Available again after a 10 year break, the trio of of drummer and label-leader Tim Barnes with two NY turntablists and electronic artists - Toshio Kajiwara and Marina Rosenfeld - in unusual and unique sonic dialogs.
Both volumes of trumpeter Bobby Bradford and clarinetist John Carter's remarkable concerts from 1979 in Los Angeles and 1982 in Worcester, MA, dramatically improved audio quality from their original issue.
These 1979 duo concert performances from violinist Nigel Coomes and pianist Steve Beresford were generally considered at the time to be the most significant advance in violin & piano music for around 200 years.
The Chicago-based duo of Noe Cuellar and Joseph Kramer on bellows and electronics, since 2009 producing original compositions for stage and fixed media, uncovering sonic textures & compositional ideas that are peculiar to their unique instrumentation.
A free duo between trombonist Patrick Crossland and double bassist Alexander Frangenheim, recording 12 short dialogs in the studio in Berlin, demonstrating great communication between these players as they perform in technical, unusual, and lyrical ways.
Four masterful improvisers - Axel Dorner (trumpet), Andreas Willers (acoustic guitar & electronics) and Achim Kaufmann (piano) - performing as the .AAA. trio, and then each presenting a solo work, demonstrating their incredible music skills together and alone.
Lithuanian sound and industrial artist Gintas K (Gintas Kraptavicius) in an album of abstract electronics composed on the computer, 11 tracks of burbling and glitching sound.
Swiss accordionist Hans Hassler in his 2nd Intakt release, incorporating Swiss folk music, jazz, film music, free improvisation and classical interpretation in a band with Gebhard Ullmann on bass, Jurgen Kupke on clarinet, and Beat Follmi on percussion.
Composer Martin Iddon in a work of new conceptual modes of music making, with a ritualistic approach building strange sounds and stange actions in dense layers and intense timbres that demand a unique physicality from the player.
Three Swiss improvisers - Hans Koch on bass clarinet, Alexandre Bable on percussion, and Gaudenz Badrutt on electronics - in an inventive and exceptionally well-balanced 7 part suite of tonal work, quick interplay, and extended techniques.
The second volume of Steve Lacy's solo soprano saxophone concerts, starting off with the three short versions of Billy Strayhorn tunes which opened his first solo concert at Avignon in 1972.
Bassist Matthias Bauer and Maria Lucchese on theremin, zither, didgeridoo, launeddas, oceandrum, and gong, perform free improvisation with Bauer providing a solid melodic foundation which Lucchese punctuates and expands in unique and surprising ways.
Using an alto saxophone where the original mechanisms have been replaced with water, gas & compressed air taps, saxophonist Sergio Merce can microtonally move the tuning of any note and create multiphonics, allowing him to play several sonic layers while using circular breathing.
The trio of Tomas Korber on guitar & electronics, Christian Weber on double bass, and Christian Wolfarth on drums and percussion, unique electroacoustic improv recorded in the studio in Zurich, Switzerland.
The London power jazz trio of Steve Noble on drums, John Edwards on double bass and Alex Ward on electric guitar, powerful and exhilarating free improvisation from a trio who for more than 10 years have developed a unique sound that blurs the lines of jazz & rock.
Norway's younger generation of improvising musicians, acoustic and electronic, perform in percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit from their first EP, a live recording from Molde Jazzfestival 2013.
The electroacoustic improvising quartet of guitarist Peter Alexius, drummer Joe Herteinstein, Joker Nies on raw electronics, and Sebastian Grammss on spacebass, in 9 tracks that run the gamut from groove-based intensity to open dialog using unusual voices.
An excellent dialog using strong dynamics and space from electroacoustic improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Anotonio Chaparreiro (electric guitar) and Jose Oliveira (percussion).
Five trees interpreted through electroacoustic improv from the quintet of Guilherme Rodrigues (cello, Gianna de Toni, double bass), Raphael Ortis (electric bass, objects) Christophe Berthet (sax), and Ernesto Rodrigues (viola); mysterious and compelling music.
The rich but understated improvising trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, and Mike Bullock on modular synthesizer, named after the Greek term for wandering stars, an apt description of their balance of space, acoustic, and electronic sound.
