Miles Okazaki: The Sky Below (Pi Recordings)
An album of intelligent modern jazz that twists contemporary bop forms through unusual time signatures and highly interactive playing, in the 5th album from composer and bandleader Miles Okazaki, retaining his rhythm section of Anthony Tidd (bass) and Sean Rickman (drums) and here with Matt Mitchell on piano and keys; forward-thinking and embraceable. ... Click to View
Tyshawn Sorey / Marilyn Crispell: The Adornment of Time (Pi Recordings)
New York drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell first played toghether in 2014, this only their 3rd performance, at The Kitchen in 2018 as part of a 3-day career accomplishments series for Sorey, the two performing in the dark as they spontaneously evolve a brilliant piece of innate orchestration, color, texture, rhythm, and thematic development. ... Click to View
Steve Lehman / Craig Taborn: The People I Love (Pi Recordings)
Saxophonist Steve Lehman's trio with drummer Damion Reid and double bassist Matt Brewer is expanded with pianist Craig Taborn for an album of Lehman originals and compositions by Autechre, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kenny Kirkland, and Jeff "Tain" Watts, plus three duo recordings between Lehman and Taborn; intricate cutting edge jazz made effortless and exuberant! ... Click to View
Craig Taborn / Vadim Neselovskyi: The Book Beri'ah Vol 11: Da'at (Tzadik)
Two pianists--Vadim Neselovskyi and Craig Taborn--take on the 11th volume of composer John Zorn's 3rd book of Masada compositions, The Book Beri'ah, in settings from solo piano, piano duos, and three pieces for piano bass and drums, performed with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Ronen Itzik; beautifully lyrical work merging contemporary compositional and improvisation forms. ... Click to View
Joe McPhee / Paal Nilssen Love: Song for the Big Chief (PNL)
Named for Sunny Murray's 1969 album "Big Chief", the long-runing collaborations of tenor saxophonist & pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love pay tribute to the late drummer Sunny Murry in this concert recording at London's Cafe Oto for a dynamic dialog of free jazz, with two nuanced free improv pieces including a "Fantasy for Lester [Bowie]". ... Click to View
Fish & Steel (Mats Aleklint / Per-Ake Holmlander / Paal Nilssen-Love): Fish & Steel (PNL)
Distilling a trio from Paal Nillsen-Love's Large Unit created Fish & Steel, the trio of Mats Aleklint on trombone, Per Ake Holmlander on tuba, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, an unusual brass & drums orchestration in two extended improvisations with an experimental bent that veers in and out of jazz forms with a mischievous attitude and masterful playing. ... Click to View
Entr'acte: Soigne Ta Droite (Audiographic Records)
Ken Vandermark's first large ensemble recording in more than four years brings together ten vanguard improvisers in acoustic and ea-improv forms--Dieb13, Elisabeth Harnik, Steve Heather, Terrie Hessels, Didi Kern, Mette Rasmussen, Jasper Stadhouders, Joe Williamson, and Nate Wooley--recording live in concert 3 long-form compositions, dedicated in sequence to musician Ikue Mori, sculptor Richard Serra, and painter, poet & typographist Francis Picabia. ... Click to View
Isotope Ensemble: Radium (Creative Sources)
Recorded at CreativeFest#12 in Lisbon at O'Culto de Ajuda, the 21-piece electroacoustic ensemble Isotope takes on the chemical element Radium in a gripping piece of evolving improvisation, intensely restrained and extremely detailed, orchestrated with cello, baroque violin, double bass, acoustic & electric guitars, zither, psaltery, winds, brass, keys, electronics and percussion. ... Click to View
Udo Schindler / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues : Mycelial Studies [2 CDs] (Creative Sources)
Two complete live performances in Munich at Galerie arToxin, and at Udo Schindler's Salon fur Klang + Kunst Krailing in 2018, with Schindler on bass clarinet, soprano saxophone and cornet, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, balancing active and introspective dialog of advanced harmonics, (a)rhythmic approaches, and extraordinary technique. ... Click to View
Harri Sjostrom / Guilherme Rodrigues: The Treasures Are (Creative Sources)
Bringing together a wealth of experience in contemporary improvised music, Berlin-based cellist Guillherme Rodrigues and soprano and sopranino saxophonist Harri Sjostrom developed these 12 pieces, combining and contrasting their instruments, at times seeming to complete each other's phrases, in a remarkably sophisticated and virtuosic "Treasure". ... Click to View
