See 2016 Top Sellers and Staff Top Lists
John Coltrane Quartet
Impressions Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Taking his quartet on a European tour in the fall of 1962, Coltrane's band with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums performed in Graz, Austria at Stefaniensaal, the concert beautifully recorded by ORF Steiermark and here released as the first of two volumes, showing both Coltrane's lyrical origins and expanding free inclinations.
Sam Rivers / Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Barry Altschul / Charlie Persip
Zenith
(NoBusiness)
Taylor Bynum Ho 9-tette
The Ambiguity Manifesto
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Grown from a sextet to this 9-tette, cornetist/composer Taylor Ho Bynum's ensemble brings together some of the finest improvisers from the Boston and New York scenes for compositions that merge orchestration and allow flexibility in interpretation, as heard in these 7 lyrical pieces, the last 3 turning the first 3 on their heads in reworked, expanded versions.
Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)
Recorded in 1981 by audio engineer and label owner Jean-Marc Foussat, the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs"; essential.
Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.
Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton
Concert In Vilnius
(NoBusiness)
Three British free jazz giants, having worked in a number of configurations and as a trio over many decades, are caught live in the Russian Drama Theater during the 2017 Vilnius Jazz Festival--Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums, for four improvisations of nuance and surprise, incredible mastery, and profound conversation.
Tomeka Reid / Kyoko Kitamura / Tyler Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry Of Distance
(Relative Pitch)
Following their debut album, "Geometry of Caves", the quartet of improvising musicians Joe Morris (guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Kyoko Kitamura (voice) return for this album of passionate free improvisation, here even more attuned as a group as they employ their collective language using unusual technique and incredible expertise; spectacular!
Willem Breuker / Han Bennink
New Acoustic Swing Duo [2 CDS]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Remastering and re-issuing the very first album on the new Dutch artist-run free improvised music label, ICP Records (Instant Composers Pool), "New Acoustic Swing Duo" brings reedist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink together for 6 incredible improvisations, the 2nd CD extending the original album with a live concert at Jazzclub Podium in Essen, DE in 1968.
Alexandra Grimal / Joelle Leandre
Desordre
(Montagne Noire)
A playful, thoughtful, and quick witted encounter between Egyptian saxophonist Alexandra Grimal and French double bassist Joelle Leandre, at times each on voice, emphasizing a "desired disorder" in their approach to instant composition and declaring that neither determines the course of the music, but that they follow it simply as the music decides; wonderful.
Satoko Fujii / Orchestra New York
Entity
(Libra)
Satoko Fujii leads her 13-piece big band through 5 thrilling and insightful compositions with a who's-who of NY improvisation: Nels Cline (guitar), Ches Smith (drums), Joe Fiedler & Curt Hasselbring (drums), Oscar Noriega, Ellery Eskelin, Briggan Krauss, Andy Laster & Tony Malaby (sax), Herb Robertson, Natsuki Tamura & Dave Ballou (trumpet) & bassist Stomu Takeishi; wow!
Arto Lindsay / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark / Phil Sudderberg
Largest Afternoon
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Bringing together Chicago's long partnership of saxophonists Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark with frequent Vandermark collaborator, drummer Phil Sudderberg, and New York guitarist Arto Lindsay, meeting on a winter afternoon in a Chicago studio to record these fifteen collective, freely improvised conversations of intense energy, unexpected twists and turns, and brilliant playing.
David Grubbs / Mats Gustafsson / Rob Mazurek
The Underflow
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Recorded during two nights at Underflow Records and Art Gallery in Athens, Greece in 2019, The Underflow trio of Mats Gustafsson (reeds, fluteophone, electronics) from Sweden, with Chicago-based Rob Mazurek (trumpet, electronics), and David Grubbs (electric guitar) present an album of wide-ranging, powerful, often explosively eccentric, and always informed improvisation.
Ken Vandermark w/ Butcher / Drake / Kessler / McPhee / Mori / Noble / Prevost / Rasmussen / Tilbury / Wooley
Unexpected Alchemy [7-CD BOX]
(Not Two)
Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.
Brotzmann / McPhee / Kessler / Zerang
Tales Out Of Time
(Hatology)
A much-needed reissue of the 2002 release from the quartet of Peter Brotzmann (reeds), Joe McPhee (sax, pocket cornet, trumpet), Kent Kessler (double bass) and Michael Zerang (drums & percussion) recording in the studio for incredible free improvisation from four titans.
Morton Feldman
Trio
(Hat [now] ART)
Reissuing the 1996 recording of Morton Feldmans' "Trio" performed by Ives Ensemble members Job Ter Haar on cello, John Snijders on piano, and Josje Ter Haar on violin, Feldman's compositions sparse with tension over spacious moments of lyrical beauty, tense dissonance, unhurried repetition, and a sense of drifting momentum; evasive yet beautiful music.
George Graewe / Ernst Reijseger / Gerry Hemingway
Concertgebouw Brugge 2014
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing together since 1989, at first frequently and now as very special events, this concert at Concertgebouw in Brugge of pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer and marimba player Gerry Hemingway, is a superb example of the both telepathic and confidently confrontational interplay of their chamber-oriented and superbly paced improvisation.
Bobby Bradford / Frode Gjerstad / Kent Carter / John Stevens
Blue Cat [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
The 2nd in NoBusiness' archive series of the Norwegian Detail collective, here with Frode Gjerstad on alto sax, Bobby Bradford on cornet, Kent Carter on bass, and John Stevens on drums, captured live in London in 1991 during a UK record, in a 3-part work of informed free-jazz and free playing, exciting music with complex, swinging subtlety.
Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp
Live in Nuremberg
(SMP Records)
With an abundance of collaborations, including numerous duo settings, "Live In Nuremberg" stands apart for NY-based Brazilian saxophonist based Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp as one of their few live albums, capturing an organically evolving and impressive 56 minute dialog and a short summation, heard at the 2019 Art of Improvisation Festival in Nuremberg, Germany.
Warne Marsh Quartet
Ne Plus Ultra
(Hatology)
Sergei Prokofiev / Dmitri Shostakovich
Works For 2 Pianists Under Soviet Rule
(Hat [now] ART)
Two works for piano composed under Stalinist rule by Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, recorded in 2009 by pianists Ufuk & Bahar Dorduncu.
Liebman / Eskelin with Tony Marino & Jim Black
Non Sequiturs
(Hatology)
Two Liebman originals, Albert Ayler's "Ghosts", and a suite that Ellery Eskelin wrote specifically for this quartet with bassist Tony Marino and drummer Jim Black, allowing the band's energy to be altered by the compositional progressions.
Cecil Taylor
Garden 1st Set
(Hatology)
Reissue and 2015 remaster of Cecil Taylor's superb live set at Grosser Saal Volkshaus, in Basel, Switzerland in 1981, performing solo over three extended improvisations, presented for the first time in the original concert sequence.
Sam Rivers / Cecil McBee / Norman Connors
Emanation (Sam Rivers archive sessions. Vol.1)
(NoBusiness)
The NoBusiness label initiates its Sam Rivers Archive Series with this CD of River's Loft-era trio. the leader on tenor & soprano saxophones, flute & Piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums, for two sets at a Jazz Workshop residency in Boston in the summer of 1971, a superb concert showing inspired group interaction and River's intense focus.
Morton Feldman (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)
Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.
Marc Copland / Drew Gress / Joey Baron
And I Love Her
(Illusions/Mirage)
Brought together originally as the rhythm section for John Abercrombie, the trio of pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron have continued on as a performing trio, heard here in NYC for a lyrical set of standards, popular tunes, and originals including pieces by Coltrane, Hancock, Lennon-McCartney, Cole Porter, and John Abercrombie.
Sam Rivers / Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Barry Altschul / Charlie Persip
Zenith
(NoBusiness)
Taylor Bynum Ho 9-tette
The Ambiguity Manifesto
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Grown from a sextet to this 9-tette, cornetist/composer Taylor Ho Bynum's ensemble brings together some of the finest improvisers from the Boston and New York scenes for compositions that merge orchestration and allow flexibility in interpretation, as heard in these 7 lyrical pieces, the last 3 turning the first 3 on their heads in reworked, expanded versions.
Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.
Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton
Concert In Vilnius
(NoBusiness)
Three British free jazz giants, having worked in a number of configurations and as a trio over many decades, are caught live in the Russian Drama Theater during the 2017 Vilnius Jazz Festival--Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums, for four improvisations of nuance and surprise, incredible mastery, and profound conversation.
Tomeka Reid / Kyoko Kitamura / Tyler Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry Of Distance
(Relative Pitch)
Following their debut album, "Geometry of Caves", the quartet of improvising musicians Joe Morris (guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Kyoko Kitamura (voice) return for this album of passionate free improvisation, here even more attuned as a group as they employ their collective language using unusual technique and incredible expertise; spectacular!
