The follow-up to NY drummer/composer Dan Weiss's 2018 release Starebaby is an unconventional compounding of electric jazz, doom metal, electronic music, and improvisation, performed with Matt Mitchell on piano & Prophet 6, Craig Taborn on piano, Fender Rhodes & synthesizers, Ben Monder on guitars, and Trevor Dunn on electric bass.

Recorded at the same time and influenced by the recording of their 2020 album The Anthony Braxton Project, the NY Thumbscrew trio of Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formanek on double bass & electric bass present 9 original compositions, three pieces from each of the musicians, of melodically inclined forward thinking, creative jazz.

Perhaps one of the quirkiest releases from the Klaxon Gueule trio of Michel F Côté, Bernard Falaise and Alexandre St-Onge, performing respectively on drums, guitar and bass, and all on synthesizers and computer, recalling early electronic albums while adding a whimsical and alluring edge to their often darker and more experimental prior releases.

Performing four of avant composer Alvin Lucier's works composed between 1991 and 2004, the Montreal-based Quatuor Bozzini (Clemens Merkel on violin, Alissa Cheung on violin, Stephanie Bozzini on viola, and Isabelle Bozzini on cello) focus on Lucier's works of sonic exploration, including the intensely harmonic interactions of the album's title work.

Rutger Zuydervelt (aka Machinefabriek) invited 41 drummer/percussionists including Tony Buck, Vasco Trilla, Tim Barnes, Greg Stuart, Cyril Bondi, &c. to take part in a project by recording a few short fills or phrases, which Zuydervelt used as "Lego Bricks" to build a series of short rhythmical collages, the results being 24 diverse and fascinating compositions.

The debut of a new electric jazz quintet from NY violinist Sana Nagano, with Peter Appfelbaum on tenor saxophone & megaphone, Keisuke Matsuno on electric guitar, Ken Filiano on acoustic bass & effects, and Joe Hertenstein on drums, an inventive and energetic album of joyful urgency and tremendous group dynamic, fueled by Nagano's exuberant and lyrical compositions.

A remarkable tour de force of solo piano improvisation on this self-released album from Virginia-based but New York-associated pianist Joel Futterman, recording in the studio in 2009 for a three-part series of exploratory and profoundly masterful improvisations, captivating with intense and technical passages that yield to lyrically beautiful and expansive playing.

An almost hour long "Rhizome" of free improvisation and a brief "Renewal" from the duo of Joel Futterman on piano and Ike Levin on tenor sax & bass clarinet, performing live at Constellation in Chicago in 2017, for a wonderfully evolving work of suspense, release, technical brilliance and exuberant expression, a dialog that only two such frequent collaborators can evoke.

Beginning in 1995 in Seattle, audio explorers Jeph Jerman & David Knotts explore lo-fi approaches using cassettes, mini-cassettes, dictaphones, various assortments of homemade instruments & collected materials, this 2020 cassette including recordings of mouth, stone, wood, glass, metal, paper, plastic, radio, and input from a number of contributors.

The third and final CD in composer John Zorn's trilogy inspired by historic figures of Christian mysticism, following works for Francesco d'Assisi and Julian of Norwich, these 10 pieces are conducted by Zorn and written specifically for the acoustic guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley; an album of breathtaking character and inspired playing.

Two quartets performing two live concerts from 1963 led by John Coltrane on tenor & soprano saxophones, the first at the Newport Jazz Festival with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass and Roy Haynes on drums, the second at Birdland with Elvin Jones on the drums, plus 2 studio recordings with that quartet at Van Gelder Studio in the same year.

Working in a Derek Bailey vein of solo guitar improvisation, Portland, Maine improviser E. Jason Gibbs presents 14 performances on the acoustic guitar, cohesive pieces of confident development that reference not only the London improviser, but also shades of Americana and a unique voice and set of strategies uniquely his own.

French voice artist and composer Yannick GuŽdon living in Brussels composed this extended work, the title translating to "insistence on possibilities", realized with cellist Deborah Walker and violist Cyprien Busolini, Guédon merging extended utterance into long string drones, contrasted with silence, as the piece moves through very specific placement.

