6 Friday, April 22, 1977 University Dally Kansan Arts & Leisure Staff photos by JAY KOELZES Chick Corea (inset) and his new Return to Forever group Elusive jazz label flourishes By STEVE FRAZIER Reviewer Last summer, the economics of the American jazz record market seemed to be playing one of the nastiest tricks yet on jazz fans. Recordings on the SteepleChase record label, a Danish import, had only recently become available. The loss wasn't surprising though. After all, SteepleChase offered only excellence, which doesn't compete so well these days against disco rhythms and doo-wop. BUT, AS understandable as SteeleChapek's disappearance was, it was especially cruel. The label's high quality was amazing consistently, and it featured talented European jazzmen and American exatriates rarely beard in this country. Then came word that SteepleChase would reappear under license to Inner City, a New York City jazz label. The wait for Inner City to remainmanage the Danish recordings in New York is still over, and the first batch of recordings sold it to more area record stores than ever. Three of the SteeleChip recordings now available- "The Apartment," by Dexter Gordon; "Catalianian Fire," by Tete Montoliu; and "Duo," by Kerry Dean and David Pace, who know why the company is respected as one of the world's finest independent iazz labels. GORDON'S adaptation of bop to the tenor song in the 1940s ranks as one of the music leaders. landmarks in the instrument's development from Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young on past Gordon to Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane. He has lived in Denmark since the early 80s, and his SteepeChase recordings, in all, are his major contemporary works. On "The Apartment," Gordon is backed by Americans Albert "Tootie" Heath, drums; Drew, piano; and Pedersen, a Dane, on bass. The four musicians appear in various combinations throughout the show. In addition they give a unified, polished performance. Gordon swaggers through the up-tempo numbers on the album with the confidence, power and ease that befit a 6" 'tall jazz great. He praises for a few moments in "Old Fols", his lyric duet with Pederson, to play low and breathy phrases in honor of Ben and other American tenor saxophonist who spent the last decade of his life in Europe. PEDERSEM and Heath support Montoliu, a Spanish pianist, on "Catalonian Fire." Montoliu is fundamentally a bop pianist, but his cascades and filigreed improvisations belle the influence of Art Tatum and more contemporary hits at Cecil Taylor and McCoV Tyner The album is aptly named Montoliu's fiery bop matches the heat in the playing of Bud Powell, the most influential original artist. It would tend to rage Montoliu insects whimsey. Just as one would have thought that Bix Beiderbecke in the '20s would have silenced those who said that whites could never play jazz. Django Rheinbard should have been born to a jazz family, an authentic jazz musicians as Americans. EVEN SO, there are those who refuse to believe that Europeans can assimilate American jazz style. However, Montoliu, one of the most pleasant surprises in the SteepleChase lineup, is a master who need not make apologies for his nationality. Pedersen and Drew have had a weekly show on Danish radio and perform together on 10 different Steeplechase records. Their close musical relationship is the officialiciary of their close musical relationship. If Montello isn't proof enough of a Europeans' ability to play jazz, perhaps Pedersen is. Only a handful of acoustic players can match Pedersen. None could surpass him. TODAY, WHEN it is fashionable to say that this player or that player has rebelled against tradition to remove the bass from its role as a timekeeper. Pedersen plays as if his equal stance with a group's leader is a natural assumption. And, although other guitarists might be drawn to sound like guitarists, Pedersen is proud of his instrument's unique qualities and knows he can blaze circles around guitarists when that sort of playing really fits his thoughts. Had Pederson's companions stunned "The Apartment," "Catalonian Fire" and Riffs "Doo," his playing alone would justify the album's cost. In its transition from import status to a licensed product of an American company, SteepeChase has lost such niceties as high quality European vinyl records and plastic-lined dustreuses. But the excellent music still remains, and the records are now a dollar cheaper than before. At least the music is available once again. OTHER TEMPTING records in Inner City's Steepie Chase series include more by Gordon, Montluio, Pedersen and Drew, selections by Duke Jordan, Jackie McLean, Anthony Braxton, Ben Webster, Clifford Jordan, Lee Konitz and Pai Bleu. member, was back with the group, playing soprano sax, flutes and tenor sax. There was no disagreement among the audience when he began to play "Master," his playing proved it. INTRODUCED BY CORE as "my musical buddy," Clarke was a key part of the new band. With three successful solo albums, he has developed a devoted following. His virtuosic playing added depth and variety to the entire performance. The group came on stage about 15 minutes late and launched into a piece called "Endless Night." Corea alternated between an acoustic grand piano and an array of various keyboards. Galey Moran occupied center stage on the Hammond B3. He wore a long shirt with a rich texture fabric upon which Corea could interweave his keyboard mastery. The new RTF also features a four-man brass section, which includes trumpets, flugelhorn, piccolo trumpet, tenor trumpet, bass trombone and bartone horn. Drummer Gerry Brown rounded out the ensemble. WOVEN THROUGHOUT the impressive show was the smoothly-honed voice of Moran. This artist has definitely improved over the intervening years since her stint with Johnu McLaughlin's second Mahavishnu Orchestra. Her voice has more depth and greater sustaining power than it seems capable "Apocalypse." Alternating vocals with Clarke, Moran's voice was a distinctive force in this new group. MORAN's incredible voice was featured on the next two pieces, "Do You Ever" and "I Loved You Then, I Love You Now." She faced the audience from behind her keyboards and communicated to them very directly and honestly in word and song. There is clearly a very strong energy and life force surging through the new RTF and the addition of brass is almost a reaffirmation of Corea's roots in jazz. The The set concluded with Corea on solo acoustic piano. This was a gratifying part of the series, since Corea himself that was best known through his two ECM "Piano Improvisations" albums. His lengthy solo led into "Spanish Fantasy," which he then continued to end on a level of pure untrained ear. Most of the concert was devoted to music from the latest RTF album, "Music-magic." The group's second set was more acoustically-flavored, as it opened with "Music-magic," which has a slow, dreamlike, opening sequence. Chick Corea concert top-flight performance This was a top-flight performance by Corea and his new RTF. The sound of the group was thick and rich, mult-textured, punctuated by bursts of brass and strong sax soles from Farrell. Those who excelled were not only with greater respect for Corea and his talents as well as for those who shared the stage with him. Buffett tunes intoxicating BUFFETT APPEARS to have been in the proper state of mind when he wrote "Wasting Away Again in Margaritaville." And maybe the listener would enjoy the song twofold if he did likewise. Despite all of Buffett's troubles, he says, "I am always glad it will remind that frozen conception that helps me hang on." Ole. Perhaps Buffett's best effort is "In the Shelter," a bittersweet tune with a steady backbeat. He mourns the painful awakening from innocence for a young woman as she struggles to make up her mind between her lover, her family and her own freedom. Jimmy Buffett is a Florida folkie who years for sunshine and has a fondness for the bottle. With his best album, "Changes in Lattitudes, Changes in Attitudes," Buffett seems to be challenging Jerry Jeff Walker for the title of "King of the Drinkin' Tunes." For this is drinking music personified. The album is a collection of mostly Buffett- written tunes that deal with the Gulf on the Gulf Coast—sailing, sunshine, bottles of rum, tequila, and lost lovers and bitter disappointments. BY BRILE OPENHART Entertainment Editor A MERE smattering of the album's lyrics is enough to convince the listener of Buffet's favorite pastime. "Ran into a chum with a bottle of rum/ and we wound up drinking all night" is simply stated in the title cut. There's more rum mentioned in Steve Goodman's "Banana Republic," a song that contains a patriotic Americans," desering their country as they run from wounded hearts and troubled consciences. Joe Farrell, an original Return to Forever There was something for everybody when Chick Corea and his new Return to Forever Band performed Wednesday night in Memorial Hall, Karsas City, Kan. "I Came to Dance" is the third solo album for guitarist and singer Nils Lofsgen, who, Finally, some baseball literature after backing Neil Young on two albums, short-lived Grin through four albums. With "I Came to Dance," he asserts his position in the punk rock cult. The title cut is one of the album's stronger tunes; a dynamic, restless beat makes it more than danceable. Lofgren appears justified in his version of the Stones" "Happy," set to a rhythm straight from the Little Feat Book of Funk. UNFORTUNATELY, Lofgren's guitar soils are poorly caged as they mills in the background; he never really cuts loose on any song. His vocals are thus relied upon for height, and his high-register voice simply lacks the power and control for that role. brass quartet was used mostly to accentuate and to punctuate the music. A tight rhythm section assets Lofgren's feeling for rock, but the album also suffers from drowning background vocals and a lack of variety in arrangements. By JOHN RINKENBAUGH THE BASEBALL ENCYCLOPEDIA" (Macmillan, 214 pages, 252). Regarding Rita Coolidge's latest, "Anytime . . . anywhere"—like the latest releases from EmmyLou Harris, Joni Mitchell and Linda Ronstadt, if album sales were dependent on the sexual implications officers, this would probably be platinum. COLIDIGE dips back into the '60s for some material, as she sings a toned-down retake of Smokey Robinson's "The Way You Do the Things You Do." In fact, the album is nothing more than Coldidige's preintroductions of some popular songs of the day. Reviewer "BABE," by Robert Creamer (Simon and Schuster. 