I Black Ink ‘
Weekend / Entertainment
;14
August 24
I
Mo' Better Blues gets a
"Mo' Better" review
By Leonard Johnson
Contributor
This summer has been another
summer of more movies, more
music, more sex, more violence,
and of course, “mo’ better blues”.
Spike Lee has once again performed
his magic on the silver screen and
with it he has brought another great
soundtrack of music for his
audiences to enjoy.
Jazz is what it’s called, and the
“mo’ better blues” soundtrack is
loaded with lots of it. All the music
on the soundtrack is new and
original and is superbly performed
by the Branford Marsalis Quartet
featuring the smooth trumpet
sounds of Terence Blanchard. Also,
the mellow voice of Cynda Williams
is introduced on the soundtrack. We
can hear her wonderful melodies as
she sings the first song on the
soundtrack entitled “Harlem Blues”.
The instrumental cuts on the
album are all good with a variety of
styles. For instance, “Say Hey” and
“Knocked Out The Box” are both
up-tempo cuts with a modal jazz
flavor featuring excellent trumpet
and saxophone solos by Terence
Blanchard and Branford Marsalis,
respectfully.
However, the tempo slows down
with “Again Never,” a smooth and
mellow piece, written by Spike Lee’s
father, Bill Lee, performed on
trumpet with a heavy blues feel. The
title cut “mo’ better blues” surpris
ingly has an eight bar blues format
(verses the standard twelve bar
blues) which adds to both its
simplicity and its catchy tune. After
listening to the song "mo’ better
blues,” with its easy and almost
childlike melody just once, it stays
with you for hours as you hum it to
yourself “Pop Top 40,” which is a
highly unique cut, features the star
of the movie, Denzel Washington,
on vocals. “Pop Top 40” has an
interesting mix of jazz and modern-
day rap. The song, “Pop Top 40,”
presents a satirical approach to both
songs played on modern-day radio
and the way they present the idea or
concept of L-O-V-E. A very enter
taining, yet thought provoking tune,
“Pop Top 40” has a strong jazz feel
with a highly syncopated be-bop,
and modified hip-hop rhythm. “Jazz
Thing,” which seems to summarize
the eritire album (and the movie as
well), is a tribute to jazz, and the
artists which have made jazz an
American institution. More impor
tantly, it promotes the feeling and
concept of jazz being the true music
of the African-American. “Jazz
Thing,” unlike the other songs on
the ablum, is a true “rap” with
drums, sampling, and sequencing,
and has a powerful dance beat that
propels you to the dance floor.
Overall, the soundtrack for “mo’
better blues” is excellent, especially if
you are a connoisseur of jazz or just
good music. The variety in the styles of
music caters to any mood and is good
listening anytime, and anyplace. I
strongly recommend it to everyone,
especially if you didn’t get to see the
movie. This soundtrack is tmly a treat
to music and jazz lovers alike every
where. Spike and Bill Lee have done it
again— with a little help from some
friends they’ve brought us another
great collection of movie tunes. Fellas,
I can’t wait for the next one!!
CD
Leonard Johnson, a recent UNC
graduate, plays guitar/trumpet for
Soul Expression- a local jazz
band.
Ebony Readers stage a great year
By Erika F. Campbell
Editor
The Ebony Readers Onyx Theater is
a group of students dedicated to
promoting African and African-
American poetry and prose. The group
is comprised of approximately 30 to 40
students who perform at various
functions both on and off campus
thrqughout the year. Ebony Readers
President Kimberly Williams said this
year should be a very good and
productive one. “We have a very
talented group. Each of us brings
different aspects to the group but we
all share a common desire to perform
African and African-American theater.”
Although the group often performs
as guest at many functions sponsored
by campus organizations. Ebony
Readers often accepts invitations to
perform in other cities. Last year the
group accepted an invitation to
perform their compilation of poetry
and short stories entitled "A Walk
Down 125th Street” at the University of
North Carolina at Greensboro. In
addition to this show, they also
received invitations to perfom in
Raliegh, Butner and other cities.
Each year, in addition to accepting
invitations to prefonn, Ebony Readers
stages a major preformance with the
assistance of an artist-in-residence. Last
year’s artist, who also happens to be a
professor in the UNC speech depart
ment, Dr.D. Soyini Madison compiled
and directed Mandela: The Land and
The People. The show was centered
around the smuggles of the South
African people and included excerpts
from the speeches of African National
Congress leader Nelson Mandela and
from the memoirs of his wife,Winnie.
Express your idea of
freedom with Opeyo
By Monica Skinner
Contributor
Opeyo?! Many of you ask what is
Opeyo? Opeyo is Swahili for freedom
and freedom is exactly what the
Opeyo dancers express when we per
form. As a subgroup of the Black
Student Movement, the Opeyo
dancers serve to promote African-
American culture at UNC as well as
throughout the triangle and triad
aareas. We perform a wide variety of
dance steps including jazz, ballet,
modern, and hip-hop. Our group
consists of approximately 16 people
but we hope to expand the number of
members within the next year.
In order to be a member of the
Opeyo dancers, one need not have
any dance experience. Tryouts for the
1990-1991 school year will be in mid-
September. Those who would like to
tryout will be required to learn two
short dance pieces, one jazz and one
modern. During tryouts, an im
promptu piece may be added for those
who choose to express ideas through
their own choreography. In order for
Opeyo to be a well rounded group,
we are encouraging men and women
alike to tryout.
During the 1990-1991 school year,
we hope to expand by traveling to
other college campuses to perform.
For those of you talented individuals
who want to express your idea of
freedom, we encourage you to express
it with Opeyo.
O
Monica M. Skinner and Jackie
Chadwick will serve as the Artistic
Directors for Opeyo during the
199O-I991 academic year
Nevaina Graves, 1990-91 artistic
director for the group, was pleased
with the success of last years Mandela
show and plans to cultivate the same
type of qualiity preformances in the
upcoming year. Graves, who has been
artistic director for the past two years,
said “With the Mandela project. Ebony
Readers became more of a social voice
on campus. Before the group was
more of a perormance channel.
However, Mandela aroused the social
consciousness of the group and as
artistic director, 1 plan to gear the
group toward more social oriented
perfomiances in the future.”
In order to become a member of
Ebony Readers, one must audition.
The first audtion will be held in fall
and the exact times and dates and for
auditions will be announced in Black
Student Movement general body
meetings.
906 W. Frtnhlln St, Chap«4 KM
CjH M7.905)
AUGUST
24 (Fri) Echoes Farm (10-2)
Alpha Phi Alpha Party (2-6)
25 (Sat) The Veldt
26 (Sun) Antiseen and the
Brickbat
27 (Mon) Gibson Brothers
30 (Thur) Kappa Alpha Psi
Party 10-2
31 (Fri) Johnny Quest
SEPTEMBER
1 (Sat) The Usuals
(Original Raleigh Rock)
2 (Sun) Kenny Mann
and Liquid Pleasure
P0STERSffil5£T'SHIRT5
tSSENTWLOIIS
P05TCABD8
PATCHES
USED Boots, IPS tTAPES
1(»A W MAIN sn
(MRRBOROS
Soul
Expression
"Jazzing It Up in Style"
Music for All Occasions
URBAN CONTEMPORARY JAZZ'BLUES'FUNK
Fred Holmes 919-929-7325
Leonard Johnson (LJ) 919-929-0602
108 Taylor St, Chapel HiU, NC 27514
-