Working together since 2014 in larger ensembles, NY reedist Don Byron and Cuban-born, US pianist Auran Ortiz find a modern yet lyrical heart in their duo collaboration on an album that includes original compositions and intimate renderings of pieces by Duke Ellington, Federico Mompou, Geri Allen, and J.S. Bach, a uniquely diverse and wonderfully embraceable release.

NY Bassist Michael Formanek composes for and leads his Elusion Quartet with saxophonist Tony Malaby, pianist Kris Davis, and drummer Ches Smith, a heavyweight set of improvisers who take on Formanek's sophisticated and elusive compositions, using unusual meters and complex yet comprehensible structures, performed with prodigious skill and passionate approaches.

The Oakland, CA-based Fred Frith Trio with bassist Jason Hoopes on double bass and electric, and Jordan Glenn on drums and percussion, extend their sonic excursions in this 2nd album that finds Frith on electric guitar and organ, as they evolve incredible soundscapes or shred through intense and intricate interplay; a rich album of dexterity, mood and power.

The rhythm section from the Amok Amor quartet--drummer Christian Lillinger and bassist Petter Eldh--are reformed as a trio with pianist Kaja Draksler, to create a thrilling, twisting and turning band of quick-witted, avant jazz angles, confusing and thrilling with unexpected shifts in direction on an informed, fun-filled and thoroughly modern album.

Implying the antithesis of confusion, NY drummer Tom Rainey's trio brings together close cohorts and family--Ingrid Laubrock on saxophone and Mary Halvorson on guitar--for an album recorded close to home, in Connecticut's Firehouse 12 studio, where they record the large title track and five shorter-form examples of their diverse and intimate approaches to collective improvisation.

The brilliant UK pianist Howard Riley is caught live in a US tour in the fall of 1976, recorded at 3 locations in NYC and in Buffalo, NY, each of the well-recorded improvisation a masterwork of extended form as he plays both outside and inside the piano, ranging from warm sections of lyrical quality to fast-paced streams of consciousness in a Cecil Taylor mode; magnificent.

Blending free jazz, electronic music, glitch, and collective improvisation, the Swiss trio of Dominic Landolt on guitar & effects, Ramon Landolt on synth, samples & piano, and Mario Hanni on drumsÊ& effects, bring a modern and experimental edge to their diverse approaches to free improv, colored with electronica and rock overtones; a fascinating brew.

After reedist Ken Vandermark's residency at The Stone in 2016, he went into the studio with improvisers Nate Wooley on trumpet, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, and Tom Rainey on drums to record this spectacular album of forward-reaching jazz using stunning technique and wonderful lyrical complexity, as they run through compositions from Wooley, Vandermark and Courvoisier.

Lebanese trumpeter Mazen Kerbaj, known from "A" Trio and collaborations with Franz Hautzinger, Toshimaru Nakamura, Birgit Uhler, &c., here joins two Berlin percussionist--Burkhard Beins and Michael Vorfeld--both members of Berlin Echtzeitmusik, to record this fascinating studio album of extraordinary technique and sonic control.

A confluence of reeds as Brazilian-born, NY-based tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman meets NY-born, Chicago-based bass clarinetist Jason Stein, the 2nd of Perelman's recent reed duos after his meeting with bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall; here Pereleman ascribes a spiritual connection with Stein in the remarkable compatibility of wonderfully controlled, complex interplay.

The first in a series of recent duo recordings from Brazilian-born, NY-based tenor saxophonist Ivo Pereleman is with German bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall, both incredibly skilled players that complement each other in timbre and range, while finding common ground in intertwining lines, incredible counterpoint, and an innate adherence to lyricism.

Electric guitarist Olaf Rupp, one of the leading figures of Berlin's Echtzeit scene, and Rudi Fischerlehner, an active Berlin improvising drummer, have been playing together as Xenofox for years, releasing albums and playing festivals, here captured at A L'Arme Festival at Radialsystem, in Berlin in 2017 with turntablist Joke Lanz adding to their controlled chaos.

