Out Front Outback

Friends,

Here’s the playlist from this week’s show with a different kind of notes.
A few listeners recently told me that my last several shows were good, but not particularly “avant-garde.”  Does this mean I’m losing my edge… that ears are becoming bigger… or that the program just was covering a less “edgy” area of the compendium?  Most likely the latter.

Out Front, Outback will always be different from week to week, utilizing music which has been turning me on lately, music which I have “refound,” and music which I am led to by other music.  Though I come to each radio show with ideas of artists and releases I want to play, and musical connections I want to make, Out Front, Outback is an on site process…. the show unfolds live on Tuesday nights.  This makes the show as exciting and new for me each week as I hope it is for you.

I consider “jazz and extensions” to include music made by creative players at the time of the earliest recordings and to include even earlier source musics which laid the groundwork for subsequent developments… one BIG, organic growing body of works which in someway transcends the concept of time.  The Art Ensemble of Chicago coined the phrase “Great Black Music, Ancient to Future,” and I like the way that resonates, though it does not apply directly to OFOB.  I do not generally ascribe to the broadcasting school of “hit ‘em over the head with something compleeeetly different,” and hope that the show will lead you to appreciate, be excited by, and find value and beauty in music you may have once found alienating.  My personal experience is that I learn to derive new meaning from music I once found challenging as my listening appreciation process continues.

I continue to be amazed how much great and stimulating music is out there and how much great new music is being created by living musicians.  Most of these names are not household names, and it is a continuing struggle for them to make ends meet, so I like to represent more living musicians… they need our ears, our support, and are the ones who can actually benefit from our excitement.  You may be a listener of rarified taste and knowledge, but check with a random friend who you consider to have reasonable intelligence and knowledge of the world and try peeling back the layers of their knowledge of jazz.  Many will not bat an eye and perhaps express enthusiasm for Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Miles Davis and John Coltrane.  Try scratching the surface a little further with Sonny Rollins, Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Bobby Hutcherson, Andrew Hill, Mal Waldron, Steve Lacy [...you get the idea] and you will probably  start to find holes in the fabric of your friends’ understanding of the music and who made/makes it….  and this only scratches the surface of well recognized genii and innovators who are almost all no longer with us, much less get to those who are well established in their music and the artistic community and are really making important and unusual statements today [e.g. Rob Brown, Craig Taborn, David Ware,  Henry Threadgill, + any/all of the musicians who make it to the cut in this show]… and this only scratches the surface of U.S. artists!

For all eras there are some musicians who make it to the surface of the listening public’s general consciousness, sometimes deserving, sometimes not. [I've heard the phrase "I like jazz" followed up by "I like Steely Dan" and "I like Kenny G."  Shocking, no?]  At the same time there are always important sidemen supporting these leaders, and there are often musicians of equal or greater creative talent who may effect the artistic community and the body of music which will be created subsequently even more than the “known” masters.  The only real fault in the listening habits of the Kenny G fans may just be the lack of real exposure to real music.

Not actually playing an instrument myself, I hope to help take some along with me in my continuing exploration and growth in appreciation of the music and the artists who create(d) it.  Everybody should know Henry Threadgill, and he’s well into his period of creative genius!

I know there’s a limited period of time before this show disappears from KUSP’s music show player and is replaced by next Tuesday’s show, so I better get this out.  I’ve listed the navigator bar time designating the start of each piece of music in case you want to re-listen to a portion or segue…. there weren’t as many talking breaks in this show, so this should help you know exactly where you are within the show + exactly who you are listening to.  One regular OFOB listener recently gave me a blank look when I mentioned Waclaw Zimpel, then said he listened to the music without following the playlist or paying attention to who made the music.  Though I may not do it every time, this should help.
This show began with Waclaw’s collective group “Undivided.”  All strong players, and a lovely, rich musical weaving which set a nice tone for the overall show… a particularly meaty one.

Enjoy + keep those ears BIG and growing!

Larry
P.S. Here’s a nice little video of Waclaw Zimpel w/Robert Kusiolek-accordian, Mark Tokar-bass + Klaus Kugel-drums.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmwc_MCKScM

***********************
Larry Blood – Host of Out Front, Outback
Presenting jazz and extensions as a living art form, with tradition a byword for music moving into the future.  A KUSP-FM featured program serving California’s Central Coast since 1983, airing Tuesdays from 9:30pm to midnight PST.
home: 128 Anderson Street              KUSP-FM: 203 8th Avenue
Santa Cruz, CA  95060                        Santa Cruz, CA  95062
USA                                     USA
(831)429-6795                         lblood@kusp.org
larryb@cruzio.com           web address: kusp.org
Click on the appropriate box at the right to listen to this show or check out earlier playlists.
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OFOB for 2/29/12:

• [show starts – 00:00] Undivided [Waclaw Zimpel/Perry Robinson/Bobby Few/Mark Tokar/Klaus Kugel]- Hoping the Morning Say- Moves Between Clouds: live in Warsaw- Multikulti Project
• [break - 11:59] Greg Ward’s Sonic Juggernaut- This Ain’t in Book 3- Greg Ward’s Sonic Juggernaut- Thirsty Ear
• [19:03 start w/miscue] Mauger [Rudresh Mahanthappa/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway]- Acuppa- The Beautiful Enabler- Clean Feed
• [26:39] Vinny Golia Quartet w/Bobby Bradford, Ken Filiano, Alex Cline- Parambulist- Take Your Time- Relative Pitch Records
• [break - 39:38] Bobby Bradford/Mark Dresser//Glenn Ferris- For Bradford- Live in L.A.- Clean Feed
• [47:45] Andrew Cyrille/Mark Dresser/Marty Ehrlich- For Bradford- C/D/E- Jazz Magnet
• [51:43]  Darius Jones- Chasing the Ghost- Big Gurl (smell my dream)- Aum Fidelity
• [58:16] The Vandermark 5 Special Edition- Some Not All- The Horse Jumps and The Ship is Gone- Not Two
• [71:59] Zu and Spaceways Inc.- Canicula- Radiale- Atavistic [a Ken Vandermark + project]
• [76:24] The Vinny Golia Octet- and these people drive too! (subterranean)- Music for Baritone Saxophone- Nine Winds
• [break - 95:00] The Fonda/Stevens Group- Fast- Trio + 2: Live in Katowice- Not Two
• [1:05:40] Kyle Bruckmann’s Wrack- A Shambles- Cracked Refraction- Porter Records
• [116:22] Vijay Iyer Trio- Galang- Historicity- ACT
• [118:58] Dollison and Marsh- Hang Gliding- Vertical Voices: The Music of Maria Schneider- artistShare
• [break - 134:04] Adam Rudolph’s Go: Organic Orchestra- Murmer and Dust- The Sound of a Dream- Meta Records
• [136:10] [Bill Cole's] Untempered Ensemble- Poverty is the Father of Fear- Untempered Ensemble- Shadrack [the beginning of this reminds me of Randy Weston's "Congolese Children"… note to self, must try that segue in the future!]

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