Whether or not we mean to, we are constantly judging, stereotyping and labeling and then making assumptions based on fashion. These standards then play a part in defining who we are as individuals. “Stereotypes exist because there are people that would rather create labels and groups then get to know someone,” said apparel and textiles sophomore, Bennedy Kennedy. Not many of us choose to categorize people like this, and many of us would change it if we could, but it is an ongoing fact of human nature that has little hope of fading. “I don’t think it will ever go away, but it will get better,” said apparel and textile instructor Rebecca Schuiling. One of the many ways this stereotyping and categorization expresses itself today is in the fashion industry.

Certain brands of clothing are often associated with a specific cultural group and there are a number of reasons behind this. “You see repetition in the street and you start to notice certain categories of people wearing certain things over and over again,” said Schuiling. When people see this repetition in dress, it becomes an association. When one thing becomes associated with another, it often sticks and even gains prominence.

At this point, it’s possible for a brand to be strictly associated with a certain type of person, group of people or cultural group. Some groups desire this – they want to be noticed for something specific or have a desire to be viewed a certain way and use appearance as an outlet. They may wear certain brands because they’re high end and are associated with class. “No matter what neighborhood you live in or what race you are, a lot of the time it’s a status thing,” said mixed raced business owner Jeremy Scott. “People wear things to communicate to their peers. No matter what race [you are], people treat you differently for what you’re wearing. Its about respect.” Many feel when you wear something high end, you become high end yourself – you are what you…wear.

On the other hand, some people may not be going for attention at all and are even perhaps going in the complete opposite direction. “It’s painful for them,” said Schuiling. “They want to wear what’s acceptable to wear.” They may not want any association with labels and thus steer clear of them, but then the fashion industry sees this, places a label on this without-a-label way of life and it becomes another style in the world of fashion.

These people may not want to be stamped, but through the process of avoiding this, it’s possible they are actually attracting it. “Reverse adoption is where people are wearing things in the streets and designers take ideas from that,” said Schuiling. Take the grunge look for example – without a desire to belong to anything specific, people created a style of their own (now, the grunge look). This style became a look and the designers took notice of it. Once this happened, designers began to mimic the street style doing precisely what was trying to be avoided in the first place – the creation of a new label.

In all these different labels, groups, classes and categories like to use a term that is widely known and often used – individuality. The scary fact is that, in the fashion world, none of us is completely our own. “It’s almost funny when people think they’re creating their own styles,” said Schuiling. “Everything is done over and over again.” Designs are used and then recycled. Styles go through changes, but that doesn’t mean it’s the new product of sheer imagination – instead, the new and improved product of a past product. One thing comes from another and it continues. “But as long as you feel good in what you wear,” said Kennedy, “that’s what I’m going to see.”

Schuiling said that by nature, people want to have a sense of individualism while simultaneously being accepted by everyone. That’s where people go their separate ways. For some, even just a small sense of belonging will do, so there’s a smaller class of people that turn to sub-cultures. That way, they still maintain this strong feeling of individualism, but at the same time are being accepted by this group of people that they are able to relate to. For others, the feeling of being accepted may be more important and they have no desire to stand out.

It’s weird to try and imagine a world without all this labeling and stereotyping. “Everyone would have to create their own clothes to be entirely original,” said Schuiling. Not to mention the size of the roll the fashion industry plays on our economy. “It’s a fine line,” she said.

A company’s success is greatly affected by its target market. If a brand strictly markets to a specific group of people, they’re going to have a significantly smaller amount of people that will even consider their product. “Every brand markets and designs for certain people,” said Kennedy, “it’s a fact.” However, if a company has no limits, neither do its customers – they have that many more possible sales. “It might shy people away from buying a product if they don’t feel like they can be a part of that tribe,” said Schuiling. People aren’t going to buy a product if they don’t feel comfortable in it.

It’s a whole new ball game for the designers. “Good designers keep in mind all of their clientele,” said Kennedy. “You have to if you want to be successful.”

“If I’m a designer designing high-waisted poofy minis, there’s a target customer that I’m designing for,” said apparel and textiles junior Alissa Seymoure. They might create a line with no intention of a target clientele, but if a group of people adopt this designers look, that look can quickly become associated with that group of people. “Other people might get left out and it could hurt sales,” said Shuiling, “particularly if [the line is] tied to race, it might be uncomfortable or strange for a designer if it’s not what [he/she] intended.”

The upside of this grouping of people based on style and appearance is that most of the time it gives us a good idea of where we fit in. It would be wrong to make assumptions based strictly on appearance, but it sometimes is an aid on say…the first day of school. “You kind of know where you belong,” said Schuiling, “it’s almost a safety thing.” This is not to say (at all) that two people of two entirely different cultures, backgrounds or styles couldn’t become the best of friends. Simply stated, it just gives a little sense of comfort and belonging.

These specific categories of people associated with a certain style might be difficult to take in for someone who is more of an experimental dresser. Not that he or she has the desire to fit into every cultural group, just that he or she doesn’t feel that he or she really has anywhere that he or she belong. “It can be frustrating if you like to explore new styles,” said Shuiling.

It may seem to be dictated by the consumers, but there are a number of designers that create styles specifically for certain cultural groups. “Style should be able to be unique and show your personality,” said Seymoure, “but it shouldn’t affect how people treat you.”

Initially we all may want to believe that fashion is completely separate from who we are as people but the truth is, it is inevitably associated with exactly who we are.

When I first looked up the tutorial for an e-reader, the Amazon Kindle, I thought that it was absurd. A tutorial to read a book?  E-readers kill the simplicity of the novel. A book doesn’t need a tutorial. You pick it up and you read. A book is a physical thing with pretty covers and pages that you can feel with your hand. As you read you can see how far you’ve come and how far you still have to go. For me, the act of reading consists of sitting in bed with the covers pulled up, a pillow under my head and a paper book in my hand. I’ve never imagined sitting in bed with a piece of plastic, clicking through the pages and I’m not alone. When it comes to e-readers, there are two kinds of people: those all for it and those completely against it. Like Mac users versus PC users, people are adamant.  So, is one really better than the other?

Photo credit: Shuyi Meng

For me, e-readers ruin my dream of having a physical library in my house for my guests to see. I’m an avid reader and as such, I collect books. Like any collector I would like to have a place in my home to proudly display my compilation. If all my books are digital there’s nothing to show. I ranted about this to my friend on a long drive home when she interrupted me. “I thought you’d be pro Kindle.  You’re always trying to declutter your life, throwing things out all the time.” I went quiet. It was true that I try to keep my material possessions down to the bare minimum. Eight moves in the last five years have made me annoyed with possessions that have to be boxed up and carried away. An e-reader would mean less things to pack up and a more space. I tried to reason with myself that I could always buy hard copies of the books I really loved and keep the rest in a digital library. But how would I decide which books to buy? I fall in love with almost every book I read. At the same time, it might be nice to read Chelsea Handler’s “Are You There Vodka, It’s Me Chelsea” without constantly having to check if someone is watching and judging me for my choice.

