Friday, March 19th, 2004 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Interviewed Harris Eisenstadt, an L.A. drummer and composer who's convening his Ahimsa Orchestra in Berkeley on March 26. "Ahimsa" is an Indian word for active nonviolent resistance, and Eisenstadt uses the name for various large ensembles he convenes for performing his compositions. He's also got a new CD out on the C.I.M.P. label and one pending, with Sam Rivers, on the Meta label.

Also played some Ornette Coleman, since he's performing in San Francisco tomorrow.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)

* Claudia Quintet -- "The Cloud of Unknowing" -- I, Claudia (Cuneiform, 2003)

* Grey Ghost -- "Spitzacolli" -- How To Create Worlds (482 Music, 2003)

* Vijay Iyer/Mike Ladd -- "DeGaulle" -- In What Language? (Pi Recordings, 2003)

* Yusef Lateef, Adam Rudolph, Go: Organic Orchestra -- "Root Pressure" [excerpt] -- In the Garden (Meta, 2003)

Ornette Coleman -- "Sleep Talk" -- Of Human Feelings (Antilles, 1982)

The SF Jazz Festival is bringing Ornette to town this weekend. This is something from his electric/funk period; not everyone likes it, probably because of the demi-commercial sound. But it's still got those crazy not-quite-right melody lines of Ornette's.

* The Blue Series Continuum -- "Keystroke" -- Sorcerer Sessions (Thirsty Ear, 2003)

* L'ensemble Pierre Labbe -- "Outrages" -- Risque et Pendule (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2003)

* Thelonious Moog -- "Off Minor" -- Yes We Didn't (GrownUp Records, 2003)

* Tiner/Phillips/Schoenbeck Trio -- "Road from Kumasi" -- Breathe In, Feed Out (pfMentum, 2003)

From L.A. or thereabouts, a nice improvising trio that keeps to a gentler sound with the occasional electronic burst. Personnel are Kris Tiner (trumpet), Noah Phillips (electric guitar), and Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon). A bit of a chamber-jazz feel with good stretches of exporatory improvising.

* Kyle Bruckmann's Wrack -- "Lonely Woman" -- Kyle Bruckmann's Wrack (Red Toucan, 2003)

Pat Metheney with Charlie Haden and Billy Higgins -- "Lonely Woman" -- Rejoicing (ECM, 1984)

John Zorn -- "Lonely Woman" -- Naked City (Elektra, 1990)

Three very different versions of Ornette's classic track! Well, it seemed clever, anyway.

* Tiner/Phillips/Schoenbeck Trio -- "Skujellifeddy" -- Breathe In, Feed Out (pfMentum, 2003)

* Jeff Kaiser Ockodektet -- "This Sweet Fountain of Science" -- 13 Themes for a Triskaidekaphobic (pfMentum, 2003)

* Nathan Hubbard -- "Next Love (All Things Want To Fly)" -- Skeleton Key Orchestra (Circumvention, 2003)

These are two very nice large-band/orchestra recordings out of Southern California, combining some creative, jazz-oriented composing with bouts of big and loud improvising. Both CDs give plenty of space for snippets of the orchestra to solo -- in duo or trio kinds of settings -- which creates space for the music and clears the palette after each full-ensemble blast. Both come well recommended.

* Conference Call -- "Comeuppance" -- Spiral (482 Music, 2004)

* = Item in KZSU rotation
! = Pop anomaly
? = Item not in KZSU library

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-- Bay Area free/improv music calendar: http://www.bayimproviser.com.
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