Sharing compositional credits with the title translating to "the cooked", the trio of Andreas Nordheim on cornet, Ole Schmidt on clarinets, and Chris Weinheimer on flutes, with pianist Jan Gerdes guesting on one piece, present 16 recordings of minimalist harmonic and tonal development, mysterious and haunting works are taxonomically named by their location.

Various facets of German composer and experimenter Florian Wittenburg's interests, in two iterations of two pieces and two compositions, using voice, vibraphones and ringing bowls, treated electronically to emphasize unique characteristics of sound from warmly rich to mysteriously fragile, balanced with space and careful timing; a valuable introduction to his work.

Guitarist, computer musician, and improviser Eric Wong (D.N.A.N.D.N.A. with Simon Rose) focuses on sound textures and perception of sound, in three works composed using Ableton Live that explore concepts of psychoacoustic sound through dissonance, harmonic interference and hallucinatory sound, slowly developing works of rich sonic characteristic.

A live concert of collective free improvisation captured at Elastic Arts in Chicago in 2018 between Rob Magill on tenor & soprano saxophones, Gerrit Hatcher on tenor saxophone, Charlie Kirchen on bass, and Julian Kirshner on drums, an energetic and diverse concert in three conversations that allow for great discourse and extended soloing; numbered edition of 150 copies.

French sound artist Karbe Dinel creates a complex work of sound that shifts through diverse moods and seamlessly dovetailed sections, using synthesizer and effects to create deep resonating tones and high pitched complements, mysterious grainy ambience, haunting chambers of drifting electronics; a mysterious and compelling journey in the electronic realm.

Recorded at the same time and influenced by the recording of their 2020 album The Anthony Braxton Project, the NY Thumbscrew trio of Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formanek on double bass & electric bass present 9 original compositions, three pieces from each of the musicians, of melodically inclined forward thinking, creative jazz.

An unusual duo of double bass, voice, hammered dulcimer, recorder, slide whistle, and various objects, recorded in 2019 between bassist Damon Smith and Sarah Ruth Alexander, freely improvising through nine pieces that show the breadth of creative imagination and powerful technical skills of each; curiously compelling, unpredictable and marvelously diverse.

A merging of free jazz and free improvisation in the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser on "ismguitar", N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in the studio in London for two exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv.

An exciting album of free jazz from the Australia/London-based Cyclone Trio, their name apt in the feverish interaction between saxophonist Massimo Magee and dual drummers Tony Irving and Tim Green on the opening work, the album patterned like a storm that slows introspectively for a quiet eye, then drums up a final gale force that dissipates to a sort of calm; brilliant.

Null Hypothesis is a return to the birth of Metal Chaos Ensemble 5 years previously with Null Theory, the duo of David Peck (PEK) on reeds, winds, percussion and other unique percussive elements, and Yuri Zbitnoff on drums, chimes, and other percussion - no spoken words accompaniment tracks, or overdubs, simply Zbitnoff and PEK and a room full of percussion, horns and electronics tearing it up live to YouTube for 70 minutes; epic.

The final issue of 2020 is is dedicated to the art of conversation in music and about music during the age of pandemic; with Debby Friday on the cover, plus articles about Victoria-based composer Anna Höstman, Tehran-born Araz Salek, Tkarón:to-based saxophonist and composer Olivia Shortt, with a CD including tracks from those artists, plus reviews, articles, &c.

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Four times David Peck, as the Boston reedist and multi-instrumentalist leverages concepts from his graphic scores for the Leap of Faith Orchestra designed to limit the excesses of large ensemble in improvisation, following his score of symbols and written instructions through four recorded iterations, listening to and reacting to the previous layers in a virtual quartet of PEKs.

The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.

The Brooklyn trio of Yuma Uesaka on tenor saxophone & clarinets, Cat Toren on piano & synthesizer, and Colin Hinton on drums, percussion, gongs, glockenspiel, & vibraphone, in a sophisticated album of modern creative improvisation with a lyrical attitude and a confidently introspective approach, all three players contributing original compositions to this debut album.

