Friday, October 21st, 2005 ... 6:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Subbing for DJ Fo, who subbed for me. He plays a blend of jazz, world, and blues. Normally I go heavier on the "world" aspect when I sub for Fo, but this time I decided for just a couple of fun pop-hipster sets instead.

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

* John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble -- "A Blessing" -- A Blessing (OmniTone, 2005)

A 16-minute track that makes a great opener when first going on-air. It starts off very gently and meditative, blossoming into a louder and more powerful sound -- unfolding like a sunrise. Theo Bleckman provides vocals, with lyrics consisting of random blessings ("May the wind be at your back," that sort of stuff). Not my favorite track on here, but very good, and like I said ... a great opener for station bring-up.

McCoy Tyner -- "Opus" -- Inner Voices (Milestone, 1977)

Played on glorious vinyl. The personnel listing on the back includes "Horns and Voices," which I found humorous. The voices turn out to be a small choir of female singers, which adds a gospel tinge.

* Brad Dutz and John Holmes -- "Tribute to Elvin" -- My Bongo (pfMentum, 2004)

* Greg Osby -- "Viewer Discretion" -- Channel Three (Blue Note, 2005)

* Tom & Joy -- "Antigua" -- Antigua (Tommy Boy, 2005)
* 3 Quiet Men -- "Trump'n'Drum'n'Bass" -- Trump'n'Drum'n'Bass (CMC, 2005)
! April March -- "Garcon Glacon" -- Chrominance Decoder (Ideal, 1999)
Paris Combo -- "Mobil'homme" -- Living-Room (Tinder, 2000)

The "French" world-music set. Except that 3 Quiet Men are from Italy (but it was a hipster-sounding jazz instrumental that could have been French) and popster April March, while singing in French, is from Brooklyn. Hey, it's my show today, I'll define things my way! Tom & Joy used to be called Tom & Joyce, which apparently was too long ... they've got a tropical/Rio de Janiero sound with French lyrics, really happy stuff.

The "Spanish" set. Except that Zuco 103 is Brazilian (hence singing in Portugese). And Outlandish ... man. The band members are Moroccan, Honduran, and Pakistanian. They sing and rap in Spanish and English, not necessarily in that order. And their CD appears on BMG's Denmark label, with liner notes that thank all kinds of Danish-looking names ... these guys are apparently from Denmark. How very "World" of them.

Thus beginning a couple of blues sets.

* Mississippi John Hurt -- "Waiting for You (I Forgive You Before I Go)" -- D.C. Blues Vol. 2 (Fuel 2000, 2005)

* Floyd Dixon -- "Floyd's Jam" -- (Highjohn, 2005)

A nice 7-minute instrumental jam featuring piano legend Dixon.

Great pulsing blues jam, with fiddle and I think cello contributing to the pulse. Big, loud sound on this song, and a bit different.

A benefit CD for Benoit's nonprofit organization trying to save the Louisiana wetlands. Cast of Louisiana natives including Dr. John.

Gentle acoustic-guitar blues. With unfamiliar genres like Blues, it's easy for me to just grab whatever we have in the A-file (that's what we call our CDs currently in rotation). To break that habit, I sometimes dig randomly into the library to see what comes up. The process yields some real gems sometimes.

This one, for instance. Born in 1925, Guitar Gabriel recorded under a variety of names (Bobby Jones, Nyles Jones) back in the day. He dropped out of recording and club playing in the '80s, but his career surged after 1991 when a few key people heard reissues of his '70s records and spread the word. This particular album, recorded in 1991, also became the inspiration for Mark Levinson to found the Music Maker Relief Foundation to help blues artists. Gabriel died in 1996.

A very nice CD that includes extensive liner notes (with a narrative by John Creech) and a great photo of Guitar Gabriel with two youthful bandmates, all decked out in wild random-color outfits. Very nice.

* Yves Francois -- "Hassell Road" -- Blues for Hawk (Delmark, 2005)

Kind of a bluesy jazz, ending the blues set.

Well, the previous album was call "Blues for Hawk," so I pretty much had to dig into the Coleman Hawkins book next.

* Alex Candelaria Quartet -- "Yeahway" -- Yeahway (Evander, 2005)

* Michael Musillami Trio -- "Today the Angels" -- Dachau (Playscape, 2005)

* = 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.