Willem Breuker / Han Bennink
New Acoustic Swing Duo [2 CDS]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Remastering and re-issuing the very first album on the new Dutch artist-run free improvised music label, ICP Records (Instant Composers Pool), "New Acoustic Swing Duo" brings reedist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink together for 6 incredible improvisations, the 2nd CD extending the original album with a live concert at Jazzclub Podium in Essen, DE in 1968.
Alexandra Grimal / Joelle Leandre
Desordre
(Montagne Noire)
A playful, thoughtful, and quick witted encounter between Egyptian saxophonist Alexandra Grimal and French double bassist Joelle Leandre, at times each on voice, emphasizing a "desired disorder" in their approach to instant composition and declaring that neither determines the course of the music, but that they follow it simply as the music decides; wonderful.
Satoko Fujii / Orchestra New York
Entity
(Libra)
Satoko Fujii leads her 13-piece big band through 5 thrilling and insightful compositions with a who's-who of NY improvisation: Nels Cline (guitar), Ches Smith (drums), Joe Fiedler & Curt Hasselbring (drums), Oscar Noriega, Ellery Eskelin, Briggan Krauss, Andy Laster & Tony Malaby (sax), Herb Robertson, Natsuki Tamura & Dave Ballou (trumpet) & bassist Stomu Takeishi; wow!
Arto Lindsay / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark / Phil Sudderberg
Largest Afternoon
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Bringing together Chicago's long partnership of saxophonists Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark with frequent Vandermark collaborator, drummer Phil Sudderberg, and New York guitarist Arto Lindsay, meeting on a winter afternoon in a Chicago studio to record these fifteen collective, freely improvised conversations of intense energy, unexpected twists and turns, and brilliant playing.
David Grubbs / Mats Gustafsson / Rob Mazurek
The Underflow
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Recorded during two nights at Underflow Records and Art Gallery in Athens, Greece in 2019, The Underflow trio of Mats Gustafsson (reeds, fluteophone, electronics) from Sweden, with Chicago-based Rob Mazurek (trumpet, electronics), and David Grubbs (electric guitar) present an album of wide-ranging, powerful, often explosively eccentric, and always informed improvisation.
Ken Vandermark w/ Butcher / Drake / Kessler / McPhee / Mori / Noble / Prevost / Rasmussen / Tilbury / Wooley
Unexpected Alchemy [7-CD BOX]
(Not Two)
Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.
Brotzmann / McPhee / Kessler / Zerang
Tales Out Of Time
(Hatology)
A much-needed reissue of the 2002 release from the quartet of Peter Brotzmann (reeds), Joe McPhee (sax, pocket cornet, trumpet), Kent Kessler (double bass) and Michael Zerang (drums & percussion) recording in the studio for incredible free improvisation from four titans.
Morton Feldman
Trio
(Hat [now] ART)
Reissuing the 1996 recording of Morton Feldmans' "Trio" performed by Ives Ensemble members Job Ter Haar on cello, John Snijders on piano, and Josje Ter Haar on violin, Feldman's compositions sparse with tension over spacious moments of lyrical beauty, tense dissonance, unhurried repetition, and a sense of drifting momentum; evasive yet beautiful music.
George Graewe / Ernst Reijseger / Gerry Hemingway
Concertgebouw Brugge 2014
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing together since 1989, at first frequently and now as very special events, this concert at Concertgebouw in Brugge of pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer and marimba player Gerry Hemingway, is a superb example of the both telepathic and confidently confrontational interplay of their chamber-oriented and superbly paced improvisation.
Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp
Live in Nuremberg
(SMP Records)
With an abundance of collaborations, including numerous duo settings, "Live In Nuremberg" stands apart for NY-based Brazilian saxophonist based Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp as one of their few live albums, capturing an organically evolving and impressive 56 minute dialog and a short summation, heard at the 2019 Art of Improvisation Festival in Nuremberg, Germany.
Warne Marsh Quartet
Ne Plus Ultra
(Hatology)
Sergei Prokofiev / Dmitri Shostakovich
Works For 2 Pianists Under Soviet Rule
(Hat [now] ART)
Two works for piano composed under Stalinist rule by Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, recorded in 2009 by pianists Ufuk & Bahar Dorduncu.
Liebman / Eskelin with Tony Marino & Jim Black
Non Sequiturs
(Hatology)
Two Liebman originals, Albert Ayler's "Ghosts", and a suite that Ellery Eskelin wrote specifically for this quartet with bassist Tony Marino and drummer Jim Black, allowing the band's energy to be altered by the compositional progressions.
Cecil Taylor
Garden 1st Set
(Hatology)
Reissue and 2015 remaster of Cecil Taylor's superb live set at Grosser Saal Volkshaus, in Basel, Switzerland in 1981, performing solo over three extended improvisations, presented for the first time in the original concert sequence.
Sam Rivers / Cecil McBee / Norman Connors
Emanation (Sam Rivers archive sessions. Vol.1)
(NoBusiness)
The NoBusiness label initiates its Sam Rivers Archive Series with this CD of River's Loft-era trio. the leader on tenor & soprano saxophones, flute & Piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums, for two sets at a Jazz Workshop residency in Boston in the summer of 1971, a superb concert showing inspired group interaction and River's intense focus.
Morton Feldman (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)
Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.
Marc Copland / Drew Gress / Joey Baron
And I Love Her
(Illusions/Mirage)
Brought together originally as the rhythm section for John Abercrombie, the trio of pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron have continued on as a performing trio, heard here in NYC for a lyrical set of standards, popular tunes, and originals including pieces by Coltrane, Hancock, Lennon-McCartney, Cole Porter, and John Abercrombie.
FEN (Otomo Yoshihide / Ryu Hankil / Yan Jun / Yuen Chee Wai)
No One's Island
(Mikroton Recordings)
Satoko Inoue
Presents Jo Kondo's New Works For Piano
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The second album of piano works from Japanese composer Jo Kondo performed by pianist Satoko Inoue--a noted interpreter of solo works by Feldman, Ferrari, and Cage--here presenting all of Kondo's works for solo piano written from 2001 to 2012, alongside two early works from 1975, exploring a wealth of harmonic, rhythmic, and conceptual ideas from a diversity of projects.
Alexander Schlippenbach von / Dag Magnus Narvesen
Liminal Field
(Not Two)
The performing duo of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen bring two strong voices from different generations of free improvisers, creating a unique sound that merges the creative energies and vocabulary of each in dynamic and subtle expressions of vigorous movements that unravel in layered improvisation, rewarding their listeners.
Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton
Concert In Vilnius [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Three British free jazz giants, having worked in a number of configurations and as a trio over many decades, are caught live in the Russian Drama Theater during the 2017 Vilnius Jazz Festival--Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums, for four improvisations of nuance and surprise, incredible mastery, and profound conversation.
Company
Trios [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Honest Jons Records)
Nine improvisers--Joelle Leandre, J.D.Parran, Ernst Reyseger, Hugh Davies, Jamie Muir, Peter Brotzmann, Evan Parker, Vinko Globokar, & John Corbett--joined Derek Bailey for this 1983 Company week, recording at the I.C.A. in London over 4 days in 1983, mostly performing in trio configurations, with one duo between Bailey & Reijseger, and a final ensemble with all 9 players.
Brotzmann / Schlippenbach / Bennink
Fifty Years After... Live at the Lila Eule 2018 [VINYL]
(Trost Records)
50 years after saxophonist Peter Brotzmann's Octet recorded the legendary "Machine Gun" album, the trio of Berlin pianist, composer Alexander von Schlippenbach and Dutch percussionist Han Bennink commemorated the album at Lila Eule in Bremen, the concert heard here so successful that the trio decided to release the album and continue on as a working trio.
Michel Banabila
Movements (music for dance) [VINYL 2 LPs + DOWNLOAD]
(Tapu Records)
Electroacoustic composer Michel Banabila compiles his dynamic works for dance & movement in this beautifully pressed limited double LP, presenting two 2019 works--'Dragonfly II' for "A Trace of Inevitability" (Yin Yue - Pennsylvania Ballet), and "Illicit Acquirement" for "Enough" (Patrick O"Brien - CUNY Dance Initiative)--and six prior pieces featuring his work with Conny Janssen Danst & Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
[Ahmed] (w/ Pat Thomas / Seymour Wright / Antonin Gerbal / Joel Grip)
Super Majnoon (East Meets West)[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)
Two recordings of the Ahmed quartet of Pat Thomas (piano), Antonin Gerbal (drums), Joel Grip (bass) and Seymour Wright (sax), performing at The Empty Gallery, in Hong Kong, China and at Cafe Oto, In London, for two concerts of gut-wrenching jazz as they take on the East/West music of late composer, bassist, oud player and former Randy Weston/Art Blakey sideman, Ahmed Abdul-Malik
Spring Heel Jack / Wadada Leo Smith
The Sweetness of the Water [VINYL]
(Treader)
A reissue of their 2004 album, the 4th on Thirsty Ear for the UK group Spring Heel Jack of Ashley Wales on guitar &, electronics, Mark Sanders on drums & timpani, John Coxon on guitar & keys, and John Edwards on bass, joined by Evan Parker on sax & piano, and special guest Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, for a subtle album of sonic complexities, dramatic power and lyrical poise.
