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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Slovenian percussionist Zlatko Kaucic reinforces the title of his "Diversity" box set over 5 CDs in a variety of solo, duo, trio and quartet setting, including some of the UK & Europe's finest improvisers--Evan Parker, Agusti Fernandez, Lotte Anker, Artur Majewski, Rafal Mazur, Phil Minton, and Johannes Bauer--an excellent example of his wide-ranging work as an improviser.

Known best for his Chicago trios, Argentinian born clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio joins forces with New York contrabassist Brandon Lopez for 12 "episodes" of free improvisation that never loses track of a jazz basis, both players using an arsenal of techniques, from circular breathing to extracting sound from the physical forms of their instruments.

Tomeka Reid is a Chicago based cellist, composer and free improviser, versed in classical and jazz contexts, here in a duo with Italian drummer Filippo Monaco recording in his studio in Milano, a lively conversation of extended acoustic improvisation using diverse techniques and approaches with an arsenal of percussive instruments; impressive and engaging.

Long-time collaborators, guitarists Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne perform the compositions of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, starting with their recording from 1977 of his "Wind Crystals", then improvising over 5 other Smith compositions, ending the album with an updated, 2017 version of "Wind Crystals"; an excellent refresh and retrospective from two incredible improvisers.

Through extended approaches to their instruments, Lebanese saxophonist Christine Abdelnour and NY drummer and slide clarinetist Chris Corsano create anomalous and unorthodox sound environments, Abdelnour making acoustics sound electronic through growls, smears and odd harmonics, while Corsano abuses an impressive palette of sound from every inch of his drums.

Guitarist Fred Frith performed 80 concerts at NY's The Stone between 2006-2016, in diverse configurations of duos, trios, quartets and large ensembles with some of the planet's finest improvisers, of which 23 recordings, titled from NY Times headlines of each concert's day, are presented in this essential 3-CD package, which includes a 24 page booklet detailing the collection.

Referencing the poem "Star-splitter" by Robert Frost, Italian improviser Gabriele Mitelli on cornet, soprano sax & alto flugelhorn, and Chicago improviser Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, both using electronics, objects & voice, create a spiritually rich and warm series, "gazing" at four planets through immersive, unique and authoritative performance; exceptional.

Referencing the poem "Star-splitter" by Robert Frost, Italian improviser Gabriele Mitelli on cornet, soprano sax & alto flugelhorn, and Chicago improviser Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, both using electronics, object & voice, create a spiritually rich and warm series, "gazing" at four planets through immersive, unique and authoritative performance; exceptional.

Saint Petersburg alto saxophonist Ilia Belorukov and Lisbon drummer Gabriel Ferrandini in a studio album uniting two continents through exploratory free improvisation of exemplary skill and intense concentrative discourse, bringing Belorukov's creative approach to the instrument in close conversation with Ferrandini's powerful technique and clever interventions.

The perfect foils for each other, German saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and French AKS sysnthesist Jean-Marc Foussat are heard in two complete concerts, one at the WIM in Zurich and one at the Kunsthalle in Lucerne, both exploring sound, timbre, momentum and atmosphere through extended techniques and extreme playing, and an amazing display of soundscape and sonic force.

A split LP with each side featuring a 20 minute solo track from both brotherly halves of the acclaimed space guitar improvising band My Cat Is An Alien.

An informed set of creative iprovisations recorded in the studio and drawing clearly from the traditional jazz idiom between German pianist Klaus Treuheit and NY drummer Lou Grassi, performing original 4-part compositions including the "Misterioso", "L'espace Sonore", and "Lament # Pb".

The long-running duo of Norwegian saxophonist Kasper Skullerud Vaernes and drummer Andreas Wildhagen, who also work together in Nakama's KNYST! trio with bassist and Nakama founder Christian Meaas Svendsen, and the Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, in an album of five freely improvised dialogs of great technical skill, intent listening and exchange, and dynamic energy.

