Hailing from Rotterdam's rich underground scene, the trio of Hugo Costa on alto sax, Goncalo Aleida on bass, and Philipp Ernsting on drums, with all 3 doubling on electronics, in a dramatic and energetic album blending free jazz, improv, metal, and punk music.

The Norwegian trio Ballrog, which started as the duo of Klaus Ellerhusen-Holm on clarinet and Roger Arntzen on double bass, then expanded with guitarist Ivar Grydeland, who is replaced by guitarist David Stackenäus, a perfect choice for the lyrical chamber approach of intertwining lines and fluid melodic statement, with a sense of "free chamber americana"; beautiful.

The trio of Belgian reedist Joachim Badenhorst, French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot, and French-German bassist Pascal Niggenkemper formed the Baloni trio in Brooklyn in 2008, presenting a blend of chamber and free jazz; reserved to frenetic playing that consistently surprises.

Swiss musicians Marco Von Orelli (trumpet, slide trumpet) and Sheldon Suter (prepared drums) and by their Portuguese partners, Luis Lopes (electric guitar) and Travassos (electronics) release a new chapter in their project Big Bold Back Bone, all players embracing a unique electro-acoustic improvisation through transformation of their instruments.

With a discography of both contemporary and improvised music, Beligan pianist residing in Norway Jonas Cambien (Platform, Karokh) joins forces with Norwegian double bassist Adrian Myhr (Delius, Dorner, Buck) for an album that balances concentrative and muscular interplay, influenced by Cambien's piano preparations and Myhr's sophisticated techniques.

Cleverly complex yet melodically embraceable, the trio of Beligan pianist residing in Norway, Jonas Cambien's trio with Andre Rolighete on tenor and soprano saxophone and drummer Andreas Wildhagen perform eleven original Cambien compositions, a mix of astute, joyful and irrepressibly creative approaches to jazz and free improvisation.

Leveraging influences in improvisation and contemporary compositional music, Belgian/Oslo pianist Jonas Cambien, a member of Simiskina and Platform, extends his own trio of saxophonist Andre Rolighete and drummer Andreas Wildhagen with trumpeter Torstein Lavik Larsen on 2 tracks, as they balance jazz, avant, free improv and other hybrid forms in a compellingly creative album.

Self-described as Scandinavian jazz rock noir, the Chrome Hill quartet of Asbjorn Lerheim on baritone guitar, Roger Arntzen on double bass, Torstein Lofthus on drums & vibraphone, and Atle Nymo on tenor saxophone, present a dramatic album of contrasts inspired by cinematic and musical moods, merging elements of folk, Delta blues and cowboy rock into their darkly cool sound.

Two guitarists with unique approaches to their instruments -- Paris-based Julen Depsrez and Lisbon-based Luis Lopes -- in an experimental album of evolving sound through extreme modification of guitar sound and sustain, mysteriously building their interactions from whispering sonics to growling harmonics, tightly controlled but bristling with complex energy.

The Toronto-based duo of Colin Fisher on woodwinds and percussion and Carl Didur on keyboards and bass bridge acoustic and electronic improv with science fiction sensibilities in their two part "Exegesis", a critical exposition of un-genred music that borrows from global sources in service to their unusual and exotic tale; a wonderfully perplexing album.

Active Lisbon guitarist and producer André Fernandes formed the band Kinetic to perform the lyrically upbeat and sophisticated works of composers he admires--David Binney, Ohad Talmor, Akiko Pavolka, Sara Serpa, Perico Sambeat and Xan Campos--in a band that includes saxophonist Sambeat and pianist Campos, along with bassist Frederico Heliodoro and drummer João Pereira.

The 4th album from German saxophonist Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla Mask, the 3rd on Clean Feed, is another powerful blending of jazz and rock forms in restless and profoundly determined music, energetic but intelligently structured, with great riffs and melodic grooves from Roland Fidezius (electric bass) and Rudi Fischerlehner (drums and percussion).

An assertive album of free playing from the trio of Peter Van Huffel on alto sax, Roland Fidezius on electric bass, and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums, giving the music punk-jazz overtones in sound and rhythmic approach while clearly adhering to the heavy free jazz styles of the European masters.

Inspired by European improvisation, 60's NY-loft-avant-garde and Ethiopian jazz, Heaven, the Norwegian collaborative project of Danish saxophonist Henrik Pultz Melbye and Norwegian drummer Ole Mofjell, merge rhythmic and melodic realms, adding stretches of noise and non-idiomatic sounds, in fast-paced, highly-energetic, and highly-informed performances.

