Two works from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith and performed by cellist Anton Lukoszevieze and pianist Kerry Yong: "Through the Low Hills" a piece for constrained variations like an object viewed from different angles as it is turned over; and "Ballad" a major work intended for performance that unfolds slowly, allowing for delicate melodic interaction.

Five chamber works written by composer UK Oliver Leith, the debut CD release from the creative music group Explore Ensemble including a piece they commissioned--Me Hollywood--, the compositions spanning four years of work and reflecting a sort of portrait of the composer as he experiments with unusual arrangements, sampling sounds, and new instruments.

Five chamber works from UK composer James Week performed by Explore Ensemble, developing works extending the poetic idea of a piece as an imaginary or remembered space by exploring combinations of instruments such as the mixed instrumental duos, the use of slow-moving or static background harmonics, and intimate instrumental idioms based on long, breath-length sounds.

Asebeia (ἀσέβεια) was a criminal charge in ancient Greece for the "desecration and mockery of divine objects", for "irreverence towards the state gods" and disrespect towards parents and dead ancestors; here it is also the informed and diverse, freely improvised duo of Spanish improvisers, saxophonist Liba Villavecchia and drummer/percussionist Vasco Trilla.

Eight improvisations named for the month of recording during the challenges of pandemic from British tenor saxophonist Ed Jones and Norwegian drummer/percussionist Emil Karlsen, often reflective work that explores timbral possibilities on each instrument through flowing lines and deceptively active investigations in a variety of empathetic and sublimely ruminative approaches.

A member of the Paul Dunmall Quintet and Ed Gauden's Crux, Birmingham UK pianist, composer and band leader Steve Tromans presents an album of original work, lyrical and introspective pieces improvised in the studio as a response to the duress of the global pandemic, motivated to record on a great piano in the great Sansom Studio based on recent life experiences.

An energetic trio of Serbian free improvisers from Tibor Takacs Faki on reeds, Laslo Lenkes on guitar and Goran Grubisic on drums, Tibor Takacs Faki and Goran Grubisic both part of the rock band Wooden Ambulance, that energy translating into their indefatigable approach to collective improvisation, just keeping a lid on their rambunctious interaction.

Recorded at the 79th Salon fur Klang+Kunst, in Krailling, Munich, the pairing of multi-instrumentalist Udo Schindler performing on alto saxophone, brass & synthesizer and Patrick Schimanski performing on percussion, live electronics & voice was inspired by the novella fragment Lenz written by Georg Büchner in 1836 based on Jean Frédéric Oberlin's diary.

Using prepared drums drums, objects, voice, and Kalimba, Italian drummer Alberto Pederneschi presents eight solo works recorded in the studio, an unhurried but authoritative set of pieces that merge composed and improvised sections, drawing and evoking a narrative sense in coherent arrangements and intimate story telling.

Three disparate improvisers--Guy-Frank Pellerin on soprano & tenor saxophones, Matthias Boss on violin & voice and Eugenio Sanna on amplified guitar plus small metallic layers, balloons & voice--present a non-idiomatic, fully improvised set of "sonorities, fragments, atmospheres seeming to constitute independent parts, but actually forming a unicum".

Using as their inspiration the esthetic, soundscape and work of experimental Icelandic band Sigur Rós, the UK quartet of Dan Banks on piano, Jose Canha on bass, Trevor Taylor on drums and Robin Porter on saxophone present eight compositions written and arranged by pianist Banks, bringing the ethereal post-rock of Rós into the lyrical world of modern creative jazz.

After their first encounter at the M.I.A. Improvisation Festival in Atouguia de Balei, the trio of Carlo Mascolo on trombone, Joao Madeira on bass and Felice Furioso on percussion entered the Dwarte Studio in Lisbon to record these seven instant compositions, profound work from three players dedicated to finding unique expression and structure through free improvisation.

