Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
(577)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.

Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.

New York Contemporary Five
Consequences Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Though short-lived, the New York Contemporary Five brought together NY free players Don Moore on bass, J.C. Moses on drums, Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, and Don Cherry on trumpet with Danish alto saxophonist John Tchicai, in a remastered edition of their 1966 album "Consequences", expanded with Shepp's revisiting of the material in a sextet with Sunny Murray and Ted Curson.

Marion Brown
Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Reissuing two essential albums from saxophonist Marion Brown--Why Not? (ESP, 1968) and Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969)--the first recorded in NY in a quartet with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali, the second recorded in The Netherlands in a trio with Han Bennink on drums and Maarten Van Regteren Altena on double bass; essential.

Peter Brotzmann / Lonberg-Holm, Fred
Memories Of A Tunicate
(Relative Pitch)
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley
Birdland / Neuburg 2011
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing in the intimacy of the Birdland Jazz Club in 2011, New York innovative pianist Cecil Taylor met with London free jazz legendary percussionist Tony Oxley and long-time associate in The Feel Trio and as a duo, Taylor's rapid often percussive approach to the keys pairing with Oxley's percussive work, and both bringing lyrical beauty from the other.

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.

Gerald Cleaver
Signs [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577)
Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.

Whit Dickey (w/ Nate Wooley / Matthew Shipp)
Morph [2 CDs]
(ESP)
Two albums released together as a single-priced 2-CD set, NY drummer, composer and free improviser Whit Dickey leads two groupings: on Reckoning, a duet with frequent collaborator, pianist Matthew Shipp; and Pacific Noir, a trio with Shipp and trumpeter Nate Wooley; both superb examples of modern jazz with creative inventiveness and virtuouso execution.

Various Artists (Barry Guy/Joelle Leandre/Rafal Mazur/Paal Nilssen-Love/Zlatko Kaucic/Agusti Fernandez/Mats Gustafsson/Ken Vandermark/Mikolaj Trzaska/Peter Brotzmann/Steve Swell/Per Ake Holmlander/Maya Homburger)
Not Two... But Twenty [5 CDs in Wooden Box]
(Not Two)
Not Two Records celebrates their 20th Anniversary with a festival in Wlen, Poland, inviting 13 of the finest European & US improvisers--Guy, Leandre, Mazur, Nilssen-Love, Kaucic, Fernandez, Gustafsson, Vandermark, Trzaska, Brotzmann, Swell, Holmlander, & Homburg--performing in configurations from duo to quintet, released in a limited 5-CD wooden box set.

Paul Flaherty / Randall Colbourne / James Chumley Hunt / Mike Roberson
Borrowed From Children
(577)
Describing his music as "freeform", legendary saxophonist Paul Flaherty uses the music of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, late-period Coltrane, Peter Brötzmann, &c. as the inspiration for this exhilarating live album captured at Willimantic Records, CT with his quartet of Randall Colbourne on drums, James Chumley Hunt on trumpet, and Mike Roberson on electric guitar.

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.

Albert Ayler Trio
1964 Prophecy Revisted
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
With the essential sidemen to express his unique voice and approach to free jazz, saxophonist Albert Ayler, double bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray, recorded these sessions in 1964 for the ESP label as "Prophecy", this excellent reissue & remaster also adding the live "Albert Smiles with Sunny" (inRespect) from the same concert; essential.

Henry Kaiser
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
(Fractal Music)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Henry Kaiser performs a live guitar solo on a borrowed Downes 101HB baritone guitar with no overdubs, just delays and no looping, provided by Henry Kaiser to Squidco as a free item to accompany any other Squidco purchase where the customer requests a copy, intended to help stores like Squidco during this time of pandemic; for which we are extremely grateful!

Jean-Marc Foussat / Daunik Lazro / Evan Parker
Cafe OTO 2020 [2 CDs]
(Fou Records)
A momentous 2020 concert at London's Cafe OTO, presented in two discs, the 1st with label leader Jean-Marc Foussat in a solo improvisation on synth and voice, the 2nd in a trio with Daunik Lazro on tenor & baritone sax, and Evan Parker on soprano sax, the 2 saxophones weaving and responding to Foussat's remarkable alien soundscapes and vocalization in an immersive extended improvisation.

Jubileum Quartet (Leandre / Parker / Fermandez / Kaucic)
A UIS ?
(Not Two)

John Coltrane Quartet
My Favorite Things Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The 2nd volume from tenor & soprano saxophonist John Coltrane 1962 tour of Europe and Scandinavia, heard here in late November at Stefaniensaal, Graz with his quartet of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, the band playing classic numbers under the influence of Coltrane's expanding drive to transform his music toward greater freedom.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Heliocentric Worlds 1 and 2
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The two volumes of "Heliocentric Worlds", recorded 7 months apart in 1965, represent perhaps one of greatest chapters in Sun Ra's legacy, bringing together his immense orchestration skills with future-leaning free jazz, allowing his players expanse inside disciplined compositions that reflect on both space and the then-new freedom explored by jazz soloists.

Polwechsel / Klaus Lang
Unseen
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The innovative acoustic free improvising ensemble Polwechsel, bridging contemporary music and free improvisation in ways that sound deceptively electroacoustic and comprised of Michael Moser on cello, Werner Dafeldecker on double bass, and Martin Brandlmayr & Burkhard Beins on cymbals & percussion, are joined by Klaus Lang performing on the church organ of St. Lambrecht's Abbey.

Toyozumi / Tan / Countryman
Turtle Bird
(FMR)
The entire first set and the final selection from the last set of a live concert at at Tago Jazz Cafe, in Quezon City, Philippines from the trio of Simon Tan on acoustic bass, Rick Countryman on alto saxophone, and Sabu Toyozumi on drums, including the full performance of material from their Chasing the Sun album; fluid, intelligent, captivating free jazz.

Ingrid Laubrock / Kris Davis
Blood Moon
(Intakt)
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, both living and working in NY, and having worked together in a variety of groups including Laubrock's Anti-House, a trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey's Obligatto, &c. &c., concentrate their sophisticated playing with this duo album of 7 original compositions and 2 free improvisations.

Karl Evangelista (w/ Alexander Hawkins / Louis Moholo-Moholo / Trevor Watts)
Apura! [2 CDs]
(Astral Spirits)
Filipino guitarist Karl Evangelista translates the name of the seminal South African sextet Chris McGregor Group's album "Very Urgent" to the tagalog equivalent--"Apura!"-- recording in London with McGregor group drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo and kindred soul Trevor Watts on saxophones, plus luminary pianist Alexander Hawkins, for a sophisticated album of exemplary collective improv.

The MacroQuarktet
The Complete Night: Live At The Stone NYC [2 CDs]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
NYC Downtown mainstays, trumpeters Dave Ballou and Herb Robertson, are heard in a full concert at The Stone in NYC in 2007 with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, concentrating their work in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue into their own quartet, this their first performance together their energy, inventivenss and enthusiasm is on full display.

Killick
Old Hat to Clothed Toes [CASSETTE]
(H(i)nds(i)ght)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Guitarist and creative experimenter Killick Hinds pays homage in abstract and tangential ways to Metallica's 1986 album Master of Puppets, an influence on Killick's youth, which he references somewhere between re-creation and distillation, in a factory-made cassette with 8 pieces he describes as "hypnagogic wake-dreams."