Pauline Oliveros / Guy Klucevsek
Sounding / Way [VINYL]
(Important Records)
One of two reissues from the collaboration of Important Records and the Pauline Oliveros Trust, this album with accordionist Guy Klucevsek was originally self-released in 1986 on cassette, each side presenting a piece for two accordions, here with Guy Klucevsek's "Tremolo No. 6" on side A and Pauline's Oliveros' "The Tuning Meditation" on Side B.
Susan Alcorn / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark
Invitation To A Dream [VINYL]
(Astral Spirits)
An excellent album of informed free improvisation in the debut of this masterful trio of legendary musicians spread across the US--Joe McPhee on soprano sax & pocket trumpet [NY], Ken Vandermark on tenor sax & clarinet [Chicago], and Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar [Texas], a profound album from assertive to introspective playing in seven captivating collective improvisations.
KVL (Kirchner / Van Duerm / Lux / Branch)
Volume 1 [VINYL]
(Astral Spirits)
The first of many projected volumes from the Chicago trio of Quin Kirchner on drums, percussion, sampler & electronics, Daniel Van Duerm on electric piano, organ, mellotron & electronics, and Matthew Lux on bass & electronics, with guest Jaimie Branch on trumpet, presenting three extended improvisations that maintain peaceful contemplation in captivating grooves.
Company
Epiphanies I-VI [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Honest Jons Records)
Derek Bailey's impressive guests for his July 1982 "Company" concert at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts were pianist Ursula Oppens, singer Julie Tippetts and pianist Keith Tippett, violinist/electronics wizard Philipp Wachsmann, guitarist Fred Frith, trombonist George Lewis, harpist Anne LeBaron, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa and sound artist Akio Suzuki.
Billy Bang Survival Ensemble
Black Man's Blues [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Never before released material from 1977 of Billy Bang's seminal NY loft band, Survival Ensemble: 1 LP and a 40 page booklet of essays, images and flyers - essential!
Frank Rosaly
Centering and Displacement [VINYL & CD]
(Utech Records)
Frank Rosaly uses drums, percussion, and electronics as the core of improvised source material that he segments, orchestrates, and arranges into a sound program before editing and ultimately dividing the material down to two channels.
Jaap Blonk
Mixed From Heaven [VINYL]
(Plant Migration Records)
Loose remixes of Jaap Blonk's very first series of short sound poems in 1993, "Liederen uit de Hemel" ("Songs from Heaven," 1985-87), reconfigured with electronics and unusual approaches to sound.
Angles 9
Injuries [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Clean Feed)
Now a nine-piece, Martin Kuchen leads the magnificently powerful Angles band through 7 demanding compositions, with trumpeter Magnus Broo back in the band alongside Alexander Zethson, Mattias Stahl, Jonan Berthling, Andreas Werlin, Eirik Hegdal, Mats Aleklint & Goran Kajfes.
Steve Lehman Camouflage Trio
Interface [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Clean Feed)
Reissuing and re-mixing New York saxophonist Steve Lehman's 2004 album with his previous Camouflage Trio of Mark Dress on double bass and Pheeroan Aklaff on drums, perfoming a stupendous set of original compositions live at Teatro Academica Gil Vicente in Coimbra, Portugal.
Judson Trio (Joelle Leandre / Mat Maneri / Gerald Cleaver)
An Air of Unreality [VINYL]
(RogueArt)
A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.
Lean Left
I Forgot To Breathe [VINYL]
(Trost Records)
The 7th album from the quartet of Netherlands guitarists Andy Moor and Terrie Hessels (The Ex) with Chicago free improvising multi-reedist Ken Vandermark and Netherlands drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love in an album balancing amazing energy with profound introspective moments in thrilling edge-of-your-seat improvisation - excellent!
Konstrukt & Alexander Hawkins
Live at Cafe OTO [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Holidays Records)
The Turkish free improvising quartet Konstrukt of Korhan Futaci (sax and woodwinds), Berke Can Ozcan (drums), Barlas Tan Ozemek (electric bass) and Umut Caglar (electric guitar and etc.) met British pianist Alexander Hawkins at London's Cafe OTO in 2015 to record this captivating and unpredictable set of electric free improv.
Nicole Mitchell
Mandorla Awakening II: Emerging Worlds [VINYL]
(FPE Records)
The second astounding album from Chicago Flutist Nicole Mitchell on the FPE label, continuing her project in the sphere of Sun Ra and Afrofuturists, merging fiction, fantasy and sound in an electro-chamber octet, encompassing contemporary classical, globally oriented fusion, gospel, avant-rock, spoken word, and funk-inspired groove research.
Liudas Mockunas
Hydro [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Lithuanian reedist Liudas Mockunas in an unusual record of clarinet and saxophone improvisations, from solo work of powerful technique to pieces using water prepared instruments to create a wealth of bubbling and aberrant sound on the instrument, side A presenting the 7 part "Hydration Suite", Side B the 3 part "Rehydration", and "Dehydration".
Mary Halvorson
Code Girl [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Always open to new approaches, NY guitarist Mary Halvorson takes her trio with drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Michael Formanek, adds trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and, in a twist of the thumbscrew, vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, for a mix of song and instrumental pieces that balance jazz and rock sensibilities with lyricism, intricate lines, and creative spirit.
Evan Parker
Evan Parker With Birds - For Steve Lacy [VINYL]
(Treader)
A 2019 reissue of Evan Parker's 2004 album dedicated to Steve Lacy, recording in the studio in a virtual duet with bird recordings captured by Geoff Sample, Charles & Heather Myers, Jean C. Roche, Myles North & Eric Simms, alongside location field recordings by Ashley Wales, Parker performing on soprano and tenor sax in a wonderful dialog of creative skill and wit.
Kuzu (Dave Rempis / Tashi Dorji / Tyler Damon)
Hiljaisuus [VINYL]
(Astral Spirits)
Kuzu is a hard-charging but patient trio that came together in the fall of 2017, after saxophonist Dave Rempis, a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums) individually as part of a lengthy solo tour of the U.S.; this new trio is captured at Elastic Arts, in Chicago in an intense and dynamic live set.
Tyshawn Sorey
Pillars IV [VINYL 2 LPs 180g with DOWNLOAD]
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Vinyl edition with a unique 4-part, 4th "Pillar": Tyshawn Sorey in an amazing and ambitious work "Pillars", assembling an ensemble of virtuosic NY performers (Joe Morris, Todd Neufeld, Ben Gerstein, Stephen Hayes, Zach Rowden, Carl Test, Mark Helias) as he references Tibetan rituals, Stockhausen, and Anthony Braxton, and much more.
Martin Kuchen / Rafal Mazur
Baza [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
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.
Sam Rivers / Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Barry Altschul / Charlie Persip
Zenith
(NoBusiness)
Taylor Bynum Ho 9-tette
The Ambiguity Manifesto
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Grown from a sextet to this 9-tette, cornetist/composer Taylor Ho Bynum's ensemble brings together some of the finest improvisers from the Boston and New York scenes for compositions that merge orchestration and allow flexibility in interpretation, as heard in these 7 lyrical pieces, the last 3 turning the first 3 on their heads in reworked, expanded versions.
Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)
Recorded in 1981 by audio engineer and label owner Jean-Marc Foussat, the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs"; essential.
Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.
Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton
Concert In Vilnius
(NoBusiness)
Three British free jazz giants, having worked in a number of configurations and as a trio over many decades, are caught live in the Russian Drama Theater during the 2017 Vilnius Jazz Festival--Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums, for four improvisations of nuance and surprise, incredible mastery, and profound conversation.
Tomeka Reid / Kyoko Kitamura / Tyler Ho Bynum / Joe Morris
Geometry Of Distance
(Relative Pitch)
Following their debut album, "Geometry of Caves", the quartet of improvising musicians Joe Morris (guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Kyoko Kitamura (voice) return for this album of passionate free improvisation, here even more attuned as a group as they employ their collective language using unusual technique and incredible expertise; spectacular!
Willem Breuker / Han Bennink
New Acoustic Swing Duo [2 CDS]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Remastering and re-issuing the very first album on the new Dutch artist-run free improvised music label, ICP Records (Instant Composers Pool), "New Acoustic Swing Duo" brings reedist Willem Breuker and drummer Han Bennink together for 6 incredible improvisations, the 2nd CD extending the original album with a live concert at Jazzclub Podium in Essen, DE in 1968.
Alexandra Grimal / Joelle Leandre
Desordre
(Montagne Noire)
A playful, thoughtful, and quick witted encounter between Egyptian saxophonist Alexandra Grimal and French double bassist Joelle Leandre, at times each on voice, emphasizing a "desired disorder" in their approach to instant composition and declaring that neither determines the course of the music, but that they follow it simply as the music decides; wonderful.
