Musical soul food

Dinner tunes for the hungry

by Michael Caito

The newest Sound Traveler Catalog offers a theme: music as perfect accompaniment to dining and entertaining. To that end, Sound Traveler president Steve Connors has compiled a dazzler of a compendium by area musicians, and partial proceeds will be heading to the Rhode Island Community Food Bank.

Many of the records found within have been praised here and elsewhere: works by pianist Judith Lynn Stillman, jazz horn players Dan Moretti, Greg Abaté and Claudio Roditi, guitarist Mark Davis, and jump-blues kingpins Roomful of Blues. If they're not household names in Rhode Island . . . well, they should be by now. All have brought immense passion, whether through classical, jazz, or blues (or all three) to their playing, but there are a few within the catalog which deserve more detailed attention. Abaté and Roditi shine on Bop Lives! (Blue Chip Jazz). Abaté, who usually sketches with alto, tenor and soprano saxes, sticks solely to alto work on this release, and the exchanges between trumpeter Roditi and Abaté make for the most dynamic duo since the Cranston resident teamed up with Richie Cole a while back. Not to be overlooked is the sterling work of Ben Riley and especially Rufus Reid, who know precisely when to use muscle and when to kick back and keep it buttery-smooth. It's probably Abaté's best work to date, and that's almost startling, given his mind-numbing gigging schedule (he's at Chan's this weekend).

Jazz buffs have certainly heard of pianist Paul Schmeling. He's a heavy hitter in Boston circles, and heads the piano department at Berklee. His tribute to Hoagy Carmichael on StarDust (North Star) sounds like pure genius, as the tunefulness of Carmichael classics, most of which are now standards, shines through Schmeling's confident, sly playing. A great reading. Also in the catalog is that album's follow-up, One for the Road, comprised of tunes popularized by Frank Sinatra. With bassist John Repucci and drummer Artie Cabral, Schmeling goes a long way toward recreating the cool of Ol' Blue Eyes. I prefer the sublime Hoagy disc for spotlighting Carmichael's beguiling genius, but don't read that part to Frankie's boys, if you dig . . . .

The important point remains: the Rhode island Community Food Bank provides more than 250,000 pounds of food every month to more than 35,000 people through their network of 150 pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. Almost half are children who don't exactly have a "Plan B." While Connors stressed that this is not a non-profit venture, it's difficult to argue with the caliber of players (who also include Walter Boruta, the North Star Jazz Ensemble and the Boston Pops) whose recent works he has assembled here. It's a rewarding way to remember the less-fortunate while enjoying what most take for granted: the presence of a meal. Call the Food Bank at 826-3073, or the Sound Traveler Catalog at (800) 495-4024.

DON'T FORGET. The Summer Chamber Music Festival at URI opens tonight in the Fine Arts Center with a program of Beethoven, Coste, Piazzolla, Verdery, Hand, Johanson and Dvorak. Saturday evening features works by Mozart, Reinecke and Schumann; on Wednesday (6/25), the intriguing piano four-hands duo with Gail Niwa and Raija Kerppo performing Ravel (later there's Beethoven, Bach, Ewazen and an Early Music suite by the East Hill Brass Quintet), and the finale on Friday the 27th features Brahms and Bartok, concluding the ninth annual fest in Kingston. Tickets at Wakefield Music, the Standard Times offices in Wickford, the R.I. Book Company in the Emporium, or by calling 789-0665.

CONVERGENCE CONTINUES. AS220 is screening interesting short, feature-length, animated and documentary films all week, but the weekend's lineups are special. Friday features a quartet of films plus a speaking appearance by Jim Wolpaw; works include Blind Date, Keats and His Nightingale, Cobra Snake for a Necktie and, of course, Complex World. Saturday's matinee has Christian de Renendez's Branches at 2 p.m.

Then there's Saturday night. You've seen the ubiquitous André the Giant stickers. (You may have even caught some counter-counter-revolutionary activity in the West End, where neon "André the Giant Was a Pussy" stickers have been turning up in select phone booths.) Face it, Shepard Fairey was onto something when he started his cabal against insidious mass-marketing.

And I bet he's laughing his tail off. Five arrests for vandalism later, he was quoted in the New York Times last week. Why André, Shepard, why?

"He's really ugly. Plus, he's dead," deadpanned the 27-year-old San Diegan. Meanwhile, Helen Stickler filmed a documentary about the whole affair which started on the East Side and has spread to L.A. and New York, and while it is being screened at the Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan in late June, AS220 has beaten MOMA to the punch, as André the Giant Has a Posse will be screened on Saturday.

And that's not all. Anyone who saw the fine Combustible Edison set at Waterplace Park last week had to be impressed by a few things. First, Michael "The Millionaire" Cudahy is the only human on earth who can get away with using words like "perfidy" to introduce tunes. His self-deprecating side was in effect, too, as he set up the band's contribution to the doomed Four Rooms soundtrack and bemoaned the fact that their imminent new release is unfortunately titled Lounge-apalooza. That and a surprisingly active set (as opposed to passive nonchalance, which is what got me hating the Combustibles originally) proved a winning combo for the quintet. The fact that they opted to have award-winning film-maker Guy Benoit (Hydrogen Terrors) create a film called Combustible Edison, Opening Act instead of toeing the corporate line and touring with whomever the label bigwigs stuck them with is almost enough to make me forget Christmas (the band). I've been yelled at for writing that the film is about Combustible Edison, so evidently it ain't. On Saturday, we'll see.

LUDDITES BEWARE. And what have the Emergency Broadcast Network guys been brewing up since their multi-media tour de force Telecommunications Breakdown came out on TVT in '95? They'll offer sneak peeks (and probably loads of boomin' bass) at the new objects of their arch, hip-hop-fueled wrath. Also on Saturday: X-PREZ's No Sellout and Guns and Poses, Brad Jacques' Stanley and Norman, Steve Gentile's The Ant Who Loved a Girl and The Soldier, John Devault's The Masked Man In the Least Dangerous Game, and Richard Griffin's The Wrong House. Flix converge at Convergence '97.

BUMP AND GRINDER. Next Thursday (6/26) at 5:30 p.m., the His Panic Band perform at the Hudson Street Market (Sycamore and Hudson streets in the Armory District) in a free outdoor show. Hear Umberto and his talented Crenca-cases for the bubble and grab one of the best sammiches of your entire life. The Mighty (Jim) Quinn will doubtless order extra loaves for the masses. By the way, the Space is again dark for all of July, so do not hesitate . . . the Pork Chop Lounge's continuing Commedia Variety Show closes their live performance season (with special guest, Virginian singer/ guitarist Erin McKeown) next weekend on the 29th.