4 ARTS Page 6 I Friday, March 4, 1983 The Michigan Daily Jumping up wi By Jerry Brabenec ' nervous and omnidirectional, the Decoding Society is dominated by the raw energy of Ronald Shannon THE THINGS we go through to Jackson's drums, and James Blood bring you somenew musical in- Ulmer's band seems to combine telligence. Wednesday night, when any psychedelic intensity with gospel fer- responsible working person would be vor. home marshalling the energies for a Jump Up is a no nonsense dance and last minute assault on the working party band with social overtones. week, I found myself in the company Lake's rhapsodic alto playing is often of a good-sized, lively crowd of shelved for a couple of tunes in favor of mainline funk and reggae lovers at insistent funk riffs and chants. The con- Rick's, trying to muster the energy to sciousness raising potential of spurring "Jump Up" with Oliver Lake. a bar full of people to dance and chant, Lake is one of the current masters of "NO MORE WARS JUST FOR the alto saxophone and flute, holding PROFIT! !" should be obvious, and down the alto chair in the virtuosic demonstrates Lake's reasons for opting World Saxophone Quartet. His recor- for radio airplay and bar gigs. Many ding career gives the impression that reviewers of this group have noted that he is something of a maverick; jour- the band is much more convincing in neyman work playing in the bands of person than on record, and while this is established stars seems largely absent a common problem, hopefully from his discography. Lake represents Gramavision Records has the produc- a newer, collective outlook on jazz, tion savvy to give Jump Up a little more going back to his cofounding the St. gloss. This and a slight unevenness of Louis based Black Artists' Group in material are the band's two big 1968. This organization is closely allied problems at this point. with the Association for the Advan- Many observers at Rick's found the cement of Creative Music in Chicago. first set, full of hard funk and chants, to In the Midwest, where playing oppor- be the most exciting of the evening. No tunities and cultural resources are less doubt the midweek blues had a lot to do concentrated than in New York, serious with this, as the crowd thinned and the jazzers have developed the strategy of band settled down slightly as the night the collective to support a local pool of went on. In the second set particularly, talent and tradition. In Detroit, drum- the group settled into rather stale pat- mer Roy Brooks and trumpeter Marcus terns after the sensuous opening groove Belgrave are active in this area. of "Trickle Down Feeling." The music collective is an alternative "One Foot" picked up considerably to the standard party and bar music as guitarist Jerome Harris con- economy, which is the route that Jump tributed a commanding guitar solo, Up follows. The major contribution of utilizing a huge array of effects pedals. this band is its' staking out new com- Later in the set Lake introduced the mon ground between reggae and funk other guitarist as Brandon "blew out a in a straightforward, accessible con- fuse" Ross after Ross' amplifier blew text, with avant jazz as a sort of sub- out at the climax of another fine solo, text. Ornette Coleman's Prime Time is this one blurred slightly by chorus and delay effects in the style of Andy Sum- G d P . -mers. Graduation Portraits "Stratosphere" opened with a drum from solo by Pheeroan ak Laff, a master Experienced Professional drummer in the style of Rashied Ali, Photographers who demonstrated that an avant garde player can come back to the middle th Oliver Lake :4 Oliver Lake's appearance at Rick's Wednesday night was an auspicious and admirable concert of high energy reggae. with a vengeance. Pheeroan ak Laff's playing was lean, resonant and rock steady thoughout the night. The third set opened with one of Lake's chant tunes, with the maddeningly simple vocal line: "Don 't go crazy, keep your sanity Stop doing those crazy things" giving way to a manic bass solo. Telegraphing his lines with dramatic leaps and gestures and pounding out the funk on a metal necked Kramer bass, this guy did it all. Sorry I didn't get his name. More reggae'numbers demonstrated that the band's reggae feel comes almost entirely from the guitars: the drummer almost always plays straight rock, coming down hard on one. The sort of weightless one and heavy three mastered by bands like Steel Pulse was very rare. Sound quality was superb, with good balance and volume, and subtleties of polytonal jazz peeked through the cracks in the funk from time to time. I left with the feeling that this band could really rise to a more propitious oc- casion than a Wednesday night at Rick's, so let's hope they come around again soon. 10:00 12:15 4:30 7:30 9:30 A Finger-Lickin' Good Comedy! ~CoOutrageous and 20hFunny! "! 