The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page 40

The Cincinnati Enquirer Saturday, November 14. 1998 C9 ENTERTAINMENT Thrill isn't gone for B.B. King BY LARRY NAGER The Cincinnati Enquirer The King of the Blues came to town Thursday night and paid tribute to Cincinnati's own musical King. "Most of you are too young to have heard of the King Records Company," B.B. King said from the stage of the Aronoff Center's Procter Gamble Hall.

VK Not valid with ocrrnv VeS Energy Efficient IQsS The Horm Enhancers Professional XQg 1925 Queen aty Ave. Installation NV JJ CJMIMM 921 -0531 rme Warranty NTjl hp i' m. HO But tnose in the multigenera-tional crowd of 2,150 old enough to remember cheered as Mr: King counted off a a few of the label's greats from the '40s, '50s and '60s. "Bill Doe- minutes he took a seat for the rest of the evening. Though Mr.

King's skills as musician and showman remain undiminished, there was an unmistakable feeling of finality to the evening, a sense this could be a farewell tour. He continually referred to his age and the length of his career. And though his show started out strong, it had lost momentum by the end. As his band played behind him, the blues great closed the evening standing at the edge of the stage, tossing "B.B. King" pins to the crowd, signing autographs and waving goodbye.

The night began at the other end of the blues spectrum. Solo acoustic blues revivalist John Hammond put as much effort jnto sounding raw as Mr. King and company did in sounding sophisticated. His 45-minute set featured him as a one-man band, wailing the blues, blowing harmonica in a rack, whipping his guitars in a purposefully sloppy style and beating rhythm with a stomping left foot. At his best, as in Blind Willie McTell's lyrical "Love Changing Blues," it could be quite effective.

But often it just seemed to be an act, albeit one Mr. Hammond has spent 35 years perfecting. CONCERT REVIEW Memphis, Ark. Mr. King was one of the major forces in bringing the blues uptown, and he's stayed there.

His seven-man band sported silver tux jackets. The star wore a red-and-silver jacket, but his flashiest item of apparel was "Lucille," his trademark black, double-cutaway Gibson guitar that he wore across his expansive torso. His show was filled with his classic songs. To his credit, instead of playing medleys, he gave each its full due. There were complete performances of "Payin' the Cost to Be the Boss," "How Blue Can You Get," "Rock Me Baby," "The Thrill is Gone" and "Why I Sing the Blues" my age, I have many reasons," he quipped after the last).

He was as good a storyteller as a musician, hilariously taking the male and female parts in the stories he would tell to accompany his songs. He played the crowd as masterfully as his guitar, getting everyone to sing along. His voice and fingers remain as muscular as ever, but his legs are giving out. After standing for 20 gett, Freddie B.B. King King, Sonny Thompson, Tiny Brad-shaw," he said.

"You've got a lot of great music history here in Cincinnati." The 73-year-old blues master brought even more here. His hour-and-45-minute performance encapsulated a half century in the blues business, from the days he was just plain Riley King, making a name for himself in the juke joints of West Two Russian programs win applause gam nailed some fiendishly difficult octave passages, yet muddled others. The tempo was a tug of war between Mr. Russell and the pianist, whose eccentric pulling back and speeding up wreaked havoc on their collaboration. The familiar second movement, with its simple, melody, was excruciatingly slow.

Although Mr. Russell tried valiantly to keep up with Mr. Collard in the finale, they were rarely together. Mr. Russell led Ravel's orchestration of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition in the second half.

Although a technically secure conductor, his leadership in these vignettes (inspired by an exhibition of Victor Hartmann's art) lacked mystery, detail and refinement. The result was a perfunctory reading. The brass section was superb, however, notably CSO trumpeter Phil Collins in the first Promenade, and saxophonist Michael Andres added elegance to Vecchio Castello. The CSO repeats at 8 p.m. today; tickets: 381-3300.

Dayton Philharmonic information: (937) 224-9000. BY JANELLE GELFAND The Cincinnati Enquirer Two programs of Russian music mesmerized symphony audiences in Dayton and Cincinnati this week. At the Dayton Philharmonic in Memorial Hall Wednesday, music director Neal Gittleman led an enthralling performance of Prokofiev's score to the film Alexander Nevsky, aided by the Dayton Philharmonic Chorus and University of Dayton Chorale. The "soundtrack" was magnificent, but the most innovative part of this inspiring endeavor was the projection of the classic 1938 Sergei Eisenstein film on a screen over the orchestra. The black-and-white film jerky and primitive by today's standards portrays the true epic of the 13th-century Prince Nevsky who defended Russia against invading Teutonic Knights.

Mr. Gittleman seamlessly wove the music around the film's dialogue. His expressive phrasing captured the melancholy, weight and bite of the score, and his musicians performed enthusiastically. The "Battle on the CONCERT REVIEW Ice" was riveting for its relentless driving rhythm, enhanced by the visual effect. Mezzo-soprano Lisa van der Ploeg beautifully captured the pathos of the "Lament for the Dead," as the film's heroine searched for loved ones on the battlefield.

The choruses (prepared by Hank Dahlman and Robert Jones) articulated the Russian text with fervor; their powerful finale brought 2,300 to their feet for an instant standing ovation. Fresh from its 11-city tour of Japan as the Pops, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra played a crowd-pleasing program of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky and Estonian composer Arvo Part under associate conductor John Morris Russell on Thursday- in Music Hall. Although the music thrilled 2,577 listeners, the performance was below the CSO standard. French pianist Jean-Philippe Collard, who was soloist in Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1, was an inconsistent player who HOME DESIGN SALE Every Day At Closson's You'll Find The Unique.

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