A masterful fountain of melodic ideas, intriguing rhythms, and exceptional technical skill from the duo of Hamid Drake on drums and frame drum, and Sylvain Kassap on clarinets and chalumeau, recording live at the France Musique at Studio Theatre dÕAlfortville and in the studio.

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.

Ensemble InterContemporain is viola player Garth Knox's string and percussion performance group, here called upon by John Zorn to present new interpretations of his "Book of Angels" Masada compositions, in nine magnificent recordings of great depth and intimacy.

A great quartet of musicians in or affiliated with Chicago: drummer Chad Taylor, alto saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc, percussionist Avreeayl Ra, percussionist Tom Abbs, and trombonist Steve Swell, with special guests cornetist Rob Mazurek and tenor saxophonist David Boykin.

The duo of French pianist Sophie Agnel and sax player Daunik Lazro traces back to their work in the quartet Qwat Neum Sixx; here the two as a duo are caught live at the "DOM" Cultural Centre, in Moscow in 2016 for 6 improvisations, contemplative to explosive dialog, inspired by the Russian novel "The Master and Margarita" by Mikhail Bulgakov.

Martin Archer introduces a new sextet based on Chicago's AACM approach to free improvisation, in a 2-CD set of 6 large works divided into 5 or 6 chapters each, presenting character themes, rhythm ideas, composed duets, and improvised instructions; superb!

The Architek Percussion ensemble is a Montreal quartet performing works by Canadian composers, using percussion, drums, sampling, electronics and synth in wonderfully odd ways, here with two guest performers presenting works composed and mixed by Elliot Britton.

The trans-Atlantic Ballister trio of Dave Rempis (saxes), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello & electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums & percussion) release their 6th album, a live concert at Cafe Oto in London in 2015, a hard-hitting, euphoric release of free-improvising power.

A uniquely voiced dialog between two skilled improvisers -- Christiane Bopp on trombone and Jean-Luc Petit on bass clarinet & soprano sax -- bringing experience and technique to improvisations that push their instruments into extreme territory yielding fantastic and original language while keeps their listeners on the edge of their seats.

The late Willem Breuker's Kollektief was an ensemble focusing on jazz roots in theatrical and dramatic performances, emphasing the fun aspects of historic jazz bands with energetic orchestration and soloing, described as a "mix of circus music, jazz and improvisation".

Two large works of improvisation using electric guitar, synth and alto saxophone from the trio of Augustin Brousseloux, Jean-Marc Foussat, and Quentin Rollet, complex and evolving works with a psychedelic edge, blending experimental, rock and jazz into something truly unique.

Alto saxophonist Rick Countryman is a busy player on the Phillippine scene, here in a trio with Simon Tan on bass and visiting Swiss drummer Christian Bucher for nine exemplary examples of free jazz in the tradition, hot music that bends melody while remembering its jazz roots.

Free improvisation recorded in Nova Scotia from the trio of Arthur Bull on electric guitar, John Heward on drums, and Adam Linson on bass, inspired by the beauty of the day and the substantial house in which they recorded to create these four impressive instant compositions.

Bridging contemporary and improvised music, Montreal double bassist Nicolas Caloia wrote these pieces for textured and impossible rhythms; blending pieces by Nancarrow and Grand Master Flash; and manipulating poems by Genevieve Letarte; with supporting improv from Jean Derome & Lori Freedman.

The trio of Jean-Marc Foussat on synthesizer, Claude Parle on accordion, and Joao Camoe on alto violin in three electroacoustic improvisations in a dialog of unusual approach balancing serious performance skills with quirky humor, "well mental" music indeed.

A live recording at POP in Berlin between synth and electronics player Jean-Marc Foussat and vocalist and electronicist Maria Luisa Capurso, subverting the voice through electronics and effects to create wildly encompassing sound environments that contrast Foussat's synthetics with the organic quality of the human voice; rich, hallucinatory, wonderful.

A delicate album of melodic free playing from trumpeter Jean-Luc Cappozzo and his partner Cecile Cappozzon piano, covering the work of Charles Mingus ("Pithecantropus Erectus", "Goodbye Porkpie Hat") and Mal Waldron ("No More Tears," "The Seagulls of Kristiansund").

The trio of Jean-Marc Foussat on synthesizer and voice, abd Dynamo Dreesen & SVN on electronics, crossing artists more associated with electronica than free improvisation, here in their second release recorded live at Ohm in Berlin, Germany and at "Neues Deutchland" in 2016.

