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Arts
Monday, October 24, 2016 — 5A
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ACROSS
1 “Handle __ care”
5 Burns with hot
liquid
11 Ex-Florida
governor Bush
14 “__ Ben Adhem”
15 Reacts facially to
a bad joke, say
16 Chopping tool
17 What snowbirds
seek in winter
19 “Mamma __!”
20 Mecca’s
peninsula
21 Heat in a
microwave
22 Indy service
areas
23 “Do __ others ... ”
25 Most doubtful
27 Ready-to-send
correspondence
31 Network with
regular pledge
drives
32 D-Day French
city
33 Steak orders
37 Calm under
pressure
39 Since Jan. 1, in
accounting
41 Folksy account
42 “Bewitched” witch
45 Buster Brown’s
dog
48 Jamaican music
genre
49 Liqueur holder
52 Last word of a
verbally cited
passage
55 “Doctor Zhivago”
heroine
56 Potpie veggies
57 Hydroelectric
facility
59 Quik maker
63 Dad, to grandpa
64 Ideal party
thrower
described by the
first words of 17-,
27- and 49-
Across
66 Cutoff point
67 C to C, in music
68 Richard of “A
Summer Place”
69 Org. with a
PreCheck
Program
70 Sets free
71 Facts and
figures
DOWN
1 Electric guitar
effect
2 Letter-shaped
beam
3 __ Bora: Afghan
region
4 Scrooge’s
“Nonsense!”
5 Worry about
something,
slangily
6 Cloak-and-
dagger org.
7 Animated bug film
8 Bar mitzvah toast
9 What fries are
fried in
10 Ukr. or Lith., once
11 Actor Foxx
12 Freeway off-
ramps
13 Savage sort
18 Tipplers
22 Cockpit figure
24 “I’m __ human”
26 Little lie
27 First fairy tale
word
28 Second fairy tale
word
29 Trampled (on)
30 ’80s-’90s crime
boss John
34 Mission Control
org.
35 Benevolent
fraternal group
36 Salty expanses
38 Center of power
40 Bygone phone
feature
43 Pal of Piglet
44 Radio City Music
Hall design style
46 Cursory looks
47 Long-legged
wader
50 “... near and __
my heart”
51 Assailed verbally,
with “out”
52 Surprise win
53 Bright signs
54 Press conference
format, briefly
58 Degs. for
choreographers
60 Old Roman robe
61 Future D.A.’s exam
62 Sicilian volcano
64 D.C. big shot
65 Morn’s
counterpart
By Gail Grabowski and Bruce Venzke
©2016 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
10/24/16
10/24/16
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
RELEASE DATE– Monday, October 24, 2016
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
xwordeditor@aol.com
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Whitney began more or less
as a songwriting experiment
between housemates (and former
Smith
Westerns
bandmates)
Julien Ehrlich and Max Kakacek
following an intense series of
breakups. Both of them split
with girlfriends; Smith Westerns
disbanded;
and
Ehrlich
left
Unknown
Mortal
Orchestra,
for
whom
he
previously
played
drums.
Though
the
circumstances
surrounding
the writing of Light Upon the
Lake were bleak, the album is
anything but. Centered around
Ehrlich’s lofty croon, Kakacek’s
easy guitar grooves, and the
occasional brass flair provided
by trumpeter Will Miller, Light
Upon the Lake is the idyllic,
nostalgic summer upon which
we longingly look back.
Beginning in January 2016,
after the release of single “No
Woman,” the band has toured
extensively across Europe and
the United States with few
pauses, sometimes playing more
than one show a day. On October
16, the band played at Pyramid
Scheme in Grand Rapids. The
members
of
this
country-
informed,
soul-infused,
rock
‘n’ roll six-piece outfit are out
to make a name for themselves.
It’s a good thing their abilities
match — if not outpace — their
ambition.
