Frank, $600.
DRAMA: Minor -- Barbara Lousie Monier, $400; Ellis
Edward Perraut, $400; William Kincaid, $300.
Major - Ema Adam Ema, $800; Satinder Singh Sood,
POETRY: Minor - Henry Root Austin, $800; Nt1s S.
Johnson, $500; Deborah Jean Allen, $300; James Stephens
Robins, $300.
Major - Deborah D. Bennett, $800; Lynda Suzanne
Felder, $700; Mary Patricia Heyn, $500; Thomas Andrew
Thom, $500.
TRANSLATION: Thomas Yuntong Luk, $150; Bette
Ellen Ehifman, $150; Charles Douglas Wunsch, $150.
FICTION: Minor - Lori Stefania Kagan, $800; James
Glendon Hynes, $700; Dorothy Maloy, $600; Arte Ira Pierce,
$500.
Major (Novel Division) - George Joseph Orupabo,
$900; Daniel Parley Soresen, $900; Steven Joel Dauer, $500;
Ted Charles Jennings, $500.
(Shory Story)--Helga De Shazo, $1200; Scott B. Billings(
$1000; John Glowney. $700.
of Oedipus': Disappointing
prominently features Johnson By KEVIN COUNIHAN featured such works as Dumbar-'
and Duke. The compositions(ton Oaks and The Rake's
tend to be less predictable than STRAVINSKY IS generally ac- nprogress
on Johnson's album, but all the '7knowledged as the foremostP What one finds in Oedipus
same they're not very absorb- composer of the twentieth cen- then is the rhythmic input of
ing. tury. His three early ballets in- then ey hsth to-
Duk's olo, ad een oretroduced musical material that;' the early pieces with the on-
Duke'ssolos and even more was not only innovative but coming tonal influence of his
so Henderson 's contribute a which also supplied many of the neoclassic settings. Oedipus re-
measure of interest to the directions that most composers solves any remains of the atonal
straight - ahead electric style. drecstio t mposcmg. conflict of Petrouchka but re-
But these musicians are cap- are still exploring. twins its movement and grace.
able of not only soloing well The primary element of Stra-tasismoe ntndgc.
The rhythmic ells of the
and creating an engaging rock vinsky's music is his driving piece vacillate between duple
n' roll sound, but also of set- rhythm, which is as apparent
ting up music in an interesting' in later works, such as Agon, as I and triple meter providing a
way. it was in Le Sacre du Printemps. strong 'metric impulse which
y'Thus, when a conductor first acts as a type of 'motif. Where
Romantic Warrior, the new approaches Stravinsky, he must Bernstein most obviously fails
album by Return to Forever, pay particularly close attention isi clarifying this metric im-
suffers in the opposite direc- to rhythmic clarity and pre- pulse and showing its function
tion. Keyboard playeraChick cision. The most successful con- in the work. Bernstein tends to
Corea's compositions are al- ductor of Stravinsky has been play down both the dynamics as
most classical in form. They're Pierre Boulez who has recorded well as meter, and the implicit
complicated. long, and intricate- what may be definitive inter- energy of Oedipus is never given
ly structured. pretations of Stravinsky's works. a chance to come forward.
But they're not spirited. They' A conductor of equal import-
lack the energy necessary to ance, Leonard Bernstein, has: DESPITE this weakness, the
spark thloud electricesusictoalso madeinteresting contribu- recording features several at-
life. The solos are nimble anid tions to Stravinsky's music,, but tatv ulte.A h e
technically excellent, but they, in his new recording of the c rn- cording was made during Bern-
have anralmost lackluster qual- poser's Oedipus Rex (Columbia
ity - Corea, b a s s i s t Stanley M 33999), Bernstein has failed
Clarke and guitarist Al DiMeola to expose the rhythmic diversity
seem to only be going through of the work and created a less Louis Armstrong & Billi
the motions as they play their 1 than successful performance.~
leads. OEDIPUS REX is an opera/ NEW 0
oratorio based on Sophocles'
Moonshadows, Sunburst and drama with a libretto by Jean
Romanti asarrior allbcont f'r Cocteau. It is an important When the authorities r
qut plesn msc1btteyr work for many reasons, firstStetCusth rns
all flawed. They're good listen- that it acts as a transitional Street Clubs, the mus
ing, but they don't match up to keep them open. Rare
othr nw jzz eleses- lkepiece between the composer's epthmoe.Rr
other new jazz releases - like monumental Sacre du Printemps Billie Holliday and ex
Miles Davis's and Weather Re- and what has been labeled as jazz greats. Also starr
port's. his "neoclassic" period which Woody Herman and Da
stein's sojourn into academia as,
the Charles Eliot Norton lec-
turer at Harvard in 1973, Bern-
stein utilized the talents of the
'nearby Boston Symphony and!
