Swedish double bassist Johan Moir, who focuses on extended techniques, preparations, Just Intonation and psychoacoustic phenomena, joins with cellist Guilherme Rodrigues in the studio in Berlin to record these 9 dialogs of haunting string improvisations, pushing the limits of their "hollow wood" instruments to create a vast palette of sound and approaches.

Finding common ground between the acoustic past and the electronic present, the duo of Christoph Schiller on spinet and Eric Ruffing on analogue synthesizer present two extended improvisations of tempered interaction, exploring periods of extended sound, timbre and decay, scrabbling inside playing, restrained electronic whines, and active pointillistic playing.

Swiss electric guitarist Florian Stoffner (Manuel Mengis Grupp) and Spanish/Portuguese saxophonist Albert Cirera (Agusti Fernandez Liquid Trio) present the 8 part "IRMA" in concise free improvisations, restrained but alert and quick-witted dialogs that explore their instruments with alternate approaches to each in articulate 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.

Using multiphonics, percussive effects, circular breathing and other extended approaches to the contrabass flute, composer/performer/improviser Robert Dick releases a mesmerizing album of improvisations, breaking new terrain by letting the largest of flutes lead his muse.

Vocalist Savoldelli in an exquisitely-crafted album of overdubbed vocal work, with help from trumpeter Paolo Fresu and bassist Jimmy Haslip; elaborite harmonies, interlocking rhythms, exultant influences.

Two extraordinary players from two coasts--clarinetist Ben Goldberg from the West and cornetist Kirk Knuffke from the East--in an exuberant duo of lyrical and virtuosic free jazz that astonishes the listener with the ease of their interactions in both parallel and contrasting lines, supporting the other as they express themselves uniquely; an impressive achievement!

An extremely interesting experimental record of free improvisation and electronics from the duo of Dino J.A. Deane and trumpeter Stephanie Richards, whose work with Henry Threadgill and Butch Morris is felt in these pieces where Richards explores resonance in brass and percussion as Deane samples and manipulates her playing live; an inventive and effusive album.

Performing together since 2004 between Tokyo and Amsterdam, Dutch vocal improviser, innovator and electronicist Jaap Blonk meets Japanese vocal improviser and fellow electronics artist Tomomi Adachi at Lettretage in Berlin in 2017, recording this, the 5th in Kontrans' Electronic Improvisation, for two extended and energetic dialogs of unique creative interplay.

A thorough overview of bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandre's recent work in a boxed set of 8 CDs and a 16 page booklet of essays, photos and credits, each CD bringing a unique grouping from Les Diaboliques to duos with Mat Maneri, Fred Frith, Lauren Newton, & Jean-Luc Cappozzo, plus one solo disc and a quartet with Zlatko Kaucic, Evan Parker and Augusti Fernandez; magnificent.

Tenor and baritone saxophones in an exchange of spectral interactions that emphasize harmonic overtones and intersections, unusual emanations from both instruments in a perfectly paced improvisations, each of the 12 dialogs named aptly for locations and crossing in Englad and France, adding a sense of journey to these mysterious and wonderful expeditions.

Issuing on CD the duo album of violinist Samara Lubelski and guitarist Bill Nace, originally released on Nace's Open Mouth label early in 2018, presenting a series of psychedelic textural works, Lubelski creating vibrant and reiterating structures that Nace uses as a foundation for swells and expressive emanations; hypnotic and mesmerizing.

A study on vibrating surfaces in an album of active environments in the debut album from the duo of Angelica Castello and Jerome Noetinger, both using tapes, samples, loops, radios and electronics, with Noetinger on revox and Castello on Paetzold flute, presenting seven staggering and awe-inspiring works, each wild canvases of sound from atmospheric to tectonic.

Expanding on Burkhard Stangl colo concert at the 2014 Reheat festival at Kleylehof based on Consuelo Velazquez's song "Besame Mucho", the duo of Stang and Angelica Castello recomposed it, mixing new pieces with old plus home recordings, accidental recordings, live performances, &c, creating a Chesterfield diary of songs, of noise, of longing and of dreaming.

Titled from the two venues where these concerts were recorded, the duo of Jerome Noetinger and Mimmo Napolitano both use revox reel to reel recorders, plus feedback systems, laptop and other electroacoustic devices to create strange and gripping aural narratives built of abstract elements yet creating deceptively concrete, compelling stories; exceptional.

