Evan Parker Electroacoustic Quartet:
Concert in Iwaki (Uchimizu Records)
Requested to organize a Japanese tour focused on the electroacoustic aspects of Evan Parker's work, the saxophonist distilled his larger Electracoustic Ensemble to the quartet of himself, Paul Lytton on percussion & live electronics, Joel Ryan on computer and Lawrence Casserley on signal processing, heard here in the resonant space of the Iwaki City Art Museum in Fukushima. ... Click to View
Satoko Fujii:
Piano Music (Libra)
A stunning sound collage made from recorded fragments of Fujii's studio piano, captured inside and out using traditional piano sonorities and preparations that often microscopically detail the instrument, then edited into an electroacoustic compositions of startling and unexpected expansiveness and wonder; a unique and fascinating release in Fujii's large oeuvre. ... Click to View
Flying Luttenbachers, The:
Negative Infinity [VINYL] (ugEXPLODE / GOD Records)
... Click to View
Forbes / Young / Walter:
Hard Living (ugEXPLODE)
Merging Tiger Hatchery's tenor saxophonist Michael Forbes and bassist Andrew Scott Young and newly arrived to NYC Flying Luttenbacher leader & drummer Weasel Walter, for classic hardcore free jazz of articulate and demanding improvisation; this a recently unearthed studio recording from 2010, captured two years after their first encounter in a quartet with Jeb Bishop. ... Click to View
Rodrigues / Carvalho / Rodrigues / Valinho:
Eclipse (Creative Sources)
Emulating a solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse in two evolving improvised chamber works that take the quartet of Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Mariana Carvalho on piano, Joao Valinho on percussion and Ernesto Rodrigues--switching from viola to harp & deploying electronics--through mysterious soundwork that move from darkness to light in detailed and subtle ways. ... Click to View
Four Letter Words (Piet / Wark / Harris):
Pinch Point (Amalgam)
The first fully improvised album from the Chicago trio of Jake Wark on tenor saxophone, Matt Piet on piano and Bill Harris on drums, recording at Experimental Sound Studios in 2018 for seven numbered and concise improvisations, running the gamut from rapidly active yet controlled interaction and investigatory conversations of confident expression and creative drive. ... Click to View
Yoon-Ji Lee :
Padong (zOaR Records)
Five compositions from Yoon-Ji Lee, whose work employs unconventional and nonlinear structures that focus on quick transformations of language, noise, texture, and tonal color, here with five works, one performed by JACK Quartet & Mivos Quaret, a work for solo Saenghwang, a solo piano work, a string quartet, and a mixed chamber ensemble. ... Click to View
Ciao Ciao Cello:
Quiero Ver A Ese Monstruo (zOaR Records)
The Berlin-based trio of guitarist Beat Keller performing on feedbacker electric guitar & acoustic guitar, innovative tuba improviser Jack Adler-McKean and Spanish vocalist & performance artist Lorena Izquierdo Aparicio take on their monsters in five unique and disturbing improvisations recorded in the studio, as they "dance on the fine line between terror and joy". ... Click to View
Elliot Sharp :
Binibon (Henceforth)
A modern spoken opera by NY composer Elliott Sharp and librettist/narrator Jack Womack (Terraplane) with several narrators, reflecting the events surrounding a 1981 killing in New York's East Village, set in a darkly instrumental soundtrack developed by Sharp using guitars, saxophones, clarinets, synthesizers, bass, percussion, drums programming and samples. ... Click to View
GPS Trio (Chris Pitsiokos / Luke Stewart / Devin Gray):
Blast Beat Blues (Rataplan Records)
Hard-edged NYC free jazz in a limited EP CD release from the trio of alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer & composer Devin Gray, who explains that the music reflects "the modern world we're all trying to live in, with that odd mix of the comfortable and uncomfortable", as heard in the edgy and dynamic power of his group. ... Click to View
John Coltrane:
Chasin The Trane, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The 4-night engagement at the Village Vanguard in November 1961 with sidemen Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison & Elvin Jones resulted in saxophonist John Coltrane's 1962 "Live at the Village Vanguard" album, his evolving freedom surprisingly divisive and even decried as "anti-jazz", here reissued and remastered with a bonus version of "Spiritual". ... Click to View
