The 1st of three archival albums from saxophonist Mars Williams' vaults, this 1996 concert in Utrecht with the NRG Ensemble--the band that Williams' carried forward after Hal Russell's passing in 1992--in an unrestrained concert of original material from Williams and fellow saxophonist Ken Vandermark, with Kent Kessler on bass, Steve Hunt on drums, and Brian Sandstrom on bass, guitar & trumpet.

The second of three archival albums from late saxophonist Mars Williams' vaults, this 1996 recording is a rare duet with Chicago drummer Hamid Drake, and is also one of the first concerts of the Empty Bottle Jazz and Improvised Music series, a diverse set of four improvisations marked by energetic enthusiasm, doubling of reeds, and wild playing from both.

Compressing his Exploding Star Orchestra to a sextet, Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek presents two expansive works of ecstatic, exploratory electric and groove-oriented jazz, performed with Damon Locks (voice, electronics), Tomeka Reid (cello), Angelica Sanchez (Wurlitzer electric piano), Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten (double bass) and Chad Taylor (drums).

Brilliantly unusual approaches to jazz scores from Chicago bassist Jason Roebke in a quartet with legendary saxophonist and clarinetist Edward Wilkerson Jr., pianist Mabel Kwan and drummer Marcus Evans, all four also performing on metronome, and Roebke providing low-fi cassette interruptions, a fascinating merging of jazz forms and methods of making the music stop.

Originally commissioned to transcribe a few works as a surprise for Roscoe Mitchell's 2023 art exhibition at Corbett vs. Dempsey, vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz expanded the project, recorded in his new home studio (dubbed "Hot Juice") to include 10 Mitchell compositions & favorite works, Adasiewicz performing solo as he brings new approaches to the important Mitchell song-book.

The first release from Corbett vs. Dempsey drawing on the Paul Lytton Archives, this recording of electronic & acoustic improvisation from UK percussionist Paul Lytton and German guitarist Erhard Hirt was recorded in Belgium in 1981 for the German Po Torch label, founded in 1976 by Paul Lovens & Paul Lytton to release forward-looking forms of free improvisation.

Titled for the film by Rob Christopher — Roy's World: Barry Gifford's Chicago, — whose soundtrack includes segments of this album, vibraphonist and composer Jason Adasiewicz's lyrically upbeat album is performed in a quintet with Chicago mainstays, Jonathan Doyle on saxophones, Josh Berman on cornet, Joshua Abrams on bass and Hamid Drake on drums.

Focused on the music of Don Cherry and recorded at Corbett vs. Dempsey's gallery space on the closing day of an exhibit of art by Cherry's partner Moki Cherry (whose tapestry "Spirit" is the LP's cover) this concert finds drummer Hamid Drake, who lived with the Cherry family in Sweden, and Ken Vandermark on tenor sax, reworking medleys of Cherry's tunes from across his discography.

Sidelined by the pandemic in June of 2020, Downtown New York electric harp improviser Zeena Parkins began daily recordings in her home studio exploring new approaches to solo electric harp performance using pedals, objects & percussions, selecting ten of the most interesting improvisations for her contribution to Corbett vs. Dempsey's Black Cross Solo Sessions.

Contrasting the explosively experimental side to his guitar work honed through the No Wave band DNA with glimmers of the lyrical approaches to his work heard in his acclaimed songwriting albums, Brazlian/Downtown New York legend Arto Lindsay shows his wide range of interests through thirteen succinct pieces of noise and thoughtful reflection.

As prolific a drummer as Chicago-based international improviser Hamid Drake is, he has never released a solo drum album, which is finally put right with this release recorded at Experimental Sound Studio, developing strategies for these nine accomplished recordings, performed on a standard drum kit with each dedicated to prominent free jazz icon or group.

For three days in his own Discaholic Studios in Nickelsdorf, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson recorded the playing-card pieces of Peter Brötzmann--compositional prompts intended for a large group or for solo playing--performing on a cross-section of the saxophone family from sopranino to bass, and also one piece for saxophone mouthpiece, creating a set of stunning improvisations.

Known as a jazz bassist, Torbjörn Zetterberg mostly steps away from the big strings for a series of multitrack studio compositions on a variety of instruments electronic & acoustic, plus samples and voice, all performed by Zetterberg himself (with Konrad Agnas and Anna Hogberg adding input on a couple of tracks); powerful, urgent, impressive works from a truly well-rounded musician.

Two Chicago improvising cellists--Tomeka Reid & Fred Lonberg-Holm--explore the repertoire for cello music in jazz, presenting works by Fred Katz ("Pluck It"), Sam Jones ("In Walked Ray"), Ron Carter ("Rally") and Harry Babsin ("Monti-Cello"), adding 3 new, original works by Fred Lonberg-Holm and a piece by Tomeka Reid paying homage to bassist Charles Mingus & violinist Billy Bang.

