Category: Arts

REVIEW: Jazz + Chocolate

audreymg Leave a comment

It’s official, there is no better combination than jazz and chocolate. It was the Valentine’s Day date to rule them all with Josef Deas’ jazz trio playing classics while chowing down on Zingermann’s triple chocolate cake. The Josef Deas Trio is composed of upright bass, drum set, and trumpet playing pieces by Coltrane and all your favorite classic jazz artists. This was a pleasant surprise for me as more modern jazz is truly a hit-or-miss in my mind. Sorry mom and dad, but I really hate the “smooth jazz” and “watercolors” music channels you made me listen to growing up. The real highlight was the drummer tapping out a complex rhythm with one hand and a different one with the other. He drove the trio through highs and lows. At one point in the performance he started increasing the tempo, over the course of the piece he pushed the trio faster and faster leaving me to wonder if they were ever going to slow down. The bass and trumpet kept in time not missing a single beat. Halfway through the night, our the trio turned into a quartet with the addition of an alto sax. I don’t know the saxophonist’s name but I’ve seen him many times playing sax in a tuxedo outside the Potbelly on State and Liberty. It felt like a special treat to see the busker with such a passion for his craft show up for the performance.
Adding to the general ambiance of the night was an interesting crowd. There were couples slightly dressed up and clearly there to celebrate the holiday, but there were also others just there like it was any other Thursday night. In one corner I watched two women pull out all sorts of pink and red flowers and glittery items as they started to construct what I imagined to be gift bags for a weekend Galentine’s Day party. Meanwhile, the middle-aged couple at the table next to us was friendly and chatty throughout the night. By the end of the show the husband was nodding off at the table as his wife lovingly gazed on and laughed with us at his inability to keep eyes open. My favorite audience member was a little girl probably no older than 3 or 4. She came ambling into the room with her dad trailing along, excited to watch the performance. Her dad informed us that she loves music and just had to watch. I imagine that little girl has a bright musical future ahead of her as I know very few infants with such an appreciation for the jazz classics.

REVIEW: If Beale Street Could Talk

Corrina Lee Leave a comment

If Beale Street Could Talk is a paradox. It is a beautiful movie about ugly realities. It is light enough to take flight and simultaneously weighed down. It should be an ordinary love story of two young people, but it also can’t be because those two people are black. And it is a movie of extraordinary substance, but only sometimes. So, I loved it, but only sometimes.

One of the most significant paradoxes, is how the film can feel incredibly focused and far too broad with its characterization. This is especially true for Tish (KiKi Layne) and Fonny (Stephan Lane), the couple around which the film (and occasionally the camera) revolves. Tish is newly pregnant. Fonny is newly imprisoned. It is a story that feels sadly inevitable. So even as Tish holds out hope for her beloved’s return, we watch with a sense of doom. They are beautiful outlines, walking down the street, hand in hand. Brightly blue and yellow clothing against the concrete sidewalk, you want to follow their silhouettes forever. But that’s all they are. Outlines. They never feel shaded in because so many things, their personalities, their histories, feel like afterthoughts in the narrative. Instead, they are constantly overshadowed by racist, societal forces that refuse to see them as people. And ironically, neither can we.

Though, Barry Jenkins certainly tries. His humanist style is apparent in every shot. When his camera focuses, really focuses, on Tish’s and Fonny’s faces, the lack of explanatory detail is utterly insignificant. Their eyes seem to contain a depth that is voiceless, a meaning that is inexplicable. When the score starts thrumming and the camera sweeps across a brick New York street, the feeling grows until it encompasses everything. Those overwhelming moments don’t by themselves, make the film incredible, but it certainly impresses upon you the importance of every moment. Time slows down, each passing moment agonized over, a memory in movement. For Tish and Fonny, after all, time is of the essence. Separation by prison glass makes every second precious. Seconds before Fonny is led away to a place where even Tish’s love cannot reach. Seconds before their time together is a distant memory.

