The Ottawa Citizen du lieu suivant : Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 30

C2 THE OTTAWA CITIZEN PREVIEW THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1997 Roots of music revived -H life'- J3 i $tf ii if" V' Classically trained African musician fulfils dream BY NORMAN PROVENCHER The Ottawa Citizen When he got the phone call from Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings asking him to return home from London to "Africanize" the Ghanaian Symphony Orchestra, Nana Danso Abiam thought one of his dreams had come true. Even though he was something of a prodigy at Western classical music, Abiam had always dreamed of developing the traditional music of the African villages into that continent's own classical music, away from colo-nially -inspired European music. Unfortunately, he didn't count on the horrified reaction of the hide- state musicians and orchestra "directors. "It was a snobbism, an elitism; they refused to even consider adapting African instruments and sounds," the director of the Pan African Orchestra says over the phone from Washington, D.C. "It was part and parcel of the colonial mentality that we were trying to overcome.

They would not budge." Abiam soon saw he was beating his head against the wall with the old-school music bureaucrats but, by this time, he was committed to the dream. The only answer was the do it on his own, and the Pan African Orchestra not taking an interest in the instruments and the old players are dying. I had to travel to a village near Accra to convince the chief that the (Pan African Orchestra) was a work of cultural conservation. He agreed to donate his mmenson and the village's players." Even so, these instruments don't grow on trees and "financial considerations," not to mention the impossibility of insuring the horns, mean they won't be part of the 20-member troupe that visits the Museum of Civilization tomorrow night as part of the See Hear the World Music Series. For all the organizational and bureaucratic headaches, Abiam says his labour is amply rewarded by the opportunity to "re-compose" the traditional themes into "neo-classical" pieces.

"I try to link the formal with the informal. Some of the pieces, such as the Wia Concerto No. 1, are symphonic length. It's definitely accessible to Western ears, but it is all African." At this point, Abiam concedes his orchestra's name is a bit grandiose. While his goal is still to include broader African themes and music, the repertoire now is 90 per cent Ghanaian, with a few Senegalese and Gam-bian elements.

"It will take time but we will be a part of new Africa, growing out of the colonial mindset and control." ThePan African Orchestra performs at 8 p.m. tomorrow in the Canadian Museum of Civilization Theatre. Tickets are $23, plus service charges, available at TicketMaster outlets (755-1111). was bora. He now says he underestimated the work involved in organizing the snippets of local tunes and ceremonial melodies, not to mention rounding up the 25 to 30 expert musicians required to fulfil his musical vision.

For one thing, the music was passed along by word of mouth. There were few, if any, recordings and there was no written version of the music. "That was perhaps the most difficult part," Abiam says. "I had to devise an entirely new system of musical notation. For one thing, the music is heavily interpretive, there is a lot of improvisation.

For another, African music doesn't necessarily adhere to (Western) scales. "Imagine, if you will, writing notation for (jazz saxophonists John) Coltrane or Charlie Parker. It can be done but not in the same way that Western musicians are accustomed to." The notation which about 90 per cent of the orchestra has now learned allows village players from different areas of Ghana to read the same parts for the first time. It also serves as cultural and historical documentation. The other difficulty was in the instruments themselves.

Traditional wooden flutes and gonje (single-stringed fiddles) were one thing, but other traditional instruments, such as the dramatic mmenson, a septet of hollowed elephant tusks, are both rare and rigidly restricted to religious ceremonies. "This instrument is dying out, like many other traditional musical ideas and instruments, because the kids are Musicians from the Pan African Orchestra with some of the traditional instruments they play. The orchestra performs tomorrow night in the theatre at the Canadian Museum of Civilization. Fearing: 'Carefully outwitting' himself Continued from page Ci "Because I don't have a strong arrangement in my head, there was a lot of room for the other players," Fearing says of the album work. "We didn't have to guide anyone that much.

