Friday, January 23rd, 2005 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Nothing special planned in the Xmas vein, although I couldn't resist giving a spin to the big-band Hanukkah CD that we got. A friend of mine knows the sister of drummer Jeff Ballard, so I snuck a couple of his sessions on-air during the final hour, having been told that she'd be listening then.

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

* Andrew Bishop -- "Fragments in Imaginary Time" -- Time and Imaginary Time (Envoi, 2005)

* Either/Orchestra -- "Yezemed Yebada" -- Live in Addis [Ethiopiques #20] (Buda Musique, 2005)

* Keith Fullerton Whitman and Greg Davis -- "Knitting Factory" -- Yearlong (Carpark, 2005)

* Keith Jarrett -- "Part 12" -- Radiance (ECM, 2005)

* Nicholas D'Amato Royal Society -- "Sequence" -- Nullius in Verba (Buckyball, 2005)

* Ben Monder -- "Rooms of Light" -- Oceana (Sunnyside, 2005)

* Steve Lacy/Roswell Rudd Quartet -- "Monk's Dream" -- School Days (Hatology, 2002; recorded 1963)

* Positive Knowledge with Ike Levin -- "Crisis to Victory" -- First Ones (Charles Lester Music, 2005)

Dos -- "'til the Blood Ran" -- Justamente Tres (Kill Rock Stars, 1996)

* The Redressers -- "Anti(Thesis)" -- To Each According ... (Free Porcupine Society, 2005)

Dos -- "Do You Want New Wave or Do You Want the Truth" -- Our Band Could Be Your Life (Little Brother, 1995)

* Anthony Braxton and Walter Frank -- "Improvisation 4" -- 4 Improvisations (Duets) 2004 (Leo Records, 2005)

* Kenny Ellis -- "Swingin' Dreidel" -- Hanukkah Swings! (Favored Nations, 2005)

* Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra -- "Meditation on Integration" -- Don't Be Afraid... (Palmetto, 2005)

* MTKJ Quartet -- "I Hate Your Teapot" -- Day of the Race (Nine Winds, 2005)

? Fly -- "Child's Play" -- Fly (Savoy Jazz, 2004)

Frank Kimbrough -- "Quickening" -- Quickening (OmniTone, 2003)

Two disks featuring drummer Jeff Ballard, who's coming to town in January for a couple of shows with pianist Brad Mehldau. Fly is a trio with Ballard and longtime friend Larry Grenadier (bass), who both hail from the Santa Cruz area and have hung out since the beginning of time, apparently (Grenadier is Mehldau's bassist, btw). Mark Turner on sax rounds out Fly. Accessible stuff with long, wide-open stretches that take advantage of the everybody-solos type of trio interplay, very nice. I picked a track Ballard wrote, one with lots of overlapping rhythms and a pattern from Ghana at its base.

Kimbrough is a gentle pianist who had Ballard in his trio for the Quickening session. Picked a track that shows off Ballard's drumming well.

The Vandermark 5 -- "Vent" -- Simpatico (Atavistic, 1999)

From the days when Vandermark had a guitar in the band. This one opens the Simpatico album with a ferocious noise blast, appropriate considering Dr. Furious was taking the airwaves right after me with a show called "28 Years of Punk." Yes!

* = 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.