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Show Page Four THE MOUNTAIN FLOWER September 22, 1973 QNSTM3E By BRIAN JENSEN ANN ARBOR, MICH. Among American college towns, this one has a reputation of notoriety which is probably second only to that of Berkeley. It is the home of the mammoth mother state school of them all, the University of Michigan, the Midwest bastion of hip politics, headquarters of die Commander Cody ozone cult, and. scene of i the infamous but short-live- d $5 ticket marijuana law. But to enthusiasts of blues and jazz,' particularly the' new jazz, Ann Arbor is best known as the site of a music festival which, for the past two years, has presented an array of artists that strains Credulity. You cant ask for more variety from a festival whose program runs g Sam the gamut from Ra from to Sun and his band outer space. During the three days (Sept. 7, 8, 9) of the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival, close to 40 different bands and musicians performed. There was an abundance of great music. Perhaps the favorites of the crowd were two veteran masters of their idioms, Count Basie and Ray Charles. Both men possess a thorough knowledge of music and showmanship and the young audience seemed to genuinely appreciate - One-Strin- - -- craftsmanship that comes through many years of hard work. The blues of Chicagos South Side were well represented, especially by Hound Dog Taylor and the Houserockers and the feig Walter Horton Blues Band. Hound Dogs sound is raw and unpolished and few can equal the intense power of his biting guitar work. Horton, who is probably best known for his work with Muddy Waters, is a master harpist whose inventiveness on that instrument is astounding. . There was also a good-size- d contingent of Detroit bldesmen who, with the exception of John Lee Hooker, are considerably less prominent than the Chicago musicians. Hooker, of course, is an original, and his evil boogie was immediately recognized and dug. Another highlight was the performance of One-StriSam, who achieves a remarkable emotional range considering that he plays a homemade, fretless instrument. And there was plenty of y contemporary jazz. Yusef Lateef sounded great, especially on tenor, playing in a hard-boSonny Rollins vein. Charles Mingus appeared with his most exciting band since the Eric Dolphy-Jaz- z Workshop days. . ng , one-strin- g, high-energ- p, IN 'FOCUS When Park City decides to hold an art festival its always a big affair as it has been for the past three years. The latest Park City Art Festival attracted thousands of onlookers and patrons to Main Street and Here are a surrounding areas Aug. few of the faces that outlined the atmosphere that weekend. 17-1- 8. The Blues at Ann Arbor Theyve been together for some was severely marred by noise time now, playing at the Two and a faulty sound system. Still, Saints in New York. Exceptionalcredit must be given to tire ly fine was pianist Don Pullen, festival sponsors, a group of Ann who has successfully synthesized the violent, dissonant attack of Cedi Taylor with a straight blues style. Ornette Coleman unveiled his new sextet. The supplementation of a guitarist and a percussionist to the regular quartet proved mostly inconsequential to Ornettes sound, which is as fresh and challenging today as it was more than a dozen years ago when the notorious plastic alto and co. helped revolutionize jazz. And then there was Sun Ra and His Intergalactic Discithe with pline Arkestra, replete Ethnic dancand Space singers ers. Otherworldly both aurally and visually, the grand patriarch of avant-gard- e black music- urged the audience to not confine themselves to the limited spectrum of planet Earth. Although the festivals attendance of 20,000 people may seem meager in comparison to some recent rock n roll gatherings, shortcomings inherent in any large festival were in evidence. There wns certainly a lack of intimacy and the crowd noise-levoften obscured subtler aspects of the music. Notably, the Revolutionary Ensembles set - el IFsi93 tiful music which for a variety of economic, political and ethniv centric reasons has been unfairly confined and relegated to relative obscurity. This years festival was broadcast live over approximately 100 radio stations across the country (including 3 in Utah), and recordings are to be released on Atlantic Records. Ralph J. Gleason mice wrote that some day Sun Ra will be heard on jukeboxes. If anything is helping to speed the arrival of that bossest of days, it is the Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Arbor community folia called who proRainbow Multi-Medivided adequate food, information and child care services, and a medical tent to care for casualties