Mario Pavone / Dialect Trio + 1:
Blue Vertical (Out Of Your Head Records)
Recorded in 2021, one of late New York bassist Mario Pavone's final studio albums sees the composer extending his Direct Trio of pianist Matt Mitchell and drummer Tyshawn Sorey with trumpeter Dave Ballou, a longtime collaborator who brings an additional level of lyrical excitement and sophistication to the group's work, in 9 substantial compositions and collective works. ... Click to View
Christopher Hoffman :
Asp Nimbus [VINYL] (Out Of Your Head Records)
With many parallels to and collaborative work with Henry Threadgill, cellist Christopher Hoffman pens eight dynamic compositions for his superb quintet of Bryan Carrott on vibraphone, Rashaan Carter on bass, Craig Weinrib on drums and David Virelles on piano, merging melodic approaches to creative jazz with interesting structures and virtuosic soloing from all performers. ... Click to View
James Lewis Brandon Quartet:
Code of Being (Intakt)
With a clarity in both improvising and in composing, NY tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis' second album with the rock solid quartet of Aruan Ortiz on piano, Brad Jones on bass and Chad Taylor on drums further explores his concepts of Molecular systematic music through powerfully solid compositions that lead to both lyrical and ardent soloing; exceptional. ... Click to View
Elliott Sharp SysOrk:
ReGenerate (zOaR Records)
As part of NY composer, guitarist, bassist, saxophonist and electroacoustic artist Elliott Sharp's 70th birthday observation he performed a series of concerts under the moniker "E#@70", initiating the series with this remarkable concert at Roulette, premiering 4 new works performed by his SysOrk ensemble, dedicated to performing Sharp's algorithmic scores, graphic notation and conductions. ... Click to View
Jason Kahn / Jon Mueller / Greg Davis:
Green Door (Autumn Records)
Recorded on the 7th of 8 concerts in a tour with the electroacoustic-improvising trio of Jason Kahn on percussion & electronics, Greg Davis on percussion & electronics and Jon Mueller on percussion & tape, an exemplary performance of close listening, highly textured and evolving ea-improv, each motion subtle and contributing to a richly diverse journey. ... Click to View
George Hadow / Dirk Serries:
Chapel (Creative Sources)
A duo of free and spaciously building exchanges between Dutch drummer George Hadow (Zwerv, The Blue Lines Trio) and Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries (A New Wave of Jazz), in an extended dialog of great technical skills and creative use of their instruments, performing live at the 2021 JazzBlast event held in the chapel Groels Kapel in Bocholt, Belgium. ... Click to View
Hannes Lingens:
Music For Strings (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Four compositions for strings from German composer Hannes Lingens, including the three-part "Triptych" work performed by the Ensemble CoÔ, a septet directed by bassist Félicie Bazelair that emphasizes bowed strings; and two solo works performed by Bazelair: "Methods and Materials" & "Solo for String Instruments" employing advanced approaches to the double bass. ... Click to View
Huvudbry:
Det ar ingen ordning pa allting [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Huvudbry Recordings)
Drummer Hampus Ohman-Frolund (Apuh!) leads the Huvudbry septet of structured rock forms, with an intriguing orchestration of trumpet, lap steel, double bass, guitars, keyboard and voice, using intervals of unusual sonic experimentation and field recordings to create a unique album that bassist Mats Dimming refers to as "A mix of Captain Beefheart, Yann Tiersen & Swedish House Mafia". ... Click to View
PEK Solo / A Quartet Of PEKS:
Strange Beauty Out of Chaos (Evil Clown)
Using a vast array of instruments categorized by clarinets, double reeds, flutes, free reed aerophones, strings, electronics, electroacoustic sound-makers, percussion, duck calls, sirens and voice, David Peck layers his improvisation into four renditions of himself, which he refers to as a Quartet of PEKs, this work focusing on new instruments developed by Tim Kaiser. ... Click to View
Albert Ayler:
La Cave Live, Cleveland 1966 Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
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.". ... Click to View
Judith Wegmann / Marlies Debacker / Lukas Biner / Nicolas Wolf:
Things In Between (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Featuring two pianists--Judith Wegmann and Marlies Debacker--and two percussionists--Lukas Briner and Nicolas Wolf (a duo who play concerts in the dark under the name of Night Shadow Noise)--in collective improvisations of two pianists or as a quartet of duel pianists and drummers, for seven exciting and sophisticated recordings of instant composition. ... Click to View
Irene Schweizer / Hamid Drake:
Celebration (Intakt)
Having performed together a number of times in festivals both in Europe and Chicago, the duo of drummer Hamid Drake and pianist Irene Schweizer reveals the familiarity and confidence their history brings to their improvisations, both in intense exchanges and playful melodic passages, as heard in this exemplary 2019 concert at Jazzgallery, in Nickelsdorf, Austria. ... Click to View
Tom Rainey Obbligato:
Untucked in Hannover (Intakt)
A collection of jazz standards performed with a modern approach to free playing, updating these essential melodies for the 21st century while adhering to their original warmth, from drummer Tom Rainey's exceptional New York Obligatto band of Ingrid Laubrock on saxophones, Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Drew Gress on bass, and Jacob Sacks on piano. ... Click to View
Punkt.Vrt.Plastik (Kaja Draksler / Petter Eldh / Christian Lillinger):
Somit (Intakt)
Perhaps one of the most complex piano trios active, Punkt.vrt.Plastik--Kaja Draksler on two different upright pianos, Petter Eldh on bass and Christian Lillinger on drums--explore unusual rhythmic approaches to jazz in exciting exchanges that fracture melody with rapidly veering impulse, always pulling back to reveal the mastery of their inventive playing. ... Click to View
Michael Formanek :
Imperfect Measures (Intakt)
Two decades after his last solo album, Michael Formanek returned to the studio to record these nine solo bass improvisations, each a profound spontaneous composition realizing structures and melodic development that incorporate journeys from abstraction into logical narrative territory as we follow the muse of a one of modern jazz' greatest bassists. ... Click to View
Ohad Talmor Trio (w/ Dan Weiss / Miles Okazaki):
Mise en place (Intakt)
Informed by the traditions of creative jazz; an interest in unusual time signatures; the music of Hinudstani and Brazil; through drummer Dan Weiss the influence of Indian Classical music; through Steve Coleman and Five Element compatriot, guitarist Miles Ozaki, an urban electric edge; making for an album both technically interesting and musically absolutely rewarding. ... Click to View
Brussel / Rodrigues / Rodrigues / Kurvers:
Fantasy Eight (Creative Sources)
A set of succinct string improvisations using extraordinary technique and concentration with a chamber improvisation feeling, recorded at Vivaldisaal in Berlin from the quartet of Portuguese father & son improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Berlin performers Julia Brussel on violin and Klaus Kurvers on double bass. ... Click to View
Sara Schoenbeck :
Sara Schoenbeck (Pyroclastic Records)
A document of bassoonist Sara Shoenbeck's collaborations recorded between 2019-2021 in recording studios across North America, showing the inspired curiosity she brings to improvisation through a diverse set of duos performed with Harris Eisenstadt, Nicole Mitchell, Nels Cline, Roscoe Mitchell, Matt Mitchell, Mark Dresser, Wayne Horvitz, Peggy Lee and Robin Holcomb. ... Click to View
Courvoisier / Halvorson:
Searching For The Disappeared Hour (Pyroclastic Records)
The second collaboration between pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson, six years after Crop Circles and a product of their tours together and the result of their both writing compositions specifically for their duo project, showing a level of communication that allows incredible inventiveness and moments of poignant exchange; exceptional. ... Click to View
William Parker (Parker / Carter / Drake):
Painters Winter (Aum Fidelity)
A 2nd season from composer, improviser & bassist William Parker, after his 2000 Thirsty Ear release Painter's Spring, this new trio album with drummer Hamid Drake, wind player Daniel Carter performing on trumpet, flute and reeds, and Parker himself on bass, trombonium & shakuhachi, paint the season with sound as they celebrate the winter through visionary jazz music. ... Click to View
Friedrichsschwerdt:
Gay - Wir Saunawirt (Euphorium)
