Muncie Evening Press from Muncie, Indiana • Page 30

PAGE T-10 MUNCIE EVENING PRESS, SATURDAY, JANUARY 1979 Rod 'Stewart's music becoming 'pop drivel' "On the Tracks" By Ronald Hawkins ii jHrrtMHHfUTT a-" i- fT, ART BLAKEY I'm sure one to enjoy It with me," says having a ball and I want every- the old "Jazz Messenger." Blakey spreading the jazz message "BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN" by Rod Stewart, Warner Brothers Records. Rod Stewart's new "Blondes Have More Fun" slows Stewart's creative descent, but is far from the innovative comeback he needs. Introspection certainly has its value as proved by some of the better work of John Lennon, the Rolling Stones, Simon and Garfunkel and even Stewart at one point. But, Stwart's glimpses at his personal life now are not introspection, but merely conversations and letters to those involved in his life without any deep thought. It is not just the lyric quality which is suffering in Stewart's sound, but the music itself.

Stewart has a reasonably capable band here but it does not come close to the quality of the Faces. His reliance on string sections and synthesizers is extreme. Stewart's best moments have always occured when he used a simple accompaniment, usually acoustic, and his voice took center stage. "Every Picture Tells a Story" was a classic example and there are even such moments on "Tonights' the Night" and "Foot Loose and Fancy Free." Stewart's vocals take center stage on "The Best Days of My Life," but a few notes into the song and huge string section sweeps into the sound and nearly ruins what is essentially a beautiful, sensitive song. "Is That the Thanks I Get" is another Stewart lament about how he has been treated unfairly in his personal life.

One wonders how many times Rod can rewrite the same incident and add a different melody. "Ain't Love a Bitch" and "Scarred and Scared" seem to fall into the same category. Actually, "Scarred and Scared" is a good song about a man facing death after being convicted of murder, but the strings get in the way again. Surprisingly, the reworking of the soul classic the Shadows of Love" is one of the best moments on the album. The band really rises to the occasion here and Stewart's phrasing in superb.

Rod Stewart remains a tantalizing vocalist on "Blondes Have More Fun," but the overall quality is gradually becoming nothing more than pop drivel. Blonde Rod may be having more fun, but his fans are not. "DIRE STRAITS" by Dire Straits, Warner Brothers Records. Somehow Dire Strait.s superb eponymous, debut album almost escaped unre-viewed. But then a miracle occurred.

Or at least an extremely unusual event occurred. I put on the radio in my car and there was an incredible tune called "Sul-tane of Swing" playing. And, behold, I heard the sound of Dire Straits. A smile lit my face as I realized this record and been gathering dust in my apartment. When I got home, the record immediately went on the turntable and has made many repeat appearances.

A British-based group, Dire Straits is a four member band led by vocalist and guitarist Mark Knopfler, a former journalist. There are no horns, synthesizers, keyboards, organs or string sections to taint the delightful bluesy rock 'n' roll featured on this album. Mark Knopfler has mastered a plaintive, blues vocal style. His guitar work, along with David Knopfler's rhythm guitar and John Illsley's bass, create solid, unadulterated rock 'n' roll. The lyrics of the songs are about people struggling to get out of the poor part of town, people's adventures in that part of town, the strange motivations of an artist and a great guitarist who can only afford an old guitar.

Producer Muff Winwood (Stevie Win-wood's brother) has produced a crisp, clear sound for a record that gives proper articulation to the many virtues of Dire Straits. Songs like "Sultans of Swing," "Water of Love," "Setting Me Up" and "Lions" are simply superbly crafted songs. Few bands around are making music as well as the Dire Stratis. "WILLIE AND FAMILY LIVE" by Willie Nelson, Columbia Records. Many of us used to regard ourselves as "too hip" for country music.

But performers like Willie Nelson span that gap and make us realize being "hip" is totally irrelevant. "Willie and Family Live" is another great album from Willie Nelson, a man who has written great songs for two decades. Only in the last few years has the general public recognized his genius. The two record set includes such Nelson compositions as "Night Life," "Funny How Time Slips Away," "Mamma Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys," "Good Hearted Woman" and "Red Headed Stranger." Nelson has a superb backing band which is far from a traditional country band and at times sounds like a top-notch rock band. Emmylou Harris also pays a visit and Johnny Paycheck provides a superb lead vocal on "Take This Job and Shove It." The most impressive part of Nelson's music is its humanity.

While the songs are performed well, one also gets the Impression that Nelson really cares about the music and his fans and is not just trying to make a quick buck. If you want to expand your horizons beyond "hips" and get into some superb country music, give "Willie and Family Live" a listen. period of said, smiling warmly. "That talent belongs to the people. If an artist paints a picture and he has nobody to come and admire his work, he's in trouble.

"I'm sure having a ball and I want everyone to enjoy it with me." Generations of jazz fans have heard various groupings of the Jazz Messengers over the years, but Blakey said "the kids in college are just beginning to discover me, I guess because they come and see the Messengers and they can relate. They see youngsters playing with me." The average age of Blakey's seven-piece band falls below 30. Appearang at Manhattan's Top of the Gate nightclub, Blakey introduced trombonist Chuck Royal as "the youngest member outside of our drummer." Royal and his cohorts pianist James Williams, bassist Dennis Irwin, saxophonists David Schnit-ter and Robert Watson and trumpeter Valery Ponomarey join a long list of a talented musicians who received their early training from Blakey. In fact the roster of aalumnl who "paid their dues" with Blakey makes him the Harvard University of jazz: Donald Byrd, Johnny Griffin, Keith Jarrett, Chuck Man-gione, Charles Mingus, Woody Shaw and Horace Silver to name just a handful. Does he feel fatherly toward the youthful musicians who surround him? Blakely scowled "Feel like a father to them just one of the guys." Blakey, father of seven of his own kids, was first married at 15 in what he describes as a "shotgun wedding" to do a girl whose parents viwed his Depression era $15-a-week salary as "liquid gold." He's now going through his third divorce, from Japanese-born wifeAtsuko.

By GORDON BOCK NEW YORK (UPI) Driving along with his band one day, Art Blakey spotted a funeral service at the side of the road. He stopped the bus and the musicians piled out to join a crowd of weeping mourners. "Is there anyone who would like to say something on behalf of the deceased? the preacher asked. Silence. "In that case," Blakey piped up, "would anyone mind if I say a few words for jazz?" The story may be more fanciful than factual, but it seems fitting for the man whose Jazz Messengers have been spreading the word with vibrant, straight-ahead music since 1955.

"I'm capable of that" the short, chunky drummer chuckled during an interview. He did not confirm or deny the story. "I do a lot of crazy things," like nearly missing his 59th birthday in October because "I forgot about it." Seated cross-legged in a yellow velour armchair, the Pittsburgh born jazzman scanned the living room of his 2V- room flat in the Camelot Apartments on West 45th Street 12 stories above the busy Times Square porno district. On the wall are plaques and mementos, including a Hall of Fame Award from the Newport Jazz Festival and a 1975 certificate of recognition from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst that praises his "unyielding devotion to the development of America's original art form." Other kudos came recently from both the Savoy and Blue Note labels, which reissued collections of Blakey's recordings. "In This Korner," a Concord Jazz disc of recent vintage, also attests to the renewed Interest in the musician who began his career playing with the likes of Fletcher Henderson and Mary Lou Williams.

"Music is a loan for a short.