Tokyo-based electronic composer Yui Onondera (critical-path) and New York experimenter Stephen Vitiello use a variety of sound sources--electric violin, electric & acoustic guitars, field recordings, found objects, modular synthesizer, toy piano, &c--to create a set of 8 "Quivers" from trembling agitation to exquisite atmospheric repositories of sound.

Cinematic aesthetics and themes from the Norwegian Holy Mountain duo, performing on the uncommon pairing of two instruments--accordion played by Andreas Angell, and drums with acoustic and electronic parts and vintage synthesizer played by Aleksander Tidemann--in their 3rd release inspired by the dystopian sci-fi visions of John Carpenter, Philip Glass and Daft Punk.

An astounding album of dual drums and percussions from Downtown NY legend Joey Baron and contemporary composition innovator and collaborator Robyn Schulkowsky, their second album together after a 15 year history that has included a residency at Grand Central Station, tours in South America, Europe, and China, and performances using the sculptures of artist Eduard Habicher.

A series of unusual compositions originally written by Jacques Demmiere and Vincent Barras, here reworked by Demmiere and violinist Anouck Genthon, each piece focusing on sounds, breaths, frictions, silences, vowels and consonants, weaving and complementing each other through a mix of traditional, extended and unconventional techniques; fascinating.

Adventurous double bassist Pascal Niggenkemper was artist in residence at Wuppertal in the fall of 2017, presenting concerts with a diverse set of masterful improvisers from Europe and the US, excerpts of which are meticulously programmed in this 2-CD collection, organized by artistic endeavor and intent, from the spacious/introspective to wildly lively encounters; recommended.

With commanding instrumental skills and a growing history of collaboration, bassist Joe Fonda and pianist Satoko Fujii are heard again in two live concerts as part of their 2017 European tour, two duos from Belgium and one in Germany, the CD taking its title from the Japanese word for "water" as the two converse in powerfully emotional and technically breathtaking ways.

With a 15 year history of collaboration, Bug Incision label leader Chris Dadge joins with fellow Calgary free improviser Jonathon Wilcke on saxophone for an album of live performances in their home city, two performances from Parlour and one at Local 510, showing strong rapport in their duo of uniquely unconventional percussion and lyrically quirky sax.

Improvising guitarist/bassist, writer, and educator Joe Morris spent four months as visiting scholar at the University of Calgary, during which time he recorded with University of Calgary professor and double bassist Rob Oxoby, this freely improvised album with Morris on electric guitar, a great confluence of strings in 6 concentrated and adept dialogs.

Three "nonsensical" musical conversations between Malaysian experimental musician and Herbal International label founder Goh Lee Kwang, and Norwegian bass player and Nakama label leader Christian Meeas Svendsen; a first encounter between two different mindsets, nationalities and generations, packaged with a pencil to let you draw your own cover.

Members of the Polish Infant Joy Quintet and Warsaw Improvisers Orchestra--saxophonist Jan Malkowski and drummer Dominik Mokrzewski--pair off in a dynamic album of solid free jazz, influences feeling like Albert Ayler or Steve Lacy, as the two show great technical and creative skills, sometimes in great motion, sometimes reflective, showing great command and direction.

Berlin pianist Antonis Anissegos and Greek drummer Christos Yermenoglou in an album of obscurely titled free improvisations, sophisticated and thoughtful discourse using both traditional and extended techniques, Anissegos inside and out of the piano, as the two converse through understated yet strong melodic threads, a truly lovely and accomplished album.

A series of recordings from percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani's many travels in the US and Canada, both live and in the studio, with solo work and duos with Mark Molnar on cello, Mark Weaver on tuba, Gil Selinger on cello, Bonnie Kane on amplified saxophone and flute, and Rhonda Taylor on baritone saxophone.

An intensively diverse and thrilling game of "cat and dog" between Norwegian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love and Japanese guitarist Otomo Yoshihide, performing live at Dom Cultural Center, Moscow, Russia in 2016 for two extended improvisations that exemplify incredible technical skills, reflective and introspective dialog, and cathartic release; absolutely impressive.

A live concert in Quezon City from the Manila based duo of Rich Countryman on alto saxophone and Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, who are joined on one track by acoustic bassist Simon Tan and trombonist Isla Antinero.

Performing live at Cafe OTO in London, 2018, Japanese sound artist and composer Ken Ikeda comes together with percussionist and Matchless label-leader Eddie Prevost for a concert of resonant, rich improvisation, Ikeda's electronics complementing Prevost's bowed cymbals as the duo builds to a diverse offering of powerful yet controlled sonic uproar; stunning.

