Friday, November 24th, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Took some time to promo the upcoming concert with Phillip Greenlief and Joelle Leandre, and I'll probably be discussing it even more next week. (See below.)

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

* Clark Woodard/Joe Farrell -- "Angel's Flight" -- Clark Woodard/Joe Farrell (BCS, 2006)

A mix of some sparkling free jazz (like this track) and some soulful tunes with piano and vocals from John Larkin. Larkin's gruff voice often soars into these screaming waves of emotion, which can be either exciting or cheesy depending on your mood. Very high energy level overall; lots of fast tracks and big drum solos.

* Bridge 61 -- "Shatter" -- Journal (Atavistic, 2006)

Previously noted here. This is the closing track, and it starts with a revved-up bass (?) sounding like an angry guitar.

Previously noted here.

European free improv, an archives session of abstract playing from 1981. Gallio plays sax throughout... Vorkel is on piano or drums, and Frey on bass or trombone, so you get a variety of musical combinations. Sax tends to take the lead, either squealing and wailing on the slower sad pieces or getting into a choppy attack on the faster ones. The piano is quite jazzy and even gets into a '70s pop feeling, as on this track, which is kind of a perversion of pop jazz: It starts with the right chords but gets all skitterish and dissonant. Yeah!

* Lou Grassi PoBand -- "Laugh Track" -- Infinite POtential (CIMP, 2006)

Drummer Grassi has sent us quite a bit of his music over the years -- a real courtesy given that he does a lot with the CIMP label, which doesn't provide radio promo CDs. The PoBand configurations are usually bright free-jazz combos that provide long (10-13 minutes, say) workouts. This one sounds a bit different to my ears ... maybe it's just been a while, but this grouping seems to explore the subtle, quieter zones a lot more, especially at the start of tracks, before really kicking it in. It's still nice stuff; the track times just stretch a little longer, that's all.

Nice band on here, by the way: Perry Robinson (clarinet), David Taylor (bass trombone), Herb Robertson (trumpet), Adam Lane (bass).

* Rudresh Mahanthappa -- "Further in Between" -- Codebook (Pi Recordings, 2006)

Previously noted here. This is the song that's based on the number 142857. Not sure I hear it in there, but of course I haven't counted drum beats or dissected the theme or anything. To amateur ears it's just a strong-toned jazz piece with a modern, glassy feel -- the kind of stuff Rudresh and pianist Vijay Iyer have been so adept at.

* Ornette Coleman -- "Song X" -- Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar, 2006)

Previously noted here. This was the encore of the live show that comprises the album -- a boisterous, blisteringly fast take on the infamous track that once paired Ornette and Pat Metheny. Great stuff.

Michael Blake -- "In the Arms of Ali" -- Elevated (Knitting Factory, 2001)

In one sense, it's counterproductive to be playing these old Knitting Factory records, because the label imploded hard and most of the artists didn't end up with the rights to these recordings (allegedly, some didn't get the money due them either). Still, it's nice to be able to re-document some of this music from the late '90s/early '00s, and to keep the artists' names out there. Blake has a new album out, which I noticed yesterday, and that put his name on my mind when I went digging for something archival to put into the show. I remember not being floored by this CD -- lightly funky doodles, every track about 5 minutes long -- but this song seemed to have the right touch for the Eli Good track to follow.

Local guitar-based singer/songwriter, previously noted here. This is another track with Scott Amendola (drums) and Carla Kihlstedt (violin). Nicely anthemic strumming piece to end this CD.

Previously noted here.

* Jason Shearer/Mike Khoury -- "Your Tenant Is Dead" -- Your Tenant Is Dead (Detroit Improvisation, 2006)

Previously noted here. This track is a nice active sax/violin duet to open the CD.

(Rant alert:) About this time, KZSU was supposed to air a women's basketball game but couldn't, for reasons I wasn't told (I'm guessing we just couldn't afford a flight to Knoxville at Thanksgiving prices). This brought the usual contingent of pathalogical callers asking where the game was. (Yes, I did repeatedly announce the situation on-air -- but obviously folks aren't gonna wait 5-10 minutes to hear one of those.)

Now, I love sports as much as anybody, but it doesn't pay to take sports too seriously. I say that because the college game, for whatever reason, draws a more feverish, irrational type of fan than do the pros. The women expecting the basketball game were merely disappointed; it's the crusty, irascible old men, the types just looking to pick a fight because they enjoy being angry, who are the real problem. (And the old men following baseball are far worse than the basketball crowd.)