Following
opener
Sam
Evian’s appropriately whimsical
set, Whitney opens with “Dave’s
Song,” a jangly, melancholic plea
to an ex-lover. Based solely on
lyrical content, one would think
that a Whitney show could
easily devolve into an intensely
sorrowful affair. Thankfully, the
band’s energy, up-for-whatever
attitude and apparent failure
to take themselves seriously all
ensure that the net emotional
effect is positive. Covers of Bob
Dylan’s “Tonight I’ll Be Staying
Here with You” and NRBQ’s
“Magnet” also help to lift the
mood while testifying to the
band’s relative range and acting
as a humble acknowledgement
of their roots.
At one point in the show,
Ehrlich pauses for a moment to
remind the crowd that this is the
last stop on the North American
leg of the tour; he wants to
make
it
something
special.
Immediately
following
this,
members of Sam Evian come on
stage with a shot of whiskey for
every performer, and the result
is strangely affecting. At once
a celebration of a good several
months and a farewell between
bands, that communal shot is a
poignant reminder of the more
immediately human side of what
it means to be a musician.
Whitney then invites the Sam
Evian members to stay onstage
with them to help play “Red
Moon,” an instrumental track
whose studio cut is just over
two minutes long. Of the songs
on the album itself, “Red Moon”
is, frankly, the most boring.
Performed live, however, it is
absurdly and purely fun, with
more than half of the band
playing unique solos that don’t
appear on the recorded version.
Before beginning the song,
Ehrlich notes that someone
tweeted at Whitney’s account
that they would buy ten albums if
the band played “Red Moon” for
ten minutes. A middle-aged man
from the front row volunteers
himself as said tweeter and,
after only a moment’s hesitation,
the band agrees to give it a shot.
Kakacek plays two solos; Miller
plays two solos; pianist Malcolm
Brown plays two solos; Evian
plays two solos; Evian’s backing
guitarist plays two solos. And
when the timer hit ten minutes
exactly, the band stops. “Thanks
for making us do that,” Ehrlich
smiles, “but you don’t have to
buy the albums.”
Given that Whitney only has
one album of material, they
played it all. The driving “No
Matter Where We Go” was
cleanly executed and had half
of the room dancing. “Golden
Days” — “this song is about
having a girlfriend, and then,
y’know, not having a girlfriend”
— serves as an anchor for
the show, perhaps the band’s
most
well-developed
song.
Following “Golden Days,” the
band plays “The Falls” — “it’s
about partying too hard and not
knowing who you are.”
During “Polly,” which has
become another trademark of
their live show, Ehrlich and
bassist Josiah Marshall share
a
several-seconds-long
kiss.
Feel free to guess at what the
intent is, but it certainly livens
up the show. After exhausting
most of their material, Ehrlich
announces that he is sick of “fake
encores,” and that the band will
just stay onstage and play three
more songs. After roughly an
hour, the band closes on “No
Woman,” during which Ehrlich
introduces each of the members
and offers a shout-out to Sam
Evian. He addresses the crowd:
“Let’s hang out afterwards.
Grand Rapids is a sick city.”
Whitney
itself
is
a
new
project, but the experience of
each of the members is clearly
reflected. They are confident
in the niche they have carved
out for themselves and they
know exactly what they want
to accomplish. After having
seen them three times, my
desire to experience their live
performance has not abated
in the slightest. They are a
band who know what live
performance is meant to be:
never the same experience, even
when the same band performs
in the same venue only months
apart.
SEAN LANG
Daily Arts Writer
Whitney closes out North American
tour leg at Grand Rapids concert
Indie band brings unexpected high energy and fun to Michigan
To
hear
Republican
presidential candidate Donald
Trump say it, the media is
totally “rigged against me.”
Despite his unending stream
of complaints, and his recent
performances in the debates
notwithstanding, Trump is
highly adept at using the media
to elevate his campaign. If his
mantra is that all press is good
press, Trump has certainly
been profoundly successful;
television,
newspapers
and
websites are more saturated
with his face than a North
Korean
publication
may
feature their Dear Leader.
