Seminal figures in the evolution of free or nonidiomatic improvisation, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist/pocket trumpeter John Stevens are heard in a 1989 London performance vividly captured by Michael Gerzon at The Duke of Wellington, their restless and enthusiastic interplay shifting from angular invention to lyrical reflection in a compelling document of their remarkable rapport.

Delivering his sixth Discus Music release in two years, saxophonist Paul Dunmall leads a dynamic nonet drawn largely from Birmingham's thriving scene, joined by guests Martin Archer, Corey Mwamba, and John Ball, their first-take performances balancing sharply honed compositions with spontaneous invention in a powerful suite that shifts between bluesy themes, lyrical reflection, and collective fire.

The trio of Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, and Mark Sanders on drums perform as Shifa, their 46-minute improvisation moving through fiery intensity and spacious reflection in a cohesive journey shaped by deep trust, attentive listening, and fearless exploration, captured live at London's Café Oto in 2023.

Bringing together two major figures of UK improvisation, saxophonist Larry Stabbins - long associated with innovators like Mike Westbrook, Keith Tippett, and Robert Wyatt - and percussionist Mark Sanders (Paul Dunmall, John Butcher, Veryan Weston, &c) in 2024 Bristol sessions captured with stunning clarity, their 1st-take performances unfolding as thoughtful, exploratory dialogs of texture, rhythm, and timbre.

Breaking away from their acoustic trio Bleyschool, the long-standing partnership of Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell reconfigure as Lifeline, trading piano, bass, and drums for keyboards, electroacoustic percussion, and electric guitar in a spontaneous studio performance that channels noise, dance, and rock energy into electrified free improv brimming with risk, tension, and surprise.

The tenth duo recording from pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura presents eight compositions of slow, lyrical beauty-seven by Tamura and one by Fujii-crafted with exquisite restraint and intimacy, as the long-time collaborators sustain a dignified atmosphere of quiet intensity and emotional depth, shaping silence and subtle detail into music of profound elegance.

An extraordinary 1996 Mixtery Studio encounter between pianist Borah Bergman, Anthony Braxton on a wide range of reeds, and Peter Brötzmann on saxophones, clarinet, and tárogató, balancing ferocious torrents of free jazz interplay with moments of surprising lyricism and abstraction, as three titans of improvisation push their individual voices into a thrilling collective dialogue.

Meeting for the first time at Café OTO in 2024, soprano saxophonist Evan Parker and guitarist Bill Nace on electric taishogoto create an extraordinary improvised duo, Parker's circular-breathed torrents entwining with Nace's drone-soaked dynamism, from raw intensity to transcendent stillness in a performance of unbounded spirit, deep resonance, and ecstatic liberation.

Guitarist Oren Ambarchi, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin return for their third ghost, expanding their collective language with looser and more immediate performances, their intricate focus and rhythmic precision balanced by playful excursions through ambient neo-jazz, post-kraut, minimal funk, and prog-like energy through an ever-evolving sonic architecture.

The fifth collaboration between composer-performers Eiko Ishibashi and Jim O'Rourke, reshaping material from their 2023 European tour into a vivid electroacoustic dialogue, layering live improvisations, acoustic fragments, and evolving digital textures into a kaleidoscopic sound world of subtle juxtapositions and fluid, unpredictable structures of color, resonance, and playfully reimagined form.

Celebrating three decades of collaboration, Loren Connors and Alan Licht performed at Café OTO in 2023, captured in their first set with Connors on piano before shifting to guitar, their improvisation unfolding with spacious warmth, melodic restraint, and shimmering textures that evoke Rothko-like hues, blending blues abstraction and lyrical fragments into a calm, luminous dialogue.

Recorded at Hackney Road Studios in London, vocalist, composer, and movement artist Elaine Mitchener presents her first solo LP, drawing on the works of African-American and African-Caribbean poets Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Aimé Césaire, Una Marson, and N.H. Pritchard, creating twelve vocal compositions that disrupt semantic sense through phonetic freedom, silence, and multiphonics.

Reuniting after four years, guitarist Hedvig Mollestad with Ellen Brekken and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad deliver six tracks that fuse hard rock riffing, progressive jazz, and psychedelic exploration, balancing raw power with nuanced improv, from searing grooves and shifting meters to poignant balladry, in seamless interplay of exhilaration and deep expression.

With more than a hundred albums behind them, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO unleash another ecstatic journey, a studio album blending swirling psychedelia, trance-inducing drones, cosmic synths, and Kawabata Makoto's searing guitar with hurdy-gurdy textures from Tomo Katsurada, heavy bass from Taigen Kawabe and soaring vocal layers, a kaleidoscopic ritual of boundless imagination.

The legendary trio Joseph Holbrooke — guitarist Derek Bailey, bassist Gavin Bryars, and drummer Tony Oxley — reunited after decades for one final performance in 2001, captured in this historic live recording that highlights their uncompromising commitment to free improvisation, the set resonating with both the radical spirit of their 1960s origins and the profound artistry of three pioneering voices in avant-garde music.

Harpist and composer Zeena Parkins, a defining voice in the Downtown NY experimental music scene for four decades, presents an extended work inspired by fearless Beat-era visual artist Jay DeFeo, performed with percussionist William Winant on an array of resonant bells and gongs, their collaboration weaving bold textures and hypnotic patterns into a richly expressive and deeply imaginative sound world.

Created for the Festival of New Trumpet Music, Dave Douglas leads a sextet with a trio of trumpeters — Douglas, Alexandra Ridout & Dave Adewumi — plus Patricia Brennan on vibes, Kate Pass on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums, their collaboration unfolding from Douglas' lyrical compositions that highlight the breadth of brass voices, collective interplay, and vibrant ensemble synergy.

Performing two Bill Dixon works alongside pieces by pianist Alexander Hawkins, Hawkins and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum unite in a deeply intuitive duo recorded live in New Haven, their spacious and lyrical exchange balancing improvisational freedom with structural grace as two distinct voices attuned to form, texture, and expressive subtlety.

The first meeting as a trio between Jaap Blonk on voice, Damon Smith on bass, and Michael Zerang on percussion, captured live in Chicago and continuing the Kontrans Improvisors series, bringing together three longstanding collaborators in new formation for an inventive and uncompromising set of free improvisation that highlights their commanding spontaneity and creative rapport.

The first collaboration between pianist Matthew Putman and drummer Francisco Mela, joined by bassist Hilliard Greene, in a trio whose remarkable chemistry balances lyrical melodies with adventurous free jazz, experimental energy, their performance radiating both spiritual intensity and the creative synergy of long-standing artistic bonds.

The first collaboration between pianist Matthew Putman and drummer Francisco Mela, joined by bassist Hilliard Greene, in a trio whose remarkable chemistry balances lyrical melodies with adventurous free jazz, experimental energy, their performance radiating both spiritual intensity and the creative synergy of long-standing artistic bonds.

Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman joins Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibes), Mark Helias (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums) in a tempered yet highly active quintet that nods to the blues, moving through free, melody-rich dialog; vibes replace piano to color the space as the group shifts from playful exchanges to surging peaks, their seemingly telepathic interplay balancing warmth and power.

Martin Küchen's Angles returns as an 11-piece — two trumpets, expanded reeds, vibraphone and amplified violin, Fender Rhodes/synth, and a three-drummer engine — lifting songful, anthemic themes into free, melody-rich interplay and propulsive grooves, the ensemble shifting from playful exchanges to surging peaks as its close-knit rapport balances warmth, bite, and momentum.

On a custom 7-string double bass, Paul Rogers delivers a powerful eight-part solo recital where deeply melodic lines and harmonically rich textures meet commanding technique — bowed chords, ringing harmonics and agile counterpoint — shaping fluid narratives that balance intensity and lyricism into a remarkable, satisfying journey.

An intimate and reflective duo album from Polish improvisers Marcin Halat on violin and Maciej Garbowski on bass, recorded in Wojkowice and exploring a conversational interplay that draws from jazz, contemporary, and classical traditions, as the long-time collaborators create spacious, subtle, and emotionally resonant dialogues marked by deep mutual understanding.

An historic document of Chicago's Extraordinary Popular Delusions in their final quintet performance with the late Mars Williams, recorded live in August 2023 at Elastic Arts Foundation, capturing Williams' fiery, life-affirming playing alongside Edward Wilkerson Jr. (tenor sax0, Jim Baker (piano & kesy), Brian Sandstrom (bass), and Steve Hunt (drums) in a two-set suite of fearless improvisation.

A searing trio of saxophonist Martin Escalante, bassist Tete Leguia, and drummer Charlie Mumma, captured across sessions in Nashville and Grand Rapids, unleashing an uncompromising pedal-free noise assault that fuses the extremity of free jazz with noise music intensity, their ferocious interplay creating dense, volatile structures that channel chaos into a raw, intuitive sonic onslaught.

An uncompromising solo debut from Mexican saxophonist Martin Escalante, recorded live in Japan and presenting an unrelenting storm of harsh acoustic noise without electronics, his ferocious technique transforming the saxophone into a raw conduit of layered textures, tones, and vocalizations for an intensely passionate and overwhelming performance.

A remarkable solo statement from Chicago pianist Erez Dessel (b.1998), whose explosive energy, intuitive form, and darkly Romantic lyricism channel influences from Cecil Taylor, Don Pullen, or even shades of Mussorgsky, while embracing playful contrarianism, captured in ten concise improvisations and presented with notes by pianist Sharon Udoh.

A chordless Bay Area quartet with Rob Ewing on trombone, Beth Schenck on alto saxophone, Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass, and Jordan Glenn on drums, performing original compositions from each member in playful, lyrical, and texturally rich improvisations that balance groove, swing, and exploratory ensemble interplay with an eclectic yet cohesive sound.

The legendary power trio of Caspar Brötzmann on long-scale electric guitar and voice with Saskia von Klitzing on drums and Eduardo Delgado Lopez on bass in two monumental live renditions of All This Violence, recorded in Vienna and Dresden, unleashing waves of searing guitar tone, crushing rhythm, and visceral intensity that move from furious protest to stark, haunted beauty.

Originally released in 1983 as Jean-Marc Foussat's sole solo statement for the next 18 years, Abattage is a frenetic musique concrète collage of Synthi AKS & VCS3 electronics, tapes, voice, guitar, piano and field recordings, reissued in a deluxe remastered edition with 32-page booklet that restores the intensity and inventiveness of his groundbreaking debut.

A rare meeting across four decades as guitarist Marc Dufourd and synthesist Jean-Marc Foussat revisit their Axolotl roots, juxtaposing the raw collage of their 1982 improvisations — feedback, fractured rhythms, and spectral melodies — with a 2023 counterpart of folk-tinged guitar, toys, and electronics, a reflective dialogue on time, memory, and soundÕs restless possibilities.

A relentless duo of Japanese drummer, vocalist and electronic artist Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei), with Mexican saxophonist Martín Escalante on alto and voice, captured live in Tokyo in fourteen explosive improvisations of blistering energy, searing noise, and sudden precision shifts, balancing chaotic abandon with uncanny control.

Recorded while on tour in Arizona, Denmark, and Sweden, experimental composer Chester Hawkins transforms keyboards, live loops, field recordings, synths, lapsteel, and music box into immersive and hallucinatory soundscapes, weaving tense, meditative, and otherworldly excursions that trace the shifting orbits of inner and outer space in vivid, exploratory detail.

Founding member of Bren't Lewiis Ensemble and Glands of External Secretion, and longtime driver of Bananafish magazine, Seymour Glass (as S*Glass) presents three 20-minute works of surrealist musique concrète, layering loops, cassettes, objects, organ, voice, and field recordings into unsettling yet strangely meditative sound collages that conjure fever dreams and altered states.

Recorded largely in an off-grid mountain hut, the fifth A Magic Whistle album finds Andy Puls uniting the chamber-folk intimacy and minimalist electronics of his earlier work into a vivid, wilderness-shaped soundscape where homemade sequencers, modular synths, guitars, whistles, and his resonant "Cascadian Sympathetic Steel" flow with field recordings and wordless voice.

A major work in Kassel Jaeger's catalog, blending musique concrète and electronic synthesis into a drifting, immersive soundscape across two LP sides, shifting through abstract environments rich with elusive textures and hidden detail, as subtle rhythms and concrete sounds evoke a sense of motion, memory, and a yearning that echoes the meaning behind the album's title: a deep longing to travel.

West Coast Bay Area guitarist Karl Evangelista leads his Apura ensemble — Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Francis Wong (tenor sax), Rei Scampavia (keys, electronics), and Lewis Jordan (alto sax) — joined by drum legend Andrew Cyrille in a powerful statement of free improvisation, blending expressive intensity and forward-looking vision with deeply rooted passion and creative openness.

A dynamic trio session from Frode Gjerstad on alto sax & clarinet, Alexander von Schlippenbach on piano, and Dag Magnus Narvesen on drums & percussion, their first collaboration unfolds in seven spontaneous improvisations that balance fierce intensity with lyrical openness, revealing a seasoned interplay that blends deep exploration with collective free jazz sensibility.

The debut of saxophonist Michael Foster, guitarist and banjo player Webb Crawford, and drummer Joey Sullivan, a free trio whose quirky yet technically impressive improvisations shift from sax shouts and overblown tones to frenetic banjo and guitar textures, driven by metallic percussion into a dense but dynamic interplay that combines raw energy with finely detailed, unpredictable explorations.

An immersive meeting of Berlin pianist Magda Mayas and Australian flutist Jim Denley, ffollowing up on their 2017 Relative Pitch release, Tempe Jetz, as they weave flutes, piano, and percussive objects into a delicately balanced exchange where subtle gestures and resonant detail create a patient yet gripping exploration of texture, breath, and sonic space.

The duo of bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel and alto saxophonist Daunik Lazro are captured live in 1980 at the Massy Library in France in an essential document of French free music, a marvel of liberated improvisation where Lazro's uncompromising voice meets Avenel's inspired and multifaceted playing, captured with clarity by engineer Jean-Marc Foussat in a performance both intense and deeply authentic.

The monumental 2-CD collaboration between Eugene Chadbourne and Jair-Rôhm Parker Wells submerges the listener in an expansive world of sound where acoustic and electric guitars meet upright and electric basses, modular processing, and sound design, with guest poet John Sinclair, shifting between ferocious intensity and spacious, patient passages in an exploration beyond melody and form.

The cross-continental trio of Cheryl E. Leonard, Tom Djll, and Bryan Day create an improvised electro-acoustic environment of equal voices, blending trumpet with attachments and electronics, invented instruments, homemade synths, driftwood, shells, bones, feathers, and field recordings in a dynamic performance recorded in Albany, NY and San Pablo, CA, mastered by Thomas Dimuzio.

A deeply introspective solo endeavor from New York bass clarinetist Katie Porter, blending live playing with layers of previously recorded bass clarinet for a slow-moving, richly textured improvisation; the artist creates an intimate, deep-register conversation that unfolds with emotional subtlety and immersive soundscapes.

A celebration of friendship, sound, and daily life, Hal McGeeÕs cassette + download release assembles dictaphone recordings from his June 2025 trip to Ohio, capturing conversations with Chris Phinney, Jeff Chenault, and Jerry Kranitz, the ambience of cafŽs, shops, and the Arts Fair, collaborative studio and live performances, and voices from the city, composed into a strangely compelling audio diary.

An archival punk document from JJ Gregg-better known now for his adventurous sitar work-this 1995 Seattle-area session with drummer Ryan Toliver captures the youthful energy of their Illinois-formed duo The Racing Pisshorses, recorded live to tape in under three hours and released here for the first time on 7" vinyl with download, a raw and spirited reminder of Gregg's formative years in DIY music.

A joyful and unpredictable meeting of Japanese quartet Kaze — pianist Satoko Fujii, trumpeters Natsuki Tamura and Christian Pruvost, and drummer Peter Orins — with avant-rock icon Koichi Makigami, recorded live in Lille in a kaleidoscopic blend of free improv, surreal humor, textural exploration, and exuberant interplay that celebrates spontaneity and sonic invention.

A long-awaited reunion between pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Hamid Drake, joined for the first time by bassist Brad Jones, captured live at the 2024 Konfrontationen Festival in Austria in three expansive improvisations, the trio's chemistry igniting in deep rhythmic interplay, fluid abstraction, and Graewe's seamless movement between jazz traditions and contemporary sensibilities.

Recorded live in 1982 at Paris' 28 rue Dunois, the trio of Daunik Lazro (alto saxophone), Tristan Honsinger (cello, vocals), and Jean-Jacques Avenel (double bass) create a spirited interplay of strings and reeds, shifting from intricate pizzicato and arco textures to exuberant collective outbursts, in a performance brimming with freedom, wit, and unbridled invention.

Recorded without an audience at Tokyo's Club Goodman in 2020 and later mixed for release, Koenjihyakkei's double live set spans their entire catalog, unleashing over 100 minutes of virtuosic Zeuhl that fuses progressive rock, jazz fusion, symphonic and neoclassical elements with punk energy, metal power, and dazzling ensemble interplay in a career-spanning, high-intensity performance.

Drawing on six decades of saxophone-bass-drums tradition yet rooted in the present, Christopher Kunz (saxophone), Isabel Rössler (contrabass), and Samuel Hall (drums, percussion) craft a vibrant 2023 Berlin session of intuitive, collective improvisation, balancing rhapsodic form, boundless technique, and inviting lyricism in a fresh, unifying statement of creative jazz.

Inspired by Ornette Coleman's harmolodic principles, vocalist Monica Nica Agosti leads Tommaso Iacoviello (trumpet), Tobia Bondesan (alto saxophone), Francesco Sarrini (double bass), and Giuseppe Sardina (drums) in a vibrant 2021 studio session in Arezzo, italy, blending free improvisation and deep ensemble interplay into an expressive and richly textured celebration of creative music.

An inspired meeting between Portuguese double bassist João Madeira and pioneering violinist Carlos Zingaro, recorded in 2023 in Barreiro, Portugal, their duo exploring a vast sonic terrain of lyrical interplay, textural bow work, and spontaneous counterpoint, moving from delicate introspection to angular abstraction with an intuitive rapport that bridges risk and curiosity.

A 2020 Berlin recording uniting British baritone saxophonist Simon Rose and German guitarist/electronic musician Nicola L. Hein in a richly textural duo of sustained microtonal guitar, gravelly saxophone rumbles, layered drones, and shifting intensities, balancing intense and sometimes corrosive abstraction with earthy, lyrical interplay.

Debuting as a trio after meeting on the Long Island scene, Tony Orzano (saxophone, clarinet), Bryan Rohmer (guitar, pedals), and Jeremy Wexler (drums) deliver an unplanned 2025 studio session of raw, high-energy interplay, blending avant-punk edge, noise textures, and free improvisation into an immersive, genre-defying set of inventive and electrifying sonic collisions.

A soulful and serene 1979 session from Sun Ra and his Arkestra, Sleeping Beauty brings lush grooves, celestial soul, and meditative funk through gently swaying vamps, gospel-tinged chants, and sublime ensemble interplay, featuring June Tyson's luminous vocals and understated performances that reveal a rare, late-night tranquility within Ra's cosmic jazz vision.

Uniting Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone and spoken word with violist Mat Maneri, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, and bassist Michael Bisio, this remarkable quartet of long-time collaborators and distinct musical voices forges a deeply cohesive work of lyrical chamber jazz and free improvisation, balancing individual expression with a collective language of striking originality and emotional depth.

A 17-piece ensemble of bowed and struck gongs directed by percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani, recorded live with local musicians from Ojai, California in 2023, creating massive resonant waves, shimmering overtones, and dynamic swells through real-time conduction, as Nakatani sculpts an immersive, communal sound world of meditative intensity and textural depth.

The third release from John ZornÕs jazz piano trio with Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith — following Ballades, Homenaje A Remedios Varo, The Fourth Way, and Suite for Piano — presents nine free-flowing works of boundless imagination, blending classical form and jazz interplay through telepathic communication, daring improvisation, and an ever-deepening creative rapport.

An essential document of Sun Ra's first European performances, recorded live in France in 1970 with a full Arkestra, delivering expansive, theatrical sets of cosmic jazz, ritualistic improvisation, and avant-garde fire, newly restored in a 4-CD box with rare photos, original programs, and liner notes that highlight the interstellar scope of these legendary concerts.

A 1st-time meeting of master improvisers Carlos Zingaro, Florian Stoffner, Fred Lonberg-Holm, and João Madeira, recorded live in Portugal and released for RSD 2025, weaving intricate and dynamic string textures in fourexploratory pieces, as the quartet spans generations and geographies in a focused set of multidimensional improvisation filled with subtle tension and layered interplay.

Recorded live at London's Café OTO in December 2023, this extraordinary collective of guitarists, bass clarinetists, contrabassists, and trumpet interprets works by Earle Brown, David Ryan, Christian Wolff, Morton Feldman, Thanos Chrysakis, and Tim Hodgkinson, capturing a single evening of adventurous performances that merge contemporary composition with improvisatory spirit.

For their fourth album and second on Bead, the duo light.box — Alex Bonney (trumpet, electronics) and Pierre Alexandre Tremblay (bass guitar, electronics) — join tenor saxophonist Tom Challenger for their first-ever performance as a trio, traversing cinematic drones, microtonal detail, rapid-fire exchanges, and waves of distortion in an immersive, exploratory session.

Recorded live at Saint Augustine's Wrangthorn in Leeds, UK, the duo of saxophonist Ed Jones and drummer Emil Karlsen bridge free jazz and free improvisation in a dynamic, low-key but deeply interactive session, emphasizing collective phrasing, evolving structures, and subtle momentum in an hour-long exploration of nuanced, expressive dialog.

A live 1999 document of four European improvisation masters — saxophonist Daunik Lazro, percussionist Paul Lovens, vocalist Annick Nozati, and pianist/accordionist Fred Van Hove — unfolding in two dynamic improvisations blending dramatic vocal invention, piano and accordion textures, dexterous percussion, and razor-sharp saxophone interplay, a visceral chamber of free expression.

A fiery live performance recorded at Instants Chavires in 2009, reuniting Marteau Rouge's raw and electrified trio of synth, guitar, and drums with saxophonist Evan Parker, erupting in extended collective improvisations that dissolve structure in favour of texture, power, sonic friction and ecstatic freedom through waves of noise, silence, combustion, and control.

The summer edition of Canada's premier music magazine, with cellist Rémy Bélanger de Beauport on the cover, plus articles on sound artist Lola de la Mata, global koto innovators, &c, with a diverse CD featuring new works by Edzi'u, Yoo Doo Right, Kathryn Patricia Cobbler, Rocío Cano Valiño, and others exploring electroacoustic, post-rock, improvisation, and contemporary composition.

A 50-minute continuous electronic composition created for choreographer Daniel Linehan's dance work of the same name, blending radiant energy, nostalgic nods to '90s electronic music, and a flowing sense of wonder, as composer Rutger Zuydervelt crafts a joyful, immersive score that evokes transformation, unity, and the ecstatic potential of sound and movement.

A one-track electroacoustic work composed and mixed by Lance Austin Olsen, combining amplified copper plate, shruti box, guitar, flute, found tapes, and processed objects with extended voice and sampler, forming a dynamic and unpredictable narrative that shifts between silence, tension, and resonance in a rich, scored soundscape of urban unease.

Boston-based trumpeter Lemuel Marc's solo album explores the physicality of breath and the mechanics of the trumpet in ten free improvisations recorded in New York between 2023 and 2024, embracing buzzing, flutter tonguing, and whisper tones in a non-idiomatic approach inspired by Wadada Leo Smith's notion that the trumpet is "really made out of air."

Guitarist John Welsh presents a deeply personal solo performance captured live at Solar Myth in Philadelphia in October 2024, bridging free improvisation with the creative tradition of Great Black Music, including an interpretation of the standard "Just Friends" alongside spontaneous explorations shaped by his ties to the NYC improv scene.

An inspired 2004 session uniting saxophonist and flutist Sam Rivers with vibraphonist Bryan Carrott, bassist Ben Street, and drummer Kresten Osgood in duets, trios, and quartets, weaving straight-ahead swing, lyrical balladry, and free improvisation through Rivers' distinctive tone, virtuosity, and ever-inventive musical vision.

Drawn from the same inspired 2004 session as Purple Violets, this set finds saxophonist and flutist Sam Rivers with bassist Ben Street and drummer Kresten Osgood in a series of intimate duets and expansive trios, blending original compositions and spirited interpretations with free improvisation, lyrical warmth, and Rivers' remarkable tone at the height of his creative powers.

A rich and spiritually resonant quintet featuring Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Juan Romero, and Kansan Zetterberg, drawing inspiration from Don Cherry's transcultural legacy as they weave meditative global grooves with donso n'goni, karignan, electronics, and deep improvisation into a vibrant and exploratory sonic journey.

Rooted in personal loss and global sorrow, this powerful quartet album from bassist Olie Brice stands apart from many of his collective projects by featuring his own compositions — deeply emotional pieces shaped by grief, love, and resilience — dedicated to mentors, loved ones, and poetic voices and performed with lyrical intensity and free jazz spirit by Brice, Musson, Hawkins, and Glaser.

An endlessly imaginative and intricately scored set of chamber works from John Zorn, performed by a virtuosic quartet of Hashimoto, Gosling, Smith, and Roeder, with electronics from Ikue Mori on one track, blending classical precision and improvisational fire in a dynamic and mischievous exploration of surrealist sound worlds.

A fierce and unrestrained duo of pure improvisation from longtime collaborators John Zorn on alto sax and Dave Lombardo on drums, merging seemingly telepathic interplay, raw intensity, and deep mutual respect in a freewheeling session that channels decades of creative friendship into a powerfully assertive and unpredictable musical dialog

A fiercely expressive and genre-defying second release from Matt Hollenberg's Shardik, blending avant-garde classical, math metal, free jazz, and world music in a searing and politically charged statement performed with virtuosic intensity by Hollenberg, Nagano, Jost, and Sher, delivering complex forms, daring harmonies, and relentless creative fire.

A remarkable first meeting between legendary Japanese pianist Masahiko Satoh and Greek guitarist Giotis Damianidis, recorded live in Chiba, Japan, where their distinct musical voices — acoustic piano steeped in classical and post-bop cadences and effects-laden electric guitar with rock overtones — intertwine in a boundary-erasing, expressive free improv set of intensity, elegance, and mutual discovery.

An expressive and unyielding ensemble led by pianist-composer Nicola Guazzaloca, with Edoardo Marraffa, Filippo Orefice, Luca Bernard, and Andrea Grillini joined by three bold guests, delivering cathartic and uncompromising modern jazz that balances melodic immediacy and incendiary improvisation in a fiercely dynamic and cohesive performance.

Drawing on poet Erica Hunt's sixty-part "Mood Librarian," composer Ingrid Laubrock presents a stunning 2-CD song cycle of miniature vocal duets — performed by an extraordinary ensemble including Fay Victor, Theo Bleckmann, Sara Serpa, and others — each piece a poetic and sonic fragment brought vividly to life with precision, emotion, and profound collaboration.

An unusual and deeply personal work from trombonist Sam Kulik, blending field recordings, voice, and layered acoustic and pre-recorded elements in a quirky, eccentric, and heartfelt conversation across time, presenting an imaginative and intimate meditation on life, death, and transformation through a uniquely expressive trombone-centered soundscape.

A meditative and immersive solo cello work from Lori Goldston, performed in one continuous take with amplifier and distortion pedal, unfolding in ten resonant segments that evoke the gradual transformation of light and landscape, offering listeners an expansive and contemplative space for breath, reflection, and quiet communion with the natural world.