Friday, May 30th, 2008 ... 3:00 p.m. - 4:50 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

(Return to playlists.)

The sixth annual Matthew Sperry Memorial Festival comes about next week, in honor of a young bassist and then new father who was killed in a traffic accident in 2003. Details are on that Web link, which continues to be maintained in Matthew's name.

The festival is at the Hillside Club in Berkeley, June 5 and 6. Special guests include English saxophonist John Butcher and local treasure Carla Kihlstedt.

Our library has a few tracks of Sperry playing in free-improv contexts. But I keep forgetting to note that Sperry appeared on Tom Waits and David Byrne albums, and he'd worked with not-so-inaccessible jazzsters like Jessica Lurie. He was also the bassist in a live production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Maybe I'll trot out some of that catalog next week.

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

? ROVA Saxophone Quartet -- "Juke Box Detroit" -- The Juke Box Suite (Not Two, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Sun Ra -- "Some Blues but Not the Kind That's Blue" -- Some Blues but Not the Kind That's Blue (Atavistic, 2007; orig. released 1977)

Previously noted here.

Noted, briefly, here.

* John Butcher, Torsten Muller, Dylan van der Schyff -- "Sharpening the Windings Until They Roll Up, Roll Up, Roll Up and Snag on the Point of the Tear" -- Way Out Northwest (Drip Audio, 2008)

Here we begin a set of tracks related to the Matthew Sperry festival, noted above...

Saxophonist Butcher strikes me as being particularly adept with sound exploration, coaxing unusual tones, squeaks, pips, and grinds out of the saxophone. Here, he maintains more of a connection to jazz, while still twirling out some abstract improv lines.

A very enjoyable trio set. As usual for improv, some of the faster and busier pieces catch the ear the most -- this one, for example, ends with some high-speed sax fluttering that's good fun. Among my favorite tracks, though are the quieter "Taktgebertendenz," where Butcher leans more towards exotic puckering sounds, and "magiC CloCK maCHine," a soft and murky journey that comes across subtle and flowing.

Previously noted here. Terrific album, packed with a great cast of musicians in duos/trios with Robair.

Smoking Balance (Philip Gelb, Carla Kihlstedt, John Shiurba, and Matthew Sperry) -- "Trajectory" -- Smoking Balance (Limited Sedition, 1998)

I'm pretty sure this was the first release on Limited Sedition, a label Shiurba started up. The idea was to provide short runs -- less than 100, usually -- of CDs from various improv projects. The concept reflects the economic reality of this music, sure, but more important, it's tied to the ephemeral nature of improvised sessions, and the philosophical question of whether the act of recording is antiethical to the improvising itself. (I'd have to say No to that, but it's an interesting question to ponder.)

This session tended towards quiet kinds of jumbling, but that doesn't mean they don't dig in hard. It was a great way to kick off the label.

Butcher's saxophone in a more abstract light than the "Northwest" album above, with Durrant doing electronics and live manipulations. It's tangibly saxophone-sounding -- the manipulations don't get that wild -- but adds up to some nicely exploratory work.

* Sainkho Namchylak and Roy Carroll -- "All Will Come to an End" [excerpt] -- Tuva-Irish Live Music Project (Leo Records, 2007)

Namchylak's music was previously noted here; she's a Tuvan throat singer who also dabbles in all manner of experimental vocalizing. This CD has her paired with Roy Carroll on "electronics," which includes various sampling and some live manipulations of Namchylak's vocals. It's a collaborative duo, but the effect to most listeners will be that Carroll provides a variety of backgrounds for the singing and vocal spasms of Namchylak.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here. These guys, minus Allen (sax) but plus Vinny Golia (sax), are playing next Friday at the Community Arts Center in SF, part of an evening dedicated to electronics artist John Bischoff.

* Crater -- "On the Heal of the Devil" -- Proceed (Cycling '74, 2005)

A project between jhno (laptop electronics) and Scott Amendola (drums, electronics), also throwing in some electric guitars and electric bass in the mix. The result are long jams that don't force a beat, but also won't come across as that "experimental" to the unsuspecting listener. I don't think you could call it dance music, but it's not cerebral experimental music either. This one came to mind because the merch table at the ROVA/Nels show had some copies. It's a project that would pleasantly surprise many a Nels or Amendola fan.

* Keefe Jackson's Project Project -- "Dragon Fly" -- Just Like This (Delmark, 2007)

Previously noted here.

Finishing off with another sampling of Chicago's rich free-jazz community.

* = 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.