Italian-born New York-based percussionist Carlo Costa meets Norwegian guitarist Havard Volden (Moon Relay, Muddersten) for an album of water-themed free improvisations, beautifully developing with thoughtful playing using rich chord patterns and unusual sonic inventiveness in percussive objects to create a set of rich and languorous surges and pools of sound.

A welcome reissue of two 1980s, forward-thinking albums of electronic compositions from Milanese ethnomusicologist composers, sound engineers and performers Giovanni Venosta and Roberto Musci, incorporating exotic field recordings from their world travels into accessibly sophisticated pieces, creating unexpectedly innovative, novel and melodically rich hybrids.

The long-running collaboration of Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata, also on clarinet and voice, in a concert at Cave12 in Geneva, Switzerland with Swiss drummer Nicolas Field, for 4 recordings of intense and dynamic free improvisation with unusual moments from Sakata's vocalizing, extended and thoughtful drum soloing, and introspective moments on clarinet.

After their 2016 tour of the US West Coast, husband and wife free improvising duo Ingrid Laubrock (tenor & soprano sax) and Tom Rainey (drums) entered a Brooklyn studio with a set of co-written compositions, which they weave together with free improv, relying on cues that can trigger a given composition at any time, adding a unique layer of communication to their exuberant playing.

Berlin-based violinist Biliana Voutchkova and German clarinetist Michael Thieke (Magic I.D., International Nothing) present a stunning achievement in blending compositional, pre-structured material with live improvisation, creating a blurring of virtually identical sections that create microtonal anomalies in timing, rhythm, timbre and motive, as heard in 3 amazing performances.

Two electroacoustic improvisers and composers--Lucio Capece on reeds, analog synths, effects, field recordings, drums machines, speakers in motion, and Marc Baron on field recordings and analog devices--developed these 6 extraordinary recordings that blend motion, perspective, sound and noise, and concrete references in a mystifying and mesmerizing journey in sound.

The second collaboration between sound artist Vanessa Rossetto and writer and sound artist Matthew Revert is a monumental work that studies the evolution of communication through fragments of spoken words, and a rich tapestry of sound from acoustic and electronic instruments, field recordings, and perplexing and dramatic sources of sound.

Three concerts at Vancouver's Western Front, two from 1978 and one from 1996, from the duo of West Coast free improvising guitarist Henry Kaiser and Vancouver saxophonist John Oswald, early yet mature examples of the profoundly great music each artist has gone on to create using astounding and extreme techniques.

Legendary free jazz pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, founder of Globe Unity Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, met masterful Japanese pianist Aki Takase in 1995 for a live concert at Cafe Amores, in Hofu, Yamaguchi, Japan, for a concert of intricate interplay and uniquely creative approaches, taking on work by Mingus, Monk, and even Frank Zappa.

Legendary free jazz pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, founder of Globe Unity Orchestra and Berlin Contemporary Jazz Orchestra, met masterful Japanese pianist Aki Takase in 1995 for a live concert at Cafe Amores, in Hofu, Yamaguchi, Japan, for a concert of intricate interplay and uniquely creative approaches, taking on work by Mingus, Monk, and even Frank Zappa.

NoBusiness continues their essential 70's reissue series of renowned Japanese free improvisers, here in an LP and extended CD edition of the live duo of percussionist Sabu Toyozumi and saxophonist Kaoru Abe on alto, soprano & sopranino saxophones, the LP presenting their 1978 concert at Gaja, Hatsudai in Tokyo, the CD extended with a live set at Minor, Kichijoji the same year.

Continuing her monthly releases for her 60th birthday, Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii meets Australian keyboard and electronic artist Alister Spence for their second meeting, touring Japan and recording this spellbinding album merging bells, gongs, electronics, and acoustic piano, inside and out, in a passionate album that balances melodicism and sound.

Inspired by European improvisation, 60's NY-loft-avant-garde and Ethiopian jazz, Heaven, the Norwegian collaborative project of Danish saxophonist Henrik Pultz Melbye and Norwegian drummer Ole Mofjell, merge rhythmic and melodic realms, adding stretches of noise and non-idiomatic sounds, in fast-paced, highly-energetic, and highly-informed performances.

Following their Relative Pitch album "All the Ghosts at Once", the free improvising duo of alto saxophonist Mette Rasmussen and drummer Chris Corsano, also on slide clarinet, release their 2nd album, a live concert at Cankarjev dom, in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2015, pushing the limits on both instruments through radical technique and inventive approaches to their playing.

