Wadada Smith Leo / Douglas R. Ewart / Mike Reed:
Sun Beans of Shimmering Light (Astral Spirits)
Brass, winds and percussion bring a beautiful dialog of spiritually rich improvsations from the trio of Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, Douglas Ewart on reeds & wind instruments, and Mike Reed on drums, recording in the studio in 2015 for five contemplative, often meditative, yet always bold dialogs that use spacious and free timing that showcases each player's masterful skills. ... Click to View
Lisa Cameron / Sandy Ewen:
See Creatures Too [2 CASSETTES] (Astral Spirits)
From the depths of the deepest electroacoustic sea, the duo of Lisa Cameron on berimbauophone, percussion, & devices and Sandy Ewen on guitar & devices release the second of their "Sea Creatures" series: two cassettes of dark aquatic audio, one recorded in the studio and the other during their 2019 Texas tour celebrating the release of the first album. ... Click to View
Calle Neumann / Ketil Gutvik / Ingebrigt Haker Flaten / Paal Nilssen-Love:
New Dance (PNL)
After the 2019 retrospective box-set of the late 90s, legendary band The Quintet, and afeer the sad passing of bassist Bjornar Andresen, saxophonist Carl Magnus Neumann, guitarist Ketil Gutvik and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love decided to form a new quartet, adding bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, commencing their organization with this outstanding 2020 live concert in Oslo. ... Click to View
Inclusion Principle (Perez / Archer):
The Leaf Factory Fallback (Discus)
The duo of Herve Perez (Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere, AXIS) and Discus label leader Martin Archer, both saxophonists and sound artist 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.
... Click to View
Dirar Kalash:
Of Quietude (Discus)
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. ... Click to View
Lumpeks (Laurain / Borel / Koziel / Beliah):
Lumpeks (Bolt / Umlaut)
Bassist Sebastien Beliah leads this French-Polish quartet with Louis Laurain on cornet, Pierre Borel on alto saxophone, and Olga Koziel on voice & percussions, blending free jazz and tradition Polish music & songs with an experimental bent and the flourish of East European folk energy, a passionate mix that entertains and surprises the listener with unexpected twists & turns. ... Click to View
Magill / Hatcher / Kirchen / Kirshner:
Whole Abandoned Star (Kettle Hole Records)
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. ... Click to View
Max Bober:
Somos (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
Four works by Argentinian composer Max Bober living in Warsaw, Poland, performed in solo, duo and trio configurations by pianist Alejandro Peña Gutiérrez, flutists Francisco Rojas and Clara Peláez Hidalgo, and soprano Natalia Jarosiewicz; fragile works of depth and beauty that unfold gracefully. ... Click to View
Sergio Barco Cote:
Pink Noise(s) In Prime Numbers (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
"An invitation into our perceptual periphery, where noise(s) — and perhaps we — can be somewhat disobedient" read the liner notes to Colombian composer Sergio Cote Barco's sound work, three compositions from extreme minimalism and silence to rich sound, each varying the topography and envelopes of sound, ostensibly performed by "electronic music". ... Click to View
Erica Pomerance :
En Concert a la Commune le P'tit Quebec Libre [VINYL] (Tour De Bras )
A live recording from a concert presented during the Workers' Festival at the Municipality of Petit Quebec Libre in 1972 by Quebec counter-culture folk singer and documentary film maker Erica Pomerance, know best for her 1968 ESP album You Used To Think, here performing solo on guitar & voice, with previously unpublished songs and pieces from her ESP album. ... Click to View
Nate Wooley (w / Laubrock / Modney / Roberts / Courvoisier / Smythe / Matt Moran / Greenberg):
Mutual Aid Music [2 CDs] (Pleasure of the Text Records)
"Mutual aