Reel life

Taking chances at the Green Room

by Bob Gulla

Bigger Than the Man

We don't get much celluloid action around the Ocean State. Occasionally, a big bunch of tracks carrying a small bunch of Hollywood types will roll in, plug in a few really bright lights for a few days, spend lots of money on catering, and roll out. (No wonder why Buddy's so excited about having Providence in town.)

Anyway, most of the reel to reels we see in these parts come from local artists, the latest entry being Bigger Than the Man, first-time filmmaker Brett Davey's exciting debut project. It debuts on June 25 at 6 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium. Admission is $10 and it includes a live performance from Erik Narwhal and the Manatees.

The film itself, about a talented but struggling artist desperate to make ends meet (sound familiar?), was shot on 16-millimeter film over a 16-day period for less than the cost of a single lunch for the cast of Titanic, or about $20,000. It stars local personalities, including Erik Marzocchi as the protagonist, Don Demaio as Erik's sweet Uncle Dana, John Casey as the slimy Riley, and several other folks you might recognize from around town. The film was shot by Armando Perez and Jessica Jennings and edited by John Lavall at Plan B.

Writer/director/producer Davey has done an outstanding job assembling the project and putting it all on film. A task like this on a shoestring is stentorian, a real bugger, and he deserves high praise. It took him a whopping two years from beginning to end to shoot 81 minutes of story, an act of devotion without a doubt. Qualitatively, too, he manages to keep a fairly high standard on screen. Marzocchi (aka Narwhal), has a quirky likability as the film's central figure, and the entire story has a well-written, homespun charm. Davey keeps his star's travails relatable, even universal, and Marzocchi earns that ever valuable feature-film trait: empathy.

Of course, I ain't gonna give away a plot line or anything. Make yourself an extra $10 somewhere and get your ass over to the RISD Auditorium. You'll even get a Manatees live show to enjoy for the price of admission.

DAN MORETTI AND ONCE THROUGH. It's funny. We rarely appreciate the great things we have right under our nose, kinda like living in New York City and never bothering to see the Statue of Liberty. There are tons of people and places here in Rhode Island that don't get the attention it/he/she/they deserve. And Dan Moretti is one of them. In addition to writing and performing his own work for worldwide audiences, he's also appeared with artists as celebrated as Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, the Temptations, Dave Liebman, and Johnny Mathis. Did we know that? Dan's also an associate professor in the contemporary writing and production department at the acclaimed Berklee School of Music and a Boosey & Hawkes artist-clinician. Through the years, Moretti has developed enormous respect as a classy jazz artist who works skillfully in a variety of the idiom's contexts, including Latin, contemporary, and straight-ahead.

Dan Moretti

Moretti's latest project is Once Through, a New England jazz supergroup featuring Moretti on sax, bassist Marty Ballou, drummer Marty Richards, and guitarist Bruce Bartlett. The quartet put their heads together and came up with Once Through, a self-titled debut disc recorded all acoustic and completely live in the studio. The disc was laid down across two four-hour sessions with no charts, and most of the takes played through just once. Hence, the title. Frankly, it's the only way to hear true jazz and the technique makes for an exhilarating experience.

Recorded at First Notes Studio and mixed and mastered at Celebration Sounds, "Once Through" is a remarkable accomplishment made by remarkable musicians. On repeated listening, it never fails to turn up something new, to reveal nuances of tone and technique. Together, the quartet ventures through a colorful terrain of material, from sultry, quiet storm stuff on the Bill Withers standard "Ain't No Sunshine," Moretti's stunning free arrangement (on flute!) of "Tenderly," and Bartlett and Richard's paroxysms of instrumental joy on Milt Jackson's classic "Bag's Groove" to the closing avant-garde breakdown amid "Walkin'," a tune composed by Richard Carpenter and made famous by Miles Davis. The recording is a pandora's box of musical surprises, jazz style -- in terms of performance, treatment, and especially spirit.

Like the above celluloid situation, there aren't many jazz recordings coming from Rhode Island musicians. The scene hardly qualifies as Jazz Central Station. So when something emerges like Once Through, it deserves our respect and attention. Jazz fans can take heart in knowing that the recording features highly skilled improv as well as excellent adventure and melody, while those new to the genre might find Once Through a good jumping off point. At least you know it originates locally.

Another way to appreciate Moretti and Once Through is to catch them live. They're having a record release party on July 1 at Chan's One thing's for sure, it's gonna be one hot summer night.

WANDERING EYE. Sean, the persistent Chief Ferret over at Rattlehead Records, recently put out a last call for mp3s or Real Audio tracks for broadcast over his local music webcasting station. Check out the site at www.rattleheadrecords. com. Then send your best tracks to dcs@ rattleheadrecords.com. The station intends to begin its webcast on the 4th of July. The site also has a local gig calendar to check out, so send your gig info to news@rattleheadrecords.com.

A rather bizarre factoid came out of email correspondence with the site we thought you might be interested in. When the Rattlehead folks first began collecting local band profiles for their notorious black book, they found, in an informal study, that 73 percent of all the performance slots each week in Rhode Island go to cover bands or out-of-state bands. Disheartening news for locals, you gotta admit. What are we gonna do about it?

Congratulations to Stone Soup for finding a new location: at Slater Mill in Pawtucket. The bad news is they're leaving Providence. The good news is they have a bigger, better, more welcoming space with plenty of parking. Culturally poor Pawtucket is also a big winner. Good luck to both sides of that equation.

Bob Gulla can be reached at b_gulla@yahoo.com.