New York tenor saxophonist and composer Michael Adkins with his quartet including Paul Motian on drums in a set of 9 original compositions.

Spending two days in a recording studio in Berne, pianist Stefan Aeby recorded these 14 short works, a mixture of improvised and composed works using preparations and electronics to evoke a set of diverse recordings, from energetic structural works to evocative lyricism, nothing overstaying its welcome, carrying the listener through an inquisitive and compelling set of ideas.

The Stefan Aeby Trio at the Intakt Festival at Vortex Jazz Club in London 2017, the pianist leading his trio with bassist Andre Pousaz and drummer Michi Stulz through lyrical original compositions from Aeby, with one from Pousaz, a wonderful example of the modern piano trio that embrace a wealth of styles and approaches while flowing clearly in jazz history.

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.

An edgy, technically spectacular, inventive and slightly twisted jazz quartet of German-based free improvisers Christian Lillinger (drums), Petter Eldh (bass), Wanja Slavin (sax), with NY trumpeter Peter Evans (Mostly Other People Do the Killing) on trumpet, for 9 innovative compositions that thrill, amuse, and keep you on the edge of your seat.

Taking the improvising duo Bad Plus of electric bassist Reid Anderson and acoustic & electronic drummer Dave King and adding Craig Taborn on synthesizer, electric & acoustic pianos, for an accessible album of rhythmic and melodic tunes, electronics adding effervescence and a pop sensibility amongst sly rhythmic twists, strong grooves, and memorable themes.

An intimate dialog between frequent collaborators, UK guitarist Fred Frith and Copenhagen saxophonist Lotte Anker, both players listening carefully as they interact in a fragile dialog of profound technique and inventive approach, using texture and nuance to create unusual and captivating interchanges that demonstrate how compatible these two very different instruments can be.

New works for the accordion composed by Vinko Globokar, Toshio Hosokawa, Youghi Pagh-Paan, Rolf Riehm, and Salavatore Sciarrino and performed by Teodoro Anzellotti.

Two percussionists--vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and drummer/percussionist Roger Turner-- and two brass players--trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini and trumpeter Phil Minton, who doubles on voice improvisation--are heard in these studio recordings from Udine, Italy for nine "Dreams" that turn introspective slumber into restless visions through profoundly paced playing.

The quartet of Sergio Armaroli (vibraphone), Martina Brodbeck (cello), Francesca Gemmo (piano), and Fritz Hauser (drums & percussion), also heard in free improvisational duos and trios, perform Armaroli's "Structuring the Silence", aiming to extend the performers' improvisational freedom using time and space through broad compositional instructions.

Recording remotely in a call-and-response, vibraphonist Sergio Armaroli and saxophonist Evan Parker resolved an issue of recording in the same physical space by interleaving recordings of solo improvisations recorded in response to each other's sequential recordings, Armaroli with the 6-part "Two Rooms One Vibraphone" and Parker with the 5-part "Interludes".

Remastering previously unavailable and vital performances from three configurations of saxophonist Albert Ayler's bands, including their 1967 Newport Festival concert with Milford Graves, their performance at John Coltrane's 1967 Funeral at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC, and an incredible 1962 concert with Cecil Taylor's group with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in Copenhagen.

Essential radio and live recordings from saxophonist Albert Ayler's European tour in 1964 with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums, a quintessential grouping for Ayler's compositions, here in outstanding renditions of classic works including "Spirits", "Ghosts", "Vibrations", "Mothers", "Childrens", plus Don Cherry's "Infant Happiness".

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.

Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's 1966 quintet brought a unique orchestration to his music, heard in these live performances in Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm in November of 1966, four concerts presented chronologically as performed with the exemplary playing of brother Donald Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, William Folwell on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums.

Combining the two Italian ESP/BASE LPs from 1982 and the 1995 ESP reissues, this spectacular concert with perhaps Ayler's most essential band--Ayler on tenor sax, Donald Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, Lewis Worrell on double bass and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums--is fully remastered to bring out more details from the complete, ecstatic 1966 concert.

