ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Tuesday, March 24, 1981
Page 5
Back-up band out shines Corea
By JERRY BRABENEC
What do Gary Burton, Herbie Han-
cock, Stanley Clarke, Mike Brecker,
and Steve Gadd all have in common?
-Well, they're all jazz musicians, and.
they've all played Ann Arbor with
Chick Corea in recent years. Corea has
filled Hill Auditorium several times
now, and his newest group regaled this
Loyal following with an impeccable per-
furmance Saturday night.
THE QUARTET'S most striking
characteristic, was its tightness,
Throughout the intricate heads and ex-
tented solos, the players were tightly
synchronized and in total control. No
loppy attacks, muffed phrases or loose
entrances-these guys are studio aces,
and they can play exactly even as they
push their imaginations to the limits.
.Chick's arrangements were modern
but melodic, and the mood was light
and subtly humorous. He has fun per-
forming, never leaving the audience out
of the action.
The first set consisted of four selec-
tions from the group's forthcoming
album. Chick introduced the tunes in a
classical vein, as Quartet I, Quartet
III, Quartet I part 1 and Quartet II."
Quartet II opened with a lullaby-like
piano solo and moved into a ballad. Die-
hard jazzers never tire of sentimental
harmonies, and this tune was replete
with the kind of gorgeous moments that
stance, the darker more sustained tone
Jack DeJohnette favors.
the outstanding tunes in the second
set were a jazz waltz entitled "Mirror,
Mirror" (which seemed to remind.
Brecker of "Someday My Prince Will
Come"), the Charlie Parker standard
"Confirmation," and an instrumental
number in which Steve Gadd displayed
the chops we all remember from Steely
Dan's Aja.
Excepting his intuitive backing of the
other soloists, Corea's only really
memorable playing of the evening was
an inventive solo piano fantasia.
Corea's main interest in soloing is the
punctuation of smooth, simple chording
with scalar runs and complex little riffs
where he twists his hands around each
other, otherwise his playing is sort of
limpid and unassertive.
All in all, it was a very satisfactory
evening overall. Corea's arrangements
were smooth and detailed, Brecker
demonstrated a fusion of Trane's
technique with the funky style and
sound of modern studio tenors, and the
rhythm section cooked. Thanks,
Chick-hopefully we'll see you again
soon.
. ; s
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I I
Daily Photo byTRACY CRAWFQRD
Chick Corea's loyal fans filled the balconys of Hill Saturday night to cheer
the piano player on.
G
let the listener forget Michigan
weather, phone bills, and the other an-
noyances of the mundane world. Quar-
tet I. part 1 was sort of a loping, Latin 2-
beat with a rock feel, and featured ex-
citing bass and drum solos.
Bassist Eddie Gomez, particularly
roused the audience with a solo that
bristled with high velocity runs and
flamenco-like strumming. All through
the concert Gomez's rhythmic drive
was unflagging. A light, flexible sound
and popping attack gave his solos a
lyricism uncommon among bassists.
Steve Gadd, stoked the fires with the
muscularity of a prize fighter. His muf-
fled tom-toms and trebly cymbals were
definite and sure, demonstrating what
a variety of sounds are available to a
drummer when contrasted with, for in-
.-M Professional Theatre Pror
I
ARS MUSICA:
I
Musical trip to the 18th century I
ENDS THURSDAY
, r rv n . D e v i &
Daily-7:10, 9:00
ed.-1:20, 3:20, 5:20, 7:10, 9:00
Henrik Ibsen's
A DolHuse
By LAURIE ANDERSON:
Ann Arbor's Ars Musica is a unique
ensemble which performs music of
Baroque composers such as Bach,
Handel, and Vivaldi on eighteenth cen-
tqry instruments. The ensemble uses
old instruments and plays in a Baroque
style, in an attempt to reproduce the
sound of the music as it would have
been heard by an eighteenth-century
audience.
The ensemble chose well known.
selections for its programs Sunday at
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MANN THEATRES
VILLAGE 4
375 N MAPLE
Daily Discount Matinees
TUESDAY BUCK DAY
St. Andrew's Church: a Handel concer-
to grosso, Bach's third .and sixth Bran-
denburg concertos, a Haydn quartet for
flute and strings, and a Vivaldi concer-
to. I was hoping to hear some lesser
known works which featured more
exotic instruments like crumhorns and
Baroque trumpets, but perhaps the Ars
Musica wanted to perform music which
we'd often heard played on modern in-
struments, so that we could hear how
very'different the music sounds on
original instruments.
CERTAINLY THE music had a more
stark, somber quality, played on
original instruments in the more
austere "Baroque'performance style.
Thiscaused an especially strikinig ef-
feet in the Handel Concerto Grosso, Op.
6 no. 1, which was 1)played by an en-
semble of Baroque strings.
The eighteenth century violins have a
sharper nasal sound and the celles a
softer, brighter sound than their
modern counterparts. Except for a few
squawks and sloppy trills from the
violins, this lively, melodious concerto
was beautifully played by the Ars
Musica.
THE SIXTH Brandenburg concerto,
however, played by the same string en-
semble, did not fare so well. Their tem-
po was much too fast, so that the con-
certino players could hardly fit in all
the notes of their solo passages making
the entire work sound rushed and un-
controlled.
Probably the most pleasant piece of
the program was the Vivaldi concerto
for oboes, strings, and harpsichord.
Vivaldi's music can sound repetitive
and superficial at times, but the
original instrument gave this piece a
special grace and profundity.
Especially lovely was the blend of the
bright, brassy sounding Baroque
bassoon and oboes, with the soft,
mellow tones of the strings.
While I still prefer the richer, more
dynamic sounds of modern instrumen-
ts, hearing the Ars Musica perform
masterfully on Baroque instruments is
a worthwhile experience, because it
causes one to have a cleared notion of
what the Baroque composers might
have had in mind when they wrote their
music.
the ann arbor
im cooperativ 1
[
w
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ENDS THURSDAY!
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Kay E.
Kuter
David
Little
Phyllis
Sommerville
March 25-29, 8 pm Lydia Mendelssohn Theatre
Sunday at 2pm and 8pm
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