The Weekend Planet

The Andrew Robson Trio’s Radiola may prove 2008’s landmark Australian release. Don’t be fooled by the cover: Radiola is no nostalgia trip. It offers brilliant new music. Andrew is the saxophonist and composer. His are real compositions, but what makes this such a special CD is the sensitive/empathic/alive, ‘in the moment’ interplay between all three players. Andrew, double-bassist Steve Elphick and drummer Hamish Stuart have been this particular trio since 1995. Each listens as well as he plays. All pay great attention to their actual SOUND. Sound engineer Ross Ahearn has captured them, perfectly.

Discover more, here: www.andrewrobsontrio.com

Playlist

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Details of each track are presented in the following order:
BROADCAST TIME
TRACK NUMBER AND TITLE
COMPOSER
PUBLISHING AND COPYRIGHT DETAILS
RECORDING COMPANY AND CD NUMBER
( distributor/ source details, in brackets like this, in lower-case)
ARTIST AND CD TITLE
Duration of track
Description of track, in lower-case.
Where relevant, further info links to information, gigs/events/related programs

’THE WEEKEND PLANET’ SAT 28.6. 08

2205
THEME:
(details below, as per the original CD.. This cut is also on these compilations Ketama - ’ Nuevos Medios Coleccion’ - Nuevos Medios NM 15 820
{ in Australia via MGM www.thegroovemerchants.com
worldwide, via: www.flamenco-world.com/noticias/nuevos.htm }
and ’ Jarabi - the best of Toumani Diabate’ (Hannibal 334352 )

CD CUT 1, ’JARABI’
TRAD, ARR TOUMANI DIABATE
HAMILCAR MUSIC LTD
HANNIBAL HNCD 1323
( in Australia, some releases through Stomp Enquiries to: ben@stomp.com.au
worldwide: www.rykodisc.com )
KETAMA, TOUMANI DIABATE, DANNY THOMPSON - ’SONGHAI’
THIRTY SECONDS (EXCERPT)
(retains a stately-Manding air, whilst also embracing flamenco elements. Toumani Diabate’s kora, Danny Thompson’s beautiful double bass and Ketama’ s flamenco guitars )

2207
CD CUT 6, ’RADIOLA’
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
6: 55
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: warm, unforced, lyrical modern jazz which lots of nice shifts, finger-popping grooves and freer excursions too. It also has a definite whiff of ’ole-time religion’. Beautifully recorded by Ross Ahearn and superbly inter-played by Andrew on alto sax, drummer Hamish Stuart and double bassist Steve Elphick )

2215
CD CUT 3, ’RADIO BOUGAINVILLE’
FRED SMITH
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
SELF-ISSUED. NO CATALOG NUMBER
( Fred’s website: www.fredsmith.com.au
includes gig details - is currently active in Australia )
FRED SMITH - ’INDEPENDENCE PARK’
2: 36
( AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: Fred sings a catchy-cheesy, sing-along-song in pidgin, with guitars, bass, drums-percussion, trumpet and backing vocals. This jingle-cum-song used to close Fred’s Saturday night show on Radio Bougainville. It would be performed ’live’ just before the town generator on Buka Island shut down for the night at 9pm. So too, then - perforce - would Radio Bougainville.

LIKE TO KNOW WHEN AND WHERE FRED SMITH PERFORMS?

He tours widely. Details - well in advance - via the ’gigs’ prompt, here:
www.fredsmith.com.au )

SEGUE

2218
CD CUT 1, ’RADIO’
KATHY KALLICK
SOUTHERN MELODY PUB CO (BMI)
SUGAR HILL SH-CD-3820
( in Australia through Shock. www.shock.com.au
worldwide: www.sugarhillrecords.com )
KATHY KALLICK - ’MATTERS OF THE HEART’
2: 38
( blue-grass/newgrass/rhumba- inflected, catchy pining-for-you song. Kathy’s voice with a crack little band that includes ac guitarist Scott Nygaard, mandolinist John Reischmann and dobro player Jerry Douglas - plus ac bass, drums, percussion )

SEGUE

2220
CD CUT 15, ’RADIO MALI’
ALI FARKA TOURE
WORLD CIRCUIT MUSIC
WORLD CIRCUIT WCD 044
( in Australia, through Destra/MRA: www.mraentertainment.com
worldwide: http://www.worldcircuit.co.uk )
ALI FARKA TOURE - ’’RADIO MALI’
2: 45
(1970’s vintage and probably as performed/recorded in a ’live’ broadcast, solo. Mesmeric ac guitar and declamatory male West African voice, delivering a patriotic song )

SEGUE

2223
CD CUT 2, ’RADIO OPERATOR’
WORDS BY ROSANNE CASH, MUSIC BY JOHN LEVENTHAL
CHELCAIT MUSIC (BMI), ADMIN BY BUG MUSIC & LEV-A-TUNES (ASCAP)
CAPITOL 094634809627
(through EMI)
ROSANNE CASH - ’BLACK CADILLAC’
3: 20
( refers to Johnny Cash’s Cold War job in the US army in Germany - as a radio operator, trying to intercept and decipher Russian communications. Rosanne sings her richly metaphorical lyric, with elec and ac guitars, dobro, mandolin, bass ,drums etc)

