Concentrating the Teneleven quintet to a duo in the core of drummer Tatsuya Yoshida (Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei, Korekyojinn) and bassist & electronic device guru Mitsuru Nasuno (Altered States, Fushitsusha, Ground Zero), for eleven tracks of energetic interactive rock improvisations, alternating between "TdD" pieces of burning improvisations and introspective "Afterglows".

Prolific sound artist Francisco López, with more than 378 diverse works composed over 40 years, from nearly silent to overwhelming swells of sonic force, here in a set of eight pieces composed from different source materials, pieces and origins, using field recordings, synthetics and sources of mysterious origin, paced and placed in profound and breathtaking ways.

With the haunting impression of spiritual peacefulness and inner contemplation, Netherlands sound & experimental musician Matthijs Kouw blurs synthetic sound, field recordings and acousmatic sources into a reflection of his interest in Daoism and his visit to China's Wudang mountains, where he studied Chinese meditation and martial arts.

Six variations in Lithuanian sound artist and composer Gintas K's work composed during an art residency in MoKS (moks.ee), Estonia, each variation between 8 to 12 minutes long evolving interactions between granulated and continuously shifting computer generated sounds, thick electronics that leaves space amidst the synthetics to create digestible and intriguingly compelling works.

"Regering" signifies "Government", the title and track names derived from the works of B. Traven, in the first meeting between sound artist and composer Matrijn Comes and guitarist Lukas Simonis (AA Kismet, Coolhaven), in a dark album of subtle innuendo and detail, running the spectrum from nightmarish environments to hopeful glimmers; an impressive collaboration.

The first part of guitarist, sound artist and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Junnic's Fabula trilogy evokes dynamic and mercurial environments through intuitive approaches, altering and transforming components and source material in acousmatic ways over which acoustic instruments sometimes intone, the results warm and intriguing, implying melody and engaging the listener.

While in a residency in 2018 at the Yokohama, Japan jazz club Bitches Brew, Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas had the opportunity to perform in duos and trios with some of Japan's most famous improvising reed players--Kazutoki Umezu, Masayo Koketsu, Akira Sakata and Eiichi Hayashi--and also in a trio with Kazutoki Umezu and Otomo Yoshihide performing on electric guitar.

The first Wandering The Sound album in 2018 was the trio of Argentinian reedist Guillermo Gregorio, Spanish drummer Ramón López and Polish bassist Rafał Mazur, here extended to a quintet with pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura for a 2019 concert at Alchemia in Poland, a masterful example of free improv based on a poem by Ikkyu Sojun, a Zen master from the 15th century.

Spring/Summer issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine, including an 11-track CD of music from the artists covered in each issue, with articles: Sobey Art Award wubber Lou Shppard; a 30-page section exploring climate emergency through nine sound and music artists; Brooklyn-based composer and violist Tanya Kalmanovitch; Ashley Au; James Goddard; David Psutka; &c. &c!

Boston free improviser, composer, reed player and multi-instrumentalist PEK (David Peck) quadruples himself on this album with four continuous tracks of one PEK each playing many instruments, using a broad palette comprised of woodwinds, percussion, electronics, and strings, each recorded pass filling in space and playing counterpoint to previously recorded tracks.

In July 1968 trumpeter Don Cherry assembled a group of Swedish musicians--Bernt Rosengren (sax & winds), Tommy Koverhult (saxophone & winds), Leif Wennerström (drums), Torbjörn Hultcrantz (bass), Jacques Thollot (drums) & Kent Carter (bass)--recording their session with the intention of releasing an album that never happened, the tapes now re-discovered 50 years later and finally available!

Elliott Sharp's fifth compilation bringing a diverse and global view on modern solo guitar work continues the series on a new record label and with the same exceptional ear for superb musicians, here including Anthony Pirog, David Watson, Liberty Ellman, Matteo Liberatore, Mike Baggetta, Chris Vine, Craig Green, Jerome Harris, Philip L'Epee, Will Bernard, &c.

The debut of the advanced and innovative collaboration between improviser and prominent double bassist Barre Phillips, British saxophonist John Butcher and Norwegian drummer, percussionist and improviser, Stale Liavik Solberg, recording at the Blow out Festival in Oslo, Norway in 2019, and at Offene Ohren, Einstein Kultur, in Munchen, Germany in 2018.

Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker and cornetist Rob Mazurek have collaborated for more than 20 years in a variety of ensembles, heard here in their first ever duo, condensing their creative use of lyrical, textural and technical skills into this outstanding album.

