Friday, February 16th, 2007
... 9:00 a.m. - 12:20 p.m. ...
KZSU, 90.1 FM
Sub for Sarah Bellum's show "The Jewish Alternative," which features
music from Jewish artists all over the spectrum. Lots of Klezmer and
traditional stuff, of course, but Sarah's got no problem spinning
folk, bluegrass, avant-jazz, blues, or classical. Still, it's at
times like this that our Zookeeper
music database comes in handy, as it lets us see DJs' past
playlists.
Actually, the show wasn't that hard to fill; there's quite an intersection
with the "downtown" NYC jazz that I normally play anyway.
As bassist Mark Dresser
is going to be up here this weekend, I figured I'd spin some of
his music as well. Sarah's familiar with him and dug the idea.
Wish I'd gotten my act together to ask him for an interview but --
ah, maybe some other time.
Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.
Les Yeux Noirs -- "Doina Si Joc de Marian" -- Tchorba (World Village, 2005)
Fast-paced acoustic stuff to start the show.
The Klezmatics and Chava Alberstein -- "Ergets Shtil/Baym Taykh" ["Softly Somewhere/At the River"] -- The Well (Xenophile, 1998)
Za'atar -- "Eshal Elohai" -- Za'atar (self-released, 1999)
Berkeley band playing music of the Jews of Arab and Muslim lands,
using traditional instruments. Nice Middle-Eastern (duh) sound.
Steve Lehman -- "Demian" -- Demian as Posthuman (Pi Recordings, 2005)
* Bela Lakatos and the Gypsy Youth Project -- "Del O Brishind..." -- Introducing Bela Lakatos and the Gypsy Youth Project (World Music Network, 2006)
Noa -- "But Love" -- Both Sides of the Sea (Mondo Melodia, 1998)
Pleasantly pop stuff, a bit more "radio friendly" than I prefer.
Our in-house reviewer describes this one as "Calypso campfire?" which
is pretty accurate. An overly nice melody with charm and dimples.
* David Grisman Quintet -- "La Grande Guignole" -- Dawg's Groove (Acoustic Disc, 2006)
Great to see Grisman still out there. Bluegrass stuff with
some jazz/Latin infections, and maybe even a trace of folky Klezmer.
Or maybe that's just the power of suggestion at work, given the
show I'm doing.
* Roy Lisker -- "The Dog Was Walking the Dog" -- Language Compositions: Sound Poetry 1981-87 (Ferment Press, 2005)
* The Microscopic Septet -- "One Room Too Far Away" -- Surrealistic Swing (Cuneiform, 2006; orig. recorded c.1990)
Previously noted here.
I'd considered playing one of the more "Klezmer" sounding tracks off of
here, but got wary of the show sounding too homogeneous. It's normaly
quite varied. So: This track, a nine-minute jazzy romp that kind of
rocks out (in a jazz way) in places. Was probably a showstopper live.
-- 10:00 a.m. --
* Rosanegra -- "Barco Negro" -- Fado Latino (Arc, 2006)
Rebbe Soul -- "Tzamah L'cha Nafshi" -- Change the World With a Sound (33rd Street, 2002)
Hip world music project packed with modern touches: rap on
this track, digital programming throughout, lots of electric instruments
of various kinds. Maybe a bit cheesy, but it's got bounce.
* Mostar Sevdah Reunion -- "Zapjevala Sojka Ptica" ["The Jaybird Is Singing"] -- (Trade Root, 2006)
Balkan-music project, first released in 2003 on Snail Records,
apparently. OK, it's a stretch to toss a random Eastern European band
onto the show. Would be less of a stretch if I hadn't just told you
it was "random." Lots of their songs have a Klezmer sound to them, so
at least musically, it fits.
Andy Statman -- "Dveykus Nign" -- V/A: Klezmer Music: A Marriage of Heaven and Earth (Ellipsis Arts, 1996)
Very interesting compilation, spanning quite a variety of Klezmer
music including some modern jazz spins (Naftule's Dream, below, is
on here). This one's a rather "pat" piece, with a soaring, drifting
feel and a content, peaceful melodic air.