443 pages. $9.95). "THE GLORY OF THEIR TIMES," by Lawrence S. Ritter (Macmillan, 300 pages). These retakes are acceptable, but only if Collidge's voice and style are distinctive enough to offer something the original version didn't—excluding sexy album covers. Her breath, middle-range voice is unique, but her available repiece remains a step below the Ronstads, Harrises and Bonnie Raitts. YOU KNOW ME AL37, by Ring Larder (songbook) and IMS, paperback). For many baseball games, the national pastime is limited to the back of bubble gum cards and stickingly sweet By DARRELL MORGAN But good reading can be found in informal histories, biography, fiction and even books of statistical information. The books include the works of Charles Toward "major league" baseball literature. The Crawford interview is a work of beauty with stories about the incompatible耦合 of Delahanty and Delahanty's tragic death. Delahanty, a lifetime 350 hitter, fell from a train while crossing over Niagara Falls. The accident was sure whether Delahanty inquired *or* felt "The GLORY of Their Times," by Lawrence S. Ritter, is the most representative and perhaps the best informal history of the game. Ritter interviewed 22 oldtimers who played the game from 1898 to 1948. It was an escape for many from the farms or mines. Stan Coveleski worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania 72 hours a week. Baseball provided a means of escape, and Coveleski won 200 games in a brilliant career. Baseball was slow to gain respectability. It was a game for the lower classes, a game played mostly by men who drank, swore and had little or no education. He provides a feeling of the game's information through different interfaces. Ritter's book provides insight into a few of the game's memorable moments. A fine "You know," he says, "I saw it all happen, from beginning to end. But sometimes I still can't believe what I saw. This 19-year-old was brushed by the social veneer we call civilization, gradually transformed into the idol of American youth and the symbol of baseball the world over. . . I saw a man like Jimmy Johnson, into something pretty close to a sed." WAHOO, NEB., produced Sam Crawford, a lifetime 300 hitter. Cottier played most of his career in the outfield next to Ty Cobb, baseball's fiercest competitor. Robert Creamer has written an excellent biography of the Sultan of Swat. Creamer manages not to insult the intelligence of the reader by showing Ruth for what he was—the great American hero—who could party with the best. For the statistics nut, "The Baseball Encyclopedia" is by far the most complete reference book. A purist would want to own the original 1988 edition, an astoundingly rich resource, but it is almost as good but neglects information on injuries and pitcher's batting statistics. MOST OF the old-timers were adamant in their belief that they played the game the way it was meant to be played. That meant they used stealing hits and stealing bases. They disapprove of the long ball fever, the cry-baby attitude of today's players and the big inning strategy. Most sports biographies sicken adult readers with phony All-American portraits. "Babe" isn't like that. Creamer has written a novel, was without insulting the Illustrated Rush. A BORING, unimaginative clod, Keebe lacked the sense to utilize his athletic talents. His ego is as immense as the stadiums he pitches in, yet it appears to be a front to protect himself from cruelties of fate. GEORGE HERMAN Ruth was the most popular ballplayer ever. He was a man of immense physical talents whose feats have become legendary. But most biographies of Ruth are written for 12-year-olds by writers who are qualified for the task. Rink Hrineknbach is a junior majoring in education and journalism. Baseball changed mainly because of Babie bush as Harry Hooper said in the Ritter comment. RUTH H an enourous appetite for both food and sex. "In a St. Louis whorehouse he announced he was going to go to bed with every girl in the house during the night, and did, and after finishing his rounds up down and had a huge breakfast." Off the Shelf More important, with this book the reader can solve almost any baseball argument, or even a tennis