Verge Music founder Daniel Kernohan aka Dee Kay and radio host Dan Lander developed this album of electroacoustic interaction between 1987-1989 in a dilapidated row house on "the wrong side of the tracks" in Toronto, using "instruments, toys, stuff, sound" to create an amusing, sometimes startling, and insightful series of interactions; unpredictable and interesting.

Copenhagen drummer Peter Bruun leads a band with guitarist Marc Ducret, trumpeter Kasper Tranberg and synth player Simon Toldam, and upbeat electric free jazz album of powerful intent and compelling compositions performing melodic and insightful compositions, the band well acquainted from work on Ducret's own albums and with Samuel Blaser; recommended.

A unique ensemble performing a long-form composition by French saxophonist Christophe Monniot with the 12-piece Grand Orchestre du Tricot, 12 movements that are punctuated by layered spoken words, a subtle and sophisticated work realized with performers including Roberto Negro, Florian Satche, Quentin Biardeau, Jean-Baptiste Lacou, &c.

Composer-pianist Satoko Fujii's new Orchestra Berlin, a ten-piece ensemble, presents a powerful work written specifically for this group in thought-provoking compositions of and uninhibited energy, with performers including saxophonists Gebhard Ullmann, Paulina Owczarek & Matthias Schubert, trombonist Matthias Muller, bassist Jan Roder, and drummers Peter Orins and Michael Griener.

Since 2007 Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and Australian keyboardist Alister Spence have collaborated on performance and recording in several configurations, including work with Tony Buck, Raymond McDonald, Jim O'Rourke, &c.; this energetic and otherworldly quartet session with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and drummer Ittetsu Takemura was recored live Knuttel House, in Tokyo, 2017.

Recording in Seoul, South Korea at Mullae Arts Village in 2016, the duo of Australian drummer/percussionist Will Guthrie and improvising noise artist Hong Chulki release 8 pieces with concise works under 1 minute to larger improvisations up to 8 minutes, contrasting interesting rhythms with indescribable electronics, found sounds, and unusual environments.

This 2001 limited 6-CD box set of late trumpeter Bill Dixon's solo work in 5 CDs plus 1 CD of Dixon speaking, including two 32-page booklets containing essays, interviews, & writings, plus reproductions of 13 Dixon paintings, along with 3 inserts; an essential example of Dixon's incredible creative output, the final copies of which were recently discovered and available one last time.

An unusual album for American composer Michael Pisaro-Liu: six works based almost entirely on samples, punctuating more characteristic work in keeping with his Wandelweiser and EMW work with rhythmic and popular forms, albeit with Pisaro's characteristic inclusions, surprising the listener in an illusionary approach yielding serious electroacoustic compositions.

Largely derived from piano recordings by Netherlands pianist Reinier van Houdt, a member of both the Ensemble MAE and the Ives Ensemble and heard on the Wandelweiser label, expanded by several field recordings recorded by Michael Pisaro-Liu in Syros (Greece), creating a work in three pieces of rich environments that contrast peaceful passages with powerful ambiance.

The liner notes give good detail to each composition from these Japanese sound artists and composers Toshiya Tsunoda and Taku Unami, reworking and transforming field recordings from a diverse set of environmental locations by changing pitch, playback speeds, frequency, amplitude, &., creating 11 compositions, imbuing the mundane with unusual and surprising aural attributes.

Using piano, objects, charango, flute, voice, whistles, and a copy of the Editions Wandelweiser recording of Christian Wolff's "Stones", improvisers and composer Christian Wolff and Antoine Beuger present the two part "Where Are You Going Today", a series of events punctuated by silence and Beuger's brief recitations, creating great tension and mystery.

A truly unique album of solo harmonica and voice from Bay Area performer and composer Laura Steenberge, whose studies in folk music, psycholinguistics, acoustics and medieval Byzantine chant brings a sense of the ancient to modern experimentalism, transforming the instrument in a variety of illusive ways that are both enigmatic and entirely embraceable.