If anything, it was a matter of getting everything on tape before anyone learned it too much." If it all sounds a little slapdash for Fearing, an admitted perfectionist, chalk it up to the presence of Linden, who told Fearing that his last album was in Technicolor and the next one should be in black-and-white. Fearing wasn't sure what that meant, but he DeVito: Independent I'll i'jf 1 General's Literary Awards FRENCH-LANGUAGE NOMINATIONS ivo Fiction: Bernard Assiniwi, Cantley, La Saga des Beothuks (Lemeac Editeur); Aude, Ste-Foy, Cet imperceptible mouvementQQfZ Editeur); Lise Bisspn-nette, Montreal, Quitteset Doubles, rr. Scenes de reciprocity (Editions du Boreal); Pierre Morency, Quebec City, La Vie entiere Histoires naturelles Nouveau Monde (Editions du BorealX' Pierre Ouellet, Montreal, Legende doree (L'instant meme) 0 Poetry: Nicole Brossard, Outremont, Vertige de 'a vanf -scene Forges and L'Orange bleue Editeur); Serge Legagneur, Montreal, Poemes-choisis, I96i-2997(Editions du Noroit); Paul Chanel Malenfant, Rimouski, Fleuves (Editions du Noroit); Helene Monette, Montreal, Plaisirs et Paysages kitsch (Editions du Boreal); Pierre Nepveu, Montreal, Romans-fleuves (Editions du Noroit) Drama: Yvan Bienvenue, Montreal, Pits et Inedits (Dramaturges Editeurs); JasT mine Dube, Montreal, La Bonne Femfpe (Lemeac Editeur); Marie-Line Laplante, Montreal, Une tache surla une(Dra-i maturges Editeurs); Robert Marinier, vc Vanier, 'Insomnie (Prise de parole); Larry Tremblay, Montreal, Ogre Cprpe-muse (Editions Lansman) 3 Nonfiction: Fernand Dumont, Sillery, Une foipartagee (Editions Bel--, larmin); Yolande Geadah, Montreal, Femmes voilees, integrismes de-masques (VLB Editeur); Alain Bernard Marchand, Ottawa, Tintin aupays de la ferveur(Editions Les Herbes rouges); Francois Ricard, Outremont, Gabrielle Roy Une vie (Editions du Boreal); Roland Viau, Valleyfield, Enfants du neant et mangeurs d'ames Guerre, culture etsociete enlroquoisie (Editions du Boreal) (u: Children's Literature Text: Do-( minique Demers, Brossard, Maina, tomesief2(Editions QuebecAmerique); Agathe Genois.to Abercorn, Sarah, je suis a(Edjt(pns Heritage); Jacques Godbout, Outremont, Une lecon de chasse (Editions dy Boreal); Michel Noel, Levis, Pien (Editions Michel Quintin); Maryse Pelleti-er, Montreal, Une vie en eclats (Editions de la courte echelle) i Children's Literature Illustration: Leanne Franson, Montreal, L'Ourson- qui voulait une Juliette (Editions de courte echelle); Stephane Jorisch, St-Lambert, Casse-Nosef fe (Ejections Heritage); Stephane Poulin, Montreal, Poil de serpent, dent d'araigneg (Editions Les 400 coups); Gilles Tibtj.i Montreal, Simon et le petit cirque (LJyres Toundra) .1. Translation (English to French): Francois Barcelo, Saint-Antoine-surr Richelieu, La Face cachee des pfer-res (XYZ Editeur); Nicole Cote, Quebec City, Verre de tempete (L'instant meme); Pierrot Lambert, Gatineau, i. sight: Etude de la Comprehension hurl maine (Editions Bellarmin); Marie Josj Theriault, Montreal, Arracherles mqn-tagnes (Editions du Boreal) The Canadian Press yr, Dmp off this ballot to Chapters South Kevs chance to win of five copies of the new Rice novel-Violin 1832.95 Value) Contest at South Kevs location onlv r.

Nominees for Governor ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NOMINATIONS Fiction: Sandra Birdsell, Regina, The Two-Headed Calf (McClelland and Stewart); Matt Cohen, Toronto, Last Seen, (Alfred A. Knopf); Elizabeth Hay, Ottawa, Small Change (The Porcupine's Quill); Eric McCormack, Waterloo, Ont, First Blast of the Trumpet Against the Monstrous Regiment Women (VikingPenguin); Jane Urquhart, Wellesley, The Un-derpanter((McClelland and Stewart) Poetry: Marilyn Bowering, Sooke, B.C., lufob'ography (Beach Holme Publishers); Dionne Brand, Burnt River, Land to Light On (McClelland and Stewart); Patrick Friesen, Vancouver, A Broken Bowl (Brick Books); Carole Glasser Langille, Lunenburg, N.S., In Cannon Cave (Brick Books); Don McKay, Victoria, Apparatus (McClelland and Stewart) Drama: Maureen Hunter, Winnipeg, Atlantis (Schocco DramaJ. Gordon Shillingford Publishing); Lee MacDougall, Stratford, High Life (Scirocco DramaJ. Gordon Shillingford Publishing); Ian Ross, Winnipeg, fare Wei (Scirocco DramaJ. Gordon Shillingford Publishing); Jason Sherman, Toronto, Reading Hebron (Playwrights Canada Press); Judith Thompson, Toronto, Sled (Playwrights Canada Press) Nonfiction: Wade Davis, Washington, D.C, One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest(Simon and Schuster); Catherine Dunphy, Toronto, Morgentaler: A Difficult Hero (Random House of Canada); Terry Glavin, Mayne Island, B.C., This Ragged Place Travels Across the Landscape (New Star Books); Rachel Manley, Toronto, Drum-blair Memories of a Jamaican Child-hood (Alfred A.

