The Squid's Ear Magazine
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Albert Ayler Quintet
Copenhagen, Bordeaux 1966 & Newport 1967 Live First Release
(Thingamajig)

Previously unreleased recordings from the Albert Ayler Quintet — captured in Copenhagen and Bordeaux during the 1966 Newport in Europe tour and at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967 — present Ayler with Donald Ayler, Michel Samson, Bill Folwell, and Beaver Harris/Milford Graves in fiercely expressive performances, newly restored and mastered from rediscovered tapes.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Sama'a (Audition) [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)

Reimagining and transforming Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Jazz Sahara in their first studio session, the [Ahmed] quartet of Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal, and Seymour Wright ignite four compact, single-take explorations that fuse percussive intensity, kaleidoscopic group interplay, and a fearless reshaping of tradition into dizzying, future-leaning improvisation.


Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall)
Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.


Art Edmaiston / Chad Fowler w/ Bob Moses / Damon Smith / Clifford Jackson
Memphis Mandala
(Mahakala Music)

Recorded live at Crosstown Arts in Memphis in March 2024, this concert brought together Art Edmaiston, Chad Fowler, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Damon Smith and Clifford "Pee Wee" Jackson for a spiritually charged free jazz session that channels a deep Southern lineage, blending blues-rooted intensity with fearless collective improvisation into a cohesive, dramatic and wholly spontaneous performance.


Peter Brotzmann / Steve Hubback
Treforest 82
(FMR)

A previously unreleased duo encounter pairing Peter Brötzmann's ferocious saxophone with Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback's compact and inventive drum setup, captured at the 1982 Treforest festival in the UK in a brief but explosive burst of free improv where probing textures erupt into cathartic climaxes through raw, intensely focused interplay.


Davis / Ferrari / Mazza
Things Of This Nature
(Mahakala Music)

The quartet Things Of This Nature — Caylie Davis (trumpet), Chris Ferrari (woodwinds), Shogo Yamagishi (bass), and JJ Mazza (drums) — brings together a young generation of New York improvisers whose tight ensemble interplay, bold free jazz sensibility, and energetic collective approach draw deeply from the tradition while pushing their music toward fresh and expressive terrain.


Peter Brotzmann w/ Peter Uuskyla / Peter Friis Nielsen
Flying Feathers
(FMR)

Blazing through a set of raw, high-intensity free jazz, Peter Brötzmann joins Danish bassist Peter Friis Nielsen and Estonian drummer Peeter Uuskyla for a ferocious trio session where roaring saxophone and tarogato collide with clanking electric bass and trance-like percussion, balancing relentless energy with occasional lyrical openings in this fiercely driven improvisational encounter.


Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne (Dunois, April 2nd, 3d & 4th, 1981) [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)

The second edition of this essential box set corrects the recording date and resequences the performances, as the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs".


Daniel Carter / Steve Hirsh
Convocation
(Mahakala Music)

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter — performing on saxophones, flute, trumpet, and piano — joins drummer Steve Hirsh for a patient and deeply attentive duo session, their freely unfolding improvisations balancing Carter�s lyrical horn explorations with Hirsh�s fluid rhythmic pulse, creating a spacious, quietly swinging dialog that moves between meditation and intuitive co-creation.


Kenny Wheeler Sextet
What Was
(False Walls)

Produced by Evan Parker and drawn from a shelved 1995 studio date, this first full release of the Kenny Wheeler Sextet captures the flugelhorn master at 65 balancing post-bop sophistication with open-ended improvisation alongside Ray Warleigh, Stan Sulzmann, John Parricelli, Chris Laurence and Tony Levin, in harmonically rich compositions that favor nuance, collective trust, and deeply lyricism.


Mike Westbrook
The Piano In The Room And The Blues
(Thingamajig)

Recorded on a Steinway in the gallery of Falmouth Arts Centre, pianist Mike Westbrook delivers an introspective solo exploration of the blues, revisiting its forms — eight, twelve, sixteen, and extended bar structures — through spontaneous variations that blur improvisation and instant composition, blending traditional feeling with modern harmonic invention and the ambient sounds around him.


Rob Brown / Daniel Levin
Watching And Listening
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply attentive duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and cellist Daniel Levin exploring an open language of gestural improvisation, where pitch often yields to texture, motion, and sonic interaction, the pair's long-standing musical trust guiding a fluid exchange that shifts from delicate, exploratory passages to energized bursts of intertwined strings, reeds and curious asides.


Rodrigo Amado's The Bridge (Amado / Schlippenbach / Haker-Flaten / Hemingway)
Further Beyond
(Trost Records)

Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado leads his cross-generational quartet The Bridge — with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and drummer Gerry Hemingway — in three expansive performances that fuse the deep traditions of free jazz with spontaneous collective improvisation, balancing melodic soulfulness, structural interplay, and decades of shared creative experience.


Dave Sewelson (w/ Steve Swell / William Parker / Marvin Bugalu Smith)
More Music for a Free World
(Mahakala Music)

Baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson leads this collective quartet of New York associated players Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on bass, abd Marvin Bugalu Smith on drums, a masterful example of modern creative jazz with a strongly lyrical attitude, through two extended improvisations and ending with a shorter "Reflections"; exemplary free jazz.


Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez / Juan P. Carletti
Walkabout
(Mahakala Music)

An energetic trio session of collective free improvisation from NY alto saxophonist Rob Brown, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti, recorded in the studio and driven by an intense energy that maintains a powerful swing, with Brown's incisive phrasing, Lopez's commanding bass, and Carletti's dynamic percussion merging into a spontaneous and deeply expressive musical force.


Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply personal collaboration between pianists Eri Yamamoto and Matthew Shipp, recorded live in the studio with Yamamoto in the left channel and Shipp in the right, as Yamamoto marks thirty years in New York with a set of original compositions for this occasion, their distinctive voices intertwining in an elegant, searching, and harmonically rich conversation of friendship, individuality, and creative life.


Oliver Lake / Fred Hopkins / Phillip Wilson / Baikida Carroll / Michael Gregory Jackson
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 4
(NoBusiness)

Recorded during the mid-1970s loft-jazz flowering at Studio Rivbea in New York City, this live session finds Oliver Lake leading a volatile ensemble with Baikida Carroll, Michael Gregory Jackson, Fred Hopkins, and drummers Phillip Wilson and Jerome Cooper, blending post-BAG urgency, searching improvisation, and sharp ensemble interplay into a raw, idealistic document of creative rebirth.


Francois Houle / Georg Graewe
Music For Clarinet And Piano
(Random Acoustics)

A chamber-like duo meeting clarinetist François Houle with pianist/composer Georg Graewe in ten concise pieces that balance compositional form and spontaneous interaction, moving between lyrical passages, angular exchanges, and playful references to historical dance forms in an intimate dialogue between clarinet and piano.


Joe McPhee / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge
Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)

Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."


Michael Bisio
NuMBq
(Mahakala Music)

Bassist and composer Michael Bisio leads an exceptional quartet with Melanie Dyer on viola, Marianne Osiel on English horn, and Jay Rosen on percussion, blending Third Stream nuance with the fire of free jazz in an ever-flowing, deeply expressive set of improvisations, channeling rich orchestral textures and spontaneous interplay into a powerful and fluid genre-blurring journey.


Eliane Radigue
Asymptote Versatile (1963-64)
(Amgen Records)

An historic world-premiere recording of Éliane Radigue's earliest surviving work, performed at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where a stellar ensemble realizes her flexible "sonic proposition" through evolving textures, mathematical spirals and dynamic transformations that foreshadow her later visionary soundworld.


Bobby Naughton Trio (w/ Joe Fonda / Randy Kaye)
Housatonic Rumble (Live At Charlie's Tap)
(NoBusiness)

Balancing clarity with a free-thinking spirit, vibraphonist Bobby Naughton leads his trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Randy Kaye through original works alongside compositions by Anthony Braxton and Carla Bley, captured live at Charlie's Tap in Cambridge, MA in 1985, where lucid melodies, bowed bass lyricism and pointed drumming converge in a poised set that affirms Naughton's singular voice.


Jackson / Wilkerson / Baker / Ali / Ra
Ism
(Amalgam)

Fred Jackson, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Ishmael Ali, Jim Baker and Avreeayl Ra forge a dynamic quintet statement balancing methodical melody, relentless woodwind energy, subversive piano turns, resonant cello textures and inescapable rhythmic drive in a vivid document of Chicago collective improvisation, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain in 2022.


Bucher / Tan / Countryman
Nothing In Between
(FMR)

Recorded live at Tago in Quezon City, the trio of Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, Filipino bassist Simon Tan, and American expatriate alto saxophonist Rick Countryman deliver four extended collective improvisations, balancing Dolphy-inspired alto lines, resonant bass foundations, and fluid percussion in a dynamic set of spontaneous free jazz shaped through deep listening and long-standing musical rapport.


