Jazz has always exhibited a serious machismo: consider how often such attributes as speed, endurance, and propulsion shape the music and our discussions of it. No instrument has embodied these elements more than the trumpet, and few Chicago trumpeters have funneled them into music as splendidly as Guy Fricano. Fricano has an expansive, almost blowsy […]
Tag: Vol. 23 No. 31
Issue of May. 12 – 18, 1994
Posted inNews & Politics
Saying Nothing
Letters editor; With regards to Bill Wyman’s article [Hitsville] on March 11, I feel compelled to ask one simple question that seems to be haunting Bill of late: Why be so bad at saying nothing? Besides misspelling the name of Stephen Malkmus two different ways in a rather short article, he goes on to make […]
Posted inFilm
Three From Vietnam
*** THE LITTLE GIRL OF HANOI (A must-see) Directed by Hai Ninh Written by Hoang Tich Chi, Hai Ninh, and Vuong Dan Hoang With Lan Huong, Tra Giang, The Anh, and Kim Xuan. *** THE GIRL ON THE RIVER (A must-see) Directed and written by Dang Nhat Minh With Minh Chau, Ha Xuyen, Anh Dung, […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Cheap Shot
To the editor: A cheap shot in the April 22 Hot Type ought not go unanswered. The column discussed Pulitzer Prizes awarded to two Chicago Tribune staffers: Ronald Kotulak for explanatory journalism, and R. Bruce Dold for editorial writing. Dold’s 10 pieces on the death of 3-year-old Joseph Wallace ran concurrently with the Tribune’s year-long […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Brand New Heavies
It’s unfortunate that England is so obsessed with categorizing music for the sake of fashion; the limiting tag “acid jazz,” by encompassing such a remarkably wide range of styles, tends to denigrate the good stuff and exalt the bad stuff. Formed in 1985, when this music was an underground phenomenon, Brand New Heavies are the […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Helbig’s Vendetta
After reading what proved to be another sinister attack by Jack Helbig on Paula Killen’s work, The State I’m In: A Travelogue, Continued, in the April 22, 1994, Reader, it is apparent that Mr. Helbig cannot conceal his personal vendetta for Ms. Killen. First he begrudges her her “ability to attract press attention” and then […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Vandermark Quartet
In recent years more and more musicians have opted to straitjacket themselves into ever-narrowing niches. Rock bands now specialize in noise pop, slacker rock, techno, or any number of other pigeonholes; likewise jazz artists, once among the most eclectic musicians in the world, often restrict their expression to the confines of swing, postbop, free jazz, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Monty Alexander
The music of pianist Monty Alexander clearly shows the influence of several true jazz legends, but I place more importance on his proven success in absorbing their lessons. Lots of pianists have displayed the influence of Oscar Peterson’s relentlessly swinging, seamless bebop lines, for instance, but bassist Ray Brown and vibraphonist Milt Jackson–both longtime associates […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Poor Publicity
To the editor: Harold Henderson asks whether the advocates at Voices for Illinois Children, who authored the widely publicized Chicago Kids Count study, can count (City File, April 22). Yes, we can count. But can this Reader writer read? Mr. Henderson correctly notes the study found a 17 percent increase in the proportion of Chicago […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Pilgrims in Cyberspace
WIRELESS BALLROOM Loofah Method at Live Bait Theater, through May 22 Wireless Ballroom, Loofah Method’s new show, has a moral to its story–it’s a classic, really, the one about not forgetting the human heart. But unfortunately, even as the Loofahs warn us of the dangers of technology, they’re completely overwhelmed by it; even as they […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Reader to Reader
At the main-gate guardhouse at Stateville, the morning after Gacy’s execution, I’m in line with 12 other people waiting to visit inmates when a guard enters the waiting area pushing a two-wheel cart half filled with Gacy’s personal possessions. Two other guards are in the room. Sergeant says, “Whose butt did you kiss to get […]
Posted inArts & Culture
At a Very Strange Place
JOSEPH HOLMES CHICAGO DANCE THEATRE at the Shubert Theatre, May 4 and 6-8 WINIFRED HAUN & DANCERS at the Athenaeum Theatre, April 29 and 30 Joseph Holmes Chicago Dance Theatre, which celebrated its 20th anniversary with these Spring Festival of Dance programs, is at a very strange place in its history. Randy Duncan, the company […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Pavement, a Band That Cares
Bill Wyman, Steve Malkmus’s (note correct spelling and the fact that he and Spiral Stairs are one and the same, silly) guitar playing, vocals and lyrics are great. Your compulsory cringing over Malkmus’s slight but on-target rants against Stone Temple Pilots and Smashing Pumpkins [Hitsville, March 11] is laughable because you don’t realize that this […]
Posted inNews & Politics
Alley Hoop
During the annual Bulls playoff frenzy we come under pressure from the youth of our neighborhood to repair our alley’s basketball facilities. A phalanx of neutered backboards flank the alleyway, the rims slam-dunked and hang-timed to twisted wreckage by dreamy-eyed kids working through growth spurts. Laura, my neighbor, got hers secondhand, a heavy-duty, homemade job, […]