St. Louis Post-Dispatch from St. Louis, Missouri • Page 34

II) Aufu.i 2B. 19T8 ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH George Benson At River Festival reviewjazz By Dick Richmond Of the PoM-Diopatrh Staff Jazz guitarist George Benson really didn't need any help to put on a good show Sunday night at the Mississippi River Festival at Edwardsville. Nevertheless, he got it. His band includes two solo recording artists, Phil Upchurch on guitar and Ronnie Foster on keyboards.

To round it out, he has Jorge Dalto on clavinet and acoustic piano, Stanley Banks on bass and Hugh Moran on drums. Moran is a newcomer. Roy Ayers was scheduled to open the show. However, it was reported that someone in his band was ill and that he had to cancel. So the whole show was Benson.

He started about 30 minutes late, but once he began, he just never quit. In fact, for a good part of the show it was like a jam session as he and the band moved from one number to the next without letup. Personally, I prefer Benson's guitar to Benson's singing. But more than half of the numbers had him, for part of the song, singing scat along with the guitar. And on "This Masquerade," which is probably his biggest hit, he made a 10-minute production out of the song, extending it somewhat from his recorded version.

A lot of the numbers were drawn out a bit. The one that really worked well that way was "The Greatest Love of All," which started with Dalto on grand piano in a solo, and then had Benson singing softly with the piano. When Benson's vocals became forceful, the rest of the band joined in. It was here that bassist Banks went wild, not with his playing, but with his arm motions. In spite of the vivid way each of the instrumentalists was pursuing his part, the music never smothered Benson's voice.

Each would drop back on the soft parts, and then they lifted with him for the dramatic ending. Of the instrumentals, Ronnie Foster's "Lady" from the "Breezin' album seemed far too short. It was that pretty. the show was a concentration on vocals. Still, you cannot fault a man for leaning in the direction in which he has won acclaim.

His biggest hits have been with him singing. Before you get the idea that I don't like his singing, I do. It's just a matter of preference, because the man plays so well with that kind of band. I love those melodic tunes of his, because they were unmarred by the personal ambition of his sidemen. It's a well-balanced unit.

As far as the crowd was concerned, everything that was played was loved. But some of Benson's vocals, especially on "This Masquerade," "Lady Blue," "On Broadway" and "The Greatest Love of All," the enthusiasm was so overwhelming that the crowd jumped to its feet to applaud at the last notes of each. Frequently, when Benson was singing, the guitar was left alone. But most YT7 ''-V-1-, 1 jj-r 7 fl I I ''ft; 0 vi I ri Superjam '78 In Busch Stadium reviewrock This Place" and "Born to be Wild." Even a drums and (mostly) bass duet wasn't boring. By the time the Cult wound things up with a fairly conservative version of "Don't Fear the Reaper," the concert was over, psychologically speaking.

Styx had yet to play. And play they did, with benefit of flash bombs and eight searchlights brought in especially for their set. Besides that, the spotlights were finally turned on. Thus, the Styx set was a bit more majestic in scope but not as good musically. The vocals were tight and sometimes piercing.

It was only that the band's concept pieces came off a tad pretentious after all the good rock 'n' roll earlier in the concert. Eddie Money comes up last in this review but not in terms of his performance. His set was short, maybe because he doesn't have much material assembled at this point in his national career. His band was good but he was better than his band. Money had two ideal qualities that rarely are present in one rock singer: he had just the right degree of gravel to his voice and good range.

Upon leaving the stadium, I realized that some of the best seats in the house were not in the house at all. They were on certain areas of lawn near sidewalks surrounding the stadium. The sound there was clear as a bell, a fact deeply appeciated by all those who camped out there for free. By John S. Cullinane Although it is unlikely that Super-jams will ever become ho-hum events in this city, they are getting about as regular as birthdays.

