Ghost Dog Tour Compilation, The

Improvised free jazz led by saxophone in lots of different contexts, with occasional poetry. Ryan, a bay area guy, has been touring the country building bands out of musicians in whatever city he's in, and this CD presents results from several different permutations. Weak fidelity, and many tracks end abruptly, but the playing's got heart.

Some of the band(s):
Dan Godston, trumpet (1-6)
Joel Wanek, bass (1-6)
Douglas Ewart, digeridoo (2)
Jerome Breyerton, drums (5,6)
Bruce Eisenbeil, guitar (9,10)
Lisle Ellis, bass (9,10)

1- (1:43) Cool-handed feel, nice bass groove.
2- (7:12) Slow; meditative vibe, w/digeridoo and female spoken word (Mankwe Ndosi). Very AACM.
3- (7:18) Faint spoken word. Nice even-handed jam follows, but just kinds STOPS.
4- (6:34) Quirky New Orleans intro; fast jazz poetry. Hits a PAUSE before blasting off in the second half.
5- (6:06) Midtempo but a nice ignited energy, esp. in the drums. Two-horn cooldown ending, then band intros
6- (5:09) *FCC* Bass pulse, lonely trumpet, far-off metal squeals. Poetry. Ends kind of abruptly.
7- (4:17) Bubbly-smooth space-music intro, into a slow-feeling but bright/active jam
8- (8:50) Squawky horn & electric piano, into a slowly tumbling free jam. Cooks, but sound quality's weak.
9- (3:34) Messy guitar/bass jangle, into some nice jazzy sax work
10- (9:10) Near-psych feel, slowish. Chiming guitar.
11- (14:01) Dramatic and fairly powerful. Groany, soulful slowness, then a good perky sax solo. Then very quiet, builds into a slow, gentle surge.