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

* Myra Melford/Trio M -- "Brainfire and Buglight" -- Big Picture (Cryptogramophone, 2007)

Previously noted here.

? Plays Monk -- "Work" -- Plays Monk (Long Song, 2007)

Local trio of A-listers Scott Amendola (drums), Devin Hoff (bass), and Ben Goldberg (clarinet). They've been playing around town for a couple of years, I think, doing trio interpretations of Monk, and they've finally gotten a CD out on Long Song, a cool Italian label. Songs are deceptively "inside." Of course they adhere to Monk's composing, but in some unpredictable ways. "Skippy" offers a fast sprinting treatment to open the album with a bang. "Green Chimneys" comes across a bit wrong in the head thanks to Hoff's off-color bass. "Four in One" gets interpreted as a high-speed energy burst. There's a joyous swing throughout -- "Work" being a good example -- and the group takes advantage of the trio format to spin some engaging improvisations.

It's hard not to be reminded of Steve Lacy's Monk covers, especially with Goldberg's The Door, the Hat, the Chair, the Fact packing such a strong Lacy influence. This isn't a rehash of old work, though; like the best of jazz covers, it's an imprint of the players' musical personalities on a familiar Rosetta stone, showing new ways to mine such rich material.

Previously noted here.

* Amir ElSaffar -- "Blood And Ink (Maqam Awshar) / Aneen (Maqam Mukhalif)" -- Two Rivers (Pi Recordings, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Duets of tenor sax and drums. Fairly adventurous; I haven't given it much of a listen yet.

* Bill McHenry -- "The Lizard" -- Roses (Sunnyside, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Classical music on guitars. This piece has a good fast pace.

Previously noted here.

* Mick Barr -- "rdd-7" -- Octis: Iohargh Wended (Tzadik, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Tim Berne's Bloodcount -- "What Are the Odds?" -- Poisoned Minds: The Paris Concert, Vol. 2 (JMT/Polydor, 1995; re-released on Winter & Winter)

Technically a 41-minute suite of smaller pieces, "What Are the Odds" later appeared on Bloodcount's Unwound CD under just this title, so I guess it's official. As you'd imagine, the suite moves through fast and slow segments, with the fast parts including two of Berne's most memorable composed riffs. In that sense, it's like a Greatest Hit, except for being, you know, 41 minutes long.

More on the Bloodcount fascination here. I've since learned it's feasible for me to get to Philadelphia for the Feb. 10 show, the last in their mini reunion tour! It's at International House in University City; details here.

Steven Bernstein -- "Chant" -- Diaspora Blues (Tzadik, 2007)

I'll admit it: Sometimes I do pick a track for its catchy opening. This is radio, after all. Steven Bernstein was headlining a Jan. 27 show at Bottom of the Hill, a popular rock club, so I wanted to give his Diaspora projects some love. However, most of the cuts on here start slow or cerebral; "Chant" fit the bill with an attention-grabbing beat that could help listeners get enthused about the show. Shallow, yes, but even the avant-garde needs a bit of marketing sometimes.

Previously noted here.

* Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra -- "Conducted Improvisation Piece No. 11: Two Orchestras in Separate Rooms (2004)" [excerpt] -- Two Rooms of Uranium Inside 83 Markers: Conducted Improvisations Vol. II (Edgetone, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Josh Roseman -- "Greasy Feets Music" -- New Constellations (Accurate, 2007)

Ostensibly a tribute to Skatalites trombonist Don Drummond, this one's got a variety of pop shims on it. You do have some ska/dub sounds -- that slowly bouncing rhythm, the reverb -- but also lots of electronica touches, high computer trills that accent the beat. When the full band comes in -- a regular jazz combo that includes Peter Apfelbaum on the sax -- it's got a healthy mainstream pulse to it, an outpouring that draws you back into the jazz world after some spacey interludes that can last quite a while. As a mix of the modern and the jazz tradition, it works quite well, and the pop touches don't drag the whole project into shallow waters. At first listen, I'm liking this.

Previously noted here.

* Larry Ochs Sax and Drumming Core -- "Poporfa" -- Up from Under (Atavistic, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Black metal meets jazz, or that's how they describe it. Duo of sax and drums, although sometimes they go to two drums and maybe even (if memory serves) two saxes. At any rate, they dish out ferocious free-interplay music informed by free jazz and influenced by the darkness of metal. Good loud stuff that shows off some actual musicianship.

They're touring the east coast in April 2008. Go check 'em out!

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.