I occasionally subject friends and strangers to unsolicited spiels about my affinity for hillbilly jazz. The obsession for the melding of jazz and country began when my dad picked up Merle Haggard’s Bob Wills tribute album in 1970. The late Claude "Fiddler" Williams is among the musicians known for winsome versions of the style. Abetted by guitarist Mary Halvorson, violinist Mark Feldman, bassist Michael Formanek and drummer Ryan Sawyer, Susan Alcorn brings the noise to the concept on Pedernal. While much of the pedal steel guitarist’s new album expands on the twangy chamber jazz associated with Bill Frisell, the best segments are harsh big city freakouts of the type I documented at the Big Ears Festival last year. Imagine Thurston Moore in overalls.