Chicago Tribune from Chicago, Illinois • Page 75

1 fllSr IS TODAY IN THE ARTS Move to New York or Actors are making a living in Chicago too. See Sec. 13, pg. S. OPENING TODAY Century Orchestra Osaka, Orchestra Hall, 3 p.m.

Sunday, October 23, 1994 sections page 7 Jenkins' violin mastery spans continents, centuries Hevrdejs TXT CONKLIN 1J.NL'. Jazz By Howard Reich Tribune Arts Critic Perhaps no one else playing the violin today merges the languages of European classical music and American jazz as seamlessly, elegantly and poetically as Leroy Jenkins. The venerable musician, who now lives in New York, returned to his hometown Friday night to play a mesmerizing solo set at HotHouse, on North Milwaukee Avenue. Though the smallish turnout suggested that only a limited audience recalls Jenkins' important role in Chicago's avant-garde of the '60s and '70s, the enthusiasm of the crowd's response attested to just how magnetic a performer Jenkins remains. 1 In a series of untitled improvisations, It's worth noting that Jenkins' merging of various musical traditions was hardly arbitrary.

By juxtaposing baroque and jazz styles, for instance, he reminded listeners that European music of the past stressed improvisation nearly as much as American music of the present. By evoking music of both the 1720s and the 1920s, he underscored the common harmonic vocabulary that music of the Old World and the New World have shared. Though some observers have called Jenkins' music "percussive" and "austere," this listener found his sound unabashedly lyric from start to finish. Even in his most daring passages, with the violinist throwing off fast flurries of notes and plenty of dissonance, there was no mistaking the melodic undercurrent of the music at hand. In this regard, Jenkins stands as the aesthetic counterpart to another brilliant avant-garde violinist, Billy Bang.

If Bang deals in sharp staccato attacks and an aggressive virtuosity, Jenkins prefers long legato lines and sweeping, romantic expression. Put these two on stage together, and you would have a virtual summation of avant-garde string techniques of the '90s. Even alone, however, Jenkins is a formidable figure and an original voice. Whether emphasizing great melodic flights on violin or more introspective murmurings on viola, he represents jazz fiddle playing of the most sophisticated and adventurous kind. Boyle proves doing improv is still in his blood Jenkins moved effortlessly between European and American musical idioms.

From strict rhythm to swing, from impeccable arpeggios to novel sound effects, from Bach-like counterpoint to free-form melody lines, Jenkins proved himself at ease in two seemingly different worlds. The wonder was in the speed and alacrity with which Jenkins slipped from one to the other. In an instant, a brilliant baroque solo passage might suddenly give way to a catchy swing tune, only to be interrupted by another flurry of 18th Century phrasemaking. ecbnd City alum Peter Boyle "Young dropped by the Wells Street theater Thursday in time to join the seven-member cast of their Steve Nidetz ON TVRADIO Cobain 3 IV her was Courtney Love plays Metro, summoning 'strange presences' WB to start out with Wednesday night of comedy he new WB television network makes its debut Jan. 11 on WGN-Ch.

9 with four new half-hour comedies starting at 7 p.m. WB programming chief Garth Ancier current show, "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been Mellow" for the improvisational set. Boyle, who performed at Second City in the late '60s and left Chicago after the '68 Democratic Convention, is in town working on the movie, "While You Were Sleeping." His 45-minute improv romp with the Second City team played to a full house and included a bit on Nixon and one on translating gibberish. "He was great," says Second City associate producer Kelly Leonard, "He has all his chops left." P.S.: Second City turns 35 years old on 3Dec. 16, and among the in-the-wofks anniversary events is the return of alumni guests for special performances.

Hot property: How popular are the red Campaign buttons that say "More than Just Another Pretty Face" and feature a 'photo of Dawn Clark Netsch? Well, her campaign team started handing them out following Wednesday's night's debate. By 'Friday morning, the first batch of 2,000 were gone, and phones were Tinging off the hook at campaign headquarters. Button lovers be calm: a Jnew batch is on order and will be ready yearly next week. Polpourri: Republican Joe Morris, Cook bounty Board president candidate, has Received $1,000 from U.S. Rep.

Newt Gingrich. State treasurer Democratic 'candidate Nancy Drew Sheehan just Jadded the endorsement of the Chicago 'jFire Fighters Union, giving her 14 nods from various civic and professional Associations. Illinois House minority Reader Lee Daniels (R-Elmhurst) has been named an Illinois Association of School Boards "Golden Apple" award winner for public education service. Stage fright 1: During a Thursday Hress rehearsal for "The Old Lady's Guide 4q Survival," actress June Havoc fell and 3broke her foot, postponing the Wisdom JJridge Production at Ivanhoe Theatre until she can go on. Of course, there's a precedent: the "broken-foot" thing happened just last year to actress Hollis Resnik in at Wisdom Bridge.

