Italian and Portuguese musicians meet in the studio in Berlin for a set of studio free improvisations, from Creative Sources father/son collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello meeting trombonist Davide Piersanti and vocalist Ligia Liberatori for twelve exceptionally open, informed and unusual conversations.

Straddling quirky folk song and experimental sound collage, the long-running Western Massachusettes duo of fiddler, banjo player & singer Mia Friedman and clarinetist, wind player & sound artist Andy Allen (Guerilla Toss) present an album of observational songs with unusual perspectives and an anything goes approach to the music that surrounds each song; delightful.

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A summit of master improvisers as tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman joins the Matthew Shipp String Trio — Shipp on piano, Mat Maneri on viola, and William Parker on bass — for a profound studio session of dynamic, four-way conversation that balances drama with hope, forging a richly textured and deeply expressive work of improvised chamber jazz.

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A first-time meeting of four free jazz luminaries — pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, bassist Joe Fonda, drummer Barry Altschul, and bass clarinetist Rudi Mahall — captured live in Vienna, delivering a vibrant and exploratory double CD of spontaneous interplay, deep lyricism, and uncompromising freedom from a quartet of master improvisers united in real-time invention.

Spanning 14 compact improvisations drawn from nine shifting ensembles within the modular Evil Clown collective, this volume distills the creativity of PEK's longform sessions into concise sonic snapshots — each "Shortie" capturing a distinct moment from the various ensembles as a focused sampler of the label's wide-ranging free improvisation ethos.

Revived as an experimental supergroup by Biota's Gordon H. Whitlow, Sorry For Laughing brings together a unique cast including Edward Ka-Spel, Martyn Bates, Dave-id Busaras, Patrick Q-Wright, and Janet Feder in Rain Flowers, a two-CD album weaving post-punk echoes, poetic reflections, avant-classical textures, and psychedelic nuance into a vivid and surreal sonic garden.

Two approaches to keyboards from Japanese acoustic pianist Yoko Miura and keyboardist Jean-Marc Foussat (Fou Records) recording these extended and excursive improvisations in Paris in 2017, contrasting Foussat's alien and encompassing synthetic and electronic worlds with Miura's sophisticated playing inside and out of the piano.

Exploring time, memory, and perception, composer Bryn Harrison crafts an intricate sonic landscape for two pianos and electronics, performed with great precision by Mark Knoop and Roderick Chadwick, where dense, swirling repetitions give way to moments of eerie stillness, gradually descending into a murky, destabilizing space while immersing the listener in a hypnotic and disorienting temporal experience.

A curated collection of 14 short improvisations from Evil Clown's modular ensembles, this fourth Shorties Volume distills the essence of expansive, long-form performances into concise yet potent expressions, featuring 31 musicians across 7 ensembles, these spontaneous works, recorded during warmups and soundchecks, offer a dynamic snapshot of the label's ever-evolving sonic landscape.

Drawn from 13 albums across eight ensembles and featuring 29 musicians, this third volume offers an excellent introduction to the concise improvisations recorded as soundchecks before long-form works, providing distinct snapshots of Evil Clown's dynamic creativity and showcasing the evolving sonorities and modular ensemble interplay that define their unique sonic universe.

Presenting 14 concise improvisations from 13 albums performed by 6 ensembles and 27 musicians, Evil Clown Shorties Volume 1 highlights the modular spirit of Evil Clown's roster, blending dynamic sonic concepts into standalone "Shorties" under 10 minutes each, crafted during soundchecks yet fully formed, providing an engaging sampler of the long-form works they complement."

An eccentric and captivating sonic collage from Jean-Jacques Birgé and the ensemble Un Drame Musical Instantané — with Francis Gorge and Bernard Vitet collaborating alongside extraordinary guests including Brigitte Fontaine, Joëlle Léandre, Luc Ferrari, Henri Texier, Carlos Zingaro, and René Lussier — in an inventive fusion of electronic improvisation, free jazz, and experimental sound art.

Renowned for his work with Another Timbre and Confront, British bass clarinetist Chris Cundy presents his third solo album, blending contemporary classical elements, improvised sketches, and rhythmic motifs in fourteen captivating vignettes inspired by wildflowers, their fragile habitats, and peripheral landscapes, showcasing a masterful and virtuosic approach.

The 6th album on Another Timbre from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, a leading voice in contemporary chamber music, presents eight exquisite works performed by Apartment House, including the 1st recordings of three string quartets, alongside a violin duo, a clarinet quartet, an early string trio, a cello and piano duo, and a bass clarinet solo; evocative and deeply expressive artistry.

The second duo release from J.J. Gregg on sitar and Pavan Kanekal on tabla, following their 2022 album re-cycling, is a rich work of sophisticated rhythm, sympathetic chords, and strong raga melodies, recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago, warmly capturing the duo's purposeful momentum and sincere joy in their playing.

