Friday, March 23rd, 2007 ... 3:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

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

Pachora -- "Ranitsa" -- Pachora (Knitting Factory, 1997)

Back around 1996, when I was first getting into avant-jazz, it was a thrill to trace the careers of some of the "downtown" crew at the time. Elliott Sharp and John Zorn had become known quantities (in general, not just to me), and these guys were just on the rise. Pachora consists of Jim Black (drums), Chris Speed (clarinets), Skuli Sverisson (bass), and Brad Shepik (guitar), four guys who have gone on to carve out nice careers for themselves. Black and Speed were part of Tim Berne's Bloodcount, an exciting quartet that was my introduction to strange jazz and is still a favorite slice of my collection.

By comparison, Pachora isn't that weird; their music comes from Balkan folk styles and features lots of bobbing, upbeat rhythms.

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

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Mark Helias' Open Loose -- "What Up?" -- Atomic Clock (Radio Legs, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here. This track starts out like "normal" piano but dissolves into friendly electronic shimmers and blips.

* Yellowcake -- "Lazy Tongue" -- Yellowcake (Rastascan, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Part of a diptych of songs dedicated to the children of Iraq, this one starts with a crystalline piano melody and grows into a gloomy improv. Elsewhere, the CD is full of bouncing, hopping chamber-jazz with nice fast solos. Despite the somber theme of this track, the CD title itself is an inside joke; Art Maddox guests on piano on the CD. Maddox became a permanent group member on the next CD.

* Gary Noland -- "Misunderestimation" -- 24 Postludes (North Pacific, 2006)

Another set of piano miniatures in a classical vein but with weird shadings and/or jazz/rag pieces thrown in. Fun stuff; DJ Mufaor says it's a bit like making fun of "serious" music.

* Gordon Grdina's Box Cutter -- "Kenton and I" -- Unlearn (Spool, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Years ago, when listening to college radio, I'd heard a dreamy, partly eerie, partly jazzy little tune called "Horsie Don't Snore" from the Lullabye Baxter Trio. Obviously, it stuck with me, but I never heard of the group again, other than tracking down the CD in KZSU's library. It turns out, Lullabye Baxter is the vocalist's name, and she'd gone back to being a waitress after doing that one CD, while still pursuing some writing or poetry or some such. All that information came out with the onesheet accompanying this disk, which got to the station a few months ago. This CD is nice, too, but lacks that dreaminess and jazziness of that first track I'd heard. This song opens the disc with a happy pop air and a touch of cynicism.

The moral here is that it does pay off, for you and the musicians, if you find ways to remember artists you've heard briefly and liked. I used to write names down on pages that would stack up into unworkable towers; most of those names got forgotten, but for the few that stuck, it was worth it.

Previously noted here.

* Grilly Biggs -- "Frantic Fix" -- New Orleans / Katrina = Santa Fe + Chicago (High Mayhem, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Cute little song, as I recall. I'll admit it: I've never gotten into Deerhoof. My experience was soured by one live performance. Good musicians doing good improv is not at all the same as kids thinking they'll do improv because they don't want to rehearse; my first Deerhoof show was way on the wrong side of that gulf, and it's colored my thinking about them ever since.

Previously noted here. This track is the only one with a full-blown Nels electric freakout on guitar.

Hamiet Bluett -- "Bari-ed Treasure" -- Young Warrior, Old Warrior (Mapleshade, 1995)

* Gordon Grdina, Gary Peacock, Paul Motian -- "Morning Moon" -- Think Like the Waves (Songlines, 2006)

Previously noted here, and yes, I did play Grdina's other recent disc, above.

* Sean Noonan/Brewed by Noon -- "Esspi" [Abdoulaye Diabate, vocals] -- Stories to Tell (Songlines, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Robin Cox Ensemble -- "Music for Mallets and Strings" -- Level 7 (self-released, 2002)

"New" classical music featuring, well, mallets (xylophone, marimba) and strings. It's the kind of New Music that works off a fast, relentless pace; really nice stuff. The Ensemble was coming to town for a rare show up here, so I gave a spin to a nice long track.

* Bang on a Can and Don Byron -- "Eugene" [sections IV-VI] -- A Ballad for Many (Cantaloupe, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Sax (or clarinet), bass, piano. Short trio pieces heavy on improvisation, tending toward the contemplative. Each member gets a solo track as well. Ullmann has been a part of several interesting groups, including the American-based Conference Call, which dished out some interesting modern jazz; this seems like a more reflective side of him.

Howard Riley, John Tilbury, Keith Tippett -- "Being Prepared" [excerpt] -- Another Part of the Story (Emanem, 2003)

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* What We Live -- "Raise Up an Ocean" -- Sound Catcher (Fire Museum, 2006)

Previously noted here. A nicely active and long track that opens the album.

* Muhal Richard Abrams, George Lewis, Roscoe Mitchell -- "Soundhear" -- Streaming (Pi Recordings, 2006)

Previously noted here.

* Lori Freedman -- "The Tribe of Triclops" -- 3 (Ambiances Magnetiques, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Folky, pretty music from a Bay Area duo. Includes fiddle and Casio synths, with a gentle sound that NPR ought to like, but enough swear words to endear them to the indie-pop crowd.

Previously noted here.

Randy Weston -- "Mystery of Love" -- Carnival (Arista, 1975)

* = 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.