from the Fun Front (Ann Arbors reputation as a dope and wine capital is not without substance). Perhaps the most important function which this festival serves is that of exposing a mass audience to important and beau a, Fire: 1973 Continued from Page l It was my night off," Otto Mileti said, and I was down the street when I heard the trucks go by. I ran to tlf$ door, saw about where it was, and jumped in my car. When I saw it across the street from my place, I ran for the nearest hose Id lent mine out die week before and the guy hadnt returned it. As windows in their build ' cracked and splintered ings from the heat across the street, Mileti and other shopowners ran hoses on their building frontages. Suddenly I looked below my spot on the roof and there was this bucket brigade of 20 or 30 people passing buckets of water from my kitchen and throwing them on the front of the restaurant. I had no ida where they all came from. Novelle, watching the fire from his back window, had decided the house was about ready to go. I turned to the ldds and said, Lets get the valuables out. And wed no more than moved out one loads worth of guns and cameras when we turned around and there were more people than Id ever imagined possible in here carrying out furniture, appliances and food and setting them on the street outside. There were so many of them, in fact, that it was impossible to get back in. They even pulled out the telephones and took not tore, but with screwapart drivers desk an old roll-to- p we couldnt have gotten through the door otherwise. I had to stop them from tearing out the Tiffany lamps. Novelle finally got a few hours of slee the next morning. When I came back, all the furniture and food had been .moved off the street and into die church next door. It was just marvelous. The store owners werent so lucky. The owners of Just Rings, a jewelry store, were 'seeing a movie in Heber City when the fire broke out. Mast of their goods were salvaged when someone kicked in the stores front door. Don Prescott, owner of a real estate office and clothing-antiqu- e store, My Favorite find his rearrived to Things, cords and merchandise in ashes. A lot of us had gone into My Favorite Things and gotten most of the stuff out, Dave Mueller, a fishing guide and match secretary for the rugby team, said. And its a wonder somebody didnt get killed. You dont think about those things until after its all over, I guess. Wed come pouring out of'the Alamo and had just gone to it. I remember thinking, one time when I went in there, Oh, God, what if it caves in? When it finally did, I was standing on tiie front step carrying a plate glass mirror. I tack two steps forward, then suddenly found myself across the street, blown over from the blast probably. One girl who saw us when tiie tiling finally went said there were people and debris flying every which way. Little Georgie was standing by a window, waiting to get out. The Mast knocked him through. Its a wonder he didnt even get cut up. The blast showered hot glass and debris on merchandise that had been placed in the middle of Main Street and set it on fire. When you get in a situation like that, youre not really thinking, Mueller said. Some people were getting stuff and setting it right outside. By the time Prescott arrived, at 10 p.m. I could see it was all a loss with those two buildings. My chief worry was the church I owned behind the fire, so I got on top of it and was hosing it down to keep it from going up. Besides tiie clothing and antiques which were later sold at almost a total loss, Prescott lost records of his real estate transactions and the inventory records for stores in Park City and Los Angeles. Its going to be a long time before I can folly determine the extent of my losses, he said. What also has to be determined is tiie cause of the fire, something an inspector from the Utah State Fire Marshalls office is currently investigating, as well as what steps Park City will take to prevent malfunctioning hydrants and equipment from turning another small fire into a major blaze damaging $200,000 worth of property. . The city has already started to talk about updating the fire department, Sullivan said, because we all realize that growth brings responsibilities. But our exact course still hasnt been determined. Everybody here is aware of what can happen, Mileti noted. We had to keep the hose on ourselves to keep from getting burned. And Im afraid the leaves on' my poor tree have had it for this year. But whats more important is that people suddenly came out' of nowhere to help us in any way they could. Thats what really saved us. Novelle has a simpler explaWhat happened was nation. small town. Very typical very Park City. typical |
