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A relaxing breath of fresh air has arrived with the release of guitarist Robben Ford's new album, The Authorized Bootleg. The recording was taken from a 1995 lunchtime set at the club Yoshi's in Oakland, California. With a style that mixes funk, blues and jazz, Ford strays from his usual routine and tries his hand at an unplugged set. This is a new venture of sorts for Ford, who has rarely explored the acoustic guitar, and has not done much live album recording. Much of the work on this album highlights material from his then recent electric album, Handful of Blues.
Ford, who has recorded and/or toured with such musicians as George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Bonnie Raitt and Rickie Lee Jones, displays his guitar wielding talents through out the eight tracks of the album. He displays his sharp skill at lead playing, which is accentuated by his quick, slithery jazz runs. He displays a light touch, and great sense of musical flow, which makes his solos come off with a slick feel. His rhythm work is also very solid. Ford draws a gritty blues sound with the use of chords that layer and mix many sounds together quite well. His great rhythm playing is brought to light even more with the use of an acoustic guitar. Ford is able to draw both a percussion sound and feel with the tin-like sound of the acoustic. This is most apparent on the song, "Lovin' Cup", a tune written by Paul Butterfield. Ford plays without the rest of the band on this tune, using his guitar to carry both the funk-laced tune and rhythm.
Robben is joined by Roscoe Beck on bass, Tom Brechtlein on drums, and Bill Boublitz on piano. Together, the quartet runs through the set with a relaxed ease that really captures the mood of the afternoon setting. The show starts out on a rolling blues tune, "When I Leave Here", then quickly moves up to funk with "Chevrolet". An extended jam of "Top of the Hill" follows, giving pianist Bill Boublitz a chance to shine.
The Authorized Bootleg, is a very light album. With a short set and laid back setting, we get a unique glimpse of a very talented guitarist trying something a little different, and of four great musicians sitting down and having fun. A very entertaining album for both blues and jazz lovers.
 Left: One and Miette |
With the recent release of the film Dark City, American audiences have been offered a unique type of filmmaking that does not often surface in mainstream circulation. It is a rare occasion when Hollywood puts out a dark, surrealistic film. These are films that stretch into the horror genre, though they get their terror from exploring the dark side of the human mind rather than from shock value. Unfortunately, the above mentioned film was terribly done, so may I offer to you the movie that Dark City "borrowed" most of its ideas from.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Carlo's City of Lost Children, is a fantasy with an intricate story intertwined within arresting visuals. It carries a dark look that director Jeunet has come to perfect, very much like in Alien Resurrection, which was Jeunet's Hollywood directorial debut. The story is set in a downtrodden port city, where the sun is rarely seen, and the exteriors are bathed in lights of gray and green. In this squalor, someone one is kidnapping children. Those responsible for the abductions are a sect of men called the Cyclops. They are a group who have renounced the world of appearances and live in the shadows and dark corners (they're plenty of them) of the city. They have been hired by a scientist named Krank (Daniel Emilfork). Krank is a sad character, sad because he is aging prematurely due to his inability to dream. He believes that if he can steal the dreams of children, he can find both happiness and a cure. The story begins when the Cyclops kidnap the little brother of a circus strongman named One (Ron Perlman). One is a gentle giant of sorts, quiet, yet determined to save his little brother. On his quest, he is paired with Miette (Judith Vittet), a street-smart orphan girl who steals for the proprietors of the orphanage. Together, they scour the city in search of who is behind the kidnappings and why.
Along the way, we are introduced to a wide variety of interesting characters, from Krank's team of cloned lab assistants, an evil set of Siamese twins who run the orphanage, and a talking human brain in a jar. The directors do a remarkable job in creating a bizarre, twisted world. With a rich selection of characters, the story throws them together in a confusing mix, and sorts things out as both the viewers and One piece together what is really going on. While this is a French film, it is quite unlike any foreign film that has come out in recent times. While still holding to the artistic standards of many popular French films, City of Lost Children has special effects that put many a Hollywood blockbuster to shame. With a fantastic production design and haunting images, this is a film that will stay in your mind for a long time.
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by Steven L. Pessagno, MBA2
pessagno@umich.edu
On Sunday, April 5, one of the country's finest chamber ensembles will perform at Eastern Michigan University's Frederic H. Pease Auditorium in Ypsilanti. For free.
