Friday, December 1st, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

It was a treat to continue the promotion of the Phillip Greenlief, Joelle Leandre, and Maggie Nicols show that's coming up Dec. 3, 2006, at the Community Music Center in San Francisco's Mission District. I'd started this last week with the receipt of the Greenlief/Leandre CD that's coming out on Evander Music any day now.

Phillip was gracious enough to do an interview, where we talked about the nature of free improv music and the respective resumes of Leandre and Nicols, two very well regarded musicians in European free improv. (For more on the genre, do check out Peter Stubley's excellent European Free Improvisation Pages.)

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

* Medeski, Scofield, Martin & Wood -- "In Case the World Changes Its Mind" -- Out Louder (Indirecto)

I have to admit I've never really gotten into MMW, but I pride myself on playing them anyway, since the stuff (according to most journalists) does fit my kind of show, and since it's healthy to toss a bigger name into the mix once in a while. Kind of perks up listeners. This CD adds John Scofield to the band and gives him second billing for some reason... having Scofield in your band is a big deal, but the CD is gonna get displaced away from other MMW releases in every computer database in the world. Good thing "Medeski" isn't that common a name.

* Tony Bianco -- "Surya" -- Monkey Dance (FMR, 2006)

Previously noted here. This is the album's closing track, an athletic duet of Bianco's drums and David Liebman's sax. A briskly dry sound, great stuff.

Collection of duet improvisations for the zheng (stringed instrument, looks similar to a koto) and piano. First we've heard from Plimley in a while; he's based in Vancouver IIRC and put out quite a few records in the '90s. There's a stately, almost classical air to the session, but it's hardly what you'd call stuffy; there are plenty of wild moments akin to free jazz. This particular track is a quieter one with a delicate air befitting the zheng.

Previously noted here. I think I've played this track more than any other on the CD. It's not the most immediately catchy and "radio-friendly" one, but I love the way it slowly unfolds into a dramatic coda. Lots more commentary spread around this page.

* Phillip Greenlief/Joelle Leandre -- "1st Variation for Alto Saxophone and Contrabass" -- That Overt Desire of Object (Evander, 2006)

Previously noted here, and see below. Fairly brisk piece that made a nice intro to a more "abstract" set.

Previously noted here. This piece is dedicated to John Cage, and it shows -- a mishmash of "found" snippets: conversation, some music IIRC, various noises.

From electric harpist Parkins, an album of classical works, including this piece for string quartet (played by the Eclipse Quartet) and a separate piece or solo harp. This movement starts with that cool sound of bows tapping on the strings; it's a lively piece with a requisite quiet middle.

Cruel Frederick -- "Blind Man in a Sleigh" -- We Are the Music We Play (SST/New Alliance, 1990)

Random gem discovered during a library dig. From the L.A. area, some nice free jazz with good energy and attitude. Lynn Johnston on sax; didn't have much time to look up the other particulars of the group. I'll have to keep this one in mind for future reference.

Previously noted here.

* Charles Gayle -- "Glory Dance" -- Shout! (Clean Feed, 2006)

Dynamic trio session from Gayle, plus one track (not this one) that's a solo piano romp. I haven't had time to hear that one yet, but DJs Mike and Mufaor say it's awesome. Great stuff, with Sirone on bass (from the Revolutionary Ensemble) and Gerald Cleaver on drums (from the Lounge Lizards and various Thirsty Ear jazz albums).

Previously noted here. This is the opening segment of a 42-minute piece that spans disk 2 of this 2-disk set. Starts in a rather laid-back vibe and gets into some hard-digging trumpet and sax solos before eventually quieting down. I really have to catch these guys live sometime.

* Cross-Border Trio -- "Hell in Hat Yai" -- New Directions (Circumvention, 2006)

They call it "modern transitional jazz," and it's got a good post-bop grounding with a sprinkling of free-jazz moments. Overall bright sound, with nicely modern twists to the composing. This is a Southern California trio of Jason Robinson (sax), Rob Thorsen (bass), and Paquito Villa (drums; "paquitovilla.com" exists but doesn't appear set up yet). Solid work that I'm hoping will appeal to the DJs who shy away from the avant stuff.

Basically a rock band with lots of brash brass and tons of goofy fun. And since it's from Holland, the musicianship is top notch; the Dutch are great at forming serious-but-fun bands like this. Dig the video on their home page. Lots of singing, all in Dutch. Apparently the group has its genesis in the punk/squatters scene, and this CD is drawn from previous albums in 1998 and 2001. This track is a bit folkier than most, I think; the intro emphasizes some aggressive acoustic guitar strumming. This one's a keeper.

Previously noted here.

