Henry Threadgill Zooid:
Poof (Pi Recordings)
The sixth album in saxophonist and composer Henry Threadgill's Zood small ensemble project Zooid, a quintet with guitarist Liberty Ellman, tuba & trombonist Jose Davila, cellist Christopher Hoffman and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, following Threadgill's serial intervallic language compositions to create an amazingly intricate yet warmly embraceable avant jazz; exceptional! ... Click to View
Henry Threadgill Zooid:
Poof [VINYL] (Pi Recordings)
The sixth album in saxophonist and composer Henry Threadgill's Zood small ensemble project Zooid, a quintet with guitarist Liberty Ellman, tuba & trombonist Jose Davila, cellist Christopher Hoffman and drummer Elliot Humberto Kavee, following Threadgill's serial intervallic language compositions to create an amazingly intricate yet warmly embraceable avant jazz; exceptional! ... Click to View
Lussier / D'Orion / Kuster / Tetreault :
Printemps 2021 (Victo)
This mercurial and impressive 2021 Victoriaville Festival concert brought together improvisers from three duos as a quartet: guitarist Rene Lussier, who has a long running duo with turntablist Martin Tetreault; Erick d'Orion on computer and electronics, who also has a experimental sound duo with Tetrault; and frequently collaborator with Lussier, drummer Robbie Kuster. ... Click to View
Artifacts (Tomeka Reid / Nicole Mitchell / Mike Reed):
...and then there's this (Astral Spirits)
Confirming their place in Chicago's improv legacy, the second album from the Artifacts Trio of Nicole Mitchell on flute & electronics, Tomeka Reid on cello and Mike Reed on drums & percussion expand the AACM canon with compositions from each member, plus several insightful and lively collective improvisations and one piece each from Roscoe Mitchell and Muhal Richard Abrams. ... Click to View
Charlotte Keeffe :
Right Here, Right Now (Discus)
Collecting facets of London trumpeter Charlotte Keeffe's diverse settings and interests, including three live recordings with her own quartet, three recordings with London Improvisers Orchestra including a conduction for a piece dedicated to Steve Beresford, a duo with guitarist Diego Sampieri, and two solo recordings, one interacting with live electronics. ... Click to View
Skeeter Shelton / Hamid Drake:
Sclupperbep (Two Rooms Records)
After meeting in Detroit when tenor saxophonist & flutist Skeeter Shelton subbed for a sick player in a duo concert with drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, the two found a bond through Shelton's father, Ajaramu Shelton, who had been one of Drake's mentor at Chicago's AACM; the concert was so successful that this recording was immediately planned, based around many of Shelton's themes. ... Click to View
Skeeter Shelton / Hamid Drake:
Sclupperbep [VINYL] (Two Rooms Records)
After meeting in Detroit when tenor saxophonist & flutist Skeeter Shelton subbed for a sick player in a duo concert with drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake, the two found a bond through Shelton's father, Ajaramu Shelton, who had been one of Drake's mentor at Chicago's AACM; the concert was so successful that this recording was immediately planned, based around many of Shelton's themes. ... Click to View
Archer / Keeffe / Pyne:
Hi Res Heart (Discus)
Inspired by the 70's Leo Smith Trio and the AACM tradition, during pandemic lockdowns UK multi-reedist & wind player Martin Archer, Charlotte Keeffe on trumpet & electronics and Martin Pyne on drums, percussion, vibraphone & toy piano, developed these 12 pieces where each member recorded four ideas independently, the other two arranging and recording their own parts in response. ... Click to View
Blue Lines Sextet (Rave / Maris / Wierbos / Scheen / van der Weide / Hadow):
Live At The BIMhuis (Casco Records)
An exceptional live concert of original compositions from pianist Michiel Scheen alongside insightful interpretations of pieces from Charlie Haden and Charles Mingus, plus six collective instant compositions, from the Amsterdam sextet of Scheen, Ada Rave on reeds, Bart Maris on trumpets, Wolter Wierbos on trombone, Raoul van der Weide on bass and George Hadow on drums. ... Click to View
Leap Of Faith:
Imaginary Perspectives (Evil Clown)
The core duet of the Leap of Faith Orchestra of David Peck on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, and Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice are joined by Evil Clown regular, Bob Moores on trumpet, guitar, electronics & percussion, the excitement evident as the trio performed together live in the studio the first time after pandemic vaccinations. ... Click to View
PEK Solo / A Quartet of PEKS:
