Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz's Chicago Trio with drummer Mike Reed and bassist Nate McBride in a great modern jazz release of original compositions, informed, warm and compelling music.

The London based improvising string trio Barrel of Alison Blunt on violin, Ivor Kallin on violin & viola, and Hannah Marshall on cello, all members of London Improvisers Orchestra and performers at the 2007 Freedom of the City.

A joyfully engaged example of this sax/drum/piano trio's Melodic Improv Music performing live in St. Petersburg Russia, part of an intense and inspired tour of Russia in 2010.

Recorded live at the Velvet Lounge a year before saxophonist and club owner Fred Anderson passed away, the Chicago Trio (Ernest Dawkins, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake) dedicates this double CD to the legendary Chicago figure.

Percussionist Trevor Taylor's Circuit mixes acoustic instruments, electronics and real-time processing to morph alien sounding landscapes through well-honed improvising, here with Paul Dunmall, Hilary Jeffires, and Roberto Filoseta.

The UK electroacoustic improvising group led by FMR's label leader Trevor Taylor in two quartet recordings with Jonathon Seagroatt (reeds & electronics), Rob Stevenson (reeds & electronics), Steve Hubback (percussion) and and Geof Harris (bass).

Three veterans of the British music scene join forces for a loose and free-wheeling romp recorded in the studio: trumpeter John Corbett, bassist Nick Stephens, and percussionist Louis Moholo-Moholo.

Trumpeter Olgierd Dokalski leads Daktari, a young and modern jazz quintet with electric guitar and electric bass, an accesible and interesting band with rock and klezmer overtones.

The ever-innovative Bob Drake in a twisted album of studio and live recordings: 14 songs from Drake performing all instruments, and 11 of those songs rearranged and performed live with David Campbell, David Kerman and Kavus Torabi.

CD reissue of Earl Lavon "Von" Freeman's Nessa LP with pianist John Young, bassist David Shipp and drummer Wilbur Campbell, a great straight-ahead Chicago session mixing standards and original compositions.

Violinist Jeff Gauthier 6th CD as a leader of his ensemble of almost 20 years with guitarist Nels Cline, Alex Cline on drums and percussion, John Fumo on trumpet, David Witham on piano and keyboards, and Joel Hamilton on bass.

Perhaps Norway's most creative multi-reedist Frode Gjerstad meets Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm for a series of freely improvised duets, a remarkable dialog from two tremendous improvisers.

Reissuing the 2005 Utech release from the duo of Frode Gjerstad on clarinets and Steve Hubback on hand-made drums, cymbals and gong, performing live at Lille Konsertsal, Stavanger, Norway, in February 2001.

Complex, hyper-contrapuntal and molecular modes of group playing from the quartet of Stephen Grew (keyboard, processing), Richard Scott (wigi, buchla lightning, blippoo box), Nick Grew (transduction) & David Ross (drosscillator), joined by Evan Parker.

A hard-blowing session from the late drummer Steve Reid, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, and electronics wiz Kieran Hebden, preforming live at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in South Bank, London in 2009.

Brian Irvine's large work performed with the BBC Concert Orchestra was written and dedicated to Paul Dunmall and inspired by the film work of David Lynch, a 4-part musical landscape using 3 groups of players, 2 conductors and Dunmall himself.

A previously unissued 1972 concert by the original version of Iskra 1903 - Paul Rutherford (trombone), Derek Bailey (guitar) and Barry Guy (double bass) - extraordinary performances, plus 2 short extracts from another concert.

Electronic artist (and on this release, pianist) Olivia Block and radical trumpeter Greg Kelley meet for five works that range from breathy meditations to active "slapstick" routines of bewilderingly interesting sound.

Hyperpianist Denman Maroney performs his 9 part "Double Zero" work as part of the 2008 Roulette Interpretations Series in NYC, an incredible display of technique and concept using all aspects of the piano.

