ARTS The Michigan Daily Tuesday, November 19, 1985 Page Roche's antics and talent warmA2 By Peter Ephross T HE ROCHES PROVIDED a near capacity crowd with a warm escape from the freezing drizzle Friday night at the Michigan Theater. Displaying a combination of their beautiful harmonies and bizarre behavior, the three sisters from New Jersey made the audience tem- porarily forget the dismal . Ann Ar- bor weather. Maggie, Terre, and Suzzy came on- to the stage dressed in offbeat Madonna costumes, filling the stage with bright reds and flowery patterns. When they burst into their fifth song, of the evening, "Gimme a Slice," the tension between their wacky behavior and strong harmonies was evident. After a piece from their latest album, Another World, the Roches evoked a positive response from the crowd with one of their classics, "The Train." On their next song, "Hammond," the girls again displayed great range from Maggie's lows to Terre's soprano highs. After this song, the music tem- porarily stopped and the absurdity began. Suzzy began a conversational in- terlude, the kind that normally puts the audience at ease and also gives the performers a chance to rest. During this concert, these purposes were served, but through unusual means: the stories just didn't make sense. Suzzy told how President Reagan visited the girls backstage at one of their earlier concerts, but not out of choice. It was just one of his campaign stops. The rest of the story was even more incoherent, but it ad- ded to the feeling that the Roches were amateurs and should be sym- pathized with. As if to negate their appearance as amateurs, the Roches moved into the most successful portion of the show. "Older Girls," "Turn off the Faucet," and "Hey Mr. Sellack," were done with emotion, accom- panied by Suzzy's intense gyrations, that added to the messages of the songs. This basic message is best ex- pressed by "Another World," the title track of their latest album. Until we reach a better world, we should hold precious to the escapes we have from this one. Throughout the concert, one of the sisters walked up to a computer and programmed the drum beat for the next song, as on "Face Down at Folk City." This innovation should be avoided as much as possible in following tours. The next two songs, "Missing," and "Love to See Ya," provided the audience with a foil against which to appreciate the rest of the evening. Their voices were hidden in the non- sensical lyrics, and the electric drum beat became more and more an- noying. The Roches recaptured the hearts of the audience with their next song, "Going to Ireland Soon." Featuring Suzzy playing a book with a drum mallet, the song went on for almost ten minutes. Each sister picked a dif- ferent word and repeated it over and over. The beauty in this piece lay in its apparent improvisation. Displaying their versatility, the Roches moved into a '50s, doo-wop song, "Speak Softly Daddy." On this song, Suzzy guitar string broke, tem- porarily forcing the trio to become a duo. But this equipment failure only added to the absurdity of the evening. Perhaps the disappointing version of Handel's "Halleluiah Chorus," one of the Roches' classics, was due to their fatigue. At any rate, on the next song, "The Married Man" Suzzy took advantage of the opportunity and lay down on the stage, napping for the en- tire song. The Roches now began what turned out to be a half an hour endeavor to leave the stage; "Love Radiate Around" highlighted the first of several encores. On their next return, the Roches paused, enjoying the demands for en- cores, finally ending their set with "Dirt's on the Loose." Grio t s latest from Europe By arwulf arwulf W E NEED NOT look far to encounter the Beautiful, the Terrifying, the Marvelous and the Phantasmagoric. From out of Detroit has come the Griot Galaxy, often billed as the Sci-Fi Band, and always packing a whollop as only true hallu- cinatory performers can. If you've seen these men, with silver and gold-painted faces, wearing tunics, pantaloons and strange headpieces, and if you've heard their other-worldly music, then you know what I'm talking about. Like Sun Ra and his Arkestra, this vision is best caught live ... best dreamt up close. The next best thing is the phonograph record. Up until just recently, the only recording we've had to draw upon was their LP Kins, recorded in 1981. This is a fabulously laid-out album, and it offers a healthy cross-section of this organization as they were back then. We who are in love with this music, however, have been year- ning for more recent material. The months have crawled by since they toured Europe, and rumors cir- culated, hinting at a wondrous live recording already available over there. This is the kind of thing which frustrates the avid follower - the gentlemen from Detroit, unable to find enough work in their home town, are invited to appear in Austria. A record emerges, and we at home must wait our while %w buy it from West Germany. Only in late 20th century America does this seem logical. It is the logic of banality, predic- tability and mass-conformity, all of which are the antithesis of Creative Improvised Black Music. The fact remains, these cats have not been able to find regular gigs here at home. Yeah, yeah, Montreux/Detroit, and an occasional Eclipse gig, and there's the side gigs: Faruq featured on a single with the Sun Messengers, Tani Tabbal ap- pearing with a percussion troupe at the DIA, Anthony Holland gigging with Tani and A. Spencer Barefield, Jaribu Shahid adding his brilliant, peculiar angles to a contemporary string ensemble. But none of this is steady work! We need to celebrate these men while they are still here, rather than waiting 25 years to get in- terested. The latest recording knocks me right on my butt, and I encourage each and every one of you to get yourself a copy and play it loudly for all of your friends. It's called Opus Krampus, and its available on the sound aspects label, (sas 004), out of West Germany. Recorded in July of 1984, in Nickelsdorf, Austria, this live recording shakes all preconcep- tions of Jazz to the very bases. "Liberty City Rundown," written by Faruq Z. Bey, is as intricate and endearingly formidable as the man himself. Lurching along at a healthy clip, this is an excellent taste of the Griots, and would ser- ve as an adequate introduction to their sound. The fiery saxophonist David McMurray is absent from this session, and he may have been unable to make the trek overseas. In a way this is fortunate, as much as I love his sound, for it gives us a solid dosage of Faruq and Anthony as they interact. "Dragons," also by Faruq, is more ominous and trudges through some ferocious minor knocks. This is Vesuvius reaching for Pompeii, Godzilla making for Tokyo in sweat pants. You take it full in the face, with Anthony in one ear and Faruq wedged firmly in the other. The r.hythm is devastating, hypnotic. Jaribu Shahid, poet and young terror on the bass, composed "Necrophilia," which comprises all of side 2. This, like many of their romps, is based in part on a cyclic mode, with staggering erup- tions from the horns hanging off the face of the moment. There is also an intonation/recitation of a poem from Faruq, entitled "Tales of Zinjanthropus Galacticus," full of his strange personal vision. The reprise of the eruptions and sub- sequent evolution back to the cyclic modal theme are for this listener a full-blown hayride through hell on a blender. The Austrian audience were hit with some full-force American Ethnos on that day in '84, and they responded accordingly. Time now for major recording contracts and prestigious concert hall bookings, here in the States. Now. Right now. As Faruq says: "Is it midnite yet?" ROAD GOBBLER You'll eat up our low Thanksgiving rates. And we've got them on most every car in our fleet- 4-doors, wagons, economy * Rate available from noon Wednesday, Nov. 27 to Monday, Dec. 2. Rates will be slightly lower for drivers over 25. 95* $22 DAY NO MILEAGE CHARGE models, luxury models, even sporty cars. There's no mileage charge, either. You pay for gas used and return car to renting location. r ^ T 5ii}i _. * W " 2 ,: We feature GM cars like this Pontiac Sunbird iNo,,-dzscou tabfle rate applies to this et 'nmr-