Elliott Sharp's Terraplane:
Century (zOaR Records)
An unflinching look at life in post-Reconstruction America, commemorating the anniversary of Nancy Cunard's 1934 collection of African-American writings, poems, and song lyrics titled Negro: An Anthology, from Elliott Sharp's Terraplane, with vocalists Tracie Morris, Eric Mingus, Mikel Banks, and instrumentalist including Sharp, Dave Hofstra, recordings from Hubert Sumlin, &c. ... Click to View
Szilard Mezei Tubass Quintet:
Rested Turquoise (NoBusiness)
Four double basses and a tuba, recorded in an arc to elucidate the sound of each instrumentalist, in Serbian improviser and composer Szilárd Mezei's deep-rooted Tubass Quintet, Mezei taking one of the double bass roles in place of his typical viola & violin work, as his compositions bring the deep instruments into both foundational and melodic territory. ... Click to View
Per Gardin / Vasco Trilla:
Singularity (Creative Sources)
Swedish saxophonist Per Gärdin on alto and soprano, and Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla performing primarily on timpani & gongs, along with clock chimes, metronomes and a drum set, recording in the studio between 2020 & 2021 in both Stockholm and Barcelona, the two favoring spacious environments for their improvisations as they expand and dissipate energy in perceptive ways. ... Click to View
Ongon:
Exuvia [WHITE VINYL] (Loup editions)
String player Antonio Bertoni (Leo Records, Astral Sprits) in his solo Ongon project seeks to bring back the shamanic elements of Moroccan Gnawa Music, particularly using the trance-inducing bass instrument guimbri, his hypnotic and exotic music set into a rich weaving of electronics, samples and concrete synthesis built ad hoc by Bertoni himself. ... Click to View
Ongon:
In Dispersione [VINYL] (Loup editions)
Antonio Bertoni's solo Ongon project, trying to remove the mistreatment that the Moroccan Gnawa Music suffers due to the heavy western productions, as he performs on the trance-inducing bass instrument guimbri, his hypnotic and exotic music set into a rich weaving of electronics, samples and concrete synthesis built ad hoc by Bertoni himself; reference Natural Information Society. ... Click to View
La Sprezzatura Ensemble: Jones, Jean Claude (JC) / Esti Kenan Ofri / Oren Fried:
Abstract Formative Discourse (Kadima)
Evocatively drawing on the exotic sounds and rigorous tenacity of the Middle East, The Sprezzatura Ensemble of Esti Kenan Ofri on voice, Jean Claude Jones on lap-style Spanish guitar and Oren Fried on drums and percussion, particularly classical & traditional drums & ringing tambourine bells, present five freely improvised chants recorded in Jerusalem between 2017-18. ... Click to View
Alexander Zethson :
Pole Of Inaccessibility [2 CDs] (thanatosis produktion)
Darkly meditative and somber compositions for the lower registers of the grand piano accompanied by synthesizer, in two extended pieces by Je Suis! and Angles 9 pianist Alexander Zethson, using the interactions between the deep piano keys and synth more as a sound source than as a distinct instrument, each reshaping the other to create a cloud of sound. ... Click to View
Kevin Corcoran / Jacob Felix Heule:
Erosion [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)
An improvisational investigation into two bass drums over two extended recordings from West Coast experimental improvisers Kevin Corcoran and Jacob Felix Heule, as they apply an arsenal of unusual techniques and engage every inch of the drums with a diverse set of objects, evoking strange sounds, pattering rhythmic echoes, metallic cries and deep rumbling effects. ... Click to View
Judith Berkson:
Liederkreis II [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)
Featuring electronically-augmented vocal interpretations of lieder songs by such composers as Franz Schubert and Robert Schumann, New York vocalist Judith Berkson also presents purely electronic pieces engaging noise and feedback-oriented vignettes, the evolution of her project started in 2016 as she re-contextualizes classical music in powerfully expressive ways. ... Click to View
Flying Luttenbachers, The:
Negative Infinity (ugEXPLODE)
