0 Page 8--The Michigan Daily - Weekend etc. - January 28, 1993 New folk revival r playing FOLK Continued from page 1 cratic Robin Holcomb and Debrah Kahn, to the straight ahead Griffith and Shawn Colvin, and to the commercial Indigo Girls and Suzanne Vega, women folk singers have in some cases attracted more attention than their male counter- parts. Though Griffith may seem to some to be a young, emerging performer, she is only six years younger than James Taylor and Steve Winwood and the same age as Elvis Costello. Her records sound like they were made by a time- weathered veteran of the music busi- ness, yet she projects the image of a woman in her early '20s, trying to break out with equal amounts of talent and energy. The differences between then and now is that she no longer needs to drive herself around to her own shows; herrecords are gradually becoming more successful than the last. Eight years ago, she was a featured semi-unknown per- former at the Folk Festival, and this year, she is the main attraction. Though she considers herself to be folk, her Texas roots have led her to often be sold as a country singer. An interesting development in folk music is that there are so many more genres than there were thirty years ago. As a result, many performers who should be considered folk, male or female, suc- ceed if they can fit into some other trend. Folk as its own category becomes diluted since its biggest stars are dis- persed throughout pop music's entire spectrum. Billy Bragg, Michael Penn, and Vega rose through the progressive music scene of the eighties, while at Hi? Griffith and Lyle Lovett, last year's headliner, have had enormous success on the country charts. Even John Gorka, who has a very Northeastern sound, is currently being marketed as a country act, simply because he has just become too popular for the coffeehouse circuit. This seems very discouraging to those like Griffith who anticipate or wish for another folk revival. How can folk music and its artists succeed if it is not generally recognized by the music business as a viable, profitable genre? If it were not for labels like Flying Fish or Rounder, there would be few outlets for developing performers to record for a company that provides national distri- bution. Even when offered contracts by largerorganizations, many artists choose to remain with the small companies, How can folk music and its artists succeed if it is not generally recognized by the music business as a viable, profitable genre? where they feel they are treated with more respect by the company heads who are actually fans of the music. There is also little attention paid to contemporary folk on commercial ra- dio. National Public Radio affiliates like WDET and college stations have usually been supportive of developing folksingers. Two nationally syndicated public radio programs, (conspicuously unavailable in this area) "Mountain Stage" and "World Caf6," have worked very hard to present to listeners both new and veteran performers. Commer- cially speaking, only WAMX (107.1) in this area took chances by including Maura O'Connell, John Gorka and Shawn Colvin in its regular rotation of new releases. Unfortunately for every- one around Ann Arbor, those records will no longer be heard at that point on the dial, for the station has recently mutated into an oldies graveyard. On television, VH-1 once experi- mented with adult-alternative videos, and its outstanding "New Visions Folk" program, a weekly show featuring live performances and videos by many of folk's top acts. When that was axed along with the other "New Visions" shows, and the programming changed to classic rock and Michael Bolton, there was little TV exposure available to acts too folky for Carson, Letterman or MTV. Of course there has always been Phillippe Entremont and the Wiener Chamber Orchestra. Yes, Wiener, and no Oscar Meier jokes please. This is serious chamber music stuff, you know. Filling the chamber music vid by Jordan Stancil There aren't too many world-renowned concert pianists who become conductors and tour with a leading chamber orchestra. Most musicians of inter- national stature seem to have something against extensive touring. Even worse, many conductors shy away from the chamber repertoire, preferring instead the tired symphonic warhorses. But Philippe Entremont, who will play at Hill Auditorium tonight with the Vienna Chamber Or- chestra, sees touring as a great way to share his art with the widest possible audience. The French pia- nist-conductor, who is the lifetime music director of the Vienna group, says he doesn't mind the travel. Lucky for him; he'll be doing even more tours with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, of which he was recently appointed principal guest conductor. Entremont's work is a great relief for undernour- ished chamber music fans. As he pointed out in a recent telephone interview, there is a huge repertoire for a chamber orchestra and much of it is under- played, or completely unplayed. Through his work with his two top-notch chamber orchestras, Entremont is making a concerted effort to fill the "chamber music void." Thursday's program includes "Ancient Airs and Dances" by Ottorini Respighi, Mozart's Piano Con- certo in Amajor, K. 414 and "Souvenir de Florence" by Tchaikovsky. Entremontnotes that the program is marked more by its variety than by any similarity between the pieces. He described the first piece as sunny and pleasant. It is marked by clarity of form- a trait quite common to the 20th century neoclassi- cist Respighi. The Mozart concerto, in which Entremont will doubleassoloistand conductor, iswritten forastring orchestra with winds ad libitum, meaning the piece can be played with or without winds. Thursday's concert will be strings only. Although many of Mozart's earlier works often have a certain affinity with more mature works in the same key (e.g. the Symphonies in G minor, K. 183 and K. 