Gerald Cleaver
Signs
(577)
Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.

New York Contemporary Five
Consequences Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Though short-lived, the New York Contemporary Five brought together NY free players Don Moore on bass, J.C. Moses on drums, Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, and Don Cherry on trumpet with Danish alto saxophonist John Tchicai, in a remastered edition of their 1966 album "Consequences", expanded with Shepp's revisiting of the material in a sextet with Sunny Murray and Ted Curson.

Marion Brown
Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Reissuing two essential albums from saxophonist Marion Brown--Why Not? (ESP, 1968) and Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969)--the first recorded in NY in a quartet with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali, the second recorded in The Netherlands in a trio with Han Bennink on drums and Maarten Van Regteren Altena on double bass; essential.

Peter Brotzmann / Lonberg-Holm, Fred
Memories Of A Tunicate
(Relative Pitch)
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley
Birdland / Neuburg 2011
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing in the intimacy of the Birdland Jazz Club in 2011, New York innovative pianist Cecil Taylor met with London free jazz legendary percussionist Tony Oxley and long-time associate in The Feel Trio and as a duo, Taylor's rapid often percussive approach to the keys pairing with Oxley's percussive work, and both bringing lyrical beauty from the other.

Whit Dickey (w/ Nate Wooley / Matthew Shipp)
Morph [2 CDs]
(ESP)
Two albums released together as a single-priced 2-CD set, NY drummer, composer and free improviser Whit Dickey leads two groupings: on Reckoning, a duet with frequent collaborator, pianist Matthew Shipp; and Pacific Noir, a trio with Shipp and trumpeter Nate Wooley; both superb examples of modern jazz with creative inventiveness and virtuouso execution.

Various Artists (Barry Guy/Joelle Leandre/Rafal Mazur/Paal Nilssen-Love/Zlatko Kaucic/Agusti Fernandez/Mats Gustafsson/Ken Vandermark/Mikolaj Trzaska/Peter Brotzmann/Steve Swell/Per Ake Holmlander/Maya Homburger)
Not Two... But Twenty [5 CDs in Wooden Box]
(Not Two)
Not Two Records celebrates their 20th Anniversary with a festival in Wlen, Poland, inviting 13 of the finest European & US improvisers--Guy, Leandre, Mazur, Nilssen-Love, Kaucic, Fernandez, Gustafsson, Vandermark, Trzaska, Brotzmann, Swell, Holmlander, & Homburg--performing in configurations from duo to quintet, released in a limited 5-CD wooden box set.

Paul Flaherty / Randall Colbourne / James Chumley Hunt / Mike Roberson
Borrowed From Children
(577)
Describing his music as "freeform", legendary saxophonist Paul Flaherty uses the music of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, late-period Coltrane, Peter Brötzmann, &c. as the inspiration for this exhilarating live album captured at Willimantic Records, CT with his quartet of Randall Colbourne on drums, James Chumley Hunt on trumpet, and Mike Roberson on electric guitar.

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.

Albert Ayler Trio
1964 Prophecy Revisted
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
With the essential sidemen to express his unique voice and approach to free jazz, saxophonist Albert Ayler, double bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray, recorded these sessions in 1964 for the ESP label as "Prophecy", this excellent reissue & remaster also adding the live "Albert Smiles with Sunny" (inRespect) from the same concert; essential.

Henry Kaiser
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
(Fractal Music)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Henry Kaiser performs a live guitar solo on a borrowed Downes 101HB baritone guitar with no overdubs, just delays and no looping, provided by Henry Kaiser to Squidco as a free item to accompany any other Squidco purchase where the customer requests a copy, intended to help stores like Squidco during this time of pandemic; for which we are extremely grateful!

Jean-Marc Foussat / Daunik Lazro / Evan Parker
Cafe OTO 2020 [2 CDs]
(Fou Records)
A momentous 2020 concert at London's Cafe OTO, presented in two discs, the 1st with label leader Jean-Marc Foussat in a solo improvisation on synth and voice, the 2nd in a trio with Daunik Lazro on tenor & baritone sax, and Evan Parker on soprano sax, the 2 saxophones weaving and responding to Foussat's remarkable alien soundscapes and vocalization in an immersive extended improvisation.

Jubileum Quartet (Leandre / Parker / Fermandez / Kaucic)
A UIS ?
(Not Two)

John Coltrane Quartet
My Favorite Things Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The 2nd volume from tenor & soprano saxophonist John Coltrane 1962 tour of Europe and Scandinavia, heard here in late November at Stefaniensaal, Graz with his quartet of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, the band playing classic numbers under the influence of Coltrane's expanding drive to transform his music toward greater freedom.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Heliocentric Worlds 1 and 2
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The two volumes of "Heliocentric Worlds", recorded 7 months apart in 1965, represent perhaps one of greatest chapters in Sun Ra's legacy, bringing together his immense orchestration skills with future-leaning free jazz, allowing his players expanse inside disciplined compositions that reflect on both space and the then-new freedom explored by jazz soloists.

Polwechsel / Klaus Lang
Unseen
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The innovative acoustic free improvising ensemble Polwechsel, bridging contemporary music and free improvisation in ways that sound deceptively electroacoustic and comprised of Michael Moser on cello, Werner Dafeldecker on double bass, and Martin Brandlmayr & Burkhard Beins on cymbals & percussion, are joined by Klaus Lang performing on the church organ of St. Lambrecht's Abbey.

Toyozumi / Tan / Countryman
Turtle Bird
(FMR)
The entire first set and the final selection from the last set of a live concert at at Tago Jazz Cafe, in Quezon City, Philippines from the trio of Simon Tan on acoustic bass, Rick Countryman on alto saxophone, and Sabu Toyozumi on drums, including the full performance of material from their Chasing the Sun album; fluid, intelligent, captivating free jazz.

Ingrid Laubrock / Kris Davis
Blood Moon
(Intakt)
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, both living and working in NY, and having worked together in a variety of groups including Laubrock's Anti-House, a trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey's Obligatto, &c. &c., concentrate their sophisticated playing with this duo album of 7 original compositions and 2 free improvisations.

Karl Evangelista (w/ Alexander Hawkins / Louis Moholo-Moholo / Trevor Watts)
Apura! [2 CDs]
(Astral Spirits)
Filipino guitarist Karl Evangelista translates the name of the seminal South African sextet Chris McGregor Group's album "Very Urgent" to the tagalog equivalent--"Apura!"-- recording in London with McGregor group drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo and kindred soul Trevor Watts on saxophones, plus luminary pianist Alexander Hawkins, for a sophisticated album of exemplary collective improv.

The MacroQuarktet
The Complete Night: Live At The Stone NYC [2 CDs]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
NYC Downtown mainstays, trumpeters Dave Ballou and Herb Robertson, are heard in a full concert at The Stone in NYC in 2007 with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, concentrating their work in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue into their own quartet, this their first performance together their energy, inventivenss and enthusiasm is on full display.

Gerald Cleaver
Signs
(577)
Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.