The long-running duo of Norwegian saxophonist Kasper Skullerud Vaernes and drummer Andreas Wildhagen, who also work together in Nakama's KNYST! trio with bassist and Nakama founder Christian Meaas Svendsen, and the Paal Nilssen-Love Large Unit, in an album of five freely improvised dialogs of great technical skill, intent listening and exchange, and dynamic energy.

A unique pairing of reeds, piano and spinet captured live at Le Singe Club in Biel, Switzerland in 2018 between multi-reedist Hans Koch and keyboardist Jacques Demierre, a wild ride from frenetic interaction to introspective experimental, both using unusual techniques and Demierre playing inside his keyboards, a truly excellent and thrilling concert.

French free improvising soprano saxophonist Michel Doneda, using profoundly unusual techniques on the reed instrument, meets percussionist Le Quan Ninh, performing on "surrounded bass drum", a large drum affected by various objects across the skin, for 5 dialogs at Montreuil-sous-Bois, France, and then joined by noh theater drummer Shunichiro Hisada in Tokyo's Shushinkan Hall.

Compositions for percussion from Berlin drummer and accordionist Hannes Lingens (Musaeum Clausum, Antoine Beuger, Lucio Capece, &c), composed over six years, each using a restricted set of materials, instrument or instrument type, Lingens performing solo, and as a duo and quartet using overdubs, employing microphone techniques for detail and ambiance.

Recording in electric harpist Zeena Parkin's office at Mills College in Oakland with Jon Leideker, aka Wobbly, performing on mobile phones, tablets, booper, and mixer, their output run through a series of simple listening devices, machines designed to sing along with the melodies they believe themselves to be hearing, though they are often wrong; singular and surprising!

Having played in trio settings before, pianist Satoko Fujii and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez seized the opportunity to record as a duo in the studio in NY, bringing just two Fujii compositions to guide them, they began freely improvising, creating this stunning album of elegant interaction, peaceful yet detailed, intuitively beautiful and sophisticated music.

A composite of environmental sounds, electronics, and viola, recorded in Barcelona, Spain and Lisbon, Portugal from intrepid audio explorers Ferran Fages and Ernesto Rodrigues, the single long work taking the listener on a theoretical journey of transparent traffic, squealing wheels and indeterminate location, engrossing in its detail and the mystery it presents.

Recording in Saskatoon in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan the day before their performance at the Sounds Like Festival, audio explorer Tim Olive brings his magnetic pickups in a first meeting with Doreen Girard performing on a prepared tsymbaly, a Ukranian hammer dulcimer, for a single, unusually evolving, and wonderfully rich improvisation.

Fellow Canadians, Montreal's Ambiances Magnetiques collective member, turntablist and electronics artist Martin Tetrault meets Japan-based electronic explorer Tim Olive performing on magnetic pickups, in their first album despite having performed sporadically across three decades: 4 rich improvisations minimally edited, shaping sound in compelling ways.

Several of late Swiss composer Hans-Jurg Meier's works are performed in duo, trio and quartet settings, whose compositions merged baroque forms with translations of architecture, «qEndeavoring to make physically tangible the sensual qualities of the musical material (tones, intervals, texture) while exploring the interaction of nature, form and beauty.

Portuguese guitarist and experiementer Abdul Moimeme, once a student of US free jazz saxophonist Patrick Brennan, now joins him as Moimeme employs two electroacoustically altered guitars played simultaneously with objects, Brennan performing on sax and cornet, as they create unusual and assertive abstract sonic environments, intensely detailed and gripping.

Recording in New York at the Omi International Arts Center in 2018, the duo of German trumpeter Nikolaus Neuser and Brazilian bassist Carlos Eduardo Quebrada Vasquez, Quebrada expanding his bass through electronics, capture an inventive and active set of dialogs, rich in technical skill and continually surprising through twists and turns; action-packed and inspired.

An awe-inspiring concert between two of London's free improvisation legends, recording at Pardon To Tu [Teatr Nowy Clubroom] in Poland--percussionist Eddie Prevost and saxophonist Evan Parker on tenor sax--in an hour-long performance that starts with Prevost's reverberant bowed metal, as the two build and recede with profound concentration and masterful skill.