“You should at least look into it,” my friend continued.

She was a fellow English major and I figured if she could be open minded about e-readers, I should at least give them a shot. Not wanting to throw away $259 just to try out a Kindle I decided that I would go online and look at the tutorial.

The tutorial opens with a woman sitting on a beach. When the Kindle is shown I see how small it is, under a third of an inch wide. It looks nothing like a book. The least they could do is ease us into the idea of electronic reading by designing it thick and in the shape of a book. The voice-over said that Kindle uses electronic paper technology to make it easy on the eyes.  Electronic paper technology?  With a name like that I had to resort to Wikipedia.  E-paper, as it’s sometimes called, is designed to look like ink on paper.  “To build e-paper, several different technologies exist, some using plastic substrate and electronics so that the display is flexible,” Wikipedia says.  It seems ridiculous to me.  All this to create the appearance of ink on paper?

The tutorial goes on to talk about Kindle’s built in dictionary. That’s convenient.  I always mean to look words up that I don’t know, but I never get back to them and end up forgetting them. According to the tutorial, Kindle allows you to click the text and the definition appears on the bottom of the electronic page. Kindle even lets you Wikipedia words. That’s definitely a bonus.

Oh no, I’ve become pro Kindle. I had to turn off the tutorial halfway through. I decided that I was overwhelmed with good advertising and needed to take a break before I let the bias opinion take over my own.

I logged onto my Twitter to distract myself and saw that Barnes and Noble was a trending topic. This got me excited. What could people possibly be talking about Barnes and Noble on Twitter for? I clicked around and saw that everyone was a flutter over Barnes and Noble’s release of the Nook. The Nook was their new e-reading device. I clicked around on the Web site for a while and found that certain stores would have a Nook on hand for people to try out.

I had to do it.  It wasn’t the Kindle, but after reading about it for a half hour, the Nook seemed almost identical to it.

Photo credit: Shuyi Meng

Unfortunately I had to wait about a month for the Barnes and Noble near me to get one in.  But when it arrived, so did I. I walked into the store and went straight to the customer service booth where there was one on display. It was a lot smaller than I imagined and extremely light.

I studied it in my hand for a minute before I tried to turn it on. I looked for a button that might say “on.” Where the hell was it? A female Barnes and Noble employee walked up and embarrassed, I asked her how to turn it on. She pointed to a discreet silver button at the top of the Nook and it instantly began to light up. I thanked her and began to press buttons, not knowing exactly what I was doing.

The screen was divided in two. The larger portion was where the text displayed and it was not a touch screen. I kept getting confused and tried to touch my way through it a few times. The smaller screen on the bottom is a colored touch screen. This is where you can type things in and see book covers in color. There are two buttons with arrows on each side of the screen. I soon found that I could scroll through a page on the bigger screen with the arrows and that the bottom touch screen could change the page completely.

I had figured out the navigation enough to pull up the available novel, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I was shocked. The pages actually looked like the pages of a physical book. There was no bright white glow like a computer screen and there was no glare from the ceiling lights. Electronic paper technology actually looked like ink on paper.  As I read the pages, the glow from the bottom small screen faded and I was absorbed in the book. I clicked the arrow button to turn the page and was immediately taken out of the dream world.  The next page appeared on top of the current page and the two jumbled together.  About a second later the old page faded and the new page fully appeared. It took a few seconds and I found myself impatient to finish reading.  When I read at home I prepare to turn the page seconds before and am able to flip quick enough to remain entranced in the book. The Nook was not fast enough.

I tried to get back into the book and was almost there when I was interrupted by a male employee. He had come over to give me a demonstration. This had broken the intimacy between the book and I, yet again. I don’t like to have people hovering around when I read. I imagined that this kind of thing would happen all the time as people tried to get used to e-readers. People on the street would walk up to me and get in my personal space. They’d ask what the device was and then what I was reading on it. “Goddamn book,” I would respond in my best Holden Caulfield voice.

“Hi, would you like a tutorial?”

I responded that I would and he started his salesman spiel. The first thing he showed me was how to buy books.  ]You touched the Store button on the small bottom screen. You could then type in the names of books and newspapers. It was exciting to think that I could get newspapers from other states. I don’t read newspapers often, but if I could get them delivered to me without having to hunt them down I’m sure I’d read them more.

He pulled up the touch screen keyboard and began to type in “Stephen King.” I smiled to myself as I watched the salesman falter. He kept hitting multiple letters and had to constantly delete them. I later tried to type on it myself and had the same problem. The letters are small and the touch screen is sensitive. Once he finally had Stephen King typed out he hit “enter” and all of the books by Stephen King popped up on the larger screen. You can then use the arrow keys on the sides to click down until you find the book you want.  He clicked on Stephen King’s Under the Dome and then “buy” and within a few seconds the book was delivered to the Nook.

(Photo credit: Brett Ekblad)

“What methods of payment does the Nook take? Can you pay with your checking account?”  I asked.

“No, you can’t. You can pay with a credit card and if you don’t want to do that you can always come into the store and by a gift card to be used.”

“The gift card works. I read too much to be charging books to my credit card. My bill would be enormous with interest.”

He continued to tell me that they had a deal worked out with Google Books for older titles. They transfer books like Jane Austin’s to e-book format and you could own them on your Nook for free. That would have come in handy for all the English classes I took earlier in college. The Nook would have saved me probably $100 easy. Of course, I would have to pay $250 for the Nook.

I asked if academic books, like math books, were available on the Nook and he responded that a few were. It was up to the publishers of the book to decide if they want to put their textbook in e-book format. So, some textbooks you can get and others you can’t. It was unfortunate because e-books are much cheaper than physical books.  Most books on the Nook only cost $9.99.

After we discussed book prices, the salesman showed me how to scan through the text using the arrow keys on the sides of the Nook. You could highlight text, bookmark pages, and look up words in the dictionary. The Nook even allowed you to type in words or phrases and it would find every page that those particular words appeared. I was still thinking about the feature when the salesman moved on to the text size. If you wanted you could make the text smaller or larger, but I prefer the normal text size.

When he was done he left me alone with the machine and I began to read The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo again. Nook remembered the page I was on when I last read and it returned to it. I started to settle into the e-book, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was cheating on the physical book. Here I was surrounded by thousands of books and I had my back turned to them while I read on an e-reader. I soon lost interest and left the store.

After I left, I couldn’t stop thinking about something that the salesman kept repeating. “You can still come to the physical store,” he said over and over. I could go to buy gift cards for the Nook, to buy storage cards for it, and to read books on the e-reader for free (which you will soon be able to do, but only if you’re at a Barnes and Noble store). He would throw it into the conversation as if he was worried for his job.

