OCTOBER 8, 2008 5
T THE TOWER
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Local Band Finds Meaning in “Poetology” By Lillie Morales-Torres
Anthony Rodriguez enters the Starbucks café on campus and the first thing he observes is an old piano that sits all alone near the main entrance. Rodriguez is a local New Jersey pianist, a simple musician with a bohemian style. Today he is wearing a plain, white button-down shirt, jeans and flip fops. A handmade leather bracelet and a simple wedding band adorn his left hand. Rodriguez and his band, Poetology, are a popular local group that plays mostly in the tri-state area. Latin Jazz is the sound that comes from this artist and his band and they play everywhere: in cafes, restaurants, and lounges, as well as at theatres, concerts, fundraisers and festivals. On Oct. 18, they are playing at Narroway Café on Broadway in Newark and at the Christian Faith Center on Montgomery Street in Bloomfield on Oct. 25. Poetology is billed as the only Latin Jazz band on the Christian scene from the tristate area. Just this year the artist and his band were signed by Favor Records, an independent record label in Virginia Beach that is affiliated with Sony. The label represents mostly Christian/Inspirationl artists and artists in general who send a positive message through their music. Rodriguez expects the new label will mean an even more successful future with many more events and greater public exposure. Their music is instrumental. There are no vocals or sounds other than their instruments. Many of their songs are re-
makes of inspirational songs from their church but in the form of Latin Jazz and without vocals. On a quiet night at home, the album is truly a cup of tea. “All of my compositions come deeply inspired by my faith in the Lord.” Anthony explains, “But even though our music falls in the inspirational/Christian cat-
all age groups. His religious faith has played a big role in his career and he always likes to give back. He often plays for the Sunday services at his parish, the King’s Gate in Fairview, NJ. Anthony’s musical career has taken him to many different places and allowed him to collaborate with various musicians
guez. “I have had to change players here and there. I always hope for steady players, but it’s tough dealing with musicians. And it’s never personal, it’s business. In the business, this is a common thing.” The band has been creating its own Latin Jazz sound since 2006, and has had two albums produced. Their first album,
and artists in the music industry. A highlight was in 2005 when he was given a Telly Award for the soundtrack of Isaiah’s Touch, a film by Tangy which was televised on BET. About two years ago, Rodriguez made plans to form a band to accompany his music. With hard work and dedication, he managed to make the band happen. He called it Poetology, which translates as “musical poetry,” he said. It consists of six instruments: his own piano, bass, drums, percussion, violin, and the saxophone. “I guess the main focus is on me as an artist and not on the band,” says Rodri-
Harvest onto the Lord was released in February 2006 and the second, Poetology was released in August. “I’ve found that Latin Jazz is a way I can express myself through my music,” says Rodriguez, “The sounds have a flow that are influenced by jazz mixed with Latin culture. It’s an easy sound to fall in love with.” For more information, go to: www.anthonyrodriguezonline.com or to www.favorrecords.com
Latin Jazz is the sound that comes from this artist and his band, and they play everywhere. egory, it’s a music that any listener can enjoy. There aren’t words, the instruments sing the songs for you. You just have to sit back, relax, and listen.” Rodriguez has had a passion for music since he was a young boy and his father introduced him to an old keyboard. Anthony began to play at the age of 13. He wasn’t one of those trained musicians who learn everything from books and special schools, but a natural one with a gifted ear and an ability to learn quickly. He took private lessons for five years with Juan Gonzalez, the famed piano player for singer Marc Anthony. Then, he took the craft into his on hands. For many years, Rodriguez has played a big part in his church and local community in Fairview, N.J., a small Bergen County town not far from Jersey City. He gives piano lessons and musical workshops to
MOVIE REVIEW How to Lose Friends and Alienate People ★ ★ ★ Starring: Simon Pegg, Kirsten Dunst, Megan Fox, Jeff Bridges Directed by: Rated R for language, some graphic nudity and brief drug material By Colin Covert
With his huge watery eyes, prominent cheekbones and pale face, Simon Pegg is an unlikely romantic lead. He’s a crack comedian, however, and the funny guy does often win the girl in the end. In “How to Lose Friends and Alienate People,” he plays Simon, an iconoclastic London journalist transplanted to New York. Much to his surprise, he has become such an important player in the magazine-PR-industrial complex that he’s about to bed a starlet played by the unspeakably luscious Megan Fox. As noted, he’s a funny guy, so this turn of events is one step short of science fiction. Simon’s improbable rise from ink-stained wretch to master of the glamorverse is the core of the story. It is constructed along the same ugly duckling lines as “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Nanny Diaries” or any number of other yarns with put-upon protagonists in fashionable surroundings. This time through, however, it’s the guy who gets the makeover and has the second thoughts. Simon begins his journey as editor of The Postmodern Review, a fancy title for a snarky gossip rag. He spends a great deal of time trying to slither past the velvet ropes that separate celebrities from everyday folk like himself. He’s rather ill-mannered, but his persistence is winning. After he fails to penetrate a red-carpet film premiere by walking up with a pig on a leash (“It’s Babe,” he insists) he goes incognito as a waiter. He’s seized by security, of course, and given the bum’s rush. His drooping false mustache was a dead giveaway, but so was his body language. Simon skulks in the presence of the famous, as if he had no right to be there. When he’s transplanted to Manhattan as the protege of a revered magazine editor (Jeff Bridges in wise but weary mode), he gets a crash course in New York self-esteem. The film has a respectable feel of craftsmanship that partly alleviates its bland anonymity. It’s constructed from the stock parts used in a million earlier romcoms _ the grumpy ethnic landlady, the meet-cute with the romantically appropriate coworker, the learning the ropes scenes, the snarky clashes with the office rival. Despite the impersonal sameness of the material, it moves along at a good clip, rarely letting a one-note joke outstay its welcome. Pegg is adept at the foot-in-mouth humor that defines his character. He’s wonderfully expressive. In a scene where his lowly status in the office hierarchy requires him to ignore the fact that an important personage
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has fallen flat on her face in front of him, you can read his entire thought process as he startles, hesitates, than walks right over her. Gillian Anderson plays a sharklike publicist who corrupts Simon, offering him the interviews that will net him a cover story if he writes puff pieces about her clients. With her insidious assistance, he continues to fail upwards, eventually circling back to the moment when he is about to sleep with Anderson’s hottest client. As the rising star of the moment, Fox possesses a feral sexuality, pre-conscious yet instinctively all-knowing, like a stunning, innocent, carnivorous cat. Though he’s been on a long, steady bonding path with wholesome coworker Kristen Dunst, Pegg is magnetized by Fox’s allure. Hence his crisis of conscience. Is he a wannabe or a don’t-wannabe? There are enough nuggets of entertainment in the film to tip it to the positive side of the scale. © 2008, Star Tribune (Minneapolis); Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.