Well, if you're going to come to campus, you definitely want to get your band some publicity. But sometimes overzealous publicists do your band more harm than good. And such is the case with Corky Siegel's Chamber Blues (appearing in Baldwin Auditorium Saturday, April 26 at 8:30 p.m.). The band was shopped around three different departments until Arts and Features delegated the preview responsibility to R&R. With two papers, a lab report and a test hanging over my head, I was thrilled that the package came up the stairs addressed to me. And then the publicist guy was rude to Kat.
But these experiences didn't chalk up any black marks in my book against the band. The CD did that well enough. Corky Siegel, a blues man from Chicago decided that it would be good idea to combine his two loves, string quartets and blues. Well, I really think the idea hasn't spent enough time in the blender. I like string quartets, and I really like blues. But I'm not prepared to see them together in a piece.
The transition between harmonicas and violins (a violin in a string quartet is very different from a bluesy fiddle) just doesn't sit well with me. Don't get me wrong-I'm not saying that the music is bad. The genre simply doesn't appeal to me (and sometimes the vocals were a little hard to swallow). The group's musicianship and technique is superb-clean, articulate and innovative. I just think the combination of two such divergent genres needs a little more time in the oven before it's ready for public consumption.
The concert is expected to draw both highbrow fans of classical music while incorporating the fun and spontaneity of blues. I can only hope that Corky Siegel's band has a tremendous stage presence to balance their musical gaps on stage.
-Leslie
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