New York - Avery
Fisher Hall
Dallas Brooks Hall
- Wendy Owen
Centennial Concert Hall
- Easter Sunday - Silvio Dobri - Tribune Staff Writer
New York - Avery Fisher Hall
Click on image for link to full
review
Herbie Mann - Mann's 'Family" Floors Fisher Crowd
Mann's music is "busier" these days - there is more going on
with each instrument, probably too much to absorb in one listening. While
Mann himself remains the focal point of the group, it is Armen Halburian who
steals the show and is obviously the catalyst in the new Mann sound.
Halburian is loosely labeled a percussionist, but that seems a piddling term for
what he actually does onstage. For one, he surrounds himself with a
dizzying cornucopia of instruments - bells. gongs, chimes, drums, whistles and
several other exotic items that one does not expect to see every night on the
concert stage. But the genius of Halburian lies in his impeccable timing.
Often were the moments when he appeared totally absorbed in playing a drum and
suddenly - like an expert wishbone quarterback executing the triple option - he
would make his move, flicking out a hand to strike a chime or ring a bell. One
beat later it wouldn't have worked. The sound would have been out of synch
with the mood.
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Dallas Brooks Hall Click on image for link to full review
But
the show was nearly stolen by the incredible one-man percussion band of Armen
Halburian who with a forbidding array of instruments managed to keep four
rhythms going simultaneously with both hands, his torso and his head.
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Centennial Concert Hall Click on image for link to full review
The packed Centennial Concert Hall
thundered with applause on Easter Sunday as Herbie Mann and his Family of Mann
concluded a 90-minute concert. The performance was the first of a series
of three jazz concerts scheduled here over the next month and a half.
While
Sunday's performance may have belonged to Mann, percussionist Armen Halburian
came close to stealing the show. Halburian became the crowd favorite
during an extended percussion solo when he was able to demonstrate his
virtuosity with bells, chimes, cymbals, cowbells and an assortment of other
beatable items.
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