Friday, August 17th, 2007 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Max Roach passed away this week at the age of 83, one of the last jazz greats surviving from that golden age of the 1950s. At one point, upon realizing that so many of these guys were leaving this world during my lifetime, I somehow pegged Max as the one I'd make sure to go see, so I could experience and appreciate one of these world-changing artists on their own terms. I never did. On the plus side, I did manage to see Sam Rivers, who was still kicking and clawing into his '80s.

Sorry we never got to meet, Max. On the other hand, I think I managed to present, in this show, some sides of your music that aren't getting much attention in all the other tributes on the air. Thanks go to David Bug, who spent 5 hours on the air earlier this day playing nothing but Roach-related music, and who left "Ghost Dance" for me to kick things off here.

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

Max Roach -- "Ghost Dance (Part 1)" [excerpt] -- To the Max! (Bluemoon, 1991)

An ambitious and experiment-tinged piece. Sprawling, with Part 1 taking up 20 minutes; David Bug had used it to end his show and I decided to just let it ride. Includes a chorus, strange instrumental breaks for things like marimba, and some more familiar jazz soloing later in the piece, with an energetic pulse throughout and of course some caustic drumming from Roach.

* David Rogers Sextet -- "Mobius Trip" -- The World Is Not Your Home (Jumbie, 2007)

Straight stuff led by saxophonist Rogers, with a progressive touch that includes some exotic instruments (vibraphone, a xylophone called the gyil, etc.) and some twisty composing, as on this complex, moderately paced track. I'll be coming back to this one, I'm sure.

Previously noted here.

A compellingly low-key mix of jazz and various "world" influences, including some Jewish and Eastern European musics. I wouldn't call it dark, but it's definitely not bouncy happy stuff. More an even-keeled, serious but relaxed flow.

Previously noted here.

Djll is a friendly local guy whose solo work involves playing the trumpet in every non-normal way imagineable, and messing with the results through electronics. The results are some great sound effects and noise/improv pieces (he's also got some clear, regular trumpet improv on a couple of tracks here).

Actually, this track is just Pieranunzi solo, on the piano, doing a twisty little improvisation. The rest of the 2-CD set consists of live versions of Pieranunzi's rainy-day jazz, with plenty of open space for the trio to wander. Not every track is huge; this one's only 2 minutes and I spy a couple other 5-minute ones, but as you'd desire from a live album, they also stretch out into 10- and 15-minute pieces.

Max Roach with the Boston Percussion Ensemble -- "Evolution" -- Max Roach with the Boston Percussion Ensemble (Mercury, 1959)

The pinnacle of today's show, an album that put Roach in a classical setting. The album starts off with percussion miniatures based on well known composers (Debussy, Beethoven, etc.), a suite that concludes with "Max's Variation" -- a big loud drum solo.

This piece was more intriguing, I thought. It's a dynamic composition, with lots of back-and-forth hocketing early on -- you're jumped right into the action. Roach on drum kit gets a few cadenzas and, according to the liner notes, got to improvise pretty much all of his part. (Although for the session in general, he did need to familiarize himself with the composed material.) An incredible session and quite forward-looking; it's always good to remind myself that a lot of the creative music we enjoy today has its roots in the overlooked avant-garde of the '50s and even earlier.

* Son of Gunnar, Ton of Shel -- "The Populous" -- Son of Gunnar, Ton of Shel (Edgetone, 2007)

Local duo of Aram Shelton on woodwinds and Steini Gunnarson on prepared guitar. Rather than go for the pure insect-chatter that makes up a typical improv, they track long lines that craft some interesting pieces, stuff you could call ambient, but it's more dynaic than that.

Solo percussion on the Tombak, a tabla-like drum. Great stuff with the fast runs you'd expect from this kind of project.

Prog rock lives! This is the opening track from the album, and it starts with insanely fast hammer-on guitar, total guitar hero stuff, before getting into the usual pretty-sounding themes that only prog can do. Nutso stuff that isn't afraid to break from the '70s mold and get just plain noisy.

Recorded at the 2006 Vision Festival in New York, Ware's usual quartet (Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Guillermo E. Brown) spin a grand and passionate set, deeply spiritual stuff with gale force sax and piano. This particular track is the encore, a short and snappy crowd-pleaser with an aggressively fast pace. Cool stuff.

Ravish Momin's Trio Tarana -- "Weeping Statue" -- Climbing the Banyan Tree (Clean Feed, 2007)

Excellent set from drummer Momin, whose trio consists of a violin and an oud, for an exotic sound. Plenty of "world" influence in what's otherwise a jazzy set driven by Momin's compositions. Fine stuff.

! Frank Zappa -- "It Must Be a Camel" -- Hot Rats (Reprise, 1969)

I almost went for "Peaches En Regalia" instead, but that seemed too "obvious." There's something satisfying about dishing out a more obscure track -- in this case, a jazzy instrumental with a mellow attitude.

As usual, Circumvention does a fine job with a session that blends some modern jazz, fairly straight, with avant-garde and improv elements. Some tracks on here are outright catchy jazz. Others are still very enjoyable and accessible but get more subtle; this one and another long track, "Sundials I," stretch out in reflective improvisation that wouldn't lose most jazz fans but still gets quite adventurous.

Max Roach with Abdullah Ibrahim -- "Consanguinity" -- Streams of Consciousness (Piadrum, 2003; recorded 1977)

Duet improvisations. They don't stray too far, given Ibrahim's predilections on piano, but it's still a very nice exploration of two great jazz minds entering the later stages of their careers. This track has Roach taking control with some snare-slapping that feels like tightly wound energy, like he's steering the session to rock but at the same time holding himself back. The result is tense and dynamic, a very nice piece.

Previously noted here.

Max Roach Double Quartet -- "Bright Moments" -- Bright Moments (Soul Note, 1987)

An overly light session that does have its moments of high energy and freedom. With the Uptown String Quartet alongside the quartet of Roach, Cecil Bridgewater (trumpet), Odean Pope (tenor sax), and Tyrone Brown (electric bass).

Dan Plonsey -- "Five of the Apples" -- Music of El Cerrito Vol. 1: Daniel Popsicle Plays Dan Plonsey (self-released, 2001)

With another Daniel Popsicle show coming up, I wanted to show off Plonsey's music without yet again resorting to the Portcullis CD. (He's got a newer CD out, but it's in process of being added to the library; I couldn't locate it in time.)

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.