Quin Kirchner:
The Shadows and The Light [2 CDs] (Astral Spirits)

Recorded over 2 days in a Chicago studio in configuration from duos to an octet, drummer Quin Kirchner provides the compositions on this double CD for 11 pieces, alongside works by Frank Foster, Phil Cohran, Sun Ra & Carla Bley, presented as a story or a journey of differing styles and forms, glued together by Kirchner's remarkable drumming and coherently diverse interests. ... Click to View

Tomeka Reid Quartet:
Old New (Cuneiform)

Drawn from some of New Yorks finest and most active improvisers, cellist Tomeka Reid's string-centric quartet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums, take Reid's lyrical compositions into exuberant territory, showing the effective power of these versatile string instruments in creative and irresistible modern jazz. ... Click to View

Kaoru Abe :
19770916@Ayler, Sapporo (Doubtmusic)

Recently discovered, unissued solo improvisations from legendary Japanese free jazz alto saxophonist Karou Abe--four extended statements from the full concert recorded in 1970 at the Sapporo jazz cafe "Ayler"--an excellent example of the passionate performances he presented, using extended and unusual technique from assertive mastery to near-silent moments; incomporable. ... Click to View

Adam Caine Quartet, feat Adam Lane / Bob Lanzetti / Billy Mintz:
Transmissions (NoBusiness)

Embracing a wide and diverse stylistic range, from burning modern electric jazz to introspective interplay, NY guitarist Adam Caines' band with fellow guitarist Bob Lanzetti, Adam Lane on acoustic bass, Billy Mintz on drums, and Nick Lyons on alto saxophone, perform with great taste, technical mastery and superb interplay, releasing an extremely well-balanced colelction. ... Click to View

Keys & Screws (Thomas Borgmann / Jan Roder / Willi Kellers):
Some More Jazz [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Two thirds of the free jazz group "Boom Box"--saxophonist Thomas Borgmann and drummer Willi Kellers--and referencing that band's 2011 album titled Jazz, Keys & Screws is rounded out as a trio with double bassist Jan Roder, following the format of "Jazz" with compositions from each player following head/solo format, fueled by each player's extensive experience. ... Click to View

DUX Orchestra (Dave Sewelson / Mats Gustafsson / Susie Ibarra / Will Connell Jr. / Dave Hofstra / Walter "Sweet" Perkins / JC Morrison):
Duck Walks Dog (With Mixed Results) [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Dux, led by guitarist JC Morrison and baritone saxophonist Dave Seweleson, plus Dave Hofstra on bass and drummer Walter Perkins, is heard in this 1994 recording from "an attic" in New York City in an expanded version of the band, adding Mats Gustafsson on baritone sax, Will Connell, Jr on clarinet and Susie Ibarra on drums, for a wild session of exuberant free playing. ... Click to View

Larry Ochs / Aram Shelton Quartet (w/ Nordeson / Dresser / Walton):
Continental Drift (Clean Feed)

Key artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, composers and bandleaders Larry Ochs on tenor and sopranino saxophone and Aram Shelton on alto saxophone join together with Swedish drummer Kjell Nordeson, joined by either double bassist Mark Dresser or Scott Walton, in an album drawn from two session featuring exhiliarating pieces of unique approach from both composers. ... Click to View

Roots Magic (Pololla / De Fabritiis / Tedeschi / Spera):
Take Root Among The Stars (Clean Feed)

Mining the area between the blues and creative jazz with pieces by Charles Tyler, Ornette Coleman, Phil Cohran and Sun Ra, this is the 3rd album from the Italian quartet of Alberto Popolla on clarinets, Errico De Fabritiis on saxophones, Gianfranco Tedeschi on double bass, and Fabrizio Spera on drums & percussion, joined by Eugenio Colombo on flute and Francesco Lo Cascio on vibes. ... Click to View

Cliff Trio (Pandelis Karayorgis / Damon Smith / Eric Rosenthal):
Precipice (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Recording at the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA, the Boston-area trio of pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Eric Rosenthal are captured in concert for an adventurous album of free improvisation, Karayorgis's compositions leading this piano trio of magnificent mastery into buoyantly exciting interplay as they take their listeners to a dizzying precipice edge. ... Click to View

