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May 30, 2006 - Image 36

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Michigan Daily Summer Weekly, 2006-05-30

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20 - The Michigan Daily - Orientation Edition 2006

Creative Arts
"
improvises
By AndrewKlein
Mar. 31, 20046
y The phrase "free jazz" carries a certain stigma for the
knowledgeable as well as those uninitiated. Random,
abrasive, unmusical - free jazz
is no strangerto these descriptors.C .
But for the University's Crative Creative Arts
Arts Orchestra, an improvisation Orchestra
group performing at Rackham Performance
Auditorium tonight at 8 p.m., free At Rackham Auditorium
jazz is a misleading phrase.
Co-director Mark Kirschen-
-nann said he doesn't think of CAO as "free jazz" because
the group is not limited to jazz musicians.
"Our improvisations often venture away from what
one might think of as jazz, though still filtered through a
jazz lens," Kirschenmann said. "I think a more relevant
term to describe what we do is creative improvisation."
The group's makeup is a clear indicator of the cre-
ativity he described. There are cellists, pianists, per-
cussionists, a guitarist and violinists (to name a few),
and each member brings an individual and relevant
>background to the group. This dynamic allows for a
wide range of sonic possibilities.
"For instance, a particular passage may sound like
contemporary classical music, rock, funk or ambient
sound, or we might start singing, narrating or yelling,
et cetera," Kirschenmann said.
The group's flexibility extends beyond its own com-
positions to include innovative collaborations. This

year alone, the CAO has performed with esteemed
avant-garde alto saxophonist Arthur Blythe, the Hot
8 Brass Band from New Orleans and The Golden
Age, an improvisation-based hip-hop group.
While the term "creative improvisation" can evoke
a less-than-favorable impression (something along
the lines of randomly generated music), it's clear
that both Kirschenmann and the group are extremely
knowledgeable and conscious of their music.
Through "creative improvisation," the CAO
attempts to break down the constraints of composed
music. According to Kirschenmann, "a successful
performance goes beyond music into the realms of
the democratic, social and spiritual."
Those aspects can be hard to absorb through a casu-
al listening. "We're also very deep listeners, which we
advise our audience to be as well," he said.

"Normal" jazz might be described as having one,
maybe two musicians improvising over a given struc-
ture. In the CAO, there is no structure.
"On a certain level, it's utterly simple and intui-
tive, but it's also deeply complex to get a large
ensemble to do this together as a unit or team,"
Kirschenmann said.
Don't expect to hear something along the lines
of Wynton Marsalis's interpretation of John
Coltrane's A Love Supreme. The CAO, an orga-
nization with virtually no parallel at the Univer-
sity, provides a unique reexamination of musical
improvisation.
"We hope the audience understands that a
given performance may include passages of musi-
cal transcendence or disaster at any given moment,"
Kirschenmann said. "It's the nature of what we do."

Local group scores on latest release

F.O.K.U.S.
uses art to
confront
AIDS crisis
By Anthony Baber
Nov. 25,2005
All over the world, the AIDS epidemic
is taking lives every day; small children
and grown men and women with no idea
as to what it means. In African countries,
stopping the AIDS epidemic faces even
more problems - the people have no edu-
cation as to what it is and how to prevent
it. Because of that lack of education some
Africans unknowingly bear children with
HIV, and others,
fooled by myths of
sex with virgins as a Hear Me
cure for AIDS, con- Sponsored by
tinue to spread it to F.O.K.U.S.
others.Inan attempt
to slow the spread
of this disease locally, Fighting Obstacles
Knowing Ultimate Success (F.O.K.U.S.),
in collaboration with AIDS in Black &
Brown and the Black Student Union, is
hosting "Hear Me," a night dedicated to
honoringremembering and educating the
University community about the world-
wide AIDS/HIV epidemic today at 9 p.m.
at the Michigan League Underground.
F.O.K.U.S. is an organization founded
at the University, creating a community
for students using the arts as a common
medium. They expose the student body
to various art forms for education and
entertainment as well as providing vari-
ous opportunities for artists to display
and enhance their talents. They've hosted
events showcasing performances in poet-
ry, dancing, singing and the arts. Friday's
show will involve all of these components
in a way that commemorates the lives of
AIDS victims. Continuing the "Knowing
is Beautiful" campaign, F.O.K.U.S. hopes
to help educate and inform students of the
struggles of AIDS/HIV victims. Also,
they plan to acknowledge those lost to
AIDS and people whose homes, families,
lives and countries are being destroyed by
this epidemic.
Executive member of F.O.K.U.S. and
the show's organizer Allison Maritza
Lasky said the group's main goal is to
encourage people to share their art among
peers as a means to bridge various gaps.
"We will be featuring poets, members of
our U of M community who have been
directly affected by the epidemic, music
and speakers who will be shedding light
on research and the realities of life with
these diseases;' Lasky said. "If anybody
has been touched by this epidemic or has
gone through an experience with a friend,
family member or the like, we invite you
to share your story on this night of honor-
ing, remembering and educating others on
the worldwide HIV/AIDS struggle'
This week is AIDS Awareness Week,
which means people all-over the world
are doing their part to spread awareness.
"I expect (the show) to be able to give
us a better understanding of how AIDS
is rapidly destroying our communities,"
F.O.K.U.S. member Senesi Blake said.