In 1966 tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler toured northern Europe with his ensemble of Donald Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, William Folwell on double bass & Beaver Harris on drums, a stellar group performing some of Ayler's most substantial compositions, heard in concerts in Rotterdam and Helsinki, and in the soundtrack to a film recorded in Munich.

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.

After moving to NYC in the early 60s, filmmaker Michael Snow was introduced the music of saxophonist Albert Ayler's Trio with bassist Gary Peacock & drummer Sunny Murray, inviting them and trumpeter Don Cherry, trombonist Rudd and altoist John Tchicai to record these three brilliant freely improvised tracks, parts of which would be used in his art film "New York Eye and Ear Control".

Never-before released recordings of tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's 1966 band recording in his home town of Cleveland at club La Cave, recorded over two nights in a superb sextet with brother Donald on trumpet, Frank Wright on tenor sax, Michel Samson on violin, Clyde Shy on double bass and Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums, performing Ayler's compositions and Don Cherry's "D.C.".

Revisiting two of the most essential and influential albums of saxophonist Albert Ayler's discography, both recorded in 1965 — Spirits Rejoice in a sextet and Bells in a quintet — both drawing from some of NY's finest players including Charles Tyler, Henry Grimes, Gary Peacock, Sunny Murray, Donald Ayler and Lewis Worrell, properly remastered to showcase Ayler's stunning conceptions in free jazz.

Remastering and reissuing two tracks--"Summertime" and "C.T"--from saxophonist Albert Ayler's 1964 Fontana album My Name Is Albert Ayler with basssist Nils-Henning Orsted Pedersen, drummer Ronnie Gardiner and pianist Nils Bronsted; and his classic and passionate 1965 ESP Disk release Spiritual Unity with double bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Sunny Murray.

Transcription of Soviet writer Isaac Babel's The Sin of Jesus into music by applying a rule system where words determine melody, letters determine rhythm & harmony, &c.

Transcription of Soviet writer Isaac Babel's The Sin of Jesus into music by applying a rule system where words determine melody, letters determine rhythm & harmony, &c.

A tongue-in-cheek album packaged like a Deutsche Grammophon release of a string quartet by fictional composer Frieda Bertelsohn Martholdys (1878-1907), which is instead a superb live ea-improv performance at the 2018 Music Unlimited Festival in Austria by Gaudenz Badrutt (electronics), Kai Fagaschinski (clarinette), Jonas Kocher (accordion) & Christof Kurzmann (electronics).

Composer Clarence Barlow, like Beethoven, builds his own labyrinths, brick by brick, and then searches for an escape by creating conceptual forms to get around the traps of time, tonality, and style.

An astounding album of dual drums and percussions from Downtown NY legend Joey Baron and contemporary composition innovator and collaborator Robyn Schulkowsky, their second album together after a 15 year history that has included a residency at Grand Central Station, tours in South America, Europe, and China, and performances using the sculptures of artist Eduard Habicher.

Over 25 years the 2 trombones of the German brothers Bauer and guitarists Kropinski & Sachse have released 3 albums, Outside This Area a "Walk" in 11 parts.

Starting in 2012 as a quartet with Oscar Noriega (reeds), Matt Mitchell (piano), and Ches Smith (drums/vibes), then expanded with guitar, saxophonist Tim Berne's Snakeoil now moves to the Swiss Intakt label, swapping guitarists for Marc Ducret, and releasing this fantastically intricate album of Berne compositions + 1 Hemphill piece, launching points for extraordinary soloing!

The long-established Snakeoil quartet led by New York saxophonist Tim Berne, with Matt Mitchell on piano, Oscar Noriega on bass and B-flat clarinet, and Ches Smith on drums & percussion, are heard live in three settings over two CDs — at Firehouse 12 in 2017; at IBEAM in New York in 2010; and at Roulette in NY in 2009 — showing the band's evolution of expressive power.

Succinct interpretations of compositions by New York saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, performed by Berne himself in a duo with guitarist Gregg Belisle-Chi, whose collaborations with Berne and his recent album Koi: Performing the Music of Tim Berne show Belisle-Chi to be the most capably informed player to accompany Berne in these thoughtful renderings.