Maggie Nicols, Caroline Kraabel, Charlotte Hug -- "Lullaby for Clement" -- Transitions (Emanem, 2002)

As Maggie Nicols will be joining Phillip Greenlief and Joelle Leandre for their Dec. 3 show, I figured I should play some of her music. This trio improv date includes Nicols on vocals, Kraabel on sax, and Hug on viola, with timbres (is that the right word?) overlappin so it's sometimes hard to tell who's doing what. Most pieces unfold slowly, even the shorter ones, for a gradual and atmospheric air. At least, that's how I remember the disk from aural glances; it's possible I'll listen again soon and discover I'm way off. That's one of the intriguing things about improvised music.

Phillip Greenlief interview, part 1

Phillip is a great interview, and quite eloquent about the nature of making this kind of music. Joelle Leandre, possibly the pre-eminent bassist in improvised music (with a tip of the hat to the late Peter Kowald), has been in the Bay Area quite a bit, with a semi-regular teaching gig at Mills College, so she's met many of the folks in the local scene, including Phillip. After a while, they started playing music together and found an affinity that led to the new CD.

* Phillip Greenlief/Joelle Leandre -- "1st Variation for Clarinet and Contrabass" -- That Overt Desire of Object (Evander, 2006)

The opening track to the CD, a nice quick cut with an ear-catching active start, as noted last week. Coincidentally, this track demonstrated something Phillip mentioned towards the end of the interview segment: That every track on the disk is relatively short (mostly 4 minutes or less) and sticks to one aesthetic: fast, quiet, spiky, whatever -- but some of them take a 90-degree turn into another area ... as with this one, which quiets down for a soft landing.

* Phillip Greenlief/Joelle Leandre -- "1st Variation for Tenor Saxophone and Contrabass" -- That Overt Desire of Object (Evander, 2006)

Another "radio-friendly" kind of track, active and upbeat. I'll be playing the slower stuff too, in weeks to come; I recall being really drawn in by one of the soprano saxophone pieces, in particular.

Joelle Leandre, with Maggie Nicols and Irene Schweizer -- "Meeting Two" -- At the Le Mans Jazz Festival (Leo Records, 2006)

Previously noted here and here. This trio, known as Les Diaboliques, has performed together for about 20 years. Could have sworn we had a CD of theirs in the library, but I couldn't find it in the database, alas. (They've got at least three disks on Intakt.)

Another mini-preview of the Greenlief/Leandre/Nicols show. This is a 7-minute sequel to the 25-minute "Meeting One" improvisation that you'll find mentioned in the links above.

Closing out the Greenlief/Leandre/Nicols segment with one of the two solo pieces off the Object CD, this one for Phillip on sax, with some vocal growls through the instrument to start things off. It's about 11 minutes long, as is the subsequent solo for Leandre's bass and voice; the two pieces close out the CD.

Phillip might protest my playing his piece rather than Leandre's (and the fact that I keep mentioning his name first when talking about the upcoming show), but practicality had a hand here. Part of this track served as sound bed for the KZSU Concert Calendar that I have to read at 5:30 ... and I've learned it never pays to use the last track of a CD for that, no matter how long the track is, because then if things go ridiculously long, you've got no "next" track to continue the music. Just another boring detail of DJ life.

One of my little triumphs early on at the station was to contact the label CRI (Composers Recordings Inc., now subsumed into New World) to send us Dunaway's Balloon Music. Mu-hahahaha! Music with balloons -- the squeaking of rubber, the trilly tones of escaping air, all treated as a vehicle for a new type of music.

This CD pushes things into an even more serious realm by adding strings -- balloon with string quartet, koto with balloons under the strings, etc. This is a "solo" track, all balloon sounds, but electronically processed to create a metally, spiky kind of "forest" or "insect music" sound, unrecognizable as balloons. The disk is full of inventive takes, turning what could have been a one-joke concept into a serious exploration.

Album of sound and electronics experiments -- rather uninteresting, actually. This particular track is a succession of electronic blips, quite similar to an EKG sound (and DJs Ragnar and Chauncy were cracking all kinds of jokes to that effect while it was playing; you'd be seriously messed up if your EKG had all the pitch-bending this one does). Elsewhere, you've got rather pedestrian experiments; one track is basically the sound of traffic, presumably on a Tokyo street. Yawn.

Fanciful oud playing with modern trappings that put the music into something resembling a modern jazz vein. I enjoyed this CD, but the ECM sheen on it gives the music an almost new-age feel, slow sleek and pretty. I've been meaning to fit it into the show for weeks but haven't found a good entry point; it's too much of a dead stop, although one that I'm sure some listeners would prefer to my normal fare. The strangely static calmness of the rapid-fire blips in the Atau track made for a good entry point, so I closed out the show here. I'll probably give this another spin or two; it's decent music, but again, not an easy fit. I love to mix things up, but this music is almost too "nice" to be an interesting fit.

* = 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.