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Friday, October 17, 1975
University Daily Kansan
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
喜剧
Big band sound of jazz rolls in
By BILL KATS Staff Writer
Tonight, evidence will be given to support the proposition that the Thad Jones-Mel Lewis big jazz band in the land.
After a fair hearing at 8 p.m. in Hoch Auditorium, few will remain impartial enough to cast a vote in dissent.
Evidence stacked in the band's favor is already great. In 1974 it won the Downbeat magazine readers poll as the best songwriter. The band has been received well by critical overseas audiences. After nine years of existence, it continues to act as a magnet for some of the best musicians in jazz, young and mature.
BUT THE JONES-LEWIS orchestra hasn't achieved its current status gratis. Seldom, if ever, has it appeared on a domestic television program. Neither underaken nor undertaken national media as many other big bands have done.
The band's dominion is New York, where it frequently plays
the Village Vanguard. Exposure there, on foreign dates and on the band's eight outstanding albums, has been enough to propel it to the success it's only now beginning to
The concept of a big jazz band has always been exciting. The sheer power of 15 or more brass instruments unrestrained volume is orgasmic. But this power unleashed by inferior musicians with poor charts can result in an elephant attempting a pirouette.
The Jones-Lewis band, however, is like a large powerful bird. Despite its size, 17 pieces in it, it's able to glide with ease, gracefully swooping through intricate passages.
MUCH OF THE BAND'S success rests on the sensitive leadership of Thad Jones, who plays flutehorn, and drummer Mel Lewis. They have been friends for more than 20 years.
Jones, 52. is a brother of drummer Elvin Jones and of pianist Hank Jones, who will
appear with Benny Goodman at Homecoming. He played with Count Base for nine years, also contributing arrangements.
He worked with Gerry Mulligan's small group and big band and later was a studio musician with BS.
December 1965, the overriding concern was to get the best musicians on the East Coast. Throughout the years, they have attracted some of the very best studio men available.
The band is able to boast of having showcased men like Richard Davis, Joe Farrell.
After nine years of existence, the Jones-Lewis orchestra continues to act as a magnet for some of the best musicians in jazz young and old.
of rhythm sections behind Alvino Rey, Ray Anthony and Stan Kenton. He, too, played briefly with Benny Goodman. In addition to being a studio musician at ABC, was the band leader in Minnesota's big band while Jones was with that band.
WHEN THE TWO MEN decided to form a big band in
Pepper Adams and Bob Brookmeyer.
All of the members are virtuosos on their particular instruments, and are capable of soloing.
INDEED, VIRTUOSITY ON one's instrument seems to be the only prerequisite for being a musician. In fact, many bands. Vast differences in age, race, nationality and experience coexist within the weather, 70-year-old brunettes, 70-year-old brontes, and the 22-year old Faddis.
Jones, already an excellent musician, is beginning to distinguish himself as a prominent writer and arranger. His charts show concern for the needs of his instrument within the group as well as the cohesion of the group sound as a whole.
Throughout the compositions, some of which were written by Lewis, there is ample space for soloing. The horn arrangements are always inventive and never heavy handed.
This show, sponsored by the KU Concert Series, provides an excellent opportunity to view best in jazz, and free at, that
Film clip potpourri highlights MGM best
By IAN KENNETH LOUDEN
For the most part, "That's Entertainment" lives up to its name.
It could have been possible for Jack Haley Jr., the producer, to have produced a series of clips from his film "Astaire and Gene Kelly." The result would have been great. Instead Haley decided to give the audience a taste of all kinds of DM stars trying to sing or dance.
The highlights are easily Garland, Astaire and Kelly and much of the picture is dedicated to them. Judy Garland sings "When You Were Happy," and Astaire dances with all the lovely ladies that
MGM can offer. Gene Kelly demonstrates his acrobatic prowess. All are great.
Perhaps the best thing about
However, much of the film isn't great. Much isn't even better. Jerry Cradaford and Joan Crafford made a kultz of herself trying to dance and Jimmy Stewart ruining a song. Steve Porter, song "Easy to Love."
