Known mostly as a masterful improviser, this 2015 live performance of her 2009 work for a tenet crosses compositional and improvisation boundaries, reflecting on her 40 year career while bringing out new subtleties from its original release, here with a superb set of performers.

Percussionist Michel Blanc's astounding 12-part work was composed around news events that occurred between 1972-89, in a tour-de-force of music drawing from improvised music, RIO oriented rock, and concrete sound; with Marc Ducret, Annabelle Playe, Anne Gimenez, & Antonin Rayon.

Akode is the UK/Norwegian quartet of Alan Wilkinson on saxophone & clarinet, Kim Johannesen on guitar, Ola Hoyer on double bass, and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen on drums, bring masterful experience and youthful enthusiasm together for a strong concert at Cafe Oto.

A recording of two London based improvisers of different generations communing in the resonant surroundings of the 100 Years Gallery, with drummer Noble creating glittering bell and gong like tones over which guitar Thompson hangs fractured harmonics and strange bending chords.

As close to straight-ahead improvisation as you'll hear from audio explorer Mark Wastell, in an authoritative quartet of free improvisers, with both Olie Brice and Dominic Lash on double bass, Alan Wilkinson on alto sax, and Wastell himself on violoncello.

Two 2015 recordings at Exploratorium in Berlin, 2015 from the long-running The Sealed Knot project of percussionist Burkhard Beins, harpist Rhodri Davies, and double bassist Mark Wastell, in a dynamic set of percussive invocations and detailed sound work of unusual technique.

It started as Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek's request to saxophonist Neil Welch to improvise over a track that he sent to him; on receipt of the track he was so impressed with the details that he created this unexpected and rich work of organized sound from it.

The debut album by the British Improvised Music trio Bay's Leap of clarinetist Noel Taylor, pianist Clare Simmonds and cellist James Barralet, presenting 11 spontaneously improvised compositions that bridge avant jazz and contemporary classical chamber music.

Madrid multi-instrumentalist and cross media artist Edith Alonso in an album of prepared solo electric bass improvisations, a four part work of muscular and shadowy sound, dark vibrations with crepitating edges making a sinister and cathartic dungeon of sound.

Part of a series of 8 split release cassettes, hand-painted & numbered; Side A presents dark soundscapes from Jeff Winter, aka Faint Glow, in slowly unfolding electronic works; Side B a variety of electronic approaches from arpeggiated to slowly abrasive grumbling.

Part of a series of 8 split release cassettes, hand-painted & numbered; Side A presents S27E152, aka Brisbane's Tristan Eyles, using field recordings and image synthesis; Side B is Chefkirk, aka Roger Smith, combining concrete sound with improvised drone and harsh electronics.

The long running duo of NY pianist Matthew Shipp and Brazilian/NY saxophonist Ivo Perelman forms the basis for this excellent quartet, with mainstays Michael Bisio on bass and Whit Dickey on drums, in an expressive and soulful album that balances enthusiasm and brilliant restraint.

A dark and powerful album of drums, percussion, and electric bass from the duo of Italian bassist Massimo Pupillo (Zu) and NY drummer Chris Corsano, both using a myriad of percussive and electronic strategies to create soundscapes that keep the listener on the edge of their seat.

A free blowing session from the trio of Japanese saxophonist, clarinetist and vocalist Akira Sakta, double bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love, a furiously intense album fueled by a scorching rhythm section and Sakata's urgent playing.

Full Blast, the long-running trio of Peter Brotzmann (reeds), Marino Pliakis (electric bass) and Michael Wertmuller (drums), recording in the studio for an album of seven masterful free improvisations of strong technical and powerfully intense playing.

A intensely introspective album of free improvisation from frequent collaborators, reed and trumpter Joe McPhee, drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, electronic artist Lasse Marhaug, and Japanese koto player Michiyo Yagi, performing live at GOK Sound in Tokyo, 2013; beautiful.

A stunning example of modern creative improv from the duo of bassists Peter Frey and Daniel Studer, in concert with configurations of duos, trios and one septet, with performers including John Butcher, Hans Koch, Magda Mayas, Jacques Demierre, Gerry Hemingway, &c. &c.

A unique approach to solo reeds and winds from French multi-reedist Matthieu Prual, also on flute and ORLA Keyboard, maintaining lyrical and comprehensible approaches with strong technical skills in captivating and succinct statements, truly excellent work.

An extended and far-ranging acoustic free improvisation from the trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Phillip Greenlief on tenor sax, and Tom Wafford on violin, recorded live at the Gallery 1412 during the Seattle Improvised Music Festival of 2006.

Citing their influences as Bill Frisell, Paul Motian, John Zorn, and Steve Lacy, the Brussels-based bassless jazz trio of Quentin Stokart (guitar), Mathieu Robert (sax), and Nicolas Chkifi (drums) play lyrical and intelligently restrained music.