Three astonishing concerts on 3 consecutive nights at the Ad Libitum Festival 2017 in Warsaw, Poland from British bassist Barry Guy in 3 configurations: 1st in a duo with Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez; 2nd in a trio with US pianist Marilyn Crispell and British drummer Paul Lytton; and 3rd in a double bass duo with French bassist Joelle Leandre.

Saxophonist Mark Hanslip and drummer Emil Karlsen, two active figures on the UK free improv and jazz scene, in a sax & drum duo fueled by live performances, here in their first album of informed and exploratory dialog, five works that run the gamut from textural open playing to fiery free jazz, a solid first endeavor and addition to Karlsen's Noumenon label.

Quartet, trio and duo sessions between Paul Medley on alto saxophone & bass clarinet, Trevor Taylor on percussion & electronics, Matthew Hutchinson on piano, and Philipp Wachsmann on violin & electronics; improv and ea-improv that uses space and patient pacing, merging approaches from Circuit Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with an overall acoustic chamber feel--beautiful.

Fred Frith's solo career started on the West Coast Ralph Records label, home of The Residents; Frith met Residents front man Hardy Fox in passing in 1991, making recordings on a Pacific beach using Fox's Walkman, which they brought to a multi-track studio to record the basis for an ultimately unreleased album, now revived decades later as Fox rediscovered this fascinating material.

Italian sonic explorer Francesco Gregoretti uses his drumkit like a lead instrument, amplifying and modifying its sound through effects, as he pursues his varied "Imploded" bands (Strongly Imploded, Grizzly Imploded) fueled by the mathematics of Chaos Theory, here with guitarist Maurizio Argenziano in an album of dense sound, from near-minimal to highly interactive.

Brooklyn-based composer, bassist, and writer Nick Dunston in his debut album, blending jazz, contemporary, chamber and avant forms, in a uniquely voiced quintet with Louna Dekker on Vargas on flutes & piccolo, Ledah Finck on violin & viola, Tal Yahalom on guitar, and Stephen Boegehold on drums, in a sophisticated album of concisely fascinating compositions.

SALON fur Klang + Kunst multi-reedist Udo Schindler met Japanese pianist Masako Ohta at Mohrvilla, Munchen/Freimann, Germany in 2017 to record this extended live improvisation, bringing Schindler's free jazz and non-idiomatic styles together with Ohta's contemporary classical background, in an intently educated and fascinating merging of styles and approaches.

Two trombones free improvising in the studio in Koln from the Duo of Chicago's Jeb Bishop and Cologne's Matthias Muche, both members of the trombone trio Bone-Crusher with Matthias Muller, this album recorded in the studio in Koln just before Bone-Crusher's "Konzert Fur Hannes" (NotTwo), elucidating this facet of the trio in 10 insightful dialogs of awesome technique and wit.

Norwegian jazz vocalist Guro Gravem Johansen (Soyr, Crazy Moon, and vocalist for Helge Hurum's orchestra), in a duo with Colombian cellist based in Helsinki, Sergio Castrillon, performing on a prepared microtonal cello, as the two improvise over five dialogs, from the extended "Primo" to the succinct "Quintuple", blending unusual technique with unique creative impulse.

New York drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell first played toghether in 2014, this only their 3rd performance, at The Kitchen in 2018 as part of a 3-day career accomplishments series for Sorey, the two performing in the dark as they spontaneously evolve a brilliant piece of innate orchestration, color, texture, rhythm, and thematic development.

The duo of Japanese improvisers, pianist Satoko Fujii and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, continue their collaborations which includes many albums with the Satoko Fujii Quartet, their duo "Erans" record on Tzadik, and the original "Toh-Kichi" album on Victo, here in a new studio album of intricate, energetic and ebullient improvised dialogs, named for the aquatic flower "Baikamo".

