ARTS Wednesday, April 20, 1988 The Michigan Daily Page 10; David blues Bromberg: A true musician in By Timothy Huet If you have ever seen David Bromberg, your f~i reaction was probably "This guy plays the bp~s?" Bromberg looks as out of place as Paul Simon playing with Ladysmith Black Mambazo. Bromberg is a tall, lanky, bespectacled, thin- bearded, awkward-looking white guy. This guy screams "white." But ne can also scream the blues. Before long, Bromberg will make you forget your stereotypical image of blues singers. Well, almost. Before you are completely convinced, he will use his appearance for humorous effect. One of Bromberg's most popular numbers is "Demon in Disguise," in which he attempts to convince you of his dark powers while admonishing "don't befooled by the glasses." rfood-spirited humor suffuses Bromberg's work in such songs as "Loaded and Laid" and lines like "you just take your tongue out of my mouth because I'm kissing you good-bye." And do not be too surprised if Bromberg and his band go into a bluegrass salute to Ethel Merman's immortal hits. But lest you let the glasses and humor fool you, Bromberg is a serious musician. He was trained as a musicologist at Columbia University before deciding to make a go as a performer. His decision was soon rewarded. He has played as an accompanist on over 75 albums and, more lately, put out several solo releases. He has worked with such people as Bob Dylan, Ringo Starr, John Hurt, the Reverend Gary Davis, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Paxton, Emmylou Harris, and Chubby Checker. As this list implies, Bromberg plays a lot more than just blues. The word critics most often apply to Bromberg's style is "eclectic." He plays disguise jazz, folk, rock, blues, bluegrass, and an occa- sional samba. Bromberg's playing reflects the technical brilliance of his academic training as well as the spontaneity of his wit. He is a musi- cian's musician who can command the respect of a band of virtuosos. Jeff Wisor on fiddle, Gene Johnson on mandolin, and Butch Amiot on elec- tric bass back up Bromberg with enough talent for three solo acts. But when Bromberg joins in on guitar and violin there is no doubt that this band is a unitary whole. It is indicative of Bromberg's interest in every aspect of his craft that he spent four years at a violin-making school. Bromberg's fine-picking and fiddling is best experienced live with the in- timate environs of the Ark providing the proper stage for his devilish antics. DAVID BROMBERG will be performing at the Ark this Saturday. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. Tickets are $10.50. David Bromberg flavors his blues with good spirit in songs like 'Demon in Disguise,' his most well-known number. Violent 'Colors' fails to fly Veteran actor Robert Duvall By Mark Shaiman (Tender Mercies ) portrays the older police officer who has been dealing Colors is the first film that at- with the gang scene for five years. tempts to confront the problem of He knows how to work the streets, gang wars in Los Angeles. In differ- by making friends out of the gang ent hands this may have meant members rather than enemies. Even something, but director Dennis so, Duvall's character has become Hopper (Easy Rider) just used L.A. almost totally apathetic to the L.A. gang life as a background for the situation, which extends to his on- story. He seems to have forgotten duty performance and thus to the that he was dealing with a social audience's reaction to his character. problem. Instead he turned it into a personal playground for violence. On the other hand, young Penn One of the biggest problems of wants to throw half the city behind the film is that Sean Penn (Bad Boys bars. With different job ethics, these ) is cast as his image portrayed on two could have made an interesting supermarket tabloids. "I'm a pair. But Penn's insistence on hit- guardian of masculinity," he says as ting every convict a few extra times soon as we meet him. Already is met with disapproval only once known for his temper and for throw- from his partner, who makes a threat ing a quick punch, he is just right and then ignores the successive out- for the role. But this background bursts. What we are left with is the adds little to an already one-dimen- cliched set up of the old, wizened sional character. cop and his brash, new partner. Too much of Colors is concerned with this pair and not enough deals with the real problem of the gang wars. . I haven't mentioned the plot, but that is because there basically isn't one. In the beginning there is a gang hit - two guys in a van drive by a group of people on the street and blow one of them away. And as with every other violent scene - and there are many - we get to see the gory details. Logically, the rest of the film would revolve around the two cops trying to find the murderer. Instead, they cruise around and do the normal daily stuff, such as frisking anyone they see, and letting Penn give new meaning to the term "police brutal- ity." It just so happens that one of the people who is arrested for drug in- volvement leaks some info regarding the hit. It's not the fanciest piece of detective work, but it fits the film. This also suits Duvall's lack of ini- tiative, but maybe that is the point. In any case, after sitting through all that violence, I was pretty apathetic too. Still, Colors does make a few interesting points, if you are willing to dig through all the bodies to find them. While not much of gang life is depicted, there is enough to show that being a member is an attempt at acceptance into this culture - the fact remains that it is the acceptance that is desired, not the violence. In this life, though, the two go hand- in-hand and for this reason the Guardian Angels, a protective anti- gang organization, are picketing the film. Some of the social and economic factors involved with gangs are touched on here, but it is not enough to make Colors a viable statement about gang life. Every chance that Sean Penn is portrayed as a violent young cop in the new release Colors.' Instead of making a redeeming social statement, the film uses L.A. gang wars as a backdrop of violence. See Colors, Page 13 :: '.::}i::N t:i:i~t}:' .tQ":t. X .... ...... . .. .. ........ ..... . . . .. k IX: TM iiiYE2 To: University Union, Pendleton Room ON: April 25 A ti ;,L; . i...:}J" i:iTv.v.ti" :SST~ h'%: .: - -- ---- ---- - --- . 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