Friday, February 18th, 2005 ... 3:20 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Weird start time due to Stanford baseball game broadcast from Texas.

Started off with "The Hockey Song" for the sake of sad hockey fans everywhere, as this week the 2004-5 NHL season got canceled officially.

Local saxophonist Michael Cooke called in for a chat about his latest CD with the CKW trio and an upcoming gig. Their stuff is a nice free-jazz brew with, of course, plenty of space to detatch and go nuts, or to explore peacefully. For some gigs and an upcoming second CD, they add koto player Shoko Hikage for a new dimension.

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

! Warren Zevon -- "Hit Somebody! (The Hockey Song)" -- My Ride's Here (Artemis, 2001)

* Yeah No -- "Last Beginning" -- Swell Henry (Squealer, 2004)

* CKW Trio -- "4+#11m6m7" -- The Is (Black Hat, 2004)

* Big Satan -- "Deadpan" -- Souls Saved Hear (Thirsty Ear, 2004)

* Joel Futterman/Alvin Fielder/Ike Levin Trio -- "Boundaryless Horizons" -- Resolving Doors (Charles Lester, 2004)

-- 4:00 p.m. --

* Ellen Weller -- "Celebration, Transfiguration, and Release into the Ether" [excerpt] -- Spirits, Little Dreams, and Improvisations (Circumvention, 2004)

* CKW Trio -- [track 9, nicknamed "21st Century Blues"] -- The Is (Black Hat, 2004)

The title of this track is a diagram (think Anthony Braxton) of a set of lines -- spokes originating from one point -- with people's initials around them. The piece is a set of cut-up fragments rewritten according to various influences (Eric Dolphy, Ornette Coleman, Miles Davis; these are the initials in the diagram) and strung together. Cooke says reviewers have been picking apart the track and calling out the various influences they here. Cool idea.

* CKW Trio -- "Mondrian en Amerique" -- The Is (Black Hat, 2004)

The title is inspired by the Dutch painter Mondrian, who did indeed spend time in America.

* CKW Trio -- "Alex in Wonderland" -- The Is (Black Hat, 2004)

Natto Quartet -- "Sake" -- Headlands (482 Music, 2004)

* Franklin Ajaye -- "Forest Walk" -- Vagabond Jazz (self-released, 2004)

Ajaye is a stand-up comic who's had an illustrious but often overlooked career dating back through the '70s. Lately he's made his living as a TV writer. He calls himself "The Jazz Comedian" and often carries a clarinet on stage. For this CD, he and brother(?) Eric combined for a set of peaceful improvised pieces that wouldn't be out of place on the ECM label.

* The Nels Cline Singers -- "Square King" -- The Giant Pin (Cryptogramophone, 2004)

*! Guided by Voices -- "The Closets of Henry" -- Half SMiles of the Decomposed (Matador, 2004)

* Martin Tetreault and Otomo Yoshihide -- "Grenoble No. 3" -- 1. Grrr (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2004)

Brutal noise: Two guys with amplified turntables. Yoshihide is probably the better known of the two, but Tetreault performs and records quite a bit with the Ambiances Magnetiques crowd up in Quebec.

* Kali Z. Fasteau -- "Yemaya/La Sirene" -- Making Waves (Flying Note, 2004)

Ben Goldberg -- "The Horizon Exaggerates the Nearness of the Horizon" -- Twelve Minor (Avant, 1998)

* Lou Grassi Quartet -- "Avanti Galoppi" -- Avanti Galoppi (CIMP, 2004)

Achim Kaufman Quartet -- "Marchebrissee" -- Double Exposure (Leo, 2000)

Pulled this out because Achim is playing in Oakland this week. Quite a nice album, with Michael Moore on clarinet and John Hollenbeck on drums backing up Achim on piano. Some lush, lyrical stuff is here, in a European out-jazz sense. This particular track has a catchy, chugging locomotive rhythm and, closer to the end, a serene, pretty clarinet break.

* Biggi Vinkeloe, George Cremaschi, Miya Masaoka, Gino Robair -- "A Futile Box" -- Klang. Farbe. Melodie. (482 Music, 2004)

* Gold Sparkle Trio with Ken Vandermark -- "Carpet Quarterbagger" -- Brooklyn Cantos (Squealer, 2004)

* = 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.