For his 75th birthday celebration, German free jazz legend Guther "Baby" Sommer joined with German trumpeter and flugelhornist Till Bronner for a rhythmically inventive, lyrical, and joyful album of free improvisation, nine pieces from Sommer plus "Danny Boy" (Weatherly) and Duke Ellington's "In a Sentimental Mood", making for a stylish and upbeat party!

Jean-Marc Foussat recorded the French improvising duo of electric guitairst Marc Ducret and double bassist Joelle Leandre at 19PaulFort in May, 2018, the title drawn from a poem by Edgar Allen Poe, as the two trade acoustic and electric string approaches in a sophisticated dialog of exceptional technique and inventive approaches; superb.

A series of inspired solo and duo performances from AMM founder, percussionist Eddie Prevost and free improvising saxophonist John Butcher, captured live at London's Iklectik in 2018, splitting the album between solo and duo work as the two morph their instruments into incredible sonic devices, with intense concentration and dialog nothing short of fantastic.

The second duo album between saxophonist & pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee and drummer/frame drummer Hamid Drake begins with McPhee reciting words by Harriett Tubman (Keep Going), as the two inform and astound through masterful playing, together and solo, shaking the listener through intense and unambiguously clear playing, with pieces reflecting our world situation.

Drawing on many collaborations, from Peter Brotzmann's large groups to Gustafsson's The Thing, this duo album recorded in 2008 is finally issued to unleash 1 blistering album of saxophone duos, Joe McPhee on altos sax, alto clarinet, pocket trumpet and voice, with Gustafsson on baritone and slide saxophone, alto fluteophone and live electronics; brace yourself!

Two Downtown NY guitarists, both masterful players with unique approaches to their instrument, come together to present extraordinary and brilliant interpretations of an eclectic set of standards and compositions, titled for Claude Debussy's 1910 solo piano work, and including pieces by Hoagy Charmichael, Johnny Smith, Willard Robinson, and a number of traditional works.

An extremely unique sax and drums album, as Rova leader Larry Ochs and New York drummer Gerald Cleaver take their tenor and sopranino saxophones, and drums and percussion, into the absolute darkness and stillness of the Portel Cave in the South of France, using the resonance and inspiration of the cave to record these seven incredible improvisations.

Caught live at Bar Isshee in Tokyo, Japan in 2017, the duo of Kazuo Imai (nylon string guitar) and Roger Turner (snare drum, tom tom, cymbals, metal & wood) present two distinct sets, each one on a separate CD, the first using open but continuous playing of great control and precision, the second a more unpredictable and assertive set of unorthodox interplay.

Two performers related by Wandelweiser--guitarist Taku Sugimoto and cellist Stefan Thut--met at oslo10 in Switzerland to perform two concerts with one composition from each: Stefan Thut uses chance operations changing the music's direction at the prompt of rolled dice; Sugimoto use sustained notes and ebow in a subtle but effective sound work.

The 4th album from Japanese percussionist Seijiro Murayama and Parisian Jean Luc Guionnet, typically a saxophonist but here on pipe organ, presenting three live improvisations named for idiophones, instruments that creates sound by vibrating without the use of strings or membranes, with two improvisations at a church in Berlin and one at a church in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

A vigorous performance by Charles Gayle (saxophone, clarinet, voice), Michael Bisio (bass) and Michael Wimberly (drums) that was recorded live in 1994 and features lively gospel music.

A "shug monkey" is a cryptid, a creature that may or may not exist, supposed to have features of a dog and a monkey, an odd but apt reference for the unusual improvisations by Berlin-based saxophonist Simon Rose and guitarist Nicola L. Hein, one of 8 tracks named for unusual creatures and mythological beings, each described in sound through extended techniques and powerful playing.

Two of this generation's most influential and skilled guitarists, Mary Halvorson and Joe Morris bring their distinct styles and jaw-dropping mastery of their instruments into a duo of collective improvisation, neither player using effects but instead impressing by (often high-speed) lyricism, incredibly precise interaction, and the warmth their long association brings to them.

Reedist Peter Brotzmann and guitarist Heather Lee has been one of Brotzmann's most current active collaborations, performing together for several years, here recorded beautifully in the studio for a 6-track LP and 10-track CD of sympathetic, emotional and articulate dialog from two musicians with an innate sense of timing and give and take borne from mutual experience.