London clarinetist Noel Taylor in a meeting with pianist Noel Taylor, delicate and beautifully paced duos that borrow from many genres and modern approaches to create informed and stimulating dialog.

Early and excellent recordings of saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell with trumpeter Fred Berry, bassist Malachi Favors and drummer Alvi Fielder in two session from '65 around the formation of the AACM.

A beautiful set of compositions from saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, presenting works recorded in the 2000s with performers including Thomas Buckner, Stephen Rush, Nils Bultman, William Winant, &c.

Don't Call it a Comeback: Experimental Music's Rebirth StoriesThis issue of Musicworks features experimental music that has been reborn in a variety of ways. From restaging Cage and Duchamp's Reunion, to repurposing English renaissance m...

12th CD by Simon Nabatov on Leo Records recorded at the same time as his previous CD "Roundup" celebrating his 50th Birthday; powerful, high-energy free jazz sustained for over 50 minutes.

Erstwhile's debut of percussionist, microphone and electronic artist Will Guthrie in a duo with tape machine Revox and electronic artist Jerome Noetinger ("Hands of Caravaggio") in an interactive "face off" between the two.

Freely improvised clarinet duets featuring rapidly shifting patterns of melodic interplay from Italian Alberto Popolla and British Noel Taylor (LIO), with distinct approaches to the instrument resulting in episodic interplay.

The British trio of tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall, bassist Nick Jurd and drummer Jim Bashford performing the 7 part group composition "Realisation" live at the Lamp Tavern in Birmingham, 2011.

The critically-acclaimed Chicago-based Rempis Percussion Quartet led by saxophonist Dave Rempis, in a studio release with drummers Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly, and adding in-demand European bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten.

Clarinetist, percussionist and vocalist Akira Sakata performs a disturbing rendering of "The Tale of the Heike", an epic account of the 12th century struggle between the Taira and Minamoto clans for control of Japan.

Borrowing from a variety of genres, Alexander Guevara's lyrical content jumps from love to hate, life to death, random screaming to random silence, religion to anti-religion, and digitally manipulated sound.

The British quartet of saxophonist Anna Kaluza, clarinetist Noel Taylor, guitarist Pedro Velasco and drummer Michael Caratti, in a moody and shifting album of improvised and composed music.

The debut album of The Jason Stein Quartet with Keefe Jackson on tenor sax, Joshua Abrams on bass, and Frank Rosaly on drums, a great post-bop release with Stein original compositions plus pieces by Konitz, Tristano, Warne Marsh, and Monk.

Guitarist and 910 Noise artist Jason Ward in a release that explores concepts in sound and string, music that ranges far and surprises with both lovely playing and distressed processing.

Guitarist and 910 Noise artist Jason Ward in a release that explores concepts in sound and string, music that ranges far and surprises with both lovely playing and distressed processing.

The last recording of the legendary David S. Ware Quartet with bassist William Parker, drummer Guillermo E. Brown, and pianist Matthew Shipp performing live in Vilnius in 2007.

The third Intakt release for saxophonist Jurg Wickihalder sees him in a quartet with pianist Irene Schweizer, bassist Fabian Gisler and drummer Michael Griener performing the leader's excellent Lacy/Monk-ish compositions.

UK saxophonist Alan Wilkinson's second solo release since his 1994 "Seedy Boy", two session marking the end of his Dalston, London practice space, and one from his new rehearsal studio.

Keyboardist Michel Wintsch uses piano, prepared piano, synthesizer, and a variety of foot devices to create unique solo compositions, informed by his years working with artists like Franz Koglmann and Gerry Hemingway.

NY trumpeter Nate Wooley started "The Almond" as a short study, but the piece grew upon itself into a major work, glacially shifting tones of unaltered playing following a complex pitch, mute, tuning and microphone structure.

Dutch flautist and electronic artist Jos Zwaanenburg in a release that updates and reinvents the technology for works written by British composers for Zwaanenburg over the last 20 years.