The sixth album from guitarist Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen's scorching Norwegian instrumental rock trio, having built a strong following through their impressive approach to rock, schooled from both early hard/progressive band but also driving fusion bands, with a penetrating edge in authoritative soloing and intense rhythmic interplay.

Two legendary saxophonists--New York's Joe McPhee on alto and UK's John Butcher on tenor--meet at "The Hill" in the Chihuahuan Desert in Texas, where artist James Magee is building a set of raised buildings arranged on the compass points to house his work, providing fascinating resonant properties for McPhee & Butcher's exceptional interaction.

Composer & violinist Jason Kao Hwang wrote "Blood" as he meditated upon the traumas of war retained within the body as unspoken vibrations that reverberate across community and generations, performed in an incredible east/west octet with Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet), Joseph Daley (tuba), Andrew Drury (drums), Ken Filiano (bass), Sun Li (pipa), Steve Swell (trombone), & Wang Guowei (erh).

The core trio of the Boston collective Leap of Faith Orchestra of improvisers, approaching large work using unique compositional techniques and an arsenal of traditional and unusual instruments and percussive devices, here joined by Elinor Spiers on violin, log drums, glockenspiel, metal, wood, crotales, and cymbells, for a uniquely detailed and immense improvisation.

The Leap of Faith string-heavy grouping in a concert at Outpost 186 in Cambridge, 2018 with PEK on bamboo saxophones, reeds, tarota, contrabassoon, sheng, melodica, aquasonic & bells; Glynis Lomon on cello & aquasonic; Grant Beale on guitar; Lukasz Pavlikovsky on cello & aquasonic; Albey onBass on electric bass; Silvain Castellano and Adrienne Schoenfeld on double bass.

Austrian drummer percussionist Rudi Fischerlehner (RM, Xenofox, Parrot Feathers, &c) in his first solo album of energetic, polyrhythmic construction, titled for a chance proximity to a note on 15/8 rhythms and Rene Pollesch's book "www-slums", apt for the blend of precise playing and creative abstractions heard in this engaging and propulsive album.

Retrospective of Terry Rusling, a Canadian composer of electronic music working for the CBC in the 60's, who was introduced to the Electronic Music Studio at the University of Toronto, where he was awarded the title of Research Associate, receiving a Canada Council Grant to travel and work in Belgium, Utrecht, Paris, &c.; 2 of his graphic scores are part of John Cage's "Notations" project.

Premiere recordings of two major works from Canadian guitarist Tim Brady: "Desir" in 3 movements, a concerto for electric guitar and large chamber ensemble that showcases Brady's playing; and "Eight Songs about: Symphony # 7" where each song is a character in a fictional, subtle and ironic commentary about Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony No. 7 premiered on August 9th, 1942.

The Berlin trio of Rudi Mahall on clarinet and bass clarinet, Olaf Rupp on electric and acoustic guitar and Jan Roder on double bass in an ironically packaged album of free improvisation of the highest standard, taking the listener on a journey of informed free jazz that references the past in thoroughly modern approaches to creative music.

A compilation attempting to cover a wide spectrum of modern electroacoustic experimentation from the Greek Thirsty Leaves label, presenting Giorgos Christianakis, Shanyio, Fastus, Xu(e), Gusev K.P., Steven Sandberg, John Daly, Moody Alien, Zenjungle, KR Seward, & James Ross.

845 label leader and sonic explorer Tim Olive uses magnetic pickups and electronics in this meeting with radical living room concert sound artist, poet and improviser Yan Jun in Kobe, Japan, Jun using a variety of electronics, radio and field recordings as the two improvise in a wonderfully mischievous set of errant dialog and restrained deconstruction.

Australian composer Alister Spence wrote this in five parts composed for an improvising orchestra, which was first premiered in 2016 by Satoko Fujii's orchestras in Kobe, Nagoya and Tokyo, and the Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra; this recordings in 2017 at Big Apple Jazz Club in Kobe revisits the work with Fujii's Orchestra Kobe, conducted by the composer.