Improvised duos between Serbian violist Szilard Mezei and Hungarian cellist Albert Markos, for more than 15 years, with two previous albums recorded (Korom (Creative Sources, 2008), and "Der" (Bandcamp, 2016), this third album presents 5 interconnected works of subtle and impressive technique as the two string players trade approaches in a fascinating conversation.

A significant release culminating the partnership of saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp, a distillation of their work after 8 duo recordings and dozens of collaborative albums, this 3 CD presents their work together in nearly telepathic terms: sympathetic and intimate without irascibility, a beautiful and introspective reflection of a shared ethic.

Acoustic guitar intermeshes with electric guitar as Canadian guitarist Pascal Landry and New York guitarist Mick Barr, both of whom play in heavy rock and free improvisation settings, meet in Queens, NY to record this intense album of free playing using a diverse set of approaches, intertwining their strings in an insectile swarm of notes and timbres.

Separated by 1,000 KMs and speaking a different language, the collaboration of Quebec bassist Eric Normand and Australian saxophonist Jim Denley, both dedicated experimenters, share a common aesthetic in free improvisation as they release their third album: five dialogs using reeds, electric bass, drums, objects and tools to create unusual sonic conversations.

Three pieces of "sonic voodoo" with John Zorn improvising on saxophone over the hypnotic Hatian influenced drumming of Ches Smith, while Downtown NY experimenter Ikue Mori provides swirls of sound and other aural additions, Zorn's incredible technique, lyrical skills and unusual twists and turns keeping the listener captivated over compelling and rich rhythm.

A unique sound document originally envisioned as a sound map of Ireland, collecting and composing with live recordings from performances in Doon, Dungarvan, Plaistow, Shoreditch, Singo & Stratford, using song, sound, spoken word, extraneous, ambient recordings and abstract and unidentifiable elements, making for an absolutely fascinating and somewhat bizarre album; recommended.

French composer and guitarist Clara De Asis composed the extended soundwork "Without" for the duo of Erik Carlson (violin) and Greg Stuart (percussion), defining a precise framework for the position and duration of each sound section and silence, with outlines for texture, volume, use of tone or noise, and percussive materials, but leaving space for many of the performers' choices.

Two distinct works by Swiss composer and bass clarinetist Jurg Frey: the 1st, recorded in Connecticut, a quintet composition from 2009 for bass clarinet, cello, violin, keyboard and electric guitar, Frey's harmonies creating an open instrumentation for the clarinet and cello; the second a 1997 composition for multitimbral field recordings and bass clarinet.

"Poisonous" is an auditory hallucination created with simple tools--acoustic trumpet and drums--from NY free improvisers Peter Evans and Weasel Walter, presenting seven pieces of forceful, modern abstraction, blurring the lines between composition and improvisation in a display of impeccable technical skill, mindboggling energy, and wonderfully twisted inspiration.

A uniquely bizarre and brilliant pairing between drummer Weasel Walter and saxophonist Martin Escalante, Walter an incessantly active drummer, here in absurdly impressive technique on drums and bass pedal in the face of and complementing Escalante's truly extreme use of the sax, at times like a steroidal bird call of savage intent; jaw dropping!

Resonant and upbeat exploratory free improvisation in the 2nd album from the Portuguese trio of Dead Combo guitarist To Trips, and String Theory members, Adrian Sa on zither, field recordings & reactive software and John Klima on electric fretless bass, in beautifully rambling melodic work with unusual sonic environments and asides, an appealing and absorbing album.

"Ke I Te Ki" signifies the sound of an alarm, as frequent collaborators Akio Suzuki and Aki Onda push themselves in a live multi-track recording at the NY Emily Harvey Foundation (former home of Fluxus founder George Maciunas), using field recordings, objects, layers of melody and rhythm, sustained drones, and diverse textures and timbres to create these absorbing recordings.

Prepared piano and percussion from Ofer Pelz and Preston Beebe, the percussionist using a diverse set of approaches to drums, cymbals and devices, blurring the sonic distinctions with Israeli-born Montreal-based pianist Ofer Pelz, whose preparations transform the piano in remarkable ways as the two focus on time, texture, space, and ambiance through seven fascinating improvisations.

German saxophonist and leader of the Salon for Klang + Kunst started the Improx, or "The X for the Unknown and the Unheard" with Gunnar Geisse, here in the third edition of the series with Swiss free improvising vocalist Franziska Baumann, captured live at two performances in 2018 in Germany & Switzerland, for unusual, quick-witted and innovative interchanges.

