N

ARTS

The Michigan Daily

Thursday, February 18, 1982


'Innovative jazz
great returns

17,


By Jerry Brabenec
HE ICONOCLASTIC saxophonist/
composer Ornette Coleman will
perform tonight at the Power Center,
with his fusion band, Prime Time, as,
part of the Eclipse Jazz winter concert,
series. Having recorded jazz, or-
chestral, and third world music during
his turbulent thirty year career,
Coleman is now focusing his energies
on a jazz/rock format, and his new
band features two electric guitars, two
electric basses, and two drummers.
Born in 1930 in Fort Worth, Texas,
Coleman's early musical influences in-
cluded children's songs, gospel, and
rhythm and blues. He taught himself to
play the saxophone by reading a
method book. Interestingly, an error he
made interpreting the musical staff at
this early stage may have been a key
factor in originating his unique theory
of music, which he later named har-
molodics. This theory essentially com-
bines the musical elements of harmony,

motion, and melody with great
freedom, allowing the musician to ef-
fectively play in several keys and tem-
pos simultaneously.
Touring with circus, rhythm, and
blues, and jazz bands, Coleman's
unusual approach met with almost
universal condemnation until he met
John Lewis of the Modern Jazz Quartet
in the late '50s. Through Lewis' inter-
cession, Coleman recorded on Atlantic
Records, and his quartet played an
extended engagement at the Five Spot
in New York City.
The furor that resulted has never
really died down, but Coleman's ideas
have influenced a whole generation of
musicians like Anthony Braxton, Don
Cherry, and other members of the jazz
avant-garde, and now we can expect to
see his influence extend to the realm of
innovative rock. A master of the put-on
and the politics of innovation, Coleman
has remained controversial, but his in-
stantly recognizable sound and
challenging ideas have assured him a
place as one of the great pioneers in
jazz.

Strasbe
NEW YORK (AP)-Lee Strasberg,
who taught "method acting" to a
generation of stars such as Marlon
Brando, James Dean and Marilyn
Monroe, died Wednesday of a heart at-
tack. He was 80.
The graduates of Strasberg's Actors
Studio comprise a virtual Who's Who of
American acting: Robert de Niro, Paul
Newman, Al Pacino, Jane Fonda and
Sally Field, to name a few more.
In 1974, the master teacher made his
movie debut, and won an Oscar
nomination for his portrayal of an aging
underworld boss in Godfather II. Such
recognition also followed his
pupils-organizers of an Actors Studio
party in 1980 figured Strasberg's
students had won or been nominated for
128 Oscars onys and Emmys.
Strasberg was stricken at his apar-
tment on Central Park West at 6:30
a.m. and taken to St. Luke's-Roosevelt
Hospital, where doctors tried to revive
him until 7:56 a.m., said John Springer,
publicist for Strasberg and the studio.
Strasberg, also a director and stage
375 NMAPLE
BARGAIN SHOWS *Z-M iforo S PM Mon-Fri
A for*CPMLSot-Sun
JACK NICHOLSON

Daily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM
Our Daughters Wedding appeared at Second Chance on
Tuesday night.
It wasn t much of
aparty with ODW

Page 5
rg dies
actor, was born in Austria-Hungary on
Nov. 17, 1901, and was brought here by
his parents eight years later.
He based his teaching on the method
he learned as a youth from disciples of
the famed Konstantin Stanislavski of
the Moscow Art Theater. - He taught
"method acting," using improvisation
to show his students how to internalize
roles-letting the performance emerge
from emotion and disposition rather
than working for external effects or
manners.
"Without doubt he was the greatest
influence in my career, more than even
he was aware," Oscar-winner Sall}y
Field said from Paris, where she was'
on a promotion tour. "I feel sad that
young actors coming up today will'
never experience his brilliance."
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2/18/62 (Except "REDS")"M"
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WARREN
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A selection of campus film highlights.

Chinatown
(Roman Polanski, 1974)
For the second time this month Ann
Arbor has the treat of seeing
Chinatown, one of those movies
where everything works. Nicholson
and Dunaway are magic as private
eye and mysterious woman, and
Polanski somehow captures a tired,
cynical view of '40s Los Angeles.If
you missed the first showing, catch
the second. (Thursday, Feb. 18;
n. Michigan Theater, 4:00,9:00).

Mr. Deeds Goes to Town
(Frank Capra, 1936)
Gary Cooper stars as the soft-
spoken, small-town tuba player, Mr.
Deeds, who inherits millions. As
Deeds is indoctrinated into the life of
the big city, he falls in love with the
reporter who wants to record his
downfall. Will money get the best of
Mr. Deeds? Orwill his relatives get
the money? A distinct change of-
pace. (Friday, Feb. "19; MLB 4,
9:00).t
An American In Pafis
(Vincent Minneli, 1951)
Although not filled with the snap-
piest of plots, you just can't argue
with the athletic dancing of Gene
Kelly. And you thought you didn't
like ballet. (Feb. 19; Lorch Hall,
9:00).
The King and I
(Walter Lang, 1956)
Basic Hollywood musical: splashy,