2q~hCENTURY-FOX FILMS '' ; ...; . . V - _ r __ 6 NOMS 1:00 3:451 6:30 9:15] U.. i - of-_ i E ARATE ADMI film festival YO U-NUMBSKULL o .MWHV 'TeQ \'~' \0.. (%I\ MOVIES Af BRIAR WOOD 769.4791 * 462 BRIARWQOO CIRCLE SHOWS START 12:15 ALL SEATS $3aOO -- 1 Discounts for Quantity CALL KLINGER'S STUDIO 662-2359 ANN A RBOR INDIVIDUAL THEATRES sI h Aa. @liberty . 701.9700 $2.00 SAT SUN SHOWS BEFORE 6:00 PM TIME "JUST WONDERFUL!" CBs-Tv "WITTY" NBC-TV DUDLEY MOORE STAR OF "TEN", AND "ARTHUR" FRI - 6:45, 8:30, 10:15 (PG) SAT SUN - 1:20, 3:05, 4:50 6:45,8:30, 10:15 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS INC. BEST ACTRESS SOPHIE'S CHOICE Notice: Contains live Cultures By Melissia Bryan W HAT MAKES Culture Club so successful? Fashion? Mystery? Does Boy George's hairdresser know for sure, or is their music really refreshing? Their secret may be com- bining these alluring elements humorously and innocuously. Culture Club has all the potential to be a very controversial band, but oddly enough they have merged right into Top 40 radio without as much as a by-your- leave. It is hard to believe that the American record-buying consumers have bought 400,000 Culture Club records without noticing that the band's singer is prettier than Brooke Shields. I think- and this is a personal obser- vation - that most people just haven't figured out yet that Boy George is a man. That's spelled MALE, everybody! I may be making harsh generalities about the taste of America's youth, but I remember being called a "Fag Hag" because I liked David Bowie. Why the switch, you guys? Perhaps Boy George is so blatant that people just think it's an act. I think the movie "Victor/Vic- toria" opened a lot of people's minds. Culture Club started to attract atten- O'.SWINGTO..- ChotanoogaChoo-Choo Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy Ain't She Sweet Blue Moon Hey Daddy I Little Brown Jug Strike Up the Bond Old Black Magic I Got it Bad I'll Be Seeing You And Many More A B il Fegan Attractions Production BEST OF BROADWAY POWER CENTER MARCH 4-6,8 P.M. & MARCH 6, 2 P.M. PTP TICKET OFFICE, MICHIGAN LEAGUE 764-0450 tion in England last summer because they wore unique, loose-fitting cotton clothes that had all sorts of religions symbols painted on the fabric. I can only guess that they junked the "Star of David" motif because it took too much attention away from their fun loving, hoy loving image. Boy George was a big figure in London night- clubbing 'circles, and he does have a certain oomph that people love to imitate. He also started that whacky dread-locked look for white people. He's too much! Here in America, Culture Club's fashion and politics have been played down in order to sell their record, Kissing to be Clever. Their hit single "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?" has hit top ten recently and is still going strong. The album is pure pop-its in- strumentals are very white, bubble- gummy versions of stronger ethnic forerunners. Tracks on the record are influenced by salsa, calypso, and reggae styles. Vocally, Boy George is sweeter than molasses and almost always in tune. Their album has one major theme - Boys in Love. In fact, the entire second side is devoted to happy, cheerful boyst With titles like "White Boy," "Boy, Boy," "White Boys Can't Control It," and "Take Control," who can doubt what's on George's mind? The Culture Club recognizes its limitations and happily claims to be fir- st and foremost a pop band. They don't purport to have the answer to world hunger or nuclear war. Despite former indications, they are not making any big sociological statement, and if we're lucky, they never will. They are not a New Wave band, a rock band, or even a great band. They are a harmless pop band, and that takes off all that pressure. I hope that all of us get a heavy dose of Culture tonight at St. Andrew's Hall, and that we won't be disappointed if Boy George isn't as cute in real life. What I really hope to see are a lot of Boy George look alikes in the audience. I'm sure they must be in demand somewhere. MAJOR EVENTS PRESENTS: PHOEBE SNOW i