A powerfully creative concert of genre-bending improvisation when the core of the Norwegian jazz/rock band Chrome Hill--Asbjørn Lerheim (guitar) and Roger Arntzen (bass)--returned to Japan to join for the 3rd time with koto improviser Michiyo Yagi, plus her frequent collaborator, drummer Tamaya Honda, for an assertive concert of exotic, experimental improv at Tokyo's Aketa No Mise.

Citing references including Sun Ra, electric Miles, Ornette, Wadada Leo Smith, Stockhausen & Gabriel Prokofiev, guitarist Luis Lopes's Abyss Mirrors brings together artists drawing on European & Brazilian performers from Clean Feed, Shhpuma and Creative Sources for these evolving and often ecstatic collective, experimental improvisations; unpredictably edgy and exciting!

Energetic and urgent free jazz from the Portuguese trio MOVE of Felipe Zenicola on electric bass, Yedo Gibson on saxophones and Joao Valinho on drums, long time collaborators and members of bands including Rodrigo Amado Refraction Quartet and Naked Wolf, these five shredding improvisations were captured live at Desterro Club, in Lisbon in 2022.

Double basist Andre Carvalho (EMJO, Large Unit) follows up his 2021 album on the New York-based Outside In Music label with this 2nd volume, recording with his working trio of guitarist Andre Matos and saxophonist Jose Soares, each of the lyrical and creative tracks titled for a word from a another language that is not readily translatable in most languages.

Titled for Portuguese drummer Mario Costa's disciplined approach to composition and the DNA-like consideration of his band members--Cuong Vu on trumpet, Benoit Delbecq on piano, synths & samplers and Bruno Chevillon on double bass--this 2nd release as a leader shows Costa advancing his ideas through nine rigorously composed original works, impeccably realized by this outstanding band.

Canadian clarinetist François Houle in an international project dedicated to the late co-founder of the Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Ken Pickering, performed with Canadian expatriates, plus colleagues from New York City, Paris, Basel and Berlin: Marco von Orelli on cornet & trumpet, Samuel Blaser on trombone, Benoit Delbecq on piano, Michael Bates on bass and Harris Eisenstadt on drums.

After their performance at the 2021 Jazz em Agosto festival, the Italian quartet of Alberto Popolla on clarinets, electric bass & banjo, Errico De Fabritiis on saxophones, Gianfranco Tedeschi on double bass, and Fabrizio Spera on drums is again expanded with wind player Eugenio Colombo and vibraphonist Francesco Lo Cascio, recording this lyrical blues-rooted album in the studio in 2022.

Four unique compositions from Portuguese trumpeter Sei Miguel, whose work embraces jazz history while incorporating his own music systems, here each piece varying the size of each grouping with one constant, his frequent sideman, alto trombonist Fala Mariam; plus luminaries including Rodrigo Amado, Ernesto Rodridgues, Helena Espvall, Nuno Torres, Rafel Toral, Paulo Curado, &c.

Recordings from concerts throughout Portugal between 2016-2021 from pocket trumpeter Sei Miguel's quartet with Fala Mariam on alto trombone, Bruno Silva on electric guitar and Pedro Castello-Lopes on percussion & drums (Pandeiro & Kalengo), uniquely orchestrated works often simplifying larger orchestral concepts, clarifying these warmly embraceable original Miguel compositions.

The premiere encounter of the uniquely orchestrated trio of two legendary string improvisers--Gordon Grdina on guitar & oud, and Mat Maneri on viola--with drummer Christian Lillinger (New Old Luten, Punkt vs. Plastik, EUPHORIUM_freakestra) recording in the studio in Vancouver, BC for three impressive, innately lyrical, dexterous and magnificent conversations.

Each track in this beautiful pairing of strings through cello and electric guitar is named after nature, the title referencing a brown-eared bat, as the Berlin duo of guitarist Olaf Rupp and cellist Ulrike Brand intertwine in an unhurried series of dialog that prioritize natural fluidity, reflecting the confidence that nearly ten years working together has imbued to their improvisations.