Wild, nearly unprecedented and an exhilarating direction in European Free Improvisation heard in the 1st recordings from 1966 of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity band, a 14-piece ensemble that included young saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Gerd Dudek & Kris Wanders, bassist Peter Kowald, bass clarinetist Willem Breuker, trumpeter Manfred Schoof, &c.

Wild, nearly unprecedented and an exhilarating direction in European Free Improvisation heard in the 1st recordings from 1966 of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity band, a 14-piece ensemble that included young saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Gerd Dudek & Kris Wanders, bassist Peter Kowald, bass clarinetist Willem Breuker, trumpeter Manfred Schoof, &c.

The fourth and final record of solo guitar works from German guitarist and instrument inventor Hans Reichel, perhaps the most lyrical of the lot as he improvises on an unusual set of guitars, including a fretless Spanish guitar, 6 & 12 string guitars with extra frets, and an electric pick-behind-the-bridge guitar; fully restored artwork includes Reichel's amusing insert.

The first reissue in three decades of the 1985 SAJ Series FMP album bringing together legendary saxophonists Steve Lacy and Evan Parker, both on soprano saxophone, for two extended improvisations of magnificent reed interactions and a final coda, performed live during Summer Music at Haus am Waldsee, in Berlin, 1985; an essential album of masterful musicianship.

A year and a half after their live debut on FMP, the German free/hard-bop quintet led by pianist Georg Graewe with Horst Grabosch on trumpet, Harald Dau on saxophones, Hans Schneider on bass and Achim Kramer on drums, recorded this studio album of extraordinary free improv presenting brilliantly intricate and exciting compositions, here in its first fully remastered reissue.

First-ever reissue of the 1976 FMP album from the adventurous German hard-bop quintet led by pianist Georg Graewe, with Horst Grabosch on trumpet, Harald Dau on saxophones, Hans Schneider on bass and Achim Kramer on drums, embracing post-bop, freebop, free jazz, and free improvisation in an exciting live recording from "Jazz Now" at the Quarter Latin in Berlin, Germany in 1976.

A confluence of masterful playing through two soprano & two tenor saxophones plus one pocket cornet, as Evan Parker and Joe McPhee perform live in 2003 at the Chicago Cultural Center as part of the Empty Bottle Festival of Jazz & Improvised Music, weaving lines with intricately relaxed confidence and coming together for beautiful moments of lyrical connection.

Recorded during the 2002 studio sessions that yielded the albums A Short Visit to Nowhere and Broken English, this unreleased recording of a Mars Williams composition is issued as a 1-sided LP with the stellar lineup of Brötzmann with Williams, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang, Hamid Drake, Mats Gustafsson and Joe McPhee.

One of Corbett vs. Dempsey's Black Cross Solo Sessions, Joe McPhees approaches his album recorded during pandemic lockdown in his home through tenor sax, voice, water, objects and field recordings, the center of the album a cycle of compositions by Charles Mingus, alongside works by Carla Bley and influences by Joni Mitchell, and a virtual symphony of saxes on the title track.

Extremely personal and passionate, cellist Okkyung Lee recorded this album after separation from her instrument for months as she traveled to Korea to be with her dying father during pandemic; the 9 pieces are layered with strings, instrument sounds, voice and with profound timing, creating an intensely beautiful album reflecting the anguish and loss of the time.

One of Corbett vs. Dempsey's Black Cross Solo Sessions, Ken Vandermark recorded these twelve succinct, insightful and technically superb solo recordings at his home during pandemic lockdowns, part of a new book of compositions for solo reed instruments, each piece dedicated to an artist across multiple disciplines, including Joe McPhee, Anthony Braxton, Samuel Beckett, &c.

Two European Free Improvisation legends--Prussian clarinetist Rudiger Carl and Swedish drummer Sven-Ake Johansson--join with younger double bassist Joel Grip (Umlaut Records) for three improvised "Inflections" performed live at Au Topsi Pohl in Berlin, superb examples of the historical depth of free jazz across Europe and the continuing energy each new generation brings.

Beginning with an 8-member vocal incantation led by Taylor himself, this incredible reunion concert between pianist Cecil Taylor and drummer Sunny Murray was recorded by the FMP label in 1996 at the Total Music Meeting in Podewil, Berlin, an incredible display of pyrotechnical playing with an exultant excitement through three "sector" improvisations; extraordinary!

A beautiful 228 page limited edition hardcover book chronicling the last decade of artwork by saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, created spontaneously while on the road or between tours using materials at hand; featuring essays by Brotzmann, Thomas Milroth, John Corbett, Markus Muller, Sotiris Kontos, Stephen O'Malley, Heather Leigh and Karl Lippegaus.

