The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com
Friday; February 12, 2010 -- 5
Jazz festival
educates 'U'
Ben Huh is the CEO of the Cheezburger Network, which includes FAIL Blog, I Can Has Cheezburger and wany other huwor sites.
The Ce ezurger king
Ben Huh, the man behind
the LOLs, explains the
business of captioned cats.
By ROBERT SOAVE
Daily Arts Writer
Ben Huh never wanted to be a comedian.
"I certainly don't find myself that funny," he
said in an interview with The Michigan Daily.
And yet, because of Huh, millions of peo-
ple around the world LOL at their computer
screens every day.
Huh, who came to the Ann Arbor Public
Library last week to talk about his company, is
the CEO of the Cheezburger Network, which
includes more than two dozen popular Internet
humor blogs, including I Can Has Cheezburg-
er? and FAIL Blog. But the key to the compa-
ny's success is that neither Huh nor his staff
members actually supply the humor. That's the
users' job.
"For us, the cost of creating content is vir-
tually negligible because our users do it," Huh
said. "We provide the tools and the framework,
things like that. That's what's made the busi-
ness viable."
Of course, there was little evidence that such
a business would really work when Huh left a
well-paying management job in 2007 to launch
a career in Internet humor. But the widespread
popularity of captioned photos online - as well
as the extremely low cost of generating content
- has helped the Cheezburger Network thrive.
Users can upload already captioned pho-
tos or add captions to other users' photos. It's
Huh's job to make sure this content reaches the
computer screens of the millions of people who
visit the blogs.
"We really focus on building a community of
people who love what they do," he said. "(We)
use their creativity to continue to produce
interesting stuff."
It was in fact e-mails fromusers that inspired
the Cheezburger Network to adopt the mission
of making the Internet laugh for five minutes a
day.
"They would e-mail us and say, 'You know,
you're the highlight of my work day,' "Huh said.
"They're looking for kind of an escape from
their everyday work. You may love your job, but
still you need a break every once in awhile."
For fans of the Cheezburger Network, that
break is all about the cats. I Can Has Cheez-
burger, one of Huh's most visited blogs, depicts
cats in various pictures surrounded by funny
captions.
According to Huh, it's no accident that cats
became the gold standard of online photo cap-
tioning.
"They show more emotion in their facial
expressions (and) their body language than
dogs do," he said. "With cats you kind of live in
their world, so they ignore this camera some-
times and you get to catch a lot of really fun
stuff that they do."
Putting funny captions on pictures of cats
goes back quite a long time. Huh mentioned
that he once came across a black-and-white
postcard from 1905 featuring a dressed-up kit-
ten with the words MOMMY WHERE'S MY
DINNER in all caps.
"A decade after popular photography came
into being, somebody was putting all-caps cap-
tions on cat pictures," Huh said.
Today, funny cat pictures are still injecting
much-needed laughter into the stressful lives
of working people. For Huh, that's the thrill of
running his company.
"It's not (like) selling insurance to people,"
he said. "There's something fundamentally
good about what we do."
And of course, Huh loves to laugh at lolcats.
He even has a favorite.
"This kitten, it's got ear hair coming out of its
ears," he said. "It's in a wine glass and it's, like,
chilling ... and it says 'send me with the compli-
ments to the ladies.' It's such a cool cat."
By JOSHUA BAYER
Daily Arts Writer
The University of Michigan Jazz
Festival just may be the biggest
musical extrava-
ganza you've 2010UM
never heard of.,
And, ironically, z FestValI
the reason this Tomorrow,
on-campusmusic all day
festival has Various locations
slipped so far off
the radar is that
it's so huge in scale, the organiz-
ers couldn't afford to use money on
advertising.
According to Dennis Wilson,
executive director of the festival
and director of both the Univer-
sity Jazz Ensemble and the Detroit
Jazz Festival Orchestra (both of
which will be performing on Sat-
urday night), it is truly a monster
of an event.
"Our jazz festival has reached
more people than all of the con-
certs put on by the School of Music
combined, over a 10 year period,"
he said.
But this event isn't just a concert.
When it comes to the University
of Michigan Jazz Festival, the key
word is "outreach." The festival
unites musicians from all talent lev-
els, encompassing everyone from
middle school students to legend-
ary jazz bassist Christian McBride.
Groups from 22 different middle
schools, high schools and colleges
will converge in Ann Arbor on Sat-
urday to learn from the best."
Unlike blockbuster music festi-
vals like Lollapalooza, the jazz fes-
tival isn't geared primarily toward
the stars. As Wilson asserts vehe-
mently, this isa festival for the stu-
dents - an "educational festival."
All day, musicians will flock in
and out of workshops and clin-
ics across North Campus to be
critiqued by some of the nation's
most acclaimed jazz virtuosos,
including pianist Matt Harris,
bassist Robert Hurst, saxophon-
ist Andrew Bishop and trumpeter
Terell Stafford.
Unlike most jazz festivals,
the adjudication process is not
designed to separate the champs
from the chumps. The focus is
staunchly on education and indi-
vidual growth. Wilson stresses
that this a non-competitive festi-
val, designed to foster positive atti-
tudes and "help (students) go from
where they are to the next step up,"
rather than to leave the stronger
students feeling victorious and the
weaker students feeling trampled.
