ARTS
. .
,
The Michigan Daily Monday, March 7, 1988 Pag(7
r
Alumnus
:By Marie Wesaw
"My poetry was a lot more men-
tal. It was intellectual exercises in
the early days. I was playing with
style, playing with medium," re-
marks Laurence Lieberman about
his work during his years as both
an undergraduate and graduate stu-
dent at the University.
Lieberman, a Detroit native and
writer of five, soon to be six vol-
umes of poetry, is no stranger to
the English department at the Uni-
versity. Lieberman won two sum-
mer Hopwood Awards for fiction
and essay, and a major Hopwood
Award for poetry in 1958 - as a
medical student.
"My Hopwood Award made a
tremendous difference for me .... If I
had won one before, in my under-
graduate years, I wouldn't have
gone into [Medical] school .... I'
needed very much this confirmation
of the award to have the courage to
sidestep my career plans," says
Lieberman, who discontinued his
medical studies to complete a
Masters in English.
Lieberman also credits the Hop-
wood Program with changing his
confidence because of- the advice
given to him by one of the judges,
Marianne Moore, one of Lieber-
man's favorite poets.
"I think of how much of herself
that Moore gave to the comments
to the award winners ... She spotted
in me some kind of direction that I
think I followed ever since."
Lieberman says it was not until
he discovered the landscape of
different areas that he could match
his richness of language to his
work. After his studies, Lieberman
left the Midwest for the first time
reates
to explore California, which,
according to Lieberman," was a step
towards a richer, more colorful
world ."
"It wasn't until I was out of the
Midwest that I began to focus on
landscape. California was a major
impact because it was there that I
was first seeing mountains. The
land beckoned me to a colorful lan-
guage."
Beginning in 1964, he lived for
four years in the Caribbean, which
became a "spiritual homeland" to
him: "In the coral reefs and the
seascapes I found a pictorial reality
that gave my kind of art and
medium the world I was searching
for." This Caribbean background
provided Lieberman with subject
matter for three of his books.
In his collections, Lieberman's
openness to various landscapes such
as the Caribbean, Japan, and St.
newj
Thomas has earned him the title of
"poet-traveller" by some critics.
Lieberman, however, would prefer
to be seen as fascinated with creat-
ing poetic forms and structures: "I
am in love with the medium of po-
etry, the lines, the stanzas, and the
shapes on the page. Poetry is a
medium that creates textures."
Lieberman hopes his .poetry re-
flects his love for the genre: "I am
trying to develop in my work an
experimental language in poetry
that tries to explore a sensory lan-
guage and a physical language that
creates texture, a thickness of
medium, and thick, dense, descrip-
tion." He also believes that reading
poetry is an important process in
creating texture and looks forward
)oetic
to reading from his works, which
will include selections from his
soon to be published collection,
The Creole Mephistopheles.
LAURENCE LIEBERMAN will
style
read from his works Tuesday at 4
p.m. in the Rackham East Confi-
ence Room as part of the English
Department's Visiting Writers Se{
ries.
EXPLORE YOUR SPIRITUALITY
A Counseling Services workshop designed for
people who wish to address:
- What is spirituality? How does it relate to religion?.
" How does spirituality fit into my daily life?.e
" What spiritual practices might I create or discover-
to suit me now? *
Not appropriate for persons who are seeking religious instruction or who desire to
influence others in the direction of a specific belief system.
Meets Wednesdays 6:30-8:30 P.M. on March 9th.
March 16th and March 23rd.
,& ยข
UM News in
I
4:
The Daily
764-0552
Call Counseling Services for a screening appointment
764-8312]
I
Bowie's
'Brass'
blazes
r------------------------ ----- ------------
By Marc S. Taras
The nature of jazz music is sur-
prises. There were a few surprises at
Rackham Auditorium last Friday
night when Eclipse Jazz played host
to trumpeter Lester Bowie's little
ig Band, Brass Fantasy. Fortu-
nately, they were all pleasant sur-
prises. They involved the setting,
the personnel, and happily, the mu-
sic.
Eclipse had hoped to present an
unamplified acoustic concert in a
wonderful mid-sized room. Unfore-
seen aspects of the nature of the band
made this impossible. As trombon-
ist. Steve Turre explained Friday af-
ternoon, "We have a loud drummer,
and an amplified tuba supplying the
bass - the rest of us can't be
shouting all night. We would be ru-
ined the next day!" Nevertheless the
Eclipse engineers did their usual fine
job and presented the band in won-
derful balance.
There were a few unexpected per-
sonnel changes as well. Trombonist
Craig Harris was absent; Joseph.
Bowie, formerly with the Human
Arts Ensemble and Defunkt, was his
able-bodied replacement. Sadly, the
French horn virtuoso Vincent
Chancey could not attend; stand-in
Greg Williams was delightful.
And the music? Amazing. Incred-
ible. No superlatives could do justice
to the two sets these cats played .
