Friday, December 19th, 2008 ... noon - 2:00 p.m. ... KZSU, 90.1 FM

(Return to playlists.)

Special time on a special holiday-schedule day.

Separately, I've actually put myself on Twitter, because I want to be all self-indulgent and noisy just like everyone else! @wedgeradio.

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

Codona -- "Hey Da Ba Doom" -- Codona 3 (ECM, 1983)

The classic trio of Collin Walcott, Don Cherry, and Nana Vasconcelos, each playing all mannter of stuff, but with Walcott often on sitar and Cherry on trumpet. This particular track is all percussion, I think, maybe with some percussively played stringed instrument in there. Codona is getting a mini-revival thanks to an ECM issue of all three albums, with critics praising the band's way of mixing various world musics into an expansive, open-aired presentation.

"Hey Da Ba Doom" is mostly a percussion jam, as mentioned, but the album's opener, "Goshakabuchi," is a Japanese traditional song played with reverant, icy stillness at first, later opening up for some slowly wailing Cherry trumpet over a lush percussion groove.

As you'd expect, these are like mini Indian ragas with bebop influence and, for the Australian part, Stephen Kent on didjeridu. It's got its trancey spaces, but this track has a nice, jumping groove feel while still being rather laid-back.

Interesting note: Instead of sitar or similar instrument, you've got Teed Rockwell playing fretboard instruments: Chapman Stick or Warr Guitar. Sameer Gupta on tabla and drum kit rounds out the trio.

* Mary Halvorson Trio -- "Totally Opaque" -- Dragon's Head (Firehouse 12, 2008)

Previously noted here.

* Garaj Mahal -- "Hotel" [excerpt] -- w00t (Owl Studios, 2008)

Funky fusion with guitarist Fareed Haque at the helm. Solid beats, good chugging energy, and doses of those soaring synth waves that made fusion so, uh, fusiony.

Previously noted here.

Damon Short -- "Melting Crystals" -- All of the Above (Southport, 1994)

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

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

Previously noted here.

* Frank Lowe -- "Thulani" -- Black Beings (ESP-Disk, 2008; orig. released 1973)

Previously noted here.

* Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble -- "Don't wait for the day of battle before getting your weapons ready" -- 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.