The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Friday, January 18, 2008 -5 CONCERT PREVIEW ML COURTESY OF STONESTHROW The famed Detroit producer J Dilla died in 2006 of lupus A'Collage'party Mos Def is widely respected and praised for his socially-conscious rhymes. UMS brings another top-notch performer to the prestigious Hill ByLLOYD CARGO DailyArts Writer Mos Def - and his Big Band -is another impressive get forthe University Musical Society's con- cert series. And yet, this concert doesn't seem to be the most log- Mos Def ical production. Why would Mos Monday at Def go through 7:30 p.m. the trouble of At Hill Auditorium assembling a big $25-$45 band for a one- time tribute to J Dilla, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, in Ann Arbor of all places? The Mos Def Big Band is yet another impressive permuta- tion of hip hop by the Brooklyn- born emcee. Mos has previously fronted the rock band Black Jack Johnson, as well as recently dis- covering Chicago's Hypnotic Brass Ensemble playing on the streets of New York and enlisting them for a run of concerts. This big band doesn't have the same personnel, but it's the same idea., Having horns replace turntables in a tribute to the late Detroit powerhouse J Dilla might not make sense on the surfacebutit's the sort of pioneering move that Dilla would have been proud of. Dilla, born James Yance, but also known as Jay Dee, had col- laborated with Mos during his career, most notably on Black Star's "Little Brother," Mos Def's "Can U C the Pride in the Panther? (Remix)" and on Dilla's own posthumously released The Shining. With only a handful of these collaborations though, it appears that their friendship is the reason for the tribute. Immensely respected for his tal- ents within the industry, Dilla's name didn't become well known outside hip-hop circles until his death two years ago from lupus. While most of his fame has to do with his production and emcee- ing skills, his warm and car- ing personality sure didn't hurt either. Nearly every hip-hop megastar who eulogized Dilla described him as an ambassador for Detroit, and a world-class nice guy. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day connection is also eas- ily explained. Mos Def is one of the most intelligent emcees to ever wrap his hands around a microphone. His extensive dis- cography puts his money where his mouth is. Genre labels like "backpack rap" or "conscious hip hop" can't contain his vari- ous styles. Mos isn't preaching from a pedestal - he's on the ground, in the streets, weaving rhymes about the struggles and triumphs of every day life in his native Bed-Stuy, in a manner that resonates from the inner cities to the suburbs. Whether he's paired with Talib Kweli and producer Hi-Tek in his seminal group Black Star, or on his own with an album like Black on Both Sides, Mos brings the knowledge and pride that critics often wish most emcees possessed. Without putting words in his mouth, Mos has a dream. That dream is social justice through righteous music. Long after Kanye West moved on to window shade sunglasses and half-baked boasting, Mos is still trying to bring attention' to the administration's heinous reaction to Hurricane Katrina. A few weeks ago, Mos was arrested at the Video Music Awards for performing his incendiary song, "Katrina Clap," on a stage on the back of a truck outside the entrance. Far from just a P.R. stunt, his protest showed he wasn't afraid to put his own ass on the line. And why have this historic concert in Ann Arbor? Because Mark Jacobson, the University Musical Society's pro- gramming manager, and the rest of the UMS staff are straight kill- ing it. They've managed to turn Ann Arbor into one of the Mid- west's most prominent cultural centers by bringing in a diverse and impressive line of artists from around the globe. The pres- tige surrounding Hill Auditorium has made it a great draw for art- ists, validation per se, instead of the other way around. This has been said often in the last few years about UMS con- certs, but this is truly a once-in- a-lifetime opportunity. By ABIGAIL B. COLODNER Fine Arts Editor Paul Rardin, a member of the School of Music, Theatre and Dance's con- ducting faculty 31st Annual and this year's coordinator of Collage the School's Concert annual perfor- mance blitz, the Saturday,Jan. Collage Con- cert, has a mes- At Hill Auditorium sage many have $25-$15 heard before: "This is the 'if you've got time to go to one con- cert' concert." With Hill Auditorium filled nearly to capacity last year, for the concert's 30th anniversary,Rardin expects this year's performance to live up to the hype. He also feels the performance gives a sense of the University's greatest invest- ment in the arts - its arts students - the way no other event will. At a rehearsal of "Gloria," by the American composer Domi- nick Argento, Rardin debriefed the Chamber and University Choirs - separate University classes, largely made-up of vocal performance majors - on what to expect at Saturday's 8 p.m. show. "There are five rises, and you'll be sharing them with the saxo- phone ensemble," he said to the students, who stood elbow-to- elbow. They chuckled, imagining the musicians huddling with their instruments next to about 100 people singing in Latin. "We've never done it this