Fixed Intentions for the Saxophone Family (Evil Clown)
The sixth PEK Solo effort of 2020 in Boston-based improviser and composer David Peck's series, this album is a followup to his Clarinet Family album earlier in the year, here creating a virtual symphony of saxophones by layering his composition in the studio through four separate recordings, working in the vein of Rova Sax Quartet or the World Sax Quartet. ... Click to View
Don Cherry:
Complete Communion & Symphony For Improvisers, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Following a 1964 Albert Ayler tour, trumpeter Don Cherry remained in Europe, working on new concepts of improvising based on form itself, developing his concepts with saxophonist Gato Barbieri, vibraphonist Karl Berger & bassist J.F. Jenny Clark, composing two brilliant albums: 1966's Communion with Barbieri, Henry Grimes & Ed Blackwell; and in 1967 Symphony for Improvisers as a septet. ... Click to View
Nick Fraser Quartet:
If There Were No Opposites (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
First recording in 2012 as a trio with saxophonist Tony Malaby as a guest, 9 years later Toronto drummer Nick Fraser's quartet with Malaby as a permanent member, Rob Clutton on double bass and Andrew Downing on cello show their long collaboration's strength in a set of improvisations plus compositions for Decidedly Jazz Danceworks and the DJD production, Juliet & Romeo. ... Click to View
Ivo Perelman (Duos w/ Burrell / Crispell / Ortiz / Parks / Courvoisie / Fernandez / Taborn / Sanchez / Iyer):
Brass And Ivory Tales [9-CD BOX SET] (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Referring to the brass saxophone and the piano's ivory keys, Brazilian saxophonist based in New York City Ivo Perelman celebrates his 60th birthday with this 9-CD set of diverse approaches to sax & piano duos, performed with some of world's finest improvising pianists: Dave Burrell, Marilyn Crispell, Aaron Parks, Augusti Fernandez, Craig Taborn, Angelica Sanchez and Vijay Iyer. ... Click to View
Alex Ward:
Gated (Discus)
A stunning solo album showing the widely diverse interests of UK clarinetist and guitarist Alex Ward, recording in the studio in 10 multi-track pieces using clarinets, saxophones, guitars, keyboards, electric bass and assorted software instruments in a mix of pre-composed and improvised approaches, burning the spectrum from contemplative to aggressively assertive performance. ... Click to View
Blue Lines Trio (Scheen / van der Weide / Hadow):
Blue Lines Trio (Casco Records)
With all the tongue-in-cheek aspects of Dutch improvisers, the piano trio of Michiel Scheen on piano, Raoul van der Weide on bass, crackle box & sound objects and George Hadow on drums, all hailing from a superb pedigree of European Free Improv involvement, show their connection through comprehensible playing with a wonderful sense of humor in their approach to delightfully smart playing. ... Click to View
Axel Dorner:
Untitled [3''CD] (Euphorium)
A companion of sorts to the Euphorium release from Leimgruber/Turner/Dorner/da Boff/Flesh, London/Leipzig/Luzern, trumpeter Axel Dörner breaks off solo for an extended improvisation recorded at the same studio on the same day in Leipzig, employing his unique approach to the instrument in an 18-minute exploration of tone, timbre, and unexpected brass utterance. ... Click to View
Alex Reviriego:
Raben [CASSETTE W/ DOWNLOAD] (Tripticks Tapes)
Spanish double bassist Alex Reviriego (Memoria Uno) in a solo album recorded by Ferran Fages in 2019, the second chapter of his "German Poets Trilogy" following his 2018 Blaue Tauben album, here inspired by the writings of Romanian-born poet Paul Celan in an intense and moving album of dense foreboding depicted through nine improvisations of heavy bowing, ruminative harmonics and dark friction. ... Click to View
Axioms:
Hypothesis (Evil Clown)
The second album of free improv with poetry from the Boston-based Evil Clown collective band Axioms of David Peck, Jane SpokenWord and Albey onBass, this album extending the trio with Glynis Lomon on cello and Steve Niemitz on drums & percussion, heard in an extended improvisation bridging the distance between poetic discussion of truths and abstract musical structures. ... Click to View
Anne-F Jacques / Takamitsu Ohta:
Oto to Secchi [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Tsss Tapes)
Using small objects and contact microphones to create peacefully clacking, mewling and idiosyncratic utterances, sound artists Takamitsu Ohta and Anne-Francoise Jacques developed this installation shown in 2019 at the Bonjour! Gendaibunmei gallery in Kyoto, recorded by Jacques as a tour of the various sonic manifestations that a visitor to the gallery might experience. ... Click to View
