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The Moody Blues
Office of Major Events
Crisler Arena
8 p.m., Saturday, October 29
By Mike Cramer
THE MOODY BLUES are touring
again. And even though ticket
sales have gone very well, it doesn't
seem like very many people are all that
excited that they are coming to town.
Maybe it's because they aren't calling
this a "farewell tour." Or maybe it's
because they aren't threatening to
break up within a year. Or maybe it's
because the Moodies aren't in the news
all the time for getting arrested like
other big-time rock stars. Maybe it's
because they just toured two years ago
or because their new album isn't burning
up the charts. I don't know, but it seems
like there ought to be more excitement
around here.
The fact is that the Moody Blues
(bassist John Lodge, flutist Ray
Thomas, drummer Graeme Edge, and
guitarist Justin Haward) have been
together for nearly 20 years. (Present
Children's Children ('70), A Question of
Balance (70), Every Good Boy Deser-
ves Favour ('71), and Seventh Sojourn
('72). For a time in 1972, they
simultaneously- held the number one
and two spots on the American album
chart, with Days of Future Passed and
Seventh Sojourn.
In the mid'70s, the group's members
did some solo recordings, with limited
success. But in 1978, they rejoined to
record Octave, which reached the top
20. Their lbum, Long Distance
Voyager, went platinum and also
generated two top-five singles, "Gemini
Dream" and "The Voice." Their
newest release The Present, has yet to
prove itself.
Of course, commercial success does
not a super-group make. A lot of
downright lousy bands are commer-
cially successful. The thing about the
Moody Blues is that they are not only
palatable for the masses, they are ex-
tremely talented and highly innovative.
Their songs have heavy lyrics, poetry,
flutes and violins - they also have
humor and wild guitar riffs in many a
song. The Stones fan, the Elvis Costello
fan, and the Barry Manilow fan can
each enjoy the Moodies with equal en-
thusiasm. (I Guess that's why they've
sold so many records).
Anyway, they're playing Crisler
Saturday night. And Stevie Ray Vaughn
(hot blues guitarist who played on
David Bowie's Let's Dance album) is the
warm-up act. This should be a big show
by a really big-time band. We should all
be excited.
Sw
parents get together to make decisions
about school policies such as what time
classes should start. Students also in-
terview potential teachers before they
are hired.
Town meetings are important, ac-
cording to current Community High
Dean Connie Craft, because "we
believe that whenever possible, people
who are affected by a decision should
be involved in the decision. Our basic
philosophy is the best interest of the
students. We do more than just say that
- (we) attempt to carry it out."
ATH and science teacher Eisenberg
eves that students are the most im-
portant factor in education as a whole,
not just at Community High.
"My biggest complaint about
education is we don't ask the kids what
they want," he says. "Primarily I'm
here for them. Kids respect that - it
doesn't let them feel less important.
Kids will respect teachers that respect
them and it's easier to teach them."
And students do appreciate it. They
feel they can talk with their teachers as
friends, not just authority figures.
"The teachers here talk to you,
they're nice to you," says senior
Plescia. "They talk to us like we're
people instead of like we're a number."
Because of the relaxed atmosphere at
Community High many students say
there is no "in" group and no "out"
group as is a trademark of most high
schools - everyone fits in one way or
another.
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Video class: Community High alternative
keyboardist Patrick Moraz replaced
Mike Pinder in 1978; and Denny Laine
left the group long ago and went on to
fame with Paul ],McCartney and
Wings).
Since 1967, when they first released
super-giant-monster classic "Nights in
White Satin," they've racked up "more
platinum albums than any other sur-
viving super-group," a mighty accom-
plishment, considering the status of
other "surviving super-groups.''
The Moody Blues' most commer-
cially (and probably musically) suc-
cessful period was the early '70s, when
they released a string of straight
platinum albums: On The Threshold of
a Dream ('69), To Our Children's
people in straight book learning...but I
had greater readiness and better
preparation for preparing my own
curiculum."
Mendel also says calling his high
Jazz
it up
Jaco Pastorius
Eclipse Jazz
U-Club
8 p.m., Sunday, October 30
By Larry Dean
A m Arborites of all ages and oc-
cupations are going to be treated
to two very special concerts when
bassist supreme Jaco Pastorius plays
the U-Club on October 30. "Special"
because the U-Club is such an intimate
space, and also because Pastorius is
such an amazing talent.
Even those who are not jazz en-
thusiasts probably have heard of
Pastorius. Born outside Philadelphia in
1951, Jaco moved with his family to Ft.
Lauderdale, Florida when he was
seven. His father Jack was a drummer
and vocalist, and his mother Stephanie
enhanced the family's musical ap-
preciation by taking Jaco and his two
younger brothers to afternoon jam
sessions where jazz music coalesced
with soul and Cuban sounds.
Pastorius started out playing drums,
like his father, but around the age of 15,
i switched to bass. He listened to all the
big pop sounds of the day-the Beatles,
Jimi Hendrix, Elvis Presley, James
Brown, Sly and the Family Stone. As a
result, Pastorius' bass playing began
taking on a diversely amalgamated
scheme, in many ways more derivative
than, say, the meek blues vamps of the
Rolling Stones-ut leagues more in-
spired.