Taking their titles from the avant poetry book "Tent Posts" by author Henri Michaux, this concert of collective free improv at Ziggy's Ypsilanti in Michigan between double bassist Damon Smith and reed & wind player Piotr Michalowski is an active and impressive set of dialogs, Michalowski switching between bass & contralto clarinets, sopranino & soprano saxophones, and Japanese Shinobbue flute.

Allen Lowe's 2-volume 4-CD set evokes through original music the musical eras that Louis Armstrong lived through, from ragtime to early jazz, swing, bebop, avant garde jazz, Dada and rock & roll, a rollicking, perceptive and fun set of compositions with contributors including Marc Ribot, Ray Anderson, Frank Lacy, Lewis Porter, Elijah Schiffer, Matt Shipp, Ursula Oppens, &c.

Allen Lowe's 2-volume 4-CD set evokes through original music the musical eras that Louis Armstrong lived through, from ragtime to early jazz, swing, bebop, avant garde jazz, Dada and rock & roll, a rollicking, perceptive and fun set of compositions with contributors including Marc Ribot, Ray Anderson, Frank Lacy, Lewis Porter, Elijah Schiffer, Matt Shipp, Ursula Oppens, &c.

Active since 2016, The "Bone" in PorchBone is heard in the three trombonists who join the trio of bassist Nate McBride, drummer Eric Rosenthal, and saxophonist Jorrit Dijkstra, who composed 7 of the 8 pieces on this album (Duke Ellington is the 8th, and the inspiration for their sound along with Sun Ra), with trombonists Jeb Bishop, Michael Prentky & Bill Lowe.

A diverse and interesting set of songs in Thurston Moore's ninth solo record, recorded in Europe & The UK with contributors including Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab and Deb Googe of My Bloody Valentine, many of the songs reminiscent of Sonic Youth but uniquely Moore through unpretentious communication that references topics including lucid dreaming, nature and the changing planet.

A diverse and interesting set of songs in Thurston Moore's ninth solo record, recorded in Europe & The UK with contributors including Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab and Deb Googe of My Bloody Valentine, many of the songs reminiscent of Sonic Youth but uniquely Moore through unpretentious communication that references topics including lucid dreaming, nature and the changing planet.

The debut of this international septet with three double basses, two electric guitars, drums, and grand piano, led by pianist Margaux Oswald, who chose these players for their connection to Copenhagen and their previous collaborations in varying configurations, here their collective improvisations employing subgroups juxtaposed to full ensemble power through texture and timbre.

Recorded across two sessions at LondonÕs now-closed Iklectik, named for its Lambeth Marsh location, saxophonist John Butcher performs in duos and small groups with Angharad Davies on violin, Mark Sanders on percussion, Pat Thomas on electronics, and John Edwards on double bass, crafting remarkable acoustic and electroacoustic improvisations that honor the venueÕs legacy.

Revisiting previous works in new arrangements, particularly the title track "Jaguar" originally recorded as a septet in 2005 and here with violin Szilárd Mezei's current quartet orchestrated for violin, vibes, double bass and drums; or the large work "Hep 35", part of a decades-long series of compositions employing unison melodies that open facilitate extended improvisation.

While typically performing and releasing extended improvisations that last an hour or more, before each of the Evil Clown's Livestreamed performances they record a short improvisation, referred to as "Shorties", taking approaches that yield unique character to the longer works, collected here in 15 recordings with permutations of regular collective members.

Part of a concert to mark the 10th anniversary of the opening of Ftarri's physical store in Suidobashi, Tokyo, drawing on performers from the Improvised Music From Japan imprint, turntable and sonic legend Otomo Yoshihide performed this solo concert in two sets, first using a turntable and the Ftarri store's harmonium (pump organ), and then on the turntable alone.

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

"It will not have been included on purpose, but a phrase that Manuel Guimaraes says at the beginning of this solo piano record very we...

Teiku, a Talmudic acronym that roughly translates to "unanswered question", was co-founded by pianist Josh Harlow and percussionist Jonathan Barahal Taylor to explore each of their family's unique Passover vocal melodies through improvisation and sonic exploration, performed in a quintet with Art Ensemble/Sun Ra bassist Jaribu Shahid and reedists Peter Formanek & Rafael Leafar.

Lyrically upbeat and expressive piano trio compositions from Polish pianist Grzegorz Tarwid and his trio with double bassist Max Mucha and drummer Albert Karch, all active performers on the Polish and European free jazz secene, here in six works of diverse moods that start with Latin tinges and seamlessly work through playful and pointillistic pieces to end in a tranquil "Sleep".

A psychedelic set of recordings based around the guitar work of Philip Gayle, improvised, recorded, and layered into diverse experiments in sound and performed on banjo, bass, cello, door, guitars, mandolin, percussion, piano, toy piano, voice, ukulele and waterphone, with guests including saxophonist Shogo Ohshima and vocalists Shizka Ueda, Omusubisan and Fuuchan.