Subtle, beautiful, haunting, masterful and delicately commanding, the duo of pianist and vibraphonist Karl Berger and Jason Kao Hwang on violin and viola recorded these 8 dialogs in Berger's Woodstock studio, their familiarity from Hwang's participation in Berger's Creative Music Orchestra summoning lyrical and sensitive music, finding profundity in restraint.

Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.

A set of varied compositions from Frank Denyer, most of them of a delicate acoustic intimacy, with works for female singers & flute, two works for koto, a string quartet, one for flute and electronics and the two-part "Frog" for a bowed stringed instrument of Denyer design, the "sneh"; uncategorizable music of sublime imagination and unusual approaches.

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

Lapsteel guitarist and electronic artist Mike Cooper and percussionist Mark Wastell, employing a paiste 32" tam tam and a shruti box, pay homage to the large acoustic sound mirrors used in Britain from 1916 to 1930 as an early form or radar, each of their detailed improvisation referencing one of the locations on the British south and northeast coasts.

"This Time", "That Time" and "Next Time", the three titles from the first duo meeting of Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, also bringing electronics, the distillation of their playing outside of Survival Unit III a revelation in intensity and unconventional creativity, fueled by magnificent playing and an empathetic rapport.

A live performance at London's Cafe OTO from composer Thanos Chrysakis, performing compositions focused on the deeper reeds from composers Christian Wolff, Iancu Dumitrescu, Hannes Kerschbaumer, Georges Aperghis, and Chrysakis himself, in configurations from solo to quintet, with Tim Hodgkinson, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Heather Roce, Yoni Silver, and Shadanga Duo.

Gamelan Son of Lion partners Philip Corner and Evan Schwartzman perform this Fluxus composition where two pianists play piano notes on the chromatic scale in relationship to numbers counted out loud from 1 to 88, forward and backward, creating an unusual texture and counterpoint that when taken as a whole becomes hypnotic and obsessively absorbing; inexplicably interesting.

Recalling their brokenresearch LP from 2007, trumpeter Nate Wooley and drummer/percussionist Paul Lytton focus on unusual techniques and approaches to their instruments, using amplifiers and electronics to investigate new frontiers in interactive improvisation, each creating inexplicably interesting, masterfully interwoven sonic material.

A wonderfully assertive acoustic dialog between London improviser Phil Durrant on mandolin and octave mandolin, and Norwegian percussionist living in Leeds, UK, Emil Karlsen, the two focusing on a quick flow of ideas that ebb and flow naturally, each complementing the other in tightly defined interactions, creating a consistent sound of rapid texture and impetus.

ZNR, the French trio of Hector Zazou, Joseph Racaille, and Patrick Portella, in a deluxe box set combining both of the official ZNR releases, "Barricades III" and "Traite de Mechanique Populaire" along with 2 CDs of additional released and unreleased material and a book of memories, histories, reflections, photographs, documents, interviews and other memorabilia.

"Efflorescence", to reach an optimum stage of development or blossom, as heard through four studio-recorded CDs, expanding on the warm and enduring duo of saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp in beautifully flowing, succinct improvisations with a lyrical inclination, allowing for exploration through the sophisticated support each brings; beautiful.

Recording at the magnificent cathedral at Berner Münster in Switzerland during the 2017 Zoom In Festival, the improvising string duo of violist Frantz Loriot and cellist Theresa Wong, also on voice, performed this extended work of creative string interaction, energetic and idiosyncratic and wonderfully expressive, enhanced by the natural resonance of the space.

Translating to "sketch", the duo of Japanese improvising guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama and French guitarist Hervé Boghossian recorded these sketches in the studio in Marseille, France, seven succinct free improvisations of an open and intuitively lyrical nature performed on acoustic guitars, in a gorgeous album of uniquely spacious interlaced string improvisation.

The collaboration of Quebec bassist Eric Normand and Australian saxophonist Jim Denley, both dedicated experimenters, in their third duo album under the Plant name, here recording live at the 2019 Syndey, Australia NowNow Festival, with Denley also playing bass flute, fruits and objects, and Normand using objects and playing the bass amp itself.

