12A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, October 9, 1995 Renowned author breaks boundaries Jazz great Slide Hampton. Side Hampton's first- s t By Dean Bakopoulos Daily Arts Writer When one of the top novelists of the1 decade visits the University, most ofhis audience expect someone who fits that1 stereotypical mode ofa grizzled author:t Old, distinguished in mannerisms andI slightly aloof. Kazuo Ishiguro, authorc of"Remains ofthe Day" (Vintage, 1989)1 and the newly published "TheI Unconsoled" (Knopf, 1995), shattereds any such illusions the audience gath- ered may have had about this Japan-s born, British citizen; he delighted them with the humorous, yet haunting qual- ity of his new novel. Ishiguro looks kind of like an En- glish 124 or Chem 125 T.A., dressed casually in his trademark black attire, a loose sport coat over a gray t-shirt and his over-sized spectacles. His youthful appearance and constant quipping of- ten made the audience forget that they were in the presence of a contemporaryi master of fiction. But the minute he1 began to read from "The Unconsoled,"1 no one in the audience could forget. Local author Charles Baxter intro-I duced Ishiguro to the standing room only crowd, extolling high praises on1 Ishiguro and his new novel. Baxterj called the novel "mind-haunting," and1 filled with "expressive air pockets of1 dead silence." Baxter's lavish descrip-1 tion of the novel prompted Ishiguro to remark that he hoped his reading could1 match theeloquence ofthe introduction1 _ indeed it did. Ishiguro assured the audience that he would read for "only eighteen minutes" and then began to read a section from his work that captured both the night-1 mare landscape and the humor of the work. He then looked at his watch, said "that's eighteen minutes" and set his book down while the crowd erupted with enthusiastic applause. "The Unconsoled" is Ishiguro's most ambitious novel to date. It is the story of a world-famous classical pianist who Kissingsohard: X Frontman John Doe Gets Acoustic and Sensitive John Doe, the frontman of the legendary Los Angeles punk band X will be promoting his solo project, The John Doe Thing, tonight at the Blind Pig. His new album, "Kissngsohard," showcases Doe at top performance. The softer acoustical atmosphere of the record digs deep into the artist's lyrical notebook, shining bright into the life of Doe. With "Kissingsohard," Doe and his new band fly high throughout the disc, creating a very expressive and emotional record. Between the acoustic numbers and the harder rockier ones, The John Doe Thing offers something for everyone. The John Doe Thing will be opening for Juliana Hatfield tonight at the Blind Pig. Tickets are $12 In advance at Schoolkids', and doors open at 9:30 p.m. Kazuo Ishiguro Rackham Amphitheater October 7, 1995 of emotional control. Such a "Kafka-esque" theme, as some critics have called it, poses a fundamen- tally new challenge to Ishiguro. While his "Remains of the Day" stands as an example ofperfect craftsmanship, "The Unconsoled" takes on a certain element of heavy vagueness, complete with de- liberately disoriented prose, an ever- growing cast of characters and a heavy reliance on exposition through interior monologues. These techniques blend together to create a stunning novel, but one which is much less accessible and highly unlikely to be digested for the masses in a Merchant-Ivory film. Ishiguro told the Rackham audi- ence that he felt more than ready to meet the challenges of this ambitious work. He said that winning Britain's passionately coveted Booker Prize in 1990, at the age of 34, "liberated him enormously." He said that the Booker Prize is so highly coveted in the U.K., many novelists cannot seem to escape the burden its looming presence cre- ates. With the Booker monkey off his back, Ishiguro said that he felt that he could experiment a little bit more with arrives in an unfamiliar European city and has no clue where he is supposed to be. He encounters a series of "friends" and "acquaintances," but for the life of him cannot rememberthem. Trapped in this milieu of uncertainty, the protago- nist, identified throughout the novel only as "Mr. Ryder," begins a night- marish attempt to make sense of where he is and what he is there for. Like most of Ishiguro's works, "The Unconsoled" centers heavily around the theme of a character trying to maintain some sense his fiction, and no longer felt obli- gated to write in a certain way. "The Unconsoled" clearly embodies that newfound freedom. In a September interview with "Pub- lishers' Weekly," Ishiguro said, "This book will probably produce a large va- riety of interpretation. And it involves a lot of exploration on my part as well. I felt that I had to move forward as a writer, or I should be trapped for a lot of things I had been praised for in the past." In some interviews, Ishiguro has called "The Remains of the Day" an "over-perfect" work, largely because it is so