Satoko Fujii / Orchestra New York
Entity
(Libra)
Satoko Fujii leads her 13-piece big band through 5 thrilling and insightful compositions with a who's-who of NY improvisation: Nels Cline (guitar), Ches Smith (drums), Joe Fiedler & Curt Hasselbring (drums), Oscar Noriega, Ellery Eskelin, Briggan Krauss, Andy Laster & Tony Malaby (sax), Herb Robertson, Natsuki Tamura & Dave Ballou (trumpet) & bassist Stomu Takeishi; wow!
Arto Lindsay / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark / Phil Sudderberg
Largest Afternoon
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Bringing together Chicago's long partnership of saxophonists Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark with frequent Vandermark collaborator, drummer Phil Sudderberg, and New York guitarist Arto Lindsay, meeting on a winter afternoon in a Chicago studio to record these fifteen collective, freely improvised conversations of intense energy, unexpected twists and turns, and brilliant playing.
David Grubbs / Mats Gustafsson / Rob Mazurek
The Underflow
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Recorded during two nights at Underflow Records and Art Gallery in Athens, Greece in 2019, The Underflow trio of Mats Gustafsson (reeds, fluteophone, electronics) from Sweden, with Chicago-based Rob Mazurek (trumpet, electronics), and David Grubbs (electric guitar) present an album of wide-ranging, powerful, often explosively eccentric, and always informed improvisation.
Ken Vandermark w/ Butcher / Drake / Kessler / McPhee / Mori / Noble / Prevost / Rasmussen / Tilbury / Wooley
Unexpected Alchemy [7-CD BOX]
(Not Two)
Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.
Brotzmann / McPhee / Kessler / Zerang
Tales Out Of Time
(Hatology)
A much-needed reissue of the 2002 release from the quartet of Peter Brotzmann (reeds), Joe McPhee (sax, pocket cornet, trumpet), Kent Kessler (double bass) and Michael Zerang (drums & percussion) recording in the studio for incredible free improvisation from four titans.
George Graewe / Ernst Reijseger / Gerry Hemingway
Concertgebouw Brugge 2014
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing together since 1989, at first frequently and now as very special events, this concert at Concertgebouw in Brugge of pianist Georg Graewe, cellist Ernst Reijseger, and drummer and marimba player Gerry Hemingway, is a superb example of the both telepathic and confidently confrontational interplay of their chamber-oriented and superbly paced improvisation.
Bobby Bradford / Frode Gjerstad / Kent Carter / John Stevens
Blue Cat [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
The 2nd in NoBusiness' archive series of the Norwegian Detail collective, here with Frode Gjerstad on alto sax, Bobby Bradford on cornet, Kent Carter on bass, and John Stevens on drums, captured live in London in 1991 during a UK record, in a 3-part work of informed free-jazz and free playing, exciting music with complex, swinging subtlety.
Ivo Perelman / Matthew Shipp
Live in Nuremberg
(SMP Records)
With an abundance of collaborations, including numerous duo settings, "Live In Nuremberg" stands apart for NY-based Brazilian saxophonist based Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp as one of their few live albums, capturing an organically evolving and impressive 56 minute dialog and a short summation, heard at the 2019 Art of Improvisation Festival in Nuremberg, Germany.
Warne Marsh Quartet
Ne Plus Ultra
(Hatology)
Liebman / Eskelin with Tony Marino & Jim Black
Non Sequiturs
(Hatology)
Two Liebman originals, Albert Ayler's "Ghosts", and a suite that Ellery Eskelin wrote specifically for this quartet with bassist Tony Marino and drummer Jim Black, allowing the band's energy to be altered by the compositional progressions.
Cecil Taylor
Garden 1st Set
(Hatology)
Reissue and 2015 remaster of Cecil Taylor's superb live set at Grosser Saal Volkshaus, in Basel, Switzerland in 1981, performing solo over three extended improvisations, presented for the first time in the original concert sequence.
Sam Rivers / Cecil McBee / Norman Connors
Emanation (Sam Rivers archive sessions. Vol.1)
(NoBusiness)
The NoBusiness label initiates its Sam Rivers Archive Series with this CD of River's Loft-era trio. the leader on tenor & soprano saxophones, flute & Piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums, for two sets at a Jazz Workshop residency in Boston in the summer of 1971, a superb concert showing inspired group interaction and River's intense focus.
Marc Copland / Drew Gress / Joey Baron
And I Love Her
(Illusions/Mirage)
Brought together originally as the rhythm section for John Abercrombie, the trio of pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron have continued on as a performing trio, heard here in NYC for a lyrical set of standards, popular tunes, and originals including pieces by Coltrane, Hancock, Lennon-McCartney, Cole Porter, and John Abercrombie.
Evan Parker / Barry Guy / Paul Lytton
Concert In Vilnius [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Three British free jazz giants, having worked in a number of configurations and as a trio over many decades, are caught live in the Russian Drama Theater during the 2017 Vilnius Jazz Festival--Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Paul Lytton on drums, for four improvisations of nuance and surprise, incredible mastery, and profound conversation.
Satoko Inoue
Presents Jo Kondo's New Works For Piano
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The second album of piano works from Japanese composer Jo Kondo performed by pianist Satoko Inoue--a noted interpreter of solo works by Feldman, Ferrari, and Cage--here presenting all of Kondo's works for solo piano written from 2001 to 2012, alongside two early works from 1975, exploring a wealth of harmonic, rhythmic, and conceptual ideas from a diversity of projects.
Alexander Schlippenbach von / Dag Magnus Narvesen
Liminal Field
(Not Two)
The performing duo of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen bring two strong voices from different generations of free improvisers, creating a unique sound that merges the creative energies and vocabulary of each in dynamic and subtle expressions of vigorous movements that unravel in layered improvisation, rewarding their listeners.
Le Quatuor De Jazz Libre Du Quebec
Musique-Politique Anthologie 1971/1974 [4 CDS]
(Tour de Bras)
Le Quatuor de Jazz Libre Du Quebec was a collective of jazz musicians in the 1960s & 70s, bringing together free jazz musicians in Quebec who rejected commercialism while exploring modern improvisation, performers including Tristan Honsinger, Jean Martineau, Yves Charbonneau, Jean Prefontaine, &c, documented here in a 4-CD set with a 24 page book of images & text in French.
Mats Gustafsson / Wendy Gondeln / Wolfgang Voigt / Martin Siewert
The Shithole Country & Boogie Band
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
A unique album blurring acoustic recordings from saxophonist Mats Gustafsson with the electronic machinations and rhythms of Wendy Gondeln, aka Albert Oehlen, a German experimental electronic artist, the two inviting Martin Siewert for additional guitar on two tracks, and Wolfgang Voight to remix two tracks; funky, unpredictable, amusing, and seductively tantalizing.
Michel Banabila
Movements (music for dance) [VINYL 2 LPs + DOWNLOAD]
(Tapu Records)
Electroacoustic composer Michel Banabila compiles his dynamic works for dance & movement in this beautifully pressed limited double LP, presenting two 2019 works--'Dragonfly II' for "A Trace of Inevitability" (Yin Yue - Pennsylvania Ballet), and "Illicit Acquirement" for "Enough" (Patrick O"Brien - CUNY Dance Initiative)--and six prior pieces featuring his work with Conny Janssen Danst & Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.
Hands To (Jeph Jerman)
Scrine
(Notice Recordings)
Sound explorer and composer Jeph Jerman created the 11 pieces on this release while living in the Knob Hill neighborhood of Colorado Springs, using unusual recording techniques he refers to as "guerrilla recordings" like tossing tape decks off buildings or putting them inside running clothes dryers, inching tape manually over the heads, exploiting creative field recordings, &c. &c.
Joke Lanz / Jason Kahn / Norbert Moslang / Gunter Muller / Christian Weber
kangaroo_kitchen [2 CDS]
(Mikroton Recordings)
Two astounding and wide-ranging electroacoustic improvisations from 5 prominent musicians on the Swiss experimental scene--Joke Lanz (turntables), Jason Kahn (synth, radio, mixer), Norbert Moslang (cracked everyday electronics), Gunter Muller (ipods & electronics), and Christian Weber (bass, revolver)--captured live at the 2018 Mikroton Mikroten Festival in Kaliningrad and Moscow.
Jim O'Rourke
To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye [4 CD BOX]
(Sonoris)
Jim O'Rourke expands on his recent electronic work from his Steamroom studio with this exceptional 4-CD set of the 4-part "To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye", presumably including the Serge synthesizer, each expansive piece building dreamlike environments that shift and wander in purposeful ways as sound emerges and disappears into a beautifully threatening cloud.
David Liebman
The Distance Runner
(Hatology)
London Experimental Ensemble
Child Ballads
(Split Rock Records)
Drawn from 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland alongside their American variants, anthologised by Francis James Child during the second half of the nineteenth century, are here sung by Ed Pettersen in the fascinating intersection of traditional lyrics and experimental interpretations of melodies, performed by the 11-piece London Experimental Ensemble.
