Phil's Phriday Picks

Flashback to the early 90s. A young Phil Plencner is playing in school jazz ensembles and has enjoyed listening to early Miles Davis albums. He owns Kind of Blue and Sketches of Spain and wants more.

At the mall record store he sees a Miles album he’s never heard of before called “Agharta”. It has a wild, fantasy / space age looking cover and there are only a 5 songs on it spread out over two discs. Hmm. It’s only $3, so he takes the plunge. Soon after he gets home and presses play, he’s like what the HELL is this?!

Crazy free-form funk. Blasting electric guitar. Electric organ as basically a feedback machine. TONS of drums. Occassionally Miles peaks through the din heavily covered in wah wah pedal! This is AWESOME!!!! I want more of this!

And so starts my obsession with early 70s Miles live records. Agharta still remains my favorite, but Dark Magus is a close second (mainly because of Dominique Gaumont’s absolutely crazed guitar solos)…but Agharta has James Mtume beating the snot out of his congas.

If you wanna continue the deep dive, “In Concert” is also great, but “Pangaea” is kind of a snooze. Also the studio album with members of these ensembles called “Get Up With It” is amazing but less unhinged.

Anyways, I digress! AGHARTA!!!

Woah is it Friday already??

We should all listen to the new J. Robbins (Jawbox, Burning Airlines etc) album because it’s killer!

Today’s pick: One of my all-time favorite Chicago bands: The Flying Luttenbachers!!

Masterminded by drummer/composer Weasel Walter (of whom I became friends with over the years), this album (“Infection and Decline”) is the start of their “Brutal Prog” phase. 2 bass players (1 tuned high, 1 tuned low and fretless) combined with frantic death-metal inspired drumming.

I probably saw this band perform 20 times during this era. Killer cover of Magma’s “De Futura” as well (Perhaps Magma should be a future Phil’s Phiday Pick?? Hmmmmm!)

Today’s pick is the awesome new album from mysterious cowboy Orville Peck!

Do you want to hear an amazing blend of old school country and shoegaze? Look no further…

Today’s selection is inspired by a cool jazz group I watched at Les Zygomates in Boston earlier this week!

John Scofield’s first collaboration with organ trio Medeski, Martín & Wood.

I declare today Frank Zappa Friday. Presenting a trifecta of personally compiled Zappa playlists!

First up is a re-creation of an all-vinyl DJ set I performed last winter. 30 minutes, all killer, no filler:

The 2nd playlist is a re-creation of a compilation CD I used to burn and distribute to friends who were curious about what all the fuss about Zappa was about in the late 90s/early 2000s! A good mix of his instrumental excursions along with his (perhaps politically incorrect) vocal selections:

And finally, a completely bonkers, massive playlist thats over 6 hours of THE HARD STUFF. Crazy prog-rock and jazzy instrumentals, long guitar solos, 20th century classical homages! Not for the faint of heart and for true fans only:

Today we’re setting the Wayback Machine for 1972…for tenor saxophonist Stan Getz’s excellent album Captain Marvel.

On this particular session he went outside of his traditional cool jazz sound for full on jazz fusion. This is mostly because the backing band was Chick Corea, Stanley Clark, Airto Moreira (who all formed fusion band Return to Forever around the same time) and drummer extraordinaire Tony Williams.

Return to Forever’s debut album also contains the song La Fiesta, but this I think is the better take.

Five Hundred Miles High is another Chick Corea composition on this album that went on to be one of his standards he continually revisited throughout his career.

Enjoy!

Today’s selection is an awesome new rock compilation from the always reliable Skin Graft Records label, based in Chicago.

Some of my favorite bands are featured, and its a fun way to roll into the weekend!