Friday, March 2nd, 2007
... 3:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. ...
KZSU, 90.1 FM
Another short show, one of five in a row!, due to the sports
schedule. Still working on filling out the comments, but here's
the playlist skeleton.
Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.
* Gordon Grdina, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian -- "Different Places" -- Think Like the Waves -- (ECM, 2006)
We've got 2 CDs in house for guitarist Grdina, and between them
there's a nice contrast of styles. You'll recognize Peacock and Motian as
the bassist and drummer, separately, on a slew of
(ECM records, and this
date has that same floaty, gentle sound to it, even on the faster tracks.
As with a typical ECM session, there's plenty of group improvisation, but
it's done in a flowing, accessible, and even delicate way.
* Gordon Grdina's Box Cutter -- "Titlewave" -- Unlearn (Spool, 2006)
A more avant-garde sound... maybe closer to "chamber jazz," as
it's not that inaccessible. As you might imagine, I prefer this of the
two CDs, although most folks would probably go for the
Peacock/Motian one. Reminds me a lot of Kyle Bruckmann's Wrack at
times.
* Merlin Coleman -- "Pretty Little Thing" -- V/A: Women Take Back the Noise (Ubuibi, 2006)
From a glorious 3-CD set that came out last year, compiling
submissions from women artists around the world (with California and
the west coast getting a disproportionately high representation).
The whole package arrives in a colored vinyl purse (mine is orange!)
with a flower button that's rigged, with battery, to make some noise
itself -- you receive and create art!
The disks themselves are divided roughly into sonic themes; Disc 1
("Orgonauta") has a lot of the quieter stuff, for instance, while
Disc 3 ("Vociferous") gets more harsh. To introduce you to the
artists, they've included a set of nicely printed cards, most of
them including a photo, description/bio, and a Web URL.
All these little extras make the whole package a nice experience, and
of course there's lots of interesting sounds to be had on the CDs
themselves. If you've thought about adding noise to your collection
but wonder how often you'd really play the music, you might give
this a looksee while the limited run lasts.
As for Merlin's piece itself... it's sparse, with close-miked,
delicate singing and strange gloppy noises (possibly a distorted
cello).
* Albrecht Maurer and Norbert Rodenkirchen -- "Aura" -- Hidden Fresco (Nemu, 2006)
* Philippe Lauzier, Miles Perkin, Robbie Kuster -- "Melodie Pentatonique" -- Today Is a Special Day (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2006)
Nice little sax/bass/drums trio, from the Dame collective of labels
that sends us some really nice stuff out of the Montreal area.
Artsy European stuff but with a playful touch; parts of it remind me of
Kyle
Bruckmann's Wrack.
* Yellowcake -- "You, in My Shadow" [excerpt; 1st half] -- Yellowcake (Rastascan, 2006)
* Pat Bianchi -- "Dizzy's Business" -- East Coast Roots (Jazzed Media, 2006)
Straightahead guitar-and-organ combo, upbeat stuff with that crisp
mellow feel of contemporary jazz.
* Mark Helias -- "Atomic Clock" -- Atomic Clock (Radio Legs, 2006)
A dark, pounding, one-minute blip. Uncharacteristic for a mostly
accessible album, but sounds good, a harsh little scribble of an
intermission. I've been playing the rest of the CD quite a bit but
wanted to give this one some air time. Might do it again, too, alongside
one of the more conventional tracks. More on this one here.
* Charles Tolliver Big Band -- "Hit the Spot" -- With Love (Blue Note, 2006)
* Sean Noonan's Brewed By Noon -- "NY" -- Stories to Tell (Songlines, 2006)
* John Shiurba 5x5 with Anthony Braxton -- "1.2.1" -- 1.2 = A
-- 4:00 p.m. --
* Kris Davis -- "The Slightest Shift" -- The Slightest Shift (Fresh Sound New Talent, 2006)
Intricate and challenging title track to this album, which I've
enjoyed very much during its time in rotation. Previously noted
here.
* Frank Wright -- "Unity, Part 1" [excerpt] -- Unity (ESP-Disk, 2006; recorded 1974)
An excellent LP-length free-jazz ride with Wright on tenor sax and
Bobby Few on piano. Few defines much of the sound -- it's chaotic, but
his work is more McCoy Tyner than Cecil Taylor. Wright is brusque and
aggressive as always, although the initial surge of music doesn't push
the pedal to the floor, which is good. You get some time to acclimate.
It's about midway through Part 1 that things get more aggressive and blurry.
Near the end of Part 2, out of nowhere, Wright launches into a weird
punk-polka two-step. Oddball fun.
*! Christina Carter -- "Moving Intercepted" [excerpt] -- Electrice (Kranky, 2006)
Separated from Charlambides but still doing that lovely blurred
sheen of guitar and vocals.
* Rob Reddy's Gift Horse -- "A Hundred Jumping Devils" -- A Hundred Jumping Devils (Reddy Music, 2006)
* The Vandermark 5 -- "Rip, Rig and Panic Suite" -- Free Jazz Classics Vols. 3 and 4 (Atavistic, 2006)
* = 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.