Matthew Shipp / Nate Wooley: What If? (RogueArt)
An authoritative meeting between two of New York City's strongest players--Matthew Shipp on pian and Nate Wooley on trumpet--distilled to their essence after work with saxophonist Ivo Pereleman and performing a set of 12 Shipp compositions brilliantly captured in the studio, illuminating Shipp's solid mastery of the keys and Wooley's remarkable technique and creative drive. ... Click to View
Matthew Shipp String Trio (w/ Mat Maneri / William Parker): Symbolic Reality (RogueArt)
Six compositions by pianist Matthew Shipp for his String Trio with violist Mat Maneri and double bassist William Parker, their first Trio record since 2001's "Expansion, Power and Release" (Hat), their long history of working together in a variety of configurations creating a near-telepathic link between the players over Shipp's sophisticated frameworks. ... Click to View
Jeb Bishop / Matthias Muche: Duo (Creative Sources)
Two trombones free improvising in the studio in Koln from the Duo of Chicago's Jeb Bishop and Cologne's Matthias Muche, both members of the trombone trio Bone-Crusher with Matthias Muller, this album recorded in the studio in Koln just before Bone-Crusher's "Konzert Fur Hannes" (NotTwo), elucidating this facet of the trio in 10 insightful dialogs of awesome technique and wit. ... Click to View
Day & Taxi: Devotion (Percaso)
A melodically subtle and sophisticated album of twenty improvisations composed by saxophonist Christoph Gallio and performed with Gerry Hemingway on drums and Silvan Jeger on electric bass, with Friederike Mayrocker providing words on several tracks, the compositions as short as 19 seconds and a long as 7:40, each dedicated to visual artists and colleagues. ... Click to View
After Dinner: Souvenir Cassette (2019) [DELUXE CD EDITION] (Fish Prints)
Originally released in 1988 in limited cassette and LP editions and comprising live recordings from performances in 1987, the Japanese avant rock band After Dinner with vocalist Haco merged Japanese traditional music and electronics in sublime ways, their live performances a great reflection of their recorded albums, here impeccably remastered by Bob Drake. ... Click to View
Cristian Alvear / Tim Olive: Telquan (845 Audio)
Minimalist Chilean guitarist Cristian Alvear and Tim Olive first played together in October 2016, doing three concerts in Japan, Alvear returning to Japan in October of 2017 for additional performances in Kyoto and Osaka, then spent a day recording in Kobe; this single improvised piece is the result of that day, heard as it was recorded, with a few structural edits. ... Click to View
Elizabeth Millar / Tim Olive / Craig Pedersen: Charm Point (845 Audio)
Montreal-area's Mystery and Wonder Records duo of Elizabeth Millar on clarinet and Craig Pedersen on trumpet met sound artist Tim Olive in Tokyo's famed Gok Sound studio to record these absorbing electroacoustic improvisations, employing hand-made microphones in metal and wooden tubes, corrupted consumer sound devices, and electro-magnetism through analog circuits. ... Click to View
Toys'R Noise: Manivole [VINYL] (BeCoq)
Using toys and handmade instruments alongside guitar, bass, synths, plundered recordings and electronics, the French Toys'R'Noise trio are a live performing group that borrows from electro-beat rock forms with overtones of IDM/ambient forms, building extended sections and then amusing with quick-witted sections that bridge a clear love of the music. ... Click to View
Bonne Humeur Provisoire: Marek [VINYL] (BeCoq)
A very odd album of experimental rock and mutilated folk forms that they refer to as "A sort of traditionnal music from a later country in a less faraway time", from French percussionist Bertrand Fraysse with vocalist Miha, using repetition and simple forms that build to strangely dense electronic environments, with a clear DIY and peculiar attitude; great fun! ... Click to View
URGE / SETE STAR SEPT: SSSURGE [VINYL] (BeCoq)
A split vinyl release between Urge (Caen) and Tokyo's Sete Star Sept, with one track from the French free jazz trio Urge of Antoine Ulmann on sax, Bubu Pagier on gutiar, and Yann Fontbonne (drums) in a Borbetomagus mode; and the Japanese gridcore duo of drummer Ryosuke Kiyasu and bassist/vocalist Kae Takahashi providing a thick extended rock grindcore piece; a blistering combo. ... Click to View
Nate Wooley: Battle Pieces 4 (Relative Pitch)
