Page 93 - Demo

P H C T %u2019 ,TXMeltdown Is Hot Stuff At YWCABY EVE BERLINERIn an eclectic blend of the improbable and the divine, Memorial Hall of the YWCA, Third Avenue, Brooklyn, became the unlikely outpost for the experimental vanguard with Friday night%u2019s performance by Meltdown Performing Arts.Led by composers Rick Russo and Bob Goldberg, the group provided an imaginative (if incoherent), spirited and faintly amusing aside to the experimental wasteland where anything goes in the name of %u201cart.%u201dThe performers do not take themselves seriously.Amid an audience consisting of rather forlorn patrons of the arts %u2014 the residents of the Y %u2014 and a group of young, provocative artistic spirits, Meltdown receivedCovering your ears alters thesound by a process calledfiltration. Covering them partiallychanges the sound. Feel free toexperim ent during the concert.a warm hearing among both skeptics and open minds.Characterizing themselves as anarchistic and iconoclastic, Meltdown creates a sound stage of mild cacophonous crinkling aluminum foil in duet with amplified microphone jiggling in a kosher pickle jar.It is a kind of anti-music.Pieces are entitled %u201cMusic for Nailboards,%u201d %u201cMusic for Subways,%u201d %u201c Chinese Junk,%u201d %u201cMusic Larvae%u201d and %u201cStealing Tactics.%u201d On stage, the visage of Pope Pius XII overhangs the spectacle. Besides him, a battered piece of the cityscape %u2014 an old bus stop.Russo, a long-haired theatrical presence in red sequinned cap, black cape, white rimmed sunglasses to be replaced by redrimmed sunglasses and finally, in a simultaneous statement of the absurd, he wears both at the same time; Goldberg, sandy haired in rimless spectacles, a serious experimental music type, is dressed in shades of grey.Most successful were the works entitled %u201cBalcony Music 1 and 2%u201d which propitiously utilized the theatre-in-the-round (in this case square) format of Memorial Hall withits high, stately balconies encircling the room. Composer Goldberg sets his two trumpet players, Steven Bernstein and Frank London, and alto sax man, David Hollander, high above the audience with their beatific random horn blasts, movements and duels with Goldberg%u2019s electric piano.It is an evening of tinkling sounds, rubber bands snapping at snare drums, plastic implements scraping nailboards, the meditative intoning of Bronwyn Rucker and philosophic commentary by Russo. (Russo is later seen blowing bubbles.)Were those high frequency sounds of feedback and distortion periodically emanating from the speakers to be deemed a part of the musical menu? (A painful look on the face of Goldberg%u2019s parents. His mother is seen with hands over ears.)%u201cWe try to be demonstrative of daily life in terms of sounds,%u201d says Russo. %u201cWe%u2019re providing things to see and hear. It is our goal if we attain a sort of fluent perception of what is around us. I see many people covering their ears as the subways go by.So it is not unusual,%u201d says Russo.%u201cCovering your ears alters the sound by a process called %u2018filtration%u2019%u201d reads the program notes. %u201cCovering the ears partially (e.g., opening and closing you hands over them) changes the sound in different ways. Please feel free to experiment in this process during the concert.%u201d%u201cWe set into motion a series of processes,%u201d says Russo. %u201cWe are not looking for results. We are looking to continue our research with new experiments.%u201d%u201cAnd we have fun with noise,%u201d adds Goldberg. %u201cA lot of fun.%u201dThe concert was made possible through the cooperation of Meltdown Performing Arts, of which Russo and Rucker are artistic directors, the Brooklyn Academy of Nois,e, of which Goldberg is the founder, and Monster in the Closet, and through grants from Meet the Composer, the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment for the Arts, among others.Meltdown can be found headquartered in a onetime 1930%u2019s penny arcade museum and performing arts space along the boardwalk of Coney Island where their nuclear cloud stretches over the ensuing seascape.'Af erica' Shatters African MythsBY DREW BAILEYThe fall performance series of the Celebrate Brooklyn Festival continued its innovative tradition with last Sunday%u2019s presentation of %u201cAfrerica,%u201d a work in progress by composer Vernon Reid, a native Brooklynite. Reid presented ten sections of the entire %u201cAfrerica%u201d cycle, choosing those segments most representative of the full work.The opera was originally a song cycle composkl by Reid, containing musical elements derived from the variform culture of Africa. The