6 — Friday, September 13, 2019
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
By Steve Faiella
©2019 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
09/13/19
Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle
Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis
09/13/19
ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:
Release Date: Friday, September 13, 2019
ACROSS
1 Pretend to be
4 Center
9 Foot, in zoology
12 “Isn’t __ Lovely”:
Stevie Wonder
hit
13 Toyota until 2006
14 Posted
15 Time for an
Oktoberfest
tradition?
17 Erase
18 Deplorable sort
19 Where to find
letters on tracks
21 Medical events
in a 1977 Robin
Cook thriller
23 Movie about a
Jewish wedding
staple?
24 Celebrity chef
Garten
25 Set of values
28 Thinks intently
(over)
29 Impedes, with
“up”
31 Paramedic
letters
32 Old brew revived
in the 2000s
33 Festive Brazilian
gathering?
38 Rapper will.__
39 Stick in a lock
40 Jazz vocalist
Laine
42 See 14-Down
45 Charged
47 Reservoir creator
48 One in a line of
frolicking sea
creatures?
50 Increases, with
“up”
52 Creator of a sci-fi
“Traveller”
53 Schroeder’s toy
55 Getting __ years
56 Wedding
reception
highlight ... and
a feature of four
puzzle answers
60 Rolled __
61 Conceptualize
62 One may be
bruised
63 MIT, for one
64 “Cool!”
65 Yang’s opposite
DOWN
1 Nile danger
2 John of “Star
Trek” (2009)
3 1967 Etta James
hit
4 Target section
5 Nastase on the
court
6 Archaeological
site
7 Jerks
8 Member of
Genghis Khan’s
horde
9 Write (in)
tentatively
10 Ultimate
objective
11 Weather
headliners
13 Reason
14 With 42-Across,
corrosive
substances
16 Camping letters
20 Shakespeare’s
plays are full of
them
21 Slangy smoke
22 Heavy weight
23 Glowing
barbecue bit
26 Orioles, e.g.
27 Medical care gp.
30 Bits
32 Prefix with sail
34 __ metabolism
35 Recyclable item
36 Source of status
37 Tide table term
41 Sounds heard at
an ashram
42 Blessing evokers
43 Colombard
grapes product
44 Part of, as a gang
45 Live
46 Sports news
49 Like the Hollow
Tree Factory
bakers
51 Santa __
53 Exam for jrs.
54 “Leave __ me”
57 Stephen of “The
Crying Game”
58 Movie SFX
59 DMV wait time,
seemingly
ALICE LIU / DAILY
You can’t really put a label on what
kind of band Snarky Puppy is. Although
they’re often billed as a jazz band
and play in a variety of jazz idioms, I
wouldn’t really call their music jazz. I’m
not sure if I’d even call them a fusion
or a jam band. The only thing I can
definitively say about the band is that
it’s a supergroup of some of the best
instrumentalists in the world. Founded
in 2003, this Texas-born ensemble
returned to Hill Auditorium this past
Sunday for the opening of the University
Musical Society’s 141st Season.
The night kicked off with opening
act Alina Engibartan, a vocalist and
keyboard
player
accompanied
by
three other members of Snarky Puppy.
Engibartan’s voice on both originals and
jazz standards was a smooth way to ease
into the energy of the main event.
Touring off of the release of their most
recent album, Immigrance, the band
mostly played new music, with a few
favorites sprinkled in between. Many
of these newer pieces were influenced
by different types of music from all over
the world. For example, Michael League,
bassist and bandleader of the group,
mentioned the influence Gnawa music
had on the group after their recent trip
to Morocco and then taught the audience
how to clap an interesting three-over-
four polyrhythm to accompany the
band on their new track, “Xavi.” These
worldly influences aren’t completely
new for Snarky, but the way they leaned
into them more than their last visit to
Hill was captivating.
For the most part, this new recipe
tasted pretty good in the listener’s
mouth. The addition of violinist Zach
Brock added some textures that differed
greatly from the traditional funk/fusion
the group is famous for, but at times
the music did feel like it was only going
halfway. Certain songs like “Even Us”
ventured deep into unknown territory
for the band, while other songs like “Bad
Kids to the Back”seemed like they could
have come from any period in Snarky’s
discography. It felt as if the band was
teasing us with a new direction and then
immediately returning to where they
had come from.
Objectively, the band sounded great.
However, as much as I did appreciate
the group trying to do something new
with their new songs on this tour, I
really wish they would have leaned even
further into it. This was my third time
seeing Snarky Puppy, and don’t get me
wrong, each time I’ve seen them I’ve
been blown away. The group was such
an innovative, forward-thinking band
when they emerged onto the scene in the
mid-to-late 2000s. Years later, though,
I wish they would fully embrace a new
direction.