Thomas Dimuzio
Headlock
(Recommended Records)
Mnemonists
Gyromancy
(Recommended Records)
Dr. Chadbourne Eugene
Horror Part 11
(Chadula)
1,111 vinyl records combined with a live performace by Doc Chad (prepared guitar & banjo) and Mark Dixon (homemade and robotic instruments) in a tribute to the number 11.
Patrick Kosk
Mondweib
(Edition Rz)
Recordings from the Elektronic Studio at the TU Berlin, the Studio of the Institut International de Musique Electroacoustique de Bourges, and at Patrick Kosk's own studio.
Jeph Jerman
Abandoned Telephone Wire
(AARC)
Jeph Jerman made these recordings using a contact mic, a mini-disc recorder, and a wire located between Cottonwood and Sedona, Arizona along the southbound lanes of Highway 89A.
Jeph Jerman
Grey (w/ detail)
(AARC)
Electroacoustic works constructed from field recordings of New York City and Oaxaca, Mexico, which Jerman then processed in subtle ways.
Jeph Jerman
Rundle [CASSETTE]
(Banned Production)
Akio Suzuki / Aki Onda
Ke I Te Ki
(Room40)
"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.
Tim Olive / Yan Jun
Brother of Divinity
(845 Audio)
845 label leader and sonic explorer Tim Olive uses magnetic pickups and electronics in this meeting with radical living room concert sound artist, poet and improviser Yan Jun in Kobe, Japan, Jun using a variety of electronics, radio and field recordings as the two improvise in a wonderfully mischievous set of errant dialog and restrained deconstruction.
Mopcut (Konig / Desprez / Chen)
Accelerated Frames Of Reference [VINYL]
(Trost Records)
An album of extreme electronic improvisation using heavy underpinning of rhythm, voice and electronics, from a trio of Viennese, French, and Chinese/American performers--Lukas Konig on drums, synthesizer & voice, Julien Desprez on guitar, and Audrey Chen on voice & electronics--blurring the lines of sonic art, rock, and inexplicable ritualistic sound.
Eugene Chadbourne / Cat Jammers
Invitation To A Jam Session [CASSETTE]
(Chadula)
In the 1980's guitarist and eccentric sound artist Eugene Chadbourne started a series of cassettes that ultimately became the LP "Country Music in the World of Islam"; this new and astonishing archive collection culls material from that and blends it in studio collage with live material from Elliot Sharp, Sun City Girls, Jon Rose, phone messages from Derek Bailey, &c &c.
Lee Ranaldo / Jim Jarmusch / Marc Urselli / Balazs Pandi
[VINYL]
(Trost Records)
Producer & bassist Marc Urselli devised this first meeting between himself and Sonic Youth guitarist Lee Ranaldo, filmaker/guitarist Jim Jarmusch, and drummer Balazs Pandi's, recording in Urselli's NY studio to capture these live analog recordings of improvisations using no overdubs, a twilight set of evolving and absorbing explorations merging rock & experimental approaches.
Dark Star Safari (Rohrer / Bang / Honore / Aarse)
Dark Star Safari [VINYL]
(Arjunamusic)
Percussionist Samuel Rohrer invited Jan Bang and Eivind Aarset to his Berlin studio to record the 10 improvisations that create the basis for these haunting songs, the band taking that material to enhance and shape resulting compositions, inspiring Jan Bang to develop the lyrics reminiscent of David Sylvian's recent work, resulting in this darkly impressive album.
Stefan Roigk
Suffering For The Promised [VINYL]
(Fragment Factory)
Multi-disciplinary artist living in Berlin, Stefan Roigk developed "Suffering For The Promised" over a 14 year period, composing this large work of acousmatic music as an atmospherically intense yet utterly fragile piece, combining concrete sounds, field recordings and devotional vocal fragments in an eclectic and highly intimate composition of great depth and detail.
Alvin Lucier
Orpheus Variations
(Important Records)
A new composition by Alvin Lucier for solo cello and seven wind instruments, primarily brass and flute, performed by the NY-based S.E.M. Ensemble, with many performers also associated with the Downtown NY scene (John Zorn, Nate Wooley); "Orpheus Variations" is a minimal work focused on sonority as a waveform produced by physical effect, that merges and interferes in its motion.
Cheval Gris
Candor Cloak
(Bad Architect Records)
Combining the work of 18 artists chosen to interpret a series of sacred rites that took place deep within the woods by an elite shaman of an Amazon tribe, including Squidco's own Carl Kruger & phil zampino, Cheval Gris (Ryan Lewis) weaves an incredible story in sound, a virtual soundtrack of rich aural environments, concrete elements, and ritualistic sound.
Oren Ambarchi
Simian Angel
(Editions Mego)
Oren Ambarchi renews the focus on his unique approach to the electric guitar, joining with Downtown NY Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista on congas, shakers and berimbau, in a duo based on Ambarchi's explorative playing, also conjuring organ and piano tones, as each side-long piece take the listener on a journey of passionate playing of subtlety and warmth.
Oren Ambarchi
Simian Angel [VINYL]
(Editions Mego)
Oren Ambarchi renews the focus on his unique approach to the electric guitar, joining with Downtown NY Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista on congas, shakers and berimbau, in a duo based on Ambarchi's explorative playing, also conjuring organ and piano tones, as each side-long piece take the listener on a journey of passionate playing of subtlety and warmth.
Sergei Prokofiev / Dmitri Shostakovich
Works For 2 Pianists Under Soviet Rule
(Hat [now] ART)
Two works for piano composed under Stalinist rule by Dmitri Shostakovich and Sergei Prokofiev, recorded in 2009 by pianists Ufuk & Bahar Dorduncu.
Morton Feldman (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)
Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.
Noriko Hisada
Prognostication
(Hat [now] ART)
Christian Wolff
Early Piano Pieces
(Hat [now] ART)
Early works from avant-garde composer Christian Wolff, including pieces for prepared piano influenced by John Cage's ideas for the same instrument.
John Cage
Ryoanji
(Hat [now] ART)
21 years after visiting the sparse rock and sand garden Ryoan-ji (Peacful Dragon) in Kyoto he wrote this piece, here in a remastered and redesigned 2nd edition.
Charles Ives
A Songbook
(Hat [now] ART)
Sebastian Gottschick's adaptations of Ives' songs and short instrumental pieces pay homage to the composer and develop his work further, as conducted by Gottschick with the ensemble fur neue musik zurich.
Haubenstock-Ramati, Roman
Mobile For Shakespeare
(Hat [now] ART)
A series of musical "mobiles" from European composer Roman Haubenstock-Ramati, sonic transformations of the visual experiences of Alexander Calder's dynamic sculptures.
Chistopher Fox
Works For Piano, Philip Thomas piano
(Hat [now] ART)
Four large and distinctive works by composer Christopher Fox performed by pianist Philip Thomas, who also writes the liner notes about the works, revealing and explaining the compositional elements, piano preparations, and physical requirements placed on the performer.
Stockhausen / Beethoven (Pi-hsien Chen)
Klavierstucke / Sonaten
(Hat [now] ART)
Alternating between Stockhausen and Beethoven, pianist Pi-Hsien Chen performs solo works including "Klavierstuck", "Sonata A-Dur Op. 101" and "Sonata C-moll Op. 111", contrasting and comparing the innovations of both composers.
Katharina Rosenberger
SHIFT
(Hat [now] ART)
First recordings of composer Katharnia Rosenberger's SHIFT and other dynamic and exciting works incorporating spatialization, by an electroacoustic orchestra including Rage Thrombones, captured in 2016 at the University of California, in San Diego, California.
Pauline Oliveros / Guy Klucevsek
Sounding / Way [VINYL]
(Important Records)
One of two reissues from the collaboration of Important Records and the Pauline Oliveros Trust, this album with accordionist Guy Klucevsek was originally self-released in 1986 on cassette, each side presenting a piece for two accordions, here with Guy Klucevsek's "Tremolo No. 6" on side A and Pauline's Oliveros' "The Tuning Meditation" on Side B.
Guillermo Gregorio
Degrees Of Iconicity
(Hat [now] ART)
George Crumb
Vox Balaenae
(Hat [now] ART)
Morton Feldman
String Quartet (1979)
(Hat [now] ART)
The Ives Ensemble playing one of Morton Feldman's later and shorter works, the 1979 "String Quartet," in a digital DDD recording from 2005.
Johannes Reichert
Barockkantaten
(Meta Records)
Luciano Berio & Edison Denissow
Works For Voice And Chamber Ensemble
(Hat [now] ART)
Remastered ed. of the '93 release of Berio's "Folk Songs" and "Chamber Music", and Edison Denissow's "La Vie en rouge" performed by the Ensemble for New Music Zurich.
Nadia Ratsimandresy & Matteo Ramon Arevalos
Messiaen Et Autour De Messiaen For Onde Martenot And Piano
(Recommended Records)
Exploring the many voices of the extraordinary electronic instrument onde Martinot with works by Olivier Messiaen, N'Guyen Thien Dao, Jacques Charpentier & Tristan Murail.