Bringing together NY drummer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, also on prepared piano, with Berlin bassist Bernhard Meyer for an album that blends textural rock, electronic and jazz approaches in 9 elusively calm yet structurally turbulent pieces, using complex systems of cross rhythms against atmospheric immersion, occasionally disruptive but generally eccentrically controlled and exploratory.

An harmonically rich album of spacious guitar interaction from two Argentinian guitarists and composers--Catriel Nievas and Tomas Cabado--who also work in the trio Merce / Cabado / Nievas, a minimal yet satisfying set of 8 pieces that interact through stereo positioning, harmonic disturbance and long decay, the effect mesmerizing and beautifully peaceful.

A shredding session between French improvisational guitarist Guillaume Gargaud and NY free jazz drummer Marc Edwards (Slipstream Time Travel), recorded in Queens, NY in 2017, for 5 rapid-fire displays of pyrotechnics and attentive dialog, as they take themselves to the cliff's edge and back in a dizzying album of dense technical dexterity and harmolodic force.

Renowned pianist and composer Burton Greene joins French composer and improvising guitarist Guillaume Gargaud performing on acoustic guitar, for four duo improvisations recorded at Tilo's Ark, in Weesp, The Netherlands in 2019, in crisp & often rapid dialog that uses space and reflective moments well, the duo joined by Tilo Baumheier on flute for three pieces.

Eric La Casa and Jean Luc Guionnet recorded this conceptual work in Melbourne, Australia, combining different scales of time, space, & attention, with different working strategies to create a gallery installation, and this book & DVD package exploring the acoustic phenomenon of "standing waves" to engage with the physical relationship between sound and space.

A work of silence and intervention from Manhattan-based Chinese composer and sound artist Bin Li presenting two versions of the title track, with Stefan Thut on viol & voice on the 1st version, and voice only on the 2nd, using the locations of Manhattan and Gimmelwald, Switzerland as the background of careful viol and voice placement; intriguing and compelling.

Christoph Nicolaus began working with the stone harp around 2007, a block of granite with a slanted top that is deeply notched to create fins that resemble a loaf of bread, played by "bowing" the sides with wet hands causing each to vibrate in unique and beautiful tones; this album collects 13 compositions & improvisations performed between 2008 and 2018, in rich and uniquely evocative sound.

Four duets of gracefully moving music that focuses on tone without repeating melodies or rhythms, from composer Kory Reeder in his first release, performed by Erin Cameron & Luke Ellard both on bass clarinet; Jonathan Kierspe (saxophone) & Samuel Anderson (bass trombone); Alaina Clarice & Linda Jenkins, both on flute; and Mia Detwiler (violin) & Kory Reeder (piano).

An album off free improvisations culled from the long-running Minneapolis duo of amplified acoustic guitarist Joseph Damman and multi-instrumentalist Milo fine, recorded in concert at Studio Toile d'Angles in 2018, with Fine performing on percussion, a Bosendorfer imperial piano, B-flat clarinet & marimba, for 8 pieces of explorative and accomplished dialog.

Returning to their duo work together 17 years after their erstwhile records eh, guitarist Burkhard Stangl and turntablist Dieb13 explore and expand the sonic properties of their work in this new "Garden Of Noises", using electronics and recordings of soundscapes from Paris and Montreuil, recorded live at Instants Chavires in France, 2019.

A remarkable set of duos recorded live at three concerts during April 2019 in Bloomington IN, Nashville, TN and Columbus, OH, between Polyorchard leader, double bassist David Menestres, and trombonist Jeb Bishop, two free improvisers using extended and unusual approaches to their instruments as a means to fascinating dialog as they engage their listeners.

An informed set of creative iprovisations recorded in the studio and drawing clearly from the traditional jazz idiom between German pianist Klaus Treuheit and NY drummer Lou Grassi, performing original 4-part compositions including the "Misterioso", "L'espace Sonore", and "Lament # Pb".