And, like some birthdays, there were some things worth remembering and other things you'd just as soon forget about Superjam '78. Even if we have entered the age in which the all-day rocker has replaced the all-day sucker, there was more to Superjam 78 than the sheer spectacle of it and all the great-looking tans. It was another concert, only longer. More than 40,000 persons were attracted to the show that featured Styx, Blue Oyster Cult, Eddie Money, Bob Welch' and Angel. Although it never became unbearable, the volume climbed steadily as night fell over Busch Memorial Stadium.

The quality of the sound, excepting early technical difficulties, was generally excellent. But by the end of Saturday evening, the volume was great enough that passengers in the airplanes that occasionally flew over the stadium must have been tapping their feet to the music. Ah, the music. The bands shuffled on and off stage in timely fashion for the most part. At least one band Angel made you wish for a premature exit.

Bob Welch, in his first visit here as leader of his own band, was surprisingly good, on the other hand. His vocals sounded almost languid until you realized he sounded the way he did because he had full control of things. He also had a lot more to offer than just his hit, "Ebony Eyes," and retreads of songs from Fleetwood Mac, his old band. It looked as if Welch's band would be the only one to really jam (as in super) until Blue Oyster Cult blew onto the stage. That band started fast, paused hardly ever, and got faster.

And Blue Oyster Cult occupied the position in the lineup of the bands that every band participating in an afternoon-evening stadium concert covets dusk. Unfortunately, no sensational sunset marked the group's arrival. Things went gray and then dark. There was also an absence of light on stage well after any lights in the sky had gone out. Technicians turned on colored stage lights no spotlights only after someone in the band complained over a microphone of the darkness.

Where some of the harmonies may have been loose, the singing was always competent. Instrumentally, the band was ferociously good. Don Roeser played enough for two guitarists. The set was planned beautifully and included a couple fine oldies, "We Gotta Get out of Seeking Special Healing Ointment group for the winter-spring. We have decided this year to make it a do-it-yourself type of learning experience.

We are looking for people who can give us evening or weekend workshops at a minimal price for fun things rather than totally practical ones. It's not that we are against being practical; it's more that the group meets for fun, so that's what we want these workshops or work days to be. If you have any suggestions, we would like to have them. DEAR MARTHA CARR: I copied the name and address of a jar of ointment we bought several years ago and would like to find out where we can buy it. Our drugstore hasn't even heard of it and we don't remember where we found it before.

(It is a vitamin A and ointment with a de-germing agent.) It is something like the old-fashioned "wool fat" salve we used to buy, and it a very good healing salve. Can you find out if it is made any more and where I can order it? R.L.A. CHECK WITH the public library to find the current address of the manufacturer (if he is still in business) and write to him directly. If you get no answer, ask your druggist for a comparable product. There are several A and ointments on the market that would probably give you the healing properties you are looking for.

DEAR MARTHA: We have recently moved to St. Louis and I am now trying to get acquainted with our new area. I am very much involved in needlework as a hobby, martha carr and I have found as I moved around, the country with my husband that it has helped me make new friends wherever I go. Does St. Louis have any needleworkgroups that I could join? Can you put me in touch with them, please? M.F.

ST. LOUIS HAS at least two needlework groups in addition to the various ones that have been organized through various local Call the Threadneedle Guild of St. Louis (Mrs. Rosemary Harris at 725-8260) and the St. Louis Needlework Guild (Mrs.

Jack Hunstein at 965-0347) for information about meeting times and places. DEAR MARTHA:" We are looking for programs Tor our young aUults THE LEARNING CENTER at 4504 Westminster (361-1908) has a variety of workshops that might interest your group. Some of them meet once, others several times; most are repeated several times over the academic year. The University of Missouri extension centers also can provide you with leaders for almost any topic you might care to explore. The City Center is at 724 North Union Boulevard (367-2585) and the County Center is at 555 South Brentwood Boulevard (889-2174).

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LOUIS POST-DISPATCH.