Some people fear that e-readers will run bookstores out of business, and this is even more terrifying than reading books on a piece of plastic. Some libraries are already transcribing books online and getting rid of the physical books. Hemingway, Anais Nin, Edgar Allan Poe, authors whose work was written by hand on paper will be read not on paper, but on a machine. Our connection to these writers through paper will be lost, and I can’t help but wonder if generations from now people will lose touch with the writing itself because they don’t know what it’s like to read a physical book with paper pages. Maybe in history e-books they will be taught that people used to read on sheets of paper, just like we learned about literature written on rocks.

I shake the thought and try to put my bias away. E-readers definitely have an advantage over physical books when it comes to class work. Being able to highlight, search the document, look things up on Wikipedia, and look up words on a dictionary brings the power of the internet to the book and makes class work faster and easier. E-books also have the advantage of being much cheaper than physical books, which saves students money. The Nook is $250 now, but as the technology becomes better and more common the price will most likely drop, like the price of computers has.

It seems that e-readers have more advantages than simple books and may make books completely disappear one day. But for the people who look at reading as an experience, you can’t beat the crisp, warm pages of a new book and the feel of the hand turning a page. So, like the PC user I am, I will stick to what I’m most comfortable with and I’ll take comfort in the fact that I’m not alone. And so the book will live on to see another day in my library.

I don’t know if Esperanza Spalding is real. Surely the bassist-singer is real in the sense that I saw her and her badass band play the Wharton Center on Jan. 20th.  And surely she’s the “real deal,” attesting to any avocation of her sizable skills.  And yet, someone seemingly capable of anything cannot be, forgive me, genuinely real.

All bad jokes aside, it’s true that musically she’s got an unbelievable amount to offer (and her looks and personality don’t hurt either).  So like jazz guitarist George Benson in the 1970s, she has great crossover appeal.  But regardless of her being 26-years-young, or the fact that she’s played for the Obama White House and has taught at the prestigious Berklee College of Music since the age of 20 – making her the youngest faculty member in the history of the college – nor that she buoyantly sings in three languages (Portuguese, Spanish and English) and flirts with the music of Stevie Wonder and Wayne Shorter as much as she does with her audience, it could be said that Esperanza Spalding’s talent is almost too pronounced.  This is the only criticism I can give after coming away awestruck from her performance with a quartet that included pianist Leo Genovese, the Brazilian guitarist Riccardo Vogt and John Davis on drums.

They were absolutely superb, and her ebullient charisma was infectious.

Before anyone even played a note, her band mates already seemed to recognize the brilliance they were backing.  Silently they strolled onstage without her. The audience was at first coolly receptive.  Mr. Vogt began to quickly groove on three chords, and the piano and drums fell in line.  Esperanza entered after about a minute of this and sang to the crowd with open arms – “GOOD-EVENING.”  It was indeed a bold entrance, but one that taught us all a lesson – this was her show.  And why not?  If you can’t stop a shooting star, how do you stop a rising one?

The groove that Mr. Vogt had started developed into “I Adore You,” a composition from her 2008 album Esperanza. Essentially a Latin shuffle, the song was so ridiculously funky, with her soaring flute-like voice scatting up, down and around a beat that Mr. Davis began to stop and start at will; it ultimately exemplified her propensity to see what a musical neighborhood of Latin music, jazz-funk fusion and r&b/soul actually resembles. This neighborhood doesn’t yet have a name. Not that Esperanza cares.

Now hybridity can definitely be problematic, especially if it’s being touted as the “next-step” in, or “savior” of a musical genre.  All the same, Esperanza Spalding cooks up something different, something edible and indeed delectable; something with pop music plans.  Songs from Esperanza like “I Know You Know” and “Precious,” if not for their inherently syncopated rhythms, are sophisticated pop songs about love learned and love lost.  The grooves in these songs, and a new one called “Cinnamon Tree,” are ripped right from the fabric of popular music.  They aren’t simple, per se, but they’re laid-back and easy to digest as something other than the often fussy and stuffy jazz. Esperanza wants you to forget that she is a jazz musician. She is fresh. She doesn’t worry about boundaries because, as she told the audience, good music is “just about soul.”

All but one song off Esperanza and all but two songs from the two-hour live set had vocals. On record her voice is flawless, as if she is singing through a crystalline pipe, like on her version of Milton Nascimento’s Brazilian flavored “Ponta De Areia.” Live, she isn’t flawless; she’s fearless, and the difference lets her personality shine like the sun. The constant presence of her bona fide sirens’ call of a voice – high pitched, silvery and seductive –fluently beacons her irresistible personality. It juts out and cries. It simmers but doesn’t simmer down, and it never ever lags. So this is where her crossover appeal lies. She can be the next great bassist if she wants to (her stint with top-notch saxophonist Joe Lovano demonstrates this), but I think she’d rather be listened to as a soul sister able to thwack a bass figure than be revered like any first-rate 26-year-old Ron Carter or Dave Holland acolyte.

Esperanza prefaced her song “Precious” by mentioning that she had great aspirations to write a pop song. A pop song that would be sung by teenyboppers round the world and make her a millionaire from royalties.  A pop song for someone like Jay-Z or Beyoncé. Except her jazz upbringing kept getting in the way of this perfect pop song. For those of us who like their music to have a little bit of finesse, or be a little bit brainy (or dare I say jazzy?), we can be thankful for the verve and virtuosity of Esperanza Spalding.

With a brand new year here, everyone seems to be off to a fresh start – including MSU. Construction will start on a new art museum for the University this spring. So while all of us are busy rethinking, reevaluating and then completely disowning our new year’s resolutions, the MSU campus and Art Department are preparing for a leap into the future with a new building.

This video on MSU’s YouTube channel provides an illustration of what the Museum will look like:

But how did this futuristic building land at Michigan State University?

WHAT:
In the summer of 2007 MSU announced that a new art museum would be built on campus. “The museum outgrew its facility decades ago,” Director of Kresge Art Museum, Susan Bandes said. “This building will help put mid Michigan on the map in a way that we are not already.”

The decision for a new art museum was definitely not an abrupt one. “The current Kresge Art Center had been looking to expand and after numerous conversations between President Simon and museum donor Eli Broad a rough plan was made,” said Linda Stanford, professor of art and art history, and associate provost for academic services. She said Eli Broad is very supportive of the university and the new art center. Stanford said that Broad was even quoted as saying, “you need to do something transformative and if you do I’ll give a gift to help.”

Having previously taught architectural history here at MSU, Stanford said it hits close to home. “It’s something I actually know about,” Stanford said, “its fun.” The university is hoping the new museum will aid in linking campus life to the community. The museum’s placement on campus as well as it’s modernity and educational and creative opportunities will allow it to thrive in both campus and community involvement. The importance already being placed with the new museum coming to campus allows us to understand the significant roll it will soon play in the arts.

