03/01/25 - Jam_10

"I think it’s very pretentious for people to cite influences. It implies that, therefore, you’re carrying this on or taking this farther. Everybody’s always, “I’m influenced by this, I’m influenced by that.” What do you mean “influenced by”? You love that. You imitate that. But who knows whether what you do has anything to do with it." -- Arto Lindsay

 Listen to the show below! 

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Notes
Twin Cosmos	Giniro no Tsubasa	Double Action	N/A	1982	Electronic-tinged psychedelic folk track from a Japanese twin brother duo. Opens first side of their yin-yang concept album.
Arto Lindsay	Simply Are	Noon Chill	Bar/None	1998	A surprisingly mellow art pop track from a former no wave pioneer. 15 years passed, he's clearly far removed from his abrasive DNA days.
Elton Dean's Ninesense	Nicrotto	Happy Daze	Ogun	1978	A sprawling avant-garde jazz piece with spiritual jazz undertones. Free-flowing brass arrangements. Dean was saxophonist for Soft Machine of the Canterbury scene.
Gianni Marchetti	February	Solstitium	RCA Italiana	1978	Smooth, jazzy library music from a prolific b-movie film composer.
Khan Jamal	Breath of Life	Drum Dance to the Motherland	Dogtown	1973	A spacey live vibraphone piece. Reflects Jamal's work with Sun Ra and the Sounds of Liberation.
Charlie Megira	Tomorrow's Gone	The Abtomatic Misterzinger Mambo Chic	N/A	2001	An early hypnagogic pop (read: lo-fi neo-psychedelia) track. Only about two years late from hypnagogic pop pioneers Ariel Pink and John Maus.
Anne-James Chaton & Andy Moor	Princess In A Rover P6 3500s V8	Transfer	Unsounds	2011	A collaboration between a French spoken word artist and an experimental guitarist. Fragmented electroacoustic storytelling. Track likely references Princess Diana.
Stephen Scott	Rainbows, I	New Music for Bowed Piano	New Albion	1983	A post-minimalist composition blending process-driven abstraction with a listenable and meditative quality. Light, airy, and soft sounds.

02/08/25 - Jam_8

"The neighbors couldn't believe hearing bagpipes in the ghetto of Philadelphia. So the cops would comes to the house and say, 'Im sorry, we have a complaint that theres bagpipes being played here,' and I would get away saying, 'Do I look like Im Irish or Scottish to you?'" -- Rufus Harley talking about practicing bagpipes for the first time

 Listen to the show below! 

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Notes
Rufus Harley	Nobody Knows the Troubles Us People Had Seen	Re-Creation of the Gods	Ankh Records	1972	The only well-known jazz bagpipe player. Bagpipes put into spiritual jazz. Inspired by JFK's funeral procession, Harley bought bagpipes and developed a unique sound in jazz that few if any have tried to replicate.
DJ Harrison	Pipets (How We Feel)	IndieGiver	N/A	2018	A one-man band. Associated with Stones Throw. Layered, groove-heavy instrumentals. Lo-fi aesthetic rooted in hip-hop and jazz fusion.
Sensational	Thick Marker	Loaded With Power	WordSound	1997	A prolific experimental rapper who started with the Jungle Brothers. Off-kilter flow and muddy beats make his sound unconventional and backpacker-esc.
Donald Smith	Mystic Man	Luv	Whynot	1976	Pianist and brother of Lonnie Liston Smith. Unlike his brother's cosmic jazz, Donald leans toward freer, more dramatic playing. This track comes from his only solo album, Luv.
Sir Douglas Quintet	I Wanna Be Your Mama Again	Mendocino	Smash	1969	A Tex-Mex rock band from San Antonio. This cut features subtle distortion and reverb, standing out from their typical country-rock style.
Damon	Song of a Gypsy	Song of a Gypsy	Ankh	1969	A rare psychedelic folk recording by LA-based Damon, who envisioned himself as a wandering mystic. His debut album is rare enough to be worth thousands of dollars today.
Nick Nicely	Beverly	Psychotropia	Castle	2004 (1983)	A psychedelic artist who bridged the gap between 60s psych and 80s electronic experimentation. His work--especially "Hilly Fields (1892)"--influenced other artists, such as Dukes of Stratosphere (XTC), Robyn Hitchcock (Soft Boys), and Robert Wyatt (Soft Machine).
Deux Filles	The City Sleeps	Silence & Wisdom	Papier Mâché	1982	An ambient pop duo created by two former members of The The, who adopted fictional female personas with a tragic backstory. Their sound is dreamy ambient pop.
Laika	Prarie Dog	Sounds of the Satellites	Too Pure	1997	A mellow, groove-heavy trip-hop track. Formed by ex-Moonshake members Margaret Fiedler and John Frenett.
Augustus Pablo	Dub in a Matthews Lanes Arena	Rockers Meets King Tubbys in a Fire House	Rockers	1980	A semi-late-period track from the dub pioneer, following his peak with King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown. Heavy rhythms, as characteristic of dub.

