Steven-Byrne jazz sounds hot and cool By RACHEL MARKOWITZ Collegian Arts Writer The red and blue lights illuminating the stage during the opening number at Steven-Byrne Fusion’s free con cert at Schwab Auditorium Thursday night were symbolic of the hot and cool sounds the band would unravel before the end of the night. The two-month-old local band, brought on campus by the Penn State Jazz Club, performed a wide variety of cover tunes by artists such as Grover Washington, Jr., Weather Re port, and Billy Cobham before an almost full-house crowd. Fusion, dubbed “undefinable” by the band members, can often be identified by listeners as a cross between jazz, funk and rock. It incor porates the improvisation and chord progressions of jazz, the dancy beat and Latin influences of funk, and the electronically amplified instruments and strong, regular beat of rock. Band members are Christopher Byrne (tenor and alto sax), Earl Johnson (keyboard), Gary Slebod nick (electric bass) and Steven Ag haian (drums). Byrne is a graduate student at the University; Johnson and Slebodnick are undergraduates. The opening Grover Washington tunes, “Strawberry Moon” and “Let It Flow”, spotlighted the ability of the band to play mellow, melodic night club music as well as upbeat, funky material. The latter tune featured good licks on keyboard and sax and innovative drumming. The band’s attempt at “playing a little jazz,” featuring John Coltrane’s famous “Naima,” created a haunting ambience in contrast with the rest of the relatively straightforward reper toire. Aghaian experimented with cymbals and staccato-playing on drum rims to create breezy, exotic rhythms while Johnson vamped on an acoustic piano. One of two original pieces in the show was Johnson’s “Earlism,” which had a bluesy feel and featured Johnson’s appealing experimenting on keyboard. Slebodnick’s stirring bass improvi sation on the Billy Cobham tune, “Stratus,” furnished another of the concert’s highlights. The 19-year-old player’s “poppin’ and slappin’” and spirited stage presence elicited en ©oooooooooooooooooooooooooqooooooooooo ! Candy Shop, etc. I g 362 East College Avenue 8 g Buy A Friend A FRIEND § Plush Animals 8 g All Kinds 8 o Dinosaur Eggs are back 8 OOOOQQQOGOQQOOOOOOOQG^OOOOOOOOOOQQQQQO ★ ★★★★★★★★★★★************* An Evening with Chinese Films! ★ Sponsored by the Chinese Friendship Association. * Time: November 30.1987. Monday 7 p.m.- n3O pm ★ Place: 112 Kern Building ' J First, \lnuous Woman (1985) £ is a moving tale of a voung Chinese woman's struggle + against her late. At age to she is married to a 6-year-old husband. It is the belief of that village tfiii J . this kind of marriage would ensure the longevity of the little bow But she falls in love with a voung * man in the village director I tuang Jianzhong's stylized composition adds certain poetrv to this ★ Subtitles)' rra lP( Im ' Tlis 1,1 m has heen nominated for best picture in China, (with English Second. Pdo isiKunglu (1085) % captures the essence of lx)th the Kungfuspirite and the ★ se patriotic spirite. 'i ou \\ ould certainlv eniov the wonderful Kungfu performance i with English Subtitles) 1 w It is a Chance You Don’t Want to Miss ADMISSION FREE * ★ ★★★★★★★★★★a-************* wE^uvm Drivers & Cmaiterpeople Wanted immediately call 234*8007 The Diner For Over 50 thusiastic applause from the audi ence. Immediately following his solo, Sle bodmck was forced to play with only three strings, as the fourth hanged from his instrument. “Playing this hardcore music takes its toll,” Byrne said as Slebodnick changed the string. Slebodnick later broke anoth er string. After a few moments of indecision as to how to keep the show on the road, band members lunged into im provisations without Slebodnick. Ag haian supplied strong, consistent rhythm as Johnson displayed his light touch as well as imagination, as dem onstrated his incorporation of the “Yankee Doodle Dandy” theme in his solo, a trick known as quoting. “That’s the real meaning of jazz right there improvisation,” Byrne said, following the tune. The musicians’ technical weak nesses in a few areas were revealed, as in occasional sharp playing by Byrne and Slebodnick, the latter’s occurring most obviously during