Friends,
Here’s the expanded playlist for this week’s show. Start times are at the front of each piece plus some notes on the music. I hope you get a chance to listen while it’s up on the kusp music show player.
As per usual, feedback, comments and questions welcome
Cheers + keep those ears BIG!
Larry
P.S. for those of you who can make it, now is the time when the music really hits it with the Vision Festival in NYC… running June 11-17! More info at http://www.artsforart.org/event/visionfestival17/schedule
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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.
contact: larryb@cruzio.com
For a better navigation bar, use the KUSP music show player at http://www.kusp.org/archive/102.html#
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OFOB for 5/29/12:
• John McLaughlin- Waltz for Bill Evans- My Goals Beyond- Ryko/Douglas [The other side of John's super electric sound, My Goals Beyond is all acoustic, with one group side w/Jerry Goodman (etc.), and one solo side which this lovely dedication is from. This ably captures a piece of Bill Evans' musical soul, as does the Chick Corea trio date below.
• 4:11 Abdullah Ibrahim- Yukio Khalifa- Banyana- Enja [Dollar Brand cum Abdullah Ibrahim was "discovered" for the larger world by Duke Ellington. In my estimation the most important musician to come out of South Afrikka's apartheid [also check out Johnny Dyani, Chris McGregor, Dudu Pukwana and Louis Moholo]. Like most of his compatriots, his true flowering came when he became an expatriot, and there is a wealth of solo and small group dates, plus a few larger group ventures. This one of his best trio dates with Cecil McBee on bass and Motor City percussionist Roy Brooks. You may also find this date under the title “Children of Africa.” ]
• 14:27 Craig Taborn- Glossolalia- Avenging Angel- ECM [I love the piano trills Abdullah Ibrahim uses, and we segue into trills that Craig has fully constructed "Glossolalia" from. A fascinating piece which builds musical depth from seeming gloss. Definition of the word gives insight into the piece: noun -incomprehensible speech in an imaginarylanguage, sometimes occurring in a trance state, an episode of religious ecstasy, or schischizophrenia.]
• 17:05 Northwoods Improvisors- Ishmael- Branches- Entropy Stereo [This spiritual composition of Abdullah Ibrahim's written after his conversion to Islam is reworked by a little trio out of Michigan which regularly backs tenorman Faruq Z. Bey. Northwoods includes vibes, bass, and percussion plus some unusual instruments like cheng. They ably capture the spiritual mystery of the original.]
• 29:32 Billy Bang- Jupiter’s Future- Prayer for Peace- TUM Records Oy [Violinist Bang wrestled with his own demons for many years, excizing some of them with his 2 part Vietnam releases. Billy's training is decidedly non-classical, and his playing utilizes microtonal shifts which correlate well to the Arabic/Eastern sounds preceding this piece. ]
• 39:09 Chick Corea/Eddie Gomez/Paul Motian- Bill Evans- Further Explorations- Concord Jazz [Eddie and Paul both played with Bill Evans, and Chick Corea was influenced by him. This double CD date was recorded at New York's Blue Note in 2010 and focused on Bill Evans' legacy.]
• 47:35 Jason Robinson and Anthony Davis- Shimmer- Cerulean Landscape- Clean Feed [Pianist Anthony doesn't play as a leader as much as in the 70's-80's. This a solid duo w/saxist Jason Robinson.]
• 62:09 Don Preston Trio- The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue- Transformation- Cryptogramophone [Don was Frank Zappa's keyboardist, and this is a Zappa composition. I wish Don would record more jazz... he's so good at it!]
• 68:09 Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade- The Eric Dolphy Memorial Barbecue- Cosmic Rift- Leo Records [Some SF Bay area musicians cover the same piece... nicely segues from piano trio to a quintet w/bass clarinet/e.guitar/electronics/bass/vibes + perc. Lisa plays bass and Cory Wright is on bass clarinet.]
• 73:39 Kalle Kalima & K-18- Overlook Hotel- Some Kubricks of Blood- TUM Records Oy [Kalle plays guitar and is Finnish. The band includes a microtonal accordian. This is big fun dedicated to the cinematic works of Stanley Kubrick.]
• 81:13 John Schott- Doom Indigo- John Schott’s Typical Orchestra- johnschott.com [John plays guitar, and has worked with other Bay area luminaries like Ben Goldberg and Graham Connah. The date features a wide variety of settings from quartet to nonet with a wide variety of sounds. This quartet including Ben Goldberg on clarinet and bass clarinet doesn't seem to have any real connection to the similarly titled Ellington tune... quirky and punchy.]
• 91:05 Lisa Mezzacappa & Nightshade- Regard de L’etoile- Cosmic Rift- Leo Records [Such a solid date, I had to come back for another taste... an original which is more introspective than the Zappa piece.]
• 99:34 John Schott- Los Angeles- John Schott’s Typical Orchestra- johnschott.com [The softer side of John's writing/playing, a quartet including bandoneon.]
• 104:11 Equilibrium- Addicted to Changes- Walking Voices- Songlines [A Canadian trio featuring voice, soprano sax, guitar, electronics and clarinets, "melodic and harmonic inventiveness and expansive textures and dynamics all reflect a finely honed group interaction." Some people couldn't get this to work, but apropos to their collective name, the exceptional balance makes this work. ]
• 111:05 Carnival Skin [Bruce Eisenbeil/Klaus Kugel/Perry Robinson/Peter Evans/Hilliard Green]- Iono- Carnival Skin- Nemu Records [more pairing of clarinet (Bruce) and guitar (Perry), this a compostition of bassist Hilliard Green. Peter- tpt, Klaus-drms. Put together by Bruce and Klaus, this is an exceptional group. Check out carnivalskin.com for more info. "The band’s philosophy is based on paradoxes and extremes being a necessity in order to achieve balance. " Oh yeah... that balance thing again.]
• ~122:31-122:47 crossover segue~ [This is one of those segues which I love putting together.... it's PDH to find where the piece from Carnival Skin ends and from Mann'ish Boy begins. ] Darius Jones Trio- We Are Unicorns- Man’ish Boy- Aum Fidelity [Darius on alto sax, Cooper-Moore on his handmade "twanger" instrument, Bob Moses- percussion. Darius has plenty of chops, but more important he is willing to fully explore some of the unusual sounds his instrument can make. He is going to some new places, a hard thing to do with so many years in the tradition.]
• 129:08 Darius Jones Trio- Meekness- Man’ish Boy- Aum Fidelity [Cooper-Moore switches over to piano. I think majesty might be a better title than meekness.]
• 134:35 William Parker- Morning Mantra- Double Sunrise Over Neptune- Aum Fidelity [William Parker has so many projects going that it's hard to keep track of all of them. This gets into his interest in world musics as they relate to jazz. 16 players would make this an orchestra in size, but instruments include oud, eastern double reeds, Indian vocal work, and DOSON'ngoni as well as more familiar instruments. see http://www.aumfidelity.com/aum047.html for more info.]
Here’s a concert videos of Billy playing w/the Toronto based collective “Trouble.”
Host Larry Blood presents jazz and extensions as a living art form
with tradition a byword for music into the future.
A KUSP featured program since 1983.