qn jyscr r\AVID BYRSE ■U Songs from the Broadway Production of The Catherine Wiwe/ (SlR£)Da\-td Bvme's sometimes stark, sometimes sonorous compositions for modem-dance maven Twyla Tharp's Catherine Wheel project represent a logical extension for the head Talking Head's recorded work to date At van ous times on this ambitious effort. Byrne recalls the wired-tight anxiety of his early Heads songs, the strident Afro-rock rhythms erf Fear of Music and Remain m the light and the spaces minimalist doodling that mark his manv collaborations with Brian Eno (Eno. along with Heads keyboardist Jerry Harrison, guitarist Adrian Belew and percussionist John Chemoff. are die core of Byme s Catherine Wheel ensemble.) A handful of tunes here feature the wailing, worried trademark Byrne warble: His 'Wife Refused.' probable the LP s most Talking Heads ish track: the emphatic, repetitive What a Das That Was". Big Business, with its 'fierce and high" and gallop ing" guitars (Byrne's liner note de scriptions): and "Big Blue Plymouth (Eyes Wide Open I." Others are rich, aural abstracts the Byme/Eno piece. Two Soldiers," "The Red House” and the ethereal Tight Bath " Through it all. Catherine Wheel resonates with fast, fluid movements and an almost sensual ambience. There s a vibrant sense erf the physical at play here, a physicalness that Byrne explores with wh and intelligence St exert X. Rea OHSSY OTIS The Sew Johnny Otis Sbou (ALLIGATOR)If the history of rock & roll is the blending of white and black styles (and it is), then Johnny Otis is one of its greatest exemplars The son of Greek immigrants, he grew up in the black ghetto of Berkelev. California and went on to lead a mostly black swing band at the Club Ala ham in 'S ans m the late Forties His 1958 hit. "Willie and the Hand live," is as much a favorite of musicians < Eric Clapton is one of many who've covered it) as his moody late Forties waxing. Harlem Nocturne." is of choreographers and stnp-tease dancers Anchored with a cross of Bo Diddles and cha-cha rhythms. Willie and the Hand Jive is still a treat — either a nonsensical re bellion song or a rebellious nonsense song, it's hard to say which The Seu Johnny Otis Shou , from Chicago * independent Alligator label. echoes the old da vs when Ous led a hand and a passel of eager young singers in a touring revue. Kicking off with the New Orleans warhorse "Dnnkin Wine Spo-Dee-O Dee." Otis fades the tune out with some characters talking about merging their loose change for loose wine One thinks he spies a dime on the pave ment. "Thai ain't no dime. man. that’s spit." instructs his companion After this rhythmic silliness, guest vocalist Charles Williams makes it lovely with a version of "Every Beat of My Heart." Otis backing him on the vibraphone Then comedy returns with "Joneila and Jack." a war-of-the-sexes duet backed by a vamp similar to that on Otis Redding and Carla Thomas Tramp.” Jack says he plans to leave Joneila. cning her "evil right cross' and her big feet that deliver a kick "like a Clydesdale horse " Joneila hips Jack that he tsn t going anywhere, and that he'd better "Pav some attention To all that ! mention "Cause bov . I'll snatch you right ourta your shoes'" All the trades, which were recorded in May erf 1961. have a live feel to them — skillfully. but not ptamstakingly laid down, witty, but loose Worth plenty of note is the guitar playing of Shuggie Otis. Johnny 's son by a marriage to a black woman Ous fils knows several tasty fills, mostly pientatomc and subtle, stylisti cally somewhere between B B King and T-Bone Walker With all the change-upis of rhythm, song style and vocalist in Tbe \eu Jobnm Otts Sbou Shuggie Ous guitar work is the nee die and thread that sews together one of the best party and blues records in many years. Byron Laursen Ocean Drive Vois 1-3 (BEACH BEAT RECORDSj The authen tic Carolina coastal item is an infect! ous kind of easygoing soul music that two generations of Southeasterners have danced and romanced to cm their waterfront holidavs It's largely black music and its chief trait is its all-en compassing tolerance rather than as exclusivity As featured on Ocean Drtte, beach music includes