The film’s greatest accomplishment, though, is forming characters around the Tish and Fonny so their relationship never becomes claustrophobic. In that way, the movie emphasizes familial love as much as romantic much to its advantage. Unlike Tish, her parents have long seen the world as it is. So, their happiness at the imminent birth is both incredibly joyous and a cautious projection. Regina King as Tish’s mom stands unwaveringly in her role, her eyes swimming with hidden vulnerabilities. And as Tish’s father, Coleman Douglas is a pillar of strength, going so far as to sell stolen merchandise to support the increasingly heavy fees for the lawyer. Every moment that the world crumbles, there is a willing hand, reaching out to take on another burden.

A love story above all, If Beale Street Could Talk wanders in a world of color without ever hesitating to explore the dark corners. It is, after all, in the hidden spaces where love blossoms best. In a cramped apartment room where Tish and Fonny finally connect. In a family home, where the celebration for a new member begins with a toast. In these places, there can be no police interference or shady justice systems. In these places, love triumphs.

PREVIEW: Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem

JM Leave a comment

This Saturday, February 16 at 8 pm, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, UMS Choral Union, and Ann Arbor Youth Chorale will join forces to perform Benjamin Britten’s monumental composition, his War Requiem. The featured soloists will include Tatiana Pavlovskaya, soprano, Anthony Dean Griffey, tenor, and Stephen Powell, baritone.

The work was commissioned for the 1962 re-consecration of Britain’s Coventry Cathedral, which was destroyed in 1940 by a Nazi bomb raid. Composed of six movements, the War Requiem “mixes the Latin words of the Mass for the Dead with poetry of Wilfred Owen, who was killed in action just one week before World War I ended.”

The performance will take place at Hill Auditorium, and it will run for approximately 80 minutes, with no intermission. Tickets may be purchased at ums.org/performance/brittens-war-requiem/ or at the Michigan League Ticket Office.

REVIEW: Complex Rhythms

JM Leave a comment

This past weekend, the School of Music, Theatre and Dance’s Department of Dance staged a fantastic performance entitled Complex Rhythms at the Power Center for the Performing Arts. Featuring four separate works, each had its own unique character and feel.

The performance opened with 7 x 12 and a Little Bit of Cha-Cha, a work by Robin Wilson with a jazzy and joyful, toe-tapping feel. Featuring live music by members of the Grammy-nominated ensemble Straight Ahead, I was immediately taken by the musicians’ position onstage, rather than off to the side. Before the dancers entered the stage, the musicians treated the audience to a jazz feature, solidifying the fact that they were an integral part of the work. Throughout the dancers’ rhythmic choreography, it remained evident that music was intended to play a very central role in 7 x 12 and a Little Bit of Cha-Cha. Additionally, the costume design, with bright colors and swinging skirts, complemented both the choreography and the music.

Next was the premier of Studio A, will you die with me? by Jennifer Harge, “a fire ritual that works to disrupt the anti-black, heteronormative, and capitalist structures that live within the fabric of Western dance studios and dance curriculums.” Featuring a backdrop of rows and rows of lit (electric) candles, ashen-colored costumes, glittering masks, and a long blue piece of fabric spread across the front of the stage, it was a performance that was at once unsettling and challenging, confusing and thought-provoking. Additionally, the soundtrack of the choreography was norm-defying and fascinating – it was an aural hodge podge that was not exclusively music, and for a length of time it was a recording of what seemed to me to be a woman humming singing while washing dishes.

My personal favorite of the evening was Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs, a new work by Bill DeYoung set to a recording of Leonard Bernstein’s “Prelude, Fugue, and Riffs” by the University of Michigan Symphony Band. With a backdrop of lights that resembled a collage of starry night sky and brick wall, the entire performance had a swinging, urban vibe that hearkened back to another era, while simultaneously remaining modern.

Last was probably the most monumental of the evening’s works, Shelter by Jawole Willa Jo Zollar. First staged in 1988 “to address the suffering and isolation of homelessness,” the version performed by the Department of Dance was adapted after Hurricane Katrina “to address the lives of the people that the hurricane left homeless.” It was a powerful performance, featuring spoken word (by Associate Professor Robin Wilson, original company member of Urban Bush Women, who first staged Shelter in 1988) and percussion as accompaniment to the emotive choreography. “I ain’t fled nothing. My country fled me,” Professor Wilson emphatically repeated.

