Mostly Other People Do the Killing -- This Is Our Moosic (Hot Cup, 2008 )

Source: CDbaby

It's too easy to slap a "free jazz" label onto Mostly Other People Do the Killing. Granted, up front you notice Peter Evans' post-apocalyptic hyperbuzz trumpeting, expertly skimming the changes like a hummingbird dodging freeway traffic. And then there are the moments when the quartet goes into group improv, teaming up viciously like cavemen taking down a mastodon.

But the slogan on the Myspace page is "100 years of jazz in every byte," and that gives you more insight into what they're doing. That, and the cover of their latest album, This Is Our Moosic, which carbon-copies the pose on Ornette Coleman's This Is Our Music, complete with the bassist glaring at the camera sardonically like he's about to kick somebody's ass, either the cameraman's or yours, ya punk.

MOPDTK is appropriately fierce, and it's not just Evans. Kevin Shea's drumming is intense without being heavy -- a smiley-faced shredding. Moppa Elliott on bass lets fingers fly with pulses like deadly concussions, and John Irabagon on sax delivers a good free-jazz tumult on cue.

There's a reverance for jazz history, though, that's easy to spot. "Drainlick," "Fagundus," and "East Orwell" all start from a kind of Sinatra cool. They've been informed by '60s radicalism, European free improv, and noise rock, but it's still a swingin' time for the first 30 to 120 seconds, before things start to fall apart. And the songs do coalesce back to composed heads -- this stuff is done with charts, and with a sense of history. There's even an academic tinge to the way Elliott's composing draws from Coltrane, Danny Elfman, and Debussy, as noted in this All About Jazz review.

The influences do span 100 years of jazz. "Two Boot Jacks" opens with an old-timey swing that Jelly Roll Morton could have done. "The Bats in Belfry" exudes Spanish flair; it's a rare slow track (well relatively, and only until the 100-mph solos kick in). "Biggertown" is a perky 1950s picket-fence scotch-and-soda tune (and then the parents leave, and a high-school party tears up the house). "My Delightful Muse" makes me think of Spike Jones, which could mean any number of things.

And then, the album closes with a suspiciously straight reading of Billy Joel's "Allentown" -- yes, the mildly schlocky 1982 radio hit, complete with vocal "effects" to represent dying coal mills: "shh! oom! aah!" It's a Pennsylvania thing; Elliott (born Matthew Thomas Elliott) appears to be the hails from there. Every track on MOPDTK's first album, Shamokin'!, was titled from a town in western Pennsylvania. The title of this newer album comes from Moosic, which is apparently another town in Pennsylvania. It all makes sense.

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

Source: CDBaby

If you don't live in a top-tier town for creative music, like, say, New York, you kind of have to create your own scene. Saxophonist Colter Frazier has apparently done that in Santa Barbara, curating the New Music Series back in 2006. You can read a bit more about it here.

As that article mentions, Frazier performed in duo with drummer Rob Wallace for a while, and the CD they put out together is pretty good. More recently, though, Frazier has been working in a quartet with a viola, coming up with a sound that's not so far outside but doesn't adhere to the usual patterns of jazz. Specifically, the melodies and harmonies trace more of a Euro-classical shape (or maybe that's just my brain automatically associating strings with classical). The opening track, "Lloyd's Prayer," has a definite sidewalk-cafe kind of folksiness to it, while "4 Days and 5 Months" puts a dose of Klezmer into a rapidly rolling 5/8 pulse. Good stuff; I hope I'll be able to catch Frazier live someday.

* Mostly Other People Do the Killing -- "Drainlick" -- This Is Our Moosic (Hot Cup, 2008)

See above.

The opening salvo in the Groundtruther saga, as noted here, featuring Greg Osby on sax. Groundtruther's aesthetic of deep electronics and spacey sounds gets a funky turn, thanks not only to Osby but to the natural inclinations of Charlie Hunter and Bobby Previte.

Previously noted here.

Hagans/Belden -- "Killer Instinct" -- Re-Animation Live! (Blue Note, 2000)

A caller had asked for something along the lines of the Groundtruther track but with "more brass." This kind of fit the bill -- literally more brass, in that Tim Hagans' trumpet is a lead voice, and also more horns (which is what I think the caller really meant), as cohort Bob Belden gets some licks in on sax. Like Groundtruther, this one mixes funk and spacey sounds, but it's heavier into a dance vibe and almost comes close to jam music. Not something I'd normally play (too nu-jazzy), but it's nice to satisfy a request once ina while.

Source: Atavistic
Stef, who runs an excellent site packed with free-jazz album reviews, didn't happen to like this one so much, citing a disconnect between Brotzmann's sax and Lonberg-Holm's cello. The first track, in particular, is too much an all-out blowing session without much real communication between the players, he says. You'll find the review further down in this entry.

I have to admit I liked this quite a bit more than he did, although I'll have to re-listen and see if I can pick up his point. Because "Section 1" really is a squealing, brash attack; it's just that I thought Brotzmann and Lonberg-Holm worked well as a team there, especially given Lonberg-Holm's heavy bowing near the end.

"Section 2," clocking in at 19 minutes, explores a wider range. It's less direct and more sophisticated, opening up with brash scribbles that still leave plenty of white space. Sad cello tones get the spotlight during a quieter middle section, creating a nearly classical drone. Then, the two players build up to a glorious, tense finish, with Brotzmann blowing full-bore and Lonberg-Holm using distortion pedals to get rock-star guitar sounds out of his cello.

"Section 3" is a brief conclusion, where I'm picking up a slightly bitter tone that's not present in the other tracks. Mood-wise, it's another hard frontal assault, but there's something a bit different here, I think.

