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CD REVIEW Jewel goes back to cowgirl roots THIS WAY Jewel ★★★★ out of ☆☆☆*☆ BY MARY HARTNEY THE GAMECOCK Jewel is back, and she’s stronger musically and lyrically than fans have ever seen her— with the exception of a live show. This Way, Jewel’s new album, released yesterday, is a throwback to her cowgirl roots and finally captures her onstage presence on CD. Jewel, the performer, knows how to play off of a crowd and show her fans a good time. She’s quirky, fun and cute—and a damn good musician. This album finally shows just that. If you’re hoping for another ethereal album wrought with semi bad poetry, you’re out of luck. If you’re looking for the other side of Jewel’s personality in her music, pick up this one; it’s the best Jewel album to date. Thankfully, there’s no spoken word here, and there’s minimal sappiness with lots of good rock, at times reminiscent of the Indigo Girls and Sheryl Crow. Since 1999’s Spirit, Jewel has broadened her horizons. She dueted with Merle Haggard and acted in Ride With the Devil — and her versatility shows on This Way. This is an open-road album with an out-West feel, and that’s exactly who Jewel is. Jewel albums usually require an adjustment period before they can be appreciated. Not this one. The album opener, “Standing Still,” is the strongest song on the album. Her guitar playing has warmed up and she makes work what would have been sophomoric lyrics by letting loose her complex voice. Jewel has finally learned to combine her signature sound with pop sensibilities—a relief for fans. In that same vein, “Do You Want to Play?” mixes old-school Jewel with a fun sound. It’s as if she’s winking when she sings the chorus: “Oh... you’re so special/Oh... Who gives a... /Do you want to play?” Of course, where would we be without classic Jewelesque love songs? “Break Me” is a sparse track filled with her soulful pining for a lost lover: “So break me/Take me/ Just let me feel your love again.” This is her forte, and she does it well. She has grown up since her Pieces of You debut, and her songs reflect it. What makes this album so great is its expression of her interesting history without explicitly stating it. Her parents are both performers and she grew up in Alaska singing in bars with her father, Atz Kilcher. She has lived in a van trying to make it as an artist; she has been “adopted” by a tribe of American Indians who taught her to write from her heart; she has written songs on the beach in Mexico with fellow musician Steve Poltz. All of this is manifested in different ways on the album. “Serve the Ego” brings in an Indian feel with a more metal sound, and her lyrics and singing explore sexual role stereotypes. Jewel is bolder here, and she is much better when she frees up her old sound to new influences. She experiments with a country sound on “Everybody Needs Someone Sometime.” Twangy guitars and a solid drum track give room for her to play around with the song’s feel, and she sings like a younger, cuter Bonnie Raitt with lots of attitude. “Love Me, Just Leave Me Alone” has a similar sound, with guitars like The The and a cowgirl “Yeah, baby” at the end. But she sums up the album and her new rock-feel best in “The New Wild West”: “Because after all, what fun is power if you can’t act like a rock star?” She has let her background loose, experimented with new sounds, and she’s headed in a new direction. This album will replace her others for serious Jewel fans, and it’s the best place to start for new listeners. There’s only one thing from her concerts that’s missing on the album -- that trademark yodel. Pratt Named Leader of Tomorrow by Ebony CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 Live from South Africa was released in 1997. It was performed and recorded at the NICO Opera House in Cape Town. The lively performance is a compilation of works by Brahms, Franck and Rachmaninov. Transformations is Pratt’s fourth release and features his piano transcription of “Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor” by Bach. Pratt has been extensively featured on radio and television, appearing on the National Public Radio shows Performance Today and Weekend Edition, the Today Show, CBS Sunday Morning, Good Morning America and Sesame Street. Pratt has performed at the White House and as a soloist on the PBS production Live from Kennedy Center—A Salute to Slava. He has played with just about every major orchestra in the United States and has appeared at the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln Center. Ebony magazine named him to their list of the 50 Leaders of Tomorrow. He is currently touring with hopes of settling down one day to open a year-round community arts center. -1 ENTERTAINMENT BRIEFS TV networks starting to show pop concerts NEW YORK (AP) - Television sets are beginning to rival local civic centers as concert venues. CBS aired a two-hour Michael Jackson concert special Tuesday and begins a run of three week ly Garth Brooks shows tonight. NBC presents Jennifer Lopez on Nov. 20, and *N Sync is on CBS on Nov. 23. ABC gives Mick Jagger a prime-time hour on Thanksgiving, part biography, part performance. Largely ignored by network television for many years, pop concerts have become a pro gramming genre of their own. “The mainstream, middle American television