An exciting trio recording of the creatively unorthodox and superb collective piano trio of German pianist Uwe Oberg, Spanish drummer & percussionist based in Berlin Lucia Martinez, and New York bassist Joe Fonda, also on flute, performing at the the 2019 Just Music Festival in Weisboden, the band's implicit joy of their performance clearly heard in these recordings.

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.

The performing duo of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen bring two strong voices from different generations of free improvisers, creating a unique sound that merges the creative energies and vocabulary of each in dynamic and subtle expressions of vigorous movements that unravel in layered improvisation, rewarding their listeners.

The working trio of New York trumpeter & saxophonist Joe McPhee, London double bassist John Edwards, and German drummer Klaus Kugel, actively touring through Europe since 2017, are heard live at Alchemia in Krakow, Poland in 2018, for four monumental examples of free improvisation in superlative playing with intense rhythmic interaction and deeply expressive soloing.

A set of Jeb Bishop compositions performed at The Hungry Brain in Chicago, from the inventively lyrical quartet of Jeb Bishop (trombone), Russ Johnson (trumpet), Frank Rosaly (drums), and Jason Roebke (bass), performing music written for this same quartet at the invitation of Ken Vandermark for the Okka Festival 7 in Milwaukee; optimistic and joyful modern jazz!

The New York trio of pianist Jerome Kitzke, bassist Steve Rust on electric and acoustic, and drummer/percussionist Harvey Sorgen, alternate consummately clever approaches to collective playing with Kitzke's humorously ironic and insightful reading of four poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti from his book "A Coney Island of the Mind", in honor of his 100th birthday.

The UK/Europe trio of Albert Cirera on saxophones, Rafal Mazur on bass guitar, and Nicolas Field on drums, in five ordinal improvisations recorded at Alchemia Club in 2018, for a concert of vigorously assertive playing and seething interactive layers, laying back at times to build their progressions, ending the concert with an explorative "Fifth" improvisation.

Recording two days after their concert in British Columbia, BC at Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art's Skin And Bones Music Series, the trio of pianist Matthew Shipp, guitarist Gordon Grdina and bassist Mark Helias captured these collective improvisations at Afterlife Studios in Vancouver BC, titling their album after their well-received concert.

The trio of bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Harvey Sorgen and clarinetist Christopher Rocher in an album dedicated to reedist Perry Robinson, a heartfelt album balancing structured composition and collective work, with authoritative free playing from all three as Rocher switches between bass clarinet and b-flat, Fonda plucks and bows, and Sorgen skilfully mixes it up.

Official issue of the drumming duo of Jay Rosen (Trio X, Cosmosomatics) and Brian Wilson (Pauline Oliveros, Ivo Perelman), performing at Whitman Hall in Brooklyn College in 2008, presenting 5 concertos for two drums written by both performers, through pristine recordings demonstrating melodicism through rhythm as they explore a wide range of timbre and color.

An impressive concert of free jazz from the UK duo of Simon Rose on baritone sax and Steve Noble on drums, their collaborations over many years, particularly their working relationship in their trio with Simon H. Fell, bringing obvious confidence in their conversation as each pushes their playing into both energetic and reflective moments of masterful skill.

Recorded at the 2017 Improfest (Festival Internacional de Improvisacao e Arte Sonora) in Sao Paulo, the quartet of Marco Scarassatti, Antonio Panda Gianfratti, Paulo Hartmann, & Otomo Yoshide bring viola de cocho, percussion, self-made instruments, turntable, guitar, and prepared chiquita to a superb concert of wide-ranging improvisations named by geographical location.

Barry Guy's Blue Shroud Band is the bassist's ensemble performing in a variety of configurations, capable of executing his sophisticated compositions that pay hommage or reflect larger subjects, here in 5 CDs of performances at Alchemia Club and on Radio Krakow in Poland, approaching the work of late pianist Cecil Taylor through multi-part Odes, Meditations, and even some "Strange Loops".

Slovenian percussionist Zlatko Kaucic reinforces the title of his "Diversity" box set over 5 CDs in a variety of solo, duo, trio and quartet setting, including some of the UK & Europe's finest improvisers--Evan Parker, Agusti Fernandez, Lotte Anker, Artur Majewski, Rafal Mazur, Phil Minton, and Johannes Bauer--an excellent example of his wide-ranging work as an improviser.