By Lloyd Cargo
Mar. 15, 2006
In the early 1970s, Detroit was at
somewhat of a cultural and economic
crossroads. Motown had left for Los
Angeles, and the Motor City was slow-
ly reduced to a shell of
its former self. But the Nm
heart of the underground omo1
jazz scene remained, New Tones
and brilliant artists such ubiquity
as Phil Ranelin, Marcus
Belgrave and Wendell
Harrison stood ground to fill the void,
forming Tribe Records to showcase
their deep jazz and funk roots. Local
musicians captured the soul of a city,

printing a progressive magazine and
promoting the message "Music is the
healing force of the universe." Nomo,
with their latest, New Tones, continue
in that tradition by evoking the essence
of Ann Arbor and celebrating the
vibrancy of our diverse city.
Formed in 2003 through jamming
in the basement of a Kerrytown house,
Nomo, comprised of School of Music
alumni, shake, rattle and roll in the
spirit of John Coltrane, Fela Kuti and
Sly Stone. The group is the vision of
band leader, keyboardist and saxo-
phonist Elliot Bergman, the heart of an
extremely talented bunch.
Nomo is more than the sum of
its considerable parts, though, since
every member is indispensable. Nomo
couldn't groove without percussionists

Dan Piccolo and Olman Piedra, and
couldn't wail without the frontline of
trumpeters Ingrid Racine and Justin
Walter, alto sax Dean Moore or bari-
tone sax Dan Bennett. Nor would the
carefully crafted polyrhythms be com-
plete without the tasteful guitar of Erik
Hall and the bottom end boost of bass-
ist/vocalist Jaime Register.
In addition to the stellar lineup,
Bergman has an ace in the hole with
Warn Defever behind the mixing
board. Defever, founder of His Name
is Alive, produced this affair and did a
terrific job capturing the excitement of
a Nomo performance at The Blind Pig,
while giving every instrument space
and deftly integrating exotic sounds
and ideas.
The disc leads off with "Nu Tones,"

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and boy do those handclaps hit hard.
The distorted thumb piano carves out
a riff before the swaggering horns take
over. Bergman's tenor reminds that not
only does he write beautifully intricate
melodies and powerful arrangements,
but he can also blow some fire as well.
The album is a whirl of energy with
each track melting into the next. It's
music for dancing down South Divi-
sion St., for celebrating Ann Arbor
in the spring with a toss on the Diag
or a jog through the Arb. "Hand to
Mouth" introduces an indomitable
Fender Rhodes (the classic electric
piano sound) to the fracas, as the band
careens through corners, turning on
the face of a dime, stretching a motif
until the breaking point and ending
right back where they started.
The album is so joyous because New
Tones is injected with the same quirky
spirit as the place that spawned it. The
space, the texture, the tension, the
depth of it all - are as nuanced as Ann
Arbor. The booming baritone on "The
Reason" sounds like the horn of a train
roaring down the tracks, and carries as
much weight in its delivery.
New Tones is a grand success and
its release on the esteemed Los Ange-
les label Ubiquity Records will make
Nomo Ann Arbor's most important
musical export since Defever's own
His Name is Alive signed to 4AD
more than 15 years ago. There can be
no better representative, no one more
passionate or earnest than Bergman
and his crew. This record is some-
thing for Ann Arbor to be proud of,
a healing force to move the spirit and
shake the body.

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