ARTS
The Michigan Daily
Tuesday, October 18, 1983
Page5.
Olu Dara wallows in wet
By C. F. Krell
A IN'T IT GREAT to beat your feet
on the Mississippi mud. Well,
yeah, in a few words. You know, it has
been put forth that all human beings
are pigs. My mom always called me a
pig. Dad, too. I'm sure that at one time
or another, everybody excluding the
most kosher has been called a pig. In
case you haven't been calleda pig, walk
up to somebody on the street, put on
your best Marlon Brando voice, and ask
them to call you a pig.
Last Saturday, the U-club was full of
pigs. Perhaps to be more clear,.the U-
club became full of pigs. Cute pigs,
bearded pigs, black pigs, porky pigs,
white pigs yellow Digs pg swith hair
stoned pigs, and even neat and clean
pigs. The U-club became sty-like. That
is not to say that everyone was cheering
"Oink, Oink!" all the time, and acting
as if they were bacon in a pan, but they
just became involved in the environ-
ment of those pigs who live in a typical
pig environment.
What is the typical pig environment?
In some countries, the most pig is found
between the lettuce and tomato. Often,
pig is found on a bun in a tube. Other
times, portraits and cartoons of pigs
are popular. Wait, let's be honest. Pigs
hang out in mud.
0 trod through the mud doth Olu Dara
and his band. The sound of the not quite
dry but wet and sticky and gooey and
dirty and mucky and smelly and it's
black and surrounded by rednecks.
Ci it~ d rntn ci"at arir h
tle humming and chanting and huffing
and puffing. Wind whistling through
real tall buildings while going through
the clothelines full of dirty clothes and
it is just too crowded and there are rats
about.
You think about all them stories you
have' heard about those voodoo types
that still live in small shacks within the
swamps, living on grass and black stuff
in bottles where one swig will blast your
ass. All those stories like some young
punk griot with a crowd that will just
eat up everything he says. It's like ithe-
return of the human contact. Personal,
reaching, touching. Not a bunch of
ghosts walking around but real people
with real lives who have a good back-
beat and can play good notes.
That is what it was, it was the ability
to play a note that struck a chord, be it
on trumpet (long, lonely, boldly) or
guitar (vibrant and hurting) or one of
them mud rhythms. They drove a trash
can and they came to my town. Soun-
dtrack of the South meets the emoting
of the North and another joke is told
about some different distant relative
and they pass down the process and I
hope that someone picks it up soon or it
will die. But for now they just slowly
ooze all the important mud that needs
to be sung. Talking New York from the
Olu Dara quartet, originating in
Mississippi. At least he is talking to us.
He might be talking to you.
Daily Photo by DEBORAH LEWIS
Opigs with no hair, big pigs, small pigs, trying to lighten the workload witha lit-
,Big Band blasts become better
By Ben Ticho
OME THINGS CHANGE, some
remain the same. What gets better,
gets better. What doesn't is better
forgotten.
Thirteen years ago, Richard Thom-
pson and the rest of Fairport Conven-
tion made an impromtu appearance at
Mr. Flood's party, prior to their
scheduled Detroit appearance. Back
then, Thompson was a pretty talented
guitarist. Today, he is better.
About forty years ago, Glenn Miller
penned a tune called "Pennsylvania-
6500." Big band blasts become better at
§econd Chance Sunday night when
Thompson and the Big Band stomp
their wailing way through a happy mix
of Van Morrison and cross-continent
Blues Brothers, complete with duck-
walks by the horn section and an encore
Scover of Jerry Lee's "Great Balls of
Fire."
It is a frank and happy party, flowing
naturally from the jaunting horse story
of "Both Ends Burning" to the more
jaundiced retrospective "Don't Renege
On Our Love" to a jolting jam of "Shoot
Out the Lights." No excess, but no
drag; no artificial promises, no
resignation.
Simon Nicol thumps his Kellogg's
Corn Flakes guitar while Alan Dunn
weaves a jostling gig on accordian. The
group is unafraid to discard lyrics and
Thompson's gruff vocals; they journey
back to the 17th century for instrutnen-
tal versions of "Amarylis" and
"Nonesuch (a la mode francais)."
Unhurried, unfettered, and unfestered
Thompson plays and makes his play
with pleasing eagerness but no over-
bearing eagerness to please.
Heading a band with what he calls "a
preponderance of extroverts," Thom-
pson is a self-styled "neutrovert,"
honestly balancing his unabashed zeal
for live performance, with the memory
of a failed marriage and a fitful career.
Shoot Qut the Lights, 1982's
collaboration with ex-wife Linda,
brought Thompson back to the critical,
if not commerical, forefront after a few
years of relative obscurity. With this
year's Hand of Kindness, Richard con-
tinues to fuse difficult emotions with
understated but infectious imagery and
music.