John Cage
Klang der Wandlungen [3 CDs]
(Edition Rz)
An impressive triple-CD box with recordings of some late works by John Cage, including "Seventy-Four for Orchestra, 1992", "103 for Orchestra, 1991, part 1 & 2", In a Landscape fur Harfe", "Postcard From Heaven fur Eine Bis Zwanzig Harfen", and some of "The Harmony of Maine"; including a 32 page booklet with photos and liner notes by Jakob Ullmann.

Yong Yandsen / Christian Meaas Svendsen / Paal Nilssen-Love
Hungry Ghosts
(Nakama Records)
Chinese Buddhism defines "Hungry Ghosts" as beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way, an apt description of this trio's dynamic and often bristling collective free jazz, with Malaysian saxophonist Yong Yandsen and Norwegians, Christian Meaas Svendsen on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, performing live in Kuala Lumpur, 2018.

Alexander Hawkins / Tomeka Reid
Shards & Constellations
(Intakt)
With intricate interplay and textural passages, Chicago improvising cellist Tomeka Reid and UK pianist Alexander Hawkins present their first collaboration, an exciting set of rapid interchanges of pointillistic playing and introspective playfullness, 9 collective dialogs alongside Leroy Jenkin's piece for "Albert Ayler (His Life Was Too Short)".

London Jazz Composers Orchestra
That Time
(Not Two)
Released for their 50th anniversary, The LJCO, in configurations of up to 21 musicians including Derek Bailey, Trevor Watts, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, &c., perform works by Kenny Wheeler, Barry Guy, Paul Rutherford and Howard Riley, captured live for the Berliner Jazztage in 1972; at Donaueschingen Musiktage in 1972; in the studio in 1980; and London's Round House in 1980.

Perry Robinson / Andrea Centazzo
The Journey
(Ictus)
In the spring of 2015 multi-reedist and wind player Perry Robinson travelled to Southern California for a series of concerts, recording this duo with Italian percussionist living on the US West Coast Andrea Centazzo, a free and open session with Robison on clarinet, micro ocarina & bird calls, and Centazzo also using a MalletKat & sampling.

Gerald Cleaver
Signs [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577)
Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.

Astroturf Noise (Harmet / Nagano / Swanson / Martin / Bernstein)
Astroturf Noise [VINYL]
(577)
Astroturf Noise is Sam Day Harmet on mandolin, Sana Nagano on violin, Zach Swanson on bass, Billy Martin on percussion, and Sarah Bernstein on violin, living at the intersection of American folk & roots music and free improvisation, using effects and sonic additions in an unusual mix that the quintet makes completely natural and all their own.

Bill Orcutt / Michael Morley
Electric Guitar Duets [VINYL]
(Palilalia)
Reissuing on LP their 2016 limited cassette on the Land and Sea label of a performance by guitarists Michael Morley (Dead C) and Bill Orcutt (Harry Pussy, solo) at the L/S gallery in Oakland, Orcutt on a Fender Telecaster without effects and Morley on a modified 2006 Squire Telecaster made in Indonesia, in a conversation merging clear and crenulated playing.

Daniel Carter / Watson Jennison / William Parker / Federico Ughi
Live! Volume 1: Erie [VINYL]
(577)
Working together in tours and recording since 2005, the NY trio of multi-reedist and wind player Daniel Carter, bassis William Parker and drummer/percussionist Federico Ughi are joined by saxophonist Watson Jennison also on flute, recorder and keyboards for this enlightened album of modern and transcendent jazz in a limited, remastered LP edition with bonus material.

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

Chicago Underground Quartet
Good Days [VINYL]
(Astral Spirits)
19 years after the last Chicago Underground Quartet album, this session with Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, electronics & bells, Jeff Parker on electric guitar, and Chad Taylor on drums, percussion and newcomer Josh Johnson on synth bass & keys is a warm reunion, with individual compositions from Taylor, Mazurek & Parker, and two solo pieces by Mazurek and Taylor.

Pauline Oliveros / Alan Courtis
Telematic Concert [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(SpleenCoffin)
An unreleased 2009 concert from the Deep Listening Institute's Dream Festival, performed virtually via collaborative software between American electronic innovator and Deep Listening artist Pauline Oliveros on accordion and expanded instrument system, and Argentinian experimental musician Alan Courtis (Reynols) on unstringed guitar, objects and live processing.

Kaffe Matthews
Foreigner [VINYL]
(Objects Limited)
Recording with an Italian ELKA 400 electric accordion organ, pioneering electronic and sound aritst Kaffe Matthews presents two sonification of the word F O R E I G N E R, reflecting on her experience regularly moving from country to country, dealing with varying borders and governmental laws, by organizing sound in clusters that attempt to cross a compositional line.

Aki Onda
Nam June's Spirit Was Speaking To Me [VINYL]
(Recital)
NY sound artist Aki Onda pays tribute to multi-media pioneer Nam June Paik (1923-2006), a work inspired after Onda's series of performances at Nam June Paik Art Center in South Korea, here using submerged and anonymous radio signals as a shamanic invocation of Paik's work; includes a 20-page booklet with photos & a remembrance of Paik plus 2 essays on radio-wave phenomena.

Daphne Oram
Oramics [4 LPs - 2019 REISSUE]
(Young Americans)
Repressed for 2019!
Daphne Oram, founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, in a remarkable 44-track collection 4 LP release showcasing her important work and curious nature: 155 minutes/8 sides of vinyl in a heavyweight 300 gram gatefold sleeve with rare archival material.

Arthur Williams (w/ Peter Kuhn / Toshinori Kondo / William Parker / Denis Charles)
Forgiveness Suite [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
Never before released radio recordings at WKCR in 1979 of NY trumpeter Arthur Williams, a member of the loft scene, in a quintet with Toshinori Kondo on trumpet, Peter Kuhn on sax, Denis Charles on drums and William Parker on bass, a great example of probing free jazz from that period.

Friends & Neighbors (Roligheten / Johansson / Gronberg / Rune Strom / Ostvang)
What's Wrong [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
Following jazz traditions blending lyrical and free approaches with unexpected twists and turns from the Norwegian quintet of Andree Roligheten on sax, Thomas Johansson on trumpet, Oscar Gronberg on piano, Jon Rune Strom on double bass, and Tollef Ostvang on drums.

Mats Gustafsson / Craig Taborn
Ljubljana [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
Celebrating the 400th release of Clean Feed Records, Swedish free jazz phenomenon, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson meets with NY jazz pianist Craig Taborn for an unlikely yet highly satisfying encounter that pushes each improviser into unfamiliar, edge-of-their seats, territory.

Marteau Rouge (Pauvros / Sato / Foussat)
... Un Jour Se Leve [VINYL]
(Fou Records)
The free improvising trio of Makoto Sato on drums, Jean-Francois Pauvros on guitar and Jean-Marc Foussat on synthesizer & voice in a studio album of unique electro-acoustic dialog recorded in Paris in 2013.

Christian Svendsen Meaas
Avin [VINYL LP]
(Nakama Records)
Known more for his double bass work, Christian Meaas Svendsen releases a stunningly beautiful album of unusually orchestrated pop songs with an 8-piece band of Nordic improvisers and performers, a dramatic album of tension and release which, despite lyrics in Norwegian, draws all listeners in through inventive and innovative musical structures.

Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity
Live in Europe [VINYL 3 LPs + 3 CDs]
(Clean Feed)
Three complete 2016 concerts at North Sea Jazz Festival, Ljubljana Jazz Festival and Oslo Jazz Festiva, and 3 CDs to present them, from drummer Gard Nilssen's Acoustic Unity, a superb free/post-bop group with a core of Nilssen, bassist Petter Eldh, and saxophonist Andre Roligheten, featuring 3 saxophonists: Fredrik Ljungkvis, Kristoffer Berre Alberts, and Jorgen Mathisen.

Chrome Hill
The Explorer [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
The Norwegian quartet formerly known as "Damp" with baritone guitarist Asbjorn Lerheim, tenor saxophonist Atle Nymo, drummer Torstein Lofthus, and double bassist Roger Arntzen, blend expressive forms of jazz with blues and rock in an expansive and rich set of tunes that both pay homage and look to new and inclusive formations of emotional and effusive music.

Master Oogway
The Concert Koan [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)
Powerful electric jazz roots from the Norwegian quartet of Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll on saxophone, Havard Nordberg Funderud on guitar, Karl Erik E. Horndalsveen on double bass, and Martin Mellem on drums, shredding inspirations from 60s electric Miles and Ornette, with a rock influenced rhythm section and electric guitar work driving great soloing.

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

Sarah Hennies (performed by Lenka Novosedlikova)
Sisters [VINYL]
(Mappa)
US Composer Sarah Hennies wrote these pieces for vibraphone for Lenka Novosedlíková to be performed at the church in Kyjatice, Slovokia, a medieval building the two discovered while traveling, and that they challenged each to bring life to the building while respecting it's contemplative character and using the psychoacoustic dimensions of space.

Frantz Loriot / Christian Wolfarth
The Call [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
Two unconventional and experimenting improvisers--French-Japanese violist Frantz Loriot and Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth--in a deceptive album of acoustic improvisation that elusively takes on electric qualities in the hands of these two innovators, seducing the listener through unusual twists and turns of perfectly paced interactions.

Jones Jones (Larry Ochs / Mark Dresser / Vladimir Tarasov)
A Jones In Time Saves Nine [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)
The 3rd album from the trio of Larry Ochs (Rova Saxophone Quartet) on tenor & sopranino saxophones, Downtown NY mainstay and West Coast migrant Mark Dresser on bass, and Ganelin Trio alumnus Vladimir Tarasov on drums and percussion, in four superb examples of collective improvisation captured live in two concerts in Berkeley and San Diego, CA in 2016.

Oli Steidle & The Killing Popes (Steidle / Mobus / Nicholls / Downes / Donkin)
Ego Pills [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)
Rapid fire playing and a wicked humor fuels drummer Olie Steidle's album with guitarist Frank Mobus, keyboardists Kit Downes and Dan Nicholls, and bassist Phil Donkin, mashing together electro-jazz, art rock, hardcore and club music into upbeat and twisted music, building up to a narrative "Speed Junky on Funny Human Darts"; insanely embraceable and stunning.

Don Cherry / Dave Holland / Steve Lacy / Masahiko Togashi
Live at Yubin Chokin Kaikan Hall, Tokyo on May 14, 1986 [VINYL]
(Victory)
The quartet of Don Cherry on pocket trumpet, piano & vocals, Dave Holland on bass, Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone, and Masahiko Togashi on drums & percussion, recording live in 1986 at Yubin Chokin Hall, in Tokyo, brought together by Togashi and performing compositions from Lacy ("The Crus", "Quakes"), Cherry ("Mopti"), and Togashi ("I Speak to the Stars").

Toyozumi / Countryman / Tan
Chasing The Sun [VINYL]
(ChapChap Records)
Two lives sets at Tago Jazz Cafe in the Philippines in 2018 from the trio of master percussionist Sabu Toyozumi on drums, American ex-pat Rick Countryman on alto saxophone, and Simon Tan on acoustic bass, this their 3rd album of solid free improvisation of extended and masterful discourse, unusual percussive devices, and powerful rhythmic foundation.

Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.

New York Contemporary Five
Consequences Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Though short-lived, the New York Contemporary Five brought together NY free players Don Moore on bass, J.C. Moses on drums, Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, and Don Cherry on trumpet with Danish alto saxophonist John Tchicai, in a remastered edition of their 1966 album "Consequences", expanded with Shepp's revisiting of the material in a sextet with Sunny Murray and Ted Curson.

Marion Brown
Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Reissuing two essential albums from saxophonist Marion Brown--Why Not? (ESP, 1968) and Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969)--the first recorded in NY in a quartet with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali, the second recorded in The Netherlands in a trio with Han Bennink on drums and Maarten Van Regteren Altena on double bass; essential.

Peter Brotzmann / Lonberg-Holm, Fred
Memories Of A Tunicate
(Relative Pitch)
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.

Cecil Taylor / Tony Oxley
Birdland / Neuburg 2011
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)
Performing in the intimacy of the Birdland Jazz Club in 2011, New York innovative pianist Cecil Taylor met with London free jazz legendary percussionist Tony Oxley and long-time associate in The Feel Trio and as a duo, Taylor's rapid often percussive approach to the keys pairing with Oxley's percussive work, and both bringing lyrical beauty from the other.

Whit Dickey (w/ Nate Wooley / Matthew Shipp)
Morph [2 CDs]
(ESP)
Two albums released together as a single-priced 2-CD set, NY drummer, composer and free improviser Whit Dickey leads two groupings: on Reckoning, a duet with frequent collaborator, pianist Matthew Shipp; and Pacific Noir, a trio with Shipp and trumpeter Nate Wooley; both superb examples of modern jazz with creative inventiveness and virtuouso execution.

Various Artists (Barry Guy/Joelle Leandre/Rafal Mazur/Paal Nilssen-Love/Zlatko Kaucic/Agusti Fernandez/Mats Gustafsson/Ken Vandermark/Mikolaj Trzaska/Peter Brotzmann/Steve Swell/Per Ake Holmlander/Maya Homburger)
Not Two... But Twenty [5 CDs in Wooden Box]
(Not Two)
Not Two Records celebrates their 20th Anniversary with a festival in Wlen, Poland, inviting 13 of the finest European & US improvisers--Guy, Leandre, Mazur, Nilssen-Love, Kaucic, Fernandez, Gustafsson, Vandermark, Trzaska, Brotzmann, Swell, Holmlander, & Homburg--performing in configurations from duo to quintet, released in a limited 5-CD wooden box set.

Paul Flaherty / Randall Colbourne / James Chumley Hunt / Mike Roberson
Borrowed From Children
(577)
Describing his music as "freeform", legendary saxophonist Paul Flaherty uses the music of Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, late-period Coltrane, Peter Brötzmann, &c. as the inspiration for this exhilarating live album captured at Willimantic Records, CT with his quartet of Randall Colbourne on drums, James Chumley Hunt on trumpet, and Mike Roberson on electric guitar.

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.