The curious album of Friedrich Kettlitz, co-founder of Euphorium_Freakestra, reciting his poems (in German) set in 25 miniature recordings, also performing on english worker's flute, pling, metal kettle, felt head mallet, temple bell, in a duo with Oliver Schwerdt on piano, as well as small percussive devices, voice, slide whistles, a zither, and little cubic cardbox. ... Click to View
Rodrigues / Parrinha / Hencleeday / Valinho:
Flat Music (Creative Sources)
Two extended acoustic improvisations of reductionist approaches recorded in the studio in Parede, Portugal in 2021 from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Andre Hencleeday on piano and Joao Valinho on percussion, guided by a poem from Rodrigues as they slowly and exquisitly explore a "Closed Window" and an "Open Window". ... Click to View
Florian Wittenburg :
Kranenburg Tree (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Using a metasynth, a software instrument that allows the user to draw or paint music, and a photograph of a small tree observed at a former train station in the German town of Kranenbur, composer Florian Wittenburg generates complex sound structures from the simple structures of the tree's branches used as a template for four rich sonic sketches. ... Click to View
Eva-Maria Houben :
3 Trios (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
"Trios" refers to the relationship of two keyboards and the pedals of an organ, as performed by accomplished American composer Carson Cooman as he patiently unfolds Eva-Maria Houben's three minimal compositions exploring the relationships between three melodic lines or three-tone chords, presented on the Organ Probsteikirche St. Ludgerus, in Billerbeck, Germany. ... Click to View
Aaron Breylin Foster / Luke Martin:
Recursive Retent (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Excerpting part of an eight-hour performance recorded over an amplified live environment of a text score for two pianists using one piano, each positioned at the opposite registers of the piano, one player creating a block of note phrases using intervals of a 2nd or 3rd with each note allowed to decay before the next, repeated by the other player following a set of rules. ... Click to View
Leo Genovese:
Ritual (577 Records)
Essentially a piano trio, Portuguese pianist and composer Leo Genovese leads his trio with Demian Cabaud on bass and renowned drummer Jeff Williams (Lookout Farm, Dave Liebman), also joined by Argentinian vocalist Nadia Larcheron for four pieces, Genovese's compositions using interesting structures that balance warmly lyrical and experimental approaches to modern jazz. ... Click to View
Ming Bau Set (feat Gerry Hemingway / Vera Baumann / Florestan Berset):
Yakut's Gallop (Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))
Meeting regularly since 2018, these three Luzern, Switzerland improvisers have developed a shared language of collective creative improv, the best known of the three being drummer & percussionist Gerry Hemingway working with two younger generation musicians, acoustic & electric guitarist Florestan Berset and vocalist Vera Baumann, here in their first wonderfully paced album. ... Click to View
Whit Dickey / William Parker / Matthew Shipp:
Village Mothership [VINYL] (Tao Forms)
An exemplary piano trio of compatriots who have collaborated in configurations since the 1980s--drummer Whit Dickey, bassist William Parker and pianist Matthew Shipp--three New York legendary free players in their first record as a trio since 1992's Circular Temple, here in six studio group improvisations demonstrating their easy confidence in profound collective conversation. ... Click to View
Matthew Shipp:
Codebreaker [VINYL] (Tao Forms)
A fascinating solo piano record from New York free improvising luminary Matthew Shipp, a contemplative album that surprised even the pianist himself as he thoughtfully dissected harmonics to wring melodic fragments that bring sense to discursive streams of thought, his playing both investigational and charming, drawing an unlikely comparison to Bill Evans. ... Click to View
Andrea Parkins:
Two Rooms From The Memory Palace (Infrequent Seams Records)
Using piano, synthesizer, electronic feedback, field recordings and amplified objects, sound artist Andrea Parkins' long-cycle installation composition explores time and space in an 8-channel, multi-room work designed so that adjacent acoustical spaces respond to each other, creating shifting and unexpected sonic juxtapositions; CD package include a link to "The Third Room". ... Click to View