For an album, I wasn’t a big fan of the
lack of cohesiveness between tracks,
but in a live setting, hearing the band
play a variety of genres and styles was
extremely entertaining and showcased
just how talented this group is, even
without their full recording roster
of around 25 musicians. Each of the
nine musicians on stage had a distinct
musical voice, even beyond the fact that
they were playing different instruments.
Solos taken by saxophonist Chris Bullock
tended to be more straightforward and
melodic, while Shaun Martin often times
took solos on his Moog synthesizer that
integrated crazy timbral shifts and
chaotic flurries of sounds.
As the group returned to the stage of
Hill for an encore, the audience erupted
into cheers as the opening chords to
the band’s ever-popular song “Lingus”
played, launching Shaun Martin into an
epic five minute keyboard solo to end the
evening. There was no better way to kick
off the UMS season than with Snarky
Puppy’s return to Hill Auditorium.
Snarky Puppy brings a fresh sound
to Hill Aud. with their latest album
CONCERT REVIEW
RYAN COX
Daily Arts Writer
In the eyes of a parent, a child
can do no real wrong. Even the
most vile of children might be
seen as angels through the eyes
of a loving parent, especially
during their tumultuous teenage
years. Our parents are supposed
to be our biggest cheerleaders
and our greatest protectors, but
the reality is that they often see
us as they want to see us, not
as we actually are. In a sense,
as a part of growing up, we all
develop two separate identities
— the people that our parents
know us to be and the people
who we are. In “Luce,” director
Julius Onah expertly explores
the inevitable gap that develops
between children and parents
as adulthood looms, crafting a
riveting, wickedly suspenseful
film that left me unexpectedly
shaken.
Luce (Kelvin Harrison Jr.
“Monsters and Men”), a high
school senior, has a relationship
with his parents that seems
quite healthy, filled with family
dinners and car-ride banter.
Practically a beacon of light to
everyone around him, Luce lives
up to his name. Envied by his
peers, placed on a pedestal by
his teachers, and adored by his
parents, Luce is the paradigm
model student. Or so it seems.
To an outsider looking in, every
piece of Luce’s life appears to
fit perfectly. However, after his
stern history teacher Ms. Wilson
(Octavia
Spencer,
“Hidden
Figures”) finds a mysterious
bag filled with incriminating
contents, the virtuosity of Luce’s
character steadily becomes less
and less clear.
What really makes this film
work is that every single actor
brings
their
A-game.
Props
especially must be given to
Spencer and Harrison, who
truly carry the entirety of the
film and keep audiences glued
to the screen. Spencer and
Edgar both play characters
with
questionable
integrity.
Throughout the film, we find
ourselves going back in forth,
struggling to determine who
actually has the moral high
ground or if both are in the
wrong. A testament to their
stunning embodiment of Ms.
Wilson and Luce, Spencer and
Edgar
have
us
desperately
picking up breadcrumbs leading
to the truth from the opening
scene until the screen goes
black.
Along
with
its
solid
characters, the film score and
expert pacing add to the overall
enchanting air of mystery. The
film is accompanied by a melodic
but unnerving sprinkling of
musical accompaniments. The
score manages effortlessly to
enhance the film as a whole,
without distracting from what
is happening on screen. Perhaps
what makes the incorporation
of music in the film so fitting
is the perfectly-timed flow of
events. Though not riddled with
fast-moving,
intense
action
sequences, “Luce” does not lose
our attention for a second. The
tension in the film lies in the
clashing between the internal
complexes of the characters and
the external interactions among
them. Seething with passive
aggression and fakeness, the
relationship
between
Ms.
Wilson and Luce is a ticking
time bomb just begging to be
set off. We can’t help but sit at
the edge of our seats, wide-
eyed and eagerly waiting for the
inescapable explosion.
As
we
are
teased
along
for nearly two hours, there
is an anticipated promise of
resolution, but when the lights
come back on we hold nothing
but a few loose ends. Though
initially
disappointed,
once
we’ve
tossed
our
popcorn,
exited the theater and started
to untangle the knot of emotions
that “Luce” left us with, we start
to see the film’s non-ending as a
testament to its quality and as
much more of a blessing than a
curse.
‘Luce’ unsettles
FILM REVIEW
SAMANTHA NELSON
Daily Arts Writer
Luce
Michigan Theater
NEON, Topic Studios
These worldly
influences aren’t
completely new for
Snarky, but the way
they leaned into
them more than
their last visit to
Hill was captivating
Spencer and
Edgar have us
desperately picking
up breadcrumbs
from the opening
scene until the
screen goes black