Complex Rhythms explored a wide variety of human emotion and struggle, and it was a boundary-challenging, thought-provoking performance. Congratulations on an excellent performance to all those involved!

PREVIEW: The Ark’s 32nd Annual Storytelling Festival

Angela Lin Leave a comment

As a beautiful Ark tradition, The Ark’s Storytelling Festival brings together some of the greatest storytellers for an evening of humor and wit with a touch of heartfelt emotions. This year, the 23rd Annual Storytelling Festival features Laura Simms, Edgar Oliver, and Ivory D. Williams.  Come out to the newly renovated Ark on February 23 at 7:30 PM for some engaging and entertaining stories. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at MUTO in the League Underground.

REVIEW: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

ajayw Leave a comment

The Israel Philharmonic’s visit to Hill Auditorium had been on my radar as a performance I knew I wanted to see since UMS released their schedule last year.  The original plan was for the orchestra to be led by Maestro Zubin Mehta, a man who is probably the most successful Indian Western classical musician of all time.  Unfortunately, due to health reasons, Maestro Mehta was sidelined for this event, so Maestro Yoel Levi had to conduct in his place.  While Maestro Levi was certainly more than qualified to lead the Israel Philharmonic, a concert conducted by him simply doesn’t have the same allure as one conducted by Zubin Mehta, a veritable giant in the classical music field.  Levi brought excitement to the performance as any good conductor should, but, in my opinion, the amount of technical errors made by the orchestra overshadowed the great energy on stage.  The program started with the playing of the US National Anthem, followed by the Israeli one.  Unfortunately, those were the best pieces they played on the concert.  They started off the real program with a piece for string orchestra.  It was fine, overall.  I didn’t notice any major flaws or anything, but to me it just felt kind of boring.  This could have been due to the piece as opposed to the players, though.  They followed it up with Schubert’s third symphony to round out the first half.  It was OK, again.  My main gripe with this piece was the timpanist’s muting.  Every time he hit a note, there was a sharp, audible cut off an eighth note later.  As a timpanist myself, I can attest that nobody should be making that much extraneous noise, regardless of the style they choose to play or musical background they come from.  It distracted me so much from the rest of the piece that I couldn’t focus on anything else.  Most people in the audience probably didn’t even notice, but to me that was a huge red flag.  The second half of the program was Tchaikovsky’s 6th symphony, a masterwork.  Every major orchestra has played this piece a million times and Israel certainly cannot be an exception to that.  Because of this, I am baffled at how many mistakes they made.  Every time there was a run in the strings or brass, there was absolutely no clarity because they were simply not together.  To make matters worse, there were times when the strings would finish a run and we would be left hearing an incorrect chord.  The brass sounded kind of thin which cannot happen when playing powerful music like that of Tchaikovsky.  The timpanist redeemed himself to an extent on this half.  His strong playing led the orchestra through their best moments of the piece.  Unfortunately, he had some tuning troubles.  He was checking the low drum at intermission with a tuner, so maybe there was some sort of equipment malfunction, but it sounded out of tune at multiple spots.  It was just disappointing to see a world class orchestral play such a standard piece with so many mistakes.  The clarity issues could have been a result of a lack of familiarity with Hill Auditorium, an acoustically superior, yet really weird place to perform.  The other mistakes don’t really have a justification, in my opinion, though.  The encores were solid, but nothing special.  They performed “Nimrod” from Elgar’s Enigma Variations and the “Waltz” from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake.  Just when it seemed as though the orchestra was about to redeem itself with an exciting rendition of the waltz, the end fell flat.  As the rest of the orchestra hit an accelerando to end the piece, the low brass fell behind and simply couldn’t hang.  Overall, it was a fitting end to an underwhelming performance by a group that I can only characterize as overhyped.