A 6-CD boxset of recordings from the DKV Trio of Hamid Drake (drums), Kent Kessler (bass), and Ken Vandermark (reeds), plus guest Joe McPhee, the box dedicated to James Baldwin, recorded during the quartet's 2017 tour in Europe, and at shows in Chicago and Milwaukee that year, documenting six concerts with performances including Joe McPhee's "Nation Time".

Uniting masterful players from across the East Coast into the Boston area, with Boston pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, Boston native/Chicago-based bassist Nate McBride, DC drummer Luther Gray, North Carolina/Chicago-based trombonist Jeb Bishop, and Chicago guitarist Jeff Parker, in a strong album of lyrical free jazz with compositions from all five players.

The long-running collaboration of Japanese saxophonist Akira Sakata, also on clarinet and voice, in a concert at Cave12 in Geneva, Switzerland with Swiss drummer Nicolas Field, for 4 recordings of intense and dynamic free improvisation with unusual moments from Sakata's vocalizing, extended and thoughtful drum soloing, and introspective moments on clarinet.

With six collective compositions plus two by Joe Fonda, one from Paul Motian, and the title track by Bob Windbiel, the free improvising trio of Marilyn Crispell on piano, Joe Fonda on bass, and Harvey Sorgen on drums find lyrical beauty and masterfully controlled power in this superb album of creative free jazz, a remarkable example of the modern piano trio.

The second CD by the trio featuring tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Ken Vandermark, drummer Klaus Kugel, and bassist Mark Tokar, the band back at Krakow's Alchemia Club, bringing these three Chicago and European players together for a skronky, energetic romp of commanding playing alongside unorthodox approaches and powerfully creative intent.

Celebrating bassist and composer William Parker's 65th birthday at the Painted Bride Art Center in Philadelphia in a band led by Bobby Zankel on alto saxophone, Muhammad Ali on drums, Dave Burrell on piano, Steve Swell on trombone, Diane Monroe on violin, and William Parker himself on bass, in a 4-part suite of beautifully turbulent and masterful free jazz.

Spanish drummer residing in France, Ramon Lopez leads this trio with British trumpeter Percy Pursglove and Polish bassist Rafal Mazur for an album alternating compositions from Lopez with collective improvisations, the trio patiently unfolding their conversations with a strong melodic bias that balances introspective playing with fiery technique.

Agrakal is the trio of Marco Colonna (clarinet), Augusti Fernandez (piano), and Zlatko Kaucic (percussions), three musicians able to cross cultures and attitudes and develop a new language of abstract collective jazz, Fernandez being the pivot point between the trio, having previously recorded and toured as a duo with both Colonna and Kaucic.

Recorded at Metallurgov House Of Culture in the Ukraine as the 2nd concert of their tour, the trio of Joe McPhee (trumpet, alto saxophone), John Edwards (double bass), and Klaus Kugel (drums) present a masterful concert that includes a 29-minute "Re-Hairing In Zaporozhye" a 19-minute "To Rush At The Wind", and a wonderfully unconventional tribute to Cecil Taylor.

A thorough overview of bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandre's recent work in a boxed set of 8 CDs and a 16 page booklet of essays, photos and credits, each CD bringing a unique grouping from Les Diaboliques to duos with Mat Maneri, Fred Frith, Lauren Newton, & Jean-Luc Cappozzo, plus one solo disc and a quartet with Zlatko Kaucic, Evan Parker and Augusti Fernandez; magnificent.

An incredible concert at Sugar Maple in Milwaukee from the Chicago trio of Hamid Drake on drums, Kent Kessler on bass, and Ken Vandermark on reeds, a working trio of intense free jazz that formed in the 90s and has developed an almost telepathic rapport through energetic and cathartic collective playing, one of the exceptional examples of Chicago jazz.

An absolutely fitting and exceptional tribute to late trumpeter & trombonist Clifford Thornton from a quartet of NY and European free jazz musicians, particularly Joe McPhee who recorded with Thornton and cites him as an influence, plus Daunik Lazro (sax), Makoto Sato (drums) and Jean-Marc Foussate (synth), recorded live at Nickelsdorf's Konfrontationen Festival 2017.