the lesser abilities of the Har-
vard Glee Club. As would be
expected, the Boston SymphonyI
Iperforms with characteristic
charm and sensitivity Their in-
tonation in the string sections'
in particular is always a joy,
and they show appropriate re-
sponsiveness to Bernstein's di-
rection.
The featured soloists are of:
additional satisfaction, especial-
Ily Rene Kollo in the title role -
I and Tatiana Troyanos as Jocas-
ta. They sing with intelligence
F and understanding and appear to
be at ease with Stravinsky's de-
manding score. The Harvard
Glee Club manages to stay on
hitch but in no way could be
judged as an asset. With the
Tanglewood Chorus so near to
Boston, it seems somewhat
foolish to settle for second best.I
e Holliday in
RRLEANS
1947
move to close the Basin
icians band together to
screen appearance by
cellent music by these
ing Arturo De Cordova,
orothy Patrick. 3
Taylor concert tonight
CECIL TAYLOR will make an important pianist/composers in
exclusive concert appear- jazz history. He studied music ,
ance tonight in the Power Cen- at Julliard and the New England;
ter at 8:00. Conservatory of Music, and his
He has not performed in Michi- music is often compared to suchj
gar since 1969 when he played classical composers as Stravin-
at the now-defunct Ibo Jazz sky and Bartok.!
TOMORROW
Madison Entertainment Presents a
FREE
STREET CONCERT
WITH
THREE BANDS!
from 3-12 p.m.
between West and South Quads
or the Union Ballroom if it rains
I
Club in Detroit.
Taylor is considered by manyl
critics to be one of the most:
Regret, only filly to win the1
Kentucky Derby, earned only
$35,093 for her nine victoriesl
and one second for 11 races be-
tween 1914tandh1917. She fin-
ished out of the money only'
once.
Have a flair forI
artistic writing?
It you are Interest-
ed in reviewiag
poetry, and music;
or writing feature
stories a b o u t the
drama, dance, film
arts: Contact Arts
Ed itor, c/o The
Michigan Daily.
Midwest's L.argest Selection of
European Charters
Canadian and U.S. I
from $259
CALL 769-1776
~Great P/aces -
....- -TRAVEL CONSULTANTS
216 S. 4th Ave, Ann Arbor
IAnn Arbor
ALTHOUGH He is widely
known in Europe, he has more3
of a cultist following here.{
Nevertheless, his appeal is
broadening. Last summer he.
played for three weeks at the,
Village Vanguard in New York'
City to enthusiastic crowds. He
was also recently voted Down-
beat magazine's "Jazz Critics
Hall of Fame" while his album
Silent Tongues received the
Record of the Year Award in,
the same poll.
.I1
POETRY READING
I LLIAM and ROBERT FARMER
READING FROM THEIR WORKS
Taylor is currently on a tour}
that will include stops in San
Francisco, Los Angeles, Van-1
couver, Chicago and New York.
Tickets for the Ann Arbor con-
cert are on sale at Hill Audi-
torium.
Thurs., April
15th-7:30 p.m.
GUILD HOUSE
802 MONROE
Refreshments
FRI.: Elvis in JAILHOUSE ROCK
CINE~MA GUILD TONIGHT AT OLD ARCH. AUD. K
( 7:00 & 9:05 Admission $1.25
~o I
TONIGHTI
UAC/eclipse jazz
PRESENTS 6
CECIL
TAYLOR
IN CONCERT
Thursday, April 15
Power Center-8:OOpm. m
"Many music critics consider Mr. Taylor to be
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