Albert Ayler Trio
1964 Prophecy Revisted
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
With the essential sidemen to express his unique voice and approach to free jazz, saxophonist Albert Ayler, double bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray, recorded these sessions in 1964 for the ESP label as "Prophecy", this excellent reissue & remaster also adding the live "Albert Smiles with Sunny" (inRespect) from the same concert; essential.

Henry Kaiser
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
(Fractal Music)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Henry Kaiser performs a live guitar solo on a borrowed Downes 101HB baritone guitar with no overdubs, just delays and no looping, provided by Henry Kaiser to Squidco as a free item to accompany any other Squidco purchase where the customer requests a copy, intended to help stores like Squidco during this time of pandemic; for which we are extremely grateful!

Jean-Marc Foussat / Daunik Lazro / Evan Parker
Cafe OTO 2020 [2 CDs]
(Fou Records)
A momentous 2020 concert at London's Cafe OTO, presented in two discs, the 1st with label leader Jean-Marc Foussat in a solo improvisation on synth and voice, the 2nd in a trio with Daunik Lazro on tenor & baritone sax, and Evan Parker on soprano sax, the 2 saxophones weaving and responding to Foussat's remarkable alien soundscapes and vocalization in an immersive extended improvisation.

Jubileum Quartet (Leandre / Parker / Fermandez / Kaucic)
A UIS ?
(Not Two)

John Coltrane Quartet
My Favorite Things Graz 1962
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The 2nd volume from tenor & soprano saxophonist John Coltrane 1962 tour of Europe and Scandinavia, heard here in late November at Stefaniensaal, Graz with his quartet of pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Elvin Jones, the band playing classic numbers under the influence of Coltrane's expanding drive to transform his music toward greater freedom.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Heliocentric Worlds 1 and 2
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The two volumes of "Heliocentric Worlds", recorded 7 months apart in 1965, represent perhaps one of greatest chapters in Sun Ra's legacy, bringing together his immense orchestration skills with future-leaning free jazz, allowing his players expanse inside disciplined compositions that reflect on both space and the then-new freedom explored by jazz soloists.

Polwechsel / Klaus Lang
Unseen
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The innovative acoustic free improvising ensemble Polwechsel, bridging contemporary music and free improvisation in ways that sound deceptively electroacoustic and comprised of Michael Moser on cello, Werner Dafeldecker on double bass, and Martin Brandlmayr & Burkhard Beins on cymbals & percussion, are joined by Klaus Lang performing on the church organ of St. Lambrecht's Abbey.

Toyozumi / Tan / Countryman
Turtle Bird
(FMR)
The entire first set and the final selection from the last set of a live concert at at Tago Jazz Cafe, in Quezon City, Philippines from the trio of Simon Tan on acoustic bass, Rick Countryman on alto saxophone, and Sabu Toyozumi on drums, including the full performance of material from their Chasing the Sun album; fluid, intelligent, captivating free jazz.

Ingrid Laubrock / Kris Davis
Blood Moon
(Intakt)
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, both living and working in NY, and having worked together in a variety of groups including Laubrock's Anti-House, a trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey's Obligatto, &c. &c., concentrate their sophisticated playing with this duo album of 7 original compositions and 2 free improvisations.

Karl Evangelista (w/ Alexander Hawkins / Louis Moholo-Moholo / Trevor Watts)
Apura! [2 CDs]
(Astral Spirits)
Filipino guitarist Karl Evangelista translates the name of the seminal South African sextet Chris McGregor Group's album "Very Urgent" to the tagalog equivalent--"Apura!"-- recording in London with McGregor group drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo and kindred soul Trevor Watts on saxophones, plus luminary pianist Alexander Hawkins, for a sophisticated album of exemplary collective improv.

The MacroQuarktet
The Complete Night: Live At The Stone NYC [2 CDs]
(Out Of Your Head Records)
NYC Downtown mainstays, trumpeters Dave Ballou and Herb Robertson, are heard in a full concert at The Stone in NYC in 2007 with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Tom Rainey, concentrating their work in the Satoko Fuji Orchestra and Orange Then Blue into their own quartet, this their first performance together their energy, inventivenss and enthusiasm is on full display.

Yong Yandsen / Christian Meaas Svendsen / Paal Nilssen-Love
Hungry Ghosts
(Nakama Records)
Chinese Buddhism defines "Hungry Ghosts" as beings who are driven by intense emotional needs in an animalistic way, an apt description of this trio's dynamic and often bristling collective free jazz, with Malaysian saxophonist Yong Yandsen and Norwegians, Christian Meaas Svendsen on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, performing live in Kuala Lumpur, 2018.

Alexander Hawkins / Tomeka Reid
Shards & Constellations
(Intakt)
With intricate interplay and textural passages, Chicago improvising cellist Tomeka Reid and UK pianist Alexander Hawkins present their first collaboration, an exciting set of rapid interchanges of pointillistic playing and introspective playfullness, 9 collective dialogs alongside Leroy Jenkin's piece for "Albert Ayler (His Life Was Too Short)".

London Jazz Composers Orchestra
That Time
(Not Two)
Released for their 50th anniversary, The LJCO, in configurations of up to 21 musicians including Derek Bailey, Trevor Watts, Evan Parker, Peter Brotzmann, &c., perform works by Kenny Wheeler, Barry Guy, Paul Rutherford and Howard Riley, captured live for the Berliner Jazztage in 1972; at Donaueschingen Musiktage in 1972; in the studio in 1980; and London's Round House in 1980.

Perry Robinson / Andrea Centazzo
The Journey
(Ictus)
In the spring of 2015 multi-reedist and wind player Perry Robinson travelled to Southern California for a series of concerts, recording this duo with Italian percussionist living on the US West Coast Andrea Centazzo, a free and open session with Robison on clarinet, micro ocarina & bird calls, and Centazzo also using a MalletKat & sampling.

Whit Dickey Trio (w/ Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez)
Expanding Light
(Tao Forms)
The long-running collaboration of NY drummer Whit Dickey and alto saxophonist Rob Brown is joined by relative newcomer, bassist Brad Lopez, in this new trio performing original Whit Dickey compositions that fuel extraordinary collective improvisation, a hard-blowing band that unleashes their controlled creativity in a cycle of six pieces reflecting the power of the universe.

Killick
Old Hat to Clothed Toes [CASSETTE]
(H(i)nds(i)ght)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Guitarist and creative experimenter Killick Hinds pays homage in abstract and tangential ways to Metallica's 1986 album Master of Puppets, an influence on Killick's youth, which he references somewhere between re-creation and distillation, in a factory-made cassette with 8 pieces he describes as "hypnagogic wake-dreams."

Gerald Cleaver
Signs
(577)
Taking his cues from the electronic music of his Detroit roots, free jazz drummer Gerald Cleaver presents an album of synthetic rhythms and sonic landscape, each piece composed in detailed arrangements of compelling and adventurous structures, from propulsive grooves to sinuous soundscapes, a surprising and exciting twist showing Cleaver's strong compositional skills.

Stephen O'Malley / Anthony Pateras
Reve Noir
(Immediata)
Pianist Anthony Pateras and guitarist Stephen O'Malley (Sunn O))) performed a concert in 2011 at Instants Chavires in 2011, which they took into the studio to deconstruct and recompose on 1/4 inch tape, creating a compelling landscape of fractured musique concrete, introspective meditations, electro-acoustic textures and heavy guitar; includes a 20 page interview with O'Malley.