"Battle Pieces" uses trumpeter Nate Wooley's "social music" system, where each piece is constructed for a soloist who improvises with no score while the remaining player choose at will from over 75 compositions over which the soloist must find their path; here at Roulette in NYC with Nate Wooley, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ingrid Laubrock, & Matt Moran. ... Click to View
Masahiko Satoh / Otomo Yoshihide / Roger Turner: Sea (Relative Pitch)
After their Doubtmusic CD "Live at Hall Egg Farm", capturing the trio of Masahiko Satoh on piano, Otomo Yoshihide on electric guitar & whistle, and Roger Turner on drums & percussion in Fukaya City, this new chapter in the trio's activities finds them live at Shinjuku Pit Inn, in Tokyo the following year, for two energetically active and captivating conversations. ... Click to View
Ramon Lopez / Mark Feldman: Trappist-1 (Relative Pitch)
NY violinist Mark Feldman, an intensely active musician in improvisation and contemporary composition, and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez, active with an impressive list of jazz masters including Barry Guy and The Turbine!, join together in the studio for the seven-part improvisation "Trappist-1", a virtuosic intertwining from introspective to exuberantly energetic. ... Click to View
Fred Van Hove: At 80 [3 CDs / 80 page book] (Dropa Disc)
Celebrating the 80th birthday of pioneering Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove, a member of Machine Gun and a frequent partner of Peter Brotzmann and Han Bennink, in a hardbound book of photos and essay, with 3 CDs: the 1st a trio with Evan Parker and Hamid Drake at deSingel in Antwerp; the 2nd a solo piano concert at NONA; and the 3rd a solo organ concert at BOZAR; magnificent. ... Click to View
Satoko Fujii / Joe Fonda: Four (Long Song Records)
Their aptly titled "Fourth" album since they first performed together in 2015, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and NY bassist and flutist Joe Fonda have toured and developed an intuitive, almost telepathic, relationship--naturally melodic, intelligent yet emotional-- heard here in two concerts in Japan, with trumpeter Natsuki Tamura joining as a guest on two pieces. ... Click to View
Colin Fisher Quartet: Living Midnight [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Astral Spirits)
Toronto-area saxophonist Colin Fisher, best known for his group I Have Eaten The City, with his collective quartet of NY players Daniel Carter on tenor, alto & soprano saxophones + clarinet & flute, Brandon Lopez on upright bass, and Marc Edwards on drums & percussion, for three extended and exploratory improvisations of exemplary creative insight. ... Click to View
Colin Fisher Quartet: Living Midnight (Astral Spirits)
Toronto-area saxophonist Colin Fisher, best known for his group I Have Eaten The City, with his collective quartet of NY players Daniel Carter on tenor, alto & soprano saxophones + clarinet & flute, Brandon Lopez on upright bass, and Marc Edwards on drums & percussion, for three extended and exploratory improvisations of exemplary creative insight. ... Click to View
Michael Attias : Echos La Nuit (Out Of Your Head Records)
A beautiful solo set of 12 improvisations, Michael Attias performing on alto sax with his left hand and piano with his right, captured in the natural reverberation of La Maison en Bois in Abeville-La-Riviere, France; surprisingly his 1st solo album, developed over 12 years yet played in under an hour with no retakes, a wonderful nuanced reflection in tone, melody & color. ... Click to View
Nick Dunston: Atlantic Extraction (Out Of Your Head Records)
Brooklyn-based composer, bassist, and writer Nick Dunston in his debut album, blending jazz, contemporary, chamber and avant forms, in a uniquely voiced quintet with Louna Dekker on Vargas on flutes & piccolo, Ledah Finck on violin & viola, Tal Yahalom on guitar, and Stephen Boegehold on drums, in a sophisticated album of concisely fascinating compositions. ... Click to View
Sound of the Mountain w/ Tetuzi Akiyama / Toshimaru Nakamura: amplified clarinet and trumpet, guitars, nimb (Mystery & Wonder)
Sound of the Mountain is an independent label led by Montreal-area improvisers Elizabeth Millar (clarinet) and Craig Pedersen (trumpet), who traveled to Tokyo in 2017 for several concerts and this spectacular and unique recording session at GOK studio in Kichijoji with ea-improvisers Tetuzi Akiyama (guitar) and Toshimaru Nakamura (no-input mixing board). ... Click to View
