--> Various

Beets (Ralph / TECTones TEC 90901) LP/CD 43 minutes

Finally dragging itself across the Atlantic several years after the first adverts for it appeared, this follow-up to Ralph's groovy 'folk' collection Potatoes turns the spotlight on 'jazz', though in many cases what results is a music very far removed from the usual Ralph suspects (Snakefinger, Club Foot Orchestra, Fred Frith) to more eclectic art-school choices like Tom Cora, Winston Tong and the wonderfully named Machete Ensemble of San Francisco. As the sleevenotes suggest "jazz buffs may raise an eyebrow at these expressions of jazz, as many of the traditional rules have been challenged, and even broken." Well, sod it, that's what they're there for! MG