musical prelude %u201cEmpire and Pan-Africa%u201d was originally part of that cycle and served as a brilliant introduction to the work%u2019s ideology. A nuclear rock ensemble led by Vernon Reid skillfully fused separate rhythmic figures in the drum, bass and guitar, with a unison melodic refrain that became a fragmented anthem. Further in the piece the melody made use of eastern musical elements with modal improvisation.The ideology of the piece involves the discovery of a fantastically heterogeneous %u2018Africa%u2019; shattering illusions and stereotypes of homogeneity. This discovery then uncovers the myth of a homogeneous black America, constructed conceptually by blacks and whites. In the segment %u201c1 ain%u2019t no African,%u201d poet Sekou Sundiata, dressed as an educated representative of black American culture eooly imposed a dialogue against, a r a v in g lv w ild te s tim o n ia ldelivered by Darious James.The characters were visual symbols of chaos and order, yet the content of their soliloquies expressed identical attitudes.The composer effectively used taped vocalsamples to set up intriguing backdrops of dialogue. In %u201cGod and Money,%u201d altoist Idris Aekamoor paced about the stage feverishly and executed electrifying improvisation to a vocal tape loop that contained subtle images: %u201cYour dreams are empty because you forgot to pray for the things you really want%u201c %u2022 - %u2018Do you pray?%u201d In %u201cwords are Meaningless,%u201d voices in various octaves created a lively accompaniement for Kevin Wynn%u2019s lively choreography. Subliminal messages haunted this segment as well: %u201cIn Africa, music is not an art form, as much as a means of communication.%u201dPerhaps most important to the work was the presence of fine performances by many well known young artists. Jawole Zollar was well cast as the seductive spiritual guide who leads the protagonist to Afrerica %u201cSomewhere in the vicinity of maybe and maybe not.%u201d Vocalist DK Dyson gave a memorable performance as a nightclub singer, in %u201cPerfect Mate Song%u201d and was exceptional in the piece%u2019s finale, %u201cKeep the Light Burning,%u201d a soulful duet with Corey Glover as the lead character.In %u201cWe wear the m ask,%u201d a poetic dialogue by Paul Laurence Dunbar lamented the presence of false identities as pianist Geri Allen accompanied him with a classicized gospel theme which effected a mournful dignity; a solemn, blue tension.The collaboration of so many talented artists is exciting not only because it. nrndiires fine performances, but because it speaks to the viability of the piece%u2019s fundamental ideology. %u201cAfrerica%u201d is a provocative revelation, and it%u2019s full realization will be eagerly anticipated by artists and audience alike.H e l e n C o h e n S a y s ,%u2018 %u2018How nice to have dinner at Lisanneand then walk over to BAM%u201d%u2014 What Do You Say?nn RESTAURANTD inner Tuesday-SaturdayBrunch A ll Day Sunday448 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11217 237-2271If you don%u2019t read The PHOENIX every week, you%u2019re missing the Best of Brownstone BrooklynTo Subscribe: Send $12.50 for One Year to The Phoenix 395 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn, 11217BLDEqitASs ek. country m usic-,fE jm grM ? (%u25a0 %u2022 %u2014A t --------.............' ~sRCrr-3UNDERCROFT COFFEE HOUSE %u00ab * bk61 CRANBERRY Sr. (HENRY6HICKS) INFO%u2014 -7-1 0 - 9 3 ^ - 0 1 J -eCOFFEE H PA N D T E A / f f lCocktails %u2022 Steaks %u2022 Chops Seafood %u2022 Catering %u2022 All Baking Done on PremisesO n ly 2 blocks fro m the B ro o k ly n A cadem y o f M usicO p e n 7 days%u2014 5 :3 0 a m -M id n ig h t; F ri.. S at. till 2am5 1 5 Atlantic A ve. fat 3rd A v e .) %u2022 6 2 5 -0 8 8 3 '0 9 8 4Free Delivery6 4 3 - 6 1 2 1M Y L IT T L EP IZ Z A%u201c Taste Why Our Pizza is the Best %u201d114 Court St. Hours: 10AM-1AM Fri & Sat %u2019til 2AMS u -S u s S p e c i a l s o f t h e W e e kCold Noodles in Hot Sesame S a u c e .................................... $3.95Su Su's Hard Shell Crab ........................................................$8,98General Tso%u2019s Spicy C h icke n...................................... $6.95Moo Shu Fantasia............................................................. $9.50R E S T A U R A N T %u2022 B A R %u2022 C A T E R E R S |60 HENRY STREET ''cor CRANBERRY'1 BROOKLYN, N YALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTEDDelivery to: Park Slope %u2022 Boerum Hill %u2022 Brooklyn Hts. %u2022 Cobble Hill %u2022 Carroll Garden* %u2022Q u ick Delivery i i > e i C o cktailsTake O ut Service Sunday BrunchO cto b er 16, 1986, THE P H O E N IX , Page 13