Friday, April 14th, 2006 ... 3:00 p.m. - 4:45 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

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

* Dom Minasi -- "Blood Lust" -- The Vampire's Revenge (CDM, 2006)

Ambitious two-CD set where guitarist Minasi revels in his free-jazz side, almost like a venture into the psyche (which kind of fits the Anne Rice theme he's got going for these instrumentals -- not sure why I think that, but I do). Minasi's forte has been a standards-based jazz guitar that frequently slips into free-jazz antics. Here, he just goes for an all-out avant sound, with oddball compositions and lengthy group solos. The band is incredible. For various tracks, he's assembled all kinds of elite players: Herb Robertson, Borah Bergman, Perry Robinson, Steve Swell, Mark Whitecage, Joe McPhee, Sabir Mateen, ... and many many others I'm not listing.

The music itself is upbeat and humorous, or on tracks like this one, intentionally over-the-top melodramatic. This particular track features heavy chamber/symphony sounds (only a couple strings, but that's the atmosphere they're going for).

Previously noted here. This track is less bright than most, creating a haunting and dire atmosphere but still full of improv energy. Really nice.

Dalchinsky's poetry -- he's been associated with the NYC free-jazz scene for a long time -- with Shipp on piano. Lots of interesting small pieces on this disk.

An attempt to combine the west coast "cool" jazz style with east coast sensibilities. It works -- you can definitely feel that NYC cool alongside the west-coast-inspired writing. Accessible mainstream stuff with some nicely creative composing. Burly feel in places, as the lead voice is a baritone sax.

Pope reconvenes his nine-sax band -- plus bass, drums, piano -- for an NYC show that includes guest soloists like Joe Lovano and Michael Brecker. The writing is very accessible and makes great use of the format -- this really is a "choir," with carefully placed voices weaving some heavenly harmonies. The mainstream soloists do a nice job digging into the material, with Brecker in particular showing off his free-jazz chops. James Carter turns in a killer song-length solo on "Muntu Chant," the closer -- that song is basically a vehicle for his solo. But the two best solos are turned in by Pope himself, one on this track, unaccompanied. He taps the free-jazz spirit world and digs out some great work. Let's hope this CD gets his band more gigs.

You can find more of the Choir on Soul Note, and Pope himself has recorded a few times for CIMP.

Piano trio in an open, free context. McWain tosses out splashes of piano with richly jazzy chords and harmonies, backed by bass and drums. Kind of a dark nighttime feel overall, maybe from McWain's preference for low/middle registers. Tracks are improvised by the group. I really liked McWain's piano playing on the last CD he sent us, and these are some nice samples of what he can do (the bass and drums, by Albey Balgochian and Laurence Cook, respectively, are good too).

Previously noted here.

Briggan Krauss -- "Dust the Desolate" [excerpt] -- Descending to End (Knitting Factory, 1999)

Krauss is a NYC jazzster, but for this album, he turned his sax into a cave of sounds. Lots of electronic manipulation of sax sounds, or sax played in strange, stark ways ... or just plain electronics. Long sonic landscapes that don't always work but make for great obscure transition phases on radio.

Been playing this CD repeatedly all spring. This track, like many others, carries that rich sound that made Hill's name circa 1968. You could call it nostalgic, I suppose, but Hill seems to still have some tricks up his sleeve that keep his music fresh.

* Joe McPhee/John Snyder -- "Shadow Sculptures" -- Pieces of Light (Atavistic, 2005; orig. released 1974)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* = 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.