The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Wednesday, April 1, 2015 — 7A
DETROIT ARTS COLUMN
Bringing music back
to Detroit’s kids
W
hen 11 University of
Michigan students
walked through the
doors of Woodbridge Commu-
nity Center,
a chorus of
elementary
schoolers
greeted them
with cheers,
shouting
“They’re
here! They’re
here!” as they
ran down the
hall.
The
Uni-
versity
stu-
dents are part of a club called
Seventh Mile Music, which gives
free after school music lessons to
kids in Detroit’s Woodbridge and
Brightmoor neighborhoods.
University alum Sam Saunders
was inspired to start the club near-
ly two years ago. He grew up in a
low-income town in West Virginia,
and participated in a similar music
program when he was younger.
The program helped him realize
his love of music, which led him to
the University of Michigan School
of Music, Theatre & Dance to pur-
sue a degree in piano and composi-
tion with the help of a scholarship.
Without his music program, he
wouldn’t be where he is today.
When Saunders came to Michi-
gan he was instantly impressed
with the University’s resources
and the wealth of talent in SMTD.
He learned that the funding to
Detroit Public Schools’ music pro-
grams had been cut, and wondered
why one couldn’t help the other.
That’s
when
Seventh
Mile
Music was born.
“I just thought it was such a
shame that an entire generation
of kids in Detroit were getting no
exposure to the arts, especially
because African Americans have
had such a huge impact on the
arts, they’ve kind of cultivated our
musical style,” Saunders said.
The student volunteers with
Seventh Mile Music travel to
Detroit twice a week using Uni-
versity transportation. They rent
instruments and meet with the
kids after they get out of school for
their music lessons. The kids pick
an instrument that they are inter-
ested in out of the instruments that
the University students can teach,
like drums, piano, guitar, banjo,
cello, violin and more.
In a colorful classroom in the
Woodbridge Community Center,
LSA sophomore Michael Payne
teaches one little girl to play
“Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” on
the cello. Payne began teaching
with Seventh Mile Music last year.
He was most worried about not
having any teaching experience,
which ended up not being a prob-
lem at all.
“The kids are all so sweet, genu-
inely the nicest children I’ve ever
met,” he said. “They’re so friendly
and they’re really interested in
learning the instruments.”
The program director and co-
founder of the Woodbridge Com-
munity Youth Center, Margaret
Wilson, said that this program is
filling a void that exists in Detroit
schools.
“The children love it, they’re
very excited about it,” Wilson said.
“They love the opportunity to be
able to play an instrument.”
Wilson said that parents in the
neighborhood enjoy the program
too, and the kids get to show their
families what they’ve been work-
ing on at a recital that they put on
in June.
The fledgling club is trying to
solidify itself by creating board
positions to help things run more
smoothly and be more organized.
Right now, Saunders is the glue
that is holding the group togeth-
er — he rents the vans, rents the
instruments, communicates with
the community members and even
pays out of pocket to keep things
going.
He’s dropped over $1,000 of his
own money to help pay for trans-
portation, or to buy kids instru-
ments that they get to keep for
themselves so they can practice at
home — all because the club is hav-
ing trouble securing funding, even
from the University.
“Since we have not been able to
acquire funding, if I stopped fund-
ing it, then it would fall apart com-
pletely,” Saunders said. “We’ve put
in too much work to just let it go to
waste.”
Saunders said the organization
has applied for several University
grants in the past, but was turned
down from them.
“If the school were able to pro-
vide us funding, that’s just all
that’s holding us back,” Saunders
explained. “We have plenty of
interest. There’s obviously a huge
need for it in Detroit.”
Seventh Mile Music’s goal is
to be able to provide instruments
to every kid that is interested in
learning about music but hasn’t
had the opportunity to in Detroit.
Because, as Saunders knows first
hand, music can make all the dif-
ference.
Pfleger is learning how to play
‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. To
help her with ‘Hot Cross Buns,’
email pspfleg@umich.edu.
PAIGE
PFLEGER
BOOK REVIEW
By BAILEY KADIAN
Daily Arts Writer
Ben Tripp’s “The Accidental
Highwayman” is written “in the
tradition of
class
fairy-
tale
fanta-
sies,” but I
would
say
it’s more of
a fantasy to
believe that
this
novel
would
be
viewed
in
the
same
light as the fairy tales we have
grown to love, such as “The Prin-
cess Bride.” It never makes it
close to those stories that keep
us engaged and excited, because
there is a lack of depth to the char-
acters and plot. Instead, Tripp
attempts to produce a story with
similar elements of magic, love and
heroic acts, but does so in a medio-
cre way, with nothing new to add.
We know what to expect based on
the genre and how the story is told,
but we find little else to make a dis-
tinction between this novel, and
anything we have read before.
Set in 18th century Britain,
the novel follows the story of Kit
Bristol, a servant to highwayman
“Whistling Jack,” who is infamous
for his gambling and unethical
tactics. Kit serves loyally to his
master, when one day, to his
surprise, his master returns home
bleeding from a fatal wound, a
result of gunshots from those
attempting to catch the dangerous
highwayman. Kit’s reaction to
the death of his master is one of
a weak and fearful young man
who is confused and lost, while
attempting to plan an escape.