But in the primary, as he used
bombastic language to attract
the attention of oft-ignored
segments of the electorate,
Trump’s floor rose as his
ceiling fell. Thanks to the
media,
Trump
eliminated
any ambiguities about his
campaign to the point where
Trump has garnered support
from everyone who should
support him and few else.
This is all to say the obvious:
the media is important. As our
primary method of learning
about our world, every choice
made by the supposed media
elite can majorly affect the
campaign, our politics and
everything else.
In
“Medium
Cool,”
the
fascinating
directorial
debut
from
legendary
cinematographer
Haskell
Wexler (“Days of Heaven”),
reality and fiction seamlessly
blur into one another against
the tumultuous backdrop of
the chaotic 1968 Democratic
Convention
in
Chicago.
“Medium Cool” doesn’t have
too much to say substantively
about the media itself, but
its brief conspiratorial turn
remains a prescient warning:
John
Cassellis
(Robert
Forster, “Jackie Brown”), a
cameraman for a local news
station, discovers that his boss
has been giving information
captured by the cameramen
to the FBI, allowing them
to arrest demonstrators and
protestors.
Maybe that’s why there’s a
lurking threat to journalists
throughout the film: stories
of journalists being beaten
for
rumors
of
conspiring
with
the
government,
accusing cameramen of being
cops in disguise. There’s a
fundamental distrust of the
media, of powerful voices,
because one editorial choice
could
depict
the
rioting
protestors
as
unjustified
savages. But, on the other
side of the coin, these rioters
need the media to transmit
their message throughout the
country.
And in a larger sense,
“Medium Cool” is a metaphor
for this editorial power. The
film takes place during the
1968 riots, but it was literally
filmed at and during them. At
one point, when a cop throws
some gas at protestors, a
crewman on the film shouts,
“Look out Haskell, it’s real!”
And yet the narrative of the
story (albeit a fairly weak
one) persists through these
scenes. It’s impossible to tell
where the documentary ends
and where the drama begins,
and perhaps that’s precisely
the point: the news, by its
nature of being condensed and
edited, is defined more by its
artifice than its accuracy. And
yet its effect is potent as ever.
Conrad Brean, the genius
spin
doctor
played
by
Robert De Niro (“The Deer
Hunter”) in Barry Levinson’s
1997 film “Wag the Dog,”
understands the artifice of
news more than anybody. A
true October surprise, the
sitting president’s re-election
campaign is set to be derailed
by a child sex scandal after
the president makes advances
on a visiting “Firefly Girl.”
Fearful that the news may
begin to cover the story
obsessively, the president’s
press office hires Brean to fix
the problem.
With a connection to a
wealthy Hollywood producer,
Stanley
Motss
(Dustin
Hoffman, “The Graduate”),
Brean decides to set up a
fake
diversionary
war
in
Albania. He films a brief
scene of destruction in front
of a blue screen and sends
it to every major network.
Soon enough, it’s the major
story every day until Election
Day.
Brean
declares
early
on that we remember the
images of war, not the war
itself. His team follows that
mantra extensively, creating
symbols
and
heroes
that
contribute to and extend their
manufactured narrative. With
access
to
the
presidential
office,
and
thus
infinite
power, Brean’s team is able
to
construct
a
hyper-real
alternative reality, even if it
results in a few casualties and
actual war in Albania soon
after the election.
They understand that, for
the story to catch on and last
for a number of days, it must
fit the public’s demand for
entertainment. Like or unlike
(you decide) Trump’s tendency
to
say
patently
ludicrous
statements that provoke more
than an eyeroll, Brean has an
obsessively calculative mind
that can automatically create
the perfect narrative. It’s a
clear answer to the question
for those who are frustrated
by what they perceive to be
a lack of Clinton scandal
coverage in the media: it’s not
entertaining enough.
Media’s sway on elections
DANIEL HENSEL
Daily Arts Writer
How cinema characterizes entertainment and Washington
The last weekend of October
will
be
a
special
one
in
Kerrytown, and not
just because of the
emerging fall colors
or
Halloween
festivities.