Robert Ashley's minimal masterpiece centers on John Barton Wolgamot's experimental poem "In Sarah, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven There Were Men and Women," consisting of one sentence repeated over and over, only changing names inserted into the sentence with each iteration.

A live recording at the Jazzfest Trondheim, Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst, in May 2015 from the freely improvising duo of John Butcher and contrabassist Michael Duch, a superb extended concert of incredible reed technique and concept anchored by Duch's flexible bass work.

2011 recordings of the Turkish free jazz quartet Konstrukt of Korhan Futaci (sax), Umut Caglar (electric guitar), Ozun Usta (double bass, djembe, gong, bells) and Korhan Arguden (drums) augmented with additional bass, guitar, piano, and featuring saxophonist Peter Brotzmann.

The second CD that NY saxophonist Ivo Perelman has recorded with Ornette alumni Karl Berger, the first with Berger on piano, and here on vibraphone, opening new aspects of sound to the commanding dialog between these two friends and seasoned improvisers.

After many years working together in the vital Downtown NY scene, saxophonist Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp take their playing the next step after their previous duo "Callas", in thoughtful improv that expresses in both their mutual language and masterful skills.

Silver Apples (Keith Moline meets New York's indomitable electro-punk duo); Steve Lehman; Noura Mint Seymali; Milan's electronicists: Die Schachtel, Nicola Ratti, Attila Faravelli, Giuseppe Ielasi, Enrico Malatesta; Invisible Jukebox: Suzanne Ciani; plus reviews, essays, comix, &c.

Recorded during the 2013 Angelica Festival at Teatro Comunale, Terry Riley's 3 Generations Trio bring Riley on synth, piano and Indian influenced vocals together with son Gyan on guitar and Tracy Silverman on electric violin for an immersive and meditative performance.

Taken from 2 concerts during the 2013 Angelica Festival in Santa Caterina, with the Apartment House Ensemble, percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, and Wolff himself; compositions include several "Excercises", his "Duo for Violins", and a variation on a Morton Feldman work.

Double-bassist Carlo Costa, originally from the Canary Islands and who has worked with Tim Berne, Tomas Fujiwara, Ingar Zach, Wade Matthews, &c. in a solo album of solid and unusual bass technique including plucking, bowing and scraping, in his 9-part series of "Doors".

Pushing the envelope on minimalism, Manfredd Werder's 3 scores for "2003" present just 6 tones, the instructions telling 3, 2 or 1 performers to play a pitch or sound for 3-7 seconds twice during the performance; realized by Erik Carlson, Stephanie Richards, and D. Edward Davis.

The duo of Paul Abbot on drum kits, percussion & computer, and Seymour Wright on alto saxophone and feedback, in a massive edge-of-your seat live recording from London's Cafe Oto in 2015, a mix of brutal and beautiful playing with unexpected and surprising twists.

A live recording at Belfast's Sonic Arts Research Centre during the Translating Improvisation: Beyond Disciplines Beyond Borders colloquium, from the intrepid improvising trio of Matthew Bourne (piano), Steve Davis (drums) and Dave Kane (double bass).

Assembling a wide range of percussive instruments accumulated through world travels, from Korean gongs to scrap metal sheets from Ethiopia, Paal Nilssen-Love presents an intense and wide-ranging solo percussion tour-de-force, recorded in Oslo by frequent collaborator Lasse Marhaug.

Referencing the color "blue" rather than the blues themselves, the duo of New York tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and Joe Morris on acoustic guitar present free improvisations balancing technical and melodic musings, an intimate and thoughtful album of concentrative playing.

An improvised performance of solos and duos of subtlety and power for a live soundtrack to the 1920s silent film "The Symbol of the Unconquered" (Oscar Micheaux), by NY drummer William Hooker and West Coast bassist Damon Smith, here on computer and 7-string electric upright.

An extended electroacoustic piece recorded in 2011 and named as an apt description of the bubbling, dense and intense flow of sound Chrysakis generates using electronic devices, acoustic sounds and field recordings, an absorbing work of audio flux and percolation.

Dramatic and technically spectacular instrumental rock from the trio of Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen on guitar, Ellen Brekken on bass, and Ivar Loe Bjornstad on drums, performing live in Oslo at John Dee and Buckley's in 2015, captured with great energy and fidelity.

Two concert improvisations for unamplified voice recorded in Canberra, Australia at the 2015 SoundOut Festival and in Tokyo, Japan at the Kid Ailack Art Hall in 2014, using extended vocal techniques and leveraging the room acoustics and social space between Kahn and the audience.

The Brazilian duo of Silvia Ocougne and Chico Mello, residing in Berlin, create a sonic collage of traditional popular and contemporary elements influenced by both Berlin and Brazil, using the unusual orchestration of instruments including tuba, matchbox, clarinet, &c.

Part of a series of 8 split release cassettes, hand-painted & numbered; this release presents the Dutch sound artist Steffan de Turck (Staplerfahrer) reworking material recorded in a duo with Jos Smolders; and 2 tracks from Korean sound artist Noizaki Eum Kyeong (Bonehole).