Eleven instrumental works with each piece based on and emulating the sound characteristics of blackbirds, such as "whistling", "squealing", or "flutes", captured in a live concert at multi-reedist Udo Schindler's Salon fur Klang+Kunst in Krailling in Berlin, from the duo of Schindler and long-time musical collaborator, violinist Georges-Emmanuel Schneider, also on live electronics.

The 2nd part of a trilogy for guitar and sinetones composed between 2015-18, alongside "What Might Occur (Rereadings of Triadic Memories by Morton Feldman for guitar and sinewaves)" (2015-17) and "Un Lloc Entre Dos Records" (2017); this work, originally written in 2016, and revised in 2018, is heard in a recording at GMEA, France, with guitarist Benjamin Maumus.

Two clarinetists--John McCowen, also the composer, and Madison Greenstone, both on clarinet & bass clarinet--taking the title from Boethius' (427-524 AD) printed work on ancient Greek music: "De institutione musica", as they generate long-form drones using the harmonic interactions and interference patterns of similar tones, overtones, and difference tones; impressively intense.

A beautiful rendering of French composer Eric Satie's 1918 masterwork "Socrate", originally for four sopranos and chamber orchestra, here stripped to its essence as a duo with Olalla Aleman on soprano and Guy Vandromme on piano, maintaining Satie's characterist reserve and refinement in the 3 parts: "portrait of socrates"; "banks of the ilissus"; and "death of socrates".

The long-running association of Chicago legends, trombonist George Lewis and saxophonist Roscoe Mitchell, are recorded live at CTM Festival at HAU Hebbel am Ufer, in Berlin in 2018, accompanied by Lewis' laptop adding a third voice that responds and generates textural and rhythmic accompaniment in response to the playing of both improvisers; impressive and exotic.

The complete performance of alto saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp's concert at L'Archiduc, in Brussels, Belgium in 2017, two extended sets that reveal the intimate conversations between the two New Yorker's styles, in beautiful phrasing, extended expressions, and impressive mastery, as they merge free playing with innate lyricism.

Starting with their 1994 "Critical Mass" album, and as a follow-up to pianist Matthew Shipp and violist Mat Maneri's initial duo on Hatology, "Gravitational Systems", the collaboration of pianist Matthew Shipp and violist Mat Maneri expands with this 13-part "Conference", in a freely improvised and empathetic music of force and fragile sophistication; beautiful.

Finnish composer and bassist Teppo Hauta-aho, who works in both classical and improvised music and has recorded albums with Anthony Braxton and Evan Parker, is joined by Finnish experimental guitarist Jukka Kaariainen for an album that brings warmth to the frosty austerity of winter through intricate dialog, from stark reserve to rapid, fascinating flurries.

Austrian violinist and composer Irene Kepl met French double bassist Fred Marty joined in the studio in France in 2018 to record this lively album of string interactions, both players showing masterful skills informed by classical and improvisational training, shown through impressive and mischievous technique and dialog that "Pirouettes", "Rolls", "Skids" and even takes a "U-Turn".

A unique pairing of strings from Berlin improviser Wolfgang Schwabe performing on the Guqin, or Qin, a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family, and Hui-Chun Lin on cello and voice, finding common ground in instant compositions of exotic string figures plucked and bowed, with Hui-Chun Lin sometimes adding emotional release in voice.

Taking two players from Guy Seger's Eclectic Maybe Band (Discus Records), classically trained Catherine Smet and improvising drummer Dirk Wachtelaer fulfill their album's title with 11 free dialogs, their dexterous mastery evident as they carry on energetic conversations of urgent activity, or lay back in cultivated discourse of sophisticated artistry; engaging.

In 1981 Archie Shepp and Roman Wiggins coordinated the University of Massachusettes's week-long event of workshops, concerts & lectures focused on modern jazz, the opening concert the wonderfully sophisticated duo of alto saxophonist Marion Brown and pianist Dave Burrell peforming 7 pieces of compositions from each, plus two Strayhorn pieces, ending with "Lush Life"; essential.

A unique freely improvised sax and bass duo from Angles leader Martin Kuchen on alto and sopranino saxophones, and Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar, recording live at BAZA Club in Krakow, Poland in 2017 they perform the two part "Baza", initiating with mastery and determination, morphing to more meditative playing, and ending with impressive assertion.