So, I liked it. But I wouldn't discount the opinion of Stef, who's a veteran Brotzmann listener.

High-powered electropop from Norway. Heavy on the "electro" side, with lots of electronica beats and sunshiney sounds. Vocals are in there but tend to be faint; I can't even tell if they're in English (although there's no reason why they should be). From listening to this track, I just remember lots and lots of synths and drum machines, and it was fun.

* Paul Carlon Octet -- "Yorubonics" -- Roots Propaganda (Deep Tone, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Source: Edgetone

Last April, I'd noted how Romus was bringing a dark, sinister sound to his free-jazz group. Here's the opposite pole: a recording from much earlier in his career, when he was hanging in Santa Cruz and playing creative music that had stronger ties back to the tradition. It was self-released then, and Romus is giving it another lease on life with a CD release now.

It's a very good session with a '60s feel. Freeman has a lot to do with that, of course; I think it's him taking a long unaccompanied solo on this track. But Romus holds his own nicely, and Stefano DeZerega's piano provides a lush, anchoring sound. The solos never get extremely out-there, but they're plenty creative.

I first encountered Romus around 1997, leading a Lords of Outland band that included John Birdsong on sousaphone, in lieu of a bass, and John Tchicai on sax. I have to say, I prefer the Jazz on the Line band for its more flowing, more cohesive sound; the early Lords of Outland was more consciously moving outwards, and I've found plenty to like there, but the Jazz on the Line material somehow seems to work more effectively.

David S. Ware Quartet -- "Motif Dao" -- Dao (Dutch East India Trading, 1995)

Power saxophone from the days of Ware's towering quartet with William Parker (bass), Whit Dickey (drums), and Matthew Shipp (piano). Ware has never lost the power or the edge in his saxophone playing, but these mid-'90s albums added a group intensity and a knotted, gnarly approach to free playing that represent a pinnacle of the form. I first found Ware through a review of the album Cryptology in, of all places, Rolling Stone. It's an album that just pummels you, as I found out the hard way when I took it home -- I was stunned to the point that I didn't realize the third track, "Dinosauria," was the slow one.

Sadly, Ware is in need of a life-saving kidney transplant, and the search is on for donors of blood type "O." News has gotten around in the past week thanks to feelers put out by Steven Joerg, Ware's manager and the man who runs the AUM Fidelity label.

Details are here and are circulating the Web in general. Potential donors are encouraged to contact Joerg directly via aum at aumfidelity dot com.

Previously noted here.

* Mary Halvorson Trio -- "Momentary Lapse" -- Dragon's Head (Firehouse 12, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Modern classical works, an album that includes string quartets and some small-ensemble pieces. This one's a duet for baritone saxophone (Tim Berne) and bass clarinet (Tim Smith). It often sounds like there's more than just the two of them at work -- the music stabs and swoops, often hitting high registers and mimicking something the ROVA Saxophone Quartet might do.

? Prince Lasha Quintet featuring Sonny Simmons -- "A.Y." -- The Cry (Contemporary/Fantasy, 2001; orig. released 1963)

I'd been remiss about mentioning the passing of Prince Lasha in mid-December. Born William B. Lawsha, Lasha and Sonny Simmons were a team in the early '60s, spreading the free-jazz gospel out to California. They even had a TV show in Sacramento, according to the liner notes of this album -- which goes to show how popular jazz was back then, and how much less restrictive the TV industry was.

Their musical credentials included some learning at the feet of Ornette Coleman, as Lasha hailed from Coleman's home town of Fort Worth and was born about six months before Coleman.

There's a brief obit here and a mention on Jazzobserver here that prodded my memory about this. On All About Jazz,, Bill Leikam provides a nice description of the funeral here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Thollem McDonas and Arrington De Dionyso -- "Blink Of" -- Intuition, Science and Sex (Edgetone, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra -- "Piece No. 5" [excerpt: nearly all of it, really] -- An Inescapable Siren Within Earshot Distance Therein And Other Whereabouts (Rastascan, 2006)

* Pierre Vervloesem -- "Burba Bubba" -- Not Even Close (Off, 2008)

Source: MySpace
Oh my god this is awesome. It's like a moving walkway with the speed set too high - you don't lose your balance, but you often feel like you're almost there.

I'm only vaguely knowledgeable about X-Legged Sally, the crazy Belgian rock band Vervloesem was involved in. Mainly, I saw their name on old Knitting Factory bills (back when the Knitting Factory was a free-jazz haven), and I've heard a track or two during my time on-air. Still, I love the dizzying craziness on this album.

It's catchy stuff, mostly instrumental, with lots of synthesizers. Bouncy electronica mixes with prog-sounding ideas and some goofy vocalizing from Vervloesem and his wife, Michelle, sometimes in. The music is fast and cerebral, but the overall package is fun - I'm reminded of Frank Zappa's Jazz from Hell crossed with the synth nuttiness of Thelonious Moog.

Tracks like "Luis Luis" leave you feeling bombarded - just as you settle into one musical idea, it throws something else at you. "Martino" starts out loungy and nice but ends up more tense, with "bow-bo-bow" vocal chanting. Along those lines, this track, "Burba Bubba" has one of my favorite moments, where the vocals go into a pattern that goes, "Yip - yip - yip - yip - " then "voila!!" like a punch line. You've also got some Bacharach-like choralizing on some tracks, light and harmonized.

Then there's "400 Personnes," which includes a French narration against a dry, indifferent film noir backdrop. It's oh, so Euro and (I'm assuming) wry and satirical. (If you speak French, you can judge for yourself with the video here.

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.