WHO:
In June of 2007 philanthropist Eli Broad and his wife Edythe donated $18.5 million toward the university’s new museum. With an additional $7.5 million for a signature sculpture and other operations, their $26 million gift to the university is the largest monetary gift ever made. “Without the Broad’s gift, we wouldn’t be talking about transformation for Kresge,” Bandes said. “Because of their generosity, we’ve leaped into a whole new world.” Bandes also said that the Broads are listed among the top ten art collectors in the world and have always been avid museum and contemporary art supporters.

The estimated cost of the project is said to be about $30 million. Additional money for the project has come from MSU fundraising which raised about $6.5 million and also a $2 million gift from MSU alumni Edward and Julie Minskoff.

It was anything but a simple process when world-renowned architect Zaha Hadid of London was chosen to design the building. In June 2007, MSU began an international design competition to choose the architect for the new project. Hadid was announced as the winner of the competition in 2008. President Simon and Eli and Edythe Broad joined Hadid in accepting and then a presentation and celebration of the decision at the Kellogg Center. Renowned architect and design critic Joseph Giovannini was chosen by MSU to officiate the contest. There were ten finalists chosen from a group of about 30 international firms. From the ten, five were then chosen to present ideas to a jury and the public on campus in July 2007. The job of the jury was to simply make recommendations to President Simon and the university’s design committee. From there, President Simon and the committee reviewed the concepts of the five finalists and made their final decision.

WHERE:
The Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum will stand on Grand River next to Berkey Hall near the Collingwood entrance to campus. The museum will have two entrances – one from Grand River, the other from campus. “It stands as a sculpture itself without really a front or back,” said Stanford. The goal of the building’s unique appearance and placement is to visually represent how the university is linked to the community. “We’re trying to make people understand that this museum could easily be a part of their life,” Stanford said.

Inside, the museum will feature some major exhibitions and collections that will come in and out, shows that are created by the art museum staff as well as some of the work from the university’s permanent collection that is currently housed at Kresge. “This is the transformative part,” Stanford said, “We’re not just moving things from one place to another.”

By and large, admission to the museum will be open to the public. This will allow students to linger in and out of the museum between classes with community members. “It could be closed for special events, but it would be highly unusual,” Stanford said. “That’s how most university museums function.”

WHY:
The museum’s board of directors hopes that it will do much more than just serve as the university’s new art museum. “President Simon wanted us to think in a bigger way,” Stanford said, “and not only about the building, but about expanding our international reach.” Many aspects will play a role in internationalizing MSU’s new museum from the architect being internationally known to the museum’s specific placement on campus.

“The university museum right now is sort of out of sight, out of mind,” Stanford said. “The state doesn’t have an art museum – it’s here to serve the mid-Michigan community. When we expand our world, it becomes international.”

Bandes seems to think the actual museum itself will be the largest attraction. “The architect is internationally renowned and her work is not well represented in the U.S,” she said, “so people will certainly come just for the building.”

The board is hoping to attract major exhibitions and collections, and become recognized around the world. With the additions in artwork that the museum will be able to hold, they are eager to enhance student and community art appreciation. “We will finally have a fitting home for the collection as well as having a significant architectural building,” Bandes said.

As far as the space that will open up in the Kresge Art Museum, there are no definite plans yet, but the area is assigned to the College of Arts and Letters.

WHEN:
Groundbreaking for the museum is scheduled for March 16, 2010. “Once we have the groundbreaking, they’re going to come in and dig up the ground the day after,” Stanford said. Stanford further explained that the groundbreaking and construction can be done one of two ways: groundbreaking, wait, build or wait, groundbreaking, build – MSU has chosen the latter. “In the mean time, we’re getting questions answered,” Stanford said.

WHAT STUDENTS ARE SAYING:
“I think the museum will be able to give the art students a wider range of subjects and medium to explore,” said Jessica Ford, freshman studio art major. “It’s going to provide more opportunities for us to not only learn about art but creating inspiration for our own work.”

Ford also said that she thinks the new expanded and updated museum will be able to attract more people to come and experience the art. “Open events and exhibits are a chance, for not only the art students here at MSU, but for anyone who wants to go.”

There are a lot of students unaware that they should even be expecting a new construction site this spring and when it pops up they’ll be shocked by its appearance. It’s a project the University has really put a lot of thought and energy into and the administration is really hoping to change not only the art program here but the community as well. “I’m really looking forward to it,” said Ford. “Being an art student, it’s important to have an effective museum available to learn more and create more.”

The new museum should open sometime in 2012. So if the world doesn’t end first and you’ve already graduated, come back and check it out.

The East Lansing area is no stranger to up and coming bands trying to start some buzz after doing numerous shows at local venues. ASMSU did their best to take advantage of this by hosting three local acts. Unfortunately, the crowd did not look too thrilled for a majority of the show, and at times the crowd looked pretty nonexistent.

The night started off with Black Jack Persia as the opener. The quartet— comprised of two guitarists, a bassist and a drummer—did everything one would expect of an opening band. The vocal performance by the lead singer, and occasionally the second guitarist, was nothing spectacular, but it was certainly far from bad.

Black Jack Persia is a band that is using the musicianship of the members to carry it through live shows. This was easy to pick out after only a few songs. With every track featuring an entertaining solo, the only thought that came to mind was whether this was a legit band, or if it was just a group of friends who only came together for jam sessions. If the latter was the case, then Black Jack Persia certainly succeeded in putting on a worth while show.

While the guys kept a small crowd entertained, they even had some friends of theirs filming footage for a music video. It was unclear which song the video was being made for, though, because the first 20 minutes of the show were filmed. After the film crew left, everyone assumed that the guys were going to be leaving the stage shortly after. But that was not the case.
In what seemed like a backwards approach to show promotion, ASMSU had Black Jack Persia on stage for almost an hour. When the jam session obsessed quartet finally left the stage, they were followed up by the band Loune, who only went on for 25 minutes.

Was I mad that Loune only performed for 25 minutes? Not even. Was this indie-emo quartet bad? Not really. Were they an exact replica of the over hyped bands that find their way into WDBM’s rotation? Yes.

If Loune finds their way into mainstream success—and by success, I mean a nomination at the MTVU Woodie Awards at the very least—then it will only prove that bands who sing and dress like geeks are what the kids love these days.

Loune may have been gimmicky, but they weren’t a complete write off. Unlike Black Jack Persia, Loune placed an emphasis on the sounds they were making. When the lead singer wasn’t dying to hit high notes, the quartet was able to play their music in a way that didn’t sound formulaic. It was intriguing and always unpredictable, and the small audience loved every moment of it.

As Loune made its exit, I was wondering if there would be a sudden rush of people coming to see the third and final act. After 15 minutes, and a much deserved break from the dim lighting of the Union ballroom, I realized that rush wasn’t going to happen. I remembered that a big crowd doesn’t make for a great show, so I was excited to see who ASMSU was going to bring on stage. I soon found out that there are weirder things in music than Lil Wayne’s wordplay.