problem. account of the infamous "Merkle's Bone" is given by Fred. Stoddgrass, arrows others. In Hang Larder's novel *On Me* know Meelie McDermott, a day pitcher, is the antiphary of Ruth. He was no one's hero, and allowed himself time and time again to be used and manipulated Creamier fills in the details about Ruth's bizarre stomachache and his "called shot" cry. Other statistical books may be handier or cheaper, but they can't compare with this. It enables the reader to look up the unimpressive fielding stats of Dick "Dr Stranggelove" Stuart or White Herzog's lifetime batting average . (257) Baseball fiction is a rarity nowadays, and good baseball fiction is even rarer. This book was written more than 60 years ago but it still retains its comic value. Weekend Highlights Theater "COSI FAN TUTTI," a Mozart opera, 8 tonight and Saturday. University Theatre. 'SPOON RIVER AN- THOLOGY' 'Halloween' Haller Festival, 8 tonight and Satur- day, Hahsinger Hall Theatre. Concerts HARTFORD BALLET, 8tonight and Saturday, Music Hall, Kansas City, Mo. THE OUTLAWS, 8 tonight. Uptown Theater, Kansas City. Mo. KU BELLY DANCE CLUB SPEAK performance, 7 p.m. sat. urday. Community. Building in room. NIH, University. Sunday. Hear Auditorium. "PIERROT LUNAIR," an Arnold Schoenberg melodrama of chamber music with words by Giraud; performed by a student and faculty ensemble that is directed by Charles Hoag; Nancy Atkins, speaker 8 p.m. Sunday, Sundahe Worc休历 Recital Recitals DELORES BRUCH. organ doctorate recital. 8 p.m Saturday, RLDS Auditorium Independence, Mo. SUZANNE FAIRBAIN, organ. Student Recital Series. 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Swarthout Hau Nightclubs JAY McSHANN, jazz pianist, with CLAUDE "FIDDLER" WILLIAMS AND PAUL TWIRLING and winged tighton! Paul Gray Place THE ALLSTAR JAZZ The ALLSTAR Saturday. Paul Gray's. MILLIONAIRE AT MID NIGHT, 9 to midnight tonight. J. Watson's. ROXTA, a rock Watson's Saturday. J. Watson's. DESTINY,a rock band. 9 to midnight tognt and Saturday, The Brewery. HARVEST, a rock band, 9 to midnight tonight. The Opera House FLAIR, a rock band, 9 to Saturday, The Opera House MARTY STEIN and SUSAN HAMILTON, folk singers, 9 to midnight tonight. Sister Kette Cate. PAT KAUMOUN, French can musician, 9 to midnight Saturday. Sister Kette. Lectures COLE TUCKEY ON RYE, 9 to midnight Saturday, Off the Wall Hall. FUN WITH DICK AND Films "BEN HUR" and a multimedia presentation about Lew Wallace, author: 7 tonight Saturday, Hoch Audiotrium. BLACK SUNDAY--The Super Bowl is the target of a terrorist plot, and there's more action than the actual 1976 game, background. Stars Robert Shaw, Keller and Bruce Dern (R). JANE-George Segal and Jane Fonda star in this modern version of *Bomb* and Clyde. The movie loses his technician, and the humorous plot unwinds as the couple goes from riches to rags to riches NASTY HABIBS—A water tower in Philadelphia, perfectly everybody, that replaces the White House setting a Philadelphia [IPG] I SMALL CHANGE—A comic poem about childhood, directed by Bernchan. Francois Truffaut. Attractive child actors. (PG) THE STORY OF ADELE H. Another Traffaut film, with Adele McKay about Victor Hugo's daughter, who is so infatuated with a British officer that she follows him nearly around the globe. But as she ends up on Barbados doesn't even recognize him. A Court battle ELIZABETH M. WATKINS COMMUNITY MUSEUM—"An American Sampler: A Look at them in the 1800s," through April. Exhibits The restra Drug the stu R CORNUCPIA RETAUR RÉTARAU renderings; David Graves drawings; Shooting Gallery photography and Strawberry paintings LANGHOFER REAL ESTATE—Rosetta Beek, oils and watercolors, through April. KANSAS UNION GALLERY—Art department faculty study, paintings and sculpture, through April. Riv of the betwee from junit; the e Hill tonw lister a fall an boun TER~"Four Printmakers;" WORK by Jane Asbury, Colete Bangert, Evonne English and Judy Geer Kellas, Exhibit Hall Kathryn Clark, photography. Room 603, through April. The a pro the Land the c THE litter Nove comm River of the The more mont Sierr Lawr Doug prove LAWRENCE MEMORIAL HOSPITAL—Kathe Koch, oils, through April. NELSON GALLERY NELSON GALLERY Sudlow, landscapes, and Robert Green, watercolors, in the sales and Rental Gallery, Sunday LAWRENCE PUBLIC LIBRARY-Lawrence Junior High art show, through April GALLERY-PLACE GALLERY Silver Nunley painting and silver mithning through April. McDONALD'S GALLERY- Lawrence Junior High art through April. Be litter foott Scou Exremanickecarry st A to KU and done spray 767 GALLERY—H. J. Bott maquette and monumental sculpture, through April 28 KU Th said result while SPENCER R ESEARCH NORTH Gallery; "Kansas Pa- traits," Kansas Collection; *Student Organization.* "Ar- thritis." SPOONER-THAYER MUSEUM OF ART—The Saille Casey Gallery Collection, Main Gallery, through May 29. UNIVERSITY STATE BANK—Western and South western paintings, Valley West Galleries, through April.