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

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

* Avram Fefer/Michael Bisio -- "Love (Keepin' On)/Rio Largo y Sinuoso" -- Painting Breath, Stoking Fire (CIMP, 2005)

Interesting how the tracks on this CD all have split titles like this one. They're sax/bass duets, and you'd think the stuff was all improvised, but ... well, maybe they're compositions strung together. Or maybe Fefer and Bisio, in titling the tracks, wanted to call attention to some of the transitions or mood shifts they felt. (Or, maybe I could check the liner notes and see if they shed any light on this -- nah.) Nice duets anyway, with a strong sound.

Ganesh Anandan, Malcolm Goldstein, Rainer Wiens -- "Dream Algebra" -- Speaking in Tongues (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2003)

South Indian percussion, violin, and prepared guitar, respectively ("prepared" means the guitar is played in unconventional ways, with implements stuck between the strings, for example), plus a sax. Trio improvs, with a dark, primitive sound -- abstract, but often calling up gutteral, tribal sounds on violin or sax. This one came through rotation a while back, and I recall not giving it the love it deserved then. So, here's a bit more.

Gorgeous, long guitar piece backed by bass and drums. Geoff had finished off his show with an a capella piece off here -- Theo Bleckman's voice, overdubbed, for a choral effect. Decent excuse to play one of the Monder guitar tracks as well, giving Ben an extra spin for our charts. Plus, I love this CD, tangly and lush and even confusing sometimes.

One 54-minute track exploring dense yet sparse sounds. Eh? Well, there are five guys here who combine for a thick level of insect-chatter improv (using "normal" instruments including sax and trumpet) forming a kind of spare drone. It revs up in a few places for some chattery improv action, and I tried to catch one of those spots with my selected excerpt. Unfortunately, I ran it too long and got into a long period of low bass electronics drone -- which is a cool sound, in the context of the disk, but probably inaudible on many car radios.

Denzler, in particular, has done several similar projects, including the band Hubbub, which has put out a few CDs of this kind of stuff.

* Keith Jarrett -- "Part 1"/"Part 2" -- Radiance (ECM, 2005)

One long slab of Keith's solo piano.

Francis Wong -- "Great Wall" -- Great Wall (Asian Improv, 1993)

Nice stuff from local saxophonist Wong, who I think is still around town. This composition is maybe a bit too dramatic -- very soaring and pretty, almost a bit cheesy -- but Wong's solo really digs in, lots of growling and forceful attack.

James "Blood" Ulmer -- "Jazz Is the Teacher (Funk is the Preacher) -- Are You Glad To Be in America? (Disk Union, 1995)

Outright funk! to close out the electric set. One of the tracks that features Ulmer singing -- very cool.

* Jenny Scheinman -- "The Frog Threw His Head Back and Laughed" -- 12 Songs (Cryptogramophone, 2005)

I don't normally like playing the same track from the same CD two weeks in a row. Yes, doing so would help artists get recognition, but it just seems counter to the spirit of college radio. Plus, when I'm playing a particular CD regularly each week (cf. Fieldwork) it's nice to flash multiple facets of a band. And I do try to stick to the catchier, faster tracks, to grab listener ears -- there really is a germ of commercial enterprise in my programming.

Anyway, I had to break that rule because of the Frog theme here. I mean, come on, a Frog-related set, that's just not something you can wait to have happen again, right?

Also of note: I later discovered another DJ had played this same track on her show this morning. Jenny Scheinman apparently has a hit single here at KZSU.

Couple of older guys known for playing conservative jazz styles -- and there's nothing wrong with that; it's just not my show's style. But here, they do stretch out a bit. They don't get all punk-rock crazy, but these duet pieces have a great sense of adventure and some fine untethered moments; you can tell they aren't trying to mold everything into traditional jazz shapes. Bully for them; it's a fine CD and a pleasant surprise.

* The Onus -- "Limehouse Blues" -- Triphony (Hipnotic, 2005)

Kaki King -- "Kewpie Station" -- Everybody Loves You (Velour, 2003)

Fingerpicking guitarist with a fast and often percussive style; this track really shows off the percussive part. Played it because she's playing in SF tomorrow, but in general her stuff is good and worth a spin.

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