P age B4 A ugust 23 1995 • T he P ortland O bserver ^ o rtla ix b (JPbseruer ENT ERTA IN MENT Max-A-Million To call Duran Estevez positive would be something o f an under statement. The dynamic rapper and singer for the Chicago group Max- A -M illio n veritably begins and ends each sentence with ‘ Irie ’, the Jamai can term for “ A lrigh t.’’ Moreover, the sentiments Duran expresses are so endearingly a ffir mative they make the listener feel like join in g the singer in his mission to inspire the masses through music. That same irrepressible spirit vibrates through the songs on Take Your Time. The Zoo Entertainment/S.O.S. Records debut album from M ax-A- M illion. The disc showcases the Chicago vocal trio on 12jams that ambitious ly com bine elem ents o f R & B , Reggae, dancehall, Hip/Hopand Pop. Indeed, the album’ s first single “ Fat New York Undercover (L-R): Michael DeLorenzo (Eddie Torres), Patti D ’A rbanville-Quinn (Lt. Virginia Cooper) and Malik Yoba (J.C. Williams) struggle to rid the New York City Streets of criminals in the new one-hour drama New York Undercover premiering Thursday Sept 8 (9 00-10 00 'PM ET/PT) on Fox. Boy” has already become a dance/ club hit on the strength o f its clatter ing techno rhythms. Reggae Rap ping and Sexy Vocals. The group consists o f three sing ers so talented each could easi ly front their own group. But when Duran, A ’ Lisa B and Tommye joined forces to form M ax-A -M illio n , they created a triple-th re a t funk posse with astounding vo cal finesse. Take Your Time isa vision ary c o m b in a tion o fR & B vo calizing, quick silver Caribbe an rapping and techno fu tu r ism. The album is produced by 20 Fingers, the phe nomenal Chicago music team behind recent dance hits by G illette (“ Short Short Man” ) and Roula (“ Lick It” ). Take Your Time finds the re nowned production crew applying their musical and engineering exper tise to a collection o f original songs and forceful interpretations. C o m m e r c ia l "s The B e st O f F ran k X u ppa When Rykodisc am bitiously rereleased en masse the definitive Frank Zappa-approved masters o f al I his albums in the Spring o f 1995, the uninitiated were afforded the oppor tunity to explore the vast and diverse world o f FZ - composer, bandleader and virtuoso guitarist as well as hu morist, satirist and outspoken social critic -- who.ie massive body o f work was widely overlooked and misun derstood in his lifetime. However, neophytes trying to find a threshold into the Zappa zone are faced with a monumental i f not overwhelming task; where to start? There’ s no bet ter way to get a sampling o f the prolific maestro’s catalog than by delving into S trictly Commercial (RC D /R AC /R ALP 40500), a “ best o f ’ collection o f FZ’s radio hits and tunes that would have been Top Ten i f this were a perfect world. Packed with 19 highlights o f his “ main stream” pop-rock career, this collec tion is a bona fide Zappa 101, a primer on his creative genius which was simultaneously at work and at play in even his most accessible num bers. I t ’s also the first o fficial Zappa retrospective since Verve released Mothermania in 1969. One o f rock’s most p ro lific and iconoclastic artists, Frank Zappa adventurously covered a universe o f stylistic terrain, ranging from ‘ 50s music inspired by Varese, Stravinsky and Bartók. He punched out hardy rock on his surly guitar and served up “jazz from hell” experiments on his computerized Synclavier DMS key board (his instrument ofchoice in the latter years o f his life when he was studio-bound). With a lifelong fla ir for creating genre-jumping, post modernist music, Zappa released nearly 60 albums, many o f which folded in several different styles o f' m usic, cross-referencing such seemingly disparate domains as classical with reggae and melodic R&B with dissonant avant-garde. M ERCIAI APPA doo-wop to 20th century classical UNITED ARTISTS PICTURES presests a SERAPHIM prod « CLIVE BARKER’S "LORD OE ILLUSIONS" SCOTT BAKULA ISSEN DANIEL VON BARGEN p ®USTEVE GOLINSIGURJON SIGHVAT5S0N '" i SIMON BC a " "MJ h AWE SELLAR . CLIVE BARKER »L dm E cto S CLIVE BARKER U n Visit iht1 HIRI) Oi IIIISIONS Sue tin ihtfiSTERNFT: htl|t://HHH.mi{nturi.rom/l«rd ° .i*’”’' / \ STARTS FRIDAY, AUGUST 25TH ■ItTMICTIO EAST PORTLAND 32NO & E BURNSIDE 231-8926 M U S IC M I L L E N N IU M NW PORTLAND 23RDÄ NW .JOHNSON 2480163 sc i KB’ i-iKk J M |J m ’J u ■ J < A K J J H ix ■ 1 ■ gl? * 1 The gang is back w ith all new episodes and new liv in g arrangem ents. The coolest cops in television are back fo r an all new season Premieres Au 1 8PM/7 C EN TR A L & M O U N T A IN