Intense meeting of saxophone legend Parker and the remarkable Tuvan improvising vocalist Namtchylak performing live at Music Gallery in Toronto, 1996.

UK multi-reed master Evan Parker brings an all-star electroacoustic septet to the 2014 Victoriaville Festival for the massive and wonderfully detailed two part composition "Seven", performed with Peter Evans, Okkyung Lee, George Lewis, Ikue Mori, Sam Pluta, and Ned Rothenberg.

Excellent, fun and slightly twisted free improvising quintet with Dennis Gonzalez, Mark Sanders, Alipio Netom, and father/son team Ernesto Rodrigues and Guilherme Rodrigues.

David Payne (Fossils, Slut Mouth, Middle James Co.) solo offers a wasted take on the acoustic guitar, which is mangled, scraped, rubbed, fingered, bent, and subjected to a variety of preparations.

A quartet session led by saxophonist Ivo Perelman, with pianist Matthew Shipp, drummer Whitt Dickey and bassist Michael Bisio performing 9 works penned by Perelman, succinct and superb NY jazz.

The Vancouver based Bent Spoon Duo of Scott Munro on viola, trombone, electronics & zither and Chris Dadge on percussion meets Toronto's Nilan Perera on electric guitar, performing at Weeds Cafe in Calgary, for a rich interactive release of free improvisation.

Composer Frank Perry presents some new and some old unreleased recordings of solos, duos and trios featuring world famous musicians such as Evan Parker, David Toop, Paul Lytton, Paul Lovens, Jin Hi Kim and Trevor Taylor.

A reduction of composer Simon James Phillips' 5 hour improvisation performed with Tony Buck (drums), Werner Dafeldecker (bass), BJ Nilsen (electronics), Liz Allbee (trumpet), Arthur Rother (guitar) & Simon James Phillips (piano) exploring time, perception and place.

Ergo Phizmiz reinterprets Robert Ashley's disturbing avant-classical work "Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon", in a group with Ergo Phizmiz (voice, piano), Lula (voice), Maciej Cieslak (guitar), Julia Zietek (violin), Alessandro Bosetti (laptop), and DJ Lenar (turntable).

A live recording from the improvising trio of Gordon Allen, Michel F. Cote and Alexandre St-Onge, rendering acoustics and electronics in dark and unconventional techniques.

Solo recordings of percussionist Mathias Pontevia embracing a breathtaking variety of approaches and sonic environments, in a beautiful art release with the CD attached to a laminated disc with embedded objects.

Freely improvised clarinet duets featuring rapidly shifting patterns of melodic interplay from Italian Alberto Popolla and British Noel Taylor (LIO), with distinct approaches to the instrument resulting in episodic interplay.

Guitarist Luis Jose Martins and pianist Joana Sa, known from their Shhpuma release "Almost a Song" and a release on Creative Sources, join again with harpist Eduardo Raon, with two Shhpuma releases, for a delicately complex, effervescent, and sometimes turbulent release.

A mix of sound art and improvisation from Quebec/Actuelle musician Helene Prevost, 10 minimal "Plages", or luminous surfaces, created with Eric Normand, Stephae Claude, and Mario Gauthier.

Excellent free improvisation from the quartet of Els Vandeweyer (vibraphone), Fred Van Hove (piano / accordion), Paul Lovens (percussion), Martin Blume (percussion) recording at Kunstencentrum BELGIE & Cultuurplatform Motives for Jazz.

An excellent quartet of 4 female improvisers creating mysterious landscapes, bizarre spaces and surprising topography using dual pianos, flute, melodica, trombone & alphorn.

Portugese harpist Eduardo Raon uses harp, daxophone, electronics, voice & percussion to create dramatic music that applies his classical training to improvisational methods, using real-time electronic processing to create encompassing yet intricate and unusual sonic environments.

The enduring sax and drum duo format is invigorated with US drummer Chris Corsano and Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, who push each other in free improvisation that uses insanely great technique while delivering a passionate and ecstatic dialog.

The Ratchet Orchestra is a large ensemble of 30 fringe musicians from Montreal headed by director Nicolas Caloia whose compositions allow for improvised chamber jazz and showcase the talents of the orchestra's most passionate players.