The XPACT quarter of late saxophonist Wolfgang Fuchs, percussionist/electronics artist Paul Lytton, bassist Hans Schneider and electric guitarist Erhard Hirt came together in the mid-80s from members of M.A.I. Orchestra and Übü Örchestrü, disbanding after 4 years and now reunited 34 years later as a quartet with Stefan Keuene replacing Fuchs, releasing this album of masterful free improv.

Five startlingly modern and fascinating dialogs from the duo of multi-instrumentalist and artist Alan Davie and percussionist Tony Oxley, active in the 1970s around The Alan Davie Music Workshop, is heard in Five startlingly modern and fascinating dialogs from the duo of multi-instrumentalist and artist Alan Davie and percussionist Tony Oxley, active in the 1970s around The Alan Davie Music Workshop, is heard in these never previously released recordings from 1977-78 captured at Davie's home studio, Oxley performing on percussion and electronics and Davie on piano, percussion and ring modulator.these never previously released recordings from 1977-78 captured at Davie's home studio, Oxley on percussion and electronics and Davie on piano, percussion and ring modulator.

The third of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Technology of Tears, Propaganda, Allies, Accidental, The Previous Evening, Happy End Problem, Nowhere, Sideshow, Field Days; Inimitable (previously unreleased).

The second of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Live in Japan, Speechless, Prints, Step Across the Border, Impur 2, Art of Memory II, Skeleton Crew, Helter Skelter.

The first of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Guitar Solos, Gravity, Cheap at Half the Price, Killing Time, Impur , Middle of the Moment, Keep the Dog; Dropera.

The title Indústria was chosen by Eddie Prevost in tribute to the history behind the Museu Industrial de Bala do Tejo, in Portugal where this concert took place by the legendary free improvisation band AMM, represented here as the duo of percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury, performing as part of the 2015 OUT.FEST - Festival Internacional de Musica Exploratoria do Barreiro.

Pianist Dirar Kalash is a Palestinian performer, whos concerts combine free improvisation, text, sound, image, video and movement; opportunities to record and perform are rare, but on a visit to the UK in 2020 Simon Reynell (Another Timbre) was able to record these two extended and exemplary improvisations at St Paul's Hall at the University Of Huddersfield.

The duo of Herve Perez (Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, AXIS) and Discus label leader Martin Archer, both saxophonists and sound artists using a collection of software instruments, organs, computer instruments and field recordings in a live-in-the-studio recording of remarkable electroacoustic performance, blurring free jazz and abstract sound in fascinating ways.

First release on the Alt.Vinyl label in 2014, this album finds harpist Rhodri Davies performing on the same instrument as his prior album Wound Response, but here with no amplification, preparations or distortion, improvising through "tumbling phrases, arpeggios and articulate rhythms", in a compelling album of assertive and joyful playing.

First released in 2012 on the Alt.Vinyl label and now reissued on his own Amgen label, Rhodri Davies performs solo in Newcastle upon Tyne on lap harp and electronics, using two main techniques: over-articulation of the strings (what harpists are taught not to do) and attacking the strings with a plectrum, forcing the tuning into new relationships until the strings eventually break.

Having been acquainted with each other for decades but never finding the opportunity to record, improvising American guitarist Duck Baker and British guitarist Mike Cooper finally found their chance in 2010 while both were in Rome, taking two acoustic nylon Spanish guitars into the studio to record these three extended, intertwining improvisations.

Compositions for violas, bass clarinets and flutes performed by Vincent Royer, Jill Valentine, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Tim Hodgkinson, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Carla Rees, Karin de Fleyt, Thanos Chrysakis, Katrina Lauder, with compositions from Gerard Grisey, Iancu Dumitrescu, Thanos Chrysakis, Niels Rasmussen, Salvatore Sciarrino, Lori Freedman, and Tim Hodgkinson.

Bob Drake continues to tug on the heart-strings of prog in short but smart songs that reference the best of the last few decades of prog/psych/avant rock forms, Drake as always handling all parts in a great balance of guitar, electronic & acoustic instruments, including some newly invented instruments; includes a fold-out poster in Bob Drake style from Joe Mruk.