Using mostly unprocessed electric guitars, the duo of Elliott Sharp and Scott Fields' latest release presents eight dueling guitar works using dynamic, angular tones and textures, from extremely aggressive work to clean avant-jazz with twisted technical intent.

The quartet of Cosottini, Melano, Pisani, Miano (EAQuartet Electroacoustic) in compositions referring to the 4 cardinal map points using graphic scores, games, open readings, &c.

Legendary trumpeter, composer and educator Bill Dixon in a 17 piece orchestra playing original compositions live at the 12th Vision Festival in New York City.

The duo of Kawaguchi on tuning fork and Yamaguchi on guitar in a subliminal and resonant long composition that carries the listener through this long dream-like work.

The first Hopscotch release from the then husband/wife duo of wind player Assif Tsahar and drummer Susie Ibarra, lyrical and textural powerfully woven improvisation.

NYC improvising string duo guitarist Mary Halvorson and violist Jessica Pavone in their 2nd Thirsty Ear release, an impressive mix of instrumentals and songs that blend styles and genres in exemplary downtown ny approaches.

Yoshio Machida's steelpan live recordings in Europe and Japan between 2001-2008; including early pieces by combination of self-made steelpan Gamelan sound and computer to recent acoustic steelpan pieces.

Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq in a bizarre and amazing performance at the Victoriaville Festival in 2010 with Drip Audio director Jesse Zubot on violin and Barnyard boss Jean Martin on drums, computer, trumpophone.

"Greg Ward's Phonic Juggernaut is a consummation of the marriage of jazz improvisation and composition, an unrestrained exploration of the saxophone as a voice all its own", in a trio with bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Damion Reid.

A 5 CD set reissuing New York avant-jazz pianist Cecil Taylor's albums "Winged Serpent"; "Historic Concerts"; "Olu Iwa"; "For Olim", all remastered and presented in a handsome box set.

A sublime straight-ahead modern jazz record from pianist Leszek Kulakowski in a quartet with Jacek Pelc on drums, Piotr Kulakowski on bass, and US trumpeter Eddie Henderson, with strong melodies and great soloing from all.

Electric Bird Noise artist Brian Lea McKenzie extends his concepts in a new duo with vocalist Claudia Gregory (Exhaust the Fox, Claudia Versus the Queen of Hearts), with a new band name and a compelling set of epic electro-rock songs.

The first meeting of saxophonist Frode Gjerstad, bassist Jon Rune Strom and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, performing live at Cafe Mir in Oslo, an amazingly energetic session of great dialog and drive.

Using guidelines related to form, time, sound source and density, the trio of Tim Olive on magnetic pickups, Takahiro Kawaguchi and Makoto Oshiro on self-made instruments, recorded these compositions live, named for the atmosphere of the recording environment.

Revisiting Sex Pistols' "Never Mind the Bollocks" in a band with Benoit Delbecq on piano, Gilles Coronado on guitar, Olivier Py on sax, Franck Vaillant on drums, and Sarah Murcia on bass, splitting the vocals with Mark Tompkins in a unique take on a punk classic.

Drummer/percussionist Hubert Zemler's second solo album with two compositions inspired by electronic music, particularly by works of the ensemble Suaves Figures, recorded in the vaults of the Camaldolese Church in Bielany, Warsaw with Milosz Pekala on vibraphones.

A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.

The 35 poems found on Fortner Anderson's "Solitary Pleasures", performed with Michel F Cote, Sam Shalabi and Alexandre St-Onge, speak of the obsessions, phantasies and encounters of Anderson's life.

Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus named "Clinamen" the unpredictable (in time and space) swerve of atoms falling in the void, which aptly describes the unexpected directions taken in subtle free improvisation from this French trio, led by bassist Louis-Michel Marion, with Jacques Di Donato on clarinet, and Philippe Berger on viola.