10 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, September 19, 1997 I W Phelps to bless A2 with blues experience Yo La Tengo to play Blind Pig By Anders Smith-Lindall Daily Arts Writer Legend has it that, many years ago in the Mississippi Delta, a young man named Robert Johnson arranged a mid- night meeting at a deserted crossroads. There, by the light of a full moon, he struck a deal with the devil, bargaining his eternal soul in exchange for the abil- ity to play the blues better than any other man. And though he died from drinking poisoned whiskey in 1938, his stature as an influential giant of the blues lives today. Listening to Kelly Joe Phelps' new album, "Roll Away the Stone" it is clear that Phelps, who hails from the state of Washington - about as far from that Delta crossroads as you can get in the lower 48 - has listened to his share of Robert Johnson. It is equally clear that mentioning the name Kelly Joe in the same breath with Blind Lemon and Mississippi Fred might not be as foolish as it sounds. Phelps will appear at the Ark on Sunday night to play material from this album; an album that is, in many respects, a traditional blues record. But to his considerable credit, Phelps recalls the past while transcending the blue- print of tradition, adapting sounds and styles that have been handed down through generations and making them into something new and distinctly his own. Some of this willingness to experi- ment and ability to create may be attrib- the guitar's body or his foot on a stomp uted to his appreciation for and training box. in jazz. And he sings. His voice, though no A former jazz bassist, Phelps once great wonder in itself, is soulful in a idolized that genre's greats, from John plain-spoken way, slightly smoky with a Coltrane to Miles Davis. After hear- ing a record by seminal bluesman Kell Mississippi Fred McDowell some years ago, Phelps took up a guitar and began to play the blues, but his jazz background still shines through in the array of sounds he coaxes from his strings and his highly impressionistic usage of them in his songs. For Kelly Joe Phelps is a guitar wiz- ard, conjuring not just melodies but all manner of moans, squeaks, squeals and sobs from his instrument. Laying the guitar flat on his lap like a dobro, he picks and plucks with care and preci- sion, turning a mere note into an impas- sioned cry with an upward sweep of his steel slide, intermittently keeping time with the resonant thump of his hand on EVIEW y Joe Phelps Sunday night at 8 p.m. The Ark $1' gravel edge. He is sensitive to the fact that his singing need only comple- ment the playing- the clear focus here - and gives sensi- tive, heartfelt treat- ments of both his original compositions and traditional numbers such as "When the Roll Is Called Up Yonder." I don't know whether Phelps came by this remarkable talent naturally or struck a satanic pact. But I do know that to hear "Roll Away the Stone" is a visceral experience; to see this man perform, bent over a supposedly inan- imate object that suddenly seems to be alive and squalling in his hands, promises to be something of a won- derment. Just make sure he stays away from 'the bad whiskey. Straight out of Hoboken and into your hearts, it's Yo La Tengo. Guitarist/hubby Ira Kaplan (front), drummer/wife Georgia Hubley and bassist/chaperone James McNew play at 9:30 tomorrow night at the Blind Pig, showcasing material from their new album, I Can Hear the Heart Beating as One." With more hipster cred than you can shake a Pavement record at and a killer live show, Yo La Tengo promises to make the Pig the place to be Saturday. On top of that, they'll be right here the Daily on Monday morning and at the Magic Stickghn Detroit oro show that night. Kelly Joe Phelps PS ." MICHIGAN THEATRE ANN ARBOR Friday, September 26 - 8:00 pm Reserved tickets $30.00, $22.50, $18.50 available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office and all 7x..M) .. outlets. INFO AND CHARGE BY PHONE 313-763-TKTS OR 810-645-6666 Please join us in support ofArborHaven/The SalvationArmy by bringing a donation of non-perishable food to the concert. ~ I ltY S >. p ~R w3 a . Iffi m Faulks to read 'Birdsong' at Borders* By Sarah Beldo For the Daily Elizabeth, one of the main characters in Sebastian Faulks' generation-spanning novel "Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War," finds herself driven to forge a con- nection between her life in 1978 and her grandfather's life dur- ing World War I.eb After reading his diaries, she discovers that "Although she was happy enough with what she had become, it was this continued sense of the easy, the essential nature of what she did, that most irritated her. She thought of Tom Brennan, who had known only life or death, then death in life. In her generation there was no intensity." Reading this book, we can't help but agree with her. The contrast between Elizabeth's mundane grocery list of a life and the landscape of war is acute; REVIEW astian Faulks Tonight at 7:30 Borders Free even Elizabeth's affair with a mar- ried man seems like something she's doing to pass time, while two genera- tions ago her grand- father seemed near- No need for I financial aid. ly obliterated by the flame of passion. Though Faulks' point is reasonable, I admit that I felt as if by giving Elizabeth - the representation of recent genera- tions--such a comfortable life, he was r L r <.:; _ .. V ; They're on sale. WHAT'S YOUR MAJOR INTEREST IN MUSIC? Pop? ROCK? ALTERNATIVE? WHATEVER, YOU'RE GONNA FIND IT 'CAUSE WE GOT IT! The Medical Scientist Training Program at the Medical College of Wisconsin offers a combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree program. Trainees receive full tuition scholarships and stipends throughout their studies. Highly qualified students with a background in research are encouraged to apply. The training program application deadline is November 1. Write or call: Medical Scientist Training Program Medical College of Wisconsin 8701 Watertown Plank Road Milwaukee, WI 53226-0509 MEDICAL Phone;:(414) 456-8641 COJI I EGE 1-800-457-2775 O LLEGESIN E-mail: mstp@post.its.mcw.edu OF WISCONSIN http://www.mcw.edu/mstp slightly belittling the unique struggles of our modern ex istence. Indeel, the two lives seem so tr apart that when intertwined they resemble a clumsy couple doing the two-step. These awkward connections are ;ier- haps the only weak part of Faulks' skillful, complex novel. The seci-ons of the novel set early in the century argP forceful enough to stand on their own as stories of innocence and passions thwarted by war. Faulks' roots as a journalist explain his obsession with detail, which is alternatly d Eight ful and painful. No sense is Iltiunex- plored, be it the taste of a woman's skin or the smell of decaying bodies. The scenes in the trenches seem well- researched and are genuinely moving. Also beautiful is the unsubtle tb4 effective way Faulks deals with the theme of recording the past for future generations. Both written anId oral narrative are given high importance, and Faulks praises procreation as the best way to carry on values into the next era. The author must be (praised for giving equal voice to female char- acters in the novel; it's rare to-rcccive a feminine viewpoint in a novkel about war. "Birdsong" is Faulks' fourth nover, and it spent more than a year on Britain's bestseller list. The aufhor will be reading an excerpt from tie novel tonight at 7:30 at Borders to celebrate its paperback debut. Both lovers 4d war- riors are bound to find something provocative to think about in Faulks' weighty and redemptive narrative. LIKE THESE ALBUMS: 929 CD 99 99 CD For a location near you, call toll au c v- cu4 SMASH MOUTH " Fush Yu Mang This San Jose foursome's mixture of ska, punk and pop has made them huge in their hometown. Their new album puts them in the national spotlight and features the energetic single "Walkin' on the Sun." (j C 0 WHISKEYTOWN * Strangers Almanac m