Bringing together the rhythm section of frequent collaborators, percussionist Hamid Drake and bassist William Parker, with London's improvising duo Black Top of Orphy Robinson on marimba and electronics & Pat Thomas on piano & electronics, plus improvising vocalist Elaine Mitchener, for a passionate and often ecstatically cathartic live concert at Cafe OTO.

Blurring the boundaries of popular rock, composed and electro/experimental/ea forms, with hints of The Ex, Gang of Four, Talking Heads, LCD Soundsystem and their own happily quirky sound, Squid was formed in Brigton by Ollie Judge (Drums & Lead Vocals), Louis Borlase (Guitars), Arthur Leadbetter (Keys, Strings & Percussion), Laurie Nankivell (Bass & Brass) and Anton Pearson (Guitars).

UK sax and wind player James Arben and cellist Shirley Smart explore the possibilities of chamber-oriented free improvisation through a series of dialogues of harmonic, rhythmic and timbral tension and resolution, created from bold experimental playing techniques and melodic discourse that draws on influences from jazz to Middle Eastern, folk and contemporary music.

Capturing their 2nd gig together, double bassist Olie Brice and trumpeter Percy Pursglove invited two prominent improvisers who had never played together before — drummer Jeff Williams and tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall — to join them for a 2020 concert at Cafe Oto in London, presented into two palindromic-ally named and profound improvisations: "Tattarratta" 1 & 2.

The UK ensemble Apartment House commissioned this work from composer & experimenter Jim O'Rourke based on their performance of other O'Rourke works, here interpreting a new graphic score designed like a sonic mobile, creating a minimal yet episodic piece of flexible interpretation as the performers whistle, hum and quietly sing in combination with bowed harmonics.

A large work by the Western Australian composer Josten Myburgh, using harmonies taken from the music of Australian composer Peter Sculthorpe blended with environmental field recordings, performed by Josten Myburgh on sax & electronics, Jet Kye Chong on percussion, Jameson Feakes on guitar, Djuna Lee on bass, Stuart James on piano & electronics, and Kirsten Smith on flutes.

Working with Liminar, one of the premier new music ensembles in Mexico, German/US composer Michael Winter wrote this dynamic and extended work pursuing a method of enumerating all ways of articulating a 6-note chord with 7 instruments bound by certain constraints, using the computer science concept of "Gray Code" switches to create shifts within the piece's progressions.

Commissioned by Another Timbre for the quarantine commissions series, Hlaholika was developed by composer Adrián Demoč for the Apartment House ensemble as a quintet of violin, double bass, clarinet, viola & piano, using the configurations for 3 other works performed here by Apartment House; plus a piece for an ensemble from the Janacek School of Music in the Czech Republic.

An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.

A comprehensive album of live performances from IST (Rhodri Davies: harp, preparations; Simon H. Fell: double bass, preparations; Mark Wastell: violoncello, preparations) between 1996 and 2000, beginning with their concert at Club Orange in London and including concerts in London, Billericay, Norwich and Cambridge, with a 20 page booklet of photos and text from the band & collaborators.

The first new Sun Ra Arkestra album in twenty years, recorded in Philadelphia under the direction of saxophonist Marshall Allan, with long-standing Arkestra members including Danny Ray Thompson, Michael Ray, Vincent Chancey, Knoel Scott, Cecil Brooks, Atakatune, Elson Nascimento and Tyler Mitchel, with new material and new renderings of classic Ra compositions.

A set of lyrical, thoughtful and sometimes whimsical works from the Scottish-based duo of Rob Hall & Chick Lyall (Green Room Trio), who have been developing their musical language since 2003, drawing from a wide range of genres from Baroque chamber music to free jazz and folk idioms, their lack of boundaries lending itself to a uniquely diverse and embraceable music.

Virtually unprecedented for the time, Evan Parker's 1976 solo soprano saxophone album captures Parker's prowess and unusual harmonic approach to the saxophone in a 1975 concert at the Unity Theatre in London and in the FMP studio the same year, using the instrument in startling ways as he captivates his listeners through a unique revelation of logic, drama and staggering skill.