Edgefest, a four-
day
avant-garde
jazz
festival
that
will
occur
that
weekend,
is
described
on
its website as a
“festival
with
a
unifying
purpose:
to
explore
new
music
created
by
today’s
composer
s
and
performers
from the United States and
beyond.” Edgefest will be filled
with
groundbreaking
jazz
performers — including those
who don’t stick with a script.
Andrea
Wolper,
Ken
Filiano and the late Connie
Crothers are three individual
jazz artists, each acclaimed
for separate musical talents
and accomplishments. When
together, though, they form
an
improvisational,
avant-
garde jazz assemblage called
TranceFormation.
While
almost all of the performers at
Edgefest offer a unique take on
jazz music, TranceFormation
offers the unpredictable.
Although each musician is
based out of New York, the group
had their debut performance
in 2006 in Ann Arbor. Wolper,
the vocalist of the group, has
been called one of the “great
jazz singers.” While her work
outside
of
TranceFormation
is less avant-garde and more
straight-ahead
jazz,
Wolper
said her goal in performing
with TranceFormation is “to
express — express something.
Not just notes
and
pitches.”
While it seems
to the average
person
that
improvised live
performance
could take quite
a toll, Wolper
embraces
the ability to
express herself
in both types of
performances.
“I love all of
it,” she said.
Much of Wolper’s inspiration
for expressing herself stems
from TranceFormation’s late
pianist,
Connie
Crothers.
Crothers passed away in August
of this year, but still plays a large
role in the group. She was often
heard telling musicians she
worked with that performing
and making music is all about
feeling
—
TranceFormation
takes
Crothers’s
piece
of
wisdom and extends it to each
of their performances.
Filiano, the group’s bassist
(and Wolper’s husband), also
draws
his
relationship
to
performance from Crothers’s
views,
and
stresses
the
importance
of
“always
sounding like who you are.”
A
major
precursor
for
a
successful
performance,
he
said, is knowing the history of
the music you’re playing so that
you can fill a unique position in
the music itself.
TranceFormation’s
debut
performance
was
also
in
Ann
Arbor,
at
the
2006
International
Society
for
Improvised Music’s inaugural
conference, held in Ann Arbor.
And, in a bittersweet fashion,
their last performance may be
in Ann Arbor this week. While
Crothers’ talent and wisdom
will continue to make an impact
on Wolper and Filiano, the
two agreed that the group was
defined by the three musicians
performing
and
expressing
themselves as a trio.
“TranceFormation was the
three of us … There is no going
backwards,” Filiano said.
Wolper
added
that
the
music TranceFormation made
together was too personal to
replicate in another group.
“If we (decided to) find
another
pianist
and
make
a group, it could absolutely
happen. But it would be a
different group,” she said.
Fittingly,
their
last
performance will be a tribute
to Crothers. Although this will
not be TranceFormation’s first
performance as a tribute to
Crothers, it will be their final.
Wolper notes the importance
of playing “in a way that would
honor her,” which will include a
piece comprised of some words
Crothers had written down on
a piece of paper for Wolper in
the past.
“Maybe this performance is
a way of saying this group was,
and is no longer,” Wolper said.
TranceFormation’s
tribute
to Connie Crothers is October
27 at 7:00 PM at the Kerrytown
Concert House, as a part of the
20th annual Edgefest Festival.
RENNIE PASQUINELLI
For the Daily
TranceFormation in Kerrytown
20th annual Edgefest Festival features unpredictable jazz music
COMMUNITY CULTURE PREVIEW
Edgefest
Oct. 26 at 6 p.m.,
Oct. 27 at 7 p.m.,
Oct. 28 at 6 p.m.,
Oct. 29 at 12 p.m.
Kerrytown Concert
House
$5 students, $10
adults
CONCERT REVIEW
Each member
of Whitney
brings their own
experience.
REEL POLITICS
There’s a
fundamental
distrust of the
media.