monday, march 24, 1980
page 12
daily nebraskan
Solos and traditional jazz highlight Corea concert
By Michael Zangari
Chick Corea returned to Omaha's Music Hall Friday
with an apparently young band and vocals by Gail Moran.
The "with friends" tease on the tickets raised the
traditional slew of rumors about who was going to show
up as a surprise guest. The rumors ranged from the unlike
ly (Herbie Hancock and Stanley Clarke) to the hopeful,
(Joe Farrell), but as is usually the case with such things,
they were quickly put to rest when the lights dimmed.
The show itself was a straight ahead no-frills affair,
with a minimum of lighting and a simple stage setting.
Corea and band, which consisted of two horn players,
drummer, and electric bass player, started off the evening
in an almost traditional jazz mode. Playing three songs off
his new album Half step the' band took turns soloing in a
strong Charlie Parker-Miles Davis vein.
This in itself wasn't surprising-everybody borrows
from Bird and Miles, but it is definitely a departure for
Corea, whose Latin -based rhythms My Spanish Heart et
al), have dominated his efforts in the last fivs years. This
apparent return to jazz roots may or may not have been
inspired by the acoustic tour Corea recently completed
with Hancock. At any rate, there was no mystery to it,
as one of the songs was dedicated to Parker.
Sons dedicated
Corea also dedicated a song, "The Embrace" to
Robert Shuman, a song which provided his only solo
outing on acoustic piano. It was a soft delicate number
reminiscent of his improvisation albums. The noise level
in the hall, as is almost always the case with quiet songs,
was frustrating. I'm not sure what it is about quiet songs
Lincoln Symphony
to play Tuesday
The Lincoln Symphony Orchestra, under the direction
of Robert Emile, is to present a program of Twentieth
Century music at 8 pm. Tuesday at Nebraska Wesleyan's
O'Donnell Auditorium. The all-orchestral concert will fea
ture the work of Robert Beadell, professor of music at
UNL.
While characterized as a contemporary piece,
Symphony No. 1 by Beadell is not atonal. It is traditional
in form and content.
Also on the program is "Romeo and Juliet" Suite No.
2 by Prokofiev, taken from the ballet by the same com
poser. The music follows the story line of this famous
Shakespearean play.
"Hary Janos" Suite by Kodaly is a folk tale set to
music, reflecting the Hungarian background of its com
poser. A limited number of tickets are available for the per
formance and may be obtained by calling the symphony
office at 474-5610.
that makes people nervous, but there was chatter,
laughter, and people kicking bottles over until he picked
the tempo up later in the song. Ticket prices being what
they are, 111 never understand people not listening to
what they paid for.
The spotlight for most of the evening was on Corea as
a composer. He split most of the solos with his band,
coming alive about three times during the evening with
blinding synthesizer and electric piano solos. Corea is
incredibly fast, and probably has had more to do with
how the synthesizer is being used in jazz than any single
keyboardist. Corea laid back and played percussion several
times during the night, opening up room for the other
soloist.
Surprisingly, Corea, who in the past has concentrated
on new material in concert, did a fair amount of older
material. He included "500 Miles High" from Light as A
Feather (an early Return To Forever LP) and music from
the Leprechaun LP. He once again gave the older tunes a
traditional jazz setting however, and at times the only
thing that separated his music from that which grew out
of the 40s and 50s was the ever-present synthesizer and
electric bass.
Outright funk
It seems as if the electric bass has come into its own as
a solo instrument with the likes of Stanley Clarke and
Jaco Pastorius redefining the instrument. Constant use of
overtones and slap techniques provided an ever-present
underlay er to all the material, at once updating it, and till
ing it out. Things broke out into outright funk at one
point, much to the delight of the audience.
Toward the end of the first set, Gail Moran came out
and provided some vocal and visual focus to the music.
She was dressed in an unusual outfit, making her appear
like a 19th century china doll.
She has a beautifully ethereal voice, soft, breathy, and
crystal clear. Although I bit my tongue when I thought of
it, there is room to compare her voice with Barbra
Streisand-only Moran has twice the subtlety and range of
the former. She sang scat during most of the show, but
did do some lyrical vocals on a few songs. Her lyrics are al
most intolerably saccharine, but her style is such that she
could be singing her grocery list, and I wouldn't mind.