Kurt Liedwart / Julien Ottavi / Keith Rowe
L'Or
(Mikroton Recordings)
Translating to "Gold", the trio of Kurt Liedwart on modular synthesizer abd cracked everyday homemade electronics, Julien Ottavi on computer, and Keith Rowe on guitar & electronics recorded this album during Poland's Sanatorium Of Sound 2017 festival, bridging EA Improv, noise, minimal electronics and contemporary music in two large works.

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

Christina Kubisch
Schall und Klang
(Fragment Factory)
Hermann Scherchen (1891-1966) was a conductor & champion of 20th-century composers; in 1954 he established an electroacoustic experimental studio, with guests including Iannis Xenakis, Luc Ferrari, Edgar Varese and Luigi Nono; here Christina Kubisch provides a remarkable portrait of Scherchen in sound, merging his recordings, recited texts, and recordings from her own research.

Toned (Corder / Suarez / Weeks)
The Private Sector
(Shhpuma)
Schizophrenically skronky improv of ea-cutups and semi-maniacal segments that resolve to near-stillness from the West Coast TONED trio of Nathan Corder on electronics, Leo Suarez on drums, and Tom Weeks on sax, using a nonlinear and nonhierarchical organizational process and multiple layers of compositional feedback loops to create unpredictably bizarre and overtly fun music.

Pauline Oliveros / Alan Courtis
Telematic Concert [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(SpleenCoffin)
An unreleased 2009 concert from the Deep Listening Institute's Dream Festival, performed virtually via collaborative software between American electronic innovator and Deep Listening artist Pauline Oliveros on accordion and expanded instrument system, and Argentinian experimental musician Alan Courtis (Reynols) on unstringed guitar, objects and live processing.

Kaffe Matthews
Foreigner [VINYL]
(Objects Limited)
Recording with an Italian ELKA 400 electric accordion organ, pioneering electronic and sound aritst Kaffe Matthews presents two sonification of the word F O R E I G N E R, reflecting on her experience regularly moving from country to country, dealing with varying borders and governmental laws, by organizing sound in clusters that attempt to cross a compositional line.

Aki Onda
Nam June's Spirit Was Speaking To Me [VINYL]
(Recital)
NY sound artist Aki Onda pays tribute to multi-media pioneer Nam June Paik (1923-2006), a work inspired after Onda's series of performances at Nam June Paik Art Center in South Korea, here using submerged and anonymous radio signals as a shamanic invocation of Paik's work; includes a 20-page booklet with photos & a remembrance of Paik plus 2 essays on radio-wave phenomena.

Alessandro Bosetti
Il Fiore della Bocca
(Rossbin)

Aarktica
No Solace in Sleep
(Silber Media)
Jon DeRosa's ambient guitar drone project, a continuation of the sounds started by Ligetti and followed through by Glenn Branca, Robert Fripp, Brian Eno, Sonic Youth, &c.

Daphne Oram
Oramics [4 LPs - 2019 REISSUE]
(Young Americans)
Repressed for 2019!
Daphne Oram, founder of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, in a remarkable 44-track collection 4 LP release showcasing her important work and curious nature: 155 minutes/8 sides of vinyl in a heavyweight 300 gram gatefold sleeve with rare archival material.

Thomas Dimuzio
Image Is Everything [CASSETTE]
(Banned Production)
Two solo performances from Thomas Dimuzio performing at the Edinburgh Castle Tavern in San Francisco, powerful sonic work with long sustained textures and nuanced sound.

Jason Crumer
Gentrification Suite [CASSETTE]
(Banned Production)
Jason Crumer (Aluminum Noise, Now in Darkness World stops turning, Reverse Baptism, &c) in 3 detailed sound works ranging from building quiet burbles to extreme noise responses, a wild ride from rich to stark sound.

Gintas K
Blind Man Tales
(Bolt)
Gintas K, in a moment of frustration, took more than 40 elements from some recent work he was preparing and put them into multichannel software which, with a few corrections, became this surprising and complex work of organized and detailed sound.

Romannis Motte
Another Journey
(Mystery School Records)
A collection of 8 synth-driven ambient cosmic voyages from Romannis Motte using Roland JX8P, Roland RS-5, Alexis QS7, Alexis Micron, Korg PE1000, Crumar DS-2, iPad running NanoStudio, Korg iMS20, 0-iPolySix, Access Virus A.

Eric La Casa / Cedric Peyronnet
La Creuse
(Herbal International)
Eric La Casa and Cedric Peyronnet collected sounds in a triangular area in the north of the Creuse departement, France, giving the landscape a sonic corporeality by each initiating a sound work based on a specific site, which the other composer expanded upon.

Leif Elggren / Joachim Nordwall
Prepresence
(Confront)
A heavy, lo-fi, monster drone set recorded in concert at iDEALFEST, Fylkingen, Stockholm from the duo of Ideal Label head Joachim Nordwall & electronic artist Leif Elggren, using electric hair clippers and analogue synthesiser yielding a thick yet detailed performance.

Jean-Luc Guionnet
LAC (Lake)
(Herbal International)
Jean-Luc Guionnet creates a portrayal of Lake Annecy near his home as described through its geographical location, and heard in a series of snapshot field recording compositions that describe the environment, fauna, people and civilization that abound around it.

Goh Kawng Lee / Julien Ottavi
Pukul Berapa?
(Herbal International)
Goh Lee Kwang performing on no-input mixer meets Julien Ottavi on TamTam, bass drum and a computer running Puredata and Apodio 10 for an album of electronic improvisation recorded in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and Nantes, France, balancing aggressive and meditative sound.

Hugo Blouin / Claude Bourque / Paul Gregoire
L' Ossuaire [2 CDs]
(Tour de Bras)
Recordings of an installation piece built in Iles-de-la-Madeleine in the summer of 2013, a large sculpture made of resonant metal pipes with propane torches and whale bones, used as a huge musical instrument allowing three people to play simultaneously from different sides.

Philip Jeck
Iklectik
(Touch)
Named for the IKLECTIK performance space in London, England, Jeck's four part piece creates beautiful atmospheric passages which transition with field recordings, muted spoken word, symphonic-like passages, and other obscure sources, occasionally increasing in assertiveness but never leaving an exotic dream state of beautiful tonal environments.

HMS (Joe Houpert / Nathan McLaughlin / Erich Steiger)
Tetrad [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Astral Spirits)
Blurring the lines between experimental music, improv, and composition, the trio of Joe Houpert, Nathan McLaughlin, and Erich Steiger use the studio to rework their improvisations, accenting aspects of the acoustic and electronic elements and morphing them in unexpected ways; "think Henry Flynt meets Cluster meets Revolutionary Ensemble".

Maria da Rocha
Beetroot & Other Stories
(Shhpuma)
Using violin, viola, synth and effect pedals, Portuguese string player Maria da Rocha creates rich environments of sound and unusual rhythmic structures over which she plays with subtlety and transcendence, in her first solo album, using her unique language as she tells the story of a beet and a witch, inspired by Odyssey Ulysses and Circe from Cortazar.