These 2016 recording between Bryan Eubanks and Xavier Lopez demonstrate the analog networked sytem they developed, based on the harmonics of random feedback, using this information in real time to shape generative rhythms and other juxtapositions from soprano saxophone and percussion, in four recordings improvised live at Studio 8 bar in Berlin.

Known for her chamber and piano works, Canadian composer and widow of Morton Feldman presents five beautiful chamber works performed by the trio of George Barton on percussion, Siwan Rhys on piano and Mira Benjamin on violin, introspective and contemplative pieces of rich color & reflection that reveal the gravity between sound and silence.

The second of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Live in Japan, Speechless, Prints, Step Across the Border, Impur 2, Art of Memory II, Skeleton Crew, Helter Skelter.

The first of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Guitar Solos, Gravity, Cheap at Half the Price, Killing Time, Impur , Middle of the Moment, Keep the Dog; Dropera.

The third of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Technology of Tears, Propaganda, Allies, Accidental, The Previous Evening, Happy End Problem, Nowhere, Sideshow, Field Days; Inimitable (previously unreleased).

577 Records' experimental, electronic sub-label Positive Elevation releases this remix of Gerald Cleaver's Signs album, itself an innovative album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, here reworked by producer Hprizm, aka High Priest of Antipop Consortium, channeling Cleaver's work into dream-like territory that re-thinks and re-paces the original.

Five chamber works written by composer UK Oliver Leith, the debut CD release from the creative music group Explore Ensemble including a piece they commissioned--Me Hollywood--, the compositions spanning four years of work and reflecting a sort of portrait of the composer as he experiments with unusual arrangements, sampling sounds, and new instruments.

Two works from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith and performed by cellist Anton Lukoszevieze and pianist Kerry Yong: "Through the Low Hills" a piece for constrained variations like an object viewed from different angles as it is turned over; and "Ballad" a major work intended for performance that unfolds slowly, allowing for delicate melodic interaction.

The New Old Luten Trio with German saxophonist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky celebrating his 75th birthday with the younger generation of Christian Lillinger on drums and Elan Pauer on piano.

Subterrene, aka Grant Stewart, is a sound artist developing deep and cloud-like bursts of sound that create textures and aural interactions of an hallucinatory nature, here evoking the coercer--"the inverse of the seducer, using pressure, intimidation, or force to shape the behavior of another" in a journey from initial imposition to self-emancipation.

Translating to "Fork", Garfo is a modern Portuguese jazz quartet led by tenor saxophonist Bernardo Tinoco, with João Almeida on trumpet, João Fragoso on double bass and João Sousa on drums, all 4 contributing compositions to their lyrically sophisticated music, effortlessly using complex structure and time signatures to propel first-rate free improvisation.

Living true to its album title, electric guitarist Luis Lopes' collective Lisbon Berlin Quartet with Rodrigo Pinheiro on Fender Rhodes, Robert Landfermann on double bass & effects and Christian Lillinger on drums, creates an hypnotic brew of interactive, weaving and layered improvised expression, rapid-paced yet hypnotically sinister in its controlled kinetic flow.

With cinematic moments and dark, rich grooves, Italian bassist Danilo Gallo leads a quintet with fellow Italians Massimiliano Milesi on tenor & soprano saxophones, Francesco Bigoni on tenor saxophone & clarinet, American drummer Jim Black, and Lorenzo Corti on guitar, through a set of 10 Gallo compositions, melodically centered but surprising in detail and direction.

In the final stages of cancer, late double bassist and composer Mario Pavone recorded this lyrically warm and beautifully sincere album of modern jazz in a quartet with his son Michael Pavone on guitar, Mike DiRubbo on alto saxophone and Michael Sarin on drums, written as a tribute to his granddaughter Isabella, who died in 2020 when she was only 23 years old.

The title a reference to a 1953 poem by Yasuoka Shotaro, this album instead finds excellent company in the Portuguese duo of percussionists Pedro Carneiro on marimba with quarter tone extension and Pedro Melo Alves on prepared drums, their informed and unhurried improvised dialog merging concepts and influences of contemporary compositional music in compelling ways.

An album of spiritual and lyrically rich free improvisation from trumpeter Luis Vicente's Trio with double bassist Goncalo Almeida and drummer/percussionist Pedro Melo Alves, the three Portuguese improvisers performing Vicente's compositions that urge the performers to search and extend themselves expressively through both inspiring interplay and reflective calm.

