ARTS The Michigan Daily Wednesday, April 3, 1985 Page 5 Itals' uncontrived By Hobey Echlin REGGAE MUSIC to we has always been the most natural form of music there is. Its rudiments echo the very elements of life: the ticking high- hat and sharp snare mark the passing of time, while the rising and falling pulse of the bass line suggests the varying yet constant intensity of life, stayed to reality by the regular chinking of the guitar. The roll of a steel drum suggests the pride of the Jamaican people, emotionally ex- pressed in the wailing vocals that add the human element to this life music. It is just such music that lies at the spiritual root of the Jamaican Rastafarian culture. It is the music of the Rastafarian religion and their lives. They live the rhythms that their reggae hymns echo. No other religious form of music is so generally excepted in today's culture. You don't see people lining up outside Rick's to see the Mor- mon Tabernacle Choir. It takes a special sort of religious and spiritual quality to be a reggae artist. It is not so much a profession as a way of life, and so only the truly talented, both spiritually and musically, can really play reggae. The Itals, Roots Radics, and Don Carlos are three such instan- ces of such a quality. The Itals, fresh from rural Jamaica, reggae, derive their name from "ital" meaning pure, natural, and uncontrived. Such is the spirit of reggae itself and such is the nature of the Itals. The Itals are vocalists Keith Porter, Ronnie Davis, and Lloyd Ricketts. All three are veterans of the Jamaican music scene, all three having been involved with it since the late 60's. They formed as the Itals in 1976 and have enjoyed such suc- cess as winning a spot on the 1981 Reggae Sunsplash Festival circuit, releasing the critically acclaimed Brutal .Out Deh LP in 1982, and the more recent Give Me Power album released in 1983. Keith Porter leads the group with his high, raspy vocals that hark back to Bob Marley's spiritual vocal style, as Ronnie and Lloyd provide harmonic backing that recall their exposure to the Baptist hymn-singing of the Kinston childhood. Together, their sound em- bodies the religious quality of reggae I mentioned earler. Songs like the Rastafarian hymn "Roll River Jor- dan," and "Give Me Power," with lines like Cause without Jah there is no love confirm the Itals spiritual com- mitment to their music., "Jah Calling" is a testament of this in itself: Teeth and tongue, they got to meet some sweet day/I wanna be among the number to share the sweet I say/Won't you hear when Jah calls... The Itals are as innovative as they are traditional, as the novel sounds of a saxaphone find the way into "In Deh" and almost bluesy guitar can be heard in "Me Waan Justice." What the Itals contribute vocally to reggae, the Roots Radics contribute musically. Featuring reggae legend Flubba Holt on bass, the Radics are the most sought after back-up band in to fill Jamaica. Their prowess has been seen and heard in the performances and albums of such artists as Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, and Black Uhuru. They have several albums to their credit; including many entitled "Radics in Dub," which showcase their musical talent. The Radics stand as well alone as behind the legends, as they often do their own set before they go into their backup set. Rounding out this lineup is Don Carlos. Don has retained a sort of ob- scurity despite being one of the original members of the legendary Black Uhuru. To date, he has two albums, Natty Dread Have Him Credentialand the more rootsy Harvest Time LP, both Union recorded with long-time friend and co- writer Gold (named so for his sun- bleached dreadlocks). Both albums had great success in both Jamaica and England. The Itals, Roots Radics, and Don Carlos each bring their own musical and spiritual contribution to reggae music. If you thought Black Market was anything like real reggae, or that UB40 seemed genuine, this triple bill headlined by Jamaica's Itals at the U- Ballroom in the Union Thursday night will have your soul as well as your ears experiencing true reggae, and leaving those other "reggae" bands to their happy hour Yuppie crowds... Call 99- MUSIC for information. The Itals, not to be confused with a local band of a similar name, will perform their powerfully spiritual Jamaican reggae in the U-ballroom of the Michigan Union on Thursday night. Also appearing will be Roots Radics, known for their reggae instrumentals, and Don Carlos, formerly of Black Uhuru. Milnes 'performance charms despite flaws By Mike Gallatin SHERRILL