Elisabeth Harnik on piano and Udo Schindler on bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone and cornet in a free interchange of subtle nuance and strong dynamics recorded live at SALON fur Klang + Kungst in 2009.
The free improvising duo of pianist Manon-Liu Winter and saxophonist Udo Schindler performing at the SALON fur KLANG + KUNST in Kralling, Munich in 2012, an amazing dialog that balances subtle and explosive playing in inventive ways.
Pianist Shipp's long-standing trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, complex and inspired compositions that makes modern creative approaches to jazz beautifully accessible and essential.
Pianist Aki Takase's Planet Quartet ensemble with clarinetist Louis Sclavis, Dominique Pifarely on violin and Vincent Courtois on cello, a beautiful blend of improvisation and composed work that plays with time, space and sound.
Zorn's Abraxas quartet (Arm Bajakian-guitar, Eyal Maoz-guitar, Shanir Ezra Blumenkranz-bass, Kenny Grohowski-drums) perform a new suite inspired by the magical writings of Giordano Bruno & Alejandro Jodorowski, from minimialist to intense ritual music.
Zorn's sixth quartet is inspired by the hermetic Angelic actions of John Dee and is replete with the procedures of distillation, calcination, crystallization, sublimation, purification, rotation as well numerology, prayers, canons, contrapuntal complexity, &c.
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.
Having worked together in many projects for many years, this is the 1st trio record from Montreal improvisers Jean Derome, Malcolm Goldstein & Rainer Wiens, six free studio improvisations showing the subtle and sophisticated dialog that such long association yields.
Using cello, amplified textures, prepared effects, harp, trumpet and electronics, the trio of Mark Wastell, Rhodri Davies and Matt Davis explore the nature of space, silence, noise and electronic sound.
This 2 CD set contains all the pieces of percussionist Christ Wolfarth's "Acoustic Solo Percussion" series on the first CD and remixes by Rashad Becker, Hans Joachim Irmler (faust), Gunter Mueller and Joke Lanz (sudden infant) on the 2nd.
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.
Unusual instrumentation and interaction from the trio of percussionist Mike Goyvaerts (Canaries on the Pole), saxophonist Jeffey Morgan (releases on Headlight, Konnex) and EMS synthesist Willy Van Buggenhout.
A trio of improvising women that started in Australia in 2008 by clarinetist Laura Altman and accoridionist Monika Brooks, becoming a trio with Magda Maya on piano; here in two beautifully paced works recorded in churches in Sydney, 2013.
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.
The Second in a series of split discs highlighting the experimental music scene in Berlin, presenting a solo work by Annette Krebs, and a powerful duo for voice and electronics by Christian Kesten and Mark Trayle."
Solo improvisations on the Turkish Clarinet from Claudio Parodi, an Italian classically trained pianist who also works with self-built/self-modified electronics, non-western reeds, and selected percussions.
Three strange and wonderful sound pieces from the Chicago-based duo of Noe Cuellar and Joseph Clayton Mills, commissioned to make music from objects found in the basement of a local thrift store, evoking a sense of the lives embedded in those objects.
"Alba" (Portugese for "white") presents 4 improvisations by Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Louis Laurain on trumpet, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Ricardo Guerreiro on computer, slowly building subliminal works of subtle dialog using extended techniques and white noise.
The quartet of Andreas Backer on voice, David Stackenas on guitars, Joe Williamson on bass, and Stale Liavik Solberg on drums & percussion, for open-minded, improvised chamber music focusing on interaction, textures, dynamic variations and timbre.
Violist Ernesto Rodrigues and Ricardo Guerreiro on computer are joined by saxophonist Bertrand Gauguet for two improvisations of subtle & rich sound work: intertwining sax breathing, intense sonic pressure, and long string tones developing beautiful audio environments.
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!
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.
An extended and rich confluence of strings from R Keenan Lawler and John Krausbauer, using resonator guitar and banjo, sustained tones that intertwine in a beautiful and optimistic drone, minimalistic yet drenched in a profusion of harmonic detail; a beautiful and elusive dream mixing between an Indian raga and an alien electronic environment.
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.