The duo of pianist Dana Reason and drummer & sampler player Peter Valsamis in an album crossing boundaries of jazz, classical, and creative new music from two exceptional players involved in a rich dialog.

Chicago cellist and composer Tomeka Reid was commissioned to create original music for the first documentary of the Imagists, mid 60's Chicago post-surrealists artists who exhibited together; Reid reworked the music into a fully realized suite for this CD release.

London's Remote Viewers in their 13th release, quoting W.H. Auden in an album of excellent structured improvisation with David Petts, Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch & Adrian Northover (saxes), John Edwards (bass & drums), and Rosa Lynch (keys and percussion).

The 12th release from the London-based Remote Viewers led by saxophonist David Petts, with four saxophones plus electronics, acoustic bass, keys and tuned percussion, crossing improvisation and rock forms in unique and sinister ways.

The Remote Viewers' 10th album, with David Petts, Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover, John Edwards, Rosa Lynch-Northover, and Adam Bohman, in mysterious works of dissonance and wonderfully idiosyncratic expression.

UK's Remote Viewers with 4 saxophone players--David Petts, Caroline Kraabel, Andrian Northover & Sue Lynch--plus John Edwards on double bass and David Stockard on drums & percussion, blending jazz and modern chamber in lyrical, novel, and mysterious ways.

David Pett's Remote Viewers with 4 saxophonists and keyboards, and the rhythm section of John Edward and Mark Sanders, complete their noir trilogy with an album blending compositional and improvisational forms in mysteriously dark and satisfying forms.

Showcasing the working trio of saxophonist Dave Rempis, Joshua Abrams on bass, guimbri and small harp, and percussionist Avreeayl Ra, in a uniquely voiced trio balancing beauty and power.

A 2-CD set of live concert recordings from this brilliant improvising quartet headed by Dave Rempis (sax) with prominent members Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass), Tim Daisy (drums), and Frank Rosaly (drums).

After 10 years together, the Rempis Percussion Quartet led by saxophonist Dave Rempist, Frank Rosaly, Tim Daisy on drums and percussion, and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass, recorded this concert at Chicago's Hungry Brain for a superlative album of rhythmically simmering free improv.

Chris Riggs (Traum/Trauma, Holy Cheever Church, &c.) featuring assemblages of highly abstracted guitar improvisations and silence.

Percussionist Robair placed an Ebow over a street-sweeper blade or a short length of guitar string, and then placed those on the head of a snare drum or floor tom, recording without effects to allow natural rhythms and harmonic modulation to come forth.

Two passionate studio improvisations from saxophonist Matana Roberts, who lovingly dedicates the album to "those bard(s) of summer...the ideas herein of which I gleaned/interrogated/investigated/celebrated with you..."; subtle, rich, and inspiring.

A beautiful and subtle album presenting 3 extended improvisations from the patient and masterful hands of trumpeter Axel Dorner, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, and alto saxophonist Christine ABdelnour.

The trio of violist and label leader Ernesto Rodrigues with acoustic guitarist Neil Davidson and sythn/field recording artist Wade Matthews in erosive, sinister and engrossing improv.

Three tracks of acoustic improv from an understated string quartet that uses extended techniques and the whole of their instruments to make unusual and rewarding music.

The freely improvising quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues, Axel Dorner, Nuno Torres and Alexander Frangenheim recorded this beautiful album of dark sound in Germany in 2014, 3 movements of understated dialog using unexpected techniques in a subtle dialog.

A large group under the direction of violinist Ernesto Rodrigues (also on harp, metronome & objects) in 4 extended improvisations of great suspense and tension through sound and silence.

The music of bassist Jason Roebke and his trio of guitarist Matthew Schneider and drummer Marcus Evan is rooted in the leader's solid bass work and the tasteful and informed lyrical freedom of his sidemen, as heard in this live performace Chicago's Hungry Brain.

The British improvising trio of tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall, 7-string bassist Paul Rogers and drummer Tony Bianco performing two long and serpentine improvisations at Delbury Hall, Shropshire in 2010.