Kit is on a quest, accompanied
by his horse Midnight, to rescue
a mysterious princess who is
caught in an arranged marriage.
His journey takes him through
a magical series of events filled
with fairies, a circus, a witch and
numerous dangerous acts that
call for a refreshing and heroic
protagonist. Kit has some heroic
qualities, so it’s fairly easy to side
with him through his various
trials, but overall, it’s not enough to
add much dimension to the story
itself, or offer anything new to a
traditional fairy tale.
Despite
being
the
novel’s
protagonist, Kit also serves as a
major weakness because of his
youth. We root for him because he
is nice, not because he does much
to deserve our support or acts like
a courageous hero. He regularly
appears as the stereotypical hero
of any good fairy tale, failing to
add any dimension to his type.
This lack of innovation has been
a conscious choice meant to put
a satirical twist on the entirety
of the novel, but I’m not going
to give Tripp that much credit,
particularly while he is targeting
a young adult audience. Young
readers want to walk away with
something new and exciting
towards a genre they love, and
I’m not certain a satire will
accomplish that.
The relationship between Prin-
cess Morgana and Kit is enjoyable,
but there isn’t enough interaction
between the two characters to
make up for what’s lacking in the
rest of the plot. This makes it dif-
ficult to support the love between
both characters, because readers
cannot truly grasp the dynamic
between the two of them. Their
love doesn’t fully develop into
anything that shifts or changes
the story, though, in a fairy tale,
that’s typically what readers
want a love story to accomplish.
More interaction between the
two of them could have made up
for weaker elements in the novel.
However, Morgana is definitely
a redeemable character in the
novel — she is strong and adds
excitement to their relationship,
given her admirable qualities of
strength and courage, but unfor-
tunately,
her
characterization
doesn’t drastically alter the way
the story moves.
It’s fair to say that a young adult
novel can get away with a few
stupid scenes or conflicts that are
frankly just a result of misfortune.
However, regardless of who this
novel is directed toward, I would
have liked more of a build up of
conflict, where we question the
emotions of the characters that
we are rooting for and understand
Kit’s relationships to those around
him. Some secondary characters
were occasionally dropped into
the story, but overall added very
little to the resolution.
Some may say this novel can
stand alone, regardless of its
similarities to “The Princess
Bride,” but it can’t simply
because there isn’t anything
that keeps readers fully engaged
with and dedicated to its plot
or its characters. Tripp uses a
dialect similar to eighteenth
century speech, which is mixed
with some degree of humor and
lightness as an attempt to find
balance. I doubt a young reader
will finish the book and say “I
appreciate the wit and modern
humor woven through the old
language in this novel.” They
want an engaging and moving
story and there isn’t anything
humorous about a fairy tale that
lacks those elements.
Critics describe this book as
“fun,” and in some ways, there
are fun elements to the work,
but within that, there must be
substance that allows for read-
ers of all ages to stay engaged
in the story. I’m not sure this
novel does anything close to
that, because through moments
of long descriptions and limited
character growth, there isn’t
much left to look for, and while
looking, I doubt you’ll find any-
thing. Even if Tripp intention-
ally created a series of clichés as
a way to exaggerate all elements
of a fairy tale for the sake of
humor and wit, there still needs
to be something distinguishable
for a young audience, consider-
ing the humor may or may not
go over their heads.
All in all, if you are looking for
a heart-warming fairy tale and
find yourself reading this book,
it’s safe to assume that decision
was entirely accidental.
Nothing new about
‘Highwayman’ tale
The
Accidental
Highwayman
Ben Tripp
Tor Teen
$17.99
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
Musicians aim to
retake streaming
Tidal is Jay Z and
friends’ challenge
to Spotify
By CHRISTIAN KENNEDY
Daily Arts Writer
In the early hours of March 30,
many of the Internet’s elite artists
went blue — turquoise to be exact.
Beyoncé, Jay Z, Nicki Minaj and
Rihanna were the first I noticed.
They urged followers to change
their profile pictures to the bright
blue color as well. Lastly, all of
them featured the caption “#TID-
ALforALL.”
So, what is #TIDALforALL? At
first glance, I figured it must be a
new charity they unanimously
decided to support: possibly a tsu-
nami relief fund? But no, it refers to
a newly relaunched subscription-
based music streaming service.
Tidal, originally launched in 2014,
was acquired by Project Panther,
which is owned by none other than
Jay Z.
Following the aqua profile pic-
tures, a countdown began. “Five
more hours… are you ready?” was
posted to Rihanna’s official Face-
book along with a video in which
the music industry’s A-listers
assemble around a conference
table. Five hours later, at 5:00 p.m.
Monday evening, a press confer-
ence appeared on Tidal.com (and
is still available for viewing) in
which it was revealed that Tidal
will enter the streaming indus-
try, currently dominated by Spo-
tify and Pandora. But there’s more.
With this crowd of artists, there
always has to be more. While there
is no free version, Tidal offers “the
best High Fidelity sound quality,
High Definition music videos and
expertly Curated Editorial.”
