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 11 I