PREVIEW : One-Man Band Makes Music With His Body

Ask Keith Terry what instruments he plays, and he will rattle off a list that includes children’s toys (a wind-up carrousel, rubber animals, etc.), bouncing balls, noisemakers, a kettledrum, an electric fan and his own body.

“It’s kind of eccentric work I do,” Terry says.

“Body music” is the term Terry uses to describe what he does on stage, but even he concedes that his act is hard to describe.

“It ranges from really silly, comical stuff to pieces that are more serious and relevant to current events,” Terry says.

In one piece, Terry manages to sneak in controversial Central American issues by using a radio play from the 1930s that includes quotes about Nicaragua from Will Rogers. As the story of a private investigator sounds out in the theater, Terry runs about the stage, frantically providing sound effects to match each new part of the script. “It’s the visual equivalent of Chinese plate spinning,” Terry says.

In another part of the show, Terry uses T-shirts from Bali, emblazoned with phrases written in English by non-English speakers. “I really love these T-shirts,” Terry says. “The slight misspellings and uncanny uses of punctuation display how delicate language is. The T-shirts are poetic and meaningless at the same time--I think of them as a kind of Reader’s Digest of life.”

This is also the piece that uses the aforementioned electric fan. “I’ve always been fascinated by electric fans,” Terry says. “When I was a kid, I spent hours singing into our fan at home.”

About 30 years later, Terry’s child’s play has made him famous. There was a time, however, when Terry was a more-traditional musician. For years, he was strictly a drummer--a fairly successful one too. Freddie Hubbard, Tex Williams and Bobby McFerrin are just some of the notables he has played with.

But it was a stint with L.A.’s Jazz Tap Ensemble that got Terry out from behind his drums. He had been tapping fingers on kitchen tables, pots and pans, and, eventually, his own legs and chest, and decided to choreograph a body dance number for the ensemble. It worked so well that he’s been at it ever since. He’s even gone so far as to include his rhythm obsession on film. Two years ago he made a short called “TV Dinner” that was filled with sounds he made in his kitchen--grating ginger, sauteing shrimp, etc.

“I look for common, pedestrian objects that can create sounds and have a sense of humor,” Terry says. “Rhythm springs up around us all the time, and we just ignore it.”

PBS isn’t ignoring Terry’s rhythms. In May, he will be featured on the off-beat performance show, “Alive From Off-Center.” He’s just returned from Japan, has toured in Indonesia, and will make his way across the country this spring.

Keith Terry performs at 8 tonight in the Campus Theater at Cal State Northridge. For tickets call (818) 885-3903; for information call (818) 885-2246.