Live at the LOFT in Cologne, Germany, the trio of German-based Russian pianist Simon Nabatov with NY Downtown double bassist Mark Dresser and relative newcomer Dominik Manhig on drums, expressive collective improvisation using edgy techniques in impressive dialog.

Playful, joyful and absolutely commanding performances from the duo of German pianist Uwe Oberg and Silke Eberhard on alto sax and clarinet, performing both live and in the studio on original compositions and pieces by Carla Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, and Annette Peacock.

Live recordings from 2012 & 2015 by German pianist Uwe Oberg performing a mix of original compositions and work by Monk, Bley, Lacy, & A. Peacock, balancing melodic and exploratory playing with passionate conviction backed by masterly skills and impeccable pacing.

The unexpected and open-minded quartet of Pauline Oliveros, Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury and Wadada Leo Smith performing live in Italy at the Angelika Festival in 2011, presenting the three part improvised work "Nessuno"; delicate, virtuosic, rewarding music from 4 masters.

Sparse yet intently focused interaction with unusual timbre and technique in the 2nd release from the working duo of Hans Koch (Koch-Schutz-Studer) and Gaudenz Badrutt (strom), pairing reeds and electronics in micro-world improvisations that delight in subtlety.

Sicilian pianist Tommaso Vespo assembled the multinational sextet of Antonio Aiella (bass), Noel Taylor (clarinet), Antonio Longo (drums), Nicola Hein (guitar), Ricardo Teje (saxophone), and Tommaso Vespo (piano), blending lyrical jazz, chamber, and free improvisation.

Exploratory free improvisation with an emphasis on strings from the trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Biliana Voutchkova on violin, and Micha Rabuske on flutes & sax, collective conversation with scraping and overblowing mutating their sound in interesting and curious ways.

Another strong instrumental rock album, blending heavy prog, free jazz and psychedelia with forceful and technically excellent guitar work from leader Mollestad, backed by fellow Norwegians Ellen Brekken on bass and Ivar Loe Bjornstad on drums; keeping the 70s alive!

Another strong instrumental rock album, blending heavy prog, free jazz and psychedelia with forceful and technically excellent guitar work from leader Mollestad, backed by fellow Norwegians Ellen Brekken on bass and Ivar Loe Bjornstad on drums; keeping the 70s alive!

Drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit recorded this ecstatic, Brazilian influenced material in 2015 after a mammoth European and North-American tour, hours after their performance at the 2015 Oslo Jazzfestival with an extended line-up with Brazilian percussion players.

Japanese Koto virtuoso Michiyo Yagi joins the longstanding duo of drummer Paal-Nilssen-Love and electronics wizard Lasse Marhaug for a session of extended improvisations, driving the traditional Japanese instruments into non-idiomatic and percussive extremes.

A live recording from the Casa Del Popolo club in Montreal, Canada, named because Gjerstad was upset that Air Canada had messed up his sax in transit, which he played regardless; his frustration pushed him into an overwhelmingly amazing set of smoking free jazz!

With contributions from Otomo Yoshihide and Toshimaru Nakamura, David Sylvian recorded this album for Mark Wastell after much discussion, creating an intense and mysterious album of organized concrete sound and field recordings based on an improvisation with Jan Bang.

An epic, hypnotic work for three choirs, three pairs of noise musicians, and church organ, to be performed in a cathedral or similar location with musicians surrounding the audience, here from a live performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2012.

An epic, hypnotic work for three choirs, three pairs of noise musicians, and church organ, to be performed in a cathedral or similar location with musicians surrounding the audience, here from a live performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2012.

Pioneering American composer Pauline Oliveros and author Ione present a three-part improvisation performed on a specially tuned digital accordion, spoken word and sonic vocals, transforming own input in real time using Oliveros's Expanded Instrument System.

Violinist Clemens Merkel interprets compositions by Wolfgang von Schweinitz's "Sonata for Violine Solo"; Antonie Beuger's "Unwritten Page"; Bruno Madema's "Piece Pour Ivry"; and Thomas Stiegler's cycle "Kammerkomplex" ("quasi una fantasia", "gran partita" and "sonata facile").

Part of a trio of releases including "Reasons for Viola and Cello" and "Viola Cello Room", this album finds violist Paolo Valladoid and cellist Gary Rouzer in a large tunnel in Alexandria, Virginia, their music mixed with joggers, birds, traffic, flowing water, insects, &c. &c.

A work for two quartets of voices about our relationship with the world, using four text sources from Rutherford Bowey & Westerberg, John Cage, Fernando Pessoa/Alberto Caeiro, and a critiques of "Vermeer's painting The Little Street"; a fascinating weaving of voice and song.

Six compositions from Lucier, Wolff, Schlothauer, and Frey, exploring harmonic beats on the acoustic clarinet, deriving melody in unexpected ways; seeking static tones between sound and noise; and investigating melodic variations; inquisitive, thought-provoking, alluring work.