Jurg Frey (Davies / Correa / Chang / Thut)
Echo.Trio.Fragile.Eyot
(A New Wave of Jazz)
Two solo installation works from Wandelweiser composer Jürg Frey--"Paysage d'échos" in Aarau, Switzerland, in 2009; and "Equilibre fragile" in in Aarau in 2014--plus Frey's "Streichtrio" performed by Angharad Davies (violin), Johnny Chang (viola) and Stefan Thut (cello); and a solo piano work, "Eyot", performed by Antonio Correa.

Sebastian Gottschick
Notturni
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Seven works composed in the 21st century by Sebastian Gottschick, who arranges and conducts the Ensemble Fur Neue Musick Zurich, configured as an ensemble with percussion, a sextet, a chamber ensemble with baritone and soprano, and performing himself solo on viola; sophisticated and modern works that employ complex tonality, timbre and playing techniques.

James Tenney
Music for Violin and Piano
(Hat [now] ART)

Earle Brown
Synergy
(Hat [now] ART)
Remastered edition of Earle Brown's conducting debut with the Ensemble Avantgarde in Leipzig, presenting his proportional and graphic score "Event: Synergy II", along with 2 other works of distinctive structure.

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.

Morton Feldman
For John Cage
(Hat [now] ART)
Morton Feldman was a friend, flatmate and student of John Cage's innovative approaches to composition; he wrote this 3 part work for violin and piano in 1982 as a 70th birthday present for Cage, here performed by violinist Josje Fosie Ter Haar and pianist John Snijders.

Wet Ink Ensemble
Glossolalia / Lines on Black
(Carrier Records)
A NY collective of composers, performers & improvisers dedicated to adventurous music, Wet Ink Ensemble perform saxophonist Alex Mincek's "Glossolalia", an investigation into linguistics through fragmented language; and Sam Pluta's "Lines on Black" written for the individual members of the ensemble in rigorously notated scores, electro-acoustic improvisation, and fixed media composition.

Charles Ives E.
Another Songbook
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Conductor Sebastian Gottschick presents an additional selection of songs and chamber music works from composer Charles Edward Ives that reflect this broad range, 20 mostly brief and innovative works composed between 1898 and 1921, blurring the boundaries between genres through unusual motifs, themes, gestures and phrases that appear in new vocal and/or instrumental contexts.

Pateras / Baxter / Brown
Live At L'Usine
(Cave12)
Using prepared piano (Anthony Pateras), prepared guitar (David Michael Brown) and drums (Sean Baxter) this live concert of two improvisations was captured at l'Usine in Geneva, Switzerland in 2006, an exploratory conversation of dynamic structures and sound that implicitly references modern compositional approaches to keyboard, strings and percussion.

Cornelius Cardew
Treatise
(Hat [now] ART)

Galina Ustvolskaya
Piano Sonatas 1-6
(Hat [now] ART)
Russian composer Galina Ustvolskaya's piano sonatas performed by Marianne Schroeder, innovative works that integrate dissonance, drone, overtone and harmonic density.

Horatiu Radulescu
20 Jahre Inventionen
(Edition Rz)
Horatiu Radulescu's String Quartet No 4, opus 33 (1976-87) performed by the Arditti String Quartett at IRCAM/Centre Pompidou Paris in 1996.

Harley Gaber
The Winds Rise In The North
(Edition Rz)
Composer Harley Gaber wrote this piece for strings as an emotional examination of the questions posed by Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu, here performed by a quintet including violinist Malcolm Goldstein.

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.

Arnold Schonberg
Works For Piano
(Hat [now] ART)
Pi-hsien Chen performs Arnold Schonbgergs, a small part of his oeuvre, yet significant in that they reflect the evolution and development of this great composer's compositional powers.

Franco Evangelisti
[2 CDs]
(Edition Rz)
A double CD release of works from Italian composer Franco Evangelisti, who was specifically interested in scientific theories behind sound; recordings include work with David Tudor and Eberhard Blum.

Volker Heyn
Sirenes
(Edition Rz)
Works from Volker Heyn, an outsider artist interested in acoustic process, tone gestures, friction, discontinuous movements, &c., with recordings by Pellegrini-Quartett, Ausfuhrende: Kammerensemble Neue Musik Berlin, &c.

John Cage
Sonatas & Interludes (1946 - 1948)
(Hat [now] ART)
John Cage composed these 20 sonatas and "interludes" from 1946-1948, unique and inventive compositions for conventional and prepared piano, which noted Cage interpreter James Tenney recorded in 2002.

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.

Dieter Ammann
The Freedom of Speech
(Hat [now] ART)
The Ensemble fur Neue Musik Zurich plays seven pieces by Swiss composer Dieter Ammann, each made through a very slow creative process that contrasts the very lively and gestural music.

Aldo Clementi / Ives Ensemble
Madrigale
(Hat [now] ART)
Composer Aldo Clement's "Madrigale" performed by the Ives Ensemble in 1996-97.

Tomasz Sikorski / Julius Eastman
Unchained
(Bolt)
Tomasz Sikorski (1939-1988) was a minimalist composer and pianist based in Warsaw; "Unchained" presents four works performed by pianists Emilia Sitarz, Bartek Wasik, Joanna Duda, and Mischa Kozlowski.

Christian Wolff / Wandelweiser Komponisten Ensemble
Stones
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Antoine Beuger, Burkhard Schlothauer, Chico Mello, Jurg Frey, Kunsu Shim, Michael Pisaro, and Thomas Stiegler participate in this realization of Christian Wolff's compositions to make sounds or draw sounds out of stones, alone or with other surfaces, acoustically or amplified.

Tom Johnson
Counting Keys
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
John McAlpine performs composer Tom Johnson's beautiful piano cycle "Counting Keys", using mathematical progressions to create the structure of its 5 movements; plus 8 parts from his "Organ and Silence for Piano"; and two other compositions using mathematical processes.

Tom Johnson / Samuel Vriezen
The Chord Catalogue. Within Fourths/Within Fifths
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Pianist Samuel Vriezen performs Tom Johnson's work presenting what Johnson describes as a natural phenomenon within a musical scale: progressions in 1 to 5 voices of all possible combinations of notes with each voice being limited to 3 steps, a perfect 4th or a perfect 5th.

Fond of Tigers
Uninhabit
(Drip Audio)
The 4th album in 14 years from this instrumental Vancouver 7-piece avant rock band exploring both heavy and beautiful sonic environments; the band shares members with The Tony Wilson 6Tet, Dark Blue World, Aeroplane Trio, with Drip Audio leader Jesse Zubot on violin.

This Heat
Out of Cold Storage Box Set (6 CDs)
(This Is/Recommended Records)

David Thomas & Foreigners
Bay City
(Ninth World)

Henry Cow
Box 3 - The Studio Volumes 1-5
(Recommended Records)
The complete re-mastered Henry Cow studio recordings in the third matching box: Legend, Unrest, Desperate Straights, In Praise of Learning and Western Culture.

Uchihashi Kazuhisa / Tatsuya, Yoshida
Improvisations 3 [DVD]
(Magaibutsu Limited)
Guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Altered States, Ground Zero) and drummer Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins, Koenji Hyakkei) return for a 3rd duo release, a DVD & CD of their amazing improvisations.

