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(04/05/01 4:13am)
While the rest of the nation set its clocks forward this week, a group of Bloomington professionals are turning Bloomington's clocks back. But they're not dealing in terms of mere hours. The group, led by Cha Cha owner Jeff Green and local lawyer Stan Hirsch, is taking Bloomington's music scene back 33 years by sponsoring a free performance by Roger Salloom at the Waldron Arts Center.\nSalloom, a former English major at IU, was a legend in Bloomington's music scene at a time when many current students were still 10 years from conception. His last concert in Bloomington was in 1968, when he played with his band, Salloom, Sinclair and the Mother Bear. That band was discovered by Marshall Chess of Chess Records and left Bloomington to record two albums that are now high-priced collectibles.\n"Being middle-aged and having lived through the '60s, we are constantly in search of great artists from the late '60s whose albums have been ignored for reissue on CDs," Green said.\nThus the connection to Salloom. Green was a student at IU during Salloom's heyday.\n"There are not going to be too many students (who know of Salloom), that's for sure," he said. "But I have spoken to a number of people who have expressed a desire for him to come."\nThese people are primarily alumni and faculty, Green said. Tom Donohue, owner of TD's CDs & LPs, is one Bloomington resident with a definite recollection of Salloom.\n"I started working in record stores in 1968, so I sold some of his stuff up in Indianapolis," Donohue said. "It kind of shows the excitement of the fan base, that they're willing to go to the extra effort to get a communication going."\nDonohue was referring to the effort of Green and Hirsch, who contacted Salloom for nostalgia's sake and convinced him to come back to Bloomington to play a show. Salloom, who lives in Northampton, Mass., has not played in Bloomington since 1968 and has not returned since the late '80s. Reflecting on his last visit, Salloom said, "Bloomington meant a great deal to me. It hadn't changed much, which I liked."\nWhat remains to be tested is whether Salloom's music has changed much since he left. Among the musicians Salloom has worked with since leaving Bloomington are Bob Dylan's old backing group, the Area Code 615 Band, The Band and former Creedence Clearwater Revival bassist Stu Cook. \n"James Taylor was going to record one of my songs," Salloom said. \nSalloom still plays regular shows, although, as he said, "In music business terms, I've been reclusive. It molests me to play a lot of bookings."\nSalloom still plays one big show a year, a festival in Northampton, which draws about 1,600 people. He recently did a show with Pete Seeger, backed by an eight-piece band.\nGreen said Salloom's style has changed somewhat since his IU days.\n"It's acoustic-based now. It will be a predominantly acoustic show, but he will bring out some of the older stuff. He still does that old talking blues things and raps with the audience."\nThe concert, expected to draw possibly 300 people into the Waldron, is hardly the first in Green's repertoire. \n"I was the first outside promoter ever to do a show at IU, in 1974," he said. That show featured Loggins & Messina and Leo Kottke. "IUSA had just formed, and that was who sponsored the show." \nCASI, a division of the IU Student Association, is helping Cha Cha sponsor Salloom's appearance.\nRoger Salloom will take the stage at 8 p.m. Friday at the Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St. Admission is free. The concert will be broadcast live on WFHB. Listen live at 91.3 FM or 98.1 FM.
