Friday, March 31st, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Tossed out some Henry Threadgill, as he's bringing his acoustic sextet, the Zooid, to San Francisco for a show tomorrow.

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

Henry Threadgill's Zooid -- "Look" -- Up Popped the Two Lips (Pi Recordings, 2001)

* Rez Abbasi -- "Tantra" -- Snake Charmer (Earth Sounds, 2005)

* Foxes Fox -- "Renard Pale" [excerpt] -- Naan Tso (Psi, 2005)

* Chris Potter -- "The Wheel" -- Underground (Sunnyside, 2006)

Mainstream with a funky touch... is this new for Potter, or have I just not been paying attention? I'm familiar with the name from a long stream of sideman sessions, including work with some downtown/avant types, but I recall his own stuff never quite catching my ear. The funk elements dig in nicely here, more so than on many of Charlie Hunter's records (no offense to Charlie; it's just the first comparison that came to mind ... and besides, Charlie can dish the funk plenty good in live settings). Quartet group with occasional electric guitar added.

It's so cool that Friedlander has managed to keep this group together for the past four or five albums -- an excellent stretch, especially for such avant-tilted music. It's helped that the stuff is quite accessible, drawing heavily from Klezmer for that "world" music sound (which gets enhanced by the use of hand drums instead of a full drum kit).

The band is Friedlander (cello), Andy Laster (sax), Stomu Takeishi (electric bass), and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion). The liner notes include a cool essay about how the band got together.

Great rainy-day stuff, as are most Pieranunzi albums. Piano trio, soft, covering some of the jazzier repertoire in Morricone's soundtrack work. Not campy spaghetti western stuff, but engaging, cinematic pieces lush with melody.

Still loving this one, which features aggressive saxophonist Seth Misterka and drummer Jeff Arnal, among others. Clean Feed has gotten so many good artists to record for them ... can't they start sending radio promos? Ah, maybe someday ...

*! Sarah Harmer -- "Escarpment Blues" -- I'm a Mountain (Zoe Records, distributed by Rounder, 2006)

Pretty bluegrass with Harmer's vocal. Her early albums had that country lilt but were more for the acoustic indie rock crowd; she's all-out bluegrass here with a picture of her band playing outdoors on a rustic stage, photos of trees and a forest road, etc. This track is a slower, pretty song with the ear-catching opening line, "If they blow a hole in my backyard..."

* Steuart Liebig Stigtette -- "Hector" -- Delta (pfMentum, 2005)

A hectic opening track for this chamber-suite album, which includes flute, bassoon, clarinet, and Liebig's contrabass guitar. One DJ here has noted the "sameness" of all the tracks, which I'll concede, but I still really dig this one. Maybe it's just that the chamber-music vibe makes me feel all sophisticated and smart.

Most folks probably like Andrew Hill for that rich '60s sound he conjures up (and why not; he was in the thick of the '60s jazz revolution). I do, too, but I also relish the twisty games he plays with time signatures. This track stands out for that reason; it's got an accessible sound but a stumbling kind of rhythm to the composed theme. It's awesome -- welcome back, Andrew!

Wacky avant-chamber on instruments like banjos and zithers. Not every track is funny and smart-alecky ... but this one is, with a 7/4 polka feel and the use of that Fischer-Price popcorn-popping toy for percussion.

Goldstein is apparently better known that I'd realized; we've got a few CDs of his violin playing, so I knew the name, but I've seen references to him as a veteran presence on the improv scene. He's very interested in the squeaky tones that come from using odd bow angles or really hard pressure (the violin equivalent to saxophone overblowing), and he makes heavy use of those sounds on here. Makes for some great sound-rich improv, but it can have a fingernails-on-chalkboard effect on some ears. (Oddly, I don't get that when a violin or a bass is played this way, but when it's a cello ... man, I have to run screaming. Something about the specific harmonic frequencies of the instrument, maybe?)

This album teams him up with Harada on piano for some interesing improvising.

A coolly funky piece that starts out with sly electric bass. I love the type of sound Threadgill has built up over the years, through use of acoustic guitars, marimba/vibes, tuba instead of bass (well, not on this CD) etc. It's like a pastoral avant-jazz, quite unique.

* Michel Lambert -- "Pilgrimmage of Humankind" -- Le Passant (Rant, 2005)

The concluding track to the title suite ("The Wanderer"), featuring a drum solo of course (Lambert is a drummer). More on this one here.

More info here.

A set of sparse, serious classical pieces, this one for sho (mouth organ), viola, and poetry recital. It's informed by Japanese traditional music, but you wouldn't include it in that same bucket. The closing track is a long piano piece.

Gayle is best known as a saxophonist, but he played piano first, back in childhood. This is his second album of solo piano, and the first to feature all original tracks. Fantastic stuff, deeply rooted in humid New Orleans jazz but full of Cecil Taylor hiccups and flourishes. Gayle plays with lots of character and heart, and some tracks (like this one) are just one big, warm smile.

Grassi is a drummer who's recorded several variations of his PoBand on CIMP through the years (each CIMP album is supposed to feature a different combination of musicians, so Grassi brings in guest stars for each recording.) Upbeat stuff with lots of freedom in the sax and trumpet solos and some tangible ties to the New Orleans tradition, as you might expect from the name.

Cover of a Sepultura song, reflecting leader Cornelius Boots' interst in metal. In these hands, it turns into a rollicking out-jazz trip. But it's still quite dark.

Previously noted here.

An undiscovered gem I found in our vinyl library. I don't know anything about Tyler, and we don't seem to have any other albums by him. This is a solo sax album, four long tracks. Nice stuff; I wasn't able to give it a close listen but plan to sometime soon.

An almost Celtic feel here, an upbeat smiley jam. More about this one here.

Sax and drum duets from two awesome musicians, a real treat of an album. This track is fast and skronky and all that. Very cool.

* = 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.