“W Q'XQ Doing It From The Inside Out.” Photo by Paul Diener The^eal^otherGoose A shop & gallery Washington Square featuring great gift ideas by some of S.W. Ninth & Yamhill 620-2243 America’s Best Artisans 223-9510 PSU FILM COMMITTEE Winter Term Films Fridays: Australian Cinema Saturdays: Films of Ingrid Bergman and Grace Kelly “ ^ ’s everything each of us Has lived and loved and learned, And for lack of a better word Call it Jazz ... That indigenous American art form called Jazz’” Janet Small, “Call It Jazz” (Wild Wimmin Music ASCAP) Cy n October, the five women Lz of Alive! made a tour of the Pacific Northwest that included engagements at Ernestine’s (formerly Parnell’s) in Seattle and at Delevan’s in Portland. They call themselves “a jazz quintet,” and their collective approach to composing and performing produces a unique and tightly disciplined group sound that is important Janet Small. “And who we are is the product of five really different backgrounds. All of us have classical training, but classical isn’t quite what I want to play. What distinguishes what I’m doing now is the whole rhythmic element, which came from Africa rather than Europe. That rhythmic element, and the improvisational element — composing and not just interpreting — means you can say things about your life and about the world now. Maybe because I went through the ’60s and was involved in politics and was concerned about the world, I want that to come out in my music. That and the rhythm thing are really why I’m playing what I am.” 7:30 p.m. 75 Lincoln Hall $1.50 General admission Call 229-4454 or 229-4452 for schedule Madame & Company Collectable Fashions Travel through fashion’s dazzling eras ... Choose from the ever-changing wardrobes ... Enjoy our fascinating finery H7 Yesler Way Pioneer Square Seattle (206) 621-1728 1513 • Custom Catering • Private Parties • Banquet Facilities Pdx. 8-0197 Alive! at Delevan’s not only for its purely musical values, but also because the way they make their music illustrates so convincingly how the fruits of a feminist perspective can bring hopeful new dimensions to the male-dominated field of jazz. With Carolyn Brandy on percussion, Barbara Borden on traps, Susanne Vincenza on acoustic and electric bass, and Janet Small’s percussive approach to acoustic piano, this group excels on Latin-based and other rhythmic numbers. When lead vocalist Rhiannon’s strong, wonderfully supple and superbly controlled voice is added, they become a complete and highly charged jazz unit capable of delivering a wide variety of music — from Miles Davis’ boppish “Four,” which opens with snare and voice cooking along in precise articulation, through Ida Cox’s famous “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues,” to “Without A Song” from The Student Prince, which Rhiannon delivers in a Betty Carter style that also draws on gospel roots.... But their musicianship is not all, because the lyrics themselves — originals by all the band members as well as tunes by Gil Scott-Heron and June Millington on Call It Jazz — serve notice that their material has substance to spare. A strong, personal substance, as Barbara Borden points out: “We’re all very strong in feeling that we don’t want to compromise what we’re doing for fame and fortune or a larger audience or whatever. We work from the inside out.... We write a song because someone in the band feels a certain thing and has to get it out, because someone has a certain experience and wants to relay it.” “We just play who we are,” adds “ th a t’s What Music Is All About, Breaking Down the Barriers.” A iX f ut make no mistake. This is a CTCZ musical group, not a political faction, and their real significance is not to be found in the lyrics nor in their individual convictions, but in their unique approach to making excellent jazz. As Carolyn Brandy says, “Sometimes reviewers like to put us in little categories, like ‘Feminist Band’ or something. Well, we are is their astute combination of a dense rhythmic pulse, a magnificent vocal instrument, and a clear-sighted commitment to integrate humane and egalitarian values into a musical context that makes Alive! such a moving and dynamic group. feminists, but we’re not up there saying ‘Da-dah, da-dah, da-dah, feminism, hey hup!’ We iust do our thing. From Clinton St. Quarterly 39
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