MILNES capped off the 1984-85 Choral Union Concert Series at Hill Auditorium Friday evening with five encores to an audience that honored him with two standing ovations: This tribute was perhaps more to his natural, easy-going humor and a stage presence which exuded supreme self-confidence without arrogance than to his exciting brillian- ce as a performer. Having always placed special em- phasis on the works of Verdi he was recently awarded the title of Comman- der of the Order of the Republic of Italy in recognition of his contribution to Italian music. As he shared this fact without conceit before his first encore, there was little doubt that he was pleased with himself. He stands of the height of his distinguished career, spor- ting a stage manner which is proud but not pompous, humble but not meek. SThe recital was a diverse one, highlighting Milnes' strengths as well as weaknesses. In the first half, Brah- ms' "Vier ernste Gesange" possessed the most potential but was seriously undermined by the piano accom- paniment by Jon Spong. The Mozart immediately preceding the Brahms, "Rivolgete a lui lo sguardo," originally included in the opera Cosi fan tutte, was overpedalled. This blurred the simple harmonies of this buffa aria and ultimately created the sense that the voice and piano part were not evenly matched. The opening songs by Mar- cello showed the signs of too many liberties as well. The ritards were greater than the accelerandos which created an unbalanced rubato effect which detracted from a final result of unity between parts desired. The Brahms on the other hand was underpedalled and exhibited a progressively lagging tempo com- pletely unbecoming to late romantic Brahms. In an effort to bring out the rich harmonies, Jon Spong's piano ac- companiment found itself lagging behind the singer. Milnes' German pronunciation was up to par and his dic- tion was impeccable. but Spong's feeble attempt at two for three on the piano accompaniment destroyed the feeling of ensemble required to bring it off sue- cessfully. Aaron Copland's song "The World Feels Dusty," with lyrics from a poem by Emily Dickinson, was short and bit- tersweet. When "Little Irish Girl" by Hermann Lohr followed, Milnes acted out both parts of the humorous ballad, and the pace of the concert picked up as the audience delighted in the charm and silliness of this happy tune. "To Music," by Alice Jordan, con- cluded the first half on an upbeat note as the piano part itself sang and Milnes paid tribute to the trascendant powers of music as an art form towering head and shoulders above the other arts. Four songs by Santoliquido were the main fare after intermission. "Riflessi" showed the most potential for poetry as the text describes the yellow and gold reflections of sunlight on the brook-and leaves of a garden. The music shimmers with the phosphorescence of golden color, pain- ting the intoxicating tones of the scene. The piano part was reminiscent of the impressionistic music of Debussy but unfortunately when the melody was in the left hand Jon Spong blurred the edges of the gradually emerging iridescent canvas by drowning it out with the right hand. Two opera excerpts by Saint-Saens and Gounod ended the program proper. Here the piano resounded with bell-like crystal tones but Sherrill Milnes' ac- cent in the French language is inferior to his German and Italian. What most redeemed the evening was Milnes easy- going charm and humorous charades between each encore as he chose to in- troduce them one by one. From German lieder, American musicals, Irish ballads, Italian aria, French love songs and much more he proved beyond a doubt his mastery of the craft of singing. He will be featured in a Live from the Met telecast of Ver- di's Simon Boccanegra April 17th on public television. RESEARCH Send $2 for catalog of over 16,000 topics to assist your research of. forts. For info., call toil. free 1-800621-5745 (in I- linois call 312-922.300). Authors' Research, Rm.800-N. 407 S. Dearborn. Chicago, IL 80605 :r 3 :{ if {ti; I 'Tcl -on IMM ..::2h. II .*:.v .* .r.* **+ ... -.*; :;: r. : *v.*" - vr::, .....", " -1 2. 761-9700.::::~:.::~. S Michigan Bell Service Bulletin ;1N~rirl.r**. COUPOAN' . -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - qw VV4 f wOO OFF rrrrrrrrrrrrrrarrrrrrr. -------------- with this entire ad $1.00 off any $4.00 admission. 1 or 2 tickets. Good all features thru 4/4/85. x ----------- I _-r T_1__T T TT T T T T T T 7 4 A- -At- I : : - : KIL?^^{:N{T;^CFTIELDS"m.^e; M.; at iees,.',:T ,. 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