Heiner Goebbels
The Italian Concerto
(I Dischi di Angelica)
A rare release from a pioneer of contemporary cross-platform composition, with Chris Cutler, The Icarus Ensemble, Sira and Boubacar Djebate, Johannes Bauer, Tiziano Popoli, &c. &c.
Steve MacLean
Expressions on Piano
(Recommended Records)
12 compositions for mediated acoustic piano from Dr. Nerve bassist MacLean, beautifully composed and recorded works showing his taste for Crumb, Satie, Cage, Reich, Eno, &c.
John McGuire
Works For Instruments [2 CDs]
(Edition Rz)
Instrumental compositions by "post-minimalist" John McGuire who took classes with Karlheinz Stockhausen and Gottfried Michael Koenig, among others.
Jakob Ullmann
A Catalouge of Sounds
(Edition Rz)
Ullman's composition of subtle gradations in sound performed very softly forcing the ear to notice the smallest variations, as realized by the string trio Ensemble Oriol Berline.
Iannis Xenakis
Iannis Xenakis
(Edition Rz)
A collection of historical and essential works from Xenakis including Syrmos, Le Polytope de Montreal, Terretektorh, Nomos Gamma, ST/48-1,240162, Achorripsis, Persepolis, Polytope de Cluny.
Jakob Ullmann
Voice, Books and Fire 3
(Edition Rz)
A work resulting from Ullmann's reflections about the relationships between music and language: language as sound and language as text, and the numerous relationships between texts of different cultural and religious traditions.
Stephen Goss
Northern Lights
(FMR)
An album of beautiful and impressionist musical landscapes: 3 large works in several movements drawing on mythology, visual imagery, and a work for Charles Jencks Garden of Cosmic Speculation.
Morton Feldman
Neither (Opera)(2011 edition)
(Hat [now] ART)
A non-convention opera by Morton Feldman using words by Samuel Beckett to create musical equivalents to what Beckett's words suggest; performed by Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Frankfurt.
Faust
71 Minutes
(Recommended Records)
Lars Hollmer Looping Home Orchestra
Live 1992-1993
(Les Disques Victo)
Fred Frith
Accidental
(Recommended Records)
Haco + Hiromichi, Sakamoto
Ash in the Rainbow
(Recommended Records)
Eugene Chadbourne
Chadbourne Auction House
(Chadula)
Eugene Chadbourne
Country Boobs
(Chadula)
Intricate and sardonic covers from Doc Chad's studio (+ one live track) aided with vocals from daughter Lizzie and new instruments including the Greek baclamel.
Dr. Chadbourne Eugene
Jungle Cookies
(Chadula)
Reissue of the 1998 double CD release on Old Gold, compiling all of Chad's Amsterdamn based cassette Jungle Cookies series, eclectic audio collage songs.
Antoine Berthiaume
Small Tease
(Ambiances Magnetiques)
Guitarist Berthiaume steps away from composition and jazz to record an album of intricate instrumental guitar songs with folk influences, playing solo and in small ensembles.
Eugene Chadbourne
Insect And Western Updater [2 CDs]
(Chadula)
An update to Doc Chad's "Insect and Western" box set, adding important new insect musical portraits recorded 2008-09, covering Click Beetle, Flat Shield Bug, Head Lice, Ear Wig, Spider, &c. &c.
Cleric (John Zorn - Masada Book 3)
The Book Beri'ah Vol 2 | Chokhma
(Tzadik)
John Zorn's Masada Book Three, "The Book Beri'ah", continues in its second volume with this powerful and demanding album from the Philadelphia avant-metal band of Ludovic Beier on accordion & accordina, Timba Harris on violins, Matt Hollenberg on guitars & Oud, Dan Kennedy on bass, Larry Kwartowitz on drums, and Nick Shellenberger on keyboards & vocals.
Eugene Chadbourne w/ Son of Shockabilly
Unreal Band
(Chadula)
Recorded the year before the first Shockabilly record in 1983, this live album with Eugene Chadbourne on electric guitar and vocals, plus Shockabilly-to-be and percussionist David Licht, and Tom Shepard taking Kramer's place on bass, as the trio take on country music, Hendrix, Beatles, Yardbirds, bring out The Rake, and otherwise twist up a set of great songs.
Mattin
Songbook #6 [VINYL]
(Munster Records, Insulin Addicted Records, Crudités Tapes)
Spanish sound artist and vocalist Mattin in his 6th "Songbook" album, performed with Farahnaz Hatam, Pan Daijing, Colin Hacklander, Werner Dafeldecker, and Dean Roberts, a vicious mix of essentially no-wave rock and experimental music, six songs at exactly six minutes each covering topics of the conflicts, confusion and frustrations of our modern age.
Elephant9
Psychedelic Backfire I
(Rune Grammofon)
The first of two "Psychedelic Backfire" concerts at Oslo's Kampen Bistro, taken from a 4 night residency by the Norwegian Elephant 9 rock trio of drummer Torstein Lofthus, bassist Nikolai Haengsle, and keyboardist Stale Storlokken, expanding on tracks from their excellent studio catalog in strongly lyrical and technically superb instrumental and improvised rock forms.
Elephant9 w/ Reine Fiske
Psychedelic Backfire II
(Rune Grammofon)
The second of two "Psychedelic Backfire"s, The Norwegian Elephant 9 improvising rock trio of drummer Torstein Lofthus, bassist Nikolai Haengsle, and keyboardist Stale Storlokken are joined by Dungen guitarist Reine Fiske for an exciting live concert at Kampen Bistro, in Oslo in 2019, the interaction of Fiske and Storlokken a fine example that prog rock is still a vital form.
Bill Orcutt
Odds Against Tomorrow
(Palilalia)
After his recent work interpreting the American Songbook, guitarist Bill Orcutt returns to his own compositions in an album cleanly recorded through a Fender Twin in Orcutt's living room, with three pieces multi-tracked, the rest simply pure Orcutt, reflecting beautiful blues-tinged lyricism, jarring interwining of notes, and impressive passages of superb virtuosity.
After Dinner
Souvenir Cassette (2019) [DELUXE CD EDITION]
(Fish Prints)
Originally released in 1988 in limited cassette and LP editions and comprising live recordings from performances in 1987, the Japanese avant rock band After Dinner with vocalist Haco merged Japanese traditional music and electronics in sublime ways, their live performances a great reflection of their recorded albums, here impeccably remastered by Bob Drake.
Univers Zero
Phosphorescent Dreams
(Sub Rosa)
Originally released in Japan on the Arcangelo label, this 2014 album from Daniel Denis' Univers Zero finds the chamber rock band in a tightly dynamic configuration of reeds, keys, guitar, bass, drums and percussion, as they present intricately dark, complex musical schemes that reference avante classical forms through powerfully expressive rock forms.
Steve Dalachinsky / The Snobs
Massive Liquidity
(Bam Balam Records)
Late NY poet and writer Steve Dalachinsky met with the French electro-rock duo The Snobs of Mad Rabbit and Duck Feeling in Paris in the winter of 2011, recording vocals that Rabbit & Feeling then edited and set to experimental music using guitar, bass, sitar, electronic organ, percussion, effects &c. creating effective settings for Dalachinsky's profound and fascinating words.
Eclectic Maybe Band
Reflections In A Moebius Ring Mirror
(Discus)
The second album of this Guy Segers (Univers Zero) project in an eclectic ensemble of improvisers, rock musicians and experimenters, a genre-defying project of primarily instrumental work with interventions of song, merging acoustic & electric instruments with electronics, live improvisation with studio manipulation, to find new forms of mesmerizing music.
Joe Morris
Perpetual Frontier The Properties of Free Music [BOOK]
(Riti Publishing)
Joe Morris wrote this book to discuss aspects of free music, including responses to his questionnaire written by Joe McPhee, William Parker, Jamie Saft, Ken Vandermark, Marilyn Crispell, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, Matthew Shipp, &c.
Derek Bailey / Han Bennink / Evan Parker
Topographie Parisienne [4 CDs]
(Fou Records)
Recorded in 1981 by audio engineer and label owner Jean-Marc Foussat, the trio of guitarist Derek Bailey, saxophonist Evan Parker, and drummer/multi-instrumentalist Han Bennink are heard in an amazing evening of performance at 28 rue Dunois, in Paris, France, in duo and trio configurations, exploring material similar to Parker's "Topography of the Lungs"; essential.
Jimmy Giuffre 3 (w / Bley / Swallow)
Graz Live 1961
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
After introducing his new trio with pianist Paul Bley and double bassist Steve Swallow in two 1961 albums on Verve, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre embarked on a tour of Europe, this recently discovered, well-recorded concert in Graf, Austria the perfect example of his unique concepts yielding intensely focused, harmonically challenging, rhythmically abstract, and exquisite chamber jazz.
Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.