Stage fright 2: "The Beggar's Holiday," Pegasus Players' Duke Ellington musical, "Is packed with tap dancing, gymnastics and 23 songs, 19 of which have never been recorded. It's a show that really moves. Which is why Thursday's performance canceled after the first act, with udience members getting two tickets -each to catch the show another night It Seems someone used the wrong sealer on stage, making it extremely slippery. "No one realized it was that bad until Act "One," says Pegasus' Arlene Crewdson. crew tried to fix the floor at Intermission, but she says, "We decided it Swas too dangerous to let them do the Second act." The slip was fixed by Friday, and the show was set to go on.

Double your Michael Keaton is going to do "Multiplicity," a 'movie for Columbia with Harold Ramis 'directing. Meanwhile, over at Fox, Chris Columbus is putting together "More." iBoth are comedies, both are about Cloning. How busy is Keaton? Right finw he has -341 Tl "--j- By Greg Kot Tribune Rock Critic For those who like a few subplots served with their music, Hole's performance Friday at Metro was a three-chord mini-series in stiletto heels. In the last few months, Hole singer-guitarist Courtney Love has become the most famous rock widow since Yoko Ono. After her husband, Kurt Cobain, committed suicide in April, Hole bassist Kristen Pfaff died of a drug overdose, and Love was left with a young son, a splintered band and a new album with a title that now seemed twistedly ironic "Live Through This." At Metro, Love added another layer of subtext by dedicating at least one particularly bitter song to "someone who lives here," and commented, "I smell strange presences on this stage." Of course her late husband had played Metro before, and so has another former companion, the Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan.

The mix of tragic and tawdry gave the show a what's-she-gonna-do-now? aura that compensated for the some-, times less-than-stellar music. With new bassist Melissa Au Der Maur joining Love, longtime guitarist Eric Erlandson and drummer Patty Schemel, Hole was once again whole at Metro, at least on the surface. But the tumult of Love's recent past was a constant presence. "Where is my baby? You took my baby." Tm sleeping with my enemy myself." "Someday, you will ache like I ache." Not sparing God, her late husband or herself, Love gave the songs from "Live Through This" the immediacy of fresh wounds. Photo tor the Tribune by James Crump Courtney Love, whose husband (Nirvana's Kurt Cobain) killed himself, and Hole, which lost its bassist to a drug overdose, perform Friday at Metro.

Rock most accessible side, with their strummed verses and shouted es, and Hole is still a band seeking an identity. But when it bore down for the closing "Credit in the Straight World," 'Teenage Whore" and "Doll Parts," the music met the moment head-on. Not so for the encore, when Love's dive into the mosh pit upstaged even the smoking riot grrrl put-down, "Rock Star." Her clothes torn to shreds save for her underwear, the singer with hand on hip didn't so much maintain her dignity as defy anyone to suggest she'd lost it And then she marked her exit with a trail of smashed microphones. Planting her left heel rakishly on a monitor and twisting a four-letter word into a four-syllable exorcism, or tottering around in a black mini dress, puffing distractedly on cigarettes and running fingers through tousled, bleached hair, Love was an intimidating presence one minute, a waif the next Most of her between-songs patter was of the so-what, blank-you variety, a blas6 exterior belied by the torn wail of her singing. Love's recent songs evoke Nirvana's Clapton plays true to Chicago blues said a midweek start was chosen nationally because "younger-skewing comedy programming was not available to the audience" on Wednesday nights.

In addition, said WGN-Ch. 9 programming boss Jim Zerwekh, "Wednesday night is a good night for us during the baseball season, because we can't televise games because of the ESPN blackout. We do have a couple of Bulls games in April that are on Wednesday nights, but we'll make other provisions. We'll move the WB shows to another night." The four shows: "The Wayans featuring Shawn and Marlon Wayans; "Father Knows Nothing," starring Robert Townsend; "Unhappily Ever After," created by Ron Leavitt of "Married With Children" fame; and "Muscle," from the Witt-Thomas comedy-writing team. In addition, WB has ordered a pilot and backup show, "Simon Says," starring standup comic Harland Williams.

If the network expands, Zerwekh said, "it could be Sunday night, which is another clean night for us. It depends on how fast WB grows and how fast it moves." Changes: After barely a month, WGN-Ch. 9 has moved "Marilu" from the 8 a.m. weekdays time slot to 2 p.m. "We thought there was much better upside for Marilu Henner's talk show between Maury Po-vich and Jenny Jones," said Zerwekh.

To replace Henner, WGN has juggled reruns of "The Andy Griffith Show," "Golden Girls" and "Empty Nest." Great circle route: in its ongoing battle with NBC, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians (NABET) has enlisted a politician to help fight its battles. Stymied when local radio stations refused to run its spots asking for a boycott of NBC, NABET officials have found a friend in George Laney, Republican candidate for the U.S. House from the 9th Congressional District Laney has purchased the time for NABET under FCC regulations governing political candidates. The first TV ad ran not so coincidentally on NBC-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5 Thursday night.

Not only did the station have to air the ad, but since it was a political buy, it had to charge the lowest possible rate. More Laney-NABET spots are in the works, as are more radio ads. Programming notes: Catherine Johns returns to her roots Tuesday night when she hosts her WLS-AM 890 talk show from the student union at Valparaiso University. Johns was a nursing student at Valpo when she made her radio debut on WVUR-FM in the spring of 1971. Gov.

Jim Edgar appears on CLTVs "Front and Center" at 6:30 p.m. Monday to answer viewers' questions. Makes you wonder if Dawn Clark Netsch has cable. Veteran WBEE-AM 1570 talk-show host C. Francis Parks has been joined by John Reyes for "The Suburban Agenda." which airs at 9 a.m.

Sundays. This week, their in-studio guest is Tony Mathis, the first African-American to run for mayor in Chicago Heights. Hear and there: since WGN-Ch. 9 joined Chicago Online with bios, pictures, schedules and promotional spots, guess who has the most popular photo to be downloaded. News anchor Jackie Bange.

You were expecting Steve Sanders? In lieu of flowers, the family of the late WUSN-FM 99.5 personality John Katzbeck is asking that donations be made in his name to either the Starlight Foundation, 30 E. Adams St, Chicago 60603, or St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 491 S. LaSalle St, Chicago 60605. 0 HJ1L1MM MIUIUIIII Jfff Offers on a iff By Dan Kening Special to the Tribune Eric Clapton reached back to his earliest musical roots Friday as the legendary guitarist played the blues and nothing but the blues at a sold-out show at the United Center. That's right: no "Layla," no "Lay Down Sally," just the blues.

For anyone who missed the advance billing, Clapton laid it out at the start of the two-hour concert. "I came here tonight to play the blues, and Tm in the right place," he said. Indeed, the Chicago blues has always been the British guitarist's touchstone, Blues I I I Kj" If uorror ium, an paction film, a comedy and a thriller, and MGM would like him to star in 'Unforgettable," a movie to be directed by John Dahl. INC.Iings: Gene Hackman will join John .1 if Travolta Tribune photo by John Kringas British guitarist Eric Clapton sings and plays Chicago blues in his two-hour-long, sold-out concert Friday night at the United Center. Travolta and Danny DeVito in "Get Shorty," a movie based on Elmore Leonard's book.

Sunday birthdays: Sarah Barber, 106; Johnny Carson, 69; Michael Crichton, 62, Pele, 54; Mike Tomczak, 32. Harris Savings' Gerald Fitzgerald chairs the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Chicago's "95 campaign. They're everywhere: American Information Systems in Schaumburg has made it so you can't escape politics on your computers. It's made free Internet time available to Illinois candidates, who want to use it for e-mail, videos, press releases, etc. No Striking out: If you think baseball followers are fed up with the sport, guess again.

Before Cubs VP John McDonough announced last week that the Cubs' offseason, die-hard fan convention would take place whether or not the strike was settled, over 200 Cub nuts already had rooms reserved at its annual Hilton Towers home. with the styles of Windy City guitarists like Otis Rush, Buddy Guy and Freddy King being among his most enduring early influences. For much of his set Clapton drew on material from his chart-topping new blues album "From the Cradle," whose material pays homage to a host of Chicago bluesmen, including Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers, Elmore James and Willie Dixon. Dressed in a white T-shirt, jeans and workboots, it was obvious that Clapton meant business from the start He opened with five mainly acoustic numbers, with the rest of his band in "unplugged mode." "Here I am in ChicagoBeen away so long," he sang with no little irony on Big Maceo's "Kid Man Blues." While he took a walk through the song-books of Howlin' Wolf, Waters and James in the first half of the evening, Clapton held back instrumentally. Suddenly, dur- ing his solo on Ray Charles' "Someday the night's best as he sang, "Please have mercy Lord have mercy on meIf I've done something wrongHave mercy if you please." With opener Jimmie Vaughan joining him, Clapton ended the show with that hoary chestnut, "Sweet Home Chicago." One got the feeling, though, that the song had a deeper meaning for him on this night playing in his spiritual home.

As for the sound at the new United Center, which received mixed reviews at Billy Joel's show Wednesday, ifwas adequate throughout the building, and certainly no worse than at the Rosemont Ho-rizoa After a While," he caught fire. Playing on a red Gibson hollow body one of a bewildering number of guitars he used during the night he walked to the edge of the stage and let rip with a series of impossible fast and facile guitar "licks" that reminded one why fans in the '60s scrawled "Clapton Is God" on London walls. Clapton followed with solos on a pair of tunes associated with King, "I'm Tore Down" and "Have You Ever Loved a Woman," that were equally breathtaking in all their string-bending glory. People underestimate what a fine blues singer Clapton has become, and his impassioned vocals on "Sinner's Prayer" wereiamong.