Adhering to the tenets of "Dissonance, Speed, Aggression, Weirdness, and Singularity", Weasel Walter leads his Flying Luttenbachers in their 15th album of no wave, punk jazz & brutal prog, Weasel switching to guitar and yielding the drum chair to Sam Ospovat, as the band rips through ridiculously complex twists and turns, even taking on Albert Ayler's strange '66/'67 musical suites. ... Click to View
Rodrigo Amado Motion Trio / Alexander von Schlippenbach:
The Field (NoBusiness)
Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado's Motion Trio with cellist Miguel Mira and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini in his bands 7th full album, recorded live at the 2019 Vilnius Jazz Festival in Lithuania performing with special guest, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, for an extended improvisation of masterfully evolving changes and dynamics. ... Click to View
Joel Futterman:
Creation Series [5CD BOX SET] (NoBusiness)
Five major works in a Creation Series concept from pianist Joel Futterman, each disc presenting from 2 to 4 parts in an ambitious and accomplished set of solo improvisations that start simply with monophonics and evolve into increasingly complex and inspired works of incredible creative control; a masterful release reflecting a lifetime of innovation and inventiveness. ... Click to View
Total Music Association:
Walpurgisnacht (NoBusiness)
The first two tracks of this album reissue & remaster the 1971 self-released album by the German free jazz band Total Music Association of Hans-Jorg Hussong on (saxophones), Wilfried Eichorn (clarinet & sax), Andreas Boje (trombone), Erich Schroder (viola), Helmut Zimmer (piano), Matthias Boje (double bass) and Rudi Theilmann (drums), along with a 1988 studio session. ... Click to View
John Cage / Apartment House:
Number Pieces [4-CD BOX SET] (Another Timbre)
A 4-disc box-set with a 44-page booklet of extensive notes, presenting John Cage's Number Pieces which he wrote in the last five years of his life, adapted for mid-size ensembles and performed by the London-based ensemble Apartment House, compositions 'Five' to 'Fourteen' along with alternative versions of three of the pieces; significant and essential. ... Click to View
Mats Gustafsson / Otomo Yoshihide:
Duo / Timing (Doubtmusic)
Meeting at GOK Sound studio in Kichijoji, Japan in front of a small audience, Swedish baritone saxophonist Mats Gustafsson (The Thing, Fire!) also performing on flutephone and live electronics, and Otomo Yoshihide (Ground-Zero, Regenorchester) performing on guitar, turntable and banjo, recorded these eight amazing improvisations of unusual and unique attitudes and timing. ... Click to View
Thanos Chrysakis / Dawid Frydryk / Edward Lucas / Sue Lynch / Adrian Northover :
Five Shards (Aural Terrains)
The edges of electroacoustic improviser and composer Thanos Chrysakis' shards are sharpened by the quartet of Dawid Frydryk on trumpet & electronics, Edward Lucas on trombone, Sue Lynch on flute & tenor saxophone and Adrian Northover on soprano saxophone, as Chryaskis generates evocative sonic environments over which the four horns mysteriously interact. ... Click to View
Rick Countryman :
The First Bird (ChapChap Records)
Taking his inspiration from the concepts and work of German fractal image & video artist Joerg Wand, US-born and Philippines-based alto saxophonist Rick Countryman presents his first unaccompanied saxophone album, as he flows, winds and weaves his saxophone along rich peninsular curves to illustrate Wand's vision through fluid and sustained playing. ... Click to View
Machinefabriek:
CM_30 (Music for a performance by Kolja Huneck) (Not On Label (Machinefabriek Self-released) ‎)
Music written to accompany a light & juggling performance by German contemporary circus artist Kolja Huneck, Rutger Zuydervelt developing the compositions of these works using only short looping structures that weave and develop into a tapestry of sound, inspired by the repetitive motions of Kolja's performance and the 30 centimeter round discs with which he performs. ... Click to View
PEK Solo / An Orchestra of PEKs:
Coulombs (Evil Clown)
Recording as An Orchestra of PEKs--overdubbed tracks performing with his arsenal of metallic, percussive and electronics devices--intermediate mixes here of electric cello and electric upright bass through Moogerfooger stomp box and syntrix analog synthesizer and a metallic percussion mix, the various timbres interacting as a larger environment for PEK's reed improvisations. ... Click to View