way," Rardin admitted. "But there's nowhere else for them to go." Such juxtapositions are more than concessions to a smallish stage - they're what the Collage Concert is about in the first place. The idea came from a professional show the Concert's founder, Gus- tav Meier, saw years ago. "He liked the sudden dramatic contrasts from loud to soft, big to small, classical to pop," Rardin said. "Sometimes jarring segues can be extremely effective." There are almost 30 parts to the concert, which puts most of its performers onstage at once and moves between perform- ers without pauses, directing the audience's attention with lighting. For Kelly Moran, a sophomore majoring in piano performance' and performance arts technology, Saturday will be her first time participating in the concert. "It'sdefinitelyarapid-firemeth- od of conducting, but I think it's conducive to the short attention span of most audiences," she said. The importance of conducting is unexpectedly great. "One way to get most of the Music school involved is to use these big ensembles like Universi- ty Choir and Jazz Ensemble, and there are always conductors for those," Rardin said. "Most of the logistical decisions fall to us, and I suppose that's how the selection process fell tous too." The conducting faculty selects performers through auditions. A few years ago, the concert was extended to include perform- ers from the Theatre and Dance departments, people who come via recommendations from their respective department chairs. The concert also promises to be an eclectic representation of the University. "It's like a crash musi- cology course," said Mary Martin, a junior majoring in vocal perfor- mance, of the material presented. "Not everything that's included 100 people on stage at one time is historically monumental, but it highlights some things and offers alternatives." It offers alternatives to the par- ticipants as well, many of whom have less contact with peers out- side of their discipline than one might imagine. "In a self-concerned way, it's just as important for us to hear what we sound like as it is for the outside world to hear," Rardin said. He described the gratifying recognition that comes during dress rehearsal. "For someone in Jazz Ensem- ble to hear what an Indian music ensemble sounds like that they didn't know existed, and then to realize, 'hey, that person's in my theory class,' it's a wonderful moment," he said. The students have a lot to dis- cover on the road to the concert itself. In rehearsal for a piece they will ultimately perform with the Symphony Band, Rardin hushed his students, and dropped a pearl of performance wisdom: "There's nothing instrumentalists hate more than singers talking behind themwhenthey're tryingto listen to their conductors." But everyone will surely be talking after the performance. SThe fastest little fin By BEN VANWAGONER DailyArts Writer This seems to be the season of spectacular pianists for the Uni- versity Musical Society. With i.i Andras Schiff, -Uja Wang Louis Lortie Sunday at and the classi- 4 p.m. cal music super- star ang Lng AtHill Auditorium star Lang Lang $110-$50 all visiting Ann $ Arbor, it would be easy to overlook what may well be the most important con- cert this year - Yuja Wang at Hill Auditorium. In a decade during which clas- sical music is increasingly domi- nated by adept and adaptable Asian artists, it's no surprise to see another Chinese virtuoso. Senti- ment in the field has easily placed China at the top of the list of hot- beds for new talent. At the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, a school generally considered the leading piano conservatory in the nation, seven out of twenty stu- dents are Chinese. One of those students is Yuja Wang. It's understandable if there's some confusion here. She is a student, yet she's performing in a full-scale concert hall with the St. Petersburg Philharmonic - at age 20. Yuja Wang is thatgood. She first emerged on the scene in North America when she replaced Radu Lupu to perform a concerto by Beethoven. Since then, she has performed with some of the greatest orchestras in the na York P Cisco S Symph S V: 2( gers on the keys tion - including the New are demanding and will no doubt 'hilharmonic, the San Fran- serve as an excellent display of Symphony and the Houston her artistry. Ravel's La Valse in sony - and has been hailed particular is known not just as one of the most expressive and evocative waltz pieces, but also as an infamously technical and diffi- he's a piano cult work. The rest of the program is equally impressive, including rtuoso at age Liszt, Bartok and Scriabin. Although the current media 0. W hat have darling, Lang Lang, won't arrive ou one? until early April, Yuja may very you - well be his equal. Wang trains under Gary Graffman, the same instructor Mr. Lang once had. Her future looks incredibly bright. rgetic, fearless and extrava- This is a rare opportunity, in a gifted, combining her pre- genre often dominated by older, on the keys with passionate experienced artists, to see a true mance. virtuoso before she's established pieces for Sunday's concert as a world-renowned figure. as enei gantly cision perfor Her WANT TO WORK FOR THE DAILY? COME TO OUR LAST MASS MEETING 420 Maynard St., just northwest of the Union Sunday, Jan. 27 7 p.m. I