Leveraging more than a decade of collaboration, New York saxophonist Tim Berne and pianist Matt Mitchell present an intimate live concert in Montreal at Club Soda, performing mostly Berne compositions and one by Julius Hemphill ("Number 2") in a thoughtful and innately lyrical set of seemingly telepathic dialogs interpreting Berne's intricate and innovative works.

A new trio setting from New York alto saxophonist Tim Berne with accordionist & multi-instrumentalist Aurora Nealand and long-time associate, cellist Hank Roberts, a warmly orchestrated band that allows fluid and relaxed approaches to their playing, Berne's compositions evoking exquisite tonal color and diverse conversations from pacific to tempestuous.

Named after an Ornette Coleman composition from his album of the same name, alto saxophonist Tim Berne leads his duel-saxophone quartet with Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and the rhythm section from The Bad Plus, drummer Dave King and bassist Reid Anderson, through twelve melodic free jazz works honoring the legacy of Coleman, Redman, Haden & Hemphill.

Exhiliarating melodic free jazz from the trio of Biondini (accordion), Godard (tuba & serpent) and Niggli (drums & percussion) in an album referencing the clear blue color of earth as seen from space.

Making complex rhythms comprehendible, drummer Jim Black and his trio with Thomas Morgan on bass and pianist Elias Stemeseder, present their 4th album, with 11 original compositions by the leader recorded in the studio in Switzerland, reckoning unusual pulses with swinging rhythms over which all three improvise with free and lyrical mastery for brilliant results.

A beautiful example of the modern piano trio, led by in-demand drummer, Jim Black, with Elias Stemeseder the pianist and Thomas Morgan on bass, in a lyrical album that uses Black's compelling and elusive drumming on 9 original Black compositions and one unexpected standard, as all three deliver complex playing that sounds accessible and engaging, a true achievement.

New York drummer Jim Black's multinational quartet, which toured Europe in 2015, is captured in the studio for an album of acoustic-electric improvisation that experiments with tunes and structures, using Elias Stemeseder's keyboards and Black's samplers in unexpected ways around strong playing from saxophonist Oskar Gudjonsson and bassist Chris Tordini.

In 1988, on the spur of the moment, Blake and Braxton met to record this set of 8 standards, including pieces by Monk, Parker, Gillespie, Miles Davis, Mal Waldron, &c.

The project and ensemble "Songs" brings together Swiss trombonist & composer Samuel Blaser and pianist & composer Oscar Strasnoy, taking the instrumentation and concept of Lucio Berio's Folksongs and expanding it into Blaser's "Worksongs", a set of songs around Mississippi Delta blues, and Strasnoy's "Chanzuns Popularas Rumanchas" based on the traditional music of the Canton of Grisons.

Reissuing two essential and innovative piano trio albums: Paul Bley Trio's 1965 album Touching with Bley on piano, Kent Carter on double bass and Barry Altschul on drums, plus the title track from the 1967 Bley album In Haarlem - Blood with Altschul and Mark Levinson taking the double bass roll, performing compositions by Paul Bley, Carla Bley and Annette Peacock.

Annette Peacock's response to the free-blowing loft scene was to compose using spacious intervals, allowing great harmonic and rhythmic freedom, inspiring pianist Paul Bley and his trio as heard in two unique interpretations of the same pieces from two exceptional working bands: one with bassist & drummer Mark Levinson & Barry Altschul, the other with Gary Peacock & Billy Elgart.

An exemplary collective piano trio from Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, Kris Davis on piano and Eric McPherson on drums, their 2nd album as Borderlands Trio, recording in the studio for four exceptional, extended improvisations with an innate sense of lyricism and free flowing exchange of confident interaction, developing elegantly warm grooves and melodic progressions; beautiful.

The New York collective trio of bassist Stephan Crump, pianist Kris Davis and drummer Eric McPherson focuses on starfish (asteroida), which can regenerate lost sections of itself, as this band creates highly focused group compositions that use melodic elements as rhythm and vice versa, recontextualizing and transforming their confident and masterful playing.

John Cage and Pierre Boulez met in 1949, forging a long and valuable musical friendship, as seen through the parallels in these works by both composers, performed by Pi-Hsien-Chen & Ian Pace.

New Braxton compositions and one standard performed live at Switzerland's Willisau Jazz Festival, 2007