Friday, April 6th, 2007 ... 3:00 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Dave Brubeck's annual Brubeck Festival was supposed to be a focus of this show, even though Brubeck's isn't a style I frequently spotlight. That didn't work out. The more important note to highlight is probably the Reptet (see way down there).

Joshua Redman Elastic Band -- "Lonely Woman" -- Momentum (Nonesuch, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Dave Brubeck -- "Blue Rondo a la Turk" -- The Essential Dave Brubeck (Columbia)

The Brubeck Festival was happening in Stockton this weekend, so what the heck. I'd actually intended to play more Brubeck stuff throughout the show, but got distracted from that mission due to the number of long, long tracks I ended up playing. Moreover, I couldn't locate our copy of In His Own Sweet Way, a Dave Brubeck tribute done by Knitting Factory avant-jazz types.

Experimental pop with some jazz influence and weird lyrics; this track kept mentioning beans, I think.

Previously noted here.

* Mike Khoury, Brian Mackie, Michael Welch -- "Blues for Sam Rivers" -- Live at the Stardust Cafe (Detroit Improvisation, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Sean Noonan/Brewed by Noon -- "Noonbrews" -- Stories to Tell (Songlines, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* John Shiurba 5x5 with Anthony Braxton -- "1.2.3" [excerpt] -- 1.2 = A (Rastascan, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Peter Brotzmann, Albert Mangelsdorff, Gunter "Baby" Sommer -- "Wie Du Mir, So Ich Dir Noch Lange Nicht" -- Pica Pica (Atavistic, 2006; orig. released 1982)

Previously noted here. This one's about a 17-minute track, comprising most of Side 2 on the original LP.

Dave Brubeck -- "In Your Own Sweet Way" -- All the Things We Are

Played this one off vinyl; I didn't take down the label info, and the label isn't listed in our target="new">music database.

Brubeck has done a couple of CDs of solo piano compositions for Naxos, with John Salmon performing. It's classical music, not jazz dressed up to feel classical.

* Nels Cline -- "No Doubt/ 11/8 / Dance With Death" -- New Monastery (Cryptogramophone, 2006)

Previously noted here. This track presents an interesting typographical challenge; it's three pieces combined, the middle one of which is called "11/8" and is in 11/8 time. The whole shebang takes more than 20 minutes.

* Tom Nunn -- "Entropic License" -- Identity (Edgetone, 2007)

Nunn is a local builder of new instruments -- strange apparati, usually percussion-related, that involve odd tunings and occasionally electronic amplification. This CD samples a couple of different instruments, and the results fall mostly into two camps: Pingy percussive pieces, as if played on a metallic variation of a marimba; and the electronic growls of an amplified instrument being scraped.

Quirky mainstream session led by longtime pianist Werner. Chris Potter on sax and especially Dave Douglas on trumpet add some nice edge. Occasional computer electronics bring modern touches, especially on two short tracks that get outright experimental. Some pieces have a slightly silly feel, like this one. Others get a bit heavier, and one in particular is overly sentimental -- but that's the one written the day Werner's daughter was born. She died shortly before this recording session, giving that track a meaningful place on this album.

Previously noted here.

? Reptet -- "Do This!" -- Do This! (Monktail, 2006)

Really entertaining group from Seattle that deals in accessible jazzy themes and wild free-jazz solos. Pieces on the CD sound so polite and polished -- and they're played that way live, too, but the live show adds a fervor and a sense of humor that can't be captured in the studio. These guys just swung through San Francisco, and they were worth cramming into the Revolution Cafe to see.

You can get a taste of them in a YouTube video (no link; just search for Reptet). Live, they did stuff like marching out of the cafe during one energetic groove session, then marching back in -- kind of a "Strawberry Fields" fade-out/fade-in thing. And the drummer, John Ewing, was just amazing.

As one final character note on the band, consider that the CD includes four tracks named after Marx brothers, and artwork from Jim Flora. (He did lots of great cartoons for jazz albums in the '50s; believe me, you've seen his work.)

UPDATE 12/14: Here's that YouTube link.

Tim Berne -- "iHornet" -- Science Friction (Screwgun, 2002)

Previously noted here.

I've waxed on about Sparks before. Here's a track from an album I'd missed. Funny stuff, it's about an Ivy League white guy who fancies himself a homeboy because he knows black slang. Lines like "My caddy and me, he looks just like Jay-Z" and "I pop a cap on some fool at The Gap." Hilarious stuff done against an awesomely preppy piano melody.

* Gordon Grdina's Box Cutter -- "Origin" -- Unlearn (Spool, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* = 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.