In fact, the workshops aren't
even restricted to official partici-
pants or even to music students in
general. Essentially anybody can
sign up for these clinics - registra-
tion starts at 8:15 a.m. in the main
lobby of the E.V. Moore Building,
operating on a 'first-come first-
served basis. And even those who
have never picked up an instru-
ment in their lives can simply drop
by and observe jazz education at its
absolute finest.
Stafford hopes students of all
ages come together, so that they
can become the headliners of
tomorrow.
"I'm hoping ... some of the
college students there will be
extremely, extremely encouraging
to some of the younger students,
and I'm hoping that the younger
students will find the college bands
so inspiring it will inspire them
to continue on with what they're
doing," he said. "It'll give them an
incentive to keep going to see that
that could be them in the next five
to six years."
Student performances will be
going on all day. The "Big Ten Jam
Session" kicks off at 2:15 p.m. in the
Britton Recital Hall, forcing the
Wolverines, Spartans and Buck-
eyes to set aside their rivalries as
they engage in a' fully improvisa-
tional jam. And at 4:45 p.m. in the
Stamps Auditorium, students in
the University's Jazz Lab Ensem-
ble will have the invaluable oppor-
tunity to play alongside guest
soloists Terell Stafford and Matt
Harris.
But the real centerpiece will be in
the Power Center at 8 p.m. - a sonic
epic so massive it's being record-
ed live by Mack Avenue Records.
The piece, titled "THE MOVE-
MENT Revisited" and composed
by McBride, unites the Detroit Jazz
Festival Orchestra, McBride's quar-
tet, the Second Ebenezer Majes-
tic Voices (a Detroit-based gospel
choir) and a handful of hyper-tal-
ented University students for a
genre-bending tour de force.
Nearly 100 musicians will pack
the stage as they present what
workshop co-director Andrew
Bishop likened to "a 19th-century
epic performance." And since the
piece is a tribute to the American
Civil Rights Movement, it will be
accompanied by dramatic read-
ings of speeches written by Mar-
tin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks,
Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X.
Legends of jazz
come to campus.
Just as impressive as the grand
finale itself is the fact that Univer-
sity students are playing a hefty
role in the organization of the
spectacle, highlighting the festi-
val's emphasis on education and
growth. In additionto the students
actually performing in the event,
students in the Performing Arts
Technologyprogramwill be assist-
ing in the recording process. And
some of Wilson's students have
collaborated to compose a piece
that will run before "THE MOVE-
MENT," featuring outstanding
high school students selected to
solo with the Jazz Ensemble.
Wilson stressed the value of
exposing students to the tremen-
dous pressures that go along with
working on a professional, "real-
world" timeline.
"This is how you put the Gram-
mys together. This is how you put
the Oscars together. It's not a class
project. If you make a mistake, it's
gonna hurt," he said. "If the Power
Center runs out of power, we can't
do it after next class, you know?
This is it."
But really this is a festival for all
the students at the University. In
fact, those who don't even know
the difference between Mingus
and McBride would probably learn
the most from attending this event.
Gabe Steiner, lead trumpet in the
University's Jazz Ensemble and
sophomore in the School of Music,
Theater & Dance, put it simply:
"I think people shold definitely
take advantage of who's coming,
even if they haven't heard of these
people. It's a great way to open
your ears to something new."
Braun's 'Birthday' celebration
By ANU ARUMUGAM
Daily Arts Writer
The black and white keys of the
piano sound beautiful when played
with love, and
few people truly Mr. B's
love the piano
as much as jazz, d
blues and boogie- Bome
woogie pianist
Mark Lincoln Tomorrow
Braun, who will at 8 p.m-
be performing his Kerrytown
annual "Mr. B's Concert Hall
Birthday Bounce" Tickets from $15
Saturday at the
Kerrytown Concert House.
A Michigan native, Braun grew
up in Flint, attended the University
and started playing professionally
here in Ann Arbor before he hit 20.
"I started playinglater than most
people. I started when I was about
15 years old. It wasn't for the rea-
sons that you hear some rock musi-
cians say where (they) wanted to
meet a girl," Braun said. "I wanted
to express myself somehow, and the
piano felt just right to me from the
time that I started to play it."
Braun's admiration of the piano
led him to seek guidance and study
directly from blues and boogie-
woogie legends.
"In terms of the traditional blues
and boogie-woogie pianists, the
ones that I knew well and stud-
ied directly from were people like
Sunnyland Slim, Blind John Davis,
Little Brother Montgomery and
Boogie Woogie Red. No jazz pia-
nist could be unaffected by Duke
Ellington, McCoy Tyner, Horace
Silver - (I have) many, many, many
favorites," Braun said.
These were the men who taught
Braun to appreciate the raw
strength and beauty of the piano.
They were also the men who taught
him to appreciate the blues.
"The blues is the foundation of
all good jazz. The blues is also at
the root of all forms of American
popular music, all kinds of rock 'n'
roll, folk music, rap, hip hop," Braun
said. "The blues is the basis for all
that. It is a feeling. It is a story that's
told through song.