12/14/24 - Jam_7

"I want to make this clear: I am a jazz artist. I don’t want to pretend to be something that I’m not." - Grachan Moncur III talking about being the first to make trombone central to jazz, incidentally creating avant-garde music and opening the door for other weird stuff to record for Blue Note

 Listen to the show below! 

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Notes
Grachan Moncur III	Air Raid	Evolution	Blue Note	1964	Ahh yes, the rare trombone bandleader. Grachan is most known for playing on some of Jackie McLean's most acclaimed early sixties records. When this record was released, along with its somewhat sister records a year later titled Some Other Stuff, playing with Jackie was most of what he had done, which makes sense considering Jackie basically picked him up when Grachan was in high school. This recording session features some heavy hitters including Jackie McLean, Lee Morgan, and Bobby Hutcherson, who adds his distinct vibraphone to an already off-kilter post-bop sound. Blue Note was generally not at the forefront of avant-garde stuff, there are a few big ones but not too much there. They put out some Don Cherry, Eric Dolphy, and Cecil Taylor, but were they leading distributors of the free or avant-garde? Not so much. Also, this is one of those somewhat rare intermediate points between post-bop and what had already come but was not yet completely accepted.
Dickie Landry	Hang the Rich	N/A	DFA	1986	Founding member of the Philip Glass ensemble records dance punk in the eighties... a total one-off. A single never released until early this year. I found this completely on accident listening to his usual run of records, all falling into the minimalism category (repetive rhythm, static harmony). Makes this even more interesting as a one-off.
Hans Reichel	Bonobo II	Bonobo	FMP	1976	This is some of the best solo free improv I've ever heard. Though I will say it does feel somewhat structured rather than being completely free. Hans Reichel has collaborated most famously with Fred Frith, a pioneering member of the rock in opposition scene. The structure I'm hearing may or may not be attributed to Reichel's early education in classical violin. He often used either his self-created instruments, such as the daxophone, or a box with his guitars. I think here he is just picking and plucking, but with a lot of overdubbing... it lets him create a great multilayered texture through the record.
New Kingdom	Mexico or Bust	Paradise Don't Come Cheap	Gee Street	1996	An interesting mash of rock and rap primarily through sampling. This duo released two albums, this one being the last. They both met at the thrift store they were working at in NYC. Their records weren't too positively received at the time, but it is pretty unique especially for the time... super fuzzed out and somewhat psychedelic stuff.
John D. Loudermilk	Goin' to Hell On a Sled	The Open Mind of John D. Loudermilk	RCA Victor	1969	The record itself totes the line between pop country and protest-y contemporary folk, this track being more on the latter side. It is a total one-off strange affair... Loudermilk was primarily known if at all for being a songwriter who had many hits under his belt, mostly in the sixties. This record is both a product of its time and a weird detour for someone who had never shown any inkling of writing songs like this.
Eugene McDaniels	Supermarket Blues	Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse	Atlantic	1971	Early sixties pop soul singer turned political progressive soul singer. His biggest hits were "A Hundred Pounds of Clay" and "Tower of Strength" in 1961, neither songs written by him. However, he would go on to be a relatively successful songwriter, including his own material starting in the late 60s. The first notable song of this type, "Compared to What," was recorded by Roberta Flack and hundreds of other important figures in jazz and R&B. His own discography hasn't gotten as much attention, however. Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse is the second of his two politically conscious seventies records. It allegedly caused Spiro Agnew, vice prez to Nixon at the time, to ask Atlantic to withdraw it from sale.
James Blood Ulmer	Are You Glad to be in America?	Odyssey	CBS	1983	James Blood Ulmer is a somewhat towering figure in 80s avant-garde jazz fusion scenes that would draw attention from publications like The Wire or Option while they were both underground-jazz-only mags. James Blood's early career consisted of playing with folks like Art Blakey and Joe Henderson before he stepped into his own bag as a bandleader. I chose his sort-of flagship track to play here... funny 'cause he's not the greatest enunciator in general but especially on this track.
Old and New Dreams	Old and New Dreams	Old and New Dreams	Black Saint	1977	Supergroup of Don Cherry, Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, and Eddie Blackwell playing somewhat conceptually driven somewhat free jazz. The entire basis for their improv is a set melody for the theme as is typical of any jazz, and then developing specifically only on that melody throughout each song. This track in particular is very atmospheric with the consistent percussion as a backbone and the horns moving in and out.
Yaki Kandru	Mare Mare	Indianische Musik aus Kolumbien	FolkFreak	1982	Native South American traditional music from Columbia. This is actually a duo, though it doesn't sound much like it. They made about two records, this being the intro track from their second.
Billy Hart	Rahsaan Is Beautiful	Enchance	Horizon	1977	Very gentle spiritual jazz, somewhat of a tribute to Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Billy Hart is a drummer most known for playing on much of Herbie Hancock's prime fusion records. This track is from his own debut bandleading record, made some 25 years after starting a recording career. I am suspecting the Roland Kirk connection because of the track title and the way it sounds. They even bring out the koto just for this track alone.
Journeyman	Valves	Mama 6	Ntone	1992	Ambient dub side project from a standout figure in the genre. Paul Frankland, or Woob as he is more commonly known, started producing ambient music in the mid-90s as Woob. I will say electronic music in the 90s/2000s no matter how much of a cult following it appears to have is very well documented, whether through digital or print publications or other forms of documentation. There is a surprising amount of information about this guy. Ambient is especially an interesting genre... from what I have seen and read, very few people actually intend to make ambient music, it just turns out that way. This form of sample-based ambient is very reminiscent of other murky sound collage experimental recordings.
Palabritas Flojas	Isol/Zypce	Sima	Darla	2008	Art pop collaboration between a children's book writer and an industrial electronic composer. Sounds a bit wild, but is actually quite subdued and subtle. Both are from Buenos Aires, Argentina. Well I am being a bit withholding: Isol was the founding lead singer of the indie pop group Entre Rios for about five years, so it's not that strange of a collaboration, but she is definitely more well known for her books. Isol has won awards for her children's books and other such accolades, but Zypce doesn't have quite the same footprint that she does despite being more involved in music.