Ensemble SuperMusique devotes itself to Montreal's "Musique Actuelle" and free improv community in assemblages of some of their finest players, here in a live concert in 2016 at Amphitheater du Gesu in Montreal with a stunning set of performers presenting the work of 4 composer.

A wonderfully eccentric, complex and surprising set of extended improvisations between French clarinetist & saxophonist Jean-Luc Petit and synth and electronics artist Jean-Marc Foussat, ranging from intensive and detailed interactions to beautiful soundscapes, as the two show great compatibility and intent in their approach to free-form improvisation.

Emilie Girard-Charest is a Montreal cellist, composer and improviser, here presenting 5 works, one of her own and 4 from Fredrik Gran, Sergio Castrillon, Maxime Corbeil-Perron and Joane Hetu, using extreme techniques and electroacoustic accompaniment in both joyful and terrifying ways.

The debut album of French clarinetist Jean-Brice Godet, recording with a New York quartet of Michael Attias on alto sax, Pascal Niggenkemper on doublebass, and Carlo Costa on drums for seven tracks of adventerous original compositions, using weaving lines in melodic heads that propel his sidemen to lyrically rich solos and asides.

Dedicated to sailors, their adventures and rough living conditions while at sea, from the collective free improv quartet of US jazz master and Lacy associate Kent Carter on bass, French saxophonist Sylvain Gueineau, Makoto Sato on drums and Itaru Oki on trumpet & flute.

French cellist Hugues Vincent recorded these improvisations in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan with well-established players on the Japanese free improv scene Shota Koyama on drums, Yuta Yokoyama on trumpet, and Maki Hachiya on objects & voice; lively, spacious and sophisticated improv.

Joker brings together 12 vocalists, many core members of the Ambiances Magnetiques/Musique Actuelle collective including Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Michel F Cote, Lori Freedman, &c, performing unusual works of voice and narration composed by Joane Hetu.

Juxtavoices is an anti-choir of 30 voices whose repertoire includes original compositions and arrangements of classic modernist poems and found texts, here in a CD/DVD release with a reinterpretation of early an Cabaret Voltaire recordings and a terrifying ascent into hell.

Heard in our catalog on albums from Improvising Beings and Another Timbre, here we have a stunning solo album of improvised violin from Viennese violinist Irene Kepl, showing a great range of style and technique while keeping the music playful and interesting, invoking a quote from Trisha Brown: "Dancing on the edge is the only place to be."

The debut of the duo between French free improvising guitarist and harmonica player Raymond Boni (known for his long-standing duo with Joe McPhee) and percussionist Didier Lasserre (Nuts, Snus, &c) in a set of beautifully paced dialogs, that includes a cover of "Nature Boy".

A live recording at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France in 1984 from the trio of Daunik Lazro on alto sax, Joelle Leandre on double bass and voice, and George Lewis on trombone, a trans-Atlantic enounter of creative inventiveness and innovative vision, a great document of three persistent masters captured early in their incredible careers.

Two exemplary solo sets from the truly distinctive and commanding French double bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandres recorded at Vancouver Jazz Festival, Western Front, Vancouver, Canada, in June 1995 and at The Ibleo Jazz Festival in Ragusa, Italy in October, 1994.

Synth improviser Jean-Marc Foussat and double bassist Fred Marty join their names and playing together for an absolutely impressive album of exploratory improv, Foussat taking their music into hallucinatory territories while Marty provides both a solid anchor and flights of textural nuance; supberb.

The free improvising trio of Makoto Sato on drums, Jean-Francois Pauvros on guitar and Jean-Marc Foussat on synthesizer & voice in a studio album of unique electro-acoustic dialog recorded in Paris in 2013.

Joane Hetu and Jean Derome formed Nous percons les oreilles 20 years ago, merging their expansive musical interests in idiosyncratic improvisation and orchestration using saxophones & wind instruments, objects, voice, melodica, and piano, here in their 4th astonishing album.

Lisbon's Nuova Camerata brings together a mix of improvisers and contemporary classical players--Carlos Zingaro, Joao Camoes, Ulrich Mitzlaff, Miguel Leiria on string with Pedro Carneiro on marimba--for a set of improvisations bridging both disciplines in passionate and unexpected ways.

Composed between 1926 and 1939, "Mikrokosmos" was Bela Bartok's attempt to solve certain technical problems in the art of piano playing, here adapted by the 5-piece Quartetski into a fascinating series of progressive exercises and etudes, oddly enough presented without a piano.

Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini string quartet worked with composer Christopher Butterfield, who wrote two of these pieces ("Trip" and "Fall") specifically for QB, alongside three other works from 20 years of composing that use unusual instructions and scores for the performers.

A small group setting where each performer brings a composition to the session, with Discus family members Martin Archer on saxophones, Corey Mwamba on vibraphone, Seth Bennet on double bass, and Peter Fariclough on drums, for jazz that balances melodic and formidable free improvisation.

Superlative large group jazz from UK pianist/composer Keith Tippett, presenting a series of lyrical and accessible compositions inspired by themes from Irish folk music, in a new Octet with alumni of the Royal Academy of Music's jazz programme and long-time Tippett collaborators.

New Yorks' Mostly Other People Do the Killing step back in time to the 1930s-40's in modern swing-ear compositions from bassist Moppa Elliott, performed with the amazing septet of Steven Bernstein, Jon Irabagon, Kevin Shea, Ron Stabinksy, David Taylor, and Brandon Seabrook.

Percussionist Will Guthrie recorded the individual parts of these compositions in a variety of locations, constructing them into a remarkable set of electroacoustic compositions that blend drums, percussion, field recordings, and electronics in unexpected ways.

Two rich sound works: "Grounded Cloud" which gathers fragments of noise and tone into a continuous fabric; and "Hearing Metal (4)", an investigation into metallic resonance, performed by Pisaro with Dedalus members Stephane Garin (percussion) and Didier Aschour (guitar).

Free improvising sax legend Jack Wright's book explores the origins of free music in New York in the 60s, tracing it across North America through the 70s to modern times, then taking the movement across the ocean to explore the networks and relationships of free player.

The trio of Jack Wright on sax, Evan Lipson on double bass, and Zachary Darrup on guitar and objects, from a long history of camaraderie have developed a rough-neck style of interacting, here in a long recording alongside 7 solo sax recordings from Wright.

While on a 2-week tour of Japan, Belgium sound artists Teun Verbruggen on drums & electronics and Jozef Dumoulin on Fender Rhodes, joined forces with Keiji Haino on guitar, vocals, flute & gongs, capturing these darkly intense and powerful tracks in the studio and live at SDLX.

While on a 2-week tour of Japan, Belgium sound artists Teun Verbruggen on drums & electronics and Jozef Dumoulin on Fender Rhodes, joined forces with Keiji Haino on guitar, vocals, flute & gongs, capturing these darkly intense and powerful tracks in the studio and live at SDLX.

On the cover: Run The Jewels, hiphop's 24 carat duo of El-P and Killer Mike; interview with Russian composer and Tarkovsky collaborator Edward Artemiev; Lisbon's new jazz vanguard; + Dubplates & Mastering's Rashad Becker Invisible Jukebox; views, news, reviews, &c.

The Neukollner trio of Bertrand Denzler on sax, Joel Grip on double bass, and Sven-Ake Johnasson on drums is joined by pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach for a double album of exhilarating free jazz that conjurs standards-based jazz through well-structured instant compositions.

A captivating compilation from electronic composer Michel Banabila recorded between 2005-2016, a combination of studio, live and theatre recordings remixed into two continuous tracks of sound, with collaborations including Oene Van Geel and Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek).

Pianist Myra Melford joins frequent collaborators, double bassist Joelle Leandre and flutist Nicole Mitchell, in a live performance at Galerie Zurcher, in Paris in 2016, for a set of spontaneous improvisations with a warm chamber jazz feeling of masterful dialog.

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.

Bridging contemporary and improvised music, Montreal double bassist Nicolas Caloia wrote these pieces for textured and impossible rhythms; blending pieces by Nancarrow and Grand Master Flash; and manipulating poems by Genevieve Letarte; with supporting improv from Jean Derome & Lori Freedman.

Joane Hetu and Jean Derome formed Nous percons les oreilles 20 years ago, merging their expansive musical interests in idiosyncratic improvisation and orchestration using saxophones & wind instruments, objects, voice, melodica, and piano, here in their 4th astonishing album.

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.

Recorded in a live performance in Kyoto in 1973, five years before Fushitsusha, Keiji Haino uses primitive electronics, homemade acoustic instruments, piano and voice to create a 48 minute, slowly evolving cosmic (or kosmische) wash of sound culminating in a vocal catharsis.