A beautiful 2 picture disc LP and booklet of radio plays (Horspiele) from sound artist and poet Ferdinand Kriwet, presenting 6 works including Hortext (radiotext) I, and Rotoradios I & II.

The North Carolina improvising collective Polyorchard, wrote this set of unusual and diverse improvisation for the 8th {Re}HAPPENING at Black Mountain College on March 31, 2018, this album a studio recording of that music featuring saxophonist Laurent Estoppey, Michael Thomas Jackson on clarinet and radio, David Menestres on bass and objects, and Dan Ruccia on viola and piano.

The fourth ECM album from NY Saxophonist Tim Berne and drummer Ches Smith, here in a trio with textural guitarist David Torn in three extended compositions merging jazz, rock and ambient forms, the middle track augmented with the Scorchio String Quartet and Craig Taborn, as they ebb and flow intense energy, fascinating compositional turns, and superb playing.

A live recording of the first encounter between Henry Cow/Radar Favourites/Ex-Wise Heads reed, wind and electronic artist Geoff Leigh and Acid Mother Temple guitarist and solo artist Kawabata Makoto, performing at Urbanguild, in Kyoto, Japan, in 2014 for a set of electronic, psychedelic improvisation of great detail using a vast arsenal of experimental approaches.

World instrumentation of shakuhachi, thai flute, shinobue, thai mouth organ, and shruti box blends with western orchestration of double bass, percussion and electronics as Clive Bell, Arild Andersen, and Mark Wastell come together in the studio after their well-received concert at Cafe Oto in London to develop these beautifully lyrical improvisations.

Delicate improvised interaction based around a day of meditative composing from London-based violinist Mandhira de Saram, a founding member and leader of the Ligeti Quartet, and French pianist Benoit Delbecq, an active improviser also involved in theater, dance, and visual arts; here the two use profound control and mastery to create intensity without excess.

A one-take improvisation recorded in Berlin by trumpeter Tom Arthurs, caught on New Year's Day 2018 using piccolo trumpet, mutes and binaural field recordings, intended for headphone listening, as he provides an incredible sense of location while stimulating his listener with subtle interventions that ultimately act as a backdrop for his distinctive and sly soloing.

Selected short pieces for C double bass clarinet from German multi-reedist Udo Schinder, recorded live at his performance space for avant, free, and sound-oriented improvisation, Salon fur Klang + Kunst, in Krailling, Munich; Schindler presents a diverse set of approaches recorded to give strength and warmth to both subtle and vociferous statements.

New York-based Italian percussionist and Neither/Nor label leader Carlo Costa in a solo percussion album of two pieces using drum set, concert bass drum, singing bowls, bells, triangles, wood blocks, tiles, styrofoam, cymbals, violin bows, marbles, chains, knives, and other objects, creating fascinating alien soundscapes of momentous activity without histrionics.

Making something out of "nothing", audio explorers and sonic organizers Eric La Casa from France and Australian Eamon Sprod spent a week on the waste grounds in the North East of Paris along the Canal Ourcq, capturing field recordings which they used to develop these active compositions, captivating by morphing everyday sounds into something intriguingly mysterious and remarkable.

The Italian trio of saxophonist/clarinetist Francesco Masaro, pianist and prepared pianist Giovanni Cristino, and drummer/percussionist Walter Forestiere, take us on a journey at the lower levels of a forest's undergrowth, adding objects, preparations and extended techniques in a blend of free jazz and nonidiomatic forms to reveal mystery and brightness in the brambles.

Studio recordings of two startlingly impressive compositions for orchestra and improvisers, with four soloists--Mary Halvorson (guitar), Kris Davis (piano), Nate Wooley (trumpet), and Laubrock (saxophone)-- presenting "Vogelfrei" written for the 2014 second Jazz Composers Orchestra Institute Reading, and "Contemporary Chaos Practices" written for the 2017 Moers Festival.