Taking guitar and flute into very strange territory informed by vast experience and technical skill, NY flutist Robert Dick and electric guitarist Nicola L. Hein create truly unique and dramatic sound worlds, sometimes tense, sometimes beautiful, but always fascinating in momentum and expression; unique musical structures that refuse to be easily categorized: extraordinary!

An incredibly inventive album of 21st century jazz incorporating a twisted wealth of rock and electronic elements, in the 2nd album from Killing Popes led by drummer Oli Steidle and keyboardist Dan Nicholls, with Frank Mobus (guitar) and Phil Donkin (bass), Philipp Gropper (saxophone), Jelena Kuljic (voice & sampler) plus Natalie Sandtorv & Liv Nicholls on voice.

A "travelogue" of Swedish composer and songwriter Adrian Knight's guitar explorations, works originally released on his digital-only and now dormant label Pink Pamphlet, drawing from work recorded in his home studio that developed from sketches and experimentation, along with new recordings including one with saxophonist David Lackner; beautifully moody and elegant music.

Swedish contrabass clarinetist Christ Bothen in six extended works, the first and third disks a series of solo works using incredible technique and concentration, the 2nd disc a large work in an ensemble with fellow deep reedists Hans Koch & Per Texas Johansson, double bassist Vilhelm Bromander, pianists Kristine Scholz & Tisha Mukarji, and a spectral narrative from Sofia Jernberg.

Sound and visual installation artists Joakim Forsgren and Andreas Hiroui Larsson use a multiplicity of approaches, both rhythmic and abstract, and a vast set of instruments (flutes, bass, drum machines, saxophone, maracas, sythesizer, &c) and objects (kitchenware, nails in a box, aluminum foil, &c) to create a universe of quirky and embraceable song-like structures.

Five startlingly modern and fascinating dialogs from the duo of multi-instrumentalist and artist Alan Davie and percussionist Tony Oxley, active in the 1970s around The Alan Davie Music Workshop, is heard in Five startlingly modern and fascinating dialogs from the duo of multi-instrumentalist and artist Alan Davie and percussionist Tony Oxley, active in the 1970s around The Alan Davie Music Workshop, is heard in these never previously released recordings from 1977-78 captured at Davie's home studio, Oxley performing on percussion and electronics and Davie on piano, percussion and ring modulator.these never previously released recordings from 1977-78 captured at Davie's home studio, Oxley on percussion and electronics and Davie on piano, percussion and ring modulator.

A double CD of the complete Cecil Taylor Ensemble's 1990 performance at Junges Theater in Gottingen, Sweden, with personnel similar to his 1989 Cecil Taylor Workshop Ensemble album Legba Crossing, here in an adventurous concert of large group improvisation with Taylor performing on piano while directing and conducting the extended orchestration that includes balafon & elephanthorn!

Virtuoso guitarist and composer Gyan Riley, son of composer Terry Riley, in his second solo album on the Tzadik label, a brilliant collection of classical guitar works expanded with influences from minimalism, flamenco, bossa nova, and folk, nine pieces recorded during the pandemic lockdown for an album of intricate detail and reflective perseverance.

A superb example of European Free Jazz tradition, modern and amazingly creative, from the quintet of pianist Oliver Schwerdt and reedist Peter Brotzmann performing on tenor sax, tarogato & clarinet, with Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion and dual double bassists in John Edwards and John Eckhardt, performing a 50+ minute free masterpiece at club naTo in Liepzig, 2017.

Extended reissue of the 1997 album bringing jazz and rock artists from 5 decades of ground-breaking work into a mysteriously lyrical band presenting 9 powerful compositions of jazz/rock fusion, led by drummer Tony Williams and bassist Bill Laswell with the stellar personnel of Pharoah Sanders, Buckethead, Nicky Skopelitis, Graham Haynes, Peter Apfelbaum, & Byard Lancaster.

Music inspired by artist, teacher, writer and civic protestor Robert Henri (1865-1929) who in the early 1900s exhibited against the restrictive academic requirements of the National Academy of Design, from the free improvising trio of bassist Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, in a mix of Bisio compositions and collective improvisations.

The second incarnation of Frisque Concordance, formed in 1992 by Georg Graewe & John Butcher and currently the quartet of Butcher on tenor & soprano saxophones, Graewe on piano, Wilbert de Joode on double bass and Mark Sanders on drums, in a 2-CD set, the first a superb studio set recorded in Vienna in 2017, the second a live concert at the 2018 Konfrontationen Festival in Nickelsdorf.

