Author: karafk

REVIEW: Michael Malis Trio at the Kerrytown Concert House

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The Michael Malis Trio performed on Friday evening at the Kerrytown Concert House.

The atmosphere was intimate and the audience was engaged and respectful throughout the entire performance. The talented musicians all seemed to know how to manipulate their instruments. Additionally, the musicians employed silence well and sometimes the silent moments were the most effective as well as most memorable moments.

Bassist Ben Rolston employed some experimental techniques such as plucking and artificial harmonics. Furthermore, drummer Stephen Boegehold performed well and seemed to master the technique of brush-playing. The talents of pianist Michael Malis, however, brightly shone throughout the performance. Moreover, the pianist sometimes performed alone rather than accompanied by Rolston and Boegehold. These moments seemed more intimate because the performance shifted from dialogue to monologue.

Additionally, Malis addressed the audience and provided them with some background information. For example, he said that poetry and literature inspire his compositions. This source of inspiration makes sense because jazz and poetry share several similarities. For example, both jazz and poetry have rules but also make room for improvisation.

Malis will perform again this month at The Raven’s Club. Click here to peruse his website!

PREVIEW: Michael Malis Trio at the Kerrytown Concert House

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The Michael Malis Trio will perform tomorrow evening at the Kerrytown Concert House!

The group will debut their newly-released album, Lifted from the No of Nothing. Mark Stryker of the Detroit Free Press recently labelled Malis’ music “sumptuous” and “impressive.” He continued to characterize the music as “loose and spontaneous, alert to dynamics and textural variety while balancing formal detail and discipline with freedom.”

The group consists of twenty-somethings Michael Malis, Ben Rolston, and Stephen Boegehold, all Southeastern Michiganders. Malis studied at the University of Michigan with internationally-known pianist and composer Geri Allen, Rolston attended Community High School, and Boegehold studied at Wayne State University.

Student tickets: $5

Click here for more information!

Click here to read Stryker’s article in the Detroit Free Press.

REVIEW: RC Student Juried Art Show

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The RC Student Juried Art Show features several student artists and will run until the end of the semester. Three artists included in the exhibition that I’d like to feature are Casey Jong, Heather Barnell, and Samantha Marks. Their contributions to the exhibition include pen-and-ink pieces, pottery, and sculpture pieces, respectively. The other exhibited artists worked with mediums such as painting, photography, and intaglio printmaking.

Jong’s pen-and-ink pieces, Piece 1 and Piece 2, hang side-by-side on the wall. The former piece features a female figure with a melancholic facial expression sitting on a chair next to a small end-table that supports a vase of flowers. She rests her face on her hand and stares into the abyss. The curve of her head resembles the curve of the end-table. Piece 2 features another female figure. She stands alongside a coat-rack and she raises her arms as well as secures her feet in first-position. The curves of her arms resemble the curves of the nearby coat-rack. Jong in Piece 1 and in Piece 2 combines female figures with everyday objects such as end-tables and a coat-racks. The pieces exemplify these combinations of figures and objects in visually-interesting ways.

Barnell’s Untitled consists of an engraved rectangle of clay. The artist engraved the words “Once a kid” and “Always a kid” on adjacent sides of the four-sided piece alongside childlike silhouettes. The other sides of the rectangular piece feature more adultlike silhouettes without the additions of words. The greyish, goldish, and purplish tones of the piece itself were visually-appealing. Untitled, however, was insufficiently lit as well as insufficiently positioned. The viewer struggles to read the engraved words of the darkly-colored piece. Additionally, the piece sits on its table at hip-level rather than at eye-level. The piece, however, still entices and interests the viewer regardless of the fact that viewing the piece at eye-level in a well-lit area would’ve been more ideal.

Finally, Marks’ life-size piece, Say Yes to the Debt, consists of tape, paper, and printed money. The artist sculpted these materials into the shape of a wedding dress. The title of the piece echoes the title of the well-known reality television series (Say Yes to the Dress). Wedding dresses sometimes cost thousands of dollars and the sculpture reduces the dress to its monetary value. The sculpture signifies conspicuous consumption because dress may indicate wealth. Certainly, the wearer of Say Yes to the Debt would conspicuously display his or her wealth. Ultimately, Say Yes to the Debt attracts viewers because of its life-like size as well as because of its surrealistic nature.

The RC Student Juried Art Show runs until December 17th. Additionally, the Residential College Art Gallery is open M-F 10am until 5pm. Catch the exhibition while you can!