They opened with "The Great Pre-
tender." Lots of air,- just breath
through the horns - and then some
genuine funk. Steve Turre's piece
"The Emperor" had a spicy Far
Eastern flavor, with veteran drummer
Philip Wilson powering the ensem-
ble; four trumpets (with Bowie), two
trombones, French horn, and tuba.
The first set closed with the sweet
soul weeper, "Saving All My Love
For You." The arrangements had me
laughing and crying at once.
Second set highlights included
Turre's solo on four different-sized
conch shells leading into his tribute
to Machito; "Macho" has an irre-
sistible Latin/Cuban rhythm with
the trumpet section flying over all.
The rollicking "Blueberry Hill" had a
middle-sized audience with full-sized
appreciation finding their thrill. The
finale was a New Orleans style sec-
ond line romp through the crowd
that brought the house to its feet..
Great solos abounded. The band
played with passion, nay, heat!
There was humor enough to fill each
heart with joy, and a relaxed, enter-
taining stage manner that made me
want to pack my bags and follow
them on down the road. It was the
kind of night that makes you feel
lucky to be alive. Bravo!
BASKETBALL
MANAGERS
WANTED
FOR 1988-89
SEASON
MUST HAVE
SOPHOMORE
STATUS
FOR 1988-89
SCHOOL YEAR
CALL
763-5504
|>
E LC 1QFlIl MII
* 1
_:1
frnr
I,*
Print or type legibly l
in the space provided, I
the copy as you would I
like it to appear.
NAME
ADDRESS
PHONE
Mail or bring in person with payment to:
The Michigan Daily
420 Maynard
Make checks payable to: The Michigan Daily
(ACTUAL SIZE OF AD)
ONLY $26
I
t(
I
- NO REFUNDS -
Absolutely NO ADS will be
accepted after March 21, 4 pm.
Supplement will appear Friday, March 25
Records
(NO PHOTOS OR LINE ART ALLOWED. NO n
TYPE PRINTED SIDEWAYS OR UPSIDE DOWN.)
Lester Bowie 's
Brass Fantasy
Twilight Dreams
Venture
If you missed the concert at
Rackham, never fear. There are three
Brass Fantasy albums available for
your listening pleasure. And this
new one is a real treat. It features the
usual blend of startlingly creative
original tunes coupled with eccentric
cover versions. This time round we
get "Personality" and Michael Jack-
son's "Thriller." Well, yeah ... but
you gotta hear it, OK? Trust me.
Trombonist Steve Turre contin-
ues to shine in his multiple role of
composer-arranger-soloist, and the
Think You're Pregnant?
Free Pregnancy Test
Completely Confidential
Family Life Services
529 N. Hewitt, Ypsilanti
Call: 434-3088 (Any Time)
rhythm team of Bob Stewart on tuba
and Philip Wilson on drums is as
formidable as any you will hear.
Bowie'is as charming as ever; never
precious. This is a pure dee-light!
-Marc S. Taras
ATTENTION
COLLEGE STUDENTS
SUMMER REPRESENTATIVE
POSITIONS AVAILABLE
Need a summer job? Are you available
for travel? Northrup King Co. has
openings in their Summer Representa-
tive program. Travel within the South-
eastern and Northeastern U.S.A.
calling on established accounts.
Vehicle furnished, all business
expenses paid.
Salary $690/month, $27/day living
allowance, plus a generous incentive
plan.
Employment beginswith atraining
seminar in early June and lasts
approximately 6-8 weeks. A represen-
tative will be on campus attending the
Summer Job Fair.
NORTHRUP KING CO.
An Equal Opportunity Employer
I'
A,104
Physical Education
My first time tutoring was a night .
to remember. My student was some-
thing called Bone Crusher Reed, a.k.a.
Billy Jo, defensive tackle for the foot-
ball team
I had the shock of my life when
he answered his dorm room door.
He was about six foot seven... in
diameter. And when he shook my
hand, I thought I'd never get it back.
.. NSo there I was, face-to-knee with
the big man on campus, wondering
how I was going to relate American
Literature to The Hulk.
But then he pulled out a can of
- Orange Cappuccino. I was shocked!
Could it be that this tough jock
liked its delicate taste? And wvhen
aBone Crusher brought out the bone
china., I was beyond belief.
1" Reading the expression on my
face, he said, "WX'hat can I say? I i ke it.
The Cafe Francais is pretty good
too."Well,1who's going to argue,I
thought. As we sipped our Orange
Cappuccino, I discovered that Billy Jo..
loves reading novels; his only problem
was poetry So I gave him tips on
reading Emily Dickinson, and he
gave me a copy of Ann Beattie's
"Falling in Place."
All I could think was, Dad's never
going to believe this!
a*
-t
* " t
HELP..NEW.STUDENTS
s BE A FALL
sORIENTATION LEADER
C1
5v ! (r
fiI NuI rrF
A 1 NTfl29 00(
1
1:1:1