September 13, 2002 michigandaily.com/arts mae@michigandaily.com ftgftdftmgadu ilRTS 5 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival begins Adam Haslett's 'You Are Not a Stranger Here' is heartwarming By Jim Schiff Daily Arts Writer Grief," for example, a teenage boy falls in love with a bully who repeatedly beats him. One might find it hard to identify with such an individual, but Haslett shows, in several stories, that human behavior is often inexplicable and illogical. By Scott Serilla Daily Music Editor Looking for a chance to awk- wardly bump into your professors outside of the traditional classroom setting? Oh man have we got an event for you. The annual Blues and Jazz Festi- val will descend on Ann Arbor all this weekend, once again featuring a diverse assortment of acts playing at venues throughout the city. To mark the festival's 30th anniversary promoters have assembled national- ly known artists from the worlds of blues, latin/salsa, fusion-funk, New Orleans, be-bop and free jazz. The festivities kick off tonight at the Michigan Theater on East Lib- erty Street where Grammy Award winning pianist and bandleader Eddie Palmieri, known as 'The Sun of Latin Jazz,' will take the y stage with his li-piece La' Perfecta II O~~~~ r <: tra. Local act Los Gato will open. Showtime is at 8 and tickets z cost anywhere between $25- $40. Later that evening funky multi-instru- Ms. Koko Taylor and' mentalist Olu Dara will play two sets at the Bird of Paradise Jazz Club on South Main, with tickets running $25 for both the 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. sets. Saturday at noon the party heads outdoors at Gallup Park on Fuller near Huron Parkway. Music will begin at 1 p.m., with performances all day long from the likes of local sax/flute master Paul Vornhagen, Detroit Blues queen Alberta Adams, New Orleans' Dirty Dozen Brass Band and capped off by Ms. Koko Taylor and Her Blues Machine. Local vendors, enjoying an off weekend at the Big House slide over to Gallup as well to provide food for the hun- gry masses. Then the whole shebang just starts Courtesy of Jam-USA all over Sunday at dise noon back at the Courtesy of Jam USA Her Blues Machine are coming to town. park this time with local favorites (we're not making this up) Al Hill and the Love Butlers and The Dob- bins/Chandler Quintet opening for Cajun man Tab Benoit and the late and strange Sun Ra's enduring Arskestra carrying on the leader's otherworldly music just as he per- formed it at the original festival 30 years ago. The festival will close that evening with a performance by Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. Saxophonist and bandleader Den- son is know for his crossover col- laborations with the likes of jam band mainstays String Cheese Incident and Ms. Lisa Bonet him- self, Lenny Kravitz. Tickets for each day at Gallup Park are $20 advance and $25 at the gate (students save $5 either way with student ID). Two day passes as well as complete festival package deals are also available. Tickets can be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations and Gallup Park tickets are also available at both the Arborland, Borders and at P.J.'s Used Records and CDs (no service charge). For more information visit the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival website: a2.blues.jazzfest.org "Chicken Soup for the Soul" has just about run its course. You can only go back for more helpings so many times. Thankfully, Adam Haslett has concocted a stew so heartwarming in "You Are Not a Stranger Here" that you'll want another bowl. An impressive debut to say the least, YOU AR Haslett's collection of short stories STRANG breathes life into a genre that seldom gets attention. By Adan Some readers fear that with a short Doubled story, they don't have enough time to get attached to the characters. This is not the case with "Stranger:" its vivid and satisfying stories need not go beyond 30 pages. Haslett's figures are universal - troubled, lonely and above all, longing for human affection. That being said, "Stranger" is not a happy read; but it is an uplifting one. Most of Haslett's principal char- acters suffer from a mental illness, whether it be schizophrenia, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder. But instead of stereotyping their behavior, Haslett gets inside their heads and shows their suffer- ing through lucid, lyrical prose. In one story, "Notes to my Biographer," we read of a brilliant but mentally unstable inventor who makes a final visit to his gay son. Though we know he loves his son, he is unable to express this in words. Instead, he rambles on about technological breakthroughs in stream-of-consciousness; even when he sees tears on his son's face, his illness prevents him from respond- ing appropriately. The sad undercurrent of Haslett's tales, like this first one, only strengthens their impact. "Stranger" truly shines in its depiction of tragic characters that overcome their disability. Consider the collection's most heart-wrenching tale, "War's End." Paul, a for- mer high school history teacher, suffers from severe depression - so severe that he can't connect with his wife on even the most basic level. His inability to touch another life is changed when he meets a dying young boy; Paul reads him stories of kings and castles. While Paul and the boy suffer - one mentally, the other physically - a simple thing like reading lifts both their spirits. In this way, "Stranger" is comparable to the "Chick- en Soup" series. But unlike the latter, Haslett doesn't guarantee a remedy to your woes. His stories are dark and sometimes too "out there" for the unadventurous reader to comprehend. Occasionally he creates charac- ters that seem inconceivable. In "The Beginnings of E NOT A JER HERE [m Haslett day Books From a purely technical standpoint, Haslett never misses a step. Journeying from Scotland, to Los Angeles to New England, he nails dialects and local cus- toms with spot-on precision. The author also narrates from the viewpoint of the mentally-disabled, forcing him to use vocabulary and phrasing that characterize a particular illness. Clearly, Haslett throws himself a chal- lenge with this collection. "You are Not a Stranger Here" not only introduces him as a strong lit- erary voice, but also a brave one. His characters are complex and compassionate, as only an author of Haslett's caliber could create. Not bad for the first time at bat. Olu Dara will be performing at Bird of Parad WIN