Referring to the city Brecht in Belgium, this concert at the Kapel Oude Klooster took place during a tour by the Lisbon free improvising trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello and Nuno Torres on alto saxophone, joined by Dirk Serries on archtop guitar (New Wave of Jazz, Vidna Obama) for this impressively interactive 3-part improvisation.

Since 2016 pianist Francesco Zago and guitarist & live electronics artist Andrea Bolzoni (The Night Watch, Stormy Six) have collaborated, focused on guitar improvisation, proposing a dialog between lyricism and psychedelic music, here in a 10-part work of fluid & ethereal sounds informed by contemporary music and creative improv, a unique journey presenting a strong narrative sense.

Eight free improvisations from the German duo of Markus Reineke on contrabass, bass recorder, objects & electronics, and Jukka-Pekka Kervinen on electric guitar, violin, virtual bass clarinet & electronics, creating an unusual language that merges electronics with acoustic instrumentation in quirky yet natural ways, each track named impressionistically.

Both members of the Didier Lasserre Trio, French double bassist Jean Rougier and legendary French free free jazz multi-reedist Sylvain Guerineau performing on tenor sax & bass clarinet, distill their work into a duo formation for six innately lyrical free improvisations, a beautiful complement to Guerineau's 2022 duo album with double bassist Fred Marty, Parodies.

58 Compositions for Cello as part of a sound investigation process from Portuguese cellist based in Berlin, Guilherme Rodrigues, recording in 11 locations with interesting resonant properties, capturing several brief improvisations at each space, the architecture, delay, decay, and interaction affecting his approach and the sonic response to his playing.

The third Spiegel, or mirror, takes the Portuguese acoustic octet led by violist Ernesto Rodrigue through an extended improvisation and its reflection, captured live at the 2021 CSFest XV, at O'Culto da Ajuda, by performing and recording their performance in a first pass, and then playing over the first improvisation, layering and extending their work.

Far from the reductionist/minimal improvisation often associated with the Creative Sources label and the work of both violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues, this quartet session with double bassist Joao Madeira and Jose Oliveira is a highly charged and energetic affair, improvising through a suite of eight tightly controlled conversations of "Chaos".

Trumpeter & composer Sei Miguel's second O Carro De Fogo De Sei Migue continues his merging of electric jazz with ea-overtones, in three live recordings with Fala Mariam on trombone & Rings, Nuno Torres on saxophone & Rings, Bruno Silva on electric guitar, Pedro Lourenco on electric bass, Andre Goncalves on organs & ATMOS and Luis Desirat & Raphael Soares on percussion.

A well-balanced and often scorching performance at Igreja do Espírito Santo in Portugal from trumpeter Luis Vicente, presented as two long improvisations each comprised of two works inspired by childhood times in a rural environment and by everyday life at home during pandemic, performed with the outstanding quartet of saxophonist John Dikeman, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Onno Goevart.

Long-time collaborators, German reed & wind player Frank Gratkowski and pianist Simon Nabatov release their third collaboration as a duo, concentrating their playing from large bands including the Simon Nabatov Quartet to the essence of their personal and impressive dialog, here performing at the LOFT, in Cologne for the celebration of Nabatov's birthday.

Developing their language together since childhood, Norwegian brothers Lauritz Heitmann Skeidsvoll on saxophone and Isach Skeidsvoll on piano & melodica converse in a way that only two family members can, using their knowledge of each other's playing as a confident foundation for remarkable flights of technically challenging yet innately lyrical improvisations.

A relaxed and informed dialog between young generation Portuguese improvisers Tomás Marques on alto saxophone and Afonso Pais on guitar, demonstrating their experience from bands like L.U.M.E. and Joao Hasselberg / Pedro Branco, these five expressive and intuitively melodic improvisations were recorded by the artists in 2022 and are presented without edits.

For 35 years saxophonist & composer Christoph Gallio has directed the exemplary Swiss jazz group Day & Taxi, here in a trio format with bassist Silvan Jeger and drummer Gerry Hemingway, Gallio on soprano, alto & C melody saxophones, heard in this 2021 live performance at Stadtbistro Isebahnli, in Baden, Germany for nine diverse, creative and delightfully quirky pieces.

