Friday, Aug. 18, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Back after a week's hiatus. Every time I miss even one show, I feel lost when I get back -- it's like I'm relearning what all the buttons do and what goes where. Weird. Even more disturbing is that I had dreams about the station while I was out -- panicked moments of realizing a song was ending, or having to do the show "blind" because there weren't any headsets and/or microphones. Weirder.

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

* Sex Mob -- "Martin Denny" -- Sex Mob (Thirsty Ear, 2006)

Steven Bernstein's band does things up Martin Denny style on this whole disc, a concept album devoted to Denny's (now)-retro space-age bachelor pad grooves. Not my favorite of the Sex Mob albums, but it's a fun idea, and I'm glad they did it.

Lo-fi free improv, probably recorded by Khoury in Ann Arbor, his hangout. He's the proprietor of the Entropy Stereo label, which has documented some great free jazz from around the Detroit area. This disk is a trio of bass, violin, and drums, respectively, in some abstract group work that develops a nice action.

Previously mentioned here.

Whoa -- a big variety of sounds on this one, with composer Andrew Durkin drawing more from older sources than I recall from previous IJG albums. In particular, you've got good-time N'Orleans jazz on this one. On other tracks, you've got grand Western sountrack stuff (think Magnificent Seven), doo-wop piano, and an insanely happy riff that could be from a '50s TV commercial -- it just keeps repeating and repeating and smiling and grinning at you until you feel like there's a worm burrowing through your eardrum into your brain. And I mean that in a good way. Great stuff all around, loads of fun, with plenty of accessibility mixed with some exciting free-jazz craziness. I wish these guys had the resources to tour more extensively.

From Dewey Redman's son, a contemporary bop record with mainstream feel and glossy production. Some nice ideas here -- the core of the band is the electric bass, giving every track a touch of fusion. Throughout, the album has an element of funk and a modern sheen. This track in particular: an ultramodern reading of the Ornette Coleman classic, where Redman starts things out with an eerie electronic scrim and beat-box drums; it's pointillistic, like the clinking of glass beads, and it gets into some spacey depth even after the familiar melancholy melody comes out. I'll be playing this one quite a bit in weeks to come, I think.

Previously noted here.

Dave Douglas -- "Apparition" -- Sanctuary (Avant, 1997)

* The Choir Boys -- "Tobacconist from Rimini" -- With Strings (pfMentum, 2006)

Previously mentioned here.

Free-jazz quintet of veterans including Bruce Eisenbeil (guitar), Perry Robinson (clarinet; look him up on Laurie Anderson's old albums), and Klaus Kugel (drums; he runs the Nemu record label). Rounding out the team are Peter Evans (trumpet) and Hilliard Green (bass). Nice update of the '60s free sound, very cool stuff.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Great live session from one of the keystones of Chicago's jazz scene, recorded at the old Velvet Lounge, Fred Anderson's south-side jazz club. I was lucky enough to see them play at the old club in 2004, I think it was, and they kicked ass. The New Horizons Ensemble takes its cues from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers, adding some outside twists but mostly sticking to late-bop forms enfused with torrents of energy. It's LIVE.

The Velvet Lounge reopened in July 2006 at 67 E. Cermak Road between Michigan and Wabash avenues, in a part of the south side that appears to be gentrifying. If you're ever in Chicago, stop by -- I'm sure it will continue to be the best choice in a city full of excellent music venues.

* Lucien Dubuis Trio -- "Petite Fleur Bleue" -- Willisau Jazz Festival [live disk] (self-released, 2006)

Previously noted here. The title means "Little Blue Flower," but of course, there's nothing little or cute or flowery about this one...

Modern classical stuff. As I recall, Dolden's other work has include huge, loud collages of sound, big and vibrant and shimmering. This one's much more tonal, even a bit cloying. The liner notes have him saying that visceral excitement shouldn't be shut out of modern music, which I can agree with ... but these pieces might go a bit too far in the crowd-pleasing direction.

Flute/piano duets, including lots of amazing sounds from Robert Dick (called the "Jimi Hendrix" of the flute, although that moniker probably stems from his CD that included Hendrix covers). Overall atmosphere is between modern classical and abstract jazz. This particular track, a Dick composition, hybridizes blues forms and Asian tones for a strong, mysterious air and a decidedly "new" sound. Elsewhere, you've got stately flute segments and fun, playful stretches -- such as on "Emergence," where Dick produces fast airy clicks that resemble bongo drums.

Nice session from a Sun Ra Arkestra vet.

* = 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.