A masterful performance at Radio Studio Zurich in Switzerland in 2018 from London jazz pianist Alexander Hawkins, improvising over a wide range of interests from jazz & blues to avant compositional work, with impressive skill as he runs complex and diverging figures on each hand that are coherent and exhilarating to follow, balanced with beautiful reflective sections.

With two guitarists--Mary Halvorson and Susan Alcorn on pedal steel--and Ryan Sawyer on drums, New York trumpeter explores the Rocky Mountains Columbia Icefield, the largest icefield in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, through sophisticated compositions and superbly illustrative sound, an exceptional album of improvisation and intention from four modern masters.

Bringing together two New York percussionists for a wild ride of that finds drummer Jason Nazary performing exclusively on electronics against and alongside Neither/Nor label-leader Carlo Costa's percussion, using glitch and aberrant electronics in actively constrained ways as the two dart and weave around each other in an exciting and unique improvisational dialog.

Chicago and New York come together in Brooklyn to record this excellent encounter between pianist Matthew Shipp and flutist Nicole Mitchell, with Michael Bisio on bass and Newman Taylor Baker on drums, bridging exciting free playing with strong lyrical elements, balancing kinetically exuberant interaction with introspective and dark moments; inspired and masterful.

John Zorn's Masada Book Three, "The Book Beri'ah", continues in its second volume with this powerful and demanding album from the Philadelphia avant-metal band of Ludovic Beier on accordion & accordina, Timba Harris on violins, Matt Hollenberg on guitars & Oud, Dan Kennedy on bass, Larry Kwartowitz on drums, and Nick Shellenberger on keyboards & vocals.

A 5 CD box set of compositions written by Michael Pisaro-Liu using field recordings captured along the Grosse Muhl River in Austria during the 2011-15 Flussaufwartstreiben project, now accompanying performances made along that river by Antoine Beuger (flute), Jurg Frey (clarinet), Marcus Kaiser (cello), Radu Malfatti (trombone), Andre Moller (guitar), and Kathryn Pisaro (oboe).

The Winged Serpents is a collective of solo pianist brought together by John Zorn to pay tribute to brilliant free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, taking their name from his 1985 Soul Note album "Winged Serpent", Craig Taborn, Sylvie Courvoisier, Brian Marsella, Kris Davis, Aruan Ortiz, and Anthony Coleman each pay homage in original improvisations that invoke the spirit of Taylor's work.

A heavy album merging free improvisation, blues and rock forms from the French Killing Spree trio of Matthieu Metzger on alto saxophone & electronics, Sylvain Daniel on electric bass & effects, and Gregoire Galichet on drums, living up to the band name in dark malice captured live at Club Soto in Kyoto, Japan during their 2018 Japanese tour; vengeful.

Two meticulous works in two parts each using layered collage of acoustic instruments, objects, electronics, field recordings, voices, fragments of past compositions and early classical music samples, with A.F. Jones providing voice narration, from Venezuelan composer/artist Gil Sanson and Canadian-based composer/painter Lance Austin Olsen: "Pra Min" and "Meditations".

In 2010 Scandinavian guitarists Raoul Bjorkenheim and Anders Nilsson performed this incredible concert at DMG in NYC, accompanied by NY drummer Gerald Cleaver, a breathtaking album of intricate improvised interplay.

Blending two of the most unconventional voices on the planet--Ute Wasswerman and Jaap Blonk--with percussionist Michael Vorfeld, also on string instrument, light bulbs and electronic devices, Wasserman adding voice, whistles, kutu wapa, frog buzzer, and mirliton, and Blonk adding electronics; wonderfully eccentric while impressively informed and masterfully executed.

A stunning solo album working inside and outside of the piano and coaxing electronic response from the strings from pianist Satoko Fujii, caputered at Samurai Hotel in NY in September of 2018, and in the studio in Brooklyn three months later, during her prolific 60th "kanreki" birthday year, here in 15 dynamic and far-ranging improvisations revealing her depth and creative powers.