This album of improvised music was born out of mutual appreciation and admiration for the respective art forms of Ann Coman and experimental sound artist Barry Chabala, who performed original guitar improvisations while Coman intuitively created visual artworks from those performances, then reversing the process where Chabala interpreted Coman's art as visual scores.

Recorded at the Nickelsdorf Konfrontationen Festival 2018 and formed by Austrian musician Christof Kurzmann, the quartet of Kurzmann performing on lloopp and voice, Sofia Jernberg on voice, Martin Brandlmayr on drums and Joe Williamson on double bass question the political situation of the European refugee crisis in a brilliantly emotional and inspired performance.

The first album from 2006 of the Ember electro-acoustic improvising chamber jazz-oriented quartet of Urs Leimgruber on soprano & tenor saxophones, Alexander Schubert on guitar, electronics & percussion, Oliver Schwerdt on piano, percussion, guitar & electronics, and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion; an album of insightful and meticulous interaction.

Performed at the Angelica Contemporary Music Festival in Bologna, Italy in 2019 and recorded with superb fidelity, drummer/percussionist Fritz Hauser joined with xylophonist Sergio Armaroli for an enthralling performance that balances chamber jazz forms with fully free exploration, avant yet embraceable as two interact in exquisite and authoritatively unhurried ways.

A series of trios and duos between Italian vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli, trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini and saxophonist Harri Sjöström performing on soprano and sopranino, the three developing a compositional language based around phrases and propositions applied toward the creation of events through notes and timbre intended to create moods and sensations.

On their first concert as a duo in 2014, alto saxophonist Michael Attias and pianist Simon Nabatov recorded these five creatively lyrical improvisations at iBeam in Brooklyn, Nabatov on the keys and inside the piano and both using tremendous technique in a mix of perky and introspective free expression, including an extended work that melds into Herbie Nichol's "Spinning Song".

Naming each track for the teeth of a different type of zip-fastener (curved, triangular, saggitate, &c) Swiss double bassists Daniel Studer and Peter K. Frey improvise a fascinating set of interlocking and intersecting abstractions, recorded live at at Kronen Galerie, in Zurich as the two celebrated their 20th anniversary as a duo through a series of 10 half-hour concerts.

Ganelin Trio saxophonist joins with the UK improvising duo of pianist Carolyn Hume & drummer Paul May, with percussionist Oleg Yudanov rounding out this sophisticated quartet of chamber-oriented collective free improvisation, their studio debut alternating three concise conversations with two extended works, each unfolding in great detail through expressive technique.

A series of diverse landscapes in the voluptuaries of guitarist Brandon Seabrook and pianist Simon Nabatov, evoking an imaginary garden of sensual pleasures expressed through dialogs running the gamut from elegant lyricism of lush and languid interaction to quirky runs of playful inventiveness; an elegantly complex and always sophisticated set of exchanges.

The first release from the Barcelona-based trio of Matthias Muller (trombone), Ricardo Tejero (saxophone), and Vasco Trilla (percussion), the band examining "physics, metaphysics, and the root causes of tension that hold our world together" through fully improvised improvisation using unusual voicing, textures, modes of expression and techniques.

NY drummer Devin Gray provides the compositions for this EP with his Cloudsounds trio of Ingrid Laubrock performing on tenor and soprano saxophones and Corey Smythe on piano, the sophisticated structures leading the improvisers into almost chamber jazz territory, with a light playfulness and warm interaction, Gray's intriguing rhythms shifting and propelling their music.

A uniquely voiced free improv trio of strings and drums from the New York City trio of violinist Jessica Pavone, guitarist Wendy Eisenberg and drummer Devin Gray, each a distinctive leader in their own right who use their instruments in unusual and technically superb ways, here in a concise set of collective improvisations of an edgy and exploratory style.

Recorded in the fall of 2019 as a statement to help expand awareness and work for a future free from gun violence, composed in response to several gun violence incidents, performed at Douglass Recording in Brooklyn with the trio of Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Angelica Sanchez on piano, and Devin Gray on drums and providing the compositions, each title expressing his concern.

After moving to NYC in the early 60s, filmmaker Michael Snow was introduced the music of saxophonist Albert Ayler's Trio with bassist Gary Peacock & drummer Sunny Murray, inviting them and trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Rudd and altoist John Tchicai to record these three brilliant freely improvised tracks, parts of which would be used in his art film "New York Eye and Ear Control".

