Friday, March 16th, 2007 ... 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

An eventful first hour: They took the transmitter down for some planned maintenance (I knew about it ahead of time), then Dr. D calls around to give his last farewells before leaving to Hawaii (which has been happening in general -- the move took a year to complete -- but I didn't know this would be his last day here). Wow.

These are the tracks; notes to come later this weekend.

Format:
ARTIST -- "TRACK TITLE" -- ALBUM TITLE (LABEL, YEAR)
Horizontal lines denote microphone breaks.

* Scorch Trio -- "Brennj Fynnj" -- Luggumt (Rune Grammofon, 2005)

Previously noted here.

* Abram Wilson -- "You Already Home" -- Ride! Ferris Wheel to the Modern Day Delta (Dune, 2007)

A concept album, telling the tale of a young trumpeter in the South who abandons his family's jazz club in order to join a hip-hop crew and live the life. Of course, he learns tough lessons along the way and ends up called back home in a crisis. Most of the story is told through instrumentals, with song lyrics sprinkled here and there. Interesting concept, anyway, with tunes that alternate between modern hard bop and old-time Dixieland/rag themes.

Another set of piano/drums duets from these guys. It's a really nice set, with each instrument showing off sparkly detail and classical influence. You get some doses of Cecil Taylor fury but more often it's well paced and thoughtful.

Guitar trio session with organ and drums, no bass. I've been describing it as "mainstream," although it lacks the shallow slickness you'll hear from contemporary guitar. Better to call it "accessible," with a nicely glossy mellowness that would attract most ears, but still with an artsy air. (And just when you've gotten used to that, the last two tracks bring a rock edge with a buzzy sound!)

Not what I'd expected given Shepik's more Baltic work in the past (with Pachora and his own Commuters band) but quite good.

* Ellery Eskelin -- "Tomorrow Is Another Day" -- Quiet Music (Prime Source, 2006)

Previously noted here.

John Coltrane -- "Acknowledgement" -- A Love Supreme (Impluse, 1995; orig. released 1964)
Bill Tapia -- "Stardust" -- Tropical Swing (mOOnrOOm, 2004)

A couple of tracks in honor of Dr. D, one of our veteran DJs who's leaving the Bay Area for retirement in Hawaii. Dr. D did a world music show but was a jazz afficionado, too; the first track was meant to be a nod to his love for the classic stuff, as he'd always phone in on the request line whenever he heard me play the old greats or any current mainstream stuff that caught his ear. I followed that with a sentimental bit from Tapia, the Hawaii-resident jazz ukelele player. So long, Dr. D., we'll all miss ya.

* Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, William Parker -- "Unity Call" -- Palm of Soul (AUM Fidelity, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* Rob Reddy's Gift Horse -- "The Unnamable" -- A Hundred Jumping Devils (Reddy, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Probably because of Tenney's recent death, someone at the station got us a set of his Hat discs, most of them percussion-based. I haven't had the time to explore these as much as they deserve, but there's some exciting stuff in there.

Freedman is an improvising clarinetist from Canada. Here, she's heard in three different trio formats with various members of the Montreal-area improv crowd, including Martin Tetrault on turntables, guitarist Rene Lussier, and drummer Danielle Roger. To add to the numerology angle, the sets were recorded on three consecutive nights.

Weird, scary rock/psych stuff, with lots of doom-sounding guitars and, if I'm recalling this correctly, freaked out vocals.

* Mark Applebaum -- "The Blue Cloak" -- Asylum (Innova, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Hard Cell with Tim Berne -- "I Do It" -- Feign (Screwgun, 2005)

From about a year ago, saxophonist Berne in an acoustic trio with Craig Taborn (piano) and Tom Rainey (drums). I'd never heard Berne with an acoustic piano before (he's got a duo release with Marilyn Crispell that I've never taken the time to track down). The results are fantastic, with many tracks starting in a contemplative mode and ending up in all-out fireball jams.

The former Guided by Voices leader, of course. Normal Happiness didn't get the acclaim of its predecessor, the 2-CD From a Compound Eye, but I liked it a lot. Happiness has a more autumnal air, maybe a bit more sentimental, and this (the closing track) exemplifies that well. So, maybe it rocks out a little less. It's still great pop stuff.

Previously noted here.

* John Shiurba 5x5 -- "1.2.2" -- 1.2 = A (Rastascan, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Some notes about Chaos Butterfly here.

Harald Haerter/Dewey Redman -- "Walls Bridges" -- Mostly Live (Enja, 1996)

*! Do Make Say Think -- "The Universe!" -- You You're a History in Rust (Constellation, 2006)

* Hans Tammen, Alfred 23 Harth, Chris Dahlgren, Jay Rosen -- "A Brief Pleasure Trip" -- Expedition (ESP-Disk, 2006)

Previously noted here.

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* = 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.