SEGUE

2226
CD CUT 8, ’EGG RADIO’
BILL FRISELL
FRIZ-TONE MUSIC (BMI)
NONESUCH 7559-79479-2
(the Australian end of the relevant conglomerate now shows us no sign of life in relation to most Nonesuch albums
Notionally/possibly available through Warner Music: www.warnermusic.com.au
worldwide: www.nonesuch.com )
BILL FRISELL, ’GONE, JUST LIKE A TRAIN’
5: 06
( Quasi-’surf’ music - but much less predictable: Frisell’s vibrato-laden electric guitar with Jim Keltner’s thwack-solid drums and Viktor Krauss ditto ac bass )

2235
CD CUT 3, ’LACE WORK’ ( FOR STEVE LACY )
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
7: 21
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: Andrew on soprano sax, drummer Hamish Stuart and double bassist Steve Elphick. Wonderfully alive, oft-shifting piece which honours the memory of modern jazz’s most influential soprano saxophonist. Lacy { 1934 - 2004 } inspired Coltrane to take up the instrument - not vice-versa.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT STEVE LACY?

John Fordham’s obituary for him is here:
www.guardian.co.uk/news/2004/jun/10/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries1

Wikipedia entry is here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Lacy )

SEGUE

2242
CD CUT 3, ’YOU’
MAL WALDRON
PUB NOT SPEC
SKETCH SKE 333023
( May be available in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: through French Harmonia Mundi
http://harmoniamundi.com )
MAL WALDRON - ’ONE MORE TIME’
8: 12
(a beautiful jazz waltz for Mal’s piano, Steve Lacy’s soprano sax and Jean-Jacques Avenel’s ac bass, recorded early in 2002. Mal Waldron died in December 2002. He was much more than just ’Billie Holiday’s last pianist.’ Lacy - modern jazz’s seminal soprano saxophonist - died in June 2004. See notes to track-preceding.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT MAL WALDRON?

Ben Ratliff’s obituary for him is here:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E2D8123BF935A35751C1A9649C8B63 )

2252
CD CUT 8, ’BÜLBÜL AVAZLIM’ (THE NIGHTINGALE-VOICED LOVER)
LLEW KIEK
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
MARA MUSIC MM002
(THROUGH MARA MUSIC.
WEBSITE: www.maramusic.com.au
EMAIL: admin@maramusic.com )
MARA! - ’:SORELLA’
2: 25 (excerpt)
(AUSTRAL COMP & PERF: solo, modal improvisation on the baglama - a long-necked, wire-strung Turkish lute.
FOR MARA GIG DETAILS GO TO:
www.maramusic.com.au/Marapages/Mara%20upcoming%20events.htm )

SEGUE

2354
CD CUT 9, ’EY SAHIN BAKISLM’
TRAD TURKISH, ARR MARA!
(PRESUMABLY, RESPECTIVELY) PUBLIC DOMAIN/ APRA
MARA MUSIC MM002
(THROUGH MARA MUSIC.
WEBSITE: www.maramusic.com.au
EMAIL: admin@maramusic.com )
MARA! - ’:SORELLA’
4: 26
(AUSTRAL PERF & ARR: rousing treatment of a sassy Turkish song of lovers parting. Features Mara Kiek’s voice {& tapan - big drum} with strong saxes from Paul Cutlan & Andrew Robson, Llew Kiek’s baglama & Steve Elphick’s ac bass )

----
11 PM NEWS
----

2305
CD CUT 7, ’IN SAD AND ASHY WEEDS’
TRAD, ARR MADDY PRIOR, BENJI KIRKPATRICK, GILES LEWIN
PUBLIC DOMAIN/ ARR PUB BY PARK WEST MUSIC
PARK RECORDS PRK CD100
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide: www.parkrecords.com )
MADDY PRIOR - ’SEVEN FOR OLD ENGLAND’
3: 07
( Maddy’s voice with Benji Kirkpatrick’s {12-string, I think} ac guitar and a little of Giles Lewin’s recorder. A plaint, allegedly found in the handwriting of the Countess of Arundel, whose husband’s Catholic faith cost him his life. Philip Howard, 13th Earl of Arundel (also known as the first and as the 20th such Earl) , died in 1595 in the Tower of London after 11 years imprisonment there. He may have been poisoned. Before the Armada enflamed religious tensions he’d been a great favourite of Queen Elizabeth. In 1970 he was canonized by Pope Paul VI. The song was likely based on an existing one, which the grieving widow modified. She lived until 1630 and - as one writer puts it - ’continued to shelter and conceal fugitive priests, regardless of the death penalty for such an offence ’.

LIKE TO KNOW THE 16TH CENTURY HISTORY BEHIND THE SONG?

