0 8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, April 11, 2003 ARTS Male voices ring from rafters By Sarah Peterson Daily Fine Arts Editor FINE ARs PREVIEW Tomorrow, beautiful melodies will be spilling out of Rackham Auditorium, filling the air with concordant har- monies. You won't, however, hear any female voices adding to the music because this con- _ cert is for men vocalists only. This Saturday, the auditorium will play Men's Glee host to the Men's Glee Club for their Club spring concert. Concert According to club member Ian Saturdayat6p.m. Campbell, the group "tries to cover and 9 p.m. the whole spectrum" when it comes $10 - $12 reserved, to the music selection. Folk songs, $5 students spirituals, classical works, Westerns At Rackham and love songs are among the types Auditorium of music that will be performed. Some of the pieces will be a capella, while others will be performed with a piano accompanist. The composers of the pieces on the program vary just as much as the songs themselves, going from a work by Han- del to one by Aaron McDermid, the group's assistant con- ductor. McDermid's piece will be making its debut during this concert, as this will be its first time being performed. It is a love song based on a poem by the American poet James Weldon Johnson. The group is composed of about 85 members that range from first years to graduate students from practically every college at the University. All members of the club are selected through auditions. They perform two concerts on campus, as well as several others in other cities, through- out the school year, and they always go on tour. This year, they head to the southwest, where they will kick off the tour by performing at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, and then continue to Los Angeles, San Diego, Phoenix and Las Vegas. Under the new leader- ship of McDermid and conductor Stephen Lusmann, the group has continued in its tradition of greatness. Lusmann is quite renowned himself. He is a profes- sional baritone who has performed opera at such venues as Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center. He has also done a great deal of work in Germany. After months of hard work, this weekend's perform- ance promises to be a masterpiece of fun times and good music. In the words of Campbell, "The audience can expect to hear great music performed to the highest standards, but they can also expect a lot of energy." 0 Courtesy of Blue Note Jam band funksters or steak house waiters? You decide. 'Hunter's' forced entry under investigation GIVE UP THE FUNK MMW's MARTIN LAYS DOWN THE BEAT By Justin Scheininger For the Daily By Douglas Wernert Daily Arts Writer You've seen this before: the dra- matic opening shot of the outside of the prison, the robbery where an innocent person dies, the apparent capture of the "bad guys" in the middle of the show, the shock- ing plot twist and Hunter: the dramatic end- Back In ing that makes Force you feel that jus- Saturday at tice was served. 9 p.m. Yes, another NBC police detective show has made its way onto the small screen, this time in the form of "Hunter: Back In Force," the NBC Sunday night movie. Whether Hunter is actually "back in force" is open to debate, but when you com- bine a strong cast with a storyline we've seen all too many times, what's left is essentially a two-hour episode of "CSI." This show is the follow up to last fall's "Hunter: Return to Justice," and subsequent one hour episodes will follow in the weeks to come. Lt. DeeDee McCall (Stepfanie Kramer) ventures back into the homicide division in San Diego to team with Lt. Rick Hunter (Fred Dryer) to investigate a chain of bank rob- beries. At the same time, an old nemesis by the name of Randall Skaggs (Gregory Scott Cummins) is out on parole and up to his old tricks, forming a trio of trouble with some old friends. A well-organized bank robbery, followed by some clever detective work, leads McCall and Hunter to a women's prison to talk with one of the inmates (Joanie Laurer, WWE's "Chyna"). As luck would have it, a corrupt prison guard named Ray Davies and prison psychologist, Westberg, both connected with Skaggs, are at the forefront of this crime, and getting to them is the key to getting parole-violating Skaggs and company back in the slammer. The script is too cliche, with McCall proclaiming how she, as a woman; is embarrassing Davies by busting him. One could see the "cor- rupt guard" angle from a mile away, as these shows, while compelling and interesting, always will have some Your parents found the weed. crazy twist that an experienced viewer can easily predict. Other than that, everyone gives solid performances, even if the criminals are stereotypical- ly big, tough, evil, ugly-looking men. "Hunter: Back in Force" is not meant to be a long-running series a la "NYPD Blue" or "The Shield." There's only so many ways a crime can be committed, and with McCall and Hunter both playing experi- enced, know-it-all cops, the story will fast lose its sizzle. Hunter may be "back in force," but with an abun- dance of these shows already on prime time, just being "back" may, be too much. On Wednesday, Medeski, Martin and Wood laid down some of the fattest grooves ever heard at the Michigan Theater. MMW is in its own world of jazz-funk. The instrumental trio combines three of the most talented and exciting musicians around. John Medeski, the soulful key- boardist, plays like a mad-scientist. Bassist Chris Wood is called a modern-day Charles Mingus for his energy, inten- sity and blues sensibility. Billy Martin, drummer/percus- sionist extraordinaire, plays almost every percussion instrument imaginable. Martin spoke with The Michigan Daily before Wednes- day's show. The Michigan Daily: How would you introduce your music to someone who has never heard of MMW? Billy Martin: I just tell people it's an instrumental trio. We like to groove. It's really just a jazz-funk band that improvises. It's not easy to explain; I'd rather just play. TMD: You play a seemingly endless array of percus- sion instruments. How did you develop such an interest- ing approach? BM: When I was 18, I took classes in New York and that was the turning point for me. I started exploring per- cussion. I realized that there are so many different ways to express yourself. There are cultures that completely thrive on percussion music! And in these cultures, the percussion instruments are the band, the melody and the whole orchestra. I explored many types of music, from Brazilian to West African, Afro-Cuban and I grew up lis- -tening to rock, funk and jazz. All of that has influenced my drumming. TMD: You developed a devoted following as a club band. How do you like playing in larger venues now that MMW has become so popular? BM: It's not easy. You have to create an intimacy with the room and with the sound system, but try to not com- promise too much with the playing. The thing is, we're very sensitive to the environment and we do play differ- ently in different rooms, it's just natural. TMD: How do you feel about being part of the whole jam band scene, despite having a completely different sound than all of those bands? BM: It's a cool thing to be part of any situation where there is a scene that is open to what we do. There are a lot of people who are into that music and if they think we're part of that lineage, so be it. I think we have our own sound and the audience realizes that we're coming from a different place and we express ourselves differently (than other jam-bands). TMD: Do you have any advice for aspiring artists to reach their creative potential? BM: Be sincere about what you're doing; don't com- promise. I think that's the most important thing. You need to explore the things that you really love and try to digest that stuff to express your true self; that's where the uncompromising comes in. Don't try to recreate some- thing that's been done before, but use it in a way in which it becomes part of your own language. TMD: Why so philosophical? BM: Well, I think it goes with being an artist. Don't compromise if you can help it. Really be honest with yourself and don't be afraid to be who you are. Accept who you are, whether perfect or imperfect. 0 al 14 The new Primetime version of the landmark talent show OPEN CALL University of Michigan The Michigan League 911 N. University Monday, April 14th 8 am- 6 pm For more info, call 1-800-553-3811 or go to CBS.com 6