An enthusiastic and well-balanced studio recording in San Francisco from the trio of Zoh Amba on tenor saxophone, Chris Corsano on drums and Bill Orcutt on electric guitar, following Amba & Corsano's duo tour of the West Coast; this is a first meeting between Amba & Orcutt, who perform as a duo on two tracks, including a guitar duo with Amba on acoustic.

Eight compositions for solo 1/4 comma meantone organ by Serbian composer Ivan Vukosavljevic and performed by organists Tineke Steenbrink, Francesca Ajossa, Jan Hage, Lise Morrison, recorded in 2022 on five different historic organs, dating from the early 16th to mid-17th centuries, captured in medieval churches located in the countryside of northern Netherlands.

Straddling quirky folk song and experimental sound collage, the long-running Western Massachusettes duo of fiddler, banjo player & singer Mia Friedman and clarinetist, wind player & sound artist Andy Allen (Guerilla Toss) present an album of observational songs with unusual perspectives and an anything goes approach to the music that surrounds each song; delightful.

A powerful set of succint compositions, themes and sea shanties for the soundtrack for Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole's film Blow the Man Down , scored through the collaboration of composers Jordan Dykstra, who also performs on viola, piano, prepared piano, vibraphone & percussion, and Brian Mcomber, who also performs on keyboards and percussion.

With two bass players (Wilber Morris & Rafael Garrett), two drummers (Denis Charles & Thurman Barker, violinist Billy Bang and tenor saxophonist Frank Lowe, this 1984 album covered pieces from Jackie McLean, Butch Morris, Ornette Coleman and Rashied Ali, here remastered with a previously unreleased 1984 session including a 2-part suite composed by Billy Bang.

The day after their duo tour of the West Coast and a final fiery concert in San Francisco, tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba and drummer Chris Corsano joined guitarist Bill Orcutt in the studio to record this album, the two facets of Orcutt & Corsano's long-standing work together and the newer Amba/Corsano collaboration setting up this tightly linked set of collective improvisations.

Reedist Udo Schindler continues his exploration into the double bass and low-tone reed instruments, here on bass & contrabass clarinets contrasted only with his soprano saxophone, in a 2022 live recording from MUCCA_Kommandozentrate in Munich of the five-part improvisation "Hybride Synergetic" in a trio with double bassists Peter Jacquemyn and Georg Karger.

In the midst of pandemic, NY pianist & keyboardist Gordon Beeferman jumped on an opportunity to record in the studio, assembling saxophonist Michael Foster and drummer/percussionist Michael Evans to record with free improvising vocalist and story-teller Shelley Hirsch, whose nimble narratives guide these eleven interesting vignettes of far-ranging musical and sonic sources.

Saxophonist Allen Lowe's statement on American music and American song form across the many genres and styles that make up the terrain, including jazz, the blues, gospel, honky tonk, heavy metal, hillbilly/minstrel song & medicine shows, &c.; diverse forms of popular music that reflect a commingled society, as Lowe blurs the sacred and the profane with a stellar ensemble of musicians.

After suffering and recovering from cancer surgery for a tumor in his sinus, the darkest period of despair in NY-area tenor saxophonist Allen Lowe's life, he turned to composition of new jazz works, finding that the music poured out of him, as heard in this set of lyrical and sophisticated original compositions performed with his aptly named ensemble: The Constant Sorrow Orchestra.

Continuing the connections from prior Mahakala Music albums Warp & Weft, (Futterman/Hirsch) and Two Five None (Fowler/Hirsch) this album brings the three together as a dynamic trio recording the two-part "Ebb & Flow", a spectacular convergence that, true to the title, shows tremendous momentum and moments of great introspection, an incredible collective free encounter!

Perhaps the only recordings on the Sequential Circuits "Prophet" analog synthesizer by Sun Ra, starting with an extended solo performance that bridges jazz tradition and future spacewaves, followed by full Arkestra performances on a set of concepts around "The Prophet", with both Marshall Allen and John Gilmore at the helm above a cosmically percussive heavy ensemble.

A diverse album of compositional work from Australian pianist and The Necks legend Chris Abrahams, in two works of rich ambience and spacious soundscape performed on acoustic and electric pianos, organ, detuned bells and acousmatic sources, contrasted with two more capricious works on acoustic piano, unusual percussive platforms, haunting tones and moody interjections.

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.

Udo Schindler follows his duo album with drummer Eric Zwang-Eriksson @ Salon fur Klang+Kuns, Poetry?? Ein Wurfelwurf with this recording at BASIS_Sound_Space at MUCCA - Munich Center of Community Arts in Munich, Schindler on sopranino & tenor saxophones and the deep TUBAX, interacting with Eriksson's rapid-fire and uniquely voiced drum & percussion work.

Reissuing clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre's 1963 Columbia album Free Fall, presenting trio performances with bassist Steve Swallow and pianist Paul Bley recorded after their 1961 European tour, along with duos between Giuffre and Swallow and several solo tracks from the clarinetist himself, propelling himself and his band into his sophisticated, risk-taking chamber jazz compositions.