'Frog' festival was hit and miss

By James Miller
Daily Arts Writer

Music festivals are risky propositions. They seem like a great idea at first. You pay the same price as a regular ticket and you get to see several different bands and you feel like the smart concert shopper.

And then sometime around the third band you realize that you've been there for five hours and one) are tired of dodging Frisbees, 2) sick of paying $2.75 for a Coke, 3) no longer interested in the bra-less, antediluvian gray armpit-haired granola in front of you sifting through her NPR tote bag and talking about how this festival was only cool back in the early '70s when dope was cheap and the universe meant something.

But this is unfair. After all, we're not talking about H.O.R.D.E here, this is Frog Island. Frog Island is the somewhat less high-powered cousin of the famous Ann Arbor Jazz and Blues Festival, although not by much. The Ann Arbor festival concentrates mainly on bringing in a bunch of big names, while Frog Island has been content to put on shows with a more relaxed, summer barbecue atmosphere, featuring more zydeco and world music.

The lead-off group, Charlie Gabriel and the New Orleans Jazz Band, was decent. Gabriel himself played competent and entertaining (if not electrifying) tenor and clarinet. The same cannot be said for his trombone and piano players, both of who exhibited a stunning ignorance of New Orleans-Dixie style.

Next on the bill was Rosie Ledet and the Zydeco Playboys. For those who don't know, zydeco is the New Orleans equivalent to rockabilly, with a bouncy, ebullient feel and a prominent accordion providing the dominant color.

On a hot and miserable day, not too many people felt like dancing, so there was one advantage lost. Second, unless you listen to a lot of it and become a real expert, most zydeco will sound the same to the average listener and pretty much anyone who is not in a zydeco band.

For my money the main event was the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. From New Orleans, DDBB offers old-time, hot jazz as it was originally played - that is, with a bass drummer, snare drummer and a sousaphone providing the bass line. In concert, however, they had a drum set and electric keyboard.

And a stunning spectacle it was. The horn players spent the entire night either playing wild, outrageous jams on top of the stunning sousaphone bass work, playing tutti melody lines or a little bit of both. One of the things that makes DDBB so exciting to hear is that they can shift from the traditional New Orleans form of melody, counter-melody, solo to one solo to unison playing so seamlessly that amazement at the musicianship is second only to the desire to start dancing like a ghoul at a fat man's funeral.

As is usually the case with great live bands, the only glaring problem was the shortness of the set, but that is typically the case with festivals.

When the weather behaves itself, the bands are good and the bill is varied, Frog Island is a great summertime institution. A few minor irritations aside, a good time was had by all, soaking our feet in the transplanted Mississippi loam.

09-03-97