The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 17, 1986 -f age 9
Records
World Saxophone
Quartet
World Saxophone Quartet
Plays Duke Ellington
Nonesuch
Another fine take from the
premiere sax quartet on the planet.
It's quite a fashion now, but this
team of Oliver Lake and Julius
Hemphill (altos), David Murray
(tenor), and Hamiet Bluiett is at the
top of the growing list. Here the
WSQ apply their considerable skills
as arrangers to the rich musical
mnotherlode of the Ellington song -
book. It's a mixed bag, and as you
would expect, generally quite suc -
essful.
, The emphasis on this LP is on
the collective voicing of the quartet
rather than the soloists. The
recording here is good, but not up
to the standards of their Italian
Black Saint releases. The arrange -
ments are lively and run from the
"loving tribute" to the "third-eye
vision" approach.
Hemphill's arrangement of
Strayhorn's "Lushlife" is a sad,
swaggering affair (altogether appro -
priate) where the four horns are
heard sobbing in their beers from a
corner table. Lake's treatment of "I
Let a Song Go Out of My Heart" is
like something in a foreign
language. Completely out (way).
Full of wild ensemble honking that
finally falls out in a straight-out
statement of the melody. By then
you feel awash in relief. His reading
of "In A Sentimental Mood" is
quirky and sad. Here Lake works
from the inside outward, gently
warming up over a beautiful
backdrop.
The stately, loving arrangements
from Bluiett are my favorites on
this set. "Sophisticated Lady" is
beautiful and romantic- all it
should be. "Come Sunday" is the
"resistance" piece, though. Murray
and Bluiett come out thumping
over altos in ensemble at double
time. Tough rhythmic contrasts. A
beautiful solo by Hemphill (I
think) is the LP's real scorcher.
This, album is a great stocking
stuffer, folks. Highly recommended.
-Marc S. Taras
KTP
Certain Things Are Likely
Mercury
KTP is a newly formed British
dance band made up of four of the
original eight members of Kissing
The Pink, another British dance
band that had some success on the
UK charts in the early '80s.
Though the label of being a British
dance band conjures up images in
many music listeners' minds of
trendy dressers churning out bland,
generic synth-pop, KTP has some -
thing fresh and innovative to offer.
KTP stands as absolute proof
that dance music does not have to
stagnate and dance bands don't have
to settle for a mediocre sound. On
KTP's American debut album,
Certain Things Are Likely, they
have managed to do the seemingly
impossible: create dance music that
actually stands out in the crowd.
While a few of the songs are merely
adequate to qualify as good dance
music, most of the tracks on
Certain Things Are Likely go
above and beyond the call of
creating a fresh dance sound.
Many of the tracks on this
album are simply amazing. "Jones"
has a sound and style that is not
unlike that of a David Bowie
number along with the energy that
Bowie had in his prime. "Identity
Card" and "Can You Hear Me" are
also strong numbers that exemplify
KTP's capability for bringing
innovation and freshness to the
dance music sound.
If KTP can continue to come up
with dance music like the material
on Certain Things Are Likely , they
may find themselves revitalizing
the dance club sound.
-Michael Race
'nee Pla)
(Continued from Page 8)
Wilson's beautifully simple set
'designs were inspired by the
Japanese themes throughout the
production and interacted delicately
with Hanayagi's choreography. But
the saving grace of the production
must go to David Byrne, who
composed the score. Byrne had
originally intended to follow the
Japanese flavor of the production
with his music, but along the way
decided on a New Orleans jazzy
background narrated with incon -
gruous lyrics. His overly dramatic
music and deadpan narration
balanced the paper-thin scenario
keeping it from falling into utter
pretentious-dom.
Visually the Knee Plays was
stunning; Wilson has an obvious
watery
For 17 years The Stereo Shoppe has offered top quality audio components
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gift for the eye. But perhaps the
terminology is really what is wrong
here. If it were called the Knee
Tableaux , it would be more con -
sistenit with its context. It would
be unfair to judge Wilson on this
one, fragmented piece of his oeuvre,
but if he is a master of images
hopefully his other images are not
so banal and translucent.
WEEKEND
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NEW ENGLAND
LITERATURE PROGRAM
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Yamaha A520 Amplifier
" 75 watts per channel
0 Inputs for two tape decks
Denon DRA 755 Receiver
Denon DRA 355 Receiver
" 75 watts per channel
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MASS MEETING & SLIDE SHOW
Tuesday, November 18, 8:00 pm
AUD. D, ANGELL HALL
For Further Information, Call 761-9579 between 88& 10 am.
An Informational Meeting For
The Academic Year A broad Program in
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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 1986
7:00 p.m.
2411 MASON HALL
All interested persons are
cordially invited to attend.
" 40 watts per channel
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DISC PLAY.
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Yamaha CD37 CD Player
* 9 selection random programming
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Denon DCD1000 CD Player
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Yamaha CD700 CD Player
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Yamaha K420
Cassette Deck
in Silver Finish
Yamaha K222 Dual Deck
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Headphones
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Discwasher Record
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Denon HD7 C-90
Blank Cassette Tapes (twin pack)
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G
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ambassador-designate
to Rangoon
BURT LEVIN
recent HONG KONG
Consul General
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