The Arianna String Quartet, a quartet-in-residence at Eastern Michigan, will conclude its four-program Sunday Series of this academic year with a mix of traditional and contemporary quartets. The performance, which will start at 4 p.m., will feature four quartets:
One of America's Best
Formed in 1992, the Arianna String Quartet has taken little time to establish itself as one of the best in America. Composed of two violinists (Rebecca Rhee and Sarah Thornblade), a violist (Mahoko Eguchi), and a cellist (Kurt Baldwin), the Arianna String Quartet:
* Won the Grand Prize in the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition in 1994;
* Captured First Prize in both the Coleman and Carmel National Competitions in the same year;
* Has been heard in live nationally broadcast radio performances on Canada's CBC radio; in Osaka, Japan; and as part of Chicago's prestigious Dame Myra Hess Series;
* Has made successful debuts at Orchestra Hall in Chicago; Suntory Hall in Tokyo; and in concerts in Boston, Los Angeles, and San Diego.
'Knocked Us Out'
The Arianna's genesis is actually owed to Northern Illinois University, in DeKalb, Ill., which is home to one of the best chamber ensembles in the world--the Vermeer String Quartet. Baldwin, Eguchi, Rhee, and Thornblade were studying together in the Northern Illinois graduate program (whose faculty members comprise the Vermeer) when they formed their own quartet--the Arianna. Upon winning several competitions, the Arianna was funded for a Midwest Tour, which brought the quartet to Kerrytown in Ann Arbor.
Dady Mehta, a world-famous pianist who is on the faculty of Eastern Michigan's highly regarded music program, had heard about the Arianna but had never heard them play. So he and his wife, Martha, attended the Kerrytown performance.
"They simply knocked us out," recalled Mehta, who approached the quartet members that night about doing a music residency at Eastern Michigan.
As it happened, the Arianna members were looking for a home to complete a three-year residency. Eastern Michigan's faculty accepted their proposal, and Chamber Music America (a national organization for chamber ensembles) awarded the Arianna a grant for its "rural residency"--the most prestigious grant of its kind.
Community Outreach Is the Main Mission
Contrary to what some people might think, music residencies are not intended to provide musicians with countless opportunities to participate in--and hopefully win--competitions. In addition to developing their own musical abilities, members of the Arianna String Quartet coach ensemble students enrolled in Eastern Michigan's music program.
Furthermore, Chamber Music America's grant stipulates that quartets in a rural residency must participate in at least 40 outreach programs to the community each year. The Arianna has presented nearly 90 outreach programs this year.
The extent to which the Arianna offers free performances and surpasses the minimum outreach requirements for a quartet-in-residence has as much to do with financial backing as it does with the initiative of the group's members.
In addition to the financial support of Chamber Music America and Eastern Michigan University, the Arianna has received generous support from a host of local sponsors. Notable on the list are: Ronald Cresswell (Parke-Davis); the Beacon Investment Company; Dr. Herbert Sloan; Dr. John Psarouthakis (JPE Inc.); Shar Music Company; the Elizabeth E. Kennedy Fund; and Edward Surovell (who owns a big, eponymous realty company in Ann Arbor).
Although the Arianna specializes in chamber music, orchestra directors throughout Michigan have praised the quartet members' instructional work with elementary, middle, and senior high school string orchestras--mainly in and immediately around Ann Arbor. This year (the Arianna's second year of its residency) will see the quartet members expand their school outreach program, which aims to instruct and spark interest in string music, to the Detroit public school system.
The Arianna also gives concerts at local hospitals and retirement centers. According to Mehta, who teaches piano and chamber music at Eastern Michigan, the quartet has been "very, very successful" in this regard. Such outreach efforts have an especially "glorified, profound" effect on those who used to attend music performances but can no longer do so due to old age or illness.
In many ways, the Arianna represents an asset to both Eastern Michigan's music program and the community at large. Not surprisingly, Mehta's personal efforts to help raise funds for the Arianna are never-ending.
"The school obviously does its share. But you always need more," he said as he referred to hopes of continuing a proud legacy established by Baldwin, Eguchi, Rhee, and Thornblade well beyond the three years of the residency.
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