(02/12/01 3:39am)
Second Story Night club offered a mix of music and dancing Saturday night, the sound courtesy of Bloomington's Alma Azul.\nOpening for Alma Azul was the Creatrix, a rocking sort of funk band with disco and Afro-Cuban undertones. While the music itself had quite a bit of groove, the eclectic appearance of the band captured my attention more than anything. The guitarist had hair like Slash (or possibly a mid-80s Dave Mustaine) and moved onstage like Axl Rose, but his style was pretty much straight on funk. The lead singer, sporting tights, legwarmers and a shirt stolen from the wardrobe of Ronnie James Dio, sounded very much like Debbie Harry. \nThe band had a lot of friendly energy (definitely no pretense of rock stardom here), but comparisons to Blondie are inevitable. Percussionist Bob Roy sat in with the group but did not lend a strong Latin element to the music. The Creatrix have a 1980s look and sound (the song "Freaks" could go on the "Footloose" soundtrack) but by and large provide a funky, danceable performance.\nNext up was Alma Azul, Bloomington's staple salsa band and the evening's featured act. Alma Azul lived up to or exceeded all expectations. The sound was tight in all respects (until they asked the soundman to bring up the horns, after which point the vocals were drowned out almost completely). The set list featured some Ricky Martin and Tito Puente's "Oye Como Va," which sounded more like the famous Santana version.\nBut the central theme of the evening was dancing, and the eight-piece salsa/guajira/bomba/fill-in-the-blank act really got the crowd moving.\nWhile most people did not seem to know how to salsa (the most common style was that funky shoulder-shrugging jive perfected by Shaggy from "Scooby Doo", but "out-of-control-hips guy" was there, too), there was one couple who came strapped for the affair. Remember the first episode of the new "Survivor"? If these two had gone to the outback, they would have had no problems starting a fire from the heat created by their feet. The woman especially had a hard role, being spun around in a rapid, oscillating fashion -- in heels. \nAlma Azul's show featured some dancers as well. While the group's two female vocalists were obviously capable dancers, they were joined onstage by a group of "Spanish Gypsies" of dubious authenticity. The Gypsy dancers imitated the Sevillanas dance style while Alma Azul brought the noise with reckless abandon.\nThe mix of cultures was very apparent in the group, in the music and in the crowd. People of all styles, ethnicities and cultures got up and danced (with varying skill level). It was beautiful, like something out of Jorge Luis Borges' "The Aleph." As a whole, Alma Azul and their music bring something desperately lacking in the Bloomington music scene -- a balance of diversity and harmony.
(01/25/01 3:37am)
In an era when movie tickets can exceed $8 and there are few options in bargain entertainment, the Puck Players Theatre, a local puppeteering troupe, offers a low-cost alternative.\nStarted as a master's thesis project by a theater graduate student in 1967, the troupe has presented many hours of entertainment to Bloomington children and their parents.\nThe Puck Players are directed by Nina Ost, who has been part of the troupe since its creation. What started off as someone else's project has become a long-term commitment for Ost.\nThat commitment has turned into joy for others.\nDavid White, who has worked with the troupe from the beginning, said, "We have parents coming in here with children now who used to be children coming in with their parents." \nThe plays serve both to entertain and to teach children, Ost said.\n"We don't have a conscious message," Ost said. "It's almost unconscious -- we don't stereotype (villains) by age or sex or race or whatever. But it's not like in one of Aesop's Fables, where there is a definite moral at the end."\nWorks presented by the Players usually have some changes made by the group. "Little Red Riding Hood," for instance, is confronted by a friendly, nonthreatening, vegetable-craving monster rather than a wolf.\n"The 'Red Riding Hood' thing is as it is because the wolf is a little frightening," Ost said. "We have a point of view that most of our antagonists are silly rather than frightening."\nThe Players said they plan to perform a toned-down version of "Jemima Puddle-duck" later this spring.\nDespite the long history, a ticket price which calls to mind a bygone era and the aging sock puppets, the Puck Players Theater is constantly looking for new blood.\n"We started doing two short shows rather than one hour-long one to attract new people," Ost said. Many new recruits are students or professors.\nTheresa Ochoa, an assistant professor of education, is one such recruit.\n"I was always a closet actress, and Nina discovered me," Ochoa said. Since joining the Players, Ochoa has taken in two roles -- playing the grandmother and Red Riding Hood. She said she sees the performances as something that will interest students, children and parents.\n"A lot of the humor is done for an older wit," she said. "The show can be funny for people of all ages." \nOchoa said she joined the Players out of desire for volunteer work and encourages all interested to do the same. "I would love to prompt students to come," she said. "Maybe I'll make it a part of their grade"