9/28/24 - Jam_1

 The first show of the 2024 fall semester was a Jam. Listen to the show below! 

Artist	Track	Album	Label	Year	Notes
Eddie Kendricks	My People...Hold On	People... Hold On	Tamla	1972	Founding member of the Temptations. Relatively successful solo career in the 1970s. People... Hold On is part of prevalent wave of 70s black power music that was very popular to engage in regardless of the artist's typical output.
The Counts	Thinking Single	What's Up Front That Counts	Westbound	1972	Little known funk group from Detroit. The album is overall pretty fantastic if you're into funk, a real rare nugget. They incorporate a few weird bits in their stuff, the beginning of this track being one of them.
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention	Andy	One Size Fits All	DiscReet	1975	What a weird bit of Zappa this is. It lacks that satirical/parodic angle he typically goes for -- not in the lyrics mind you (see: "Andy Devine had thong rind") but the instrumental behind it has a strange sincerity that I wouldn't expect from a Mothers showing. Features George Duke and Napoleon Murphy Brock on vocals.
João Bosco	Casa De Marimbondo	Caça à raposa	RCA Victor	1975	Brazilian MPB singer-songwriter. As is the case with other MPB artists, Bosco is a conscious and philosophical writer. This track is no different... it declares samba to be a powerful cultural force that should not be belittled or dismissed. Possible political implications.
Eero Koivistoinen Music Society	SUITE 19	Wahoo	RCA Victor	1973	Finnish band leader Eero Koivistoinen puts together a group for a bit of jazz fusion in 1973. Reminds me of fusion from the 90s. Ahead of its time in that way. Koivistoinen is decently prolific if you're interested in hearing more. This group is probably his most well known project outside of the world of performance and in the world of recordings.
Stray	Time Machine	Stray	Transatlantic	1970	Heavy Psych from the UK. Outside of the confines of men 40s+ who collect heavy psych records, this group isn't very well known. Their sound is solid regardless. I found out about them through Peel sessions.
Cortex	Troupeau bleu	Troupeau bleu	Espérance	1975	Upon first listen, I immediately recognized Cortex as sample music despite not being able to think of any songs that sample them. It's definitely got that air about it. The drums, the vocals, the piano, the sax, the bass, the guitar. Sample-able elements galore. You really don't even have to do anything to it. The musical hooks are everywhere, this song is a prime example.
Mahmoud Ahmed	Endenesh gedawo	Mahmoud Ahmed	Kaifa	1975	Super warm tizita from Ethiopia. Ahmed released a few albums and many singles before moving to the U.S. He had a revival in the mid-80s and returned to making music, largely because of the album this song comes from. It's a very involved experience, puts you in a trance.
Lucio Battisti	Anima latina	Anima latina	Numero Uno	1974	Anima latina = Latin soul/inner self. Music by Battisti, lyrics by Mogol -- big duo in 70s Italian artsy pop music. This track is from their most progressive and complex album, featuring grand orchestrations. This album is supremely ahead of its time and shocking to be from 1974. I hear a lot of different things in it, pretty crazy. If you listen to any album from today's set, this is the one. Battisti and Mogol spent months in Brazil making it. Like the rest of album, the title track explores themes of colonialism, cultural resistance, and the impact of consumerism on traditional societies; i.e., Latin America circa mid-20th century.