At first glance, putting Moye and Sparrow on the same stage suggests that somebody shuffled the scheduling cards; on second thought, it makes a surprising amount of sense. Famoudou Don Moye, a creator of the “Sun Percussion” concept (a sort of rhythm gestalt), is the world-renowned heartbeat of the Art Ensemble of Chicago; Sparrow (aka Bradley Parker) is a busy and inventive cog in the local music scene, a recording engineer, producer, label-owner, author, and composer–and a rather limited pianist, whose style is actually more percussive than either melodically or harmonically varied. The key to the concert lies in exploiting this aspect of his music, in effect reducing the piano to a sort of tuned drum for a series of percussion duets. (And if you’re in the market for percussion duets, you could put them in no better hands than Moye’s.) It’s a rather intriguing and even audacious premise, and one that has a good chance of succeeding–not least because of the genuine affection and respect that Moye and Sparrow have developed for each other in recent years. The concert falls within Southend Musicworks’ celebration of the AACM’s 25th anniversary. Tonight, 8 PM, Southend Musicworks, 1313 S. Wabash; 939-2848.
Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photos/David Gahr, J. Pallatto.