every thing from rutung Fifties nickers (Joe Turners "Wee Babv Blues"; to earh Sixties pop cookers (Dons Troy's Just One Look ') to the subtle soul of "Ms Grace' by the Tymes (19"*)- The common characteristic is an inviting loping gait that seems to pop up in most of these tracks, relaxation and unrushed energy seem to be the keys Since the beach music scene is a phenomenon unto itself, it has built ns own traditions, sired its own stars and charted its own hits Some of them you'll recognize instanth — Vol. 1 fea tures the Drifters Up on the Roof and the Trammps Hold Back the Night among others. Vol. II offers Bruce Channel s Hey Baby and the O Kaysions Girl Watcher while Vol III includes Man Wells My Guy and .Archie Bell s "I Can t Stop Dancing But the series real joy is that it presents plenty of opport unities for discovery Edwin Starrs incredibly up "S O S and William Bell & Judy Clay s Private Number turn up cm Vol 111 and Vol. IJ gives us the chance to hear Arthur Alexander s original Anna covered bv the Beaties on their Veejav Ip And. as the TV mail order ads say there's more, much more VShether for a cost-efficient way to corral several solid R&B hits in one place, or discovering lost gems from a regional music scene remarkable for its vitality and variety. Ocean Drine is a great avenue You can cruise pas or park, meet old friends or make new ones There's always something going on down there Gene ScuUmM BBA The Visitors ! (ATLANTIC) Times muss be gening hard if even a hand like Abba, the heretofore -carefree Swedish pop rock ers. releases an LP of heavy senti ments Yet that's what the foursome s new album. The Visitors, apparenth is meant to be a serious look a broken romances, parental guilt and other I less-than-upbeai themes There s a ba tersweet taste to Abba s current brand of bubblegum here The Winner Takes It All. the group's fatalistic single of last year, was the tip-off that Abba was changing di rection Building its remarkable inter national success upon joyous hits like '"Waterloo' and "Dancing Queen," the Scandinavian quartet in the past excel led in creating sugary but irresistible catchy pop songs Critics disdained their lightweight Htics and cheerful manner, but the public world wide re sponded to Abba s easy appeal again and again The Viators is something else again The title track is a slice of modem-dae paranoia set to a chilly synthesizer line, kicking off the W in a disquieting manner A sombre tone likewise is found in "Soldiers'' (a look at impend ing war) and One of Is' (a self condemning lament) The melodies for most of the songs are moody Europop pieces, huffing and puffing to a sings.>ng beat that s more unsettling than infectious Ahha has taken its trademark style and reworked a into dark, overscan mental c abaret musk hill erf regret and foreboding When they were an effervescent es 1 captst group. Abba could be ap preciated as good dean fun, if nothing more The Viators doesn't offer am such quick highs, yet fails to entertain an a more intellectual level (BOARDWALK RECORDS ) Powe r chords attack us right off the hat and then, enter The Tough Anitude — a must accessory for any heaw rocker worth his or her salt The title track is reminiscent erf Leslie West and Moun tain a heav\ metal pop hand from the Barry Alfonso QN "J^OUR Joan Armatrading 1ARFTELD THEATRE SAN : FRvsasco JL'ST outside the W arfield the main drag was jammed with a frenetic ; scene cars paraded up and down I horns blared, passengers leaned out 1 flashing We re Number One" signs while pedestrians swarmed onto the street to contribute their own whoop ing and hollering in celebration of the San Francisco Forty-Niners Super Bowi victory that afternoon Inside the classy, old-fashioned Warfield, the atmosphere was equally festive, but for a different reason Joan Armatrading. the vital West Indies-bom British stnger songwnter. was provid ing the audience a stirring, stunning 83-minute set .Armatrading. dressed head to toe m white, opened the show iust like the new record simple, heavy synthesizer lines gathered attention to frame the singer chanting I'm luckv. I'm lucky " From "I'm Lucky she and her backing band moved into