ARTS
The Michigan Daily Sunday, September 28, 1980 Page 7
ANN ARBOR JAZZ FESTIVAL
bo
Day o
By R. J.SMITH
I know Eclipse Jazz and didn't for-
mally dedicate this year's jazz festival
to anyone, as they did the past two
years (1978: Ellington; 1979: Charles
Mingus), but they can't fool me: Friday
night's edition of this year's fest, at
-least, went out to Mom. How else to ex-
plain the milk-and-cookies timidity so
prevalent in Oregon and Stephane
* Grappelli's performance? .
Now don't get me wrong. I like Mom.
--But one might have wished that Oregon
shad explored their charts a bit more
":riskily, that Grappelli had played his
'-violin with a bit more vinegar. At it
0*was, the show provided a twin-bill of
'easy-chair jazz, a show pleasing enough
while in Hill Auditorium though one
'hardly destined to be remembered once
,outside.
OREGON LED off, and unfor-
- tunately rarely got far away from the in-
tentionally open-ended song structures
they set up. The novelty of their in-
strumentation, and the very genuine
warmth and exuberance of their
melodies, give the charted parts of
their songs a very listenable quality.
But since they don't really work with
the brevity-asserting aesthetic of mod-
ern day minimalists or much Oriental
music, their spare and light melodies,
often repeated endlessly, become in-
cessant and nagging. Repetition can
,,work in two ways, Herbie Hancock said
once -n better days; it can be mind-
.numb ng, or it can be transcendental.
At Hill Friday night, Oregon was too of-
ten of the former.
* . rWhen they played at the Power Cen-
ter the last time they were here, early
in 1979, Oregan took off a lot more from
,the formats they pen. What makes
Oregon really work, what makes them,
well, transcendental, is their free-form
playing, the intuitive webs spun when
they improvise collectively in the
uniquely chilly, organic sound- they
,,.,have. But Friday, we got little of that.
,Guitarist Ralph Towner and reedman
IPaul McCandless came through on a
By MICHAEL KREMEN
It's Iggy Pop week in Detroit as the
former Iggy Stooge and sometimes
James Osterberg returns to his home
turf for a seven night run at Bookie's. A
0 Sunday night show has been added and
tickets are available for this show only.
It was a decidedly hard-rocking Iggy
that was on view Thursday night. While
there was lots of audience interaction,
and confrontation for those locals who
insist that the 1980 model Iggy must still
play :the Stooge on occasion, the music
was decidedly the main attraction.
IGGY IS A veteran of more than a
decade's worth of rock and drug wars
and he is truly a survivor-an ap-
pellation that has been seriously
cheapened due to indiscriminate
overuse. During that time, if you hadn't
noticed, he has amassed a large
catalogue of songs and they made for
surprisingly satisfying listening.
Iggy Pop is no longer a teenaged
primitive, one of the original punks who
was as likely to cut himself with glass
as he was to successfully complete a
set. Yet, at 33, his stage presence still
communicates a sense of theater. Like
David Bowie, Iggy continues to rein-
vent himself, incorporating his
.previous personnas with his newer in-
ne:
Is nice enough?
couple of notable occasions, best of all a
duet they performed. None, though,
really brought a whole lot of ideas to
fruition.
' AFTER THIS, Stephane Grappelli,
the septugenerian French violinist,
came on and picked things up con-
siderably. Grappelli and his trio play a
knockabout, friendly sort of jazz that
one imagines hasn't changed much at
all from the days when Grappelli
traded fours with Django'-Reinhards in
the hottest of Paris clubs. There was
nothing but standards: "How High The
Moon," "Love For Sale," "Chicago."
Immediately his set established the
essential comfortableness of his style.
Grappelli does nothing too rough, and
he prefers to be shiny and witty rather
than especially meditative. But it is the
relaxed warmth of his playing,
ironically, which can get in the way of
truly appreciating what he is doing.
There is an awful lot of elegance
caught up in his light-hearted
swing-and wit is something that has
rarely fitted together with contem-
porary jazz as well as it does in Grap-
pelli's. When the rest of the group drops
out at the end of "How High The Moon"
and Grappelli takes a quick coda,,
though, all his eloquence shines
through.
Ultimately, it was a set as geared for
enjoyment in a small club setting as
almost any 1 can remember. Grap-
pelli's is a sweet art, one with sugar in
almost every line and with ribbons tied
to the ends. Yet the casualness of it all
is a tad out of place at Hill Auditorium.
A group of jazz ascetics like Oregon
and an old-timer like Grappelli may not
have much in common, but plopping
down in a Hill Auditorium seat Friday
night helped the listener forge a few
previously undiscovered connections.
When listening for several hours to
these two acts, the results are fairly
identical: a sensation of blanketing
niceness.
OPEN HEARINGS ON
THE FUTU RE OF
THE MICHIGAN UNION
Discussion of student proposals concerning:
" Student role in Michigan Union decision-making
(advisory or actual priority setting authority).
" Proposals for Michigan Union decision-making
structures.
" Definition of the basic objectives and mission of
The Michigan Union.
SPEAK OUT ON YOUR STUDENT UNION
Hearings Sept.29
(Monday)
7pm-KUENZEL ROOM,
Oct. 1 & 2
(Wednesday Thursday)
Michigan Union
Veteran French jazz violinist Stephan Grapelli kicked the third annual Ann Arbor Jazz Festival off to a flourishing start
Friday night. Performing with a drummerless trio, Grapelli exhibited the swinging style that has established him as
the master of his instrument in jazz.
oes Iggy
terests to create an identity that is both
current and classic (embodying as it
does the entire Iggy-history).
We, the audience, are free to select
those aspects of Iggy's performance
that most fulfill our individual needs.
My Iggy show featured a versatile
vocalist fronting a powerful and
dynamic hard rock combo. The
promises of musical excellence that
would briefly surface his recent area
appearances were fully realized this
time out. It began with a suitably raw
"Raw Power" and a desperately urgent
"I Want To Be Your Dog."
PLAYING OLDIES to win over the
audience was a calculated move, but
the performance was so powerful that
Iggy deserved our full support. From
his most recent LP, Soldier, we heard
"Dog Food," "Take Care of Me" as
well as Iggy's strategy for urban sur-
See IGGY'S, Page 6
Bring This Ad To Open House and Get A Free Raffle Ticket
The University Activities Center Presents
ANOTHER OPENIN
Open House: Mon, Tues, Wed
Sept. 29-Oct. 1-12-5 pm
Organization Fair: Oct. 1, 5-10 pm
Raffel At 7:00 pm-You Must Be There To Win!
I I
Prizes Include Dinner At One Of These Spots:
I Second Chance Kamakura Japanese Restaurant
Count of Antipasto Bicycle Jim's
Jason's Wolverine Den
El Greco Olga's
Bacchus Gardens Drake's
Stage Door Suppenkasper
.......- - - --................ .......- ......... ......
Sponsored by Union Discussion Committee & MSA
HEALTH
CARE ERS
DAY
An Opportunity To Visit With Representatives From
Over 25 Health Fields, Including Dentistry, Medi-
cine (D.O., M.D.), Nursing, Art/Music Therapy,
Optometry, Physical And Occupational Therapy,
Physician's Assistant, Public Health, Veterinary
Medicine, And More!
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 1st
10Om12,1-=4
2nd fl-Michigan Union
Sponsored By
Pre-Professional Division Of Career Planning & Placement
3200 Student Activites Building
The Arthur Blythe Quartet
Sunday Sept. 28 8pm
Hill Auditorium
...part of the 1980