Recording in Brooklyn, the trio led by Venezuelan guitarist Juanma Trujillo, with Costa Rican bassist Kenneth Jimenez and New York drummer Gerald Cleaver, merge avant jazz, heavy rock grooves with a Sonny Sharrock flavor, and abstract almost chamber jazz, a fascinating combination of contrasts that keeps the boundaries of their contours flexible and masterfully unpredictable.

Patrick Brennan's compositions propose a series of groove instances or cells, each laying out a contrasting polyrhythm in bass & treble so that at least two melodic lines can be played over them simultaneously and the series looped, cleverly accomplished with Brian Groder on trumpet, Rod Williams on piano, Hilliard Greene on bass, Michael TA Thompson on drums and Brenann on sax.

Previously played Squidco store copy, used for cataloging and samples, in excellent condition.

"Although the primacy of small string ensembles for superior musical expression has been confirmed since at least the 18th Century, th...

Known for the psychedelic dance band Gunerius & Verdensveven or The Harvey Steel Show, Norwegian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Thomas Bergsten assembles an ensemble that blurs the lines between long improvisation and psychedelic-spiritual jazz, from freak jams to ECM-like electric beauty, tinged with Captain Beefheart or Faust; difficult to describe, intensely creative.

Performing on double bass, amp and a volume pedal, Gonçalo Almeida (LAMA, Albatre, The Attic) explores new sonic environments and possiblities for the large strings, using feedback that modifies based on the physical location between the amp and the resonator of the double bass, Almeida improvises with bowing strokes, pizzicato and unusual string preparations.

Brooklyn-based Slovenian saxophonist Igor Lumpert draws on his life experiences through eight original compositions and a Bosnian folk song performed with his core band of alto saxophonist Greg Ward, drummer Kenny Grohwoski and bassist Chris Tordini, expanded to a sextet and octet with stellar improvisers including trumpeter Peter Evans, guitarist Jeff Miles, &c.

A swinging album of modern jazz from the Portuguese trio of Ricardo Toscano on alto sax, Romeu Tristao on double bass and Joao Pereira on drums, recording in 2021 concert at Theatro Sao Luiz in Lisbon, featuring two original Toscano compositions, one from drummer Joao Pereira, a traditional fardo song and the effusive Thelonious Monk tune "Played Twice".

A truly unique improvisational setting between three Norwegian artists--inspired tap dancer JanneEraker, fiddle player and vocalist Vegar Vardal and double bassist Roger Arntzen--finding an exuberant excitement through the percussion of body movement, strange and slippery vocalizations and two emphatic strings; virtually indescribable and absolutely enthralling.

Powerful, modern jazz from a Norwegian ensemble of cross-genre improvisers, bringing an eclectic mix of jazz, electronic, African & orchestral expression into a series of works by double bassist Per Zanussi that explore the concept of "Li", a neo-Confucian term for fixed and dynamic patterns in nature, expressed through passionate ensemble work and exemplary soloing.

Collaborators in Montreal projects including Ensemble Supermusique and Ratchet Orchestra, bass clarinetist Lori Freedman (Queen Mab Trio) and trombonist Scott Thomson (Monicker) have also worked as a duo for more than 15 years, starting with the Barnyard Record album Plumb, their long history allowing flexibility in unusual dialog and utterance that captivates naturally.

Assertive, sometimes skronky, masterful playing from the Gorilla Mask trio of Peter Van Huffel on alto & baritone saxes, Roland Fidezius on electric bass and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums & percussion, in their 5th album in 13 years, nuancing their sound with electronics while adhering to power trio playing fed by new collaborative and conceptual approaches from all band members.

From post/hard bop to African-influenced spiritual jazz, the 2nd release from saxophonist & clarinetist Avram Fefer's quartet with Marc Ribot on guitar, Eric Revis on bass and Chad Taylor on drums swings freely or finds introspective grooves in nine original Fefer compositions of rich melodies around unusual time signatures, yielding extraordinary soloing and group interplay.