550), Entremont finds no such connection between K. 414 and its A major counterpart, K. 488; according to him, K. 414 is much lighter in mood, just as it is in orchestration. Although the title of the Tchaikovsky seems to indicate another of the composer's imitations of various national styles (as in the Spanish, Arab, Chinese and Russian dances in "The Nutcracker"), Entremont finds the piece to be "very Russian." The piece was originally written as a string sextet but will be played with the full string orchestra. He notes it for its difficulty and its beautiful second movement, which is written in a flowing, cantabile style. Entremont has recording projects planned with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra on the Sony Classical label. These will add to his already-consid- erable catalog of recordings with the Vienna Cham- ber Orchestra and with other groups. THE VIENNA CHAMBER ORCHESTRA will perform at Hill Auditorium tonight at 8. Rush tickets are available today at the Union Ticket Office. After the performance, Entremont will be on hand at L & S Music to sign recordings. For information, call 764-2538. "Austin City Limits," but many people see that as a country show. The Nash- ville Network features a few live perfor- mances and programs that have show- cased many of folk's biggest stars. Due to the understandable "Garthophobia" which has overcome many of us who hate popular country music, non-coun- try fans will rarely see these perfor- mances by singers like Griffith, Gorka and James MacMurtry. In light of these conditions, how can anew folk revival happen? There has to be one charismatic performer who takes everyone by storm and bring his or her buddies along for the ride. Folk music was so popular in the sixties mainly because of Dylan - subsequently be- ginning the search for the "new Bob Dylan."Whoin 1993 can have thatkind of an impact? Probably not Griffith, for she has noted that she may not want to tour anymore. Nor could it be Lyle Lovett, because he is too institutional- ized as a country singer. Maybe it could be Maura O'Connell or Shawn Colvin. It could even be some guy who is play- ing before twenty people tonight on some Northeastern college campus. Some people even place their chips on *I Flor de Cafna sure look happy to be playing at this year's sixteenth annual Ann Arbor Folk Festival. Havens Write for Arts For info about music, books, fine arts and theater staffs, call 763-0379 the very same guy who spearheaded the grunge revolution - Neil Young - and his stellar new record, "Harvest Moon." As long as the lack of a true revival doesn't get any performer down, and true fans keep buying records, taking their friends to events like the Ann Ar- bor Folk Festival, and frequenting America's coffeehouses and places like the Ark, folk music will continue for the sake of its strong, core audience. The music would probably be better that way; how is an anti-music biz folkie supposed to like something if it's trendy? More Rock and Rol Hall of Famers .1 Can the LP NOW LEfISINGI SPRING FALL 1993 Keytone Properties 608 Packard 663-2284. L I Johnson & Johnson *Bausch & Lomb 'All Major Brands *Save 50% Lenses 100% Guaranteed 1-800-543-LENS Lens Direct Corporation 612 N.E. 12th St. Ft. Lauderdale, FL 333041 GUIDE Continued from page 3 died, which are subpar. ETTA JAMES Etta James has been singing blues since her big break in 1955. BEST: James' career has been through several phases; her best 1950s work is on "Etta James Sings", her best 1960s work is on "Her Greatest Sides" and her live act is well represented on "Etta James Rocks the House" (1964). WORST: James' career runs in cycles; after a string of successful al- bums she has put out increasingly poor albums and then rebounded with suc- cess again. Her poor recordings are generally out of print. FRANKIE LYMON AND THE TEENAGERS Frankie Lymon and his group were literally teenagers (all were in junior high school) when they made their fa- mous doo-wop hits such as "Why Do Fools Fall in Love?" in 1957-58. BEST: All the important recordings EARN MONEY SUPPORTING YOUR BASKETBALL TEAM! Sell this year's sports sensation - the basketball BUCKETHEADTMI from their very short career are in- cluded in "Best of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers." WORST: There are plenty of collec- tions like "Live, Rare and Unreleased" that scrape the bottom of the barrel for fanatics of this band; they only recorded for eighteen months and there isn't enough material to make good albums. VAN MORRISON Van Morrison is an Irish blues/pop singer who started with Them in the early sixties and pursued a solo career in 1967. BEST: The familiar singles of Van Morrison are all on "Best of Van Morrison," but that only tells part of the story. His greatest albums, such as "Moondance" (1970) and "Astral Weeks"(1968) are unified works that must be heard whole. WORST: No particularly bad albums. SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE Sly and the Family Stone were an integrated San Francisco band who vir- tually invented funk. Their career ran from 1967 to 1974. BEST: Sly and the Family Stone were most famous for their singles, which are collected on "Greatest Hits" (1970) and "Anthology" (1981), both of which include "Thank You"and "Hot Fun in the Summertime" which are not on any other albums. Some of their other albums, particularly "Stand" (1969) and "There's a Riot Goin' On" (1971), are albums that contain excel- lent music throughout. WORST: After 1971, bassist Larry Graham quit and the rhythm section became more mellow. In addition, drug problems were creating havoc with Sly Stone's songwriting. t With the NCAA tournament just around the comer, BucketheadsTM make perfect March Madness attire. Whether sold by individuals or by groups, BucketheadsTM make money before and after games and are ideal for earning extra income or as a fun fund raiser. 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