An intimate and unique collaboration between two far-ranging Japanese performers--Yoshino, also known for her work in Japanese underground rock, here on biwa (a short-necked fretted lute) and voice; and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, Satoko Fujii collaborator and Gato Libre leader--presenting exotic narratives in song using instrumental intervention of ardent improvisation.

Satako Fujii's 2008 release introducing her then new ma-do quartet of Satoko Fujii on piano, Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, Akira Horikoshi on drums, and late bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu, the band name signifying "window" and "the silence between notes", in an album of superb, lively, eclectic and absolutely exciting improvisation from 9 original Fujii compositions.

The Norwegian guitar trio led by Roland Galewicz on drums, Henrik Sandstad Dalen on double bass, and Havard Nordberg Funderud on guitar, free improvisers with a dark intent captured live at Kafe Haerverk, in Oslo in 2018 as they perform Galewicz's rhythm-heavy three part "Death Machine Suite", Funderud's spacious "Nice Things" and Dalen's searing "Holmenkollekspressen".

With two magnificent albums and more than 100 concert performances, the masterful dialog from this working string trio of Canadian, European and American players--Tristan Honsinger on cello and voice; Joshua Zubot, on violin; Nicolas Caloia on double bass--is evident in their thrilling exchanges and dynamic approaches to both rapid and reflective improvisation.

Improvising Japanese guitarist Riuichi Daijo joins Spanish Bass & Sopranino saxophonist Ferran Besalduch for a series of non-idiomatic dialogs, from bright restrained to assertive interactions, unusual techniques from Besalduch and percussive asides on the guitar adding engaging ornaments to their conversation; a nice accompaniment to a bright day.

A trio of improvisers recorded live at Exploratorium in Berlin, 2018, from Zemun prepared pianist Dusica Cajlan-Wissel, European percussionist Etienne Nillesen on extended snare drum, and improviser/sculptur Georg Wissel on prepared alto saxophone, through extended technique and preparations creating unusual sonic interactions of detail and restrained idiosyncratic discourse.

A mysterious and absorbing composition in 8 parts with 8 independent themes, composed to accompany the narrative of an exhibition in January 2018 by the Portuguese artist Sandra Gil at Galerie 9 in Lille, France, Bramnk's score combining acoustic, electronic, and studio components, this rendering adding viola from Guenola Fatout on several parts.

The Netherlands quartet of Martin Tervoort on tenor & soprano saxophones and bass clarinet, Bert Kleijn on drums, Fons Sluijter on cello, and Bennie Timmer on guitars, in collective improvisation influenced by jazz, blues, salsa, pop, free improv and modern compositional music.

Recording live in Berlin at Werkhalle Wiesenburg, the quartet of Portuguese father/son string players Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Danish saxophonist Mia Dyberg on alto sax, and Polish double bassist Tomo Jacobson present a precisely controlled concert of subtly detailed free improvisation using impressive technique and momentum.

The NY trio of Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano saxophones, and Cory Smythe on piano follow-up to their "Planktonic Finales" album with this live album recorded at the Unerhort!-Festival in Zurich in 2017, in a lyrically free album of solid compositional structures that result in warmly creative and singular jazz.

The 6th in John Zorn's "Hermetic Organ" series of real-time improvisations performed by Zorn himself, this volume paying tribute to the 19th century suspense and horror writer Edgar Allan Poe, as Zorn evokes Poe's enduring and chilling imagination using the organ's immense power and implicit sense of foreboding, stretching the limits of the organ.

The second Masada book project from the adventurous London big band Spike Orchestra, whose interpretations of Zorn's Book of Angels compositions in their Cerberus album was a high point in that series by presenting lyrical strength, skill and power, heard again merging jazz, rock, & klezmer & more as they take on 9 compositions in Zorn's Book Beriah series.