Have a look here:
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/PhillipHoward(1EArundel).htm

AND HERE:
http://www.tudorplace.com.ar/Bios/PhillipHoward(1EArundel).htm )

2310
CD CUT 2, ’MATA HARI’
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
8: 13
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: suitably ’mysterious’ and with an ’Eastern’, hypnotic, slow-dance flavour: Andrew’s alto sax, Steve Elphick’s ac bass, Hamish Stuart’s drums. The ’real’ Mata Hari {real name: Margaretha Zelle } was executed in 1917, as a ’spy’/ ’traitor’.

LIKE TO KNOW MORE ABOUT ’MATA HARI’?

These are good places to start:
www.answers.com/topic/mata-hari?cat=entertainment
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mata_Hari )

SEGUE

2318
CD CUT 1, ’LET IT BLOW’
RICHARD THOMPSON
BEESWING MUSIC (BMI), ADMIN BY BUG MUSIC
COOKING VINYL COOKCD 325
( in Australia through Shock. www.shock.com.au
worldwide: www.cookingvinyl.com )
RICHARD THOMPSON - ’FRONT PARLOUR BALLADS’
4: 49
(sardonic-comic song of a short-lived marriage between a rich brute and an Air New Zealand hostess. The author’s voice and electric and acoustic guitars, plus clattering drums-cussion from Debra Dobkin )

2323
CD CUT 9, ’THE MONTH OF JANUARY’
JOHN DOYLE
SETANTA MUSIC (ASCAP)
COMPASS RECORDS 7 4408 2
( In Australia, through The Planet Company/ MGM
email: info@theplanetcompany.com
website: www.theplanetcompany.com
Worldwide: www.compassrecords.com )
JOHN DOYLE -’WAYWARD SON’
5: 22
(Spare, perfectly-judged version of one of the great Irish songs of desolation. John’s voice and exquisite ac guitar, Danny Thompson’s just-right ac bass, Linda Thompson’s ditto female harmony, plus discreetly excellent percussion from Kenny Malone and John Williams’ accordion)

2330
CD CUT 8, ’HALCYON DAYS’
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
5: 49
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: lyrical, mobile jazz ballad, which is introduced very beautifully - quite solo - by Steve Elphick’s plucked double bass. It then becomes a trio, led by Andrew’s alto sax, with Hamish Stuart’s mostly-brushed drums )

SEGUE

2336
CD CUT 10, ’A SONG FOR ENGLAND’
WORDS BY ANDREW SALKEY, MUSIC BY NORMA WINSTONE, KLAUS GESING, GLAUCO VENIER
THE POEM WAS PUBLISHED IN ’CARIBBEAN VOICES VOL 2’, ED BY JOHN FIGUEROA AND PUBLISHED BY EVANS BROTHERS LTD, LONDON IN 1970. MUSIC PUB IS NOT SPEC
ECM 2028/ 175 4923
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
NORMA WINSTONE - ’DISTANCES’
2: 55
( Calypso-esque. Norma playfully delivers a probably-1950’s-vintage, recognisably West Indian poem. It wryly muses on the possible connection between miserable English weather and miserable English people. The English singer and { respectively, Italian and German} pianist Glauco Venier and bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing spontaneously created the musical setting, as they performed/recorded this - in Italy in 2007 )

SEGUE

2339
CD CUT 4, ’THE AMBER ROOM’
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
7: 03
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: genially saunter-dancing jazz for the leader’s alto sax, Steve Elphick’s double bass and Hamish Stuart’s mostly-brushed drums )

2349
CD CUT 8, ’HERE COMES THE FLOOD’
PETER GABRIEL
PUB NOT SPEC
ECM 2028/ 175 4923
( in Australia through Fuse Music
www.fusemusic.com.au
worldwide: www.ecmrecords.com )
NORMA WINSTONE - ’DISTANCES’
6: 01
(The 1977 original was lavishly orchestrated, florid/bombastic: ’over-produced’, says Gabriel himself. This 2007 version is the antithesis: intimate, spacious, quietly potent: Norma’s voice with pianist Glauco Venier and bass clarinetist Klaus Gesing.

LIKE TO SEE PETER GABRIEL’S LYRIC?

Go to:
www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/petergabriel/herecomestheflood.html )

2356
CD CUT 9, ’CARILLION (FOR JAMES)’
ANDREW ROBSON
(PRESUMABLY) APRA
LAMPLIGHT RECORDS LLR00208
( available direct from www.lamplightrecords.com )
ANDREW ROBSON TRIO - ’RADIOLA’
3: 10 ( excerpt )
(AUSTRAL COMP AND PERF: a happy, processional-prance with funk and ceremonial tinges, a nice groove and plenty of air. It’s dedicated to its composer-leader’s young son. Andrew’s soprano sax, Steve Elphick’s double bass and Hamish Stuart’s solid-but-spare drums )

Presenter

Doug Spencer

Producer

Doug Spencer