Friday, July 29th, 2005 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Talking today with Chris Jones of sfSound, a local group that plays contemporary classical music. He'll be performing John Cage's "Concert for Piano and Orchestra, which the Grove Concise Dictionary of Music calls the piece "an encyclopedia of indeterminate notations."

Also on the bill are a Satie piece and a composition from guitarist John Shiurba as well as some improvisational works from the ensemble. Good stuff.

Not that anyone cares, but it was just last week I was writing in this space about the Boston Modern Orchestra Project and how sfSound deserved the kind of attention (funding) those folks get from the Boston community. Just trying to do my part, I guess.

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

* Erik Truffaz -- "Tantrik" -- Saboua (Blue Note, 2005)

New direction for Truffaz. He's still adding Euro-dance elements to his jazz trumpet, but this time it's in a more rocking vein, and with more overtly "world" influences (several tracks with Tunisian vocalist Mounir Troudi, for example). I liked it, although I've read reviews that say it's all too much (true, admittedly) -- and I agree that Truffaz's trumpet is an awkward fit sometimes with this louder, aggressive direction. That said, the guitar parts -- often over-the-top, including a couple of psych jams -- won me over. The rap track, though, just proves yet again that jazz and rap aren't as good a mix as people think.

* John Gunther Trio -- "Marksman" -- V/A: CIMPosium Volume 15 (CIMP, 2005)

Peter Brotzmann and Hamid Drake -- "Trees Have Roots in the Earth" -- The Dried Rat-Dog (Okka Disk, 1995)

* The Contemporary Jazz Quintet -- "Actions #II" -- Actions (Atavistic/Unheard Music Series, 2005; recorded 1966-1967)

Danish free-jazz group that was obviously influenced by the music of U.S. folks like Albert Ayler and Sunny Murray. The band includes a musical saw, played by Niels Harrit, and it's not there just for a track or two; it's all over the place. Gives the whole CD a ghostly feel, obviously. These guys aren't well known here but they were quite active in Scandanavia, back in the day, according to John Corbett's liner notes.

The "long" one (11 minutes) on this album, a nice expansive and slow improvisation. The quartet includes two Japanese instruments (shakuhachi and koto) alongside piano and some computer electronics, an interesting blend that comes across contemplative and Asian (and Tim Perkis knows not to overdo the electronics slashing across the acoustic instruments). Seemed like a nice break after the dense, intense Contemporary Jazz Quintet piece.

* Roger Smith and Louis Moholo-Moholo -- "Letters to Insects" [excerpt] -- The Butterfly and the Bee (Emanem, 2005)

* Ellis Marsalis -- "Somehow" -- Ruminations in New York (ESP-Disk, 2005)

* John Surman -- "Way Back When (Part 3)" -- Way Back When (Cuneiform, 2005; recorded 1969)

This track's got a mellow feel like a Bitches Brew warmup session. Electric piano helps give it that nicely dated sound. Cool disk overall; we've got another one on Cuneiform from a guy named Graham Collier that mines a bigger '60s sound, with big horns but still delving into that early free-jazz sound. It'll be added to rotation next week.

A tribute album to Kurt Weill with Trovesi on clarinet and Coscia on accordion, for that Euro sidewalk-cafe kind of sound. Fun and charming, also lots of nicely involved solos and an overall jazzy freedom.

* Grachan Moncur III Octet -- "Exploration" -- Exploration (Capri, 2005)

John Cage and David Tudor -- [First several stories on Disk 2] -- Indeterminacy (Smithsonian Folkways, 1992; orig. released 1959)

An example of the "indeterminacy" mentioned above: Cage reads little one-minute stories while Tudor plays music -- piano, electronics, whatever -- in the background. The catch is that the two men didn't listen to each other during the performance; they recorded their parts separately and dropped them together onto tape. Indeterminacy! Adding to the randomness, Cage spoke at varying speeds with occasional long pauses, so that the 90 stories average more than 1 minute apiece. And then, to make things even more unpredictable, I started playing one of the "September Winds" tracks during this one, adding another layer of sounds to the mix. Would Cage have approved?

* Evan Parker and September Winds -- "Foghorns (I)" -- Short Stories (Leo Records, 2005)

Grouping of four saxophonists and one trombonist, performing pieces that are mostly 3 minutes or less. That's in contrast to the hour-long pieces on their previous CDs. This European band originally got together to play in a cistern, creating cool echoey effects. The contrast of this CD, where ideas are presented and then terminated in a hurry, is nice -- but it helps if you're aware that they normally do do longer pieces.

Jazzy piece that borrows from "Round Midnight." Longberg-Holm gets some nice cello tones going on this one.

John Cage - "Four Walls" parts I-III (John McAlpine, piano) -- Four Walls (Largo, 199?)

John Cage -- "Four Walls" part IV -- Four Walls (Largo, 199?)

* Joelle Leandre/India Cooke -- "Firedance 6" -- Firedance (Red Toucan, 2005)

* Blaise Siwula/Mike Khoury -- [un titled track 4] -- Eight Duets 2002-2003 (Detroit Improvisation, 2005)

! Rush -- "Cinderella Man" -- A Farewell to Kings (Mercury, 1977)

Minutes earlier, Ragnar of Ravensfjord (a fellow DJ) came into the station and informed me it was Geddy Lee's birthday. How could I not play this?

The latest from saxophonist Tchicai, with Fewell on guitar and an Italian band. A few tracks, like this one, draw from elements of Native American music, but they come across almost stereotypical and mocking. Maybe it's ironic or honorable, and I'm just missing something.

Scott's band goes all Crazy Horse on us! A slow yet noisy track resembling Neil Young territory.

Small-group improv with a twist: Wishart plays hurdy-gurdy on three tracks, and Dunmall drops his sax in favor of bagpipes on two tracks! Interesting results -- the hurdy-gurdy adds accordion-like atmosphere, of course, but combined with the bagpipes, you can get strange dissonant drones. Very cool, but also not good in large doses (IMHO). Dunmall does cut loose on bagpipes -- how often do you read that phrase -- for some long, swirling, fast-paced cascades of notes resembling saxophone play.

* = 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.