even productions

p.o. box 18175, cleveland heights, ohio 44118 (216) 321-0692

DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE, DANCE!

Oven Productions presents Baba Yaga, 8 women playing jazz, Latin, and funk music. This Oregon band, well known west of the Rockies, will perform a hot and rhythmic dance concert at Fat Glen's on the CSU campus, May 12 at 9 pm. The eight instrumentalists (saxes, trumpet, flute, guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, percussion) are accomplished musicians in areas traditionally not occupied by women. This concert is part of Baba Yaga's cross country tour to promote their recently recorded album on their own label, Bloodleaf Records, distributed by Olivia. Tickets for this event are $3, $5, or $10 in advance; $3.50, $5, or $10 at the door (contribute what you can afford); over 60, under 12, $1. Free child care available by reservation before May 10. Call 321-0692 for reservations or information.

Baba Yaga is named after an herbal healer/witch of Russian folktales who used her powers to heal others and to protect herself. The women in Baba Yaga say

WILLIE TYSON

On April 14 Oven Productions presented Therese Edell, Willie Tyson, and Susan Abod to an enthusiastic audience of about 250 people in the Ford Auditorium of the Allen Memorial Library.

Therese opened with a vigorous "Hello Cleveland!" and described her Ohio background. Born in Pennsylvania, Therese now lives and works primarily in Cincinnati. Therese sang four of her own compositions, all drawn from everyday experiences, ranging from the birth of her "first niece" to an affair that ended "worse than usual”. In a rich, deep voice, Therese expertly interspersed story and song, telling her momma to "Let Your Children Go". Ending her brief set with Alix Dobkin's "Because She's a Woman", Therese Edell left the stage with the audience wanting to experience more. Her second album for Sea Friends Records will be available at Coventry Books soon after May 1.

Willie Tyson opened by explaining that she adopted the self-description of "humorist" when a woman complained that the advertised label of "comedienne" implied that Willie would tell one-liner jokes. Willie believes that her stories help explain the roots of her songs.

Susan Abod provided more than accompaniment to Willie's twelve-string guitar. Aside from arranging all the songs, she played a Fender bass, sang harmony in a high sweet voice, and acted the part of Willie Tyson in a record commercial. Audience response was strong when Susan periodically mugged and scatted with Willie, using a unique combination of musical syllables including "daba daba do wa" and "wa da ba da, dab a doo da”.

Love songs form a mainstay of Willie's repertoire, even though her brand is "neither sweet nor marketable". "Stealin' Heart", a song comparing a "broken-down heart" to a broken car engine is one of Willie's "abuse tunes", a cathartic release of hostility against a former lover.

During "I Got a Feelin'", the audience took pleasure in Willie's portrayal of a typical family: the mother was a sailor and the father was a kitchen maid. In "Separatist", Willie lamented that, although "I can't sleep with you" because "I live in Santa Fe", she might

of themselves: "We gain strength from the growing effort of women to create new lives for themselves, and we hope our music reflects this struggle for change." Most of the band's material is original and the task of selecting, arranging, and deciding what they want their music to say is a shared process.

Jazz is a strong influence in Baba Yaga's work; they respect this traditional American music and its African heritage. They have described their music as "gentler and more cooperative than most jazz", and have attempted to break down the mystique surrounding the jazz soloist. Trumpeter Bonnie Kovaleff has said, "Too often it becomes a battle to see how many technical skills can be shown off in one song, which is a very restrictive view of what actually happens when people are playing music." And flautist Nancy Cady feels that "women haven't listened to jazz because they didn't think they knew enough to understand it."

The core of Baba Yaga has been together for almost 3 years and now includes Bonnie Kovaleff, trumpet; Susan Colson, bass and vocals; Nancy Cady, flute; Barb Galloway, guitar and vocals: Patty Vincent, saxes and vocals; Jake Lampert, drums and vocals; Kiera O'Hara, piano; Christine Bagley. vocals; Marilyn Brown, sound.

This Oven Productions event is co-sponsored with the CSU Women's Law Caucus and 'is open to the public. Fat Glen's is located off of the parking lot just east of the dome gymnasium on Chester Avenue.

Baba Yaga

Back row: Bonnie Kovaleff, Susan Colson, Nancy Cady Middle row: Barb Galloway, Patty Vincent, Jake Lampert. Front row: Kiera O'Hara, Marilyn Brown.

TICKET OUTLETS

east: coventry books, three of cups center: womenspace, rape crisis center west: plants plus, tish's shoe shop geauga co: geauga women's center by mail: po box 18175, cleveland hts. 44118

Oven Kicks Off

Last Big

Drive for Sound Equipment

Oven Productions kicks off a major fund-raising drive for sound equipment this month. The goal of the drive is $1,000, which, in addition to funds raised in an earlier effort, would purchase all the major pieces of equipment needed.

Oven first started raising funds for sound equipment in December of 1976, with an appeal made at the Holly Near-Meg Christian concert. Within only two months, $2,300 had been raised through a combination of donations and loans. With those funds Oven purchased a master cable, mixing board, equalizer, microphones, stands, and cables. Loans from the first drive were paid back out of general revenues within a year.

In the fall of 1977, we were offered a tremendous deal on two speakers and an amplifier, the remaining pieces of equipment needed, so we quickly gathered $1,000 in loans from friends and bought them. But instead of using general revenue funds to pay back the loans, we decided instead to use those funds to begin

"move to Monterrey". "Did You Say Love?" was her "intellectual treatise on the deterioration of relationships", while "Levee Blues" originated from a desire to write a nonsexist blues tune.

The last song performed by Willie' and Susan was "Debutante", a perfect summation of Willie's musical and lyrical talents, as well as of her Southern heritage. Who else could musically recount a mixture of a debutante ball and a cattle auction?

paying the sound and light technicians, who had been working for free for over a year! Also, we suffered a serious financial setback from the last minute cancellation of the Mona Golabek concert, and that completely wiped out any excess general revenues we may have had.

We are asking each of our friends and supporters in the community to dig in and come up with a few dollars apiece to help pay back these loans and give us free and clear ownership of our sound equipment once and for all. When this $1,000 is raised, we will probably never have to conduct a major fund-raising, drive again! Yippee!

$1,000 is an average of only $3 per person for 330 people, or $2 per person for 500 people. Some people will be able to afford more than that, some less; give what you can. In any case, it's not much money to guarantee yourself high quality sound at an Oven concert, right?

Right! Thanks for your support.

The three performers gave the audience a fine blend of humor and music, aided by the skillful sound, lighting, and overall production of the Oven women. Both singer-songwriters expressed their feminist politics in very personal ways; both deserve wider and larger audiences for their concerts and albums.

Andrea Baker

April, 1978/What She Wants/Page 11