Cloud Magic was the third and final act for the night. The quartet members could be described as hippies. It’s hard to describe the music, mostly because it seemed like a barrage of sound. The vocals sounded distorted, and not on purpose. The only thing interesting about this band was the female back up singer who also happened to play the tambourine.

It was a night of stylistic diversity mixed with a desire for actual vocal presence. If these are the bands ASMSU thought would attract a crowd, then it may be time to go back to the drawing board. Not only did the crowd peak at a mediocre showing of enthusiasm, but most people left before the third act was even done setting up. Minus Cloud Magic, the bands weren’t bad. The problem is that they weren’t able to really draw any positive response out the audience.

If you want to see some of the best in bubbling musical talent around East Lansing, go check out a hip hop show at Mac’s Bar; at least they do call and response.

SCENE

“The Bremen Town Musicians”

November 27-29 & December 4-6, 2009, Riverwalk Theatre Mainstage

A family friendly show about animals looking to live the good life and be musicians.

HEARD

Re:Action Battle of the Bands

December 4, Erickson Hall Kiva, 7 pm, Free

Ten of MSU’s organizations are collaborating to bring 4 local bands to campus and raise awareness for their work to make better world.  It’s a “social event for social justice.”  Bands include: Fields of Industry, Januzzi Watchmen, Empire! Empire! (I was a lonely estate), and Res Publica.

How the Fifth’s Stole Christmas

December 4, Kellogg Center, $5 tickets at the door

Every Sparty
Down in Sparty-ville
Liked Christmas a lot…

But the students,
Who had to take midterms,
Did NOT!

They hated semesters end! The whole midterm season!
They wrote papers, made projects and wrote blue books for no reason.
High stress during this time of year did not seem right.
Someone must do something, please put up a fight!

To distract all the Sparty’s who long for some cheer.
But, wait. What are those wonderful noises you hear?
The sound wasn’t sad!
Why, this sound sounded merry!
It couldn’t be so!
Midterm season was scary!

The students opened their doors and opened their ears.
And 16 lovely voices ended their exam fears.
They then heard a sound rising over the snow.
It started off low, then it started to grow…

They were “Rockin’ the Suburbs” and asking “Whatcha Say”?
“Falling Slowly” and saying “Hey girl, hey!”
Their heroes had come and at the perfect time
A week before exam week, a time that is fine.
State of Fifths was their name, they had both girls and boys.
They knew that the stage would be filled with lights and toys.

“Let’s walk towards the sound and see this glorious show!”
So they walked and they walked and they trudged through the snow.
Their feet led them to a beautiful scene
The Kellogg Center was before them and their bright lights gleamed.
Inside they walked and for only five bucks
They could watch the show, because studying sucks.

December 4th was the day of this festive event
Even some of Oakland University’s Golden Grizzlies went.
They came to hear the sound of the Vibrations
When the Fifths and GV joined forces they honestly change nations.

So come to hear the sounds that sparked this tale.
And I promise if you leave your books you will not fail.
Come hear the songs that I got to hear
Then after the show have some egg nog and/or beer.

Maybe Christmas, this year, will come after all!
So come hear State of Fifths, you will have a ball.

-      Dr. Steven Seuss Book

MSU’s Home for the Holidays

December 5, Wharton Center, 8pm

Celebrate the holidays with MSU’s Symphony Orchestra, Men’s and Women’s Glee Clubs and the MSU Children’s Choir.

When I heard that all the a cappella groups on campus were performing a concert at the Auditorium this past October, I recruited my roommate and told her we were going; I wanted to experience a different music style.  I’d never been to an a cappella show on campus, and I’m a junior – shameful, I know.

A cappella, a vocal musical performance without any instrumental accompaniment, isn’t exactly topping the charts, according to Ph.D candidate in American studies Mike Spencer. He said a cappella music “represents about 1% of record sales each year.” Not record breaking, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t awesome. The concert, Acappalooza, featured Capital Green, State of Fifths, Spartan Dischords, Ladies First, and RCHApella. I became an instant fan because these groups were making music with their voices, and just their voices; it was amazing to see the the groups’ twists on popular music and their enthusiastic performances.

Journalism junior Anthony Sabella, a member of State of Fifths, provided insider info on performing a cappella and what his group is all about. According to Sabella, his group is different from the others.

“We are the newest group on campus. We’re only a year old. We’re different because we have all different majors. There are even four Spartan Marching Band students, myself included. Most of us didn’t have experience,” he said.

Well, it didn’t show. Even though State of Fifths is the newest group on campus, the group’s performance was not lacking, and was comparable to bigger and older groups. The group practices twice a week, for two hours at a time, and gives free sample performances on each floor of the dorms each month. Practice involves a lot of song choosing and harmonizing.

“I like doing top 40 songs, but that’s a matter of opinion,” Sabella said. “We are working on a Jason DeRulo song that’s popular on the radio, and we’re also doing Ingrid Michaelson.”

Popular songs are more likely to be crowd-pleasers with college students, but some slick moves can impress too. “We’re starting to incorporate choreography in our routines,” said Sabella, “We’d really like to start doing more.”

State of Fifths is really starting to make a name for itself on campus, and Accapalooza was a great opportunity for them to perform. “There is so much camaraderie,” he said, “I’m in a group with people that love music. We get to arrange the music ourselves. It’s great meeting new people and seeing our music get better and better.”

If you’re an a cappella fan, don’t limit yourself to the MSU scene. Patrick Monks, human resource management senior and President of Fish n’ Chips A Cappella group at Central Michigan University (CMU), said they does things similarly to MSU’s groups.

“As a group, we try and do a lot of newer songs, stuff that is on the radio or pretty recognizable,” he said, “The newer music is usually what we get the best crowd reactions out of.  We do throw in a couple of older tunes, anything from boy band music to older rock and roll.  As long as we think it’s a crowd pleaser, we’ll sing it.” When asked what Fish n’ Chips performances were like Monks said, “We try to put on a show for our audience, not just sing.  We try and incorporate a little bit of choreography, a little bit of humor. Whatever we think will help the audience enjoy their time.”

A lot like MSU, CMU has other a cappella groups as well. But Monks says, “we are all similar groups; we like to do similar music and are in it for the same reasons, but we are all original in the way that we perform and interact with our audience differently.” So has Fish n’ Chips visited East Lansing? “Yes,” Monks said, “we have gone to many other schools, both to see other groups and to perform with them.  We’ve been to U of M, Western, and MSU.” I think it’s safe to say that no matter what school you visit, these groups love performing and have fun putting their own spin on popular music.