Recalling the French Revolution, Portuguese guitarist Luis Lopes joins forces with French cellist Valentin Ceccaldi and Norwegian drummer Andreas Wildhagen as they slice through complex electric improvisation in a triptych for Marie Antoinette, ending in a Robespierre-like reign of terror "Orgasmic Dance"; muscular, convoluted, unsettling and exultant.

A tour-de-force of modern creative jazz from the quintet of Larry Ochs on tenor & sopranino saxophones, Nate Wooley on trumpet, Ken Filiano on bass & effects, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass & effects, and Harris Eisenstadt on drums, the familiar history of the musicians and the staggering skill of each bearing out the album's title, in 2 collective and 3 Ochs compositions.

Matthias' Spillmann's Trio with the leader on trumpet and flugelhorn, Swiss drummer Mortiz Baumgartner and Danish Bassist Andreas Lang are caught live at Bird's Eye Jazz Club, in Basel Switzerland in 2017 for a lyrical and informed album of hard bop, seminal free jazz and jazz standards, including pieces by Ornette Coleman, Billy Strayhorn, Joe Lavano, and William C. Handy.

Picking up from flutist Sylvaine Helary's 2015 Ayler release "Spring Roll/Printemps", this evolved album of chamber jazz performed with Hugues Mayot on saxophone & clarinet, Antonin Rayon on piano & Moog, Sylvain Lemetre on vibes & percussions, and Kris Davis on piano, presents sophisticated compositions from Helary, Davis, Rayon Dan Blake, and Matt Mitchell.

The 2nd album from the Portuguese trio of cellist Ricardo Jacinto, double bassist Goncalo Almeida, and drummer Nuno Morao, blending free jazz and freely improvised music using effect pedals and electronic devices to expand their collective improvisations, textured playing influenced by folk melodies and an experimental post-rock bent; mesmerizing and passionate.

Portugese double bassist Carlos Bica joins forces with German saxophonist Daniel Erdmann and turntablist DJ Illvibe, the son of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, for a unique album of improvisation blending experimental and jazz approaches with substantive layers of genre-blending from Illvibe's record arsenal, all handled with accessible control and lyrical sophistication.

Starting from silence, the improvisations on this collective and fully spontaneous album from trumpeter Luis Vicente and percussionist Vasco Trilla never reaches cathartic crescendo, but as only skilled innovators such as they can do, they captivate the listener in other-worldly environments of advanced technique and profound intention; engrossing and ineffable.

Using an electric guitar, preparations, and objects as a tool of reflection, Nicola L. Hein presents an album of philosophical bent, about the question of skepticism in music, or a skeptical form of improvisation, through tumultuous playing of impressive technique caught live at Spectrum in NYC, as each track title presents observations or questions that Hein seeks to resolve.

With sections of dark grooves, wild free improv, seething electronics, and even moments of "Set the Controls..." surrealism, the trio of Alexandre Vaz on keys, guitar & saxophone, Joao Silva on synths & drum machine, and Vasco Marques on bass & synth, take their listeners on an unexpected and wide-ranging journey of uneasy and informed, rich exploration.

Birmingham drummer Ed Gauden's Crux trio with bassist Colin Somervell and saxophonist Mark Hanslip add keyboardist Steve Tromans in their 3rd album for FMR after their self-titled and "Believe" releases, originally developed from the sax and drum duo of Gauden & Hanslip; here in an extended studio improvisation of considerate exploration and lyrical intention.

A quintet of audio explorers that includes Otomo Yoshihide, recording in NY for 11 abstract non-idiomatic improvisations using electronics, drums, turntables, 4 electric guitars, double bass, analog synth, and effects to create identifiable and aberrant sound sources, elements used for reverie or building into unlikely yet cogent grooves; fascinating.

The first proper tour for these two Norwegian musicians performing live at Stavenger's cultural center Tou Scene, Frode Gjerstad performing on alto & tenor sax, alto flute and clarinet, Dag Magnus Navesen (DAMANA octet, Von Schlippenbach) on drum set and percussion, as they approach free jazz with subtle but spirited control in an impressive set of five improvisations.