Five "Soleil Clandestin" soundscapes using abstract voice, guitar, electronics, field recordings & percussion from sound artists Bruno Duplant and Pierre Gerard, on the surface peaceful, minimal and using space and silence, but buried inside are disquieting additions through vocal abstractions placed in unusual position to the sound; curious and captivating.

2 CDs of works for violin, piano & vibraphone, composed and performed by two young American composers and members of the ensemble Ordinary Affects, who have recorded music by the Jurg Frey, Magnus Granberg, Michael Pisaro, Eva Maria Houben, &c.; the 1st disc presents the Feldman-esque work of JPA Falzone, while the 2nd contains an exquisite new work by Morgan Evans-Weiler.

A tour de force saxophone duo between two masterful New York players--alto saxophonist Tim Berne and drummer Nasheet Waits--recording live at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn NY in 2019, in two impressive dialogs: "Tensile" for nearly 40 minutes of articulate expression and powerful rhythmic interaction; and the more introspective "5See" of impressive technique and intention.

Chicago percussionist Frank Rosaly relocated to Amsterdam in 2016, but his 20+ year collaboration & friendship with Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis continues, as evidenced in this live performance at Elastic Arts in 2018 during Rosaly's visit back to the Windy City, rewarding listeners with 2 CDs experiencing the two reacquaint through beautifully paced, adventurous dialog.

A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).

Guitarist Barry Chabala merges musique concréte and improvisation, using recordings from painter and visual artist Lance Austin Olsen that Olsen recorded in his workshop while creating a series of large collaged and folded paintings--mutterings, physical sounds and other ephemera--which he sent to Chabala to use as a backdrop for these spaciously meditative guitar improvisations.

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura (The NatSat Duo) launch their project Pentas with this album, their 7th as a duo, with compositions from each musician and dedicated as a tribute to Eric and Chris Stern, elder inspirational fans who spoke with the duo after the NY premiere of this music, upon learning that Eric passed away that very night.

The 2nd Aggregat album expands the first release's trio of Elliott Sharp (just on reeds this time), Brad Jones (bass) and Ches Smith (drums) into a quintet with Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Terry L. Green (trombone) for an amazing set of free jazz compositions.

Two trumpeters--Nate Wooley from New York City, and Torben Snekkestad from Norway, also performing on soprano sax--met in Copenhagen in 2015 for this live concert "KoncertKirken--Blagards Plads", a monumental meeting of exploratory and investigative improvisation, using unusual and unorthodox techniques on their instruments to present 3 unique and singular dialogs.

Extremely patient compositions for electronics, cello, guitar and tenor sax from French sound and visual artist Pierre Gerard: "Air" using recordings from his duo partner of tenor saxophonist Bertrand De Lamalle with long sections of silence; "Cavity" employs previously recorded guitar improvisations that interact with Gerard's live electronic improvisations.

While developing a soundtrack with violinist and violist Anne Bakker, Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek, began editing a series of Bakker's improvisations, creating new works from those recordings by layering them into succinct short works or "scenes"--twenty of them in the end--that he sequenced into this album of confidently dramatic and delicately beautiful episodes.

Since their 1988 duo album Sonic Explorations and through a number of group collaborations, the duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and pianist Matthew Shipp have extended and evolved their uniquely astute and confident dialog, as heard in this magnificent 8-part studio album, a reflection on their compatibility and perceptive artistry.

Reissuing this astonishing 1995 studio recording, capturing the first encounter between two legendary free jazz performers--UK saxophonist Evan Parker on tenor and soprano saxophones and pianist Augustí Fernández--in an 8-part dialog of mercurial speed balanced with moments of passionate introspection, resissued with new mastering, restoring this essential meeting.

Free improvisations and a few fascinating covers of work by Cecil Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Johnny Dyani from the duo of double bassist Damon Smith and legendary drummer Alvin Fielder, showing intense and unusual approaches in great rhythmic dialog.