Friday, January 9th, 2005 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

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

* David Borgo -- "Tenochtitlan" -- Reverence for Uncertainty (Circumvention, 2004)

* David Borgo -- "On the Five" -- Reverence for Uncertainty (Circumvention, 2004)

Two different sounds from one CD. The first track features Borgo's sax plus percussion, a street-music kind of duet. The second track is a quartet setting with two saxes, bass, drums. Nice CD overall -- a very "free jazz" feel to most tracks, lots of loose improvising. About half the tracks are these street-jazz kinds of duets, which are quite well executed.

* Cooper-Moore and Assif Tsahar -- "The Hunt" -- Tells Untold (Hopscotch, 2004)

* William Parker -- "Mouring Sunset" -- Luc's Lantern (Thirsty Ear, 2005)

A bit of a departure for bassist Parker, this is a tradional piano trio in that quiet, rainy-day vein. Featuring Eri Yamamoto on piano and Michael Thompson on drums. Nice stuff -- original compositions, of course -- showing off Parker's sensitive side.

Michele Rosewoman -- "For Now and Forever" -- Quintessence (Enja, 1987) Michele Rosewoman -- "Patrick's Mood" -- Harvest (Enja, 1993)

Rosewoman plays accessible piano and backs it up with modern bebop. Her late '80s/early '90s CDs mix contemporary jazz with some complex heads; later CDs sound more conventional but add electric bass for some funky touches. Played these to highlight a show she's putting on in San Francisco this weekend -- her only performance on this pass through the Bay Area, it appears, and it's a house concert to boot. I'm sure it will be a wonderful show, but it's a shame an artist of this caliber can't secure a gig at a commercial venue here.

* Joe Giardullo and Carlos Zingaro -- "Fala" -- Falling Water (Drimala, 2005)

Sax-violin duets recorded in a stone temple with a waterfall in the background. Lots of echoes and reverberations, very cavernous atmosphere.

Melodic guitar drones recorded in a silo. Following up on that cavern/reverberation theme.

* Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet with the Ojai Camerata -- "Introitus" -- The Alchemical Mass (pfMentum, 2004)

The opening movement of The Alchemical Mass, a suite written for Kaiser's 18-piece band. Mixes loud, brash movements -- the stuff you'd expect from an 18-person band -- with choir passages. Cool stuff.

A couple of tracks to highlight Matt's solo-clarinet show at the Luggage Store Gallery this Thursday, 4/14/05. Matt is also part of the sf.sound collective that gets mentioned below.

* Max Nagl, Steven Bernstein, Noel Akchote, Bradley Jones -- "Squeeze Me" -- Big Four (Hatology, 2002)

A celebration of the 1940s "Big Four" sessions with Sidney Bechet and Muggsy Spanier, keeping mostly to that traditional sound but with modern elements (guitar blasts from Akchote at the start and end of this otherwise pleasant number, for example). Very cool stuff, a fave disk of fellow KZSU'er Ben.

Digitally massaged live recordings from 1930-1960, featuring greats such as Louis Armstrong and Sister Rosetta Tharpe. A nice slice of history.

* Jason Moran -- "Fire Waltz" -- Same Mother (Blue Note, 2004)

* Milo Fine -- "May Radicals Two" -- Ikebana: London Encounters 2003 (Emanem, 2004)

Busy, involved sextet improv

Big crashing piano, with bass and drums. James, a local pianist, tells us this is the direction his music has been taking lately, a "pan-tonal" sound.

Robin Cox Ensemble -- "Thirty-Five" -- Level 7 (self-released, 2002)

My attempt at programming some "new music," as they call it in classical circles, to help promote a show by the sfsound Group this coming Monday. SFsound puts on modern classical concerts, and it's the kind of group that every big city ought to have. They're on my mind after a recent trip to Boston, where I saw a similar -- and much more richly funded -- group perform to a packed house of about 50. More info about sfsound can be had at sfsound.org.

* John Zorn w/Susie Ibarra -- "By the Mark, Eight" -- 50th Birthday, Vol. 8 (Tzadik, 2004)

* Lisle Ellis, Marco Eneidi, Peter Valsamis -- "Baby Please Don't Go" -- American Roadwork (CIMP, 2004)

* = 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.