It seems as though group performances involving popular music, a cappella, co-ed choirs and glee clubs are getting more attention these days due to the popular television show “Glee” on FOX. Although the show isn’t based solely on a capella performances, Spencer said that “Glee has helped popular culture dig down and bring a cappella out and create more interest in it.” When talking with Monks and Sabella they both said that their groups enjoy singing more popular songs and these get positive reactions from the college crowd. Spencer said this is largely due to the fact that the groups “rearrange the songs. They are all songs we know and love. We want that familiarity. We accept it easier because there’s no change, just a new twist on our classic favorites.” Spencer also said the appeal of many a cappella groups is that, although it’s a different genre, it’s still what we like.  If the groups were singing lesser-known music, it wouldn’t be as popular. Popular music has a positive effect on us, no matter how it’s presented.

After I left the Accapalooza concert, my roommate and I made a vow to never miss another concert. We had so much fun singing along to some of our favorite tunes and watching our peers amaze us with their talents. I also have to admit that boys who can sing aren’t half bad to watch either. All ogling aside, I definitely realized how diverse our campus is. All the performers got up on that stage to have fun and put on a show, not because they are music majors, but to make music with their friends because they love it. When the show ended with the crowd swaying to MSU’s alma mater, and a group sing-along to the MSU fight song, I left with a smile on my face, and many songs stuck in my head.

Editor’s Note: This piece is a creative non-fiction, and is meant to represent the views and experiences of its author- not TBG or our sponsoring organizations.

SCENE

“One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest”

November 17-22, 2009, Wharton Center Pasant Theatre

New asylum inmate, R. P. McMurphy, is placed under the watchful eye of Nurse Ratched. Tensions mount as he gains the allegiance of his fellow patients, leading to the play’s shattering conclusion.

“The Seafarer”

November 12 – 15 & 19 – 21, 2009, Creole Gallery – 1218 Turner St, Old Town Lansing

A play about alcoholism, redemption, and family ties, the Seafarer follows James “Sharkey” Harkin and his friends as they sort through life’s ups and downs during the holiday season.

“The Bremen Town Musicians”

November 27-29 & December 4-6, 2009, Riverwalk Theatre Mainstage

A family friendly show about animals looking to live the good life and be musicians.

HEARD

Bowling for Soup

November 15, Small Planet, 7pm

An indie-punk rock group best known for the songs “1985” and “Girl all the Bad Guys Want.”

The Macpodz

November 19, Mac’s Bar

An Ann Arbor jazz group that mixes big band sounds with more modern jazz techniques.

On the heels of a two-month early album leak and the bubbly single, “Two Weeks,” Brooklyn indie rock band Grizzly Bear’s latest album, “Veckatimest,” burst into 2009 with an amount of praise comparable only to Animal Collective’s “Merriweather Post Pavillion.” The band played to an anxious Ann Arbor crowd Sept. 26 at the Michigan Theater.

Their previous album, “Yellow House,” was released in 2006. It was complex, stubborn and demanding; simultaneously a relic with a tale to tell and a newfangled toy completely engrossed in itself. Subtly subverting the pastoral music of a sepia-tinged backwoods past, “Yellow House” was a technological breakthrough, an album that could have only sounded like the past because it was made in the present. It is furthermore one of the most beautiful recordings I have heard in a long time.

Grizzly Bear ambled onto the Michigan Theater stage enclosed in a mock forest: large metal crosses hung lights in periodically twinkling glass jars, acting as dancing fireflies for the band’s spacious, open-air music. They then tore into ‘Southern Point,’ the lead track on “Veckatimest,” taking what was on record a knotty shuffle and shaking it laterally. It was off kilter, so close to surrendering to stability that I was positive someone had missed their cue. But no, this was how the band was going to play it live. And, even if they didn’t entirely stabilize, they found common ground to steadily wobble and occasionally soared. I enjoyed the lopsided arrangement tremendously. It felt bizarre and ready for a nosedive that it never actually took.

The rest of the performance of their “Veckatimest” material did not live up to that first song. This is not to say that their rendering of the album was inadequate or unconvincing. On the contrary, it was perfect. For music so insistent on a sort of innovative perfection, the band’s uphill grind through the album was note-for-note. It was flawless.

“Veckatimest” isn’t that much different than “Yellow House.” The haunting folk melodies in principal songwriters Ed Droste and Daniel Rossen’s songs, the psychedelic sonic trickery deployed by bassist/producer Chris Taylor and the wondrous group vocal harmonies are all still in attendance.

But despite my previous love of the band, I’m wondering now if they and the album are worthy of all the massive praise.

The beauty in Grizzly Bear’s music appears at first immanent; it’s practically impossible to escape from. Cascading melodies are stacked on top of each other like a puzzle. Sometimes sunny, sometimes celestial, but always bewitching harmonies are then affixed to the melodies like puzzle pieces. While nothing on “Yellow House” felt really precious or strained, look at those descriptors again. They don’t sound natural at all, and only after repeated listens to “Veckatimest” and a sitting through their Ann Arbor concert did the music become as tired and as a predetermined as a nap two weeks in the future. And their lyrics, even if they sparkled, were just worthless byproducts surrendering to all that was stringently tuneful. It’s in Grizzly Bear’s exacting efforts to be beautiful, or at the very least impressive, that they grow weary and I jaded.

Dubbing the band methodical doesn’t do them or the term justice. How about calling “Veckatimest ‘a brilliantly systematic venture to be brilliant.’ Too convoluted? Regardless, the album’s sizable proclamation of artistic importance requires numerous – all the way through – listens in order to retrieve Grizzly Bear’s gospel; the utter certainty that their faith in craftsmanship and perfectionism, while intellectually astounding, is physically and emotionally unfriendly. They sound like a band that felt obligated to make a masterpiece after an intriguing artistic statement. “Veckatimest” even seems to call attention to itself for doing so; in which case the band unquestionably tried way too hard.

And the concert: one big quasi-experimental, overly ornate, immaculate recreation of their albums (and my god was it as disadvantageously impressive as this sentence). With lofty intellectual objectives lacking any outspoken bodily ambitions, there was no wriggle room. It’s now virtually a prerequisite that each piece of the puzzle be kept relatively stationary so that all their ideas are made monstrously lucid. Live and on record, Grizzly Bear’s musical movement comes from their melodies and tacked on harmonies, not Chris Bear’s drumming; more used as an apostle of the band’s democracy, rather than a participant in it. Bear’s superbly adept drumming doesn’t conjure motion, or even rock the boat. Live, on “Veckatimest” track “Ready, Able” there was an unmistakable boat being rocked, but the spark of musical movement was exclusively gestured forward by shimmering guitars advancing and retreating, and a chorus constructed like a carousel (up and down we oscillate); not the drums, the bearer of the beat. Written in ¾ time, it was the most rhythmically propulsive song of the night, and also the most emblematic of Grizzly Bear’s thorn in my side because it went absolutely nowhere.