PREVIEW: RC Student Juried Art Show

karafk

The opening reception for the RC Student Juried Art Show will take place tomorrow afternoon. The show will run until the end of the semester if you’re unable to make its opening reception. Additionally, the show does not appear to have any kind of theme.

I’m excited to view student work, which might seem less polished than the work of professional artists. Students are learning rather than perfecting their crafts. It’s exciting to witness and I’m interested in acquainting myself with the work of my fellow students.

The Residential College Art Gallery is open Monday through Friday 10am until 5pm.

REVIEW: Lera Lynn w/ Dylan LeBlanc at The Ark

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I witnessed the performances of musicians Lera Lynn and Dylan LeBlanc at The Ark.

LeBlanc performed surprisingly well. A cellist accompanied him throughout. Additionally, I appreciated the storytelling elements of his performance. For example, he revealed to the audience that he spent his childhood in Louisiana and described the experience of coming-of-age in the Bible Belt region. He also discussed his struggles with drug addiction as well as with alcoholism. LeBlanc’s songs sounded more or less similar to each other. Yet older songs seemed more forlorn and depressing while newly-written songs seemed more upbeat and romantic. Specifically, the newly-released single, “Cautionary Tale,” stood out from some of the other songs. The full-length album, Cautionary Tale, will be available in mid-January. LeBlanc mentioned that he plans on returning in a few months to perform again and I look forward to the possibility of attending another performance of his. Click here to listen to “Cautionary Tale.”

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Lynn’s performance was nearly flawless and her voice sounded remarkable. A bassist, a guitarist, and a drum player accompanied Lynn throughout aside from a handful of solo performances. They started off with “Out to Sea” from The Avenues. The next couple of songs were full of energy. Lynn strutted across the stage with confidence and had the aura of a well-seasoned performer. There was a certain toughness about her persona that convinced the audience that she deserved their undivided attention. Additionally, the performance felt slightly intimate because she tended to look intently into the eyes of her audience members in order to connect with them. Click here to listen to “Out to Sea.”

Lynn does not fit easily into a predetermined musical genre yet the made-up genre, “post-Americana,” seems to describe her music reasonably well. The set demonstrated considerable musical range and variety. It contrasted with the LeBlanc performance in this manner. Interestingly, many of the songs ended abruptly followed immediately by the stage lights shutting off. I thought these abrupt endings were somewhat strange and contributed to the slight over-dramatization of the performance overall. The attention-grabbing element of her voice had sufficient dramatic effect without the contribution of lighting. Ultimately, the event culminated in Lynn as well as LeBlanc performing together onstage. They sang “La Di Da” from The Avenues. A substantial amount of the song includes repetitions of the monosyllabic utterances “La La Di Da.” The song had a sedative effect that lulled the audience into a euphoric state of musical bliss. The lyrics were simple yet the song was unspeakably poignant and proved the fact that some music affects people in direct and unspoken ways. Click here to listen to “La Di Da.”

 

REVIEW: Poetry at Literati: Sarah Freligh

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I attended the Sarah Freligh reading at Literati Bookstore on Friday evening. Freligh recited poems from her newly-released and critically-acclaimed collection of poems entitled Sad Math. The collection won the Moon City Poetry Award last year.

Here is a review of Sad Math by author Mark Irwin: “Sarah Freligh’s Sad Math is nothing less than a marvelous arc that captures and explores what it means for all sentient beings to age and find the unreasonable sum of years. Her feminist view heightens the notion of sacred disfigurement as we realize that language can never properly add or assess our grief.” Ultimately, the poems within Sad Math assessed death, grief, and the past.

The atmosphere of the event was decidedly lighthearted. The poet seemed comfortable throughout the event despite the at-times gloomy nature of her poems. Freligh commented that some of her family members were seated in the audience. In-between readings Freligh would contextualize her poems with stories and various musings.

Near the beginning of the event she commented that she often mixes fictional elements with elements from her past. Indeed, many of Freligh’s poems concerned her past and her childhood, such as the characters involved in her high school memories. But not all poems concerned death and the past. For example, one poem humorously focused on her lovingly-depicted cat and elicited laughs from the audience. Additionally, the former-smoker often nostalgically featured smoking as a reoccurring motif within her poems.

Towards the end of the event Freligh mentioned that Garrison Keillor featured the poem, “What I’ve Lost,” on The Writer’s Almanac. Click here to read the written poem itself as well as to listen to the recording of Garrison Keillor reciting the poem.