audience in the year 2001 are people who grew up going to concerts and for whom concerts remain a regular part of their entertainment,” said Bill Flanagan, a VH1 executive. “That’s different from what it used to be.” The concert specials have filled the niche that variety pro grams like The Ed Sullivan Show had in the 1960s, Flanagan said. They don’t necessarily get big ratings. A one-hour condensed version of the United We Stand concert on ABC on Nov. 1 drew 6.2 million viewers, a fraction of the 27 million who saw Friends the same night. CBS ran high lights of the Concert for New York City the night before and attract ed 5.6 million viewers. The concerts generally bring in a younger audience than typi cal prime-time network fare, en abling the networks to sell time to different advertisers, said Jeff Gaspin, head of alternative pro gramming at NBC. That’s particularly important at CBS, which traditionally has the oldest audience on network TV. CBS has been the most ag gressive of the four major broad casters in airing concerts; Celine Dion, Shania Twain and Ricky Martin have all done CBS spe cials. Since CBS’ parent company, Viacom, also owns MTV, VH1 and Country Music Television, musicians are eager to do busi ness with the network. The three Brooks concerts this month will surely draw a bigger audience for CBS than Wolf Lake, the struggling drama whose time slot is being filled. In a ratings “sweeps” month, that’s money in the bank. Brooks had announced that he wouldn’t be doing any more concert tours. “CBS has given me the oppor tunity to take the music to the people in a new way, to have the fun of performing it live, and do it in such a way that I don’t have to be away from home for long periods of time,” he said. He’ll do one show from the air craft carrier USS Enterprise and another at The Forum in Los Angeles. The third show, on Nov. 28, is at a site yet to be announced. For the most part, seeing a concert on television is a lot like watching fireworks on TV — it’s just not the same as being there, Gaspin conceded. Yet the price of concert tickets is getting steep, and many fans don’t have the op portunity to see their favorite acts, he said. Billboard announces performers for Awards NEW YORK (AP) - Alicia Keys*, *N Sync, Tim McGraw and Shaggy are scheduled to perform at the 2001 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Dec. 4. The 12th annual ceremony will honor the year’s top artists and songs, as determined by record charts, sales and radio airplay. The show is scheduled to air live on the Fox network from 8-10 p.m. EST. Victoria’s Secret hits prime-time television COLUMBUS, OHIO (AP) - As Victoria’s Secret marketing di rector, Ed Razek is responsible for the sexy commercials that have appeared on television for years and the fashion show that crashed a Web site. Yes, Razek said, he knows them all by name. Yes, they’re his friends. And yes, he gets to be with them at glamorous locations worldwide. “It is a spectacular job. It is a terrific job. I really enjoy doing it, but it isn’t running in the ocean with supermodels. It’s a big business,” Razek said from his office at the Columbus head quarters of The Limited Inc., 84 percent owner of Intimate Brands, which includes Victoria’s Secret. And it’s a big business ready for prime time. The Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show airs as a one-hour special at 9 p.m. Thursday on ABC — the first-ever network broadcast of this annual event. Rupert Everett will be the host of the $5 million holiday-themed production that was taped Tuesday at New York’s Bryant Park. It will include Andrea Bocelli, a 50-piece orchestra, comedy skits and, of course, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum and 23 other models wearing Victoria’s Secret lingerie. Teen Show Show is searching for new panelists CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8 DeRose said, “We respect each others’ opinions. Nothing I said is taken out of the studio.” DeRose was nervous when she first went on air but after a few months she found her on air time a lot like a “regular conversation.” “I have really made great contacts and had a lot of different experiences. I’ve met and worked with such a diverse group of people, and we’ve become a lot like family,” DeRose said. The Teen Forum Show is currently looking for more panelists. Anyone interested is encouraged to contact the show. -1 sponsored by Shandon baptist Church and iriffaa And donl miss the Post-game events Sunday, November 18 Shandon Baptist Church Gym 10 am College Bible Study Featuring Adrian Despres, Chaplain USC football team 11:30 am Contemporary Worship Service Free lunch after Worship Service For more information email college@shandon.org or call 782-1300 ext/105 Ticket Outlets: All area Christian Bookstores and Shandon Baptist Churd sponsored by Shandon Baptist Church and , SemestlfService UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA BICENTENNIAL" Celebrate USC's bicentennial and your service contributions to the Carolina community by registering your hours or your organization's hours with Semester of Service Registration forms can be found in the Russell House University Union, West Wing, Lower Level or at www.sc.edu/bicentennial. Hours must be registered no later than December 10 at 5p.m.! \ For more information, call 777-1801 V rf