Jaco joined Weather Report, in itself
one of the most influential of all
"progressive" jazz outfits, two years
after bumping into Weather Report
keyboardist Josef Zawinul outside of a
Miami concert. His impact was im-
mediate upon the group: Jaco's jaunty
stage presence became the focal point
of the band, his playing augmented by
weirdly melodic and tributal bass licks.
When the band was in the studio recor-
ding Heavy Weather,'Zawinul realized
Pastorius' proficiency in technical mat-
ters and gave him co-producer credit;
after that, he maintained.a technical
position in all of Weather Report's
recording projects.
Pastorius' first self-titled solo album
didn't sell up a storm for Epic Records
when it was released, but it did raise
the brows of a variety of musicians who
were tuning into Pastorius' music.
People as diverse an Joni Mitchell, Pat
Metheny and Ian Hunter asked Jaco to
contribute to some of their records; on
Hunter's All-American Alien Boy LP,
he even played lead guitar as well as
bass.
Pastorius is hailed as one of the
greatest innovators of the electric bass.
Since leaving Weather Report (with
whom he garnered a number of awards
for his musicianship), he has recorded
a second solo album, Word of Mouth
with the able help of folks like Herbie
Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Tom Scott,
Hubert Laws, Jack DeJohnette, Mike
Brecker, Don Elias, and Toots
Thielmans, amongst others, in the sup-
porting cast.
In response to the success of that LP,
Jaco formed Word of Mouth, a new
band for touring and playing purposes.
They've hit the road in support of the
latest Pastorius solo effort, Invitation,
recorded live in the Orient. The line-up
'Some (students) need a different structure
like Einstein needed-they threw him out,
too! -Wiley Brownlee
deputy superintendent of schools
should be "an alternative choice for
kids that want certain learning styles.
"Some (students) need a different
structure like Einstein needed - they
threw him out too," he says. "The
assumption at Community is that kids
have to have a pretty good self-concept
not to be upset to be different."
Although alternative schools are "out
of the fad era" now and many districts
have eliminated them, Brownlee says
he doesn't think the recent national
uproar about mediocrity in the schools
will hurt Community.
"Ann Arbor is serving all kids with
excellence, not going back to basics,"
he says. "Graduation requirements (at
Community High) are the same for
those people. They just learn their
"No matter what you do or what you
wear you always blend in because
everyone's different," says Joy Guen-
ther, a senior in her second year at
Community. "There are no jocks and
burnouts - no one really cares what
you do as long as you don't bother
them''
Rajeev Samantrai, president of
LSA's student government, graduated
from Community High in 1980. When he
went there, he says, the students were
''all misfits, disenchanted with
education in general."
There were basically three kinds of
students, according to Samantrai.
Those who were completely burned out,
these who were bright but not
motivated, and those who were excep-
tional students but did not fit in at the
other high schools.
Samantrai says Community High did
prepare motivated students who knew
what they wanted for college. But he
feels he didn't get enough guidance in
some areas. "No one ever talked to me
about college," he says. "They just
assumed I knew. It's easy to slip
through the cracks."
Matthew Mendel, who also graduated
from Community High in 1980 and now
attends Princeton University, agrees
with Samantrai that self-motivation is a
big part of being successful at Com-
munity High, but feels he left Com-
munity well-prepared for college;
"I think Community prepares you in
a different way than a traditional high
school," he explains. "I might have
been at a little disadvantage to some
school teachers by their first names
helped make him more comfortable
with the mutual respect of student-
professor relationships at college.
Community High officials often have
had to defend the school against the
common misconception that most of its
graduates do not go on to collegs.
About 60 percent of Community
High's graduates have gone on to four-
year institutions, according to Larry
Stewart, the school's counselor for con-
tinuing education. At Huron, about 65
percent go on to four-year schools, and
at Pioneer, about 75 percent go to two-
or four-year institutions. Last year out
of a class of 76 students, 13 came to the
University, 12 went to Eastern
Michigan University, three are at
Oberlin College in Ohio, one went to
George Washington University in
Washington, D.C. and several enrolled
at Washtenaw Community College.
Stewart also said Community High
students have averaged scores of 1,000
or better on the SATs over the last 11
years. The average in-state score for a
University student is 540 for the verbal
section and 620 for math.
University English Prof. Lincoln
Faller, who once taught a class at
Community High, said the students
were '"much brighter than I would have
expected high school students to be.
They were on a par with freshmen at
this University."
Administrators have no qualms about
saying that Community High isn't for
everyone. But according to Brownlee, a
former Community High dean, there
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of group includes Kenwood Dennard on
drums, Alex Foster on saxophone,
Randy Emerick on baritone sax, Ron
Tooley on trumpet, and Don Elias on
percussion. Rounding out the group is
Michael Stern, unconventional guitarist
who rose to fame in Miles Davis' new
band. Stern played on Davis' The Man
With the Horn LP, and was considered
controversial by jazz purists for his
loud, racous, rock 'n' rolly playing,
which Davis heartily OKed.
There will be two shows at the U-
Club: one at 8 p.m. and another at
10:30. If there are still seats left, the af-
fording of overpriced tickets might be a
good idea, since this is likely to be a
great experience at a hefty cost. For
further ticket information call 763-6922.
5;
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For advertising informatio
4 Weekend/October 28, 1983