Four books of poetry by Sun Ra: two pamphlets that accompanied early Sun Ra albums issued in the late 1950s — Jazz By Sun Ra (1957) and Jazz In Silhouette (1959) — and two published more than a decade later later by Infinity Inc./Saturn Research: The Immeasurable Equation and the very rare Extensions Out: The Immeasurable Equation Vol. II.

A lost gem from of British free sax and drums & percussion duo of saxophonist Larry Stabbins and percussionist Roy Ashbury, originally released in 1976 on the Bead Label, their interplay including masterful and extended techniques from Stabbins and an array of chimes, chains, wood blocks, shakers, and bowed cymbals augmenting Ashbury's kit; captivating dialog.

UK-based violinist Phillip Wachsmann, an essential player bringing contemporary approaches of indeterminacy, conceptualism and electroacoustics to the early community of improvisers and experimentalists, in a reissue of his 1984 Bead Records album, presenting his astute and sophisticated live solo performance for violin and electronics at the Actual Festival in July 1984, London.

Unreleased material from Joe McPhee's archives, three live settings of the saxophonist and pocket trumpeter in upstate NY: a quartet with vibraphonist Ernie Bostic and the rhythm section of Tyrone Crabb and Bruce Thompson live at Vassar College; live in New Windsor with saxophonist Reggie Marks; and an outdoor concert at Poughkeepsie's Lincoln Centre.

A half-hour work of non-narrative radio theater featuring music and text collage, as well as Terri Kapsalis on violin and John Corbett on analog synthesizer, commissioned and recorded in the Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago in 2000 for the Outer Ear Festival.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

Recorded in 1976 at WBAI-FM/Free Music Store in New York, drummer percussionist Milford Graves goes head to head with two reedists, Arthur Doyle and Hugh Glover, an absolute stunner of percussive momentum and force, drawing the reeds into a frenzy of unbridled free playing; issued with a 2nd CD of a private recording of Graves plus unpublished photos.

Released in 1984 on Hal Wilner's Shemp records, this is the 1st reissue for late drummer Beaver Harris' 360-degree Experience with pianist Don Pullen on piano, in a stellar band with saxophonists Ricky Ford, Hamiet Bluiett, bassist Buster Williams, percussion from Candido & steel drummer Francis Haynes, and four french horn players, a truly forward-thinking jazz album.

Originally released on the Hat Hut label in 1979, this 2-CD set of saxophonist Steve Lacy's quintet with Steve Potts on saxophone, Irene Aebi on cello, voice & violin, Kent Carter on bass, and Oliver Johnson on drums, are heard live in two tour-de-force concerts, first at the 1977 Jazz Festival, in Willisau, Switzerland, then in 1978 at Jazz Au Totem in Paris, France.

Unexpected directions in this meeting between Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and Chicago vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, in an introspective album of beautiful tonal conversations, relaxed and sophisticated dialogs that mostly eschews the more aggressive side of both musicians in deference to a thoughtful, reflective and elegant set of tunes.

Reissuing free improvising guitarist Eugene Chadbourne's 1977, San Francisco recording of compositions by the likes of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, and Ornette Coleman, plus a few standards and originals, captured on an ailing quarter-track tape deck, but saved for the force of his playing, here restored, corrected, and remastered.

Recorded in 1975 at the Swiss Willisau Jazz Festival, Joe McPhee's trio with John Synder on synth and Makaya Ntshoko on drums, and McPhee on tenor and sopranox sax, was Hat Hut's 2nd release and has been out of print since; Corbett vs. Dempsey asked McPhee what unavailable album he'd like to see in print, and this suberb album was his first choice.

The debut album of Rudiger Carl is an assertive studio session of brilliant free jazz from 1972, with Carl on tenor saxophone, Gunter Christmann on trombone, and Detlef Schonenberg on drums, presenting a great example of early European Free Improv, remastered from the original tapes and issued on CD for the first time, with a 2nd CD of previously unreleased bonus tracks.

A half-hour work of non-narrative radio theater featuring music and text collage, as well as Terri Kapsalis on violin and John Corbett on analog synthesizer, commissioned and recorded in the Experimental Sound Studio, Chicago in 2000 for the Outer Ear Festival.

In 1979 saxophonist/cornetist Joe McPhee met French reedist Andre Jaume in Paris to record this exceptional album of standards, drawing on works from Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk, Duke and Ellington, and Ornette Coleman; melodic, poignant, emotional and insightful jazz.

Originally issued on the Hat Hut label as a 3-LP set, this 1978 recording of Cecil Taylor compatriot, saxophonist Jimmy Lyons, performing live at Collective for Living Cinema in New York in a unique band with Karen Borca (bassoon), Munner Bernard Fennel (cello) and Roger Blank (drums).

In 1979 Joe McPhee, working with CJR produced Craig Johnson, recorded this set of overdubbed recordings of himself performing on saxes, trumpet and flugelhorn over original compositions showcasing solo, duo, trio and quartet contexts, an album of virtual McPhee ensembles!