Perhaps some of the low points include the narration. Liza Minnelli gushes over her mother's triumphs. Elizabeth Taylor, who always had a voice dubbed in musicals, does not want to act to part of the Grand Duchess of American Film.
On the other hand, the often maligned Debbie Reynolds comes off as extremely sincere. Fred Astraite is charming. And Jimmy Stewart still has his boyish smile.
the film is that it shows the talents of many performers who have been almost forgetten, except for the late show. Donald O'Connor's "Make Them Laugh" number from "Singing in the Rain" has been questioned the funniest musical number that was ever produced.
Lena Horne's version of
"Honeysuckle Rose"
is beautiful. Camille is une
satisfied. And Amma Jillee is
one of a tan dancer.
In contrast to these great and near-great performances, there is kitsch. Esther Williams appears again and again in ever more luxurant surroundings until the audience is either laughing or ready to leave. Janette MacDonald and Natalie Cunningham they gaze intermittently at each other and then into the camera while singing "Indian Love Call." June Alysson's
sickeningly sweet grim is an attempt to hide her inability to sing.
Judy Garland was great while at MGM. But the height of her career occurred many years later in Warner Brothers' 'A Star is Born.' "Over the Rainbow" is sweet, but Garland was at her best singing the blues hit, "The Man That Got Away."
There then are all the other competent performers: Mickey Rooney holds up surprisingly well. Eleanor Powell is a good dancer in terrible surroundings. Jane Powell occasionally unleashes her beautiful sorrano.
Maybe one of the worst problems with "That's Entertainment" is that many people leave the theater thinking that they have seen the best in musicals. Not so.
As for Fred Astaire, he made his greatest films while working at RKO with Ginger Rogers. Charisle and Powell were better dancers than Rogers, but neither of them had the magic that Astaire and Rogers produced when they danced together. But the film's minor director only one film for MGM. Bing Crosby made only two.
Perhaps the only solution is for Warner Brothers, Paramount and 20th Century Fox to make their own films so they can prove "That's Not All the entertainment."
Then there is a list of stars who never worked at MGM: Danny Kate, Alice Flick, Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, James Cagney, Irene Dunne, Julie Andrews, Barba Streisand.
That's what he thinks
Staff Photo by DON PIERCE
a scruffy Annie Oakley, played by Rhonda Plymate, Topeka graduate student, scorn the challenge of Sharpshooter Frank Butler, played by Billy Olivette, Olivette, m,
Theater
This Week's HIGHLIGHTS
(Tonight and Saturday at 8,
Sunday at 2:30 p.m. in University
Theatre. Same times next weekend.
ANNIE GET YOUR GUN—The University theatre season begins this week with a breezy salute to show business and sharpshooters. That unlikely combination proves the adage “There’s no business about it.”
Exhibits
RECENT ACQUISITIONS:
PHOTOGRAPHS AND
PUBLIC FURTHER-Work
American history, work
historical and abstract
photographs to polychromed
status. Artists represented.
Include Paul Strand, Man Ray,
L. K. Morris and Walker
Evans.
(Opening Sunday at Museum of Art.)
ROSS M OFFETT
MONOTYPES A—selection of strongly rhythmic scenes by the Moffett, who died in 1971.
(Opening Sunday in Museum of Art.)
Concerts
DELBERT DISSELHORST— Distinguished visiting organist in concert.
(3:30 p.m. Sunday in Lawrence Arts Center, Ninth and Vermont streets.)
(8 p.m. Sunday in Plymouth Congregational Church, 925, Vermont St.)
LAWRENCE CHAMBER PLAYERS--Selections from the annual tour. Beehoven, Bach and Haydyn are included in the group's performance, directed by Howard Boylan, professor of stringed instruments.
BALDWIN MAPLE LEAF FESTIVAL—Our neighboring town's 18th annual salute to its
history—a happy combination of county fair and community events. The pancakes will be served, as will the traditional "Ballad of Black Jack," an original historical performance performed by townspeople.
(Saturday and Sunday In Baldwin City.)