An unusual journey in abstract sonic narrative and environments from Portland's Dave Quam (FKA Massacooramaan, Modern Melodies) and Seoul's Joe Foster (English, Don Brown and Dan Reynolds), their four pieces using concrete & acousmatic sources, field recordings, enigmatic errata and instrumental elements presented as sentences in sound that imply and defy intention; gripping.

A powerful and effusive jazz rocking and danceable album of instrumentals and songs from the Italian/International J & F Band of drummer Tiziano Tononi, bassist Joe Fonda, plus guitarists David Grissom, Bobby Lee Rodgers & Scott Sharrard, keyboardist Pee Wee Durante, violinist Emanuele Parrini and saxophonist Jon Irabagon, recording in New Haven, CT; get it on!

Following their first record with this powerful blues rock & jazz album, the Italian/US J & F Band of Tiziano Tononi (drums), Joe Fonda (bass), drummer/percussionist Jaimoe and Pach, Peewee Durante (keys), Alberto Mandarini (trumpet), Beppe Caruso (trombone) and Gianluigi Paganelli (tuba), with guest guitarist David Grissom and vocalist Lamar Williams Jr.

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".

Developed over outdoor sessions performed during the summer of 2020 around NYC, this is the first release from the duo of multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter and acoustic guitarist Jessica Ackerley, their warm collaboration heard in effortless interactions inspired by the dream-like, meditative approach in both improviser's playing; lovely.

Performing at Bimhuis in 2013, the trans-Atlantic quintet of Roy Campbell on trumpet, flugelhorn & flute, John Dikeman on saxophone, Raoul van der Weide on cello & percussion, Peter Jacquemyn on bass & voice and Klaus Kugel on drums, perform an extended, energetic and dynamic set of free improvisation, with intricate melodies and beautifully rich transitions.

A lyrical piano trio album from three seasoned Argentinian-born improvising musicians -- Leo Genovese on piano, Mariano Otero on bass and Sergio Verdinelli on drums -- each contributing compositions to the album, along with one piece by Luis Alberto Spinetta, with whom Verdinelli has performed extensively; a lovely and sophisticated album of modern jazz.

Reminding of Downtown NY bands in the vein of No Safety or Curlew, this Chicago/NY 7-piece blurs rock, jazz and funk forms with intelligent and often satirical lyrics, upbeat and joyful music that defies categorization through groove-based songs that playfully critique while keeping it all danceable and fun, in a wonderfully talented and enjoyable album.

A companion 3" CD to the Karacho! album, with an additional dynamic improvisation from the same concert, the Big Bad Brotzmann Trio bringing together master multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann, here on tenor saxophone & clarinet, with pianist Oliver Schwerdt, also playing percussion & little instruments, and drummer/percussionist Christian Lillinger.

A trio sounding much larger than its three contributors--Oliver Schwerdt on grand piano, percussion & little instruments, Baby Sommer on drums, cymbals & percussion and Barry Guy on double bass--captured in concert at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany in 2019 for a joyful and assertive album of collective free improv that merges contemporary, free and jazz idioms seamlessly.

A truly diverse set of improvisations, from solo work to large scale ensemble, as Euphorium_Freakestra are joined by European Free Jazz legends, drummer Baby Sommer and double bassist Barry Guy, in a band with leader & pianist Oliver Schwerdt, plus Bertrand Denzler, Burkard Beins, John Eckhardt, Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Patrick Schanze, Daniel Beilschmidt & Freidrich Kettlitz.

The second step in this evolutionary project, the title referring to "noisy bustle; Riot" started with the trio of wind & reed player Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer and drummer Christian Lillinger (Radau!), then expanded to this quintet with two double bassists-John Edwards & Robert Landfermann--captured live at naTo/ in Leipzig, Germany in 2015.

A quintet configuration of New Old Luten, the core of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on sax, clarinet and Romanian shepherd's flute and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion, with Elan Pauer on piano & little instruments, and both John Edwards & Robert Landerfmann on double bass, performing the first set of a 2015 evening at naTo/ in Leipzig, Germany.

This evolutionary project titled as "loud, colorful hustle & bustle" started with the trio of wind & reed player Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer and drummer Christian Lillinger (Radau!), then expanded to a quintet with two double bassists-John Edwards & Robert Landfermann--and here as a septet with saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and trumpeter Axel Dšrner.

Eschewing his many monikers (Birg Borgenthal, Elan Pauer and Ra Ra da Boff) pianist Oliver Schwerdt steps away from EUPHORIUM_freakestra, uses his given name, and takes the stage of the Bauhaus building in Dessau where such legends as Fred van Hove and Alexander von Schlippenbach have played, to record these four exemplary and extended, kinetic & free solo piano improvisations.

