POP / SNEAK PEEK : FIFI: RADICAL-LOOKING BAND BARKING UP THE PUNK TREE.FiFi: harmless pink poodle poodle, popular breed of dog probably originating in Germany but generally associated with France, where it has been raised for centuries. There are three varieties, differing in size only. or ear-splitting punk band? Definitely the latter. The five-member group, which recently released its debut album, ``Sinkhole'' (Low Blow/Triple X), is busy headlining local clubs and keeping the spirit of '77 alive. ``Everything that goes around comes around,'' drummer Peter Finestone said. ``Who knows? In two years, hair bands like Warrant and Winger could be back.'' Not if FiFi - which also includes Gordon Polk (vocals), Steve Dro (guitar), Larry Duenas (guitar) and Bruce Starett (bass) - have anything to do with it. The band, which got together about two years ago, plays the sort of speedy hard-core rock made popular by Bad Religion and Black Flag. ``The other day in Burbank, I saw these two 14-year-olds with the most rad mohawks,'' Polk said. ``To me, that rules. They weren't even born when punk started.'' FiFi's new CD is jam-packed with solid originals, plus a rocking cover of the English Beat's ``Mirror in the Bathroom.'' The hard-working band appears on Halloween in a benefit show at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel
``There are so many bands and clubs in L.A.,'' Polk said. ``You can book a gig and think it's going to be great and then find out Rage Against the Machine are playing across town. And you end up playing to a couple of bartenders.'' Although some members of FiFi live in Silver Lake, the band feels ostracized from that area's burgeoning music scene. ``They don't like us because we're not arty enough,'' Duenas said. ``You need to drive a Ford Falcon Ford Falcon is a car nameplate seen around the world.
Burrell and all that jazz: Guitarist Kenny Burrell Kenneth Earl Burrell (born July 31 1931) is an American jazz guitarist. His playing is founded in bebop and blues; he has performed and recorded with a wide range of jazz musicians. has been named director of UCLA's Jazz Studies program. As part of the curriculum, Burrell plans to bring in well-known musicians to teach master classes and perhaps join the faculty. Rounding out the Jazz Studies program is band leader Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson is an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer/arranger, and educator. He has been based in Los Angeles since the early 1940s. [1] Wilson was born in Mississippi in 1918. He graduated from Cass Technical High School in Detroit. , who teaches a course on the development of jazz. Also involved are pianist Billy Childs, trumpeter Oscar Brashear, trombonist Garnett Brown, drummer Billy Higgins Billy Higgins (October 11, 1936–May 3, 2001) was an American jazz drummer. He played mainly free jazz and hard bop. He played on Ornette Coleman's first records, beginning in 1958. , and singers Barbara Morrison Barbara Morrison is an American singer of jazz music. Born in Ypsilanti, Michigan and raised in Romulus, Michigan, Barbara Morrison recorded her first appearance for radio in Detroit at the age of 10. Well known in the Los Angeles area for her duo and trio dates Ms. and Ruth Price. ``Upon graduating, students will be prepared to enter a diverse range of activities, careers and graduate study in jazz performance,'' Burrell said. The guitarist, whose latest album is ``Live at the Blue Note'' (Concord Jazz), will perform Nov. 8 with the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Wilson at Schoenberg Hall on campus. Admission is free. B.B. on the blues: It's hard to believe blues great B.B. King hadn't written his autobiography until now. Finally, here's ``Blues All Around Me: The Autobiography of B.B. King'' (co-written with David Ritz; Avon Books; $23), which tells of King's start in the music business in 1946 to his years as a disc jockey to cutting his first record to worldwide recognition. King calls the book ``a memory of the heart. This is a blues story.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos Photo: (1) Blues great B.B. King has written his autobio graphy, ``Blues All Around Me.'' (2) FiFi, which recently released its debut album, ``Sinkhole sinkhole or sink or doline Depression formed as underlying limestone bedrock is dissolved by groundwater. Sinkholes vary greatly in area and depth and may be very large. ,'' will perform in a benefit show Oct. 31 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. |
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