4 essential albums from the trio of Frode Gjerstad on saxophones and reeds, William Parker on double bass, and Hamid Drake on drums; CD 1 presents "Ultima" originally released in 1997 on Cadence Jazz; CD 2 presents "Remember To Forget" from 1998 on Circulasione Totale; CD 3 "The Other Side" from 2006 on Ayler Records; and CD 4 "On Reade Street" from 2008 on FMR.

West Coast oboist and english horn improviser composes a startlingly enjoyable work based on Matt Shears' book of recursive, encyclopedic poetry of the same name: 10 pieces colliding elements of skronk, spoken word, fried electroacoustic noise and dark prog within a Creative Music framework, with a core quartet of Aram Shelton, Jason Hoopes and Jordan Glenn, plus guest Weston Olencki and a large cast of readers.

Frequent collaborators, West Coast double bassist Damon Smith and AACM charter member Alvin Fielder on drums travel north to join free improv saxophone legend Joe McPhee at Roulette in New York City in 2016, recording this excellent example of informed free improvisation.

Chicago multi-reedist Ken Vandermark in a quintet with Italian musicians Stefano Ferrian (tenor saxophone), Simone Quatrana (piano), Luca Pissavini (double bass), and SEC_ (Revox tape recorder, instant sound treatment) in an uninhibited live concert in 2013 at Dragon Club in Poland.

17 succinct improvisations recorded in 2000 from the trio of the late and legendary German free improvising bassist Peter Kowald, West Coast bassist Damon Smith, and alto saxophonist Marco Eneidi, powerful and lyrical improv with a nod to Ayler amidst brilliant playing.

A free-wheeling debut from 8-piece mid-Atlantic supergroup formed by guitarist Edward Ricart and drummer Sam Lohman (Matta Gawa) plus Roy Cambell (trumpet), Steve Swell (trombone), Jason Ajemian (bass), Andrew Barker (drums), &c.

A series of duos and one solo work each from European/UK Free Improvisation masters, saxophonist Evan Parker and pianist Agusti Fernandez, an astonishing display of creative interplay.

Chicago-based pianist Paul Giallorenzo trio with fellow Chicago drummer Tim Daisy and Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten performing a set of Giallorenzo compositions that balance melodic and free moments with authoritative playing.

French bassist Joelle Leandre and US vocalist Lauren Newton recorded these duos live at Club Gromka in Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2010; absorbing and unusual interactions between two significant improvisers.

Bassist Max Johnson's quartet with multi-reedist Mark Whitecage, trombonist Steve Swell and drummer Tyshawn Sorey in an upbeat album of free collective improvisation from the downtown NY scene.

Avant improvisation from violist Szilard Mezei's vocal ensemble, a 10 piece orchestra with two vocalists, performing live at CNESA, Serbia; complex and fascinating music with a mix of unusual and traditional orchestration.

London Improvisers Orchestra saxophonist Simon Rose in a solo album of improvisations recorded in the hall of a Berlin psychiatric hospital noted for its extraordinary acoustic properties.

Alto saxophonist Robbins in a free improvising and powerful New York quartet with Nate Wooley on trumpet, Daniel Levin on cello, and Jeff Davis on drums.

NY multi-reedist Michael Marcus (Cosmosamatics), here on clarinet, in a large ensemble including Lenwood Turner on trumpet & John Austria on Rhodes piano, performing original and intricate compositions.

Since 1999 bassist Rafal Mazur and saxophonist Keir Neuringer (Stability Group, Infinity Quartet) have performed together, bringing an intense physicality and range of sonorities to their improvisations.

Solo viola and double bass compositions from Voivodina Hungarian composer, violinist, viola player, and double bass player Szilárd Mezei.

Pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuka Tamura performing in the studio in Krakow, Poland, 2005 for a duo of sublime power and great dynamic, modern jazz with a wealth of influence and performed with technical prowess.

Dowtown reed player Michael Marcus concentrates on clarinet on this set of original compositions recorded in the spring of 2008 in a variety of band configurations.