Anton Ponomarev Trio (w/ Per Ole Jorgens / Dmitri Lapshin):
Dodsdromen (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Aggressive "honk-n-skronk" free jazz from the Moscow based trio of alto saxophonist Anton Ponomarev, with Danish drummer Peter Ole Jørgensen (aka P.O. Jorgens know for his work with Peter Brötzmann) and bass guitarist Dmitry Lapshin, ijn a studio album of eight burning "Circles", demanding skirmishes of fiery imformed collective free jazz. ... Click to View

Magnus Granberg / Skogen:
Let Pass My Weary Guiltless Ghost (Another Timbre)

First performed in November 2019 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and then at the Splitter Orchester festival in Berlin, this studio recording of Magnus Granberg's delicately complex and exquisitely dream-like composition features his Skogen ensemble, including Granberg, Rhodri Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Erik Carlsson, Petter Wastberg, &c. ... Click to View

Rhodri Davies:
Telyn Rawn (Amgen Records)

Dating back to the 13th century in Wales, the Telyn Rawn is a nearly forgotten horsehair harp; UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davies researched the instrument and its unique sound, commissioning the construction of a harp on which he performs 18 improvisations of impressive technique and sonority, launching his new Amgen Records label with this album named for the instrument. ... Click to View

Tyler Higgins (w/ Monticello / Stevens):
Broken Blues (Shhpuma)

Blues with a strong sonic sense in Atlanta, GA guitarist Tyler Higgin's 2nd release on Shhpuma, his trio again featuring drummer Paul Stevens, and here adding bassist Gabriel Monticello, known for symphonic, jazz and rock forms, bringing masterful skill to this album that richly blends blues, gospel, folk, jazz and rock forms with passion and style. ... Click to View

Nicolas Snyder:
Temporary Places (Shhpuma)

West Coast sound artist Nicolas Snyder is a composer, filmmaker, sound-documenter, gardener, and forager; fascinated by the sounds of nature, he took recordings from streams and National Parks in Vietnam, Pennsylvania, and California and merged them with music composed in the studio to create these works of great beauty as a study of locational and emotional memory. ... Click to View

Dimos Vryzas:
Really Short And Tonal (Creative Sources)

Violinist, improviser, songwriter and composer from Thessaloniki, Greece, Dimos Vryzas creates a virtual electroacoustic ensemble using violin, voice and effects, contrasting acoustic and electronic sounds in the search for music expression, his studies with Fred Frith and Alfred Zimmerlin a good indicator of the kind of sound approach Vryzas employs. ... Click to View

Takamitsu Ohta:
Three Relations Among The Flock [CASSETTE] (Winds Measure)

Takamitsu Ohta, known for his work with artists Anne-F Jacques & Ryoko Akama, in three unexpected recordings using the microphone and speaker of small devices with recording and playback ability, from five to fifteen such linked devices creating surprisingly stacatto and expressive voices from feedback, each piece aptly named for the resulting articulation each combination creates. ... Click to View

Klaus Filip / Moe Kamura:
Passagein (Winds Measure)

ppooll sound artist Klaus Filip and Japanese experimental vocalist Moe Kamura (10Tet, Taku Sugimoto) in a two part electronic improvisation of electronic tones, textures, silence, and minimalist vocalization and utterance, Filip using a dynamic frequency palette inspiring Kamura's wordless expression; lowercase or Onkyo, a meditative and moody work. ... Click to View

Ballister:
Znachki Stilyag (Aerophonic)

The tenth year of the working and touring international Ballister trio of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg on Holm on cello & electronics, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drum & percussion, here in an outrageously powerful yet explorative concert at Dom Cultural Center, in Moscow, Russia in 2019, a fierce example of what this band is capable of. ... Click to View

Stirrup + 6 (Lonberg-Holdm / Macri / Rumback):
The Avondale Addition (Cuneiform)

The Stirrup trio of cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nick Macri (bass), and Charles Rumback (drums) is merged with improvisers from Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra project--Keefe Jackson & Mars Williams on reeds, guitarist Peter Maunu, violist Jen Clare Paulson, trumpeter Russ Johnson & Zoots Houston on electronics -for this compelling structured performance at Elastic Arts. ... Click to View

Tashi Dorji / Tyler Damon:
To Catch A Bird In A Net Of Wind [VINYL] (Trost Records)