Berlin based Ambiq (Max Loderbauer (Buchla200e), Samuel Rohrer (drums, Kaos pad, electronics) and Claudio Puntin (clarinets, mallets, electronics)) create electro-acoustic soundscapes pitting unusual electronic voices against acoustic structures.

Free improvising saxophonist Simon Rose, on baritone and alto sax, meets composer/arranger Stefan Schultze on prepared piano for 11 exploratory works based around Schultze's "modules"--bits and pieces attached inside the piano--creating unusual platforms for free improvisation.

11 short works and a longer "suite" from the duo of Israeli clarinetist Harold Rubin and German bassist Alexander Frangenheim, with electric bassist Mark Smulian making the group a trio on three tracks.

Rydberg was a Swedish physicist with a moon crater named after him, here celebrated by the the duo of Nicholas Bussmann (sampler, electronics) and Werner Dafeldecker (function generator, electronics) in an album blending ambient electronics and muted, guiding rhythms.

An international quartet of electroacoustic improvisers, SQID (Angelica Castello, Mario de Vega, Attila Faravelli and Burkhard Stangl) formed in 2011, using field recordings of sound instruments and objects which they use in live performance to make remarkable audio environments.

Rich string work from Adriana Sa on zither & electronics, To Trips on resonator guitar, and John Klima on electric bass, following graphical scores and using electronics sparingly, in an album that is extremely focused while seeming to ramble in gorgeous ways.

The chamber rock 8 piece Saint Dirt Elementary School ensemble in their second release on Barnyard, superb sophisticated compositions reminiscent of L'Ensemble Raye or Conventum.

Guitarist and composer Myk Freedman's little big band, a salon orchestra that's both entertaining and remarkably sophisticated, a playground of styles and ideas.

The piano and vibraphone duo of Sten Sandell and Mattias Stahl in improvisations that borrow from both Sun Ra and contemporary classical such as Cage, Cowell, Xenakis, &c.

A live recording of lyrical post-bop jazz from Swedish legend, tenor saxophnoist Nisse Standstrom, in a live recording from 2014 fronting a quintet of creative players Jonas Kullhammar on tenor sax, Leio Lindberg on piano, Kenji Rabson on bass, and Moussa Fadera on drums.

6 works from a series of minimal compositions loosely based on the art & writings of Sol LeWitt, performed by the Edges Ensemble: Philip Thomas, James Saunders, Tim Parkinson, Angharad Davies, Stephen Chase & Rhodri Davies.

The second Sax Ruins album with Tatsuya Yoshida (drums) and Ono Ryoko (alto sax) with guest Ryuichi Yoshida on baritone sax, performing new arrangements of Ruins works including "Vrresto", "Refusal Fossil", &c.

Elisabeth Harnik on piano and Udo Schindler on bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet, soprano saxophone and cornet in a free interchange of subtle nuance and strong dynamics recorded live at SALON fur Klang + Kungst in 2009.

Presenting 3 CDs, a DVD, and a solid 80-page book of images and text, capturing 3 nights at Cafe Oto from the trio of Evan Parker (tenor sax), John Edwards (double bass), and Eddie Prevost (drums), joined one night by Alexander v. Schlippenbach, and another night by Christof Thewes.

Free and unusual improvisation with the strange vocal stylings of Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, bassist Demey, and percussion and bicycle pump player Vanderstraeten.

Tenor saxophonist Matthias Schubert leads a quartet with Claudio Puntin (clarinet) Carl Ludwig Hubsch (tuba), and Tom Rainey (drums), integrating New Orleans jazz forms into modern improvisation, including covering Jelly Roll Morton's "Shreveport Stomp".

Using extended techniques and a remarkable interactive approach, trombonist Matthias Mueller and soprano saxophonist Frank Paul Schubert surprise in 9 distinctive duo recordings.

Tim Barnes on snare drum and amplification and Mark Wastell on amplified textures, tuned metal, making small, mostly unidentifiable sounds with a Cage-style open flair.

