2003 May

Urban Transport

Popular histories of jazz inevitably concentrate on the great individualists, but some of the greatest contributions to the music have been group efforts. Economic realities have made it difficult to keep large bands together,...

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Rev. Billy C. Wirtz

Satire that slashes and burns sometimes seems to be a dying art, so it's noteworthy when a song like "Right Wing Roundup" comes along. It's a collection of skewered conservative attitudes cast in the form of...

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Suave Mechanicals

Viewed through the smoke rising from the Iraqi National Library, days after the loss of artifacts from the Iraqi National Museum, the U-M Special Collections Library's exhibit of bookbinding offers examples of...

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Author Jerry Dennis

Jerry Dennis is an essayist with a clear and direct style who writes as engagingly as anyone about the northern Michigan landscape. Canoeing Michigan Rivers, which Dennis wrote with Craig Date, has been the best guide to our...

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Jesse Sykes

Just when you've decided to put away the tragic mantle of youth, along comes someone like Jesse Sykes to make you feel ashamed of being cheerful. This Seattle-based folksinger puts the "oo" in brooding, via...

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PhoenixPhest!

Led by the remarkable duo of violinist Gabe Bolkosky and cellist Derek Snyder, Ann Arbor's Phoenix Ensemble is an ever changing cadre of exceptional musicians who have performed in chamber groups and as soloists with...

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Hope for Corky

Brian Blessing, the central character in Hope for Corky, is a Milford radio celebrity with a fame disproportionate to his salary. He specializes in heartwarming human-interest stories in his hometown. When the play opens, he has...

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Scott Morgan’s Powertrane

After interviewing Scott Morgan in the Blind Pig dressing room, I follow him downstairs and through the crowd as he makes his way toward the stage. People put their hands on him as he lifts his guitar and wades by. Some shout...

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