Friday, May 12, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:05 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

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

Charlie Hunter Trio -- "Come As You Are" -- Bing, Bing, Bing! (Blue Note, 1995)

Blast from the past, to complement the Nirvana demo track that Matthew Stark Rubin, the preceding DJ, used to close out his show. Hunter turns the song into a breezy 6/8 romp.

What Charlie sounds like today -- deeper funk, less of a traditional jazz ring, lots more effects and heavy electronics. Still funky and danceable, but a darker tinge and a sometimes swampy sound. Cool!

Yet another percussive piece, this time laid down by Drake on drums and Cooper-Moore on a homemade stringed instrument. Tsahar on sax is the lead voice. Catchy, slightly funky piece. This is a fun album overall -- catchy pieces with steady beats (all three are known for untethered improv music, so that's an important point) and some sunny African-folk touches throughout.

Previously noted here.

An old, old jazz tune, done up here in mostly faithful fashion but with Derome's sax going at all kinds of uncomfortable tangles and squeaks during the intro. Love it! These guys, as with everyone else on Ambiances Magnetiques, are into experimental improv stuff, but they've got jazz in their roots. This trio has recorded before, producing some nice interpretations of standards (and like-minded originals) in mostly straight fashion.

Previously noted here.

Another satisfying album of accessible jazz with a creative heart. Pavone's stuff is listenable to straight-jazz ears, but his compositional ideas include lots of interesting twists, and he's not above the occasional "outside" solo. This album's got Pavone (bass), Steven Bernstein (trumpet, who's got some interesting CDs of his own on (Tzadik), Howard Johnson (tuba! and bass clarinet), Charles Burnham (violin; check out his work with James "Blood" Ulmer in Odyssey: The Band), Peter Madsen (piano), Michael Sarin (drums).

Wacky brass band with influences of Mexican, Klezmer, soul, jazz, and funk. Horns plus accordion, tuba, percussion, sax ... cool stuff. This is one of the crazier tracks on the CD. A good time.

Previously noted here. This is a quick-hit track that's fast and attention-getting; why I haven't played it 'til now is beyond me. Very good album from southern Calif., and this was its last week in rotation, so I used this track at the end of a set, giving it a last boost of a sendoff. I figure the tracks that get the most use of out airplay are the set-ending ones -- listeners have just heard the song, hopefully got into it, and can immediately find out what's been played.

I feel like I've played this CD a ton, yet when I look back at the playlist archives on KZSU's music database, I see it's been just three spins including this one. Probably it's been in my "for-consideration" stack repeatedly but just hasn't made it to air most times. I hate it when a disc "loses out" like that.

Anyway, this was enjoyable improvisational stuff: piano-bass-drums trio with that hybrid jazz/chamber feel that marks many a European group's sound. They don't get into free-jazz blowouts, but stick to a calmer sound, sometimes getting studious and artsy but never letting the energy lag too much.

Improv project from New Mexico that initially consisted of a trio plus varying guests from gig to gig, hence the name. Things changes over the years, as you might expect, and the name now appears to be a banner for an overall varying cast of characters. Five long improvs pack this CD. Most of them include long groany passages but also snap into fast-paced jazz-related improv for substantial chunks of time. Nice stuff.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Swiss saxophonist with an affinity for funk rhythms and abrasive avant-garde techniques. The mix is fun, sometimes humorous, and distict: On tracks like this one, you get a danceable funky beat (and even some indie-pop guitar jangling later on) topped by sax squeals that some would find excruciating. Gotta love that.

We're familiar with Dubuis from some past CDs on the Altri Suoni label from Switzerland. So, when his manager e-mailed us asking if we'd be interested in playing more of his stuff, I jumped at the chance. In addition to this disc, they sent a live CD-R that we'll probably add to rotation later. There's a lot of adventurous music based in Switzerland, creative stuff with deep roots in jazz, as well as noisier stuff. It's a nice little motherlode to be mined.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here. This short track particularly highlights the clarinet; it's a nicely thoughtful piece at a mid/fast pace.

Gotta throw in a dose of the old cats sometimes. I don't do that enough, frankly. I had grabbed vinyl of Shepp recorded at Montreaux, but it had a surprisingly mainstream sound -- nice, but a bit too nice for what I wanted to do. This came closer to the "classic" free-jazz sound I'd envisioned when grabbing stuff in the library. Ten-minute trio piece with Beaver Harris on drums.

Previously noted here.

Played a long swath of this 25-minute piece. Free improv, a happier mood than the "apocalypse" name might suggest (then again, the name does suggest a sense of humor). Nicely propuslive stuff; the sextet keeps a good pace going and really feels like it has a direction, as is true with most of the great improv stuff we get. The quartet pieces on this CD seem to include some composed snippets, as opposed tot he purely improv stuff we normally see Dunmall involved with. (Like this, f'r instance.

Aptly named, as it's an exciting ride. Mainstream progressive jazz with the gimmick that songs were written by assembling composed fragments, Lego-style. Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

I like this album overall for its funky approach, but this track got a bit cheesy for me. I'd slapped it on for its length (11 minutes), a choice I'll often make when I've got sports following me. It gives them time to do sound checks, fiddle with equipment, etc. That's not something I regret, but in this case, I ended up grabbing a track that was a bit cheesier than I'd liked. Not that listeners pay that much attention (especially those tuning in for the sports event).

Previously noted here.

* = 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.