Korekyojinn
Swan Dive [DVD + CD]
(Magaibutsu)
Drummer Yoshida Tatsuya's amazing improvising progressive rock band Korekyojinn in a CD and DVD release with guests including Hoppy Kamiyama and Uchihashi.

Vialka
Succes Planetaire International
(Vialka)
The Vialka duo with special guests in a great album of madness and masterful playing, plus Chinese folk, scatter rock and European gypsy song, all atomically restructered by Bob Drake.

Uchihashi Kazuhisa and Sotoyama Akira
Uchisoto 1
(Innocent Records)
Altered States guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa in a set of improvised duos with drummer and percussionist Akira Sotoyama, a frequent player with Otomo, Haco, &c.

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

Kazuhisa / Tatsuya / Satoshi
Deposition & Erosion
(Magaibutsu)
The dynamic duo of drummer Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins, Korekyojin, Koenji Hyakkei) and guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Altered States, Ground Zero) meet in the studio with pianist Mishiba Satoshi for ten multi-tracked rock improvisations of great diversity, power and beauty.

Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl With G.W. Sok
Forget All This
(Music a la Coque)
Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.

No Mor Musik

(ugEXPLODE)
This puzzling display of punk/jazz surrealism is masterminded by Nondor Nevai on drums and vocals, featuring Weasel Walter on bass and legendary journeyman Kenny Millions (aka Keshavan Maslak) on guitar and reeds, a sort of unholy fusion between extreme metal, bludgeoning noise rock, free jazz, black humor and true stream-of-consciousness improvisation.

KNW
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(Psykomanteum)
An album of ecstatic noise improv with an experimental edge from the trio of Ulrich Krieger on tenor saxophone & contrabass clarinet, Nandor Nevai on "throats" & drums, and Wolcott on oscillator & electronics, viciously assertive music in seven track of mostly succinct statements composed or conceived by each of the band members; cathartic.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Henry Kaiser
Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.
(Fractal Music)
FREE WITH ANY ORDER!

Henry Kaiser performs a live guitar solo on a borrowed Downes 101HB baritone guitar with no overdubs, just delays and no looping, provided by Henry Kaiser to Squidco as a free item to accompany any other Squidco purchase where the customer requests a copy, intended to help stores like Squidco during this time of pandemic; for which we are extremely grateful!

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.

Albert Ayler Trio
1964 Prophecy Revisted
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
With the essential sidemen to express his unique voice and approach to free jazz, saxophonist Albert Ayler, double bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray, recorded these sessions in 1964 for the ESP label as "Prophecy", this excellent reissue & remaster also adding the live "Albert Smiles with Sunny" (inRespect) from the same concert; 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.

Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1
(577)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.

Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577)
After decades playing together, the quartet of Daniel Carter on tenor sax, trumpet & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, release the first of two planned studio albums, with two extended and remarkably warm collective excursions bookending a shorter "Scintillate", in an exceptionally solid album of masterful modern jazz.

Sun Ra Arkestra
Heliocentric Worlds 1 and 2
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The two volumes of "Heliocentric Worlds", recorded 7 months apart in 1965, represent perhaps one of greatest chapters in Sun Ra's legacy, bringing together his immense orchestration skills with future-leaning free jazz, allowing his players expanse inside disciplined compositions that reflect on both space and the then-new freedom explored by jazz soloists.

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 / 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.

Sam Rivers / Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Barry Altschul / Charlie Persip
Zenith
(NoBusiness)
2nd in a projected 8-volume series of reed & wind player Sam Rivers archival recordings produced Ed Hazell and NoBusiness; "Zenith" is a masterful 1977 recording at Jazztage Berliner with Sam Rivers on sax, flute & piano, Joe Daley on tuba & euphonium, Dave Holland on bass &, cello, and Barry Altschul & Charlie Persip on drums, in an extended, diverse and exceptional set.

Polwechsel / Klaus Lang
Unseen
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
The innovative acoustic free improvising ensemble Polwechsel, bridging contemporary music and free improvisation in ways that sound deceptively electroacoustic and comprised of Michael Moser on cello, Werner Dafeldecker on double bass, and Martin Brandlmayr & Burkhard Beins on cymbals & percussion, are joined by Klaus Lang performing on the church organ of St. Lambrecht's Abbey.

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".

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.

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.

New York Contemporary Five
Consequences Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Though short-lived, the New York Contemporary Five brought together NY free players Don Moore on bass, J.C. Moses on drums, Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, and Don Cherry on trumpet with Danish alto saxophonist John Tchicai, in a remastered edition of their 1966 album "Consequences", expanded with Shepp's revisiting of the material in a sextet with Sunny Murray and Ted Curson.

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!

Marion Brown
Why Not? Porto Novo! Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Reissuing two essential albums from saxophonist Marion Brown--Why Not? (ESP, 1968) and Porto Novo (Polydor, 1969)--the first recorded in NY in a quartet with pianist Stanley Cowell, bassist Sirone and drummer Rashied Ali, the second recorded in The Netherlands in a trio with Han Bennink on drums and Maarten Van Regteren Altena on double bass; essential.

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.

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.

Kimmig-Studer-Zimmerlin and George Lewis
S/T
(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.

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.

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.

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.

Susan Alcorn / Joe McPhee / Ken Vandermark
Invitation To A Dream
(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.

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.

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.

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!

Kuzu (Rempis / Dorji / Damon)
Purple Dark Opal
(Aerophonic)
In 2018 on their 2nd tour, the Kuzu trio of Dave Rempis on alto, tenor & baritone saxophones, Tashi Dorji on guitar, and Tyler Damon on drums, captured this, their 15th concert in the tour, at The Sugar Maple, in Milwaukee, an extended improvisation that lives up to its title in dark ruminations that reveal beauty and rare color through powerful and passionate playing.

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.

Eve Risser
Apres Un Reve
(Clean Feed)
A remarkably varied and unique approach to prepared piano that French pianist Eve Risser refers to as "piano droit", heard in her performance at FGO Barbara, in Paris on an upright piano, chosen for its specific mechanical qualities that allow Risser to generate a surprising amount of rhythmic variety, as she performs a single work mixing composed and improvised elements.

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.

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.

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

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.

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".

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.

Henry Cow
The Henry Cow Box Redux: The Complete Henry Cow [17 CDs, 1 DVD, 250pg Book]
(Recommended Records)
The ultimate Henry Cow collection bringing together all of the 40th anniversary releases of this influential and innovative band, with all the remastered studio CDs, live CDs, Bonus CD, DVDs and booklets from each prior box, plus an additional 60 page booklet of band commentaries, pictures and other documents prepared specifically for this release, all in a sturdy & handsome box.

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.

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.

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.

Eva-Maria Houben
Ensemble Works [2 CDS]
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Three detailed and fragile compositions from German minimalist composer Eva-Maria Houben reveal themselves over two CDs, performed by the Boston-based experimental music ensemble, Ensemble Ordinary Affects, with Houben herself on organ recording at Memorial Chapel, in Wesleyan University, CT: three movements from "echo fantasy"; "gesang XI"; and "unter anderen".