London violinist Pei Ann Yeoh started TriYeoh while doing her postgraduate work at Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, bringing together UK drummer Jim Bashford and bassist Ash Trigg as they perform her lyrical and exciting compositions, seeking to elevate the role of the violin in an avant-garde jazz setting; compelling, upbeat, energetic and enthusiastic improvisation!

A duo of Brussels audio explorers, Jean-Jacques Duerinckx on sopranino saxophone and Anatole Damien on tabletop guitar and electronics, contrasting acoustic "dry" and highly effected "wet" sounds, the two develop sonic environments that build and release using unusual reed techniques and mutated string scrabbling in a strangely compelling set of dialogs.

A live album from Birmingham of informed free improvisation, recorded at the Lamp Tavern in 2018 by the quintet of Mike Fletcher on alto saxophone, Tymek Jozwiak on drums, Paul Dunmall on tenor saxophone, Richard Foote on trombone, and Percy Pursglove on trumpet, slowly evolving each of two extended improvisations while allowing focused interplay between group members.

Using the natural resonance of the chapelle St Sylvestre des Brousses, French improvisers Michel Doneda on saxophone & radio and Mathieu Bec on snare drum and objects explore the space in four mostly acoustic improvisations, using masterful technique as their interactions intensify and recede, allowing space for each other and the unspoken third voice of the chapel itself.

A live performance at IKLECTIK in London in 2018 from trombonist Alan Tomlinson's inventive trio with Phillip Marks on drums & percussion and Dave Tucker on electric guitar, with special guest John Edwards joining on bass violin for the title track, in a superb display of free jazz led by an essential member of the London free jazz scene since the 70s.

The Serbian trio led by violist Szilard Mezei with Istvan Csik on drums and Ervin Malina on double bass are joined by Hungarian flutist Gergely Ittzes performing on piccolo, alto and bass flutes, as Mezei's as Mezei's chamber-oriented free jazz trio reflects on the words of poet Szegedi-Szabo Bela.

NY Drummer Jim Bashford brought together the quartet of John O'Gallagher on alto saxophone, Drew Gress on bass, and Liam Noble on piano, writing these lyrical free jazz compositions that they brought on a tour of the UK, recording this album in the studio in Birmingham while touring, the band on fire as they work through Bashford's martial art's-influenced pieces.

Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band is the bassist's ensemble performing in a variety of configurations, capable of executing his sophisticated compositions that pay hommage or reflect larger subjects, here in 5 CDs of performances at Alchemia Club and on Radio Krakow in Poland, approaching the work of late pianist Cecil Taylor through multi-part Odes, Meditations, and even some "Strange Loops".

An impressive concert of free jazz from the UK duo of Simon Rose on baritone sax and Steve Noble on drums, their collaborations over many years, particularly their working relationship in their trio with Simon H. Fell, bringing obvious confidence in their conversation as each pushes their playing into both energetic and reflective moments of masterful skill.

Official issue of the drumming duo of Jay Rosen (Trio X, Cosmosomatics) and Brian Wilson (Pauline Oliveros, Ivo Perelman), performing at Whitman Hall in Brooklyn College in 2008, presenting 5 concertos for two drums written by both performers, through pristine recordings demonstrating melodicism through rhythm as they explore a wide range of timbre and color.

From Mnemonist Orchestra to Biota, with 18 albums in total, the Colorado collective Biota presents its 11th album on ReR, taking 4 years to complete this genre-defying album of gorgeous abstraction through free improvisation and composition, absorbing styles and reflecting them in a filtered ray of melody & song using unusual instrumentation and arrangment; absolutely recommended

Starting with a pipe organ, adding metal tubes, PVC tubes, a wind machine, guitar strings, a bass string, a resin thread, metal and glass percussion, and a bow, Maja SK Ratjke developed this unusual instrument for a live performance in Jo Stromgren's ballet "Sult" ("Hunger"), taking the instrument to the studio for this extraordinarily interesting album of keys and song.