Friday, May 27th, 2005 ... 6:00 a.m. - noon ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

A long and crazy day, subbing for Fo ("No Cover, No Minimum") and Riina ("Distraction Limited"). Tried to spin Fo's usual mix of world, jazz, and blues -- and also played this week's installment of the 2004 Chicago Jazz and Blues Festival recordings, which Fo had arranged to play on his show during the spring and summer.

One lucky break is that we've got an hour-long jazz documentary in rotation right now, something Byrd of Paradise (our resident blues director) had pushed for airplay. Came in handy as far as filling time goes.

Then Riina's show -- which I had to fill in with long tracks in order to meet other commitments. Luckily, Riina is into noisy and strange stuff, giving me a chance to promo Moe! Staiano's upcoming concerts and to play a jazz documentary soundtrack that Byrd Of Paradise (Saturday blues DJ) managed to procure for us.

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

* Joko Purwanto -- "Lebaran" -- V/A: Gamelan from Central Java (Arc, 2004)

A modern classical composition for gamelan, voices, and other instruments, centered on an instrument called the gung. Lots of interlocking bell rhythms and some clearly "20th-century classical" ideas. Composition is dated 1989.

* Ladysmith Black Mambazo & Eco -- "Jabulani - Rejoice/Homeless" -- No Boundaries (Heads Up, 2005)

Count Basie Centennial Tribute with Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Buddy DeFranco, and others ... a 1-hour program taken from the 2004 Chicago Jazz Festival, presented by WBEZ, Chicago Public Radio.

* Normand Guilbeault Ensemble -- "Pithecanthropus Erectus" -- Mingus Erectus (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2005)

* Nicole Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble -- "Curbside Fantasee" -- Hope, Future, and Destiny (Dreamtime, 2005)

* Ted Nash and Odeon -- "Concierto de Aranjuez 2" -- La Espada de la Noche (Palmetto, 2005)

Miles Davis -- "Shh/Peaceful" -- In a Silent Way (Columbia, 1974)

* James Black -- "Guardian of the Groove," an hour-long radio documentary on the jazz/blues drummer, by David Kunian.

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

With drummer Scott Amendola and laptop artist Jhno alongside Nels Cline, Crater is an interesting experimental group that played gigs together for a couple of years before recording this debut CD. Here's my KZSU internal review for the other DJs:

Two extended pieces of ambitous instrumental "improvised 'electric' music." Imagine an indie noise-rock band trying to play acid jazz (though the guitar work is fairly virtuosic), plus someone on a laptop making experimental breakbeats. Highly percussive, highly repetitive in parts; loose free jamming in others e solos are more sonic than melodic). Both tracks are quite long (~40 minutes); not for the faint of heart.

? Moe! Staiano's Moe!kestra! -- "Conducted Improvisation Piece No. 4" -- Two Forms of Multitudes: Conducted Improvisations (Dephine Knormal/Pax/Edgetone, 2002)

For explanation, skip ahead to here.

Finnish band doing krautrock kinds of things. Along the lines of Can, with a made up language a la Magma. Man, did I just make myself sound like a prog-rock geek or what?

* = 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.