Ava Mendoza / Dave Sewelson
Of It But Not Is It
(Mahakala Music)

A spirited duo between guitarist Ava Mendoza and baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, moving fluidly between free improv, soulful grooves, and song-based pieces — including compositions by William Parker — with Mendoza's blues-tinged electric guitar and Sewelson's gritty saxophone and vocals creating a raw, expressive dialog that shifts from earthy lyricism to fiercely charged abstraction.


Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall)
Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.


Art Edmaiston / Chad Fowler w/ Bob Moses / Damon Smith / Clifford Jackson
Memphis Mandala
(Mahakala Music)

Recorded live at Crosstown Arts in Memphis in March 2024, this concert brought together Art Edmaiston, Chad Fowler, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Damon Smith and Clifford "Pee Wee" Jackson for a spiritually charged free jazz session that channels a deep Southern lineage, blending blues-rooted intensity with fearless collective improvisation into a cohesive, dramatic and wholly spontaneous performance.


Peter Brotzmann / Steve Hubback
Treforest 82
(FMR)

A previously unreleased duo encounter pairing Peter Brötzmann's ferocious saxophone with Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback's compact and inventive drum setup, captured at the 1982 Treforest festival in the UK in a brief but explosive burst of free improv where probing textures erupt into cathartic climaxes through raw, intensely focused interplay.


Davis / Ferrari / Mazza
Things Of This Nature
(Mahakala Music)

The quartet Things Of This Nature — Caylie Davis (trumpet), Chris Ferrari (woodwinds), Shogo Yamagishi (bass), and JJ Mazza (drums) — brings together a young generation of New York improvisers whose tight ensemble interplay, bold free jazz sensibility, and energetic collective approach draw deeply from the tradition while pushing their music toward fresh and expressive terrain.


Peter Brotzmann w/ Peter Uuskyla / Peter Friis Nielsen
Flying Feathers
(FMR)

Blazing through a set of raw, high-intensity free jazz, Peter Brötzmann joins Danish bassist Peter Friis Nielsen and Estonian drummer Peeter Uuskyla for a ferocious trio session where roaring saxophone and tarogato collide with clanking electric bass and trance-like percussion, balancing relentless energy with occasional lyrical openings in this fiercely driven improvisational encounter.


Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne (Dunois, April 2nd, 3d & 4th, 1981) [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)

The second edition of this essential box set corrects the recording date and resequences the performances, as the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs".


Daniel Carter / Steve Hirsh
Convocation
(Mahakala Music)

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter — performing on saxophones, flute, trumpet, and piano — joins drummer Steve Hirsh for a patient and deeply attentive duo session, their freely unfolding improvisations balancing Carter�s lyrical horn explorations with Hirsh�s fluid rhythmic pulse, creating a spacious, quietly swinging dialog that moves between meditation and intuitive co-creation.


Kenny Wheeler Sextet
What Was
(False Walls)

Produced by Evan Parker and drawn from a shelved 1995 studio date, this first full release of the Kenny Wheeler Sextet captures the flugelhorn master at 65 balancing post-bop sophistication with open-ended improvisation alongside Ray Warleigh, Stan Sulzmann, John Parricelli, Chris Laurence and Tony Levin, in harmonically rich compositions that favor nuance, collective trust, and deeply lyricism.


Mike Westbrook
The Piano In The Room And The Blues
(Thingamajig)

Recorded on a Steinway in the gallery of Falmouth Arts Centre, pianist Mike Westbrook delivers an introspective solo exploration of the blues, revisiting its forms — eight, twelve, sixteen, and extended bar structures — through spontaneous variations that blur improvisation and instant composition, blending traditional feeling with modern harmonic invention and the ambient sounds around him.


Rob Brown / Daniel Levin
Watching And Listening
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply attentive duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and cellist Daniel Levin exploring an open language of gestural improvisation, where pitch often yields to texture, motion, and sonic interaction, the pair's long-standing musical trust guiding a fluid exchange that shifts from delicate, exploratory passages to energized bursts of intertwined strings, reeds and curious asides.


Rodrigo Amado's The Bridge (Amado / Schlippenbach / Haker-Flaten / Hemingway)
Further Beyond
(Trost Records)

Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado leads his cross-generational quartet The Bridge — with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and drummer Gerry Hemingway — in three expansive performances that fuse the deep traditions of free jazz with spontaneous collective improvisation, balancing melodic soulfulness, structural interplay, and decades of shared creative experience.


Dave Sewelson (w/ Steve Swell / William Parker / Marvin Bugalu Smith)
More Music for a Free World
(Mahakala Music)

Baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson leads this collective quartet of New York associated players Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on bass, abd Marvin Bugalu Smith on drums, a masterful example of modern creative jazz with a strongly lyrical attitude, through two extended improvisations and ending with a shorter "Reflections"; exemplary free jazz.


Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez / Juan P. Carletti
Walkabout
(Mahakala Music)

An energetic trio session of collective free improvisation from NY alto saxophonist Rob Brown, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti, recorded in the studio and driven by an intense energy that maintains a powerful swing, with Brown's incisive phrasing, Lopez's commanding bass, and Carletti's dynamic percussion merging into a spontaneous and deeply expressive musical force.


Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply personal collaboration between pianists Eri Yamamoto and Matthew Shipp, recorded live in the studio with Yamamoto in the left channel and Shipp in the right, as Yamamoto marks thirty years in New York with a set of original compositions for this occasion, their distinctive voices intertwining in an elegant, searching, and harmonically rich conversation of friendship, individuality, and creative life.


Oliver Lake / Fred Hopkins / Phillip Wilson / Baikida Carroll / Michael Gregory Jackson
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 4
(NoBusiness)

Recorded during the mid-1970s loft-jazz flowering at Studio Rivbea in New York City, this live session finds Oliver Lake leading a volatile ensemble with Baikida Carroll, Michael Gregory Jackson, Fred Hopkins, and drummers Phillip Wilson and Jerome Cooper, blending post-BAG urgency, searching improvisation, and sharp ensemble interplay into a raw, idealistic document of creative rebirth.


Francois Houle / Georg Graewe
Music For Clarinet And Piano
(Random Acoustics)

A chamber-like duo meeting clarinetist François Houle with pianist/composer Georg Graewe in ten concise pieces that balance compositional form and spontaneous interaction, moving between lyrical passages, angular exchanges, and playful references to historical dance forms in an intimate dialogue between clarinet and piano.


Joe McPhee / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge
Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)

Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."


Michael Bisio
NuMBq
(Mahakala Music)

Bassist and composer Michael Bisio leads an exceptional quartet with Melanie Dyer on viola, Marianne Osiel on English horn, and Jay Rosen on percussion, blending Third Stream nuance with the fire of free jazz in an ever-flowing, deeply expressive set of improvisations, channeling rich orchestral textures and spontaneous interplay into a powerful and fluid genre-blurring journey.


Eliane Radigue
Asymptote Versatile (1963-64)
(Amgen Records)

An historic world-premiere recording of Éliane Radigue's earliest surviving work, performed at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where a stellar ensemble realizes her flexible "sonic proposition" through evolving textures, mathematical spirals and dynamic transformations that foreshadow her later visionary soundworld.


Bobby Naughton Trio (w/ Joe Fonda / Randy Kaye)
Housatonic Rumble (Live At Charlie's Tap)
(NoBusiness)

Balancing clarity with a free-thinking spirit, vibraphonist Bobby Naughton leads his trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Randy Kaye through original works alongside compositions by Anthony Braxton and Carla Bley, captured live at Charlie's Tap in Cambridge, MA in 1985, where lucid melodies, bowed bass lyricism and pointed drumming converge in a poised set that affirms Naughton's singular voice.


Jackson / Wilkerson / Baker / Ali / Ra
Ism
(Amalgam)

Fred Jackson, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Ishmael Ali, Jim Baker and Avreeayl Ra forge a dynamic quintet statement balancing methodical melody, relentless woodwind energy, subversive piano turns, resonant cello textures and inescapable rhythmic drive in a vivid document of Chicago collective improvisation, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain in 2022.


Bucher / Tan / Countryman
Nothing In Between
(FMR)

Recorded live at Tago in Quezon City, the trio of Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, Filipino bassist Simon Tan, and American expatriate alto saxophonist Rick Countryman deliver four extended collective improvisations, balancing Dolphy-inspired alto lines, resonant bass foundations, and fluid percussion in a dynamic set of spontaneous free jazz shaped through deep listening and long-standing musical rapport.


Ava Mendoza / Dave Sewelson
Of It But Not Is It
(Mahakala Music)

A spirited duo between guitarist Ava Mendoza and baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, moving fluidly between free improv, soulful grooves, and song-based pieces — including compositions by William Parker — with Mendoza's blues-tinged electric guitar and Sewelson's gritty saxophone and vocals creating a raw, expressive dialog that shifts from earthy lyricism to fiercely charged abstraction.


Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp
Amalgam
(Mahakala Music)

A series of succint conversations between long-time collaborators, saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp, each of twelve parts of their improvisation connecting through a shared approach and language, an unhurried but far-reaching set of dialogs from reflective to quick-witted exchanges in discourse that only two such masterful players could maintain.


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.


Jason Stein / Marilyn Crispell / Damon Smith / Adam Shead
Live at the Hungry Brain [VINYL]
(Trost Records)

Captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain in 2023, this cross-generational quartet brings pianist Marilyn Crispell together with the trio of Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Damon Smith (double bass), and Adam Shead (drums), unfolding two expansive collective improvisations that shift from fiery free jazz to lyrical and contemplative passages, balancing propulsion with fluid interplay and expressive dialogue.


Horatiu Radulescu
Clepsydra / Astray [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

Romanian-French composer Horatiu Radulescu with 2 works from 1983: "Clepsydra" for 16 Sound Icons played on a sideway piano, and the 1984 work "Astray" for 6 saxophones and Sound Icons.


Zoh Amba / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

New generation New York tenor saxophonist Zoe Amba, a Tennessee transplant whose spirit is illuminated with free styles that harken back to Ayler, recording in the studio with a trio of luminary players--William Parker on bass and Francisco Mela on drums--performing three Amba compositions, one featuring Amba on flute; the CD edition contains one bonus improvisation.


Francisco Mela / Zoh Amba
Causa y Efecto, Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second volume of powerful free playing and intimate conversation bringing together two New York-based improvisers, Cuban native drummer/percussionist Francisco Mela and Tennessee native reed & wind player Zoh Amba, both sharing a mountain region upbringing that brings a uniquely reflective quality to their playing, fortified by the exploratory NY improv scene.


Eva Novoa Trio (w/ Carter / Mela)
The Freedom Suite, Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Brooklyn pianist Eva Novoa joins saxophonist Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela for the second volume of The Freedom Suite, a set of twelve pieces blending piano, Rhodes, harpsichord, gongs, and vocals with Carter's multi-reed brilliance and Mela's Cuban-inflected drumming, creating an urgent, intimate, and fluidly improvised dialogue of words, sound, and fearless imagination.


Evan Parker / Andrea Centazzo
Bullfighting On Ice! Live In Padova 1977 [VINYL]
(Ictus Remastered Collection)

Restored from the December 12, 1977 Padova concert, Evan Parker's soprano/tenor torrents collide with Andrea Centazzo's percussion and electronics, turning audience heckles into rocket fuel as long, scorching sequences leap from whispering key-click detail to volcanic blasts, capturing a decisive moment when Italy's free scene opened wide to Northern Europe's most inventive sax voice.


Luigi Nono
A Carlo Scarpa; A Pierre Dell'Azzurro Silenzio, Inquietum; Guai ai Gelidi Mostri [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

3 works by composer Luigi Nono: "A Carlo Scarpa" for orchestra; "A Pierre..." for bass flute, bass clarinet and live elektronics; and "Guai ai Gelidi Mostri" for ensemble, voices and live elektronics.


The Thing
Boot! [VINYL]
(The Thing Records)

The sixth studio album from the trio of Mats Gustafsson (saxophones), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (electric bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), the first release on their own label, a record that transforms rock, noise, and improv in intense and exultant ways.


Chaos Echoes w/ Mats Gustafsson
Sustain [VINYL - transparent blue]
(Utech Records)

A thick and sick album of heavy electro-improvisation when the French quartet Chaos Echoes of brothers Ilmar Uibo on drums & percussion and Kalevi Uibo on guitar and effects, Fabien W. Furter on guitar and effects, and Stefan Thanneur on bass and effects meets with baritone saxophone Mats Gustafsson for two intense and dark tracks cut to transparent blue vinyl.


Cooper-Moore / Stephen Gauci
Conversations Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The first of two volumes from legendary Downtown NY pianist Cooper-Moore and saxophonist Stephen Gauci, recorded after a seven-month residency at Happylucky No. 1 Gallery in Brooklyn, allowing the two players to develop a natural dialog of unique and idiosyncratic approaches to their instruments, resulting in these 6 commanding recordings freely improvised in the studio.


Oceans Roar 1000 Drums
[VINYL]
(Sacred Realism)

Their first proper vinyl release since forming in 2008, this studio album recorded in Berlin finds Berlin saxophonist and electronic artist Bryan Eubanks, double bassist Andrew Lafkas, and NY drummer & cymbal player Tod Capp in an extended and dark improvisation, with Catherine Lamb's "secondary rainbow synthesizer" interacting and filtering their work as a 4th member.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


Francisco Mela feat. Cooper-Moore / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, the trio of Francisco Mela on drums, Cooper-Moore on piano and William Parker on bass, recording in the studio in Brooklyn two extended, far reaching and powerful collective improvisations of music performed under the influence of Mela's work with, mentorship by and encouragement from pianist McCoy Tyner.


John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble
Volume 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second of two volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.


Zoh Amba / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 2 [COLOR VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second volume from the trio of Tennessee-to-NYC transplant Zoe Amba on tenor saxophone & flute, legendary double bassist William Parker and Francisco Mela on drums, performing three compositions by Amba recorded in the studio in NYC; emphatic free jazz with a powerful rhythm section elucidating Amba's spiritually fueled approach to compelling, lyrical improvisation.


John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble
Volume 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The first of two planned volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.


Daniel Carter / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Inspired by a poem Carter wrote about New York's interminable motion, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this first of two planned volumes from an excellent studio session.


Ken Vandermark / Hamid Drake
Eternal River [VINYL]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Focused on the music of Don Cherry and recorded at Corbett vs. Dempsey's gallery space on the closing day of an exhibit of art by Cherry's partner Moki Cherry (whose tapestry "Spirit" is the LP's cover) this concert finds drummer Hamid Drake, who lived with the Cherry family in Sweden, and Ken Vandermark on tenor sax, reworking medleys of Cherry's tunes from across his discography.


Derek Bailey / Simon H. Fell
At Sound 323 [VINYL 180gm WHITE 2 LPs]
(Confront)

The full performance of legendary improvising guitarist Derek Bailey's 2001 exhilarating duo with bassist Simon H. Fell at Sound 323, originally released as a mini-CD and voted record of the year in 2002 by The Wire, then released on CD and now as a deluxe 2 LP set on 180gm White Vinyl.


Francisco Mela featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing.


[ism] (Pat Thomas / Joel Grip / Aontonin Gerbal)
Maua [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Recordings from the Berlin club Au Topsi Pohl where the [ism] piano trio of Pat Thomas on piano, Joel Grip on double bass and Antonin Gerbal on drums played 4 nights in a row, May 18-21, 2022, Thomas performing on a Bösendorfer grand piano, creating an omnipresent and precise sound that drove the band to great heights of interactive, warmly diverse playing.


Darius Jones
Legend of e'Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(Aum Fidelity)

The seventh chapter in Darius Jones' visionary Man'ish Boy series, this powerful trio recording with Gerald Cleaver and Chris Lightcap presents five new compositions and a Lomax-arranged spiritual, confronting themes of Black mental health, trauma, and healing through richly expressive alto saxophone, deep rhythmic interplay, and emotional resonance.


Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio
Vol.1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Brooklyn-based Eva Novoa's new trio with sax legend Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela debuts with their first volume, featuring compositions inspired by the four elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — and a Cuban piece, blending Novoa's piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and gongs with Carter's sax and Mela's rhythms for vibrant, free-flowing interplay.


The Necks
Bleed [VINYL BLACK]
(Northern Spy)

The ever-chameleonic Australian trio The Necks — featuring Chris Abrahams on piano and keyboards, Tony Buck on drums & guitar, and Lloyd Swanton on bass — explore electronic stillness in this 42-minute, single-track composition, evolving from a meditative opening through rich textures and sonic spaces to a beautifully structured conclusion, offering a rewarding and captivating journey.


Bang / Duch / Honore / Toop / Wastell
Wunderkammer [VINYL]
(Confront)

A collaborative tribute to Nordic poet Nils Christian Moe-Repstad (1972-2022), Wunderkammer blends live recordings from Punkt Festival 2023 with Moe-Repstad's 2014 voice recordings, as Jan Bang, Erik Honoré, Michael Francis Duch, David Toop, and Mark Wastell weave a spectral and meditative ea-improv work of minimalism, poetic tension, and reverent sonic exploration.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Sama'a (Audition) [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)

Reimagining and transforming Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Jazz Sahara in their first studio session, the [Ahmed] quartet of Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal, and Seymour Wright ignite four compact, single-take explorations that fuse percussive intensity, kaleidoscopic group interplay, and a fearless reshaping of tradition into dizzying, future-leaning improvisation.


Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall)
Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.


Art Edmaiston / Chad Fowler w/ Bob Moses / Damon Smith / Clifford Jackson
Memphis Mandala
(Mahakala Music)

Recorded live at Crosstown Arts in Memphis in March 2024, this concert brought together Art Edmaiston, Chad Fowler, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Damon Smith and Clifford "Pee Wee" Jackson for a spiritually charged free jazz session that channels a deep Southern lineage, blending blues-rooted intensity with fearless collective improvisation into a cohesive, dramatic and wholly spontaneous performance.


Peter Brotzmann / Steve Hubback
Treforest 82
(FMR)

A previously unreleased duo encounter pairing Peter Brötzmann's ferocious saxophone with Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback's compact and inventive drum setup, captured at the 1982 Treforest festival in the UK in a brief but explosive burst of free improv where probing textures erupt into cathartic climaxes through raw, intensely focused interplay.


Davis / Ferrari / Mazza
Things Of This Nature
(Mahakala Music)

The quartet Things Of This Nature — Caylie Davis (trumpet), Chris Ferrari (woodwinds), Shogo Yamagishi (bass), and JJ Mazza (drums) — brings together a young generation of New York improvisers whose tight ensemble interplay, bold free jazz sensibility, and energetic collective approach draw deeply from the tradition while pushing their music toward fresh and expressive terrain.


Peter Brotzmann w/ Peter Uuskyla / Peter Friis Nielsen
Flying Feathers
(FMR)

Blazing through a set of raw, high-intensity free jazz, Peter Brötzmann joins Danish bassist Peter Friis Nielsen and Estonian drummer Peeter Uuskyla for a ferocious trio session where roaring saxophone and tarogato collide with clanking electric bass and trance-like percussion, balancing relentless energy with occasional lyrical openings in this fiercely driven improvisational encounter.


Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne (Dunois, April 2nd, 3d & 4th, 1981) [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)

The second edition of this essential box set corrects the recording date and resequences the performances, as the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs".


Daniel Carter / Steve Hirsh
Convocation
(Mahakala Music)

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter — performing on saxophones, flute, trumpet, and piano — joins drummer Steve Hirsh for a patient and deeply attentive duo session, their freely unfolding improvisations balancing Carter�s lyrical horn explorations with Hirsh�s fluid rhythmic pulse, creating a spacious, quietly swinging dialog that moves between meditation and intuitive co-creation.


Kenny Wheeler Sextet
What Was
(False Walls)

Produced by Evan Parker and drawn from a shelved 1995 studio date, this first full release of the Kenny Wheeler Sextet captures the flugelhorn master at 65 balancing post-bop sophistication with open-ended improvisation alongside Ray Warleigh, Stan Sulzmann, John Parricelli, Chris Laurence and Tony Levin, in harmonically rich compositions that favor nuance, collective trust, and deeply lyricism.


Mike Westbrook
The Piano In The Room And The Blues
(Thingamajig)

Recorded on a Steinway in the gallery of Falmouth Arts Centre, pianist Mike Westbrook delivers an introspective solo exploration of the blues, revisiting its forms — eight, twelve, sixteen, and extended bar structures — through spontaneous variations that blur improvisation and instant composition, blending traditional feeling with modern harmonic invention and the ambient sounds around him.


Rob Brown / Daniel Levin
Watching And Listening
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply attentive duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and cellist Daniel Levin exploring an open language of gestural improvisation, where pitch often yields to texture, motion, and sonic interaction, the pair's long-standing musical trust guiding a fluid exchange that shifts from delicate, exploratory passages to energized bursts of intertwined strings, reeds and curious asides.


Rodrigo Amado's The Bridge (Amado / Schlippenbach / Haker-Flaten / Hemingway)
Further Beyond
(Trost Records)

Portuguese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado leads his cross-generational quartet The Bridge — with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and drummer Gerry Hemingway — in three expansive performances that fuse the deep traditions of free jazz with spontaneous collective improvisation, balancing melodic soulfulness, structural interplay, and decades of shared creative experience.


Dave Sewelson (w/ Steve Swell / William Parker / Marvin Bugalu Smith)
More Music for a Free World
(Mahakala Music)

Baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson leads this collective quartet of New York associated players Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on bass, abd Marvin Bugalu Smith on drums, a masterful example of modern creative jazz with a strongly lyrical attitude, through two extended improvisations and ending with a shorter "Reflections"; exemplary free jazz.


Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez / Juan P. Carletti
Walkabout
(Mahakala Music)

An energetic trio session of collective free improvisation from NY alto saxophonist Rob Brown, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti, recorded in the studio and driven by an intense energy that maintains a powerful swing, with Brown's incisive phrasing, Lopez's commanding bass, and Carletti's dynamic percussion merging into a spontaneous and deeply expressive musical force.


Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply personal collaboration between pianists Eri Yamamoto and Matthew Shipp, recorded live in the studio with Yamamoto in the left channel and Shipp in the right, as Yamamoto marks thirty years in New York with a set of original compositions for this occasion, their distinctive voices intertwining in an elegant, searching, and harmonically rich conversation of friendship, individuality, and creative life.


Oliver Lake / Fred Hopkins / Phillip Wilson / Baikida Carroll / Michael Gregory Jackson
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 4
(NoBusiness)

Recorded during the mid-1970s loft-jazz flowering at Studio Rivbea in New York City, this live session finds Oliver Lake leading a volatile ensemble with Baikida Carroll, Michael Gregory Jackson, Fred Hopkins, and drummers Phillip Wilson and Jerome Cooper, blending post-BAG urgency, searching improvisation, and sharp ensemble interplay into a raw, idealistic document of creative rebirth.


Francois Houle / Georg Graewe
Music For Clarinet And Piano
(Random Acoustics)

A chamber-like duo meeting clarinetist François Houle with pianist/composer Georg Graewe in ten concise pieces that balance compositional form and spontaneous interaction, moving between lyrical passages, angular exchanges, and playful references to historical dance forms in an intimate dialogue between clarinet and piano.


Joe McPhee / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge
Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)

Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."


Michael Bisio
NuMBq
(Mahakala Music)

Bassist and composer Michael Bisio leads an exceptional quartet with Melanie Dyer on viola, Marianne Osiel on English horn, and Jay Rosen on percussion, blending Third Stream nuance with the fire of free jazz in an ever-flowing, deeply expressive set of improvisations, channeling rich orchestral textures and spontaneous interplay into a powerful and fluid genre-blurring journey.


Bobby Naughton Trio (w/ Joe Fonda / Randy Kaye)
Housatonic Rumble (Live At Charlie's Tap)
(NoBusiness)

Balancing clarity with a free-thinking spirit, vibraphonist Bobby Naughton leads his trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Randy Kaye through original works alongside compositions by Anthony Braxton and Carla Bley, captured live at Charlie's Tap in Cambridge, MA in 1985, where lucid melodies, bowed bass lyricism and pointed drumming converge in a poised set that affirms Naughton's singular voice.


Jackson / Wilkerson / Baker / Ali / Ra
Ism
(Amalgam)

Fred Jackson, Edward Wilkerson Jr., Ishmael Ali, Jim Baker and Avreeayl Ra forge a dynamic quintet statement balancing methodical melody, relentless woodwind energy, subversive piano turns, resonant cello textures and inescapable rhythmic drive in a vivid document of Chicago collective improvisation, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain in 2022.


Bucher / Tan / Countryman
Nothing In Between
(FMR)

Recorded live at Tago in Quezon City, the trio of Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, Filipino bassist Simon Tan, and American expatriate alto saxophonist Rick Countryman deliver four extended collective improvisations, balancing Dolphy-inspired alto lines, resonant bass foundations, and fluid percussion in a dynamic set of spontaneous free jazz shaped through deep listening and long-standing musical rapport.


Ava Mendoza / Dave Sewelson
Of It But Not Is It
(Mahakala Music)

A spirited duo between guitarist Ava Mendoza and baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson, moving fluidly between free improv, soulful grooves, and song-based pieces — including compositions by William Parker — with Mendoza's blues-tinged electric guitar and Sewelson's gritty saxophone and vocals creating a raw, expressive dialog that shifts from earthy lyricism to fiercely charged abstraction.


Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp
Amalgam
(Mahakala Music)

A series of succint conversations between long-time collaborators, saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp, each of twelve parts of their improvisation connecting through a shared approach and language, an unhurried but far-reaching set of dialogs from reflective to quick-witted exchanges in discourse that only two such masterful players could maintain.


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.


Daniel Carter / Evan Strauss / 5-Track / Sheridan Riley
The Uproar In Bursts Of Sound And Silence
(577 Records)

A collage of styles and experimentation developed over several years by bassist and multi-instrumentalist Evan Strauss, using long-form graphically notated conceptual compositions based on bird calls along with thematic material from Ursula K. Le Guin, expanded with narration and poetry from Daniel Carter and titled from an excerpt by Virginia Woolf.


15 Corners of the World / Eugeniusz Rudnik
Motion Picture Sound Essay
(Bolt)

Eugeniusz Rudnik composes a tour-de-force of electroacoustic audio in a sound essay based on the soundtrack to Zuzanna Solakiewicz's award-winning movie "15 Corners of the World", reworked to stand alone as a stunning and thought-provoking audio work.


Nate Wooley
The Complete Syllables Music [4 CD Box Set]
(Pleasure of the Text Records)

Composer, improviser, and trumpet player Nate Wooley continues to cement his place as an American iconoclast by releasing the complete recordings of his revolutionary solo [Syllables] compositions as a deluxe 4 CD set consisting of two reissues of out-of-print early works: 8 [Syllables] (2013) and 9 [Syllables] (2014) as well as the premiere recording of his 150 minute epic For Kenneth Gaburo.


Chaos Echoes w/ Mats Gustafsson
Sustain [VINYL - transparent blue]
(Utech Records)

A thick and sick album of heavy electro-improvisation when the French quartet Chaos Echoes of brothers Ilmar Uibo on drums & percussion and Kalevi Uibo on guitar and effects, Fabien W. Furter on guitar and effects, and Stefan Thanneur on bass and effects meets with baritone saxophone Mats Gustafsson for two intense and dark tracks cut to transparent blue vinyl.


London Experimental Ensemble
Child Ballads
(Split Rock Records)

Drawn from 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland alongside their American variants, anthologised by Francis James Child during the second half of the nineteenth century, are here sung by Ed Pettersen in the fascinating intersection of traditional lyrics and experimental interpretations of melodies, performed by the 11-piece London Experimental Ensemble.


Gerald Cleaver
Signs
(577 Records)

Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.


Oceans Roar 1000 Drums
[VINYL]
(Sacred Realism)

Their first proper vinyl release since forming in 2008, this studio album recorded in Berlin finds Berlin saxophonist and electronic artist Bryan Eubanks, double bassist Andrew Lafkas, and NY drummer & cymbal player Tod Capp in an extended and dark improvisation, with Catherine Lamb's "secondary rainbow synthesizer" interacting and filtering their work as a 4th member.


Ayumi Ishito
The Spacemen Vol. 1
(577 Records)

Somewhere between Acid Mothers, 70s Miles or Sun Ra's Arkestra, NY-based Japanese saxophonist Ayumi Ishito's first Spacemen volume with Theo Woodward on synth & vocals, Nebula and the Velvet Queen on theremin, Jake Strauss on guitar & bass and Steven Bartishev on drums, lives up to it's cosmic moniker through exploratory improv blurring jazz, electronica and psych.


Hprizm
Signs Remixed
(577 Records)

577 Records' experimental, electronic sub-label Positive Elevation releases this remix of Gerald Cleaver's Signs album, itself an innovative album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, here reworked by producer Hprizm, aka High Priest of Antipop Consortium, channeling Cleaver's work into dream-like territory that re-thinks and re-paces the original.


Kevin Corcoran / Giacomo Salis / Paolo Sanna
Sul Filo [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tsss Tapes)

Initiating like a jet shaking the sky, the trio of Kevin Corcoran on percussion & objects, Giacomo Salis on percussion, objects & field recordings and Paolo Sanna on percussion & objects create otherworldly sonic environments that project collapsing and ringing events above often turbulent foundations, creating side-long journeys that engage through mysterious and surmisable sound.


Rutger Zuydervelt
Banzo (music for a film by Margarida Cardoso)
(Self Released)

Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, composes the soundtrack for the film Banzo, written and directed by Margarida Cardoso, rich ambient music from melancholy to optimistic warmth, reflecting the tone and story of a plantation in 1907 plagued by starvation and suicide, and the doctor who decides to heal them by trying to understand what is affecting their soul.


Liang Yiyuan / Li Daiguo
Sonic Talismans [VINYL]
(Full Spectrum)

Bridging Chinese folklore and avant-garde exploration, yangqin innovator Liang YiYuan and multi-instrumentalist Li Daiguo conjure an entrancing tapestry of shadowy textures and melodic splinters on this long-form collaboration — recorded in Yunnan and blending traditional Eastern timbres with free improvisation and experimental form in a deeply narrative, otherworldly sonic journey.


111 (Michelle / Villamil)
Live at Opus 40 [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Notice Recordings)

The duo of Chantal Michelle and Grace Villamil transform the monumental land sculpture of Opus 40 into a resonant instrument, layering voice and electronics with field recordings and audience interactions to create an immersive, spatially dynamic performance of ambient tension and sonic obliteration, masterfully teetering between composed sound, environmental resonance, and blooming noise.


Eric La Casa / Jerome Noetinger
Off Tracks
(erstwhile)

Compositions from Éric La Casa and Jérôme Noetinger built from site recordings made while exploring buildings emptied of their activities, crossing spaces abandoned by their occupants and drifting through the ghostly traces of vanished presence, revealing a mysterious electroacoustic force that lingers within the shifting textures of these emptied environments.


Daniel Carter / Evan Strauss / 5-Track / Sheridan Riley
The Uproar In Bursts Of Sound And Silence
(577 Records)

A collage of styles and experimentation developed over several years by bassist and multi-instrumentalist Evan Strauss, using long-form graphically notated conceptual compositions based on bird calls along with thematic material from Ursula K. Le Guin, expanded with narration and poetry from Daniel Carter and titled from an excerpt by Virginia Woolf.


Orlov-Davydovsky, Georgy
Borderline Psychosonic Environments
(Love Earth Music)

Working alone with electronics, radios, field recordings, homemade instruments, and voice, Georgy Orlov-Davydovsky constructs immersive electro-acoustic pieces shaped by specific physical environments, layering noise, drone, and fragile gestures into meditative sound narratives that explore borderline psychosonic listening states through dense textures and unstable sonic detail.


+D:A+
III
(Love Earth Music)

Dan Greenwood and Steve Davis fuse noise-driven textures and unpredictable sonic collisions into an uncompromising experimental work on III, channeling their rooted DIY and extreme aesthetics into fractured soundworlds that confront, unsettle, and expand the boundaries of underground audio exploration.


Flojter (Mats Gustafsson / Delphine Joussein)
Paris Blow
(Utech Records)

The debut from the duo Flöjter brings together Mats Gustafsson and Delphine Joussein, both collaborators in Fire! Orchestra and Nout, in a wild live encounter expanding the sonic possibilities of the flute, weaving extended techniques, electronics, organ, harmonica and voice into a volatile, exploratory dialogue that moves between raw texture, rhythmic drive and spacious abstraction.


Tony Lugano / Frank Rosaly
Pistas
(Utech Records)

Rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traditions yet intent on dismantling them, Tony Lugano and Frank Rosaly engage drums and electronics in a dense, dialogic exploration where traditional Caribbean patterns are fragmented into indiscernible matrices and charged sonic fields, transforming percussion into an act of cultural remembrance, resistance and deeply physical free improvisation.


Kenneth Kirschner
Three Compositions
(Sirr.ecords)


Jordan Paul Topiel / Bryan Eubanks
Pushovers
(Sacred Realism)

Exploring the volatile meeting point of acoustic percussion and electronics, Jordan Topiel Paul uses amplified snare drum to generate rattling friction, taut rhythmic fragments, and metallic resonance while Bryan Eubanks' modular synthesis answers with unstable pulses and evolving textures, the duo constructing a tense and detailed electroacoustic dialog where rhythm, noise, and timbre continually blur and reform.


Tyshawn Sorey
Monochromatic Light (Afterlife)
(DaCamera Editions)

Composed and conducted by Tyshawn Sorey, this expansive work presents a luminous, long-form meditation inspired by Morton Feldman's Rothko Chapel, blending voice, strings, keyboards and percussion into a deeply contemplative soundscape of spiritual fragments, sustained tonal color and quiet emotional intensity, realized by soloists Davóne Tines, Kim Kashkashian, Sarah Rothenberg, Steven Schick and the Houston Chamber Choir.


Horatiu Radulescu
Clepsydra / Astray [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

Romanian-French composer Horatiu Radulescu with 2 works from 1983: "Clepsydra" for 16 Sound Icons played on a sideway piano, and the 1984 work "Astray" for 6 saxophones and Sound Icons.


Josef Riedl Anton
Klangregionen 1951-2007
(Edition Rz)

Two CD set of electronic and concrete compositions from German composer Riedl, with recordings from Siemens-Studio for elektronische Musik and Studio for konkrete Musik.


Jani Christou
Enantiodromie / Praxis / Epicycle / Anaparastasis III / Mysterion / Anaparastasis I / Praxis For 12
(Edition Rz)

7 works by Greek composer Jani Christou performed by the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunkorchester Hanover, NDR, Ensemble "musik unserer zeit", and Christou himself.


Luigi Nono
A Carlo Scarpa; A Pierre Dell'Azzurro Silenzio, Inquietum; Guai ai Gelidi Mostri [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

3 works by composer Luigi Nono: "A Carlo Scarpa" for orchestra; "A Pierre..." for bass flute, bass clarinet and live elektronics; and "Guai ai Gelidi Mostri" for ensemble, voices and live elektronics.


Dane Rudhyar
Works For Piano
(Hat [now] ART)

Pianist Steffen Schleiermacher plays six spiritual pieces by composer Dane Rudhyar that are not meant to be analyzed and thought about, but to be felt and experienced.


Christian Wolff / Wandelweiser Komponisten Ensemble
Stones
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)

Antoine Beuger, Burkhard Schlothauer, Chico Mello, Jurg Frey, Kunsu Shim, Michael Pisaro-Liu, and Thomas Stiegler participate in this realization of Christian Wolff's compositions to make sounds or draw sounds out of stones, alone or with other surfaces, acoustically or amplified.


Christian Wolff
Exercise 15
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)

Carl Ludwig Hubsch (tuba); Ole Schmidt (bass clarinet); Chris Weinheimer (bass flute); Robert Schleisiek (piano); and Tom Lorenz (vibraphone) interpret Christian Wolff's composition based on "Union Maid", a song from the 1920's, transforming the work through temporal expansion.


Morton Feldman
Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello
(Another Timbre)

Morton Feldman's final composition, originally premiered in 1987, here performed by pianist Mark Knoop, violinist Aisha Orazbayeva, violist Bridget Carey, and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze, recording a year after their successful performance at London's Cafe Oto, maintaining focus and concentration on this large, unhurried work of micro-variations.


John McCowen
Mundanas I - V
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)

Two clarinetists--John McCowen, also the composer, and Madison Greenstone, both on clarinet & bass clarinet--taking the title from Boethius' (427-524 AD) printed work on ancient Greek music: "De institutione musica", as they generate long-form drones using the harmonic interactions and interference patterns of similar tones, overtones, and difference tones; impressively intense.


Morton Feldman (Judith Wegmann)
Triadic Memories [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

The second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about that reality, the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman attempted to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard here in Judith Wegmann's 2019 recording, where thThe second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman worked to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard her in Judith Wegmann's 2019 studio recording where that space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.at space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.


Peter Ablinger
Augmented Study (2012)
(Sacred Realism)

Austrian composer Peter Ablinger wrote this study, which is not intended for live performance, using a violin performing a slow glissando over one octave, here performed by violinist Johnny Chang, the recording then composed in the studio as a proportion canon, virtually layering 16 violins in a study displaying the harmonic interactions of that single glissando.


Catherine Lamb / Harmonic Space Orchestra
Prisma Interius VII 7 VIII
(Sacred Realism)

Two hauntingly beautiful works in microtonal composer and violist Catherine Lamb's "Prisma Interius" series, the first a duo with violinist Johnny Change and Xavier Lopez on the "secondary rainbow synthesizer", which channels the sound outside of the performance space as a generator of ambient sound; then a sextet of strings and winds with two secondary rainbow synthesizers.


Jim O'Rourke / Apartment House
Best That You Do This For Me
(Another Timbre)

The UK ensemble Apartment House commissioned this work from composer & experimenter Jim O'Rourke based on their performance of other O'Rourke works, here interpreting a new graphic score designed like a sonic mobile, creating a minimal yet episodic piece of flexible interpretation as the performers whistle, hum and quietly sing in combination with bowed harmonics.


Modney (Modney / Wooley / Gentile / Roberts / Pluta / Symthe / ...)
Ascending Primes [2 CDs]
(Pyroclastic Records)

Exploring tuning systems and the extremes of harmonicity and dissonance through compositions that employ prime numbers of players in solo, trio, quintet, septet, and undectet (11) configurations, violinist Modney takes listeners into transcendent and turbulent spaces spanning improvisation and composition, detailed in a 24-page booklet with collages from Ellsworth Kelly.


Manuel Zurria
Fame di Vento [3 CDs]
(ANTS Records)

A triple CD and 24-page booklet of recordings from Italian flutist and composer Manuel Zurria performing works by luminary composers including Alvin Lucier, James Tenney, Tashi Wada, Jürg Frey, Laurence Crane, &c., with an homage to Italian conceptual artist Alighiero Boetti, each CD punctuated with Preludes and Postludes performed with guest saxophonist Gianni Gebbia.


Satoko Fujii GEN String Ensemble
Altitude 1100 Meters
(Libra)

Celebrating her 65th birthday with her first compositions for strings, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii writes for the specific musicians of GEN, a sextet of violin, viola, bass, piano, electronics, and drums, in a suite inspired by Nagano's mountain views, leveraging microtonal string techniques for an expressive and texturally rich sonic landscape.


John Zorn / JACK Quartet
The Complete String Quartets [2 CDs]
(Tzadik)

The JACK Quartet presents definitive interpretations of John Zorn's eight string quartets, composed between 1988-2017, in a two-disc album presenting Zorn's evolution through avant-garde techniques and deep musical traditions, with virtuosic performances of intricate works like "Cat O'Nine Tails", "Memento Mori", or "Necronomicon"; includes a 36-page booklet of notes, scores, and insights.


Jean-Jacques Birge
Perspectives Du Xxiie Siecle
(Musee d'ethnographie de Geneve)

Commissioned by Geneva's Museum of Ethnography, Jean-Jacques Birgé crafts a richly imaginative sonic fiction using field recordings, archival folk material, and electroacoustic composition, with a remarkable ensemble including Nicolas Chedmail, Antonin-Tri Hoang, Jean-François Vrod, Sylvain Lemêtre, and Else Birgé, evoking a post-human journey through reinvention and memory.


Laura Steenberge
Piriforms
(Sacred Realism)

Exploring the ethereal resonance of chant through intimate compositions for solo to quartet voice and bass flute, Laura Steenberge draws on the mysticism of medieval music, performed by Rebecca Lane, Catherine Lamb, Julia Holter, Yannick Guédon, and Evelyn Saylor in nuanced layers that reveal harmonic shadows, breath-bound relationships, and otherworldly sonic artifacts.


Julia Eckhardt
Blanca
(Another Timbre)

Developed during a residency in the Spanish town of Blanca, violist Julia Eckhardt's eight compositions trace daily walks through the arid hills as sound, image, and memory, each piece born from field recordings, photographs, and improvisations that echo the wind-swept landscape, transforming the act of walking and listening into meditative musical reflection.


Eldritch Priest
Dead-Wall Reveries
(Another Timbre)

Three chamber works from Canadian composer Eldritch Priest trace his distinctive blend of lyric drifting and restless detail, from a fragile, noise-tinged string quartet to a reflective solo piano piece and a shifting, daydream-like ensemble work, each drawing on his interest in improvisation, ambiguity, and melodies that wander with deliberate aimlessness.


Morton Feldman / GBSR Duo w/ Taylor MacLennan
Trios [6 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)

Spanning Morton Feldman's three expansive trios for flute, piano, and percussion, these performances by the GBSR Duo with Taylor MacLennan immerse the listener in an extended temporal field where quiet intensity, precise timbral balance, and fragile rhythmic relationships unfold with hypnotic patience, transforming duration itself into an expressive element of listening, presence, and sustained attention.


John Bruschini
Cecil Ensorcelled
(Bru Note)

Solo guitarist John Bruschini channels lessons from his tenure with Cecil Taylor into a series of sculptural improvisations that deconstruct and reconstruct melodic and harmonic ideas, presenting a reflective and adventurous exploration of the guitar's expressive possibilities shaped by an avant-garde lineage.


Henry Cow
Unrest (Remastered)
(Recommended Records)


Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere
02
(Discus)

An absolutely impressive album blending advanced/progressive rock forms with improvisation, starting from collective improvisation and layering in the studio to create a sophisticated psychedelic music, the second album from this ensemble that is headed by Martin Archer (reeds & keys), Chris Bywater (keys & synth), and Steve Dinsdale (drums & percussion).


Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
03
(Discus)

The improvising rock group Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, led by Martin Archer, Chris Bywater, and Steve Dinsdale, in their 3rd album of innovative improvisation, haunting hypnotic grooves and blasts of sheer exuberance, with the band augmented by strings and trombone to give them a larger and more intense sound.


Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
(Discus)

The debut release of the UK improvising rock group Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, co-led by Martin Archer & Chris Bywater, in a double CD blending kosmische musik, space rock, and contemporary classical, an improbable meeting between Ligeti, Klaus Schulze, & Quarkspace, supplemented at times by a string quartet, a sax quintet, and a 25-piece mixed choir.


Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
Theta Four
(Discus)

Declaring Terry Riley, Magma, Krautrock, and Sun Ra as influences, this is the fourth album from wind and keyboard player Martin Archer's Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, an augmented six-piece UK ensemble whose rock affinities also embrace improvisation and minimalism, a heady mix of virtuosic playing with melodic intention and extremely detailed tapestries of sound; dreamy and elegiac.


Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere
Theta Five
(Discus)

The 5th album from the UK collective improvising progressive rock band of reedist Martin Archer, drummer Steve Dinsdale, bassists Lorin Halsall & Terry Todd, percussionist Walt Shaw, keyboardist Andy Peake, violinist Yvonna Magda and string player & vocalist Jad Todd, merging acoustic and electronic instruments in rich and often dreamlike forms that flow with spirited refinement.


Steve MacLean
Box Of Seven [7 CD BOX]
(Recommended Records)

A 7-CD retrospective from guitarist and composer Steve MacLean collecting decades of inventive work, from chamber jazz-rock and electronics to playful sound experiments, including Frog, Bug, Guitar, Computer, the Steve MacLean Ensemble�s GPS, the Chris Cutler-featured Year of the Dragon, the double-CD Bridges, Ordinary Objects and Other Distractions, and the long out-of-print Radial Circuit.


Uneven Eleven (Segers / Hawyard / Kawabata)
Live In Brighton
(Discus)

A ferocious meeting of three seasoned innovators, this live set from Charles Hayward (drums, vocals), Guy Segers (bass), and Kawabata Makoto (guitar) channels decades of rock, punk, psychedelia, and free improvisation into an explosive power trio performance, where raw energy, shifting polyrhythms, and searing intensity collide in a fiercely immediate and unfiltered sonic assault captured on stage in Brighton in 2013.


Tore Elgaroy / Henry Kaiser
The Sound of the Stars
(New Noise)

Uniting Norwegian guitarist Tore Elgarøy with American experimentalist Henry Kaiser, this collaborative set unfolds as a cosmic free improv dialogue of layered textures, electric shimmer, and exploratory interplay, blending ambient atmospheres with rock-tinged abstraction in a fluid, intuitive exchange that highlights both players' distinct voices and shared appetite for sonic adventure.


Joe Morris
Perpetual Frontier The Properties of Free Music [BOOK]
(Riti Publishing)

Joe Morris wrote this book to discuss aspects of free music, including responses to his questionnaire written by Joe McPhee, William Parker, Jamie Saft, Ken Vandermark, Marilyn Crispell, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, Matthew Shipp, &c.


Cecil Taylor Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray)
Live At Fat Tuesday's February 10, 1980 First Visit [CD + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

The 2nd night of the superb, extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.


Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall)
Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.


Art Edmaiston / Chad Fowler w/ Bob Moses / Damon Smith / Clifford Jackson
Memphis Mandala
(Mahakala Music)

Recorded live at Crosstown Arts in Memphis in March 2024, this concert brought together Art Edmaiston, Chad Fowler, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Damon Smith and Clifford "Pee Wee" Jackson for a spiritually charged free jazz session that channels a deep Southern lineage, blending blues-rooted intensity with fearless collective improvisation into a cohesive, dramatic and wholly spontaneous performance.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Sama'a (Audition) [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)

Reimagining and transforming Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Jazz Sahara in their first studio session, the [Ahmed] quartet of Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal, and Seymour Wright ignite four compact, single-take explorations that fuse percussive intensity, kaleidoscopic group interplay, and a fearless reshaping of tradition into dizzying, future-leaning improvisation.


Albert Ayler Quintet
Copenhagen, Bordeaux 1966 & Newport 1967 Live First Release
(Thingamajig)

Previously unreleased recordings from the Albert Ayler Quintet — captured in Copenhagen and Bordeaux during the 1966 Newport in Europe tour and at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967 — present Ayler with Donald Ayler, Michel Samson, Bill Folwell, and Beaver Harris/Milford Graves in fiercely expressive performances, newly restored and mastered from rediscovered tapes.


AMM with Sachiko M
Testing
(Matchless)

A rare meeting between Japanese minimalist Sachiko M and AMM's Eddie Prévost and John Tilbury, recorded in 2004 at London's Museum of Garden History, where sine wave precision meets tactile percussion and spacious piano in an intricate electroacoustic improvisation that explores silence, texture, and the fragile tension of deep collective listening.


Steve Lacy Three
Live Lugano 1984 - First Visit [CD + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Recorded live in Lugano in 1984, Steve Lacy's trio with guitarist Barry Wedgle and bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel reimagines his compositions in an intimate and transparent setting, where Lacy's masterful soprano saxophone carves precise yet expressive lines, drawing on influences from poetry, Monk, and visual art to create a striking balance between structure and improvisation.


Thelonious Monk with Sonny Rollins
1953 To 1957 Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Restoring and remastering three key sessions documenting the evolving creative relationship between Thelonious Monk and Sonny Rollins, alongside artists including Julius Watkins, Ernie Henry, Oscar Pettiford, and Max Roach, in a vital revisitation of formative collaborations that highlight Monk's unique brilliance and Rollins' early improvisational voice within shifting post-bop ensembles.


Ellery Eskelin Trio New York
About (or On), First Visit [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reuniting for two powerful studio sessions recorded in 2011 and 2013, tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, organist Gary Versace, and drummer Gerald Cleaver form Trio New York, navigating an intuitive path between free improvisation and jazz standards with soulful depth, rich allusions, and a shared language that reimagines the classic organ trio.


Albert Ayler with Don Cherry
1964 Recordings First Visit Completed [2 CDs + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Four sets of recordings from September, 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark from a week performing live at Club Montmarte, and a recording in Hilversum, The Netherlands for VARA Radio, collecting and remastering these vital recordings from tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's most vital free jazz quartet with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums.


Joe Henderson / Kenny Dorham / Andrew Hill / McCoy Tyner
Our Thing to In 'N Out Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Joe Henderson, alongside Kenny Dorham and Andrew Hill, revisits the essence of the 'New Thing' in jazz with the remasters and reissues of Our Thing to In 'N Out, showcasing mastery of both conservative and adventurous impulses through a sly blend of inside and outside tactics, marked by intricate solos and dynamic group interplay that highlight the evolving soundscape of early 60s Blue Note recordings.


Eliane Radigue
Asymptote Versatile (1963-64)
(Amgen Records)

An historic world-premiere recording of Éliane Radigue's earliest surviving work, performed at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where a stellar ensemble realizes her flexible "sonic proposition" through evolving textures, mathematical spirals and dynamic transformations that foreshadow her later visionary soundworld.


Albert Ayler Trio
Prophecy Live, First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Recorded live at New York City's Cellar Café in June 1964, this essential document captures Albert Ayler, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray in a pivotal moment of spiritual free jazz, expressing motifs like 'Ghosts' and 'Spirits' into an ecstatic, ever-evolving language, with this remastered edition offering a refined perspective on a landmark session that shaped Ayler's uncompromising vision.


Jimmy Lyons
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 3
(NoBusiness)

Continuing NoBusiness' series of historic loft concerts at Sam Rivers' Studio Rivbea, alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons leads a quintet featuring bassoonist Karen Borca, bassist Hayes Burnett, and drummers Henry Letcher and Syd Smart in two electrifying 1970s performances, delivering fervent free jazz marked by intricate interplay and dynamic improvisation.


Teiku (Harlow / Taylor / Shahid / Formanek / Leafar)
Teiku
(577 Records)

Teiku, a Talmudic acronym that roughly translates to "unanswered question", was co-founded by pianist Josh Harlow and percussionist Jonathan Barahal Taylor to explore each of their family's unique Passover vocal melodies through improvisation and sonic exploration, performed in a quintet with Art Ensemble/Sun Ra bassist Jaribu Shahid and reedists Peter Formanek & Rafael Leafar.


Byron Coley / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore
Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings (1960-80) [BOOK]
(Ecstatic Peace Library )

Drawing from deeply personal listening histories, this richly illustrated volume assembles 100 essential free jazz and improvisation recordings from 1960-80, presenting album art, notes, and reflections that frame the music as non-hierarchical and interlinked, offering an immersive guide for adventurous listeners interested in the lineage, spirit, and lived culture of creative freedom.


Joe Maneri / Tyson Rogers / Jacob Braverman
In The Shadow, First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Capturing a multidimensional dialogue through breathy microtones, atonal piano fragments, and ambiguous percussion, Joe Maneri on sax and clarinet, Tyson Rogers on piano, and Jacob Braverman on drums craft abstract improvisations exploring the delicate interplay of shadow and light, revealing emotional nuances and identity in richly layered, spontaneous constructions of impressive expressive intensity.


Karl Evangelista's Apura + Andrew Cyrille
Bukas
(577 Records)

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.


Derek Bailey / John Stevens
The Duke of Wellington
(Confront)

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.


Evan Parker / Joelle Leandre
Long Bright Summer
(RogueArt)

Drawing on decades of fearless improvising, saxophonist Evan Parker and bassist Joëlle Léandre engage in an intense and unfiltered acoustic dialogue recorded live in France, their shared language enabling lightning reactions, extended techniques, surges of density and flow, hushed textural intimacy, and moments where Léandre's wordless voice merges seamlessly into their spontaneous interplay.


Cecil Taylor Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray)
Live At Fat Tuesday's February 9 - First Visit Archive [CD + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

A superb and extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.


Ornette Coleman
Free Jazz To Ornette! Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Exploring further the concepts of free jazz, saxophonist Ornette Coleman's back-to-back 1961 & 62 albums find the composer and innovator in a ground-breaking double quartet that includes Eric Dolphy, Don Cherry & Freddie Hubbard, Scott LaFaro & Charlie Haden, and Billy Higgns & Ed Blackwell; then with quintet with Scott LaFaro temporarily taking Charlie Haden's chair.


Alan Niblock / John Butcher / Mark Sanders
Tectonic Plates
(577 Records)

A formidable trio debut from Irish double bassist Alan Niblock with British improvisers John Butcher on saxophones and Mark Sanders on drums and percussion, recorded live at The Black Box in Belfast and unfolding across five tectonically inspired pieces that channel collective intuition, dynamic interplay, and seismic shifts of intensity and form.


Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.


Peter Brotzmann / John Edwards / Steve Noble / Jason Adasiewicz
The Quartet [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)

One of Peter Brötzmann's final recordings, captured live at Cafe OTO with vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, bassist John Edwards, and drummer Steve Noble, presenting two nights of emotionally charged and fiercely expressive performances that blend power, lyricism, and deep intergenerational connection in a fitting and resonant farewell to the legendary saxophonist.


Morton Feldman / GBSR Duo w/ Taylor MacLennan
Trios [6 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)

Spanning Morton Feldman's three expansive trios for flute, piano, and percussion, these performances by the GBSR Duo with Taylor MacLennan immerse the listener in an extended temporal field where quiet intensity, precise timbral balance, and fragile rhythmic relationships unfold with hypnotic patience, transforming duration itself into an expressive element of listening, presence, and sustained attention.


Anthony Braxton
Solo Bern 1984 First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Thirteen years after his breakthrough solo saxophone album For Alto, Anthony Braxton is heard in an inventive solo concert on the same instrument, performing at the Altes Schlachthaus Theatre in Bern, Switzerland for a set of original numbered compositions, the standards "Alone Together" and "I Remember You", and two Coltrane pieces: "Giant Steps" and "Naima".


John Coltrane Quartet (w/ Tyner / Garrison / Jones)
Impressions From Graz 1962, Revisited [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Expanding and remastering the 2019 single CD of John Coltrane's Quartet from its European tour in the fall of 1962, with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, performing at Stefaniensaal in Graz, Austria, beautifully recorded by ORF Steiermark and now presented in both volumes, showcasing Coltrane's lyrical roots and growing free inclinations.


Paul Bley Trio
Floater & Syndrome - The Upright Piano Sessions, Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Revisiting and remastering two albums from Paul Bley's formative trio years with Steve Swallow on double bass and Pete LaRoca Sims on drums, recorded in Newark, NJ, from 1962-63 but unreleased until the 1980s on Savoy Jazz, as Bley explores Carla Bley's compositions alongside his own, reshaping the piano trio dynamic with a balance of free and lyrical approaches to jazz.


Eye Contact (Lavelle / Heyner / Sawyer)
War Rug
(KMB Jazz)

The New York free improvising trio of Matthew Heyner (Test, Malkuth) on bass, Matt Lavelle on trumpet and clarinet and Ryan Sawyer (Tall Firs, Stars Like Fleas) on drums in the follow-up to their 2005 Utech double CD "Embracing The Tide / Making Eye Contact With God", an impressive release of expressive technique and ritualistic drive.


Von Schlippenbach, Alexander / Barry Altschul Quartet w/ Joe Fonda & Rudi Mahal
Free Flow [2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

A first-time meeting of four free jazz luminaries — pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul, and bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall — captured live in Vienna, delivering a vibrant and exploratory double CD of spontaneous interplay, deep lyricism, and uncompromising freedom from a quartet of master improvisers united in real-time invention.


John Butcher / John Edwards
This Is Not Speculation
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

A remarkable live recording from Einstein Kultur in Munich, reuniting British free improvisation masters John Butcher on saxophones and John Edwards on double bass in four expansive, detailed, and often breathtaking duets, exploring abstract soundscapes with razor-sharp interplay, extended techniques, and an uncompromising sense of sonic exploration.


Joseph Holbrooke (w/ Derek Bailey / Gavin Bryars / Tony Oxley)
Last Live 2001 - In Memoriam Derek Bailey And Tony Oxley [2 CDs]
(Tzadik)

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.


Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez / Juan P. Carletti
Walkabout
(Mahakala Music)

An energetic trio session of collective free improvisation from NY alto saxophonist Rob Brown, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti, recorded in the studio and driven by an intense energy that maintains a powerful swing, with Brown's incisive phrasing, Lopez's commanding bass, and Carletti's dynamic percussion merging into a spontaneous and deeply expressive musical force.


Mats Gustafsson / Ken Vandermark / Tomeka Reid / Chad Taylor
Pivot
(Silkheart)

Four master improvisers (Mats Gustafsson, Ken Vandermark, Tomeka Reid, Chad Taylor) from overlapping creative circles engage in a set of powerful interactions, where dense low-end reeds, lyrical cello, and rhythmic elasticity create shifting terrain; through deep listening and long-forged connections, they navigate spontaneous form with urgency, restraint, and a shared sense of sonic purpose.


Frode Gjerstad / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Dag Magnus Narvesen
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)

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.


Angles 11
Tell Them It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

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.


Fieldwork (Iyer / Lehman / Sorey)
Thereupon
(Pi Recordings)

Seventeen years after their last recording, the New York trio of Steve Lehman (alto saxophone), Vijay Iyer (piano, Rhodes), and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) reunite with dense, high-impact compositions and fearless interplay, blending complexity with groove as they reaffirm their status as one of the most vital ensembles in contemporary improvised music.


Joe McPhee / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge
Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)

Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."


Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner
The Music of Anthony Braxton
(Pi Recordings)

Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman leads his trio with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Damion Reid, joined by tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, in a vibrant live homage to Anthony Braxton's small ensemble works, blending intricate modern jazz interplay with searing emotional expression in a bold, high-energy celebration of Braxton's enduring influence.


Daniel Carter / Ayumi Ishito / George Draguns / Ed Wilcox
Makeshift Spirituals
(577 Records)

Uniting four visionary improvisers — Daniel Carter on trumpet, flute, and saxophones; Ayumi Ishito on saxophones and effects; George Draguns on guitar and bass; and Ed Wilcox on drums — this dynamic quartet merges free jazz, psychedelic textures, and experimental energy into a powerful collective session recorded at Brooklyn's Metropolitan Sound.


Joe Fonda Quartet (w/ Wadada Leo Smith / Satoko Fujii / Tizano Tononi)
Eyes On The Horizon
(Long Song Records)

NY Bassist-composer Joe Fonda leads an exceptional quartet featuring trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, pianist Satoko Fujii, and drummer Tiziano Tononi in a profound tribute to his mentor Smith, skillfully blending compositional clarity with collective improvisation in a deeply resonant and lyrically intricate musical conversation that reflects inspiration, respect, and artistic integrity.


Hemphill Stringtet, The
Plays the Music of Julius Hemphill
(Out Of Your Head Records)

Celebrating the profound compositional legacy of Julius Hemphill through inventive string adaptations of his saxophone quartet and sextet works, violinists Curtis Stewart and Sam Bardfeld, violist Stephanie Griffin, and cellist Tomeka Reid channel Abdul Wadud's expressive spirit, transforming Hemphill's blues-inflected jazz into vividly textured chamber improvisations with lyrical intensity.


John Cage
Chamber Works 1943-1951
(Another Timbre)

A superb interpretation of John Cage's early chamber works, performed by members of Apartment House and pianist Kerry Yong, recorded at The Old School, in Starston, UK, highlighting Cage's intricate balance of rhythm and resonance through prepared piano, strings, and percussion, captured in detailed and intimate recordings by Simon Reynell at The Old School in Starston, UK.


Ava Mendoza / Gabby Fluke-Mogul / Carolina Perez
Mama Killa
(Burning Ambulance Music)

The debut of guitarist Ava Mendoza, violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul, and drummer Carolina Perez as a power trio, invoking the Inca moon goddess Mama Killa through eight electrifying tracks that fuse free improvisation with the raw energy of doom, death, and black metal, channeling country, blues, and psychedelia into a ferocious and feedback-laden sonic onslaught.


Cosmic Ear ( Bothen / Gustfsson / Kajfe / Zetterberg / Romero)
Traces
(We Jazz)

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.


Georg Graewe / Brad Jones / Hamid Drake
More Than Anything
(Random Acoustics)

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.


Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply personal collaboration between pianists Eri Yamamoto and Matthew Shipp, recorded live in the studio with Yamamoto in the left channel and Shipp in the right, as Yamamoto marks thirty years in New York with a set of original compositions for this occasion, their distinctive voices intertwining in an elegant, searching, and harmonically rich conversation of friendship, individuality, and creative life.


Don Cherry
Where Is Brooklyn? & Eternal Rhythm Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reissuing two albums showing trumpeter Don Cherry's musical evolution through the 1960s, recorded two years apart--Where is Brooklyn from NY in 1966, and Eternal Rhythm recorded in Germany in 1968--demonstrating the development of his style from Ornette-influenced free jazz into music influenced by Northern Indian music and the percussion of Southeast Asia.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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