Pioneering West Coast flute improviser Robert Dick, whose command over the instrument is startlingly profound, is joined by young Bay Area drummer Tiffany Chang for nine studio recordings of brilliant interplay, from energetic interaction to introspective beauty, with unusual moments of extended flute technique, an astonishing and engaging album.

Bringing together two live shows from 2017 of the trio of Chicago luminaries, Dave Rempis on saxophones, Tim Daisy on drums, and Matt Piet on piano, in an exhilarating album of free jazz that shows the excitement of all three in what are only their 3rd and 4th live gigs together, each driving the other to enthusiastic heights amidst contemplative and playful moments.

Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark is fascinated with the visual arts, and was drawn in the 60s to Toronto visual artist, director of the "New York Eye And Ear" film, and most notably here, pianist, Michael Snow; in 2015 they performed together for the first time, this startlingly explosive and informed album the complete recording of that event.

Unexpected directions in this meeting between Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, in an introspective album of beautiful tonal conversations, relaxed and sophisticated dialogs that mostly eschews the more aggressive side of both musicians in deference to a thoughtful, reflective and elegant set of tunes.

Extending his interest in accompaniment with field recording, Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm took his cello into the Florida Everglades along with soundscape artist and field recordist Gustavo Matamoros, seeking out night creatures, particularly vocalizing frogs, edited down to six intriguing tracks of "outdoor interspecies improvisation".

Originally released on the Hat Hut label in 1979, this 2-CD set of saxophonist Steve Lacy's quintet with Steve Potts on saxophone, Irene Aebi on cello, voice & violin, Kent Carter on bass, and Oliver Johnson on drums, are heard live in two tour-de-force concerts, first at the 1977 Jazz Festival, in Willisau, Switzerland, then in 1978 at Jazz Au Totem in Paris, France.

Released in 1984 on Hal Wilner's Shemp records, this is the 1st reissue for late drummer Beaver Harris' 360-degree Experience with pianist Don Pullen on piano, in a stellar band with saxophonists Ricky Ford, Hamiet Bluiett, bassist Buster Williams, percussion from Candido & steel drummer Francis Haynes, and four french horn players, a truly forward-thinking jazz album.

Following on New York pianist Matt Mitchell's solo album of Tim Berne compositions, the two join in the studio to record these 8 compositions in a dynamic album of dialogs that includes energetic interaction, explorative playing, and beautiful lyrical work, a profoundly intimate and connected release borne from their long history of collaboration.

Mining the traditions of 60s jazz with a focus on Wayne Shorter's Miles Davis era, the long-standing Sound Prints quintet co-led by saxophonist Joe Lovano and trumpeter Dave Douglas, with Joey Baron on drums, Linda May Han Oh on bass and Lawrence Fields on piano give their listeners a superb album that balances free and traditional playing with excitement and lyricism.

John Zorn pens a powerful set of compositions for a quartet led by two astonishing guitarists--Julian Lage and Matt Hollengberg--with a solid driving force from the rhythm section of Trevor Dunn on bass and Kenny Grohowski on drums, as the band navigates a quick-shifting and utterly impressive blend of jazz, rock, funk, blues, and composed music.

In it's 40th year, the Canadian music journal Musicworks, with a reflection on their journey, alongside articles about guitarist Sam Shalabi, composer Sarah Hennies, the music series SONICBernheim in Louisville, Kentucky, electronic-music producer Vanese "VJ" Smith (Pursuit Grooves), and a 13-track CD with music from the those artists and more.

Using the building site of the Paris Philharmonie as their source location and inspiration, the trio of Pascal Battus using found objects, Bertrand Gauget on saxophone, and Eric La Casa on microphones, improvise and record the background sounds, machines, and environmental influences, using those recordings to create these three fascinating compositions.

Spectral, since 2012 the working horn trio of Dave Rempis on alto & baritone sax, Darren Johnston on trumpet, and Larry Ochs on sopranino & tenor sax, split their time between San Francisco and Chicago, in their 3rd album of spontaneous, complex free improv, here using the setting of Bunker A-168 in Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve, CA, to influence their performance.