"You can hear echoes in it of any
other kind of music that you like," became what we call boogie woo-
he added. "Usually people (who) gie," Braun added.
have not heard it before are amazed As the performance approach-
at the aggressive nature of the es, Braun is excited to bring his
music and what an athletic piano extraordinary energy and talent
style it is. Very outgoing, very ambi- to the Kerrytown Concert House
tious pianistically, very rhythmi- stage.
cally intense and fun." "My birthday falls in mid-Feb-
ruary. It's just a way for me to cel-
ebrate. It's a chance for me to play at
one of my favorite venues locally. I
Boogie-woogie don't have to be halfway around the
*n t e world."
piaIIOJ tunes. As he prepares for his "Birthday
Bounce" performance, Braun hopes
more people will want to experi-
So what exactly is boogie woogie? ence the musical styles he holds so
"(Boogie woogie) came from the close to his heart.
Deep South. As it relates to pianists "It's just a reality that there
and piano-playing, therewas a huge are not many people left who play
movement of pianists in the late this style of music anymore. Even
1920s and 1930s that took the blues, around the whole world, there
and took elements that they liked aren't a lot of people," Braun said.
of it," Braun explained. "They were "I would say if you've never heard
influenced by the way they traveled it before, it's a chance to hear
from job to job in the deep South, something that is a little rare and
(which) was on freight trains, unusual from someone who's been
"It became a very effervescent, doing it their whole life, loves
outgoing, extroverted and happy doing it and loves showing that I
way of playing the blues, and it love it when I play."
Malhas brings cross-cultural influence to 'U' Museum of Art
By EMMA GASE
For the Daily
Hana Malhas knows what it'slike to travel
in the name of music. The Jordanian-born,
Ann Arbor-based singer-
songwriter underwent a
painstakingyear-longpro-
duction process between
her two home bases to
record her debut album
Shapeshift, which she is
self-releasing in March.
Malhas graduated
from the University of
Hana
Malhas
Tonight at
8 p.m.
UMMA commons
Free
Marketa Irglova of The Swell Season.
Unlike the spontaneous feel of her EP,
Shapeshift's evokes the labor involved in
thousands of miles of travel between Jor-
dan and Ann Arbor.
"I like the idea of bridging that gap
between the two worlds," Malhas said.
"Musically, I like connecting with artists
from both regions."
Though Malhas feels a strong bond to
her native country and its musicians, she is
staying true to her own musical direction
and instincts.
"(Shapeshift) is not a mix of Arabic music
and Western music," Malhas explained.
"It's not a fusion in that sense; it's my own
style. It's just bringing contributions from
other artists onto it."
Malhas's musical ties run deep. Clas-
sically trained in music as a young child
- despite what she described as limited
practice -she has been composingsongs on
piano and guitar for years. Last year she felt
ready to take things to the next level.
"I think that at every point in a musi-
cian's life, the music evolves," she said.
"And I just felt that my music was at a
point of growth that I was ready to cap-
ture it in an album."
Malhas had a very specific vision for her
album, and wanted to ensure it reflected her
growth as an artist.
"I like connecting
with artists from
both regions."
"My goal was to just put out an album
that was full of songs that I felt truly repre-
sented where I'm at musically... and I did,"
Malhas said.
With the help of Ann Arbor-based pro-
ducer Jim Roll, Malhas is finally satisfied
with Shapeshift a year after its conception.
With the album completed, Malhas has
been hard at work on the local music circuit.
After her 2009 spring and summer tour
around the Midwest, she now plays venues
like the Blind Pig, where she has opened for
artists like Maria Taylor. Malhas finds the
Ann Arbor music scene to be a welcoming
one for burgeoning artists, in contrast to her
hometown in Jordan.
"There are a lotof underground indepen-
dent artists in Jordan who don't get recog-
nition or have enough venues to showcase
their music," she explained. "In Ann Arbor
there are quite a few places ... and in Jordan
the scene is pretty small."
Despite what she says is a lack of expo-
sure for indie artists in the Middle East,
Malhas is set on bringing the two scenes
closer together by featuring cross-conti-
nental collaboration in her own music. Her
two home bases allow for a unique group
effort involving Middle Eastern and Ameri-
can musicians, as she recorded parts of the
album in Jordan with Jordanian musicians,
before returning to America to continue
production with American musicians. Mal-
Michigan, and is currently working toward
an MBA in the Ross School of Business
with a focus on nonprofit management. She
describes her music as "indie-folk pop" and
counts Ray LaMontagne and Feist among
her primary influences.
Malhas's 2008 EP Olive Tree is filled
with emotive, barebones acoustic songs
with spare piano accompaniment that
evokes comparison to Glen Hansard and
Malhas is a student in the Ross School of Business.
has has also played shows in each country.
Though Shapeshzft is Malhas's first full-
length album, it's the beginning in what is
hopefully a long career.
"I would love to do music for the rest of
my life," Malhas said.
Hana Malhas will be performing at
the University of Michigan Museum of
Art tonight. Shapeshift will be officially
released at the Blind Pig on March 12.