A double CD of pianist, Euphorium label-leader and EUPHORIUM_freakestra leader Oliver Schwerdt in a double CD of solo recordings in the studio in Leipzig, 3 extended improvisations and 1 concise piece titled "Prestige" I & II and "No Smoking" I & II, remarkably concentrative work displaying an acute and extraordinarily inventive approach to improvisation.

One year after the 2013 recording by New Old Luten Quintet, Tumult!, the exceptional free jazz grouping of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on sax & clarinet, Elan Pauer on grand piano & percussion, John Edwards & Robert Landfermann on double bass and Christian Lillinger on drums, took the stage at naTo, in Leipzig to record this energetic and strongly percussive followup.

Ra Ra da Boff is an alter ego for keyboardist Oliver Schwerdt, here performing on electric organ in a trio with trumpeter Axel Dörner and percussionist Roger Turner, the three turning free improvisation on its ear through extended and unusual approaches to their instruments in an impressionistic set of three impressive and slowly tumultuous extended conversations; exemplary!

Active and informed improvisations on acoustic guitar from Jean Claude "JC" Jones, label leader of the Kadima Collective and also known as a double bassist, though his roots are in the guitar, which he has returned to with vigor since 2016, performing on lap-style prepared acoustic and prepared Spanish guitar, heard here in 13 concise pieces titled by single words.

Two Chicago compatriots--established drummer/percussionist Adam Shead and newcomer to the Chicago improvised scene, saxophonist and multi-reedist Chris Moore, in an expressive album of sax & drum interaction, thoughtful interactions in twelve succinct dialogs that focuses on the depth of their conversation through clear expression and response.

A 60 page book and CD from sound artist Jason Kahn, the audio composition representing an interconnected set of sound impressions focused on the Indian city of Varanasi, using field recordings of life on the street, the people, animals & music heard there, into the holy sites of the city, the school rooms, ending with a cremation and inevitable quiet at end of day.

Four impressive free improvisations of tremendous mastery and advanced and unusual technical skill from the trio of Axel Dorner on trumpet, Elan Pauer on piano & percussion and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion, performing at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany in 2013, augmented on one track by John Edwards knocking on the venue door.

A 3" CD of three technically impressive, intricate improvisations: first in a solo piano piece by pianist Oliver Schwerdt, followed by a duo with drummer & percussionist Christian Lillinger with Schwerdt also on small instruments, ending in a piano trio format with double bassist Robert Landfermann, a high-speed affair of quick-witted interplay and almost telepathic communication.

A tumultuously wonderful free jazz epic recorded in Leipzig in 2013 from original New Old Luten founders, saxophonist & clarinetist Enrst-Ludwig Petrowsky and drummer Christian Lillinger, the band configured as a quintet with Elan Pauer taking on the piano role plus percussives, and the dual and powerful double bassists John Edwards and Robert Landfermann.

Opening with a powerful solo set from pianist Elan Pauer, this album was released on the occasion of Pauer's 80th birthday, revealing itself to be the incredible free jazz quintet of of Pauer, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on clarinet & shepherds' flutes, both John Edwards & Robert Landfermann on double bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion.

A 3" CD-EP of the New Old Luten Trio, expanded into a quintet by the addition of two double bassists--John Edwards and Robert Landfermann--to the lineup of Euro Free Jazz reedist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer (aka Oliver Schwerdt) and drummer/percussionist Christian Lillinger, in the warm-up set before the concert yielding the album Tumult!.

Ominous and dense with layers of strata intended for nighttime listening, the German quartet of Axel Dorner on trumpet & electronics, Matthias Lorenz on cello, and both Robert Landfermann and John Edwards on double bass recorded these four tremendous electroacoustic improvisations at their live performance at naTo in Leipzig, Germany in 2013.

The title referencing a Blind Willie McTell entreaty to himself, Elliott Sharp's contemporary blues project Teraplane truly "kicks" in 8 burning pieces of concentrated guitar work from Sharp, solo and in overdub, recording in Studio zOaR while performing on electric guitar, vong co guitar, lap steel guitar, console steel guitars, mandocello, mandola, basses & drum programming.

Known as a percussionist, Bay Area improviser Charles K. Noyes' first part of his Crimes In High Places is performed on electric & resonator guitars plus amplified guqin, expanding on the innovations of Derek Bailey in free-form non-idiomatic playing as he works to create a personal language on the instrument, presenting a dark and creatively foreboding vision.