Keith Tippett / Matthew Bourne:
Aeolian [2 CDs] (Discus)
Two generations of remarkable pianists--Keith Tippets and Matthew Bourne--performed a series of two-piano concerts between 2017 and 2019, also recording in the studio, as heard in this 2-CD release, the first a set of consequential piano duos recorded at Leeds Conservatoire in 2019, the 2nd disc a live performance at Daylight Music at Union Chapel, London, Tippetts' final public performance. ... Click to View
Takatsuki Trio Quartet w/ Tobias Delius / Alex Dorner:
Berliner Quartette (Orbit577)
The Berlin-based collective Takatsuki Trio of Rieko Okuda on piano, Antti Virtaranta on double bass and Joshua Weitzel on guitar & Shamisen are expanded to a Quartett in two extended live sets at Berlins' Kuhlspot Social Club in 2020, first in an expansive set with trumpeter Axel Dorner, and then an intensely active set with tenor saxophonist & clarinetist Tobias Delius. ... Click to View
The Remote Viewers :
The Remote Code [3 CDs] (Remote Viewers)
Three CDs of three concerts at London's Iklecktik Club, presenting primarily compositions by David Petts plus collective improvisations, from Adrian Northover, David Petts, Caroline Kraabel and Sue Lynch on saxophones, John Edwards on bass and Rosa Theodora on piano, with Northover, Edwards & Petts adding percussion and electronics to their cryptically rich music. ... Click to View
New Rumours And Other Noises (Ada Rave / Nicolas Chentaroli / Raoul van der Weide):
The Moonlight Nightcall (Casco Records)
The debut of the Amsterdam-based trio of Argentinian pianist Nicolas Chientaroli and saxophonist & clarinetist Ada Rave with Dutch bassist Raoul van der Weide, all three using preparations, objects and voice to extend their unique approach to instant composition, heard in eight succinct, animated and sometimes eccentric dialogs recorded at BIMHuis. ... Click to View
Xavier Pamplona Septet:
Play The (Casco Records)
Initiating his Netherlands-based ensemble in 2016, contrabassist Raoul van der Weide assembles younger musicians, alongside Michael Moore for one piece, orchestrated up to a septet performing a dizzying and joyfully fun array of original compositions including pieces from ICP composers Bert Koppelaar, Guus Janssen and Tristan Honsinger, and a piece from Fred Katz. ... Click to View
Homei Yanagawa:
Homura (Armageddon Nova)
Two extended pieces of solo free improvisation from Japanese alto saxophonist Homei Yanagawa, aka Yoshinori Yanagawa, who regularly performs solo, releasing this album 30 years after his first solo album in 1991, Ground and Figure, here recording in the studio for confidently active and diverse approaches to solo expression; engaging and absorbing work. ... Click to View
The Pitch (Baltschun / Nutters / Joh / Thieke):
KM28 [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Tripticks Tapes)
The Pitch is the Berlin quartet of Boris Baltschun on JI organ &, sines, Koen Nutters on upright bass, Morten Joh on JI electric vibes & cassette tape delay and Michael Thieke on clarinet, performing at Karl-Marx-Strasse 28 as they break off into solos, duos and trios to create spaciously reflective electroacoustic music of indirect melodic warmth and development; gorgeous. ... Click to View
An PEK Solo Orchestra of PEKs:
Prisms (Evil Clown)
The first "Orchestra of PEKS" album to feature Tim Kaiser's recent electro-acoustic instrument, this multi-track solo recording also introduces multi-wind / multi-instrumentalist David Peck's new West African Kora, in a wild electroacoustic set performed on a dizzying array of reeds, winds, strings, electronics, metallic percussion, wood percussion, sirens and thunder tube. ... Click to View
Rodrigo Amado / This Is Our Language Quartet:
Let The Free Be Men (Trost Records)
Referencing Ornette Coleman in the group name, Portuguese tenor saxophonist engages three US free jazz players--legendary saxophonist and pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee, double bassist Kent Kessler and drummer Chris Corsano--for this 2017 concert at Jazzhouse in Copenhagen, Denmark, capturing four exemplary, at times explosive, and always tightly interactive collective improvisations. ... Click to View
Mofaya! (John Dikeman / Jaimie Branch / Luke Stewart / Aleksandar Skoric):
Like One Long Dream (Trost Records)
A fiery record of collective free improvisation from the Mofaya! Quartet of American saxophonist based in The Netherlands John Dikeman, Chicago trumpeter Jaimie Branch, US East Coast bassist Luke Stewart and Slovenian drummer Aleksandar Skoric, recording live at Roze Tanker in Amsterdam for three exhilarating improvisations that embody US & European Free Jazz forms. ... Click to View