technically and fundamentally sound. In "The Unconsoled" Ishiguro seems to open up as a writer, both with language and with ideas. But this technique, though perhaps less "per- fect," wasn't any easier to work with. Ishiguro says that he wrote a series of short stories, not to publish, but to practice creating the nightmarish land- scape of the novel. Ever the craftsman (he agonized for weeks over one line in "The Remains of the Day"), Ishiguro took nearly nine years to complete the entire process of writing this ambitious work. Perhaps what was most refreshing about Ishiguro's visit to Ann Arbor was the genuine friendliness and warmth he shared with the audience. Playfully teasing them for coming to a literary event on a Saturday night, he profusely thanked them for the warm reception he received, and then concluded his reading with taking the time to answer the audience's ques- tions. Talking about his characters and their shoddy habit of self-decep- tion, he grinned. "If we we're com- pletely honest with ourselves," he said, "we'd be very depressed." It was this kind of mix of humor and insight that made Ishiguro's visit to Ann Arbor a truly memorable and enjoyable expe- rience. By James Miller Daily Arts Writer Slide Hampton is a man that makes any jazz fan feel young at heart. A veteran of jazz's heyday of the late '50s, Slide is still involved in the musie at the roots of jazz. Hampton has been playing in all-star jazz ensembles for years. He recently began using his sta- tus as one ofjazz's venerable old men to form his own groups, touring both in the United States and abroad. On Thursday evening, Slide's band came to the Power Center and added some class to a venue already used to the finest of the finery. Playing only the music of Charlie Parker on this tour, the band consisted of the standard big band compliment of saxes, trumpets and trombones. In fact, it was the size of the group that seemed to hamper the performance. The, genius of Bird's music lies in his ability to make one melody line soundrich and full. Bird seemed one of the greatest instru- mental technicians since Paganini. The amazing thing about his music was the blinding speed he gave to blues-tinged improvisation. Slide's band, though it fit the colors of a bi band w as justtoo big to play some aspects of Bird's music to its fullest potential. The arrangements of the tunes, all done by the guys in the band, were too heavy-handed in places to convey Bird's light touch. This is not to say the concert was bad. To play any of Bird's music, even mar- ginally well, is a musical feat of no small caliber. The first tune, the "Over- ture," was a medley of several Bird tunes, mostnotably a few barsof"Now's the Time." The band displayed its skill in playing a transcribed Bird, solo in unison, a tough thing for one player to do, let alone a whole ensemble. The next two tunes, "Hot House" and "Scrapple From the Apple," exhibited the soloists' ability to emulate Bird's style. They played with the smooth, rounded neo-Kansas City style Bird is famous for. It was here, rather than in the full band sections, that you could really hear Bird's legacy. All would have been perfect had it not been for the piano player. His right hand playing was good, even echoing the work of Red Garland, one of Bird's more able pianists. More often than not, though, he slacked off on supporting his solos and the band with left hand chords, playing like Captain Hook. The improvisers threw it into high gear for "Anthropology," a Bird stan- dard that was transformed into an old- fashioned tenor sax battle. The second set consisted mostly of ballads, which allowed the saxophone players to flex their slow tempo muscles. The first tune, "Confirmation," was re- worked by the band for more of a tex- tured, polyrhythmic feel. As Slide said, "That piece came from Africa, to America and back to Africa." The show closed with "Charlie Parker Will be Remembered," another seam- less, slick medley of tunes that allowed the band to show off their swinging talents. This was followed by "Moose the Mooch," played in a similar fashion but with more leeway for solos. Since it was Slide's band, he had to. conduct the group and cue solos, which didn't give him the chance to solo much himself, which everyone would have liked to hear. All in all, it was a good tribute to a goodman. There were people from three generations listening to his music. I think Bird would have been proud, of Slide and of us. I I I I McKinsey &Copay THE BUSINESS ANALYST PROGRAM e 'Fr" Opportunities in management consulting for undergraduates o all majors glm I1 r ' YOU WEAR IT! See Sports Monday Insert YY Y Y s uYw YYYYYYYYYYI> 6' IYYYYYY Y // lmv- i STUDENTSI Catering hours available HELP WANTED AT THE LAWYER'S CLUB DININC SERVICES (551 S. State) CALL 764-1115 OR STOP BY. E.O.E. I Thinking about law school? Plan to attend........ Law Day Wednesday, October 11, 1995 noon - 4:00pm Michigan Union 2nd floor -I i