Fully free improvisation from Chicago musicians, electric guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer/percussionist Tyler Damon, performing live in a concert at Horatio N. May Chapel in 2018, the resonance of the location adding a rich reverberant level to their evolving dialog, building to ecstatic sonic states and releasing to energetically ruminative discourse. ... Click to View

BROM (Lapshin / Ponomarev / Mikensky / Kurilo):
Dance With An Idiot [VINYL] (Trost Records)

Raw, raucous and dauntless improvisation from the Russian quartet of Anton Ponomarev on alto saxophone, Dmitry Lapshin on bass guitar, Felix Mikensky on guitar & electronics, and Yaroslav Kurilo on drums, in 7 passionate collective improvisations with a dark melodic bent with titles like "demon" or "iron hair", plus a twisted take on Dizzy Gillespie's "Salt Peanuts". ... Click to View

Berangere Maximin :
Land of Waves [VINYL 2 LPs + DOWNLOAD] (KARLRECORDS)

The sixth album of embraceable electroacoustic and acousmatic French composer Bérangère Maximin, whose work with Ina-GRM, Stockholm's EMS points to her extraordinary skills in organize other-worldly sound, imbued with her ability to create warmly embraceable works with mystery amongst propelling rhythm, here exploring recordings from city parks & abandoned properties. ... Click to View

Sun City Girls:
Live at the Sky Church - September 3rd, 2004 [VINYL LP & DVD] (Twenty One Eighty Two Recording Company)

A 2004 live performance in LP and DVD from the experimental, irreverent and twisted rock trio Sun City Girls performing at the Experience Music Project in Seattle, from strange songs of weird, blunt or vulgar intent to experimental cutups--an unorthodox exorcism in sound--all presented with bizarre theatrical accompaniment as documented on the accompanying DVD. ... Click to View

Matias Riquelme / Fernando Ulzion:
La Trahison Des Mots (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Using the natural resonance of the Apodaka church in Alava, Spain, the Bilbao-based experimental improvising duo of cellist Francia Matías Riquelme and saxophonist Fernando Ulzion on soprano and alto, present an introspective and informed set of works titled as iconic jazz compositions, an implication of the impressionist approach their expansive and thoughtful playing invokes. ... Click to View

Machinefabriek / Anne Bakker:
Short Scenes (Zoharum)

While developing a soundtrack with violinist and violist Anne Bakker, Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek, began editing a series of Bakker's improvisations, creating new works from those recordings by layering them into succinct short works or "scenes"--twenty of them in the end--that he sequenced into this album of confidently dramatic and delicately beautiful episodes. ... Click to View

Master Oogway:
Earth And Other Worlds (Rune Grammofon)

The second album from the Norwegian electric jazz quartet of Havard Nordberg Funderud on guitar, Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll on saxophone, Karl Erik Horndalsveen on double bass, and Martin Heggli Mellem on drums, after their 2018 album The Concert Koan on the Clean Feed label, here in six powerfully thrilling tracks of youthful exuberance and impressive skill. ... Click to View

Master Oogway:
Earth And Other Worlds [VINYL] (Rune Grammofon)

The second album from the Norwegian electric jazz quartet of Havard Nordberg Funderud on guitar, Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll on saxophone, Karl Erik Horndalsveen on double bass, and Martin Heggli Mellem on drums, after their 2018 album The Concert Koan on the Clean Feed label, here in six powerfully thrilling tracks of youthful exuberance and impressive skill. ... Click to View

Thumbscrew (Fujiwara / Halvorson / Formanek):
The Anthony Braxton Project (Cuneiform)

The Thumbscrew trio of NY improvisers Tomas Fujiwara on drums & vibes, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formanek on double bass, turn their focus to their shared history with composer and reedist Anthony Braxton as he celebrates his 75th birthday, performing 11 previously unheard compositions selected from Composition No. 14 through No. 274; masterful and profound. ... Click to View

Toyozumi / Yandsen / Countryman:
Future of Change (ChapChap Records)

The collaboration of American alto saxophonist living in the Philippines Rick Countryman with legendary Japanese free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozumim, also performing on Erhu, continues with this outstanding performance at the LIMBO Art Gallery in Makati, Philippines in 2020, joined by Malaysian tenor saxophonist Yong Yandsen for a burning set of free jazz. ... Click to View