Knopf); Blair Stonechild, Regina, and Bill Waiser, Saskatoon, Loyal till Death Indians and the North-West Rebellion (Fifth House; distributed by University of Toronto Press) Children's Literature Text: Cheryl Foggo, Calgary, One Thing That's True (Kids Can Press); James Heneghan, Vancouver, Wish Me Luck (Farrar, Straus and Giroux); Teddy Jam, Toronto, The Fishing Summer (Groundwood BooksDouglas and Mclntyre); Barbara Nichol, Toronto, Dippers (Tundra Books); Kit Pearson, Vancouver, Awake and Dreaming (VikingPenguin Books) Children's Literature Illustration: Blair Drawson, Toronto, Flying Dimitri (Groundwood BooksDouglas and Mclntyre); Marie-Louise Gay, Outremont, Rumpelstiltskin (Groundwood BooksDouglas and Mclntyre); Robin Muller, Toronto, The Angel 7ree(Double-day Canada); Barbara Reid, Toronto, The Party (North Winds PressScholastic Canada); Ludmila Zeman, St. Laurent, The First Red Maple Leaf (Tundra Books) Translation (from French to English): Jane Brierley, Westmount, Canadians of Old (Vehicule Press); Patricia Clax-ton, Montreal, Baroque at Dawn (McClelland and Stewart); David Homel, Montreal, A Drifting Vear(Douglas and Mclntyre); Nancy Huston, Paris, France, The Goldberg Variations (Nuage Editions); Howard Scott, Montreal, The Euguelion (Alter Ego Editions) MINI PSYCHIC FAIR Thurs. Oct. 30th 7:30 pm Drop in for our mini psychic fair for a tarot card reading or palm reading amf what the I 1 1 for a Anne luture nolds lor you. Soulli Keys Shopping Centre 2210BjnkN.

Ottawa. Ont. Kl 1J3 Phone: 613521-91W Fa: (613) 521-8767 SMA9J997 PHONE: the first time he has put down roots. Going from a loner and wanderer to becoming a member of a band, family and community has strengthened his music. "This record is a pretty big deal for me," he says.

"It's very exciting to feel this way about something you've done four or five or six times, and still feel like you're not even close to understanding your writing process." Stephen Fearing opens for Laura Smith at Centrepointe Theatre, 101 Cen-trepointe at 8 p.m. Saturday. Tickets are $20, available at the theatre box office or by calling 727-6650. thinker saying? 'Get the outta here with the You know what I mean? That's what's gonna be a problem. "Van Gogh's got to go cut his ear off and drop dead for a few hundred years before anybody likes blue.

But still, it's art, goddamn it. You know what I'm saying? So that's the thing. You got to protect. You gotta really think about that. I don't mean to get belligerent about it or anything." Then he smiles the big Danny DeVito smile, the one that could have been engineered to be devilish.

Big names, he agrees, can be good too. "Lookit. Nobody's gonna throw Brad Pitt out of bed." He looks around the room. "Don't take that the wrong way." Tomorrow: Review of Gattaca 1 on video playback during filming OR TREATING ear your 'costume in aud visit ifinWnl parts of the store lor tnck-w-lieating. ADULTS PLMPKTN CAR ING CONTEST Sunj Oct 26th 2pm' Conii test youf creative skills at our pumpkin carving i.ll an.l mm- We 1 8W UK- im carve out a gmriou lantern, was game.

"It did go against my instinct and that was good. Carefully outwitting myself was the idea," he says now. "I get more hung up on 'Am I flat, am I sharp, did I make a boo-boo on the guitar Colin's very good, he can leave it alone and move on." One piece on the record is Robert's Waterloo, an instrumental reworking of Early One Morning, the theme to the children's TV program The Friendly Giant. The tune brought back fond memories of Fearing's early childhood in Vancouver, before he moved to Ireland with his mother. His recent move to Guelph is really movie.

But is Hawke a big enough name to open a film? DeVito's response is immediate, and blunt. "You could have said the same thing when we cast John Travolta in Pulp Fiction," he says. "Nobody wanted John Travolta. John Travolta did dog movies. You can get into that.

But what you should do if you get into that is get a job at a studio. Because that's exactly the way studio people think. "If you're going to think that way, what you're going to do is you're going to contaminate the artist's work. Period. There's no two ways about it.

Because if you say to Van Gogh, 'Nobody n' wants You know what I'm A (J FACE PAINTIN Sun. Oct. 26th 3 pm Take part and see all the fun and scan things vou can become. HALLOWEEN FIN Oct. 27th Join lis all week for scary Halloween stone every hour between 1 lam and 4pm.

Spooky ghouls, witchen and Iher fin. H.llnween afh Uri Yu dav ,1 2 nm 11 if nr Continued from page Ci "What about Ray Charles?" DeVito replies, picking up the ball. get rid of this egg because this is not gonna work We're all looking for one thing, all this cloning, all this baloney or good stuff going on, whatever it is. We're all looking for longevi-' ty. I think that's what all the research and stuff is aiming at." As for Hawke's performance in Gat-taca, DeVito simply raves about the young actor: his dedication, his focus, he commitment, his concentration.

DeVito also likes the fact that Hawke isn't a staple of the supermarket tabloids: the only time you really hear about him is when he is making a jLL ,4 v'- A Producer Danny DeVito and writerdirector Andrew Niccol view a scene of Gattaca, a sci-fi thriller that opens tomorrow. lifiS HAL m-m i I far Bmia A Jut Hi Bnpanng South Keys CHILDREN PUMPKIN' DECORATING Sat. Oct. 25th 1-2 pm Come in and help the fBooii staff decorate some pumpkins. HALLOWEEN COSTLME CONTEST Sat.

Oct. 25th -Test out your spooky costume in advance of the big night by entering our costume contest..