Cinematic aesthetics and themes from the Norwegian Holy Mountain duo, performing on the uncommon pairing of two instruments--accordion played by Andreas Angell, and drums with acoustic and electronic parts and vintage synthesizer played by Aleksander Tidemann--in their 3rd release inspired by the dystopian sci-fi visions of John Carpenter, Philip Glass and Daft Punk.

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten, for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

Borrowing elements from a vast spectrum of improvisatory styles, fueled by a variety of saxophones, tanpura, drums, prepared cymbals and voice, Swedish improviser Martin Küchen (Angles) joins with Slovak percussionist living in Oslo, Michaela Antalová, taking their listeners on a meteorological journey through a remarkable tempest of sound.

This progressive/folk/jazz/improv/experimental/psych quartet from Norway covers a diverse set of approaches to improvisation, from textural, minimalistic and radically abstract, like something AMM would play, using graphic and written notation.

Solo work from Portuguese guitarist Luis Lopes, showing a different side to his work with Humanization 4tet or his Noise Solo project, instead presenting a gentler and more romantic music marked by seductive playing with an unexpectedly tender appeal.

Two unconventional and experimenting improvisers--French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot and Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth--in a deceptive album of acoustic improvisation that elusively takes on electric qualities in the hands of these two innovators, seducing the listener through unusual twists and turns of perfectly paced interactions.

With a list of projects including Shagma, The Core, Zanussi 5 and Mopti, the trio of Jorgen Mathisen (sax), Christian Meaas Svendsen (bass) and Andreas Wildhagen (drums), "Momentum" is an apt name for their uniquely building, unpredictable and atypical improvisations.

Recording live in the Namouche Studios in Lisbon in 2018, trumpeter Sei Miguel's octet performs a large work translating to "Fire Car", inspired by William Blake's "Jerusalem" (Chariot of Fire), reminding of early 70's Miles/fusion work as organist Andre Goncalves creates an atmospheric backbone over which the band introduces repetition and variation; mysterious and singular.

Mir 8 brings electroacoustic artists Andrea Belfi (drums/percussion), Werner Dafeldecker (electroncis, bass), Hilary Jeffrey (trombone) and Tim Wright (computer & electronics) together for their debut album of four cinematic tracks following an abstract narrative through panoramic landscapes.

Existing between composition and free improvisation, this Norwegian quartet of Torstein Lavik Larsen on trumpet, Adrian Myhr on double bass, Fredrik Rasten on acoustic guitar, and Jan Martin Gismervik on drums & percussion are informed by minimal composed, folk and improvised musics, applying unusual technique and methodology to create beautiful textural and impressionistic sound.

Naples tenor saxophonist Antonio Raia's album of solo saxophone improvisations employs a mix of traditional and unusual techniques in 12 concise pieces that fragment "scraps" of melody into a diverse ruminating streams, recorded at the city's Filangeri Asylum by sound artist Renato Fiorito, using ten microphones to capture the unique qualities of the space.

SNIK IS led by trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and bassist Ole Morten Vagan, who provide the compositions for their quartet with saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts and drummer Erik Nylander, in an album that ranges from meditative free playing to hard swinging bop oriented jazz.

Rapid fire playing and a wicked humor fuels drummer Olie Steidle's album with guitarist Frank Mobus, keyboardists Kit Downes and Dan Nicholls, and bassist Phil Donkin, mashing together electro-jazz, art rock, hardcore and club music into upbeat and twisted music, building up to a narrative "Speed Junky on Funny Human Darts"; insanely embraceable and stunning.

After percussionist and composer Gerry Hemingway migrated to Luzern, Switzerland he joined forces with the creative improvising community in that city, in particular with guitarist Manuel Troller and saxophonist and bass clarinetist Sebastian Strinning, the trio taking the name Tree Ear, blending free and idiomatic improv in bold, uncommon and spellbinding ways.

The collective Who Trio of pianist Michel Wintsch, bassist Bänz Oester and drummer Gerry Hemingway take on the music of Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington in eight studio recordings and one live performance, interpreting in a collective fashion rather than straight readings of each work, allowing a unique level of freedom to be applied to these essential jazz compositions.

The improvising string duo of stalwart London improvisers, Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar and Phil Durrant on the octave mandola, are heard in two settings of texturally rich, intricate interactions, first at Cafe OTO in 2022 for an extended improvisation, then at Cable Street Studios two months later for six succint, impressively diverse dialogs.