And the fingers handle the
Stratocaster with more facility and
creative nonchalance than ever. Thom-
pson is a flat picker, using multiple
digit strums to bring life to scores of
augmented ninths and more com-
plicated musical distortions. Orginally
trained as a classical guitarist, Thom-
pson through the years has 'picked up
bits and pieces from all corners of the
aural world; he cites influence from
such diverse folk as Alan Holdsworth,
Glen Campbell, Louis Jordan, T-Bone
Burnett, Al Dimeola, and McCoy
Tyner.
Thompson shared the bill with Bur-
nett on several shows this tour, which
continues to England after stops in
Boston and New York. The tour has
been tiring, and, though well-received,
not incredibly profitable. One of Thom-
pson's future projects, in addition to a
new album in February, is, "doing a
tour without losing money." But Thom-
pson smiles a lot; he's a friendly guy,
and he plays friendly music.
Some things are just a good time.
...
,
The Tony Award Winning Broadway Play
CHILDREN OF
FIVE PERFORMANCES THIS WEEKEND ONLY- OCT. 20-23
THURSDAY, FRIDAY and SATURDAY, at 8 P.M.
SUNDAY at 2 and 8 P.M.
IN THE MENDELSSOHN THEATER OF THE MICHIGAN LEAGUE
Tickets will be on sale Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
at the Michigan Union Ticket Office and from 7 to 8 p.m. only at the Mendelssohn
Box Office. On Sunday, tickets will be on sale at Mendelssohn only from 1 to 2
p.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. Tickets for Thursday and both Sunday shows are $4 in ad-
vance at the Union, and $5 at the door. All Friday and Saturday tickets are $5.
Presented by The Common Ground Theater Ensemble and Canterbury Friends.
Every Wednesday: *
FOXY FRENCHMAN
MALE DANCERS
Showtime 9:00
Men Welcome at 11:15
Admit 2 ladies for the price of I for this show
Thursday:
LADIES NIGHT
2 for 1 Pitchers
Until 10:30
Friday, Oct. 21:
QUEST
Friday, Oct. 28:
TRINIDAD TRIPOLI STEEL BAND
and TONY BROWN
$6.00 at the door
Saturday, Oct. 29:
JOHN CONLEE
NASHVILLE STAR
Shows 7:00, 10:30-$8.50
Daily Photo by BRIAN MASCK
Richard Thompson is all smiley at the Second Chance Sunday Night.
Chamber group proves
ene
By Robin Jones
S CHUMANN'S cello concerto was
never performed with more ease or
clarity than by Carter Brey on Satur-
day evening with the Ann Arbor Cham-
ber Orchestra. He was at home with the
instrument, performing with near-
perfect intonation and control before an
appreciative audience at the Michigan
Theater.
The concerto focuses almost entirely
on the solo instrument, with the or-
chestra as accompaniment. It is full of
difficult shifts in the left hand, which
were well executed, while the orchestra
provided just enough support. Unfor-
tunately, Michigan Theater's ac-
coustics didn't allow for a good blend
between woodwinds and strings. The
woodwinds and brass came through
clearly, while the strings were lost
above the stage, resulting in a muddled
sound that didn't flow into the audience
as it could have. Aside from that, the
concerto was superb.-
.The energetic maestro Carl Daehler
began the season opener with Mozart's
overture to, Cosi fan tutte. This upbeat
piece provided the woodwinds an op-
portunity to carry the melody, which
they traded between each other with
ease, while the strings and brass
provided a solid, unified accom-
paniment.
Following intermission, On Hearing
the First Cuckoo in Spring by Delius
was performed. The woodwinds
dominated the lighthearted piece,
balanced by the strings. Especially
memorable was the cuckoo call, played
by principal clarinetist G. Jay de
Vries.
Schubert's Symphony No. 3 in D
Major concluded the diversified
program. It took the orchestra a few
bars to achieve a solid sound, and then
they needed no assistance. The brass
were especially clear, and kept the
piece moving until its dramatic final
movement.
The audience's warm response to the
concert prompted the orchestra to per-
form Mendelssohn's "Scherzo" from A
rgetic
Midsummer Night's Dream as an en-
core. The entertaining work summed
up the entire concert: a demanding,
energetic, and well done achievement.
THE
MOVEABLE FEAST
SERVING LUNCH
table service
tuesday-saturday 11:30-2:00
326w li berty 663-3278
AN
EVENING
WITH
OCTOBER SPECIAL
r
Faculty, University
and Student Prices
THE Jim Morrison &
D
Featuring Two Unforgettable Hours Of Rare and Exciting
Film Footage of JIM MORRISON and THE DOORS!
Your own MTS Station
$1895 Complete.
Price includes Amigo Person-
al computer, Two Disk drives
400kb (800kb Optional,
MTS/MCP software CP/M,
GSX-80 and C BASIC.
And 300 Baud modem.
With 1200 Baud Modem, $2125
Now you can log on the Mich-
igan terminal system where
you want, when you want...
No more waiting in line to
you can have access to the
full resources of the Michigan
Terminal System from the
convenient location of your
choice. Choose a 300 or 1200
baud modem from our stock
and MTS is only a phone call
away.
Also: Complete bundel
system $2492
800 KB Disk
MTS/MCP
Woodstar Mailmerge
U - m I U
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