A few of the band’s other songs just plain wear out their welcomes in alike musical configuration. The minor key tunes “Little Brother,” “Fine For Now” and “I Live With You” are as impressive as anything Grizzly Bear has done, but they’re all structured in almost exactly the same fashion. (It should be noted that the version of “Little Brother” I am referring to is the live, electric version, and that the “Yellow House” version is much, much different.) Each begins pensively with Rossen’s strumming a darkened, smoky guitar; then enter some lyrics chiming and lifting from his tenor, and then a cacophonous to and fro chorus with gnarled, reverb-drenched guitars riffs restating the melody, only noisier, spelling out c-l-i-m-a-x. Once more, the rhythm in these songs is so overpowered by the blaring to and fro that Bear becomes just an opportunity to make the crescendo louder.

It just cannot be said though that these songs – or any of their songs – are bad in the same evaluative sense that one can say a song on the radio is ‘bad.’ There is too much forethought in every single thing the band attempts.

So then are any of my criticisms really knowing? If I can unequivocally state that quality has found its way into everything the band has produced, what does that mean for my assessment? What does it musically represent to declare Grizzly Bear’s performance amazingly dull? “Veckatimest” will most definitely be on a boatload of year-end best-of lists for all the same reasons I denounce it. Hell, I thought it was the best album of the year for about two weeks! I guess some other questions we need to be asking here is if it’s fair to criticize music for being too beautiful? too formal and inflexible as an assertion of artistic purpose? I say yes if that music is ostentatiously dressed for a wedding. In Ann Arbor, it was mostly the “Veckatimest” and not “Yellow House” tracks that were all dolled up but not prepared to dance. And just like a wedding, Grizzly Bear really is the best day of your life until you remember about tomorrow, and then it’s an indifferent blur. I still don’t know how to quantify that day. It simply left me cold.

Maybe I’m the one who’s too serious.

The Detroit International Jazz Festival has yielded an embarrassment of good music these past few years. It’s become an institution brimming with so much quality and culture that one literally has no real capability to participate in all of it – unless of course you’re Superjazzman. Labor Day weekend in Detroit was veritable proof that jazz is not dying.

And yet the facts tell us that it’s not exactly flourishing either.

Lately, people are examining the health of jazz through strict data. “Can Jazz Be Saved?,” Terry Teachout’s Aug. 9 article for The Wall Street Journal, cited statistics from the National Endowment of the Arts Survey of Public Participation in the Arts. The article aroused much criticism as a downer piece that preached what jazz enthusiasts already knew: jazz is dying because it has become classified and categorized next to classical music as ‘high art.’ And the statistics corroborating his argument unquestionably boil the pot onto which the censure brews.

But how does any of this substantiate a confirmed death? Ideas like quality and jazz innovation vs. jazz classicism are quantified by taste and not statistics. These factors are nowhere near the survey, or the public’s consciousness of jazz’s demise. For every Wayne Shorter Quartet (and I will use them as the embodiment of ‘serious’ jazz), you have a Stefon Harris and Blackout, a Chris Potter Underground, a Dave Douglas and Keystone, a Robert Glasper, a Karriem Riggins Virtuoso Experience. Not substandard music, but music simultaneously progressive and urban, conceptual and elementary; music designed to attract the young.

And honestly, Mr. Shorter’s new music, as exciting, jarring and soul stirring as it is, deserves to be distinguished as high art. Something that cerebral, and at times intensely unsettling, demands to be filed away from any music that may appeal to the masses just for the plain fact that one with unlearned ears may combust upon first listening.

The Wayne Shorter Quartet performing on the third night of The Detroit International Jazz Festival: (from left) Wayne Shorter, John Patitucci, Brian Blade. Danilo Perez not pictured. (photo Nick Fadoir)

But again, for every intellectual jazz artist playing with conceptions of atmosphere and space and abstracted group improvisation, there are still those who do keep their imaginative and decidedly dexterous hands and feet strongly planted within the deep realm of popular music.

Teachout likes to blame the artist. I will blame some artists, and the listener. Jazz isn’t dying folks. It’s just evolving.

It’s understandable that the Wayne Shorter Quartet will turn some people off. I’m quite sure that not every listener was as astonished as I was. I’m betting that some were as dumbfounded as I was dumbstruck. It’s just as understandable that many listeners are turned off by the chosen classicism of trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and his compatriots, the ‘young lions.’ But for those who can only make sense of jazz as high art and/or literal recreations of the past, there is much below the surface.

The night before Wayne Shorter accomplished the ineffable, Karriem Riggins Virtuoso Experience astutely accomplished an alternative. Riggins is a drummer of considerable talents and considerable listening interests. The Detroit native is by trade a jazz drummer, hip-hop producer, and sometime rapper.

The quintet led by Riggins included Detroit heroine and Pontiac native Geri Allen on acoustic and electric piano, Robert Hurst, another Detroit native on acoustic and electric bass, Warren Wolf, an up-and-coming soon to be star on vibraphone, and wild card Pete Rock of influential rap group Pete Rock and C.L. Smooth, as the group DJ. Prior to the festival’s start, this group was far and away the most intriguing act. How would they incorporate the DJ into the jazz? How hip would the hip-hop get?

Since the golden age of hip-hop – late 80s to early 90s – everyone and their bebop-loving father has attempted to connect the roots of jazz to the burgeoning tree of hip-hop. The method of jazz rap inclusion went something like this: new urban black music incorporating improvisational elements endeavors to identify with old urban black music incorporating improvisational elements. Initially it was a thankless effort to grant respectability to a new music deemed delinquent.

But A Tribe Called Quest’s 1991 album “The Low End Theory” solidified the movement’s legacy. Incorporating legendary Miles Davis bassist Ron Carter on one track, and songs titles like “Jazz (We’ve Got)” and “Vibes and Stuff,” the album’s eminence exists beyond the supplementary jazz flavor. It stands as one of hip-hop’s greatest albums and a testament to the fortified bond of cultural recognition, musical remembrance, and black ingenuity.

Move in time with me a little bit – let’s bypass some other jazz rap figureheads like Gang Starr, Digable Planets, Common, The Roots – and we arrive in a beguiling postmodern present where all musical genres are being absorbed, converged and combined, disassembled, reassembled, and then disassembled again, until what is left is whatever the listener surmises to be there. Think there is hints of hip-hop rhythm being revealed in that jazz drummer’s skid bounce beat? There probably are. What about electronic elements? Now those are more easily distinguished, just listen for tuneless blips and bleeps and the contorted sounds of acoustic and electric instruments.

And don’t even get me started on the fusing of jazz and rock – sure, Wynton had his lions, but Miles had the entire savanna. And that was back in the 70s. This is the here and now for our music, all of it. So ponder this: jazz, that varnished old relic we picture as either kicking cans in back alleys with good ole classical, shaking hands with the president, or accepting awards on behalf of condescension? It’s right in the thick of this evolution of genre melding.

