Brulez les meubles (Beaudoin / Normand / Derome / Hollenbeck):
Tardiff [VINYL] (Tour de Bras / Ramble)

The Quebec project Brulez Les Meubles (Burn the Furniture) was conceived by long-time friends and contemporary jazz fans, bassist Eric Normand and guitarist Louis Beaudoin-de la Sablonniere, each collaboration inviting other musicians to join their warm & relaxed approach to modern jazz, here with Jean Derome on saxophone & flute and John Hollenbeck on drums. ... Click to View

Spaces Unfolding (Metcalfe / Wachsmann / Karlsen):
The Way We Speak (Bead)

All three having met in the London Improvisers Orchestra, Neil Metcalfe on flute and violinist Philipp Wachsmann each worked with drummer Emil Karlsen in separate projects including Tern, and then at Karlsen's suggestion creating this new Spaces Unfolding trio, heard in their first album, recording in the natural resonance of St. Mary's Old Church in Stoke Newington. ... Click to View

Imaginary String Trio, The (Wachsmann / Guastalla / Lash):
Imaginary Trio (Bead)

Formed from the merging of violinist Philipp Wachsmann's 2005 solo performance in Oxford in a concert that also included the duo of cellist Bruno Guastalla and bassist Dominic Lash, the trio then took that union into the studio under the name The Imaginary String Trio, producing this fascinatingly diverse and dexterous album of collective spontaneous improvisation. ... Click to View

Lih Kadim (Jaka Berger / Marko Jenic / Jure Borsic / Andre Bost Ruda / Jost Drasler / Vid Drasler):
Sunday Sextet (FMR)

With shared background in Slovik groups and ensembles including work with Szilárd Mezei and the Olfamoštvo ensemble, the Lih Kadim sextet of electroacoustic improvisers is heard in an exceptional 2021 concert of innovative and exploratory interaction, each recording taken from a successive night performing at the Cultural Centre, Bistrica Ob Sotli in Slovenia. ... Click to View

Weston Olencki:
Old Time Music [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Tripticks Tapes)

Multi-instrumentalist & experimental composer Weston Olencki in three historically-driven sound works, recording with saxophonist Anna Webber as they explore the tenor sax in jazz and recording studio technology; the banjo with bluegrass and the mechanized modernism of the Carolinas; and a pump organ with Sacred Harp hymnody and the aging marble industries of Vermont. ... Click to View

David Boyce / Phillip Greenlief:
Mystery School (Creative Sources)

A confluence of reeds from Bay Area saxophonists David Boyce and Phillip Greenlief, both performing on and professing an open love letter to the tenor saxophone, the positioning of each clear through stereo placement as they improvise seven dialogs of intent listening and tremendous technique, from high speed intertwining to introspective contemplation. ... Click to View

John Berndt:
New Logic For Old Saxophones (Creative Sources)

Using extended techniques, Baltimore-based saxophonist John Berndt--director of Multiphonic Choir ensemble, a member of the Red Room collective and curator of their experimental performance series, and creator of the "Relabi" style of arrhythmic pulse--presents 15 succinct improvisations pushing his reed instruments to their outer edges in astonishing ways. ... Click to View

Kelsey Mines:
Look Like (Relative Pitch)

The first complete solo release from Seattle, Washington bassist and vocalist Kelsey Mines, active in both classical music as a member of Yakima Symphony, Symphony Tacoma and the Paramount Orchestra, and as an improviser, here presenting a series of improvised solo-duets that explore how listening to our on-going internal dialogue helps us conjure honest, outward expressions. ... Click to View

Sean Meehan:
Magazine (Sacred Realism)

Working only with a cowbell from a charity shop in NYC, percussionist Sean Meehan, whose performances often take place in locations of unique resonant properties, discovered the Fort Jay powder magazine at Governor's Island--a compartment once used to store ammunition and explosives--using its sonic properties to capture these two recordings reflecting the original purpose of that space. ... Click to View

Samuel Blaser / Consort In Motion:
A Mirror To Madchaut (Songlines)

The Consort in Motion ensemble of Samuel Blaser on trombone, Joachim Badenhorst on bass clarinet, clarinet & tenor saxophone, Drew Gress on double bass, Russ Lossing on piano, Rhodes & Wulitzer and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion adapt the late medieval court music of Guillaume de Machaut and Guillaume Dufay into arrangements for modern creative improvisation. ... Click to View