A statesman of the French free improvisation scene, Sylvain Guerineau, who has performed with Sunny Murray, Joëlle Léandre and more recently as part of a trio with Didier Lasserre and Paul Rogers, joins with next-generation double bassist Fred Marty integrating advanced techniques into lyrical contexts, for five satisfying improvisations, the last a reference to Sonny Rollins.

An immersive album of understated but incredibly detailed free improvisation from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Emidio Buchinho on electric guitar and Carla Santana on electronics, performing live at Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema, in Amadora, Portugal for a four part concentration on silence through sound.

Continuing their exploration of isotopes, here focusing on the unstable element Uranium, the Portuguese Isotope Ensemble led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues presents two stunningly detailed concert performances from the 2021 CSFest XV at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon, with some of Europe's leading improvisers taking on U92 in both "Electroacoustic" and "Acoustic" properties.

Performing live at SMUP, in Parede, Portugal in 2022, the bass-oriented chamber quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Joao Madeira on double bass, Hernani Faustino on double bass and Jose Oliveira on percussion balance jazz and contemporary compositional approaches to their sophisticated and extremely detailed improvisations.

The sixth release by Creative Sources' detailed electroacoustic improvising group Suspensão led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, with Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Nuno Torres on alto sax, Antonio Chaparreiro on electric guitar, Carlos Santos on computer and Jose Oliveira on percussion & inside piano, is this impressive performance at "Temporada Miso Music 2009" in Lisbon.

Performing on clarinets and theremin, Udo Schindler follows up his series Salon für Klang+Kunst after 99 events with this new series at BASIS_Klangraum in Munich's historic BASIS Booksalon at MUCCA, in a concert with instrument maker Ardhi Engle performing on a diverse set of acoustic and electronic inventions for nine concise collective conversations.

An 8-part studio improvisation in Lisbon, 2022 from Portuguese musicians Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on flute & bass clarinet and Joao Madeira on double bass in a quartet with French tenor saxophonist Michel Stawicki, sometimes introspective and moody through highly detailed playing but building to periods of tumultuous and exciting activity.

A uniquely configured electroacoustic trio recording live in the studio in Lisbon in 2018 between Mexican flutist and founding member of the improv collective Generación Espontánea, Wilfrido Terrazas, and Portuguese improvisers Mariana Carvalho on prepared piano and Abdul Moimeme using two electric guitars and objects, balancing introspective moments with periods of uninhibited excitement.

The 8-piece String Theory ensemble directed by violist Ernesto Rodrigues in a live performance at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon of a beautiful and subtle work inspired by a poem written by Rodrigues, ".. dans cette immensite ", realized through viola, violin, cellos, viola de gamba, double bass, piano, zither and objects, a deceptively tranquil work of detail and dexterous execution.

Eleven detailed improvised conversations between Portuguese cellist living in Berlin Guilherme Rodrigues and Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries, employing powerful and unusual techniques on their instruments in dialogs that run the gamut from quiet or abstract interaction to rapid outbursts of challenging intercourse that mesh and diverge in unexpected ways.

An unusual trio configuration for violist Ernesto Rodrigues, joined by Bruno Parrinha on soprano & alto saxophones, and by electric guitarist Flak, who brings an experimental almost ea- approach to their 3-part improvisation, aptly named for it's deceptively calm setting, gradually becoming intricate and active through colored motion like a curious breeze that builds and recedes.

A collective trio in the free jazz idiom from Hugo Costa on alto saxophone, Raoul van der Weide on double bass & percussion objects and Onno Govaert on drums, recording in the studio in Rotterdam for two extended and two succinct improvisations, building their conversations from solo playing that gradually yields to group dialog of evolving intensity.

A chamber jazz quintet orchestrated for three strings, saxophone and percussion from Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Jose Lencastre on alto saxophone, Miguel Mira on cello, Hernani Faustino on double bass and Joao Lencastre on drums, technically advanced collective playing that simmers with an underlying jazz fire unique to many of Rodrigues' groupings.

A comprovised music piece based on a sound score composed of field recordings from autonomous demonstrations that shook the streets of Montreal in recent years, the 10-piece Montreal ensemble of performers and sound artist interacting with the ambient recordings as they aim to understand how sound and music contribute to the formation of affective communities.