Friday, October 1st, 2004 ... 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Filling in for "No Cover, No Minimum," the excellent jazz/world/blues show hosted by DJ Fo. Game plan was to sprinkle in some world music but stick to my "comfort base" of jazz... but Fo & his fellow World DJs have done such an excellent job of documenting the world music library, putting explanations of the CDs onto the covers, that I had no trouble playing nearly two hours' worth of World.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)

* Michael Musillami -- "Spirits Burning" -- Spirits (Playscape, 2004)

* Steve Coleman and Five Elements -- "Egypt to Crypts in Hieroglyphs" -- Lucidarium (Label Bleu, 2004)

* Dr. John -- "Life's a One Way Ticket" -- N'Awlinz: Dis, Dat and D'udda (Blue Note, 2004)

* 3 Leg Torso -- "Frog... Secret Agent" -- Astor in Paris (Meester, 2004)

Energetic tango jazz. Good stuff, and also served as an artificial transition from Jazz into World

* Manu Dibango -- "Mouna Pola" -- The Rough Guide to Manu Dibango (World Music Network, 2004; track originally released 1983)

* Etienne Mbappe -- "Misiya" -- Misiya (Harmonia Mundi, 2004)

Mahotella Queens -- "We Have Been Sent" -- Putting on the Light [V/A with Mahotella Queens, Mahlathini, and Others] (Rykodisc, 1984; orig. released 1975)

* Malouma -- "Tab Ley At" -- Dunya (Marabi, 2004)

* Erik Marchand & Les Balkaniks -- "Reuziou Ar Brezel" ["The Trageides of War"] -- Pruna (Le Chant du Monde, 2004)

Pachora -- "The Man Who Sold the World" -- Ast (Knitting Factory, 1999)

Pachora is the NYC quartet of Chris Speed (clarinet), Brad Shepik (guitar/similar instruments), Skuli Sverrisson (electric bass), and Jim Black (percussion). They do Balkan-style music, but all four are part of the NYC avant-jazz crowd as well. Very cool stuff, but with all four guys pursuing their own careers, the band only convenes every few years or so.

Balkan Playboys -- "Kopanatz i Srbkovatz" -- Balkaninis (Felmay, 2003)

Radio Marrakesh -- [untitled montage] -- Radio Morocco (Sublime Frequencies, 2004)

An audio record of Moroccan radio in the '80s. It's a series of montages, just as if you were turning the dial on a radio, and the snippets encompass music, news, and even sports. An interesting experience and (for those of us who've never been there) a novel glimpse at another corner of the world.

* Quimbombo -- "Hijo Del Siboney" -- Quimbombo (self-released, 2004)

Upbeat Cuban music. A cool little disc.

Another home-brewed project, recorded in Brazil and New York. Combines Brazilian pop, bossa nova, and soul, with male vocals in English and Portugese.

* Matt Wilson's Arts and Crafts -- "Free Range Chicken" -- Wake Up (to What's Happening) (Palmetto, 2004)

* Denny Zeitlin -- "You and the Night and the Music" -- Slick Rock (MaxJazz, 2004)

* Jacob Young -- "Presence of Descant" -- Evening Falls (ECM, 2004)

* Steve Swallow/Ohad Talmor Sextet -- "Making Ends Meet" -- The Bum's Tale (Palmetto, 2004)

Art Blakey Quartet -- "Sunday" -- A Jazz Message (MCA/Impulse, 1986; orig. released 1963)

* Damon Zick -- "Hector, Desmond, and Titus" -- We Are Large (self-released, 2004)

A nice jazz effort from Southern California. Touches of ECM-like atmosphere on some tracks; nice midtempo jamming on others. A soft piano touch throughout, with Zick's saxophone leading the band.

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
? = Item not in KZSU library

-- Go back to Memory Select playlists.
-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.