That people allow themselves to get so worked up about a routine sports match is just unhealthy. It's worse around the world in soccer, I know, but here in the states ... it's just one more reason why college sports should be divorced from the university system. (Read Murray Sperber; he knows.)

Previously noted here. This is the track that DJs Mike and Mufaor have played before, with some slow delicate piano followed by a long stretch of staticky, sparse electronics. I'd been favoring a track that includes some twangy, slow, off-kilter guitar, which seems more ear-catching ... this one's nice, though, one of those late-night kinds of auras.

Many thanks to Damon for this disk, which he's put out on his own label. A tribute to the late drummer John Stevens, who was among the pioneers of freely improvised music back in the '60s with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble (hence the whimsical title here). I like the feel of this disk, with some nice rapport among the players; this track's opening, with quick-handed drumming by Breyerton, was a particular standout on first listen.

* Geoff Farina, Luther Gray, Nate McBride -- "Breccia" -- Out Trios Volume Four (Atavistic, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* Antoine Berthiaume, Michel Donato, Pierre Tanguay -- "Mooies" -- Ellen's Bar (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2006)

Previously noted here. This is one of the more mellow, pleasant tracks, almost verging on pop. A nice palate cleanser.

! Negativland -- "The Greatest Taste Around" -- Dispepsi (Seeland, 1997)

Something to commemorate Buy Nothing Day. Sort of. The CD has more to do with the effects of global advertising, the tactics behind the luring of consumers, and the question of whether certain brands (Coke, Pepsi) really need to advertise that much. Advertising is like pollution: You can't eliminate it, but you'd like to minimize it in your life, wouldn't you?

Previously noted here.

Great stuff, a wild set of postbop/bebop that's mostly straight, just played with lots of speed, energy, and drive. Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello gets one or two freakout moments to up the edge factor. This is great stuff; I wasn't familiar with Jackson's stuff before (he's a saxophonist) but now I'll have to pay attention. Yet another standout group out of Chicago.

Phillip Greenlief and Joelle Leandre -- "1st Variation for Clarinet and Contrabass" / "Variation 2" -- That Overt Desire of Object (Evander, 2006)
Phillip Greenlief and Joelle Leandre -- "Variation 2" [for soprano saxophone and contrabass] -- That Overt Desire of Object (Evander, 2006)

On rare occasions, I get my act together and contact an artist well in advance of a particular gig or CD release, based on info I find on the Bayimproviser calendar. If everything aligns properly, we can get an interview and/or some ticket giveaways to help promote the show, and hopefully we get a CD of some relevant material as well.

In this case, Greenlief (local) and Leandre (France, = non-local) will be doing a show with vocalist Maggie Nichols (British, also non-local) on Dec. 3 at the Community Music Center up in San Francisco. Phillip was kind enough to send an advance copy of the CD, which I discovered while checking the mail today, just after the start of my show. In a rush, I skimmed through some tracks (luckily I'm familiar with both musicians' work, and they didn't do any major departures like adding bagpipes or singing Prince), and decided the opening pieces would be good for airplay. I wanted to play all three of the clarinet/contrabass pieces -- the third is really quiet and makes a nice ending to the suite -- but time contraints caught up with me, as I had to read the Concert Calendar. By the end of the calendar, the CD was on track 5, a dramatic one that builds on long, confident tones. Made for a nice wrapup to the segment.

* Dave Holland Quintet -- "Lucky Seven" -- Critical Mass (Sunnyside, 2006)

Nice set of mainstream stuff from Holland, with a soft cushion to the horns, and heavy use of vibes for a mellow, glassy feel overall. Chris Potter turns in some nice work on sax. This particular piece has a faux-Latin 7/8 rhythm; it's one of my favorites on the disk.

Wrack is an interesting band, with Bruckmann on oboe joined by viola and bass clarinet, for a really different sound. The previous CD (self-titled) seemed more sour- toned, more weighted down by the low-register nature of the instruments -- which was fine; I thought it made for an interesting listen. This one seems more spry, as if Bruckmann has learned something more about how to wield this combination. Or maybe I'm just remembering the first CD wrong. Anyway -- the end result is some nice chamber- sounding material, with playful out-jazz alongside serious classical-leaning stuff.

I don't know if Bruckmann is putting together a West Coast version of Wrack, now that he lives out here. It would be interesting.

* = 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.