Arguably her longest and finest solo, in a scat style,
was covered up by a poor mix. Straining to hear her solo
over the band, I could still catch bits and pieces of her
fine range. Her upper register is particularly fine. She hits
sublime high notes and holds them-rare anymore with
the noded-out singers who dominate the charts.
Corea and Moran are remarkably relaxed on stage.
Corea had an easy rapport with the audience, playing off
shouts and noise. At one point he played a microphone
solo by buffing it with a towel in time with audience re
action. Moran also talked easily about getting into town
early and going to see Cruising at a movie theater. She
gave a low-key review.
Corea's relaxed and entirely competent performance
was immensely enjoyable. Subtle rhythms and driving
solos made the show flow evenly. Although I was left with
the feeling that Corea wasn't pushing his talents the ones
he showed were more than enough.
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bo
f s l
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Photo by Colin Hackley
Chick Cores and friends livened up Friday evening in Omaha at the Music Hall for those
who attended the concert.
Singer weaves re freshing characters and ideals
By Scott Kleager
Sometimes reading recently published
novels can be like looking out the same
window at lunch. For some reason 0 street
"Gatsbys" keep showing up in one form or
another, as if all modem writers ever see
are prosperous, morally burned-out
characters.
oxo o
Isaac Bashevis Singer's new publication,
Old Love just appeared on the best seller
shelf and it makes up for all the recent
boredom. It's the best writing to grace the
market since Jailbird by Kurt Vonnegut.
In Singer's writing characters are
wealthy but somehow they get away with
it without looking sickenir.gry upper class.
The people of these stories are far removed
from any American writer's character.
That's because his characters are not
composed of "American Ideals" paper.
They are, instead, fresh, comical and every
thing one wishes a character to be from the
points of view of a reader and a writer.
Nobel Prize winner
The author, a Polish Jew, is a recent
winner of the Nobel Prize for literature.
The stories in OldsLove are set in pre
Holocaust Poland. There is the overriding
power of combining scholarship and
experience that gives the narrative force
and straightforwardness.
It seems that the tales contain every
thing because the author expresses him
self through a tradition much older than
America, much older than World War II.
Add to that a belief in predestination
and feelings for the "occult" and youVe
come close to describing Singer and Old
Love. In a way this collection makes one
wonder if "occult" is another unfriendly
name given Hebrews by the not-so-friendly
Christians of Europe at the time
of the Holocaust. It will be interesting to
see how long the book stays on the front
shelf-it may be too much for Gentile
Americans.
Strong beliefs
In the story "Two Weddings and One
Divorce" a character says: "A prayer in
such circumstances can split the heavens.
Or perhaps the cure had already been de
creed. That day Reb Pinchos became
better." This is one such example of
Singer's people and their beliefs.
Exemplified is a life dictated by
tradition where all follow the laws cf their
religion. When a woman is divorced by her
good husband, for example, because he is
dying and doesn't want her to have to be
with his worthless brother (which is in
accordance with tradition), she is bitter.
But when her husband is suddenly cured
she still refuses to remarry him (which also
is in accordance with tradition).
"It is quite possible," she says to him,
"that I am barren, not you. Heaven wanted
you to bring forth a generation, therefore
this affliction was visited upon us." The
affliction is the sickness that caused the
husband to divorce her to begin with.
Devil trapping
In "A Cage for Satan" a Rabbi sets a
trap for the devil that has on its screen
". . incantations written in scribal hand on
parchment, as well as a ram's horn and a
prayer shawl that had once belonged to
the Kozienice Preacher. On its floor lay the
chains the famous St. Joseph della Reyna
had used to shackle Satan."
In "One Night in Brazil" a woman
suffers from a dead man's remanifested
head in her stomach. The Ffychic
Journey" deals with psychic research,
mysticism and travel on astral planes. All
the tales are mystical.
This is only one aspect of Singer's work,
but it throws all the action and situations
into a fantasy that makes each tale go
places that American readers havj probably
never been before.
Old Love's stories are far from Stephen
King's county fair in The Dead Zone, they
are less horrific and less pagan, and at the
same time more human.