The fourth of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Janet Feder, Martin Vishnick, Ikbal Lubys, Edward J. Gibbs, Joshua Weitzel, Guram Machavari, Eric Wong, Garth Erasmus, and Bill Horist.

The third of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Sergio Sorrentino, Christian Vasseur, CharbelHaber, Misha Marks, Henry Kaiser, Nick Ashwood, Emil Palme & Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen, Sharif Sehnaoui, Colin Robinson, Martin Huba

Matt Weston (Arthur Brooks Ensemble V, Arc Pair) initiates a series of limited cassette releases with this solo album, seven works of percussion using traditional and idiosyncratic percussive sources with a pensive pace and somewhat irascible attitude, each piece fully notated and executed live in the studio, using a similar aesthetic to link each work.

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.

The remarkably creative flutist & saxophonist Jean Derome often incorporates unusual instruments into his improvisations and compositions, including bird calls, harps, kalimbas, sirens, flower plastic wrappings, bells, &c &c.... on this album Derome focuses on those unique instruments and noise makers through 23 surprising pieces illustrating his incredible collection.

A single piece recorded live for Ingebrit Haker Flaten's 2020 Sonic Transmissions Festival finds the Danish saxophonist in an extended improvisation of varying moods, applying a diverse set of methods and technical approaches to the horn, from quiet meditate work to full-throated exuberance, in a remarkably personal journey of confident exposition.

Applying extended techniques from rubbing & scraping to sawing and striking, New York violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul presents a bold solo violin album of 6 pieces with titles like "Bruise" or "Teeth", drawing an incredible gamut of unusual sounds from the violin and its body, occasionally adding vocal utterance, all laid out with a wonderfully quirky sense of timing.

With the sudden cessation of touring due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Satoko Fujii turned to composing and recording herself in a home studio that she developed with the help of sound engineer Mike Marciano, freeing herself to explore new compositional methods and approaches to theory, this superb solo album the results of seven months of sublime self-expression.

Focusing on the harmonic interaction, delicate nuances and harmonic functionality of closely related tones, Chicago instrumentalists Zachary Good on clarinet and Ben Roidl-Ward on bassoon recorded these six works of acoustical and phenomenological events using the interplay between coinciding clarinet and bassoon notes, creating illusory and haunting tonal works.

The Montreal-based Chorale Joker ensemble directed and conducted by Joane Hétu, Danielle Palardy, and Jean Derome, who are also participants, is one of the most unusual and fascinating improvising vocal ensembles active, heard here in a concert coordinated with Productions SuperMusique at Le Vivier, Amphiteatre du Gesu, Montreal in early 2020; indescribably fascinating!

Using an unusual re-tuning of the piano, saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh enlists three inventive pianists--Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, and Craig Taborn--for a set of melodically-oriented duos, Modirzadeh using alternate fingerings and embouchure adjustments to achieve intervals between major and minor, together freeing the improvisers to explore new tonal possibilities.

The husband and wife duo of New York free improvisers, Reut Regev on trombone and Igal Foni on drums, both bringing electronics to their session, in surprisingly their debut duo release after two decades of musical collaboration and shared life, their assurance and intimacy evident in the relaxed spontaneity and sheer musicality they bring to their dialogs.

The fourth and final night of a series of concerts after three nights of trios and quartets, this live recording captures the duo of legendary Japanese drummer Sabu Toyozumi and American alto saxophonist living in the Philippines Rick Countryman, freely improvising four impresseive and creative conversations of both intricate and reflective dialog.

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Focusing on the harmonic interaction, delicate nuances and harmonic functionality of closely related tones, Chicago instrumentalists Zachary Good on clarinet and Ben Roidl-Ward on bassoon recorded these six works of acoustical and phenomenological events using the interplay between coinciding clarinet and bassoon notes, creating illusory and haunting tonal works.

Recording in Altes Wannenbad Gera, in Gera, Germany, an ensemble of performers associated with Ensemble Open Music Gera and Ensemble Zeitkratzer perform James Tenney's work exploring concepts of tuning systems, sound/noise, consonance/dissonance, sound/silence, and organisation of time, in three pieces that use a climax-oriented form Tenney refers to as "swell pieces".