8 - The Michigan Daily - Friday, February 18, 2005 ARTS ON THE ROAD Concert Band plays, diverse repertoire CREATIVE ARTS ORCHESTRA CONQUERS EAST COAST By Lloyd Cargo Daily Arts Writer It's difficult to explain how spontaneously pro- duced music can be beautiful. On its Winter 2005 Tour, the University's School of Music's Creative Arts Orchestra tapped into some sort of transcen- dent improvisatory force - and there's no other way to explain the quality of the music that trans- pired. The music world isn't all that different from the academic world - there are all kinds of rules restricting creativity. In such a rigid system, a perfor- mance group like this defies musical dogma. CAO is not only one of the few improvisatory ensembles in academics - they're also one of the few such groups in the world. "We play free because we want to live free," trum- peter Ross Huff explained. For 15 musicians to play together without a predetermined musical structure and still create cohesive compositions time after time is nearly unbelievable. Though CAO is made up of musicians with vastly different personalities, backgrounds and influences, they are able to reach their musical nirvana because the group makes this creative journey as one. Feel- ing the energy the band taps into as they commu- nicate non-verbally during performances is in itself galvanizing. That players with such varying life By Jessica Koch For the Daily The School of Music's Concert Band presented its first performance of 2005 Wednesday evening at Hill Auditorium. The ensemble showed Concert Band that they haven't lost a beat since Wednesday, Feb. their last concert 16 at 8 p.m. in December. At Hill Auditorium The compelling performance incorporated a lively, engaging assort- ment of pieces that appealed to a vari- ety of musical preferences. The band's conductor, Associate Director of Bands and Conducting Prof. Stephen Davis, described the evening's program as containing "a wide variety of pieces, some very contemporary and others more traditional." He went on to explain that this concert's repertoire features "a mix- ing of styles that depict all of the human emotions." The brass section of the Concert Band began the performance with Fanfare from "Le Peri." The Paul Durkas fanfare commanded listeners' attention with full, resonant chords. This piece also prepared audience members for a musical journey that, according to Davis, "challenges lis- teners to grow as an audience." Gunther Schuller's On Winged Flight was the featured piece of the evening. "The piece is exception- ally difficult," explained Davis. "It is a 20th century piece and therefore contains a wide range of contempo- rary styles." Each of the five movements of this modern piece created a different atmosphere and environment. From the delicate, sylvan sounds of bird calls in the Pastorale move- ment to the dark, sinister fear created by the ominous Nocturne, Schuller's composition is constantly evolv- ing in mood. "(Schuller) is a truly unique person, a great performer and composer," Davis said. The Parody finale completed the piece on a large boisterous note, with fast melodic lines and loud obtrusive sounds char- acteristic of big city traffic. The variety continued into the second half with the small ensemble piece, Old Wine in New Bottles. The Gordon Jacob piece, directed by graduate conductor Brian K. Doyle, created a lightness that balanced well against the previous, more heavily orchestrated pieces. With lovely woodwind melodies, the small ensemble illustrated the carefree and adventurous spirit felt by sailors before embarking on a voyage. The band ended their performance with Tchaikovsky's jovial and tra- ditional Dance of the Jesters. The piece's energetic, foot tapping mel- ody was the perfect conclusion to the evening's performance and sent audience members back out into the cold with warm sentiments. Courtesy of Lloyd Cargo Bassist Brad Townsend, saxophonist Joey Dosik and violinist Leena Gilbert improvise during a performance at Carnegie Mellon University. experiences - from a Viennese master's student to a freshman from Los Angeles - can share the same musical vision so effortlessly is frighteningly beautiful. Equally impressive was the momentum the group built up over the course of their five-day, five-show jaunt. It all began at Duquesne University in Pitts- burgh, where CAO's version of a demented film score caused one audience member to remark, "This is the coolest thing that's happened to me all year." The next afternoon's show at Carnegie Mellon University was also well received, even if it did shock some of the more conservative audience members at Carnegie Mellon's music school. One of the show's many highlights was the small group performance by bassist Brad Townsend, violinist Leena Gilbert and saxophonist Joey Dosik. Gil- bert and Townsend wove together intricate melo- dies over which Dosik blew lines reminiscent of Albert Ayler. Juxtaposing the previous trio's bal- ladry were the Zappa-esque grooves of drummer Nick Zielinski, the fierce attack of soprano sax- ophone player Andrea Steves and the hurricane blowing of tenor saxophonist Dan Puccio. The good vibes continued at the next after- noon's show at Yale University's school of music in New Haven, Conn. As a sort of homecoming for tuba doctoral student Mike Nickens, CAO held an impromptu lesson on improvised music that turned into an all-inclusive jam session. In attendance was jazz visionary Willie Ruff, who has played on records by Miles Davis, the late Jimmy Smith and Oscar Peterson, among others. Impressed by CAO's performance, Ruff admon- ished the group to "go wherever people will hear you - jails, insane asylums, churches, nursery schools . .." Nowhere was there a more receptive audience in attendance than at Columbia University. As listeners in uptown Manhattan discovered, CAO sounds the most powerful when you close your eyes and give in to the music. People at the Colum- bia show shook, danced and screamed without regard for how odd or ridiculous they appeared. There was no better soundtrack to that moment than the New Orleans funk-stomp the ensemble conjured up. But the best performance was yet to come, as the performance at The Bowery Poetry Club in New York City with alto saxophone legend Oliver Lake still loomed. The Bowery show proved to be the apex of the tour, blowing past the proverbial "middle zone" and reaching a radical place where improvisa- tion meets innovation, a state of being frequently preached about by group leader Prof. Ed Sarath. Having already played a show with CAO in Ann Arbor, Lake - while fully aware of the ensem- ble's capabilities - was still amazed by the qual- ity of the group. Before Lake joined the ensemble on stage, they proved that they were capable of wowing listen- ers on their own. The spoken-word piece spit by Nickens was especially memorable. Perhaps inspired by his surroundings, Nickens's words felt fittingly potent to be performed in the esteemed venue. The climax of this concert was Lake's com- position "Round 2000." The group's leaders, trumpeter Mark Kirschenmann and Ed Sarath on flugelhorn, blew respective solos that shimmied and wailed as the rest of the ensemble provided a complementary sonic backdrop. The piece was shot into orbit by Lake's solo and brought home when the entire group started on their lowest note and ascended, lifting Lake up to infinity. CAO accomplished everything they set out for and more on their Winter Tour. The group man- aged to demonstrate the endless possibilities of collaborative music, playing melodies that have never been heard before and will never be heard again. This instrumental militia distilled their talents down to musical "truth," exploding expec- tations wherever they went. CAO proved that in the right hands, improvisation and innovation can create heavenly results. 0 0 ELKLAND h tf tek .R Elkland sb Ned li tt S e on writxitrthma n~tttt the rop c&el trs . " .vte ete~ e r ~ e c c tin of ru :k