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.

The first recording of Ho Bynum's new sextet, with guitarist Mary Halvorson and drummer Tomas Fujiwara, augmented by bassist Ken Filiano, saxophonist Jim Hobbs, and tubist/bass trombonist Bill Lowe, in a 4-part suite.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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 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.

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.

The Swedish duo of percussionist Andreas Pollak and prepared pianist Johan Graden (Adam & Alma) in an album of references and innuendo, clandestine and furtive sounds that evoke great mystery and drama in beautifully shaped sound; evocative music that deceives to emerge from the electronic realm while in actuality coming from all acoustic sources.

Live recordings at LOFT in Cologne, Germany from the trio of George Wissel on prepared saxophone, Achim Tang on doublebass, and Simon Camatta on drums & percussion, performing seven "Movements" that use prodigious technique with reserve and direction, revealing the structure of their work as the pieces build and recede in fascinating ways.

Having previously worked together with Joe McPhee and Kent Kessler, this album distills the Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and NY drummer/percussionist Chris Corsano to a concentrated sax and drum duo of earnest and edgy playing, bending jazz, free and blues idioms to their will with magnificent technique and power, both clearly elated in their meeting.

Two basses and a lower-end saxophone from the trio of Damon Smith on double bass, Andrew Durham on electric bass, and Danny Kamins on baritone sax, Durham also adding effects and "Radio Manipulation" to their deep sound, Durham & Kamins the core of CARL with Damon Smith adding extra underpinnings to their slowly developing, sometimes pensive, sometimes cantankerous, profound improvisation.

Recorded live at Silence Sounds in Guelph Canada, the duo of Xavier Charles on clarinet and Eric Normand on electric bass & objects eschew idiom in favor of their unique natural language on their instruments, applying patient development of truly idiosyncratic and fascinating command through a single extended work punctuated in seven diverse passages.

From 2008-16 until drummer Frank Rosaly moved to Amsterdam, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella's Trio was an active part of Chicago's creative jazz scene; in early 2018 Rosaly returned for a visit and Mazzarella composed a suite of 6 new pieces to commemorate the trio's tenth anniversary, the exuberant result this excellent concert recorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere!

Exploring human relationships and self perception through the use of physical objects and their potential sounds, San Antonio drummer Claire Rousay, who has worked with Jacob Wick, Ken Vandermark, Brandon Lopez, &c. recorded these six solo drum performances in the studio, developing each in a way that shows her strong technical skills and narrative voice on the drums.

Portland Oregon composer and sound artist Jeff Lane, co-founder of the Chicago/Portland record label Never Anything, as his alter-ego Tereshkova in a large work of electronic composition, part concrete, part acousmatic, spanning two cassettes with four side-long pieces, each an extended journey in mood, motion, perplexing sources and embrace-ably interesting.

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.

A beautiful solo set of 12 improvisations, Michael Attias performing on alto sax with his left hand and piano with his right, captured in the natural reverberation of La Maison en Bois in Abeville-La-Riviere, France; surprisingly his 1st solo album, developed over 12 years yet played in under an hour with no retakes, a wonderful nuanced reflection in tone, melody & color.

Recording in Toronto, the core trio of drummer Nick Fraser, saxophonist Tony Malaby and pianist Kris Davis are joined on four tracks by tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Lina Allemano, in an album of composed and collective improvisation, merging Toronto, NY and European influences in an accomplished album of diverse approaches and orchestrations.

The 5th release from the trio of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Keiji Haino, guitarist Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi on wineglass and percussion is an introspective and beautifully developed set recorded live at their March 2013 concert at SuperDeluxe.

Recorded in the mid-90s, Livebatts! was a project of John White (Cornelius Cardew, Scratch Orchestra) developed to exploit "toy" keyboards of the 80s--cheap battery-driven instruments that hold tremendous potential for "serious" music-making--used here in a playful quartet with vocalist MJ Coldiron, Andrea Rocca (guitar & samples) and Nancy Ruffer (electrified flute).

An excellent first meeting of two guitarists recording on a February afternoon and released in the sequence recorded with no edits or changes, from Jim McAuley on guitar and Scot Ray on lap steel slide guitar with effects, an innately lyrical blending of styles masking the strong technical skills and long histories of these two superlative players.

Quietly lurking as it prepares to attack, this Kobra is the free improvising quaret of Aurora Nealand on accordion, alto saxophone, voice & objects, Steve Marquette on acoustic & electric guitars, Anton Hatwich on bass, and Paul Thibodeaux on drums, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain during the Instigation Festival for a mysterious 2-part "New Omens" and some "Telly Attire".

'Spilla' means 'to play' in the language of Neapolitan musicians, and playing here are NY guitarist and composer Elliott Sharp and Italian guitarist Sergio Sorrentino, presenting world premier recordings of 4 works recorded live in Vercelli, Italy: two improvisations and two graphic scores performed on electric guitar with incredible technique and passion.

Stochastic music for percussion and synthesizers from New York avant conceptualist and keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine, here on piano & electronics, with the Italian duo Trrma' of Giovanni Todisco on percussion and Guiseppe Candiano on synth, in two side-long works of irregular rhythm, complexity and dissonance that build and recede in a suspenseful journey.