Films
TOMMY—The Who's rock opera comes to the screen. Director Keren Kee, who pops style from him, must grapehouses. With Ann-Margret, Roger Dairy, Ellen John, Tina Kissel, and Amy McKean who should have known better.
FUNNY LADY—This opulent sequel to "Funny Girl" is given a more expensive production, but it also has a richer. Once again Barbie is the star. Fanny Brice, but her co-star this time around is James Caan.
LET'S DO IT AGAIN-BILL Cosby and director Sidney Potter lead the cast of this hip, hunky movie, called *Sting*. The lightweight plot built around a flyweight boxer is given a much-needed boost by supporting actors Calvin Davis and Jimmie Walker.
SEEVEN ALONE—Famillé, a mild. predicable tale of a group of orphans in the old house THE MASTER GUN-FIGHTER and LITTLE BIGTEST collaborating to testering collaboration between Dustin Hoffman and director Arthur Penn. As for the former: Tom Laughlin, we're givin' day night to girl outta town.
THATS ENTERTAINMENT
—A wonderful and refreshing compilation of clips from many MGM musicals. The best movies in the series are Donald O'Connor, George Kelly and Fred A仕ine; the worst
FRAMED—Joe Dob Baker stars in this long on-violence, short-on-suspense revenge story.
performers are Joan Crawford and Jimmy Stewart; and one of the most charming performers wasn't a song-and-dance man. The narration between clips is mawkish, but is rarely mistaken.
M-The story of a child molester who is hunted by the police (because he's bad for society) and by the underworld man who has to be a business, starring Peter Lorre. One shudders to think what some of today's insensitive "realists" would do with the same theme. Luckily, it's been 1931, the year 1931, when numerous graphic portraits weren't the vogue.
POLLYANA — Dazzling,
diply Disney with Hayley Mills
and her sister, Emma Agnes
Moorehead. Adolphe
Menijou and Karl Malden.
Doubleday in THE TIME
BILBO GOT HIS KIPLING,
a short base on Kipling.
ROBINSON CRUSGE ON
the science fiction. As such,
it's much slower and less
graphic than Haskin in 1964; starting P
Manatee, Adam West (TV'S
Batman) and Vic Lundin.
**DID**
POTEMKIN-A** a stunning novel**
Elsenstein in 1925. Famous for its Odessa Steps sequence and for the eloquence of its wit.
—*R.*
JENNIE; LADY RANDOLPH CHURCHILL--The DOLPH CHURCHILL--The acclaimed BBC series about Winston's beautiful, assertive American mother, Jenne Jerome. Starring Lee Remick
LUCIA-Women joined the fight for liberation in this Cuban epic directed by Humberto Sola in 1949.
Television
(8 p.m. Wednesday on Channels 11 and 19.)
Check advertisements for theaters and times.
Vonnegut son tells insanity tale
By JACK FISCHER Staff Writer
THE EDEN EXPRESS. By Mark Vonnegut, New York: Praeger Publishers, 1975.
In his outlook on the world, Mark Vonnegut is in many ways the logical offspring of author Kurt Vonnegut. But, with the publication of the younger Vonnegut's book, "The Eden
Express," two important distinctions must be made.
The first is that while the elder Evongetn sees the world with resignation born of time and a bit of wisdom, his son sees it through the eyes of a crusading youth who came of age with the '60s' promises of apocalypse.
The second distinction is that
AT THE OUTSET of "Express," Vonnegut, then recently graduated from Swarthmore, from Wichita Falls, and manner true to all the tenets of
Mark Novegnut has been diagnosed as a schizophrenic. In "The Eden Express," Novegnut attempts to recount his hodge-podge experiences of sliping sanity.
Female warblers ascending scale to musical prominence
A few years ago, female vocalists were a rarity in American music. Record stores confined themselves to Barbra Helen Reddy, Carole King and other miscellaneous names.
"Prisoner in Disguise",
which was released last month,
isn't a perfect album. On
Jimmy Cliff's "Many Rivers to
example, a perfectly nice bake-
al loud chorus of country-rock males bursts in
and keep bursting in.