John Coltrane Quartet
Impressions Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Taking his quartet on a European tour in the fall of 1962, Coltrane's band with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums performed in Graz, Austria at Stefaniensaal, the concert beautifully recorded by ORF Steiermark and here released as the first of two volumes, showing both Coltrane's lyrical origins and expanding free inclinations.
Albert Ayler Quartets
Spirits To Ghosts Revisited (remastered)
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Three variations of quartet settings from iconoclastic free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, remastering and combining two Debut Records albums, "Spirits" from 1964 with Norman Howard (trumpet), Sunny Murray (drums), and alternating bass between Henry Grimes & Earle Henderson; and 1965's "Ghosts" on Debut Records with Don Cherry (trumpet), Gary Peacock (bass), and Sunny Murray.
Morton Feldman (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)
Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.
Tyshawn Sorey
Pillars [3 CDs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Drummer/percussionist, trombonist, pianist and importantly here, composer, Tyshawn Sorey in an amazing and ambitious work "Pillars", assembling an ensemble of virtuosic NY performers (Joe Morris, Todd Neufeld, Ben Gerstein, Stephen Hayes, Zach Rowden, Carl Test, Mark Helias) as he references Tibetan rituals, Stockhausen, and Anthony Braxton, and much more.
Franz Koglmann Septet (w / Clark / Arcari / D'Agaro / Turkovic / Pasztor / Herbert)
Fruits Of Solitude
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
With a superb septet of improvisers also versed in contemporary music, trumpeter Franz Koglmann presents sophisticated compositions that interject the concept of "solitude" in the three-part title track, alongside Koglmann compositions and Jimmy Giuffre's "Finger Snapper", using striking orchestration of trumpet, sax, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, french horn, cello and double bass.
Sam Rivers / Cecil McBee / Norman Connors
Emanation (Sam Rivers archive sessions. Vol.1)
(NoBusiness)
The NoBusiness label initiates its Sam Rivers Archive Series with this CD of River's Loft-era trio. the leader on tenor & soprano saxophones, flute & Piano, Cecil McBee on bass and Norman Connors on drums, for two sets at a Jazz Workshop residency in Boston in the summer of 1971, a superb concert showing inspired group interaction and River's intense focus.
Taylor Bynum Ho 9-tette
The Ambiguity Manifesto
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Grown from a sextet to this 9-tette, cornetist/composer Taylor Ho Bynum's ensemble brings together some of the finest improvisers from the Boston and New York scenes for compositions that merge orchestration and allow flexibility in interpretation, as heard in these 7 lyrical pieces, the last 3 turning the first 3 on their heads in reworked, expanded versions.
Angles 9
Beyond Us
(Clean Feed)
Now a distinct edition of saxophonist Martin Kuchen's concept, the Angles 9 ensemble is captured live at the Zomer Jazz Fiets Tour in The Netherlands in 2018, performing Kuchen's embraceable and lyrical compositions, allowing his masterful band--including Magnus Broo, Johan Berthling, Mattias Stahl, &c.--great opportunities for collective playing and profound soloing.
Marc Copland / Drew Gress / Joey Baron
And I Love Her
(Illusions/Mirage)
Brought together originally as the rhythm section for John Abercrombie, the trio of pianist Marc Copland, bassist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Baron have continued on as a performing trio, heard here in NYC for a lyrical set of standards, popular tunes, and originals including pieces by Coltrane, Hancock, Lennon-McCartney, Cole Porter, and John Abercrombie.
James Lewis Brandon (Lewis / Branch / Stewart / Pirog / Crudup III)
An Unruly Manifesto
(Relative Pitch)
New York tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis leads a quintet with Jaimie Branch on trumpet, Luke Stewart on bass, Anthony Pirog on guitar, and Warren Trae Crudup III on drums, in a free jazz album dedicated to Charlie Haden & Ornette Coleman and Surrealism, modern creative music with one foot planted in the 70s and one in the 2010s.
Mary Halvorson
Code Girl [2 CDs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)
Always open to new approaches, NY guitarist Mary Halvorson takes her trio with drummer Tomas Fujiwara and bassist Michael Formanek, adds trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire and, in a twist of the thumbscrew, vocalist Amirtha Kidambi, for a mix of song and instrumental pieces that balance jazz and rock sensibilities with lyricism, intricate lines, and creative spirit.
Evan Parker / Kinetics (Anderskove / Melbye / Vestergaard)
Chiasm
(Clean Feed)
Performing live at The Vortex in London and live at the DKDM studio in Copenhagen, legendary UK saxophonist Evan Parker joins Swedish pianist Jacob Anderskov's trio Kinetics with Adam Pultz Melbye on bass and Anders Vestergaard on drums, recording these four masterful improvisations of full-force momentum, concentration, exploration and exultation.
Mario Pavone Dialect Trio
Philosophy
(Clean Feed)
Three in-demand New York improvisers--Mario Pavone on double bass, Matt Mitchell on piano, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums-- recording in the studio in one of the premiere spaces in the Metropolitan area, Firehouse 12, resulting in this profoundly authoritatve piano trio album, with five Pavone original compositions, two from Annette Peacock, and one collective improv.
Matthew Shipp
Invisible Light, Live Sao Paulo
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Captured live at the 2016 Jazz at the Factory Festival in Sao Paulo, this addition to New York pianist Matthew Shipp's catalog finds the masterful player presenting his own compositions like "Symbol Systems", "Gamma Ray" or "Invisible" light alongside unique takes on "Angel Eyes", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Yesterdays" and "Summertime".
The Fictive Five (Ochs / Wooley / Filiano / Niggenkemper / Eisenstadt)
Anything Is Possible
(Clean Feed)
A tour-de-force of modern creative jazz from the quintet of Larry Ochs on tenor & sopranino saxophones, Nate Wooley on trumpet, Ken Filiano on bass & effects, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass & effects, and Harris Eisenstadt on drums, the familiar history of the musicians and the staggering skill of each bearing out the album's title, in 2 collective and 3 Ochs compositions.
Mark Dresser Seven (Nicole Mitchell / Ehlrlich / GoGwilt / Dessen / White / Black / McLagan)
Ain't Nothing But A Cyber Coup & You
(Clean Feed)
The 2nd album for East/West Coast double bassist and composer Mark Dresser's Seven band, in a diverse set of lyrically intricate Dresser compositions using unusual and compelling rhythmic structures, with Nicole Mitchell on flute, Marty Ehrlich on clarinets & sax, Keir GoGwilt on violin, Michael Dessen on trombone, Joshua White on piano, and Jim Black on drums.
Larry Ochs / Gerald Cleaver / Nels Cline
What Is To Be Done
(Clean Feed)
The first release from the trio of Nels Cline, Gerald Cleaver, and Larry Ochs in a 2016 concert at Gallery5 Arts, in Richmond, Virginia, captured as part of the trio's series touring around the Northeast each December since 2015, playing what Larry Ochs describes as music that "seeks sonically to soothe, to inspire, and to conspire", in three urgent and powerful improvisations.
Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin and George Lewis
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The innovative string trio of Daniel Studer on double bass, Harald Kimmig on violin, and Alfred Zimmerlin on cello, develop focused environments of timbre, texture, dynamic and space, seemingly abstract yet incredibly concentrative and virtuosic interaction, here joined by Chicago trombonist and electronics artist George Lewis adding a 4th profound layer to their incredible conversation.
Paul Dunmall Sun Ship Quartet (Skidmore / Kjaer / Solberg / Wastell)
John Coltrane 50Th Memorial Concert At Cafe Oto [2 CDs]
(Confront)
A stellar line-up commemorateing the 50th anniversary of John Coltrane's passing, showcasing Paul Dunmall's blistering Coltrane-influenced quartet together with special guest, lifelong Coltrane devotee saxophonist Alan Skidmore, and also marking the premiere performance of the newly formed international trio of Julie Kjaer (DK), Mark Wastell (GB) and Stale Liavik Solberg (NOR).
Anthony Braxton (w/ Nels Cline, Greg Saunier, Taylor Ho Bynum)
Quartet (New Haven) 2014 [4 CDs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)
A 4-CD box set documenting the meeting of a quartet featuring saxophonist, composer and conceptualist Anthony Braxton alongside improvising guitarist and Wilco star Nels Cline, drummer and Deerhoof founder Greg Saunier, and trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum, each CD an hour-long, wide-ranging set leaving behind genre imitations as they perform Braxton's colorful graphic score.
Joe McPhee / Lol Coxhill / Chris Corsano / Evan Parker
Tree Dancing
(Otoroku)
A 2010 recording at London's Cafe Oto by the London / New York quartet of Lol Coxhill on soprano saxophone, Evan Parker on saxophones, Joe McPhee on saxophones, and Chris Corsano on drums & percussion, with McPhee introducing the set and starting with a tribute to Ornette Coleman, as the four perform seven intense "dances" as duos, trios and full quartet.
