page 12
daily nebraskan
Wednesday, february 3, 1978
0 R . BUZZARD
S O R IS I N A 1
i Hi,
x: if
Savannah Band album offers
bizarre lyrics, old-time music
Courtesy of RCA Records
arts and
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmtmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmimmmmmmm
Instrumentalists, singers perform
Four students in the UNL School of
Music will present free, public recitals at
3:30 pjn. today.
Two instrumentalists will perform in the
Choral Room of Westbrook Music
Building. Senior Dulcie Schoener will play
three solo piano works: Sonata No. 7, B
flat major, Op. 83 by Prokofiev and Ber
ceuse, Op. 57 and Etude in A minor.
Op. 25-fio. 11, both by Chopin.
Jeanine Mane York will follow with a
clarinet recital. The junior music student's
program wHl be Sonata for Clarinet and
Piano by Camille Samt-Saens and Sonatina
for Clarinet and Piano by Malcolm Arnold.
Mary Indermuehle will accompany York
on the piano.
Two voice students will present recitals
in Kimball Recital Hall. Betty Cooper, a
mezzo soprano, will sing five selections:
Marmi, adorati e cari by Alessandro Scar
latti, Here the Deities Approve by Henry
Purcell, Del pari infeconda by Mozart,
Qui sedes ad dexteram Patris by Antonio
Vivaldi and O Wafy Waly arranged by
Cecil Sharp.
The second singer will be senior David
EJsen. His program was not available at
press time.
By Jeff Taebel
So you say your record collection needs
a little variety, but everything released
these days sounds the same, b there
nothing new under the sun?
If this scenario sounds familiar, then
you probably haven't heard much of Dr.
Buzzard's Original Savannah Band.
While their latest album, The Savannah
Band Meets King Penett, might not appeal
to everyone's taste, it certainly will rank
as one of the more unique listening exper
iences this year..
Combining old-time instrumentation
with bizarre lyrics, the Savannah Band
music is difficult to describe at first
album
review
Sounding somewhat like the swing music
of the 30s and 40s set to Latin-flavored
rhythms, the songs remind one of music
heard late at night on a phantom radio
station.
The Savannah Band consists of Stony
Browder Jr. on guitar and piano, lyricist
August Darnell on bass, Mickey Sevilla on
drums, Andy Hernandez on vibes, marimba
and accordian and features Cory Daye on
lead vocals.
Daye sings in a bright scat-style that
tempts one to compare her to Bette Mid
ler. However, Daye seems to be more faith
ful to the authentic style from which she
draws her material than Midler.
The band's additional instrumentation
ranges from guy Lombardoesque wood
winds to big band brass arrangements.
Combined with maracas, marimbas and
accordian, the results always are interest
ing. Side One opens with "Mister Love,"
which begins with a horn chart that the
Royal Canadian Orchestra would be proud
of. Daye sings well on this song, and it
probably would be an album highlight
if the hom and background vocal arrange
ments were not so overbearing, clashing
noticeably with Dave's quartertone vocal
style.
The rest of the side is "Nocturnal
Interludes," a bitter story about late
night trysts, and two other undistinguished
numbers, "The Giggolo And F and "111
Always Have A Smile For You."
Side two fares much better, beginning
with Transistor MadnessFuture DJ."
The song, which may have the album's
strangest lyrics, is about someone with a
radio fetish. Daye's vocals are the song's
highlight, but the background chorus again
clashes with her lead and creates some dis
comforting moments.
Some continental flavor is added to the
album with "The Organ Grinder's Tale,"
a Parisian love song that is more optimis
tic than some others on the record.
The album's last two songs, are its
strongest "SorayaDance Of The Nignies"
and "Auf Wiedersehen, Darrio." "Soraya"
has a bouncing Latin beat, fine marimba
work and some humorous lyrics.
It is followed by "Auf Wiedersehen,
Darrio," a grand finale. The song has a fan
tastic hom arrangement and another fine
vocal by Daye.
The band blends well on this cut, with
the lead and background vocals meshing
well with the horns. There are no casual
ties this time.