glittery, and enchanting. Yul Bryn-
ner (in his one successful role) is the
King of Siam tutored by Deborah
Kerr. Naturally they fall in love, but
thank God Rodgers and Hammer-
stein were there to write "Shall We
Dance?" (Feb. 19; Michigan
Theater 4:00,7:00, 9:00).
Pon't LookNow
(Nicholas Roeg, 1973)
Beautifully filmed story of an ar-
chitect and his wife in Venice
troubled by telepathic images
foreshadowing death. Donald
Sutherland and Julie Christie are
appropriately bewildered by the
back alleys of Venice, a bizzare
creation of director Nicholas Roeg.
(Saturday, Feb. 20; MLB 3,9:00).
Lost Horizon
(Frank Capra, 1937)
For several years, Capra just kept
churning out classic movie after
classic movie. Next to You Can't
Tale It With You, Mr. Deeds Goes To
Town, and It Happened One Night,
all showing this week, Lost Horizon
ranks as one of the best. Ronald
Coleman is a passenger on an air-
plane that has a date with
destiny - it crashes into the
Himalayas, right next to the
paradise city of Shangri-La. They
don't make movies like this any
more. (Feb.20; Aud. A, 7:00).
And Now For Something
Completely Different.
(Ian McNaughton, 1971)
More a compilation of sketches from
the Monty Python Comedy troupe's
TV show than an original movie. But
what the heck-it's got more laughs
per reel than most comedies. (Feb.
20 ; Michigan Theater, 5:30, 8:30
11:30).

O'UR DAUGHTERS Wedding (ODW
to you). seemed to be playing both
sides against the middle Tuesday night
at Second Chance, but only ended up
shot down in the cross fire.
They seemed to be trying to convince
us that they are after an intelligent and
far-reaching synthesis, of neo-baroque
cathedral dirge and disposable pop
dance music, but the whole mess comes
off as mostly just noncommittal.
I suppose you could give them the
benefit of the doubt and propose that
they were examining the inherent
paradoxes of coldly calculated "art"
music and exuberantly friendly
"popular" music. But I think you would
be more honest to just admit that they
really just lacked any coherent focus to
their presentation.
The end result was of course mixed.
It seems that they purposefully botched
their signature salute to suburbia,
"Lawn Chairs," in order to make the
other four songs from their Digital
Cowboy EP sound better by com-
parison. (An exceptional rendition of
"Target for Life" being foremost.)

The other songs seemed to all blend
together, victims of a manufactured
and nondescript lyrics. (Their major
observation of New York City seems to
be that there are lots of "tall buildings"
there, a point which they felt obligated
to repeat nearly endlessly in order that
they might hammer across its poetic
insight).
The only truly original and intriguing
aspect of their performance was the
willing imprecision with which they
played their synthesizers. Most ex-*
clusively electronic bands never
question that the most impressive
quality of their instruments is their ab-
solutely deadly accuracy. ODW made a
few major steps in showing that elec-
tronic music can be just as enjoyably
astounding when played somewhat
haphazardly.
Other than that, ther-jusq isn't much
to be said either way for a band whose
most memorable personal quality was.
their hairdos and whose most
memorable musical achievement was
their pre-programmed rhythm tracks.
-Mark Dighton

He found o line
within himself.
THE
BORDER
A UNIVERSAL -
RKO PICTURE R
1:00-3:05-5:15-7:30 9:45


3:301
5:301
7:301
9:30


BURT LANCASTER
SUSAN SARANDON,
ATLAKT:C
CTT
A PARAMOUNT

e


1:15
4:00
7:00 "
9:30 N

Riveting...
Enthralling...
CHARIOTS
OFTIREi

AlFRED HITCHCOCK'S

r

DIAL "M"
5:00
for MURDERg:
in 3-D

I

L



Monk dead at 64

Ann Arbor Civic Theatre
AUDITIONS

J.ry

Jazz musician Thelonious Sphere
Monk, one of the foremost pianists of
the post-war modern jazz movement,
died yesterday morning. He was 64.
Monk suffered a brain hemmorhage
Feb. 5 and never regained con-
sciousness.
He was a self-taught musician who
became widely celebrated in the mid-
1950s.
One of his boyhood idols, was Louis
Armstrong and the major influences on
his work were music greats such as
Earl "Fatha" Hines, Art Tatum, Fats
Waller and Duke Ellington.
Monk was one of a few jazz players,

before World War II, who worked on the
harmonic and rhythmic innovations
that led to the new jazz style, bebop.
Monk, whose best-known composition
was "Round Midnight," began to
acquire popularity in the 1950s after
many years of neglect.'
After performing all over Europe in
1972 in a group that included Sonny Stitt
and Dizzie Gillespie and was called the
Giants of Jazz, Monk retired. He gave a
concert of his own music at Carnegie
Hall in 1974 for the New York Jazz
Repertory Company and appeared at
the Newport Jazz Festival in New York
in 1974, with his son on drums.

"CO M ELOT"
Sunday, Feb. 28
Monday, March 1
Tuesday,'March 2
7:30-10:00
338 S. Main
Please call AACT office weekdays 1-4 pm
audition time. 662-9405.

for an individual

1.1

U,
_________________ - U


Versailles Chamber Orchestra
Aubert: Suite of Symphonies
Rameau: Concerto No. 1
Bach: Violin Concerto in E major
Mozart: Divertimento in C, K. 157
Roussel: Sinfonietta .
Thursday Feb.18at 830
Rackham Auditorium

I Tickets at $5.50, $7.00, $8.50

I