Brotzmann / Schlippenbach / Bennink
Fifty Years After... Live at the Lila Eule 2018
(Trost Records)
50 years after saxophonist Peter Brotzmann's Octet recorded the legendary "Machine Gun" album, the trio of Berlin pianist, composer Alexander von Schlippenbach and Dutch percussionist Han Bennink commemorated the album at Lila Eule in Bremen, the concert heard here so successful that the trio decided to release the album and continue on as a working trio.
Satoko Fujii / Ramon Lopez
Confluence
(Libra)
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.
Charles Gayle / John Edwards / Mark Sanders
Seasons Changing [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)
Recorded at Cafe Oto in London in 2017, legendary NY free jazz saxophonist Charles Gayle is joined by masterful free improvisers John Edwards on double bass and Mark Sanders for two live sets, released here in a limited 2-CD album, presenting the fire and range of all three players, from full-on aggressive and confrontational playing to deeply introspective.
Baczkowski / Lopez / Corsano
Old Smoke
(Relative Pitch)
This smoking album of free jazz leads the New York trio of Steve Baczkowski on saxophone, Brandon Lopez on bass, and Chris Corsano on drums to fiery playing as they burn up the stage at Hallwall, in Buffalo, New York in 2018, over seven concise collective conversations expressing both passion, restraint, and profoundly masterful skill.
Joe Morris
Instantiation: Paradoxical
(Glacial Erratic)
One part of New York improvising guitarist and composer Joe Morris' "Instantiation" project, where each part is uniquely composed with specific notated and operational components making each impossible to perform the same way twice, here in a studio recording with clarinetist Dan O'Brien, bassist Brad Barrett, and violinist Elinor Speirs.
ICP Tentet
Tetterettet
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)
10 years after drummer Han Bennink, pianist Misha Mengelberg, and saxophonist Willem Breuker formed the ICP co-op, Bennink & Mengelberg formed this 10-piece "Tetterettet", an all-star international group including Peter Brotzmann, Tristan Honsinger, John Tchicai, this their first incredible and far-ranging album, remastered and available on CD for the first time.
Agusti Fernandez Trio (w. William Parker / Susie Ibarra)
One Night At The Joan Miro Foundation
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
A formidable meeting of three powerhouses of modern creative improvisation of diverse backgrounds -- Filipina-American drummer/percussionist Susie Ibarra, legendary New York bassist William Parker, and Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez, in a spirited, masterful and stunning live performance at the Joan Miro Foundation in Barcelona recorded in 1998.
Richard Pinhas / Tatsuya Yoshida
Ascension
(Magaibutsu Limited)
The collaboration between Magaibutsu label leader, Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins, Korekyojinn, Koenji, The World Heritage, &c) on drums, keyboards & voice, and Heldon mastermind Richard Pinhas on guitar & effects, continues with this CD of live material from their 2014 Japanese tour, extending the 2015 "Live in Japan" album, including the 8-part "Ascension".
From Wolves To Whales (Rempis / Wooley / Niggenkemper / Corsano)
Strandwal [2 CDs]
(Aerophonic)
The 2nd release from the quartet of cutting edge improvisers--Nate Wooley on trumpet, Dave Rempis on saxophone, Pascal Niggenkemper on bass, and Chris Corsano on drums--presents a complete concert during their Fall 2017 European tour, performing in the city of Haarlem near Amsterdam in a wide-ranging concert of incredible technique and intrepid playing.
Rob Mazurek
Desert Encrypts Vol. 1
(Astral Spirits)
The third volume in trumpeter Rob Mazurek's Marfa Trilogy, inspired by the desert surroundings of Marfa, TX where Mazurek held his first Desert Encrypts Festival, this album captured live with the superb quartet of Kris Davis on piano, Chad Taylor on drums, and Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass, for 6 passionate and compelling works of modern jazz.
NYUK (Nasuno / Yoshida / Uchihashi / Nasuki)
NYUK
(Magaibutsu)
An extension of the Korekyojinn band of Nasuno Mitsuru, Yoshida Tatsuya, and Kido Natsuki, by adding guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Altered States, Ground Zero, Innocent Records), for eight intense improvisations recorded at Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo in 2013, a startling album of jaw-dropping polyrhythmic, avant rock interaction and intention; spectacular.
Sam Rivers / Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Barry Altschul / Charlie Persip
Zenith
(NoBusiness)
Tomeka Reid / Filippo Monaco
The Mouser
(Relative Pitch)
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.
Tiger Trio (Leandre / Melford / Mitchel)
Map of Liberation
(RogueArt)
Born from the duo of Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell and French bassist Joelle Leandre ("Sisters Where") and brought together by Myra Melford, this is the 2nd album from their Tiger Trio formation, joining profound skill, unusual creative intent, ferociously authoritative conversation, shrewd wit, and an innate sense of balance to 11 succinct collective improvisations.
Marco von Orelli / Tommy Meier / Luca Sisera / Sheldon Suter
Lotus Crash
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Trumpeter Marco von Orelli's piano-less quartet with Tommy Meier on tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, Luca Sisera on double bass, and Sheldon Suter on drums is caught live at Theater am Gleis, in Winterthur, Switzerland in 2018, and at Boudoir au Revoir, the same year, performing von Orelli's compellingly clever compositions, plus one each from Adam lane and Tommy Meier.
Arild Andersen / Clive Bell / Mark Wastell
Tales Of Hackney
(Confront)
World instrumentation of shakuhachi, thai flute, shinobue, thai mouth organ, and shruti box blends with western orchestration of double bass, percussion and electronics as Clive Bell, Arild Andersen, and Mark Wastell come together in the studio after their well-received concert at Cafe Oto in London to develop these beautifully lyrical improvisations.
Mike Gennaro / Alex Ward
Running for Trains
(Confront)
Three separate live recordings from Hamburg, Gottingen and Berlin, Germany from the duo of Canadian drummer Mike Gennaro and UK clarinettist & electric guitarist Alex Ward, during their 5-stop November 2017 tour crossing Germany by train, selecting six of Gennaro's well captured recordings from their most interesting, exciting or innovative improvisations; exceptional!
Kuzu (Dave Rempis / Tashi Dorji / Tyler Damon)
Hiljaisuus
(Aerophonic)
Kuzu is a hard-charging but patient trio that came together in the fall of 2017, after saxophonist Dave Rempis, a stalwart of the Chicago improvised music scene, worked with both Tashi Dorji (guitar) and Tyler Damon (drums) individually as part of a lengthy solo tour of the U.S.; this new trio is captured at Elastic Arts, in Chicago in an intense and dynamic live set.
Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band
Odes and Meditations for Cecil Taylor [5 CD BOX]
(Not Two)
Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band is the bassist's ensemble performing in a variety of configurations, capable of executing his sophisticated compositions that pay hommage or reflect larger subjects, here in 5 CDs of performances at Alchemia Club and on Radio Krakow in Poland, approaching the work of late pianist Cecil Taylor through multi-part Odes, Meditations, and even some "Strange Loops".
Daniel Studer (w/ Kimmig / Loriot / Zimmerlin / Zoubek)
Extended: For Strings & Piano
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
A live album at Kunstraum Walcheturm from Swiss double bassist Daniel Studer's quintet of strings and piano, with Harald Kimmig on violin, Frantz Loriot on viola, Alfred Zimmerlin on violoncello, and Philip Zoubek on piano, performing an inventive set of Studer compositions extending string improvisation to extremes through unorthodox structures and techniques.
Christine Abdelnour / Chris Corsano
Quand Fond La Neige, Où Va Le Blanc ?
(Relative Pitch)
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.
Nate Wooley
Battle Pieces 4
(Relative Pitch)
"Battle Pieces" uses trumpeter Nate Wooley's "social music" system, where each piece is constructed for a soloist who improvises with no score while the remaining player choose at will from over 75 compositions over which the soloist must find their path; here at Roulette in NYC with Nate Wooley, Sylvie Courvoisier, Ingrid Laubrock, & Matt Moran.
Ken Vandermark w/ Butcher / Drake / Kessler / McPhee / Mori / Noble / Prevost / Rasmussen / Tilbury / Wooley
Unexpected Alchemy [7-CD BOX]
(Not Two)
Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.
AMM
An Unintended Legacy [3 CDs]
(Matchless)
A beautiful 3-CD set with a hardcover book presenting 3 full concerts from 2015 & 2016 of the AMM trio configuration of John Tilbury (piano), Keith Rowe (guitar) and Eddie Prevost (percussion). The 70 page book, dedicated to saxophonist Lou Gare, includes an AMM discography, plus photos, and essays by Paige Mitchell and Allen Fisher; Keith Rowe; Eddie Prevost; and Seymour Wright.
Frode Gjerstad / John Stevens / Johnny Mbizio Dyani
Detail 83
(FMR)
A significant release from the history of the Detail trio of Frode Gjerstad on reeds, John Stevens on drums, and Johnny Dyani on bass, recorded at the Red Seahouses in Norway in 1938 during Detail's first trio tour, a smoking set of free jazz showing the power of these innovative players around the time of their first album, "Backwards and Forwards".