The aforementioned genre melding force jazz rap, indicates hip-hop fascinated by jazz, in that direction. It should also be noted that jazz rap has thus far been perpetually more popular than its inverse, and not because hip-hop is more popular than jazz, but because hip-hop’s fusing of jazz has always been more effective. Miles Davis, extensively considered one of the most pivotal artists of the 20^th century, made a dreadful jazz rap album in 1992 entitled “Doo Bop”. Granted he had already appropriately envisioned this amalgamation of jazz and hip-hop back on 1972’s “On The Corner”, six years before the term hip-hop was even coined. But Miles’ inferior attempt at crossbreeding raises questions for jazz musicians, and for all postmodern artists: who else can synthesize? who else can do it well? and why does it matter?

A contemporary musician like Andrew Bird is the epitome of this musical receptiveness to synthesize. His impartiality actually empowers a manipulation of his various influences (established styles like jazz, swing, folk, pop), whereas by admitting what he’s most partial to, it allows him to somehow produce music that’s totally distinctive and remarkable. Andrew Bird officially sounds like no one else but a non-existent past.

This hypothetical, nonexistent past is the most significant component of today’s popular music. I call it hypothetical because it clearly exists, or existed, but it has been elusively transmogrified by time, place and technology, and what those three things eliminated was a proper tangible past, not one decorated in fanciful glitter. Obviously one doesn’t just recreate the past verbatim unless theft is involved. But as musical history grows thicker, so does the amount of available material worth thieving. One could even be so flippant to say that our entire indie music scene has been demonstrated to sanction skillful shoplifting.

This isn’t an actual problem though, if authenticity is present in the appropriation. And certainly musical thievery cannot just be designated as a crutch of what is perceived to be indie music. What is anything that’s genre hopping, or postmodern, if not independent of something simplified and isolated? Jazz is a supreme example of both sides of that fact – Miles Davis vs. Art Blakey, Dave Douglas vs. Wynton Marsalis, jazz innovation vs. jazz classicism has manifested itself throughout the last century, and there is no reason why it should stop anytime soon.

It is the ubiquitous nature of our web-enabled world that has bequeathed to all those keen on things hip – see ‘hipster’ – and creative, a kind of cultural homogeneity. The genuine truth of our seemingly mechanical inclinations towards music, movies and books contends a fallacy in the implications of popularity and innovation. Nothing is really popular anymore, meaning everything is somewhat popular and numbers reveal no story here. Nothing is really new anymore, meaning what? Nothing is really new anymore since everything is either fused anew or sewn stale. Unless you are the next Radiohead (who for some are cribbing from a multitude of sources), your best bet is to be an adept chef and delightfully combine.

So it is artists like Andrew Bird and Karriem Riggins who keep this evolution of integration interesting and of definite consequence.

In the quintet’s performance, Riggins didn’t so much devise something new from two somethings old as separate the jazz and the hip-hop elements of his own music with strict precision. It was more like genre sailing then hopping – the wind was weak and it was a long trip over to the other side, although it was all occurring in the same water.

The band sans Pete Rock was anything but weak. Bursting through tunes by Herbie Hancock and Gary Bartz, they dynamically performed music in steady motion. With no horns and essentially three percussive instruments, rhythmic diversity was the name of the game. Allen (who is married to another proponent of a jazz hip-hop hybrid, trumpeter Wallace Roney,) proceeded to move up and down the piano, banging atonally at times, and then relocating to a refined unflustered balance as she exchanged musical proposals with Wolf and intensely pushed Riggins into a frenzy. Pete Rock remained practically silent during the jazz tunes, amicably standing next to his turntable and laptop, and only occasionally grazing the vinyl. I’m not positive if it was by design for him to wait until the hip-hop segment to start performing. I would have enjoyed a more active approach to a hip-hop jazz composite instead of the deconstruction that Riggins was attempting.

Yet when it was hip-hop’s turn, Riggins’ quintet didn’t disappoint. Rappers T3 and Elzhi of Slum Village, formally J Dilla’s group before his untimely death in 2006, materialized on stage as special guests. Pete Rock laid down an old Slum Village sample and the group vamped under their clever rhymes. Riggins’ drum set conversed with the two lyricists and the crowd nodded their head in approval. It was a simple yet formidable merging: a band with distinctive chops playing behind two rappers.

Karriem Riggins Virtuoso getting down with Slum Village: (from left) Warren Wolf, Robert Hurst, T3, Karriem Riggins, Pete Rock, Elzhi. Geri Allen not pictured. (photo Nick Fadoir)

After Slum Village finished a two-song rollick with the band, everyone departed the stage except Rock and Riggins. Directly prior to the two musicians’ sparring match, Riggins asserted the reason for the vacated stage, “Me and Pete are about to get experimental.” This was what I had come to see, to experience. Two musical minds at odds with their realms, foraging for a fresh fusion that appears so straightforward on paper but is in fact complicated by the reality of musical limitations.

Nonetheless, and for my sad ears, those limitations were pronounced. What took place between the drummer and the DJ, was engaging but not enthralling and definitely not anything new. Rock laid out his arsenal of sounds – soul samples with scuffing guitars and heavy bass, booming beats, casual and casually weird sound effects – and Riggins danced in and around them. However the dialogue was simply too one sided; Riggins was the only conversationalist in attendance. It was as if the therapist, Pete Rock, was establishing the groundwork for the patient, Riggins, to explore his ideas and his obstacles upon.

“Me and Pete are about to get experiemental.” – Karriem Riggins: (from left) Karriem Riggins, Pete Rock. (photo Nick Fadoir)

Karriem Riggins’ efforts to differentiate his two musical concerns may not have been my ideal performance, but it might have been opportune for some. Those who saw Pete Rock’s name came for the hip-hop. Those who saw Geri Allen’s name came for the jazz. They obtained both things isolated, but under one umbrella.

So what about those who came to see Pete Rock and the hip-hop? What they received was some hip-hop, but undeniably a healthier dose of jazz music. There is no doubt that this is a good thing. The jazz played was not moderate and gentle, but aggressive, bold, varied and hip – music that’s incompatible with the jazz stereotype.

The contrived restrictions inherent in jazz classicism are, if I can use this old maxim, bad for business. Music is full of possibilities right now: what determines popular music is unclear; what determines indie music is unclear; the determinates of what the youth will be attentive to is unclear; and, of course, what is to be considered jazz music (essentially this entire general conception of genre tagging), is so unclear as to be crystal-clear. Nothing is new these days unless it is the old being revived by the older, like in-house popular culture renovations.

Yet, where jazz more clearly fails is in its visibility, and if it is to continue to be regarded by this anonymous listenership (hip or not, usually youngish) as superior and elegant, where one must be erudite to procure any understanding and enjoyment, it is because visibly prominent artists like Wynton Marsalis, and pundits like Ken Burns and Stanley Crouch, have helped to stringently establish jazz as not grounded enough in mass appeal to genre hop like the rest of popular music – too important to American cultural history to advance and move forward. And then the anonymous listener is blinded by one side, feels alienated and moves on. But there is more to this music than Wynton Marsalis and elitism. No music, or art for that matter, can be suppressed and then branded, especially nowadays.