Down to Zero, then “I Wanna Hold You" and Rosie While the set emphasized songs from Ladders. .Armatrading drew from all stages of her career which, ulti mately, was both a blessing and a curse. This range of material afforded an opportunity to trace her steady progress as a songwriter it also lent considerable musical diversity to the proceedings — a jazz-tinged piassage here, some folk-based tenderness there, mixed m with the Jamaican strains and snappn rock she currently favors But a few times the blend of styles chipped away at the cohesion and pac ing of the performance particularly toward the end when Joan, playing acoustic guitar, and her superb hand — guitarist Oarv Sanford, bass and Suck player Jeremy Meeks keyboardist Dean Kluzate. drummer Justin Hil dreth multi-instrumentalist Julian Dig glc — locked into a long, pointless jazzv-jam However, this was an isolated flaw within a tnumphani presentation V matrading s vocals were lorceful and marvelously expressive, whether beh ing out a si news rocker like Is ii Tomorrow Vet or crooning the gentle poignant The Weakness in Vie' She rendered these and other num hers with sufficient darm and emotion that even those audience mem hers un familiar with some compositions found it easy to connect with her lyri cal themes, which can convey vulnera bilitv one moment ( And I need vou ) and independence the next i' I sit here by myself/ And you know 1 love it ) — somehow avoiding a stumble into con tradiction As acutely as any active v mgwTiter Armatrading understands the quirks of romance and everyday emotions _ __ Duncan Strauss Nathan Milstein ACADEMY OF MUSIC. PHILADELPHIA. PA One of the most striking phenomena of musical perfor mance in this century has been the dominance of classical violin playing by a handful of Jewish virtuosos who were born and given their early train ing in Tsarist Russia But although their influence can still be felt in the playing of some of today’s younger violinists < Itzhak Perlman, for one), the masters themselves are now mostly silent; the most famous of these. Jascha Heifetz, is now past 80 and has n<* played in public for nearly a decade Nathan Milstein is the last of this school to hold the concert stage, and he continues to hold it like a vise At ~ his technique shows little sign of the deterioration that normally besets colleagues who are 15 to 20 years younger, and his phrasmgs are more thoughtful and elegant than ever That elegance, coupled with the sheer jote de ivre that he brings to his playing, still makes for a unique listening expe rience The highlight of his Academy recital was Bach's solo Sonata in G minor, which he seemed to dash off with the greatest of ease even while striving to project as many of the mysteries of Bach s musical thought as one man can I think his interpretation has be come subtler and more understanding than even the one included in his prize winning mid Seventies album of the Bach solo works Brahm s D minor vinata by contrast, gave him the op portune to show that he is still capa hie of high drama as well as high musicianship After intermission fireworks Seem ingly effortless renditions of two of Paganini's man killing Caprices were followed by Milstein s own brilliant reworking of Liszt s thoroughly plants tic Mepbetcj Vtaltz into a solo-violin showpiece Two Tchaikovsky pieces closed the program, the Meditation . providing a bit of repose with a ckiv ing high L) which seemed to final to infinity before the Vatse Scherzo brought it to a rousing finish There were two encores, by Bach and Liszt, and if the audience had had its way there would have been more SoI Louis Siegel Jaco Pas tori us DOROTHY CHANDLER PAVILION, LA T AGO PASTORIL’S' rather fixmidabie I reputation (Weather Report. Jom Mitchell) aii a bassist and composer preceded him But no one attending his two-night stand at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion (home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic) was quite pre pared fix the phenomenally musical performances lie generated there On the first leg of a brief national tour (which included shows in Chicago and NYC) to promote his new Warner Bros album. Word