London's Otoroku label keeps this magnificent album in print with a 2021 reissue of the 1982 Incus release featuring Evan Parker performing solo on soprano saxophone, using the natural resonance of the Church Of St. Jude-on-the-Hill, in Hampstead London as he explores upper tones and high frequency split tones in a technically brilliant display.

American pianist Marilyn Crispell joined London Improviser's Orchestra saxophonist & clarinetist Harry Smith and AMM drummer Eddie Prévost for this 2012 concert at London's Cafe OTO, playing in a melodic free jazz mode of passionate interaction and deep communication, resulting in an unforced and naturally masterful set of thoughtfully lyrical improvisation.

Taken from the personal archives of UK drummer/percussionist Tony Oxley, this extremely well recorded duo session with frequent collaborator, iconoclastic NY pianist Cecil Taylor, are heard in a live performance at the Ulrichsberg Festival, Austria in 2002 for a brilliantly frenetic and masterfully controlled, creative set of two jaw-dropping extended dialogs.

Two deep basses come together in this recording of a live performance at O'Culto de Ajuda, Lisboa, Portugal between Red Trio double bassist Hernani Faustino and Ensemble MIA/String Theory double bassist Joao Madeira, mixing bowed and plucked styles along with preparations and extended techniques in a three part suite of powerfully imposing improvisation.

Refined and free ranging improvisation between German reedist Udo Schindler performing on bass clarinet, tenor & sopranino saxophones and also on cornet, and US double bassist Damon Smith, recorded 3 days after the first volume in this series, presenting two sets from the same day of informed and diverse dialogs between two masterful improvisers.

Performing at the Gottfried Duren/arToxin at Galerie ar Toxin in 2019, the trio of Udo Schindler on clarinet, bass clarinet & alto horn, Damon Smith on double bass, and Karina Erhard on C flute & alto flute present a sophisticated set of free improvisations with a chamber improv feeling, using tremendous technique and intent listening through six fascinating dialogs.

Portuguese guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis and trumpeter Luís Vicente, Icelandic pianist Kristján Martinsson and Dutch drummer Onno Govaert release their 2nd album, moving from the studio to a live concert at Salão Brazil in Coimbra in 2018, performing six collective improvisations of explorative and technically advanced, cutting edge free improv.

A convergence of reeds across the range of clarinets, from double bass clarinet to piccolo clarinet, in this live recording at Udo Schindler's 88th SALON fur Klang+Kunst in Krailling/Munich between reedists Schindler and Ove Volquartz, with particular emphasis on the deepest of reeds, the most challenging of clarinets, handled masterfully by both players.

A superb concert of masterful collective improvisation captured live at LOFT Cologne in 2018 from the trio of Luc Houtkamp on tenor saxophone & clarinet, Steve Beresford on piano & objects, and Martin Blume on drums & percussion, in three extended improvisations, thoughtful work building to periods of powerful passion while maintaining a reflective introspectiveness.

A studio project led by Paul Dumall on alto & tenor saxophones and alto flute, recorded while on touring hiatus during the pandemic, composing six passionate and melodically charged works performed by the brilliant sextet of Percy Pursglove on trumpet, Richard Foote on trombone, Steven Saunders on guitar, James Owston on bass, and Jim Bashford on drums.

A collection of live recordings from Sverdrup Balance, the trio of Lawrence Casserley on signal processing instrument, Yoko Miura on piano & Melodeon, and Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg on voice, recorded during their 2019 autumn tour in U.K., Belgium and North Italy, a skewed but generally optimistic group of ea- and voice improvisers with a wealth of creative inspirations.

Extremely well paired in their unusual approaches to their instruments both acoustic and electronic, this live recording between Udo Schindler on reed & brass instruments and Jaap Blonk improvising with his voice and using computer electronics, results in eight diverting and inspired recording of extreme creative approaches and impressive technical skill.