Quite possibly one of the most unusual and inventive duos you'll hear anywhere, Syrinx Effect (Kate Olson, soprano sax and Naomi Siegel, trombone) came to our attention when they played an Earshot Festival concert full of surprises last Fall at the Columbia City Theatre. The duo, occasionally expanded to trio with percussionist and recording engineer Eric Eagle, uses loops, pedals, and other electronic augmentation to build up layers of sound via a plethora of styles ranging over the history of jazz and other music. Self-described as Interstellar folk punk jazz, Syrinx Effect was deep into free improv in their first album, this time there's more composed music but with plenty of room for improvisation. We'll hear two selections to sample this new vinyl release.
Also on this week's show are two CDs with bass players taking the spotlight. Bren Plummer leads a sextet of top Seattle players on his recent release "Moldy Figs," and Portland bass players David Friesen and Glen Moore team up for a bass duo from their 2015 release "Bactrian." Randy Porter plays Cole Porter and Nancy King sings from the Grammy nominated CD and there's more, including our best bets for live jazz in the coming week.