By JIM BATES Staff Writer
Linda Ronstadt, for example, has finally received public recognition after years of singing in semi-obscury. Her debut album was successively better—and deservedly so. "Don't Cry Now," "Heart Like A Wheel" and "Pronizer In Disguse" are gen-like in their careful song section and technical quality.
The number of female vocalists has increased enormously in the past year or so, and although some of them are poor "Every time that we ooh, they others, etc) are mighty fine.
This, however, is no longer the case.
And Ronstadt doesn't sing half bad either.
Still, it is a very good album and balances its top-forty hits ("Love is a Rose" and "Heat Wave") with solid, mellow arrangements of Smokey Robinson, Travis Scott, James Taylor and James Taylor's "Hey, Mister, That's Me Up On the Jubekbox."
Bonnie Raitt is another fine female vocalist with a new album.
Haiti, who started with traditional blues four albums ago, has become more polished and professional with the years. But as she gained ever better arrangements he seemed to have seemed to be gradually sliding away from her musical base.
In "Home Plate," Raitt seems to be trying to start back to the old music without losing the new polish.
For the most part, she succeeds. Some of the songs could almost have come from her first album, but wasn't for the pulsed sound.
Ratt fretts, however, might be surprised by a couple of the songs. One or two of them are downright funky, and one, "Sweet and Shiny Eyes," is downright strange.
Strange and irresistible. It's fascinating to hear her sing 'I'm my sweet dreams we are in a band.' We see them we we're having our picture taken we we're having our picture taken
with Fernando" in a country drawl.
Other recent female vocalist albums worth mentioning are Janis Janssons "Between the Sea" and Madrid's "Back to the Night."
Ian is probably best known for the summer single, "At Seventenme." She is another in song that she has sung softly, and loudly, predominantly about loneliness. She doesn't have the vocal range of a Ronnstadt or a Raitn, but hervey hardy with words.
Armattraling is a bit obscure compared to Raitt or Ronstadt, but she has obtained some cut following, especially in the middle of her career, a "regge Joni Mitchell" and that suggests her up fairly well.
Like Ian, she writes better than she sings. Like Mitchell, she isn't afraid to make her jump around the scale.
Armatrading, however, sings an octave or two lower than Mitchell.
But why debate? Why not listen?
"hippiedom." Along with some friends, he starts a commune in British Columbia. "Building an alternative," "living the good old-fashion organic way," and esoteric discussions fill their days. Vornéne shrugs off signs of his impending insanity by beating the contagious effects of an unhealthy society.
There are many more good female vocalists putting out loud music, but there are few not-so-good ones. Whether the increased number is attributable to feminism, the sexual revolution or glitter rock movement, it's all about sex.
His recollections of derangement are lucid and paradoxical. In a world that he had lived, he voluptuously logic in defending his insanity as being true sanity. This poetic justification for what was happening to him was written to him as an experience experienced. At one point he recalls: "I became aware of the harmony and wholeness to life that had previously eluded me. My inconfessedness was clearly illusory."
But when he wasn't experiencing this soaring oneness there was an awesome hell. With his thoughts a vortex, traveling at the speed of light, he thought himself responsible for earthquakes in California. He became uncontrollably
ornipotent; one wrong movement and he would kill his friends.
NVONEGUT HAD TO be hospitalized three times. That the cause of his schizophrenia was abnormal body chemistry, rather than righteous philosophy and politics, was a "tremendous concession" for him to make. But, the chemical therapy has kept him alive, he takes consolation in the fact that "anything the AMA hated couldn't be all bad."
in the early pages of "Express" the writing occasionally draws from the jargon of the language to excuse for clarity of expression.
BUT AS VONEGUNT changes and matures, so does his writing. Rather than being a man of quiet experiences, Vonegun unfolds his story with a high conversational tone which, despite its sometimes rambling nature, is still coherent and enchanting, a life in cordination and change.
In the end, "The Eden Express" is a bravely honest statement about the growth and concessions of the author. But the writer loses some idealism in the shuffle, but at the same time he moves a step or two closer to his father in terms of wisdom.
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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