We inadvertently started off with a triple-whammy of cello. I still sometimes have trouble figuring out the kind of electric vibe Brandon Ross’ guitar brings to the Murray/Hopkins quartet album — it seems to connect to that 80′s vein of free/fusion which Murray and Hopkins also worked out in some Henry Threadgill groups. Sometimes I hear it and it just grates on me, but I love Fred Hopkins so much, and I like a lot of their other collaborations.

I was also pleased to rediscover the Kamikaze Ground Crew album, which I used to own myself — have no idea where my copy has gotten off to, but WNUR still has theirs. That group includes some Lounge Lizards alums and the music is in a similar vein — large group, eclectic musical elements, etc.

Finally, I have been loving this Mighty Sparrow album that I’ve had for a long time but recently dug back out of my library. WNUR’s Continental Drift program used to have several other of those Ice records calypso compilations, but they all seem to have disappeared. I’m going to have to see if any of them are still in print. (Looks like Ice Records [affiliated with Eddy "Electric Avenue" Grant] is actually around, and even has plenty of MP3 clips on their site.)