The major problem with the album
is the Savannah Band's tendency to over
arrange. While attempting to create a lush
and complex sound, the band occasionally
obscures their talents.
This by no means, is, a flawless album,
but it certainly would put some variety in
anybody's record collection (or at least
serve as an interesting conversation piece).
The albums bright spots suggest that The
Savannah Band might be an act worth
watching.
'Lou Grant9 in danger of becoming newsy soap opera
By Pete Mason
Entertainment editor
A few years ago television programmers
realized that supporting characters on suc
cessful shows were generating their own
audiences.
"Why not give these characters their
own shows?" said some bright young
shavetail of an executive. He promptly was
given a raise in salary and his own office
with a view of beautiful downtown Bur
bank. Television's book of Genesis goes some
thing like this:
Thus spake The Networks: Go ye forth
and multiply, be fruitful and spread your
seed throughout the land. And so AU in
J-y ...
'
'
V, , - , . V '.. .' tt V Ttr.'' ft V
' ' r
the Familybegit Maude, The Jeff enons
and Good Times; The Six Million Dollar
Man begat The Bionic Woman; Mary Tyler
Moore begat Rhoda, Phyllis, The Betty
White Show and Lou Grant; Happy Days
begat Laveme and Shirley and Barney
Miller begat Fish.
Like all children, some of them went
bad. Phyllis and Betty White passed on
to that great video vault in the sky.
Others still are going strong, occupying
high niches in the ratings.
One of the newest, and quite possibly
the best, is Lou Grant, although in the
show's first few weeks, the ratings seemed
to contradict this opinion.
television.
Initially shown on Tuesday opposite
the popular Family, it began to stumble.
Happily, someone at CBS thought the
show was worth saving and moved it to
Mondays at 9 p jn.
Edward AsneT is a more subdued Lou
Grant than he was on The Mary Tyler
Moore Show. Where MTWTs Jxrc Grant
often was prone to fits of surreal rage, the
present character is rooted firmly in the
real world. But basically his character b
the same-one of strength and authority
tempered by that subtle hint of vulner
ability w?uch has always made Lou Grant
one of my favorite television people.
On the surface the show looks as though
it is prone to all the cliches. A newspaper
employs people of widely divergent skills
and personalities: a hardcase city editor, a
liberated female reporter, a pushy, ambi
tious Bernstein-type reporter, an imperious
owner-publisher and an unkempt, easy
going photographer.
Although the characters are stereotypes,
they are relatively new stereotypes for tele
vision. And because of some good writing,
they come out looking fresh and
original.
One of the reasons Lou Grant works is
because most viewers are ignorant of the
dairy goings-on in a newspaper. So far the
show has been informative as well as en
tertaining. But after awhile, when we are all. famil
iar with the routine of a metropolitan
newspaper, we're going to start looking for
more. Lou Granf writers are going to have
to deliver. There is a real danger that Lou
Grant could turn into some land of newsy
soap opera.
Last Monday night's show is a case in
point. In this episode, managing editor
Charlie Hume (Mason Adams) had to con
front the fact that his son, a Hare Krishna
convert, wasn't about to see the folly of his
ways and come home to his motorcycle.
The story had little if nothing to do with
journalism.
If Lou Grant's newsroom becomes sim
ply set where characters trade off their
personal problems week after week, the
show is going to go down the tubes. There
is a danger that the show will depict
journalism as a kind of chummy fraternity
and that would be tragic.
Journalism in America is dynamic and
full of drama. For a show about journal
ism to Ignore this fact would be self
defeating. There b bo shortage of issues that the
- writers can draw from to make Lou Grant
an important dramatic series. And they had
better get on the ball. The ratings still are
not altogether favorable.
There have been one or two really fine
Lou Grant episodes, and when there are a
few good ones there is potential for a lot
more.
Ed Asner played second fiddle to Mary
Tyler Moore for seven years. Perhaps more
than anyone, Asner deserved a spinoff
success. Hopefully the writers will recog
nize this and get more meat into their
scripts.
Of course, if Lou Grant ultimately fails,
life will go on. There's bound to be another
spinoff waiting in the wings. Maybe Ted
Baxter will join the priesthood.