Weather Report’s popular “Bird land.” The band’s biggest stylistic flaw was its tendency to play tunes in a predictable pattern main theme on sax to open, keyboard solo, main theme on sax to close. The audience, composed of jazz fans and novices alike, provided gen erally favorable reactions to the show. “The overall performance was ex cellent,’’said Pam Baldwin (junior biology). Rick Skurla (senior-operations management), who just started lis tening to jazz this year, said he would have appreciated more variation in the music. “They followed the same type pattern of horns then keyboards. I like it more varied,” he said. “I liked the bass player because he played well and he was really cute,” said Cara (undergrad-psychology). “He lost two strings but he didn’t lose his cool.” Backstage after the concert, band leader Byrne said he hadn’t expected such a good tumout.“We like playing for a young crowd. Once they’re hot, they make us hot,” he said. Byrne said the band will perform Dec. 9 at Cafe 210 West. The band plays six to eight gigs a month at local nightspots such as Spats, Cafe 210 West, and Brickhouse. says Guitar recital offers 'a soothing break' By RACHEL MARKOWITZ Collegian Arts Writer It wasn’t a typical day in the HUB Fishbowl. Sure, there were the usual studiers, dawdlers, dreamers and nappers sprawled out on cushions and on the floor. But something was different. People were making music. The campus hangout was trans formed into a breezy patio of a Span ish villa Wednesday as the Penn State Guitarists treated a midday audience 50* ANKSGIVING DINNER A tursday, Nov. 26th lla.m. to 7p.m. hiding beverages & desserts * y**'*" - " ) 126 W. College Ave. Festival! Mediterranean food and folktunes fill Robeson Center By RACHEL MARKOWITZ Collegian Arts Writer Colorful tables boasted traditional crafts and foods, a belly dancer undulated to the rhythms of Egyptian folktunes, and Americans plunged into a melting pot of foreign cultures at a Mediterra nean Festival held Sunday at the Paul Robeson Cultural Center. The purpose of the International Student Coun cil-sponsored event, which attracted between 700 and 800 people throughout the day, was to “pro mote cultural awareness and more understand ing of Mediterranean cultures,” Festival chairman and Council member Marios Lenas said. The 10 countries that participated were Egypt, Cyprus, France, Lebanon, Greece, Pales tine, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey and Spain. The bustling, aromatic assembly room resem bled both a Middle Eastern bazaar and a Euro pean thoroughfare, as people chose either to explore the booths sampling delicacies and chat ting with cheerful hosts or to mingle on foot and at tables. The Palestinian booth, sponsored by the 50- member Association of Palestinian Students, featured a particularly colorful array of delica cies and handicrafts. Visitors could sample bak lava a rich pastry containing honey and crushed nuts between layers of buttery paper thin dough and falafel the Middle Eastern equivalent of a taco, with fried chickpea patties, tomatoes, onions and sauce enveloped in pita bread. Also on display were ornate jewelry boxes made of wood and mother-of-pearl, a wooden sculpture symbolizing the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and “worry beads,” traditionally fin gered by Muslims while praying. The Tunisian booth was also impressive. Tra ditional foods of the north African country were featured, such as tajine malsouka , a casserole made of pasta, chicken, eggs and cheese. House hold items on display included hand-painted ceramic plates and handheld straw fans. The Tunisian Students Association has 27 members. Association president Bilel Jamoussi said. Mehmet S. Taner, the cultural and educational officer of the Turkish Students Association, gave a detailed explanation of the items at the Turkish table. He explained the process of making Turk ish coffee as well as the significance of several crafts displayed on an embroidered carpet. The Turkish Students Association has about 35 mem bers, he said. A self-proclaimed “famous artist” displayed his ceramic tiles and figures at the Egyptian table. Art education graduate student Mohamed Agag said he has