Naftule's Dream -- "The Crooked Walk" -- Search for the Golden Dreydl (Tzadik, 1997)
Modern jazz pieces based on the scales and concepts of traditional
Jewish music. Very nice stuff, with the occasional crazy/avant-jazz
tilt, but overall accessible in tone.
* The Idan Raichel Project -- "Come to Me" -- V/A: One World, Many Cultures (Putumayo, 2006)
Ethiopian and Israeli group, apparently, combining pop sounds with
some electronica. Quite modern and hip, I guess. Not bad, but could
stand to have a bit more edge. This CD collects all sorts of bands with
this kind of multinational makeup: France/Senegal, USA/Mali, Italy/Congo,
and so on. The Best Combination award goes to Mali/Guinea-Bissau/UK/India.
Richard Kaplan -- "Ashrey" -- Life of the Worlds (self-released, 2003)
Spiritual singing, not quite "pop" but certainly modern, with an easy
soulful sound. A bit innocent sounding; you can imagine someone's 65-year-old
grandparents enjoying it as background music.
Through the efforts of DJ Mufaor, classical music is getting a
better say in our rotation. Sarah Bellum has been playing some of it,
even, so I thought I'd toss together a classical set.
* Mark Applebaum -- "DNA" [Magnus Andersson, guitar] -- Asylum (Innova, 2006)
Previously noted here,
although this is a completely different piece, a solo guitar work
with lots of tangly fingerwork and strange tunings.
* Alex Shapiro -- "Music for Two Big Instruments" -- Chamber Music (self-released, 2006)
From a Southern California composer, a piece for piano and tuba.
Mufaor likens the intro to Hindemith's brass sonatas; it gets
jazzy after that.
* John Zorn -- "Totem and Taboo" -- Film Works XVIII: The Treatment (Tzadik, 2006)
-- 11:00 a.m. --
Current events segment with David Mayer-Levy
...his take on what's going on in the Middle East. Sarah has
him on the show every week.
from 11:00 to 11:30.
Masada String Trio -- "Lachish" -- 50th Birthday Celebration, Volume 1 (Tzadik, 2004)
With Greg Cohen (bass), Mark Feldman (violin), Erik Friedlander
(cello), conducted by Zorn. Spirited chamber-music interpretations of
Zorn's "Masada" songbook. A bit more info on Masada here. I'd
been using this CD as my soundbed for mic breaks throughout the show.
Masada String Trio -- "Malkut" -- 50th Birthday Celebration, Volume 1 (Tzadik, 2004)
(Kept the CD playing while I read the KZSU Concert Calendar; this is
the track that I let continue after that was done.)
Masada -- "Beer Sheba" -- Vav (Tzadik, 1995)
The original Masada: John Zorn (sax), Dave Douglas (trumpet),
Greg Cohen (bass), Joey Baron (drums). Final track on the sixth Masada
album (of 10), an upbeat, fast free-jazz feel with lots of
drums.
The aforementioned Mark Dresser set ...
Mark Dresser Trio -- "FLAC" -- Aquifer (Cryptogramophone, 2002)
Decided to emphasize Dresser's "nice" stuff rather than his
more difficult classical leanings. Yeah, that's the easy way out, but
a better way to entice listeners. The trio here includes flutes
(all sorts including electrically enhanced) and Denman Maroney
on "hyperpiano" -- piano played with various preparation and
effects, like using metal blows on the strings as slides.
Mark Dresser -- "One for BT" -- Marinade (Tzadik, 2000)
Composed bass solo, angular and rough. A nice little piece from
one of Dresser's more classical-oriented discs.
-- 12:00 noon --
Mark Dresser -- "Bicycle" -- Eye'll Be Seeing You (Knitting Factory, 1998)
Mark Dresser and Denman Maroney -- "One Plate" -- Time Changes (Cryptogramophone, 2005)
A slow, expansive one to close out the show.
* = 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.