Vania Schlogel, a member of the
Tidal team, revealed that not only
is this a new streaming service, but
it is owned solely by artists, and
even more importantly can also be
taken offline.
Following her brief introduc-
tion, she invited the owners of
Tidal to the stage: Alicia Keys,
Arcade Fire, Beyonce, Calvin
Harris, Chris Martin, Daft Punk,
Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole,
Jay Z, Kanye West, Dead Mau5,
Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna
and Usher.
Now, that is what I call a knock-
out line-up.
Keys then took to the podium
to expand on what Tidal is, and
what it means for the music indus-
try — for both artists and fans. Her
speech is filled to the brim with
anecdotes about music. How it
makes us feel, how it connects us.
Not a word she said is false, but it’s
also hard to see what exactly she is
getting at.
The music industry is in freef-
all. Between illegal downloading,
album leaks and streaming ser-
vices such as Spotify, which seem
to rip off artists (ahem, T. Swift),
it seems that these artists have
banded together to claim what is
theirs — music. And can we blame
them? It is their work that we love.
It is their passion and effort that
we wake up to in the morning, that
makes road trips bearable and that
lifts us up when we feel low.
At first glance it comes off as
a power-grab, which in the end,
may turn out to be just that. Only
time will tell. However, as each of
these innovators walked up to the
front of the stage and signed their
declaration, it’s hard not to feel as
though music history were being
made in front of us.
I am very interested to see the
experience of Tidal as compared
to other companies that seem to fit
the same niche. Will the quality of
sound be noticeably better? What
type of editorial content will be
featured? Will it be so original that
I need to have Tidal in my life? In
all seriousness, I hope so.
Some will bitch about hav-
ing to pay; even more will bitch if
their favorite artists move solely
to Tidal, but it’s their work and
they can do what they choose with
is. As fans, as people, we should
respect that. Innovation is what
keeps the world running, and it
certainly allows the music indus-
try to grow before our eyes every
single day.
Tidal, you’ve certainly made a
splash. Now, it’s time to see if you
can truly live up to your name.
TIDAL
Hillary Clinton signs the Declaration of Independence ... April Fools!
By CATHERINE BAKER
Daily Arts Writer
Friends, family and esteemed
colleagues, I have gathered you
here today to discuss an important
topic: ABBA.
Now before you scoff, roll your
eyes or laugh, let me explain. I
believe ABBA to be one of life’s
greatest joys. In addition to being
an excellent source of feel-good
songs to sing in the shower, ABBA’s
music is full of drama, humor,
wit and heartbreak — basically
everything good music should
contain. A few nights ago, I was
scrolling through Spotify in search
of a song that would help me
jumpstart my essay due the next
morning when I stumbled upon
“Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!” in the
depths of an old playlist. This is
what dreams are made of.
Regrettably,
my
first
introduction
to
ABBA
was
through the movie “Mamma Mia.”
I had probably heard “Dancing
Queen” during a climatic montage
in some movie, but this time the
combination of Meryl Streep and
Pierce Brosnan singing “SOS” was
enough to send me to Google. (Yes,
I know, I’m not proud of this part
of the story, either.) While Pierce
Brosnan should probably never
sing again, I would like to thank
him for jumpstarting my devotion
to this Swedish pop band. Meryl
Streep, on the other hand, is more
than welcome to serenade me any
day of the week.
There are iconic names in
music that all people recognize,
even if they have never listened to
them before. These are the bands
and musicians that transcend
generations and gain the coveted
title of “classic” (in varying
degrees). The Beatles, Rolling
Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood
Mac, ABBA — I could go on, but
you get the point. This mishmash
of cultures and genres has very
little in common except for the
fact that they are occasionally
played on the oldies station and are
widely regarded as timeless. While
it’s still unclear what exactly
allows a song or artist to cross the
boundary from good to immortal,
it’s clear that ABBA has it.
Let me break it down for you.
ABBA was one of the first groups
to emerge from a non-English-
speaking country and achieve
success worldwide, and is one of
the best-selling music groups of
all time. It brought disco/pop to
the forefront of the music industry,
spawning several tribute bands
and a musical, “Mamma Mia!,”
that toured worldwide. In early
2010, ABBA was inducted into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
and Rolling Stone listed “Dancing
Queen” as one of the greatest songs
of all time in 2011.
Whether you love, hate or
are simply indifferent towards
ABBA, you can’t deny its impact
on modern music or the success it
garnered throughout its 12-year
run.
Despite
my
far-fetched
dreams of an ABBA reunion, no
new music would top “The Winner
Takes It All” or “Take A Chance
On Me” simply because the age
of ABBA is over, even if its allure
is eternal. I don’t want to live in
a world where “Dancing Queen”
doesn’t exist, and — deny it all you
want — I don’t think you do either.
So, ABBA, thank you for the music
that inspired a generation.
(Just for the record, “Mamma
Mia” is still a fantastic movie and
anyone who says otherwise can go
fight my 13-year-old self.)
ABBA remains one
of life’s greatest joys
POLAR
This is the Ramones...April Fools!