Paul Bley Trios:
Play Annette Peacock, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Annette Peacock's response to the free-blowing loft scene was to compose using spacious intervals, allowing great harmonic and rhythmic freedom, inspiring pianist Paul Bley and his trio as heard in two unique interpretations of the same pieces from two exceptional working bands: one with bassist & drummer Mark Levinson & Barry Altschul, the other with Gary Peacock & Billy Elgart. ... Click to View

Miles Davis Quintet:
2nd Sessions 1956, Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Recorded in the same October 1956 Rudy Van Gelder sessions that are heard on Miles Davis' Cookin' and Steamin' albums, these alternate takes with his quintet of John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on double bass and Philly Joe Jones on drums give us a unique view on the consistency and strength of the famous and foundational hard bop band. ... Click to View

Claudio Sanna:
Compositori Sardi Contemporanei [2 CDs] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

An astonishingly diverse album of solo piano works performed by pianist and composer Claudio Sanna, performing works from eight Sardinian composers including his own, weaving improvisation, acousmatic & musique concrete elements, turntablism, electronics, inside piano playing, chalk-board writing and more into lyrical and experimental pieces that flow together exquisitely. ... Click to View

Blue Reality Quartet (McPhee, Joe / Michael Marcus / Jay Rosen / Warren Smith):
Ella's Island (Mahakala Music)

The 2nd album from the quartet of Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone, Warren Smith on vibraphone, Michael Marcus on reeds and Jay Rosen on drums, formed from a 2018 Jazzgalerie Nickelsdorf date with NY drummer Jay Rosen rounding out the quartet, this album extends their accessibly relaxed and creatively magnificent approach to free and structured jazz. ... Click to View

Chad Fowler / William Parker / Anders Griffen:
Thinking Unthinking (Mahakala Music)

Focusing on lyrically inclined grooves with a relaxed pace, the details and thoughtfully "unthought" playing from the NY trio of Chad Fowler on stritch, saxello & alto flute, William Parker on bass and Anders Griffen on drums, are heard in the Park West Studios in Brooklyn for three extended collective improvisations of passionate, expressive and empathetic playing. ... Click to View

The Attic (Amado / Almeida / Govaert):
Love Ghosts (NoBusiness)

The third release from the Portuguese trio of Rodrigo Amado on tenor saxophone, Gonçalo Almeida on double bass and Onno Govaert on drums in a studio album of assertively exploratory improvisation that builds from stark clarity to impressive hard blowing soloing and group interaction, an outstanding album of modern free jazz. ... Click to View

Rhodri Davies:
Dwa Dni (Amgen Records)

Two recording sessions yielding 15 recordings of solo harp improvisations in Rhodri Davies' fifth release on his Amgen imprint, beautifully intricate works from exuberant to introspective, with titles borrowed from the works of Lisa Jarnot, Ed Luker, Nathaniel Mackey, Redell Olsen, Sun Ra, Nisha Ramayya, Sarah Riggs and Leslie Scalapino, and cover art by Jean-Luc Guionnet. ... Click to View

Horace Tapscott Quintet:
Legacies For Our Grandchildren: Live In Hollywood, 1995 (Dark Tree Records)

The French Dark Tree label continues its curation of the unreleased material of West Coast pianist and band leader Horace Tapscott with this exuberant and substantial collection of live sessions at Catalina's Bar & Grill in Hollywood with Michael Session on saxophones, Thurman Green on trombone, Roberto Miranda on double bass, Fritz Wise on drums and vocal stylist Dwight Trible. ... Click to View

Mototeru Takagi / Kim Dae Hwan / Choi Sun Bae:
Seishin - Seido (NoBusiness)

A free jazz trio session from 1995 at Cafe Amores, in Hofu City, Japan from the trio of late tenor saxophonist Mototeru Takagi with Korean improvisers, late percussionist Kim Dae Hwan and Choi Sun Bae on trumpet, performing five thoughtful and expressive conversations with an often Ayler-esque flavor; inventive playing from lyrical charges to pointillistic interaction. ... Click to View

Mototeru Takagi / Kim Dae Hwan / Choi Sun Bae:
Seishin - Seido [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

A free jazz trio session from 1995 at Cafe Amores, in Hofu City, Japan from the trio of late tenor saxophonist Mototeru Takagi with Korean improvisers, late percussionist Kim Dae Hwan and Choi Sun Bae on trumpet, performing five thoughtful and expressive conversations with an often Ayler-esque flavor; inventive playing from lyrical charges to pointillistic interaction. ... Click to View

Gebhard Ullmann / Steve Swell / Hilliard Greene / Barry Altschul :
We're Playing In Here ? [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Substantial creative free jazz with compositions each from trombonist Steve Swell and reedist Gebhard Ullman, recording at Park West Studio in Brooklyn with Barry Altschul on drums and Hilliard Green on double bass, the structures of their compositions providing lyrical launch points for adept free soloing, amidst unusual and masterful technique and surprising asides; exceptional! ... Click to View

Yuji Takahashi / Sabu Toyozumi:
The Quietly Clouds And A Wild Crane (NoBusiness)

Better known for his work in avant compositional forms, both his own and as an interpreter of Xenakis and Toru Takemitsu, pianist Yuji Takahashi joined Japanese free jazz legendary percussionist Sabu Toyozumi in 1998 for this fully improvised live concert at C・S・Aka Renga, in Yamaguchi City, Japan, released in a collaboration with the Chap Chap label. ... Click to View

Yuji Takahashi / Sabu Toyozumi:
The Quietly Clouds And A Wild Crane [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Better known for his work in avant compositional forms, both his own and as an interpreter of Xenakis and Toru Takemitsu, pianist Yuji Takahashi joined Japanese free jazz legendary percussionist Sabu Toyozumi in 1998 for this fully improvised live concert at C・S・Aka Renga, in Yamaguchi City, Japan, released in a collaboration with the Chap Chap label. ... Click to View

Udo Schindler / Eric Zang Eriksson:
Blow & Swirl (FMR)

Udo Schindler follows his duo album with drummer Eric Zwang-Eriksson @ Salon fur Klang+Kuns, Poetry?? Ein Wurfelwurf with this recording at BASIS_Sound_Space at MUCCA - Munich Center of Community Arts in Munich, Schindler on sopranino & tenor saxophones and the deep TUBAX, interacting with Eriksson's rapid-fire and uniquely voiced drum & percussion work. ... Click to View

MMM Trio (Mascolo / Mira / Maglioccho):
Bridge In The Dark (FMR)

The MMM Trio of Carlo Mascolo on prepared trombone, Miguel Mira on cello and Marcello Magliocchi on drums & percussion recorded this album during a concert series in Puglia, Italy, placing each musician in a separate room with headphones, promoting the close listening and concentrated interaction each brings to their unusual approach to free improvisation. ... Click to View

Neumann / Smith / Graham / Rosenthal / Fujiwara / Ewen :
Quartet:Quartet:Trio [2 CDs] (Balance Point Acoustics)

A double album of electroacoustic improv sessions from Sommerville, MA, centered around electronic artist Andrew Neumann on the Buchla Music Easel--a complex additive analogue synth--heard in quartet and trio sessions with Forbes Graham (trumpet), Sandy Ewen (guitar & objects), Junko Fujiwara (cello), Damon Smith (double bass) and Eric Rosenthal (drums & percussion). ... Click to View

Hugo Costa / Raoul van der Weide / Onno Govaert :
Land Over Water (Creative Sources)

A collective trio in the free jazz idiom from Hugo Costa on alto saxophone, Raoul van der Weide on double bass & percussion objects and Onno Govaert on drums, recording in the studio in Rotterdam for two extended and two succinct improvisations, building their conversations from solo playing that gradually yields to group dialog of evolving intensity. ... Click to View

Dionee (Beriault / Servant / Normand):
Attrape-mouches (Tour de Bras / Circum-Disc)

Exploring the Venus Flytrap (dionée attrape-mouche) through a trio of electroacoustic improv, with the acoustic elements from Clarisse Beriault on oboe and acoustic bass and Robin Servant on accordion, bassist Éric Normand providing the electric foundation to their sly and savage improvisations, all three using electronics & effects to emulate the thigmonastic carnivore. ... Click to View

Kaluza / Steyer / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Mengersen:
Echoes In A Further Range (Creative Sources)

This string and reed quintet presents a fluid approach to chamber-oriented improv with dexterous melodic and harmonic motion, utilizing contemporary and jazz idioms as they create something masterfully unique; from Anna Kaluza on alto sax, Edith Steyer on alto sax & clarinet, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Ulf Mengersen on double bass. ... Click to View

Edward Jordan 'Kidd' / Joel Futterman / William Parker / Hamid Drake:
A Tribute to Alvin Fielder (Live at Vision Festival XXIV) (Mahakala Music)

Recorded at Vision Festival XXIV in June of 2019, legendary drummer Alvin Fielder's friends and long time partners Kidd Jordan on tenor saxophone, Joel Futterman on piano and William Parker on contrabass are joined by drummer/percussionist Hamid Drake for an emotional and potent swinging free jazz tribute to Fielder, who passed away in January of that year. ... Click to View