For a decade this trio has created some of the most interesting electroacoustic improvisation, captured in a 38 minute performance at the Ear We Are Festival in Biel, Switzerland, 2007.

The duo of Bryan Day (Eloine, Shelf Life) and instrument builder Jay Kreimer in what they describe as "confrontational gamelan theatre", a form of amplified metal/object-based improvisation.

The sepiasonic ensemble, originally created by Claudio Puntin, Insa Rudolph and Samuel Rohrer, documented here on Arjunamusic, in improvisations, songs and soundscapes blend voice, 3 flutes, reeds, electronics and song in sublime ways.

Frequent collaborators, Matthew Shipp (piano) and Michael Bisio (bass) are joined by fellow Downtown New Yorker Mat Maneri on viola create what they refer to as a chamber ensemble, performing the 15 improvised and inspired chapters of Shipp & Bisio's "Gospel".

Pianist Shipp's long-standing trio with bassist Michael Bisio and drummer Whit Dickey, complex and inspired compositions that makes modern creative approaches to jazz beautifully accessible and essential.

Free jazz pioneers and electronic improvisers Alan Silva and Burton Greene together playing vintage synthesizers and keyboards, exploring new sounds and pushing boundaries.

An incredible display of control and lyrical development in understated improvisation using circular breathing and extended techniques from Israeli bass clarinetist Yoni Silver.

Poet John Sinclair, leader of the anti-racist White Panther Party, reads his poetry with the NYC quintet of Ras Moshe (sax), Elliott Levin (sax), Alex Obert (bass), Ander Nilssen (guitar) and Michael Wimberly (drums).

A new composition by clarinetist and composer Magnus Granberg, the leader of the highly acclaimed ensemble Skogen, this time with a new, smaller group that includes percussionist Erik Carlsson, performing his beautiful, melancholic music.

An excellent collection of solo acoustic guitar improvisations by Roger Smith that were digitally recorded at home in London during January, 2002.

10 compositions from drummer Tyshawn Sorey's creative quartet/quintet repertoire "41 Compositions", created as a series of platforms for improvisation, here performed with Loren Stillman, Todd Neufeld, John Escreet & Chris Tordini.

Eccentric Japanese vocalist Makigami Koichi joins Ruins/Korekyojinn drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, Altered States guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa, and Shimizu Kazuto (Hikasu) for an album of impressive and slightly deranged rock.

With members from Fire!, Red Trio, Amado Motion Trio, &c., the trio of Pedro Sousa (sax), Johan Berthling (bass) and GabrielFerrandini (drums) push the envelope in free improvisation that is energetic, argumentative, restless, and ultimately extremely intelligent.

An odyssey in dark and stunning improvisation from the New York trio of Jamie Saft, Joe Morris, & Mike Pride, an exploration of sonic space that could only come out of the NY Downtown.

Formed in 2008 Speak Easy brings free vocal improvisers Ute Wassermann and Phil Minton together with drummer Martin Blume and synth player Thomas Lehn for 5 tracks recorded in concert.

Splatter's 3rd CD resulted from a meeting between the London-based quartet Splatter (Noel Taylor-clarinet; Anna Kaluza-sax; Tom Greenhalgh-drums; Pedro Velasco-electric guitar) and Polish bassist Rafal Mazur after their successful collaboration at Cafe Oto in 2010.

The British quartet of saxophonist Anna Kaluza, clarinetist Noel Taylor, guitarist Pedro Velasco and drummer Michael Caratti, in a moody and shifting album of improvised and composed music.

Tense textures and shadowy interplay brought to 'light' from the quartet of father/son Rodrigues, guitarist David Stackenas, and saxophonist Nuno Torres; remarkably subtle sonic improvisation.

The 2nd release from the Montreal free improvising trio Joshua Zubot (violin), Bernard Falaise (guitar) and Isaiah Ceccarelli (drums/percussion) is a magnificent example of open-minded improvisation using unusual and sparkling approaches to sound and discourse.

Montreal artists Isaiah Ceccarelli on percussion, Bernard Falaise on electric guitar and Josh Zubot on violon, impressive textural music from contemplative soundscapes to frantic climaxes.