Friday, December 5th, 2008 ... 3:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

Devoted slabs of time to the upcoming centennials of Elliott Carter and Olivier Messiaen. Sure, they're getting lots of publicity (especially Carter, since he's still kicking), but how much radio airplay. OK, Messaien might be getting quite a bit, but Carter deserves some spins.

This is also a good time to note that the only classical music station in the Bay Area consciously devotes itself to "relaxing" classical, marketed as background music for people to play at work. That's so much worse than the usual "greatest hits" classical. At least with the latter, you get substantial works by Mozart, Haydn, the "Bs," etc. It's so much more cynical to try to consciously turn the art form into the equivalent of dentist office music and to intentionally cater to an audience that isn't really listening.

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

* Royal Hartigan Ensemble -- "Dreamfireswaking/Initation" -- Blood Drum Spirit: The Royal Hartigan Ensemble Live in China (Innova, 2008)

Source: Innova.mu

An ambitious 2-CD set taken from this quartet's tour of China. It's high-energy straight jazz, with the added twist that Hartigan packs his originals with odd time signatures and dastardly, complex polyrhythms -- and it gets more impressive/confounding after you read his explanations in the copious liner notes. As a result, his drumming sort of takes the spotlight. It's marvellous, running at breakneck speeds and piling on layer after layer of sounds.

This 21-minute track's episodes include an opening drum solo over fast, odd-time piano and a free-form, all-cymbals solo for Hartigan that's at once bustling and meditative. Later, it moves into a variety of composed lines in 11 time before closing out with some furious drumming.

Underneath a polite surface, this is a power-packed session that gets doubly rewarding as you listen more closely to the drums and absorb the information in Hartigan's cheat-sheet liner notes.

* Carla Kihlstedt, Gino Robair, Matthew Sperry -- "Sonarchy One" -- Sonarchy 1998 (Majmua, 2008)

Previously noted here. This set was devoted to an upcoming Meridian Gallery show featuring Kihlstedt, Fred Frith, and others.

? 2 Foot Yard -- "Plane Song" -- Borrowed Arms (Yard Work, 2008)

Previously noted here.

Fred Frith -- "Theatre" -- Clearing (Tzadik, 2001)

An album closer to John Fahey territory than John Zorn territory, although neither comparison is that useful here.

Elliott Carter -- "Gra" -- Eight Compositions (Bridge, 1994)

A piece for solo clarinet, which I thought went well with this particular set.

Elliott Carter -- "90+" -- The Complete Music for Piano (Bridge, 1997)

Kudos to Bridge for their support of Carter and other modern composers! The title of this solo piano piece comes from the fact that Carter continued to compose all through his 90s (and now, in his 100s -- he says he's still writing every day, and that it's gotten easier with old age). That's something to celebrate... but it also means that this CD's title is already obsoleted. A new disk of performances by Ursula Oppens includes a world premiere piece composed in 2007.

-- 4:00 p.m. --

* Kahil El'Zabar Infinity Orchestra -- "In the Land of Ooh!" -- Transmigration (Delmark, 2007)

Previously noted here.

* Joel Futterman, Alvin Fielder, Ike Levin Trio -- [various tracks] -- Traveling Through Now (Charles Lester Music, 2008)

I played "Illumination," "Ascendence," and "Life's Whisper," which are one continuous piece split into multiple CD tracks, and "Dance of Discovery," which appears to be separate but makes for a nice continuation. The result, combined with Kahil El'Zabar, was one of the longest uninterrupted sets I've ever done. As for the CD itself, I briefly note it here.

Doctor Bob -- "Dark Times" -- Dark Times (Edgetone, 2006)

Previously noted here. Doctor Bob had a CD release show coming up, so I built a set around their stuff.

-- 5:00 p.m. --

* Francois Houle, Joelle Leandre, Raymond Strid -- "Moment Calme" -- 9 Moments (Red Toucan, 2008)

Previously noted here.

* Thollem McDonas and Arrington De Dionyso -- "A Birth" [excerpt] -- Intuition, Science and Sex (Edgetone, 2008)

Noisy improv made up of piano, bass clarinet, and electronics drone sounds. Patient stuff -- there are only four tracks, and they do unfold and create spaces gradually. But yeah, it's noisy. I like it.

Doctor Bob -- "Reform Crossing" -- Dark Times (Edgetone, 2006)

Previously noted here.

Olivier Messiaen -- "Chronochromie For Orchestra" -- Boulez, Messaien, and Koechlin (Angel, 196?)

From KZSU's vinyl classical collection, a lengthy symphonic piece that features tick-tocking percussion. I'd also considered some solo organ stuff, but wanted something more dynamic.

* George Schuller's Circle Wide -- "Survivors' Suite (Part 1)" -- Like Before, Somewhat After (Playscape,2008)

Previously noted here.

* Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble -- "No One Knows The Paths In A Garden Better Than The Gardener..." -- Proverbs for Sam (Boxholder, 2008)

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.