exhibited his work in Washing ton, D.C. and Berlin. Additional articles at the booth were hand-embroidered traditional dresses, silver and turquoise jewelry and exam ples of papyrus ancient Egyptian paper. Dr. Magdi Mashaly, advisor of the Egyptian Stu dents Association, said the group has about 11 members. In addition to the crafts and reasonably-priced food one satisfied diner said she had spent $2.50 and was full guests were treated to live musical entertainment. The most memorable performance was by the Penn State International Dancers, featuring bel ly dancing by Sujata Kakarla (graduate-comput er science) and Egyptian folkdancing. The enthusiastic audience watched the dancers atten tively. cheering and clapping to the music. Advisor Elizabeth Hanley, glowing after the troupe’s performance, said most of the dancers are American and study diverse majors. The group, celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, performs throughout the state, Hanley said. LIACA, a dance troupe from Long Island, to a free concert. Works of such classical composers as Albeniz, Villa Lobos and Ponce were featured. Members of the mostly male audi ence sat motionless, their eyes riv eted on the guitarists’ delicate finger movements. The performers re frained from chatting with the audi ence about their individual pieces, but the listeners responded with hearty applause. Stan Mullen couldn’t help but show his nervousness about being the first of the four guitarists to perform, but he nevertheless mastered certain fea- Urbani used dynamics and rubato to tures of typical Spanish music, such expressive success, as in his delicate execution of triplets Third on the program was Mike in Albeniz s ‘Granada.” Warmed up Polashenski, who played Byrd’s short a bit for his second piece, Mullen “Pavana Bray” slowly and dreamily displayed some complicated finger- Bill Carter, the musicians’ instruc mg m Villa Lobos s Etude 8 in CH tor, said he was pleased with his m ' nor . , „ students’ performance. He said the second player Steve Urbani dove musicians are four of eight guitar right into Sor’s Etudes 3 and 5 and performance majors enrolled in the Ponce s Preludes 2 and 6, all simple music department. The guitarists melcKhes he played smoothly and have also played “boxed-lunch con carefully. The highlight was Villa certs” in the chapel near the music Lobos s popular Prelude 1, in which building. The Daily Collegian Wednesday, Nov. 25, 1987 N.Y.. folk danced for 45 minutes to music from Greece and the island of Cyprus. A 20-minute performance of Turkish songs was also pre sented. Guests approached during the event appeared to be enjoying themselves. “It’s an uninhibited, bacchanalian atmo sphere.” said Susan Pappalardo (senior-general arts and sciences). “People are enjoying them selves." Anastasia Logotheti (graduate-English). who is Greek, said she was happy to see the Greek and Turkish tables side by side despite the political tension that exists between the two nations.“lt shows that the countries don’t fight on a personal basis,” she said. Taner from the Turkish Students Association agreed, saying,“lt’s very nice that there is no politics here at the festival.” Dick Gamble, a 67-year-old volunteer with the Office of International Students, said one of his passions is working with international groups. "I have a feeling for students who are far from home, in a different atmosphere,” he said. Imad Al-Qadi, president of the International Student Council, said the Council will co-sponsor a larger international festival with the Office of International Students in February at the HUB Al-Qadi said that although ISC acts as an “umbrella” to 24 foreign clubs, more than 100 nationalities are represented at the University. He said that of the approximately 2,000 foreign students, the majority are Chinese, Taiwanese, Indian and Korean. He added that 35% of grad uate students here are foreign. There is a void between American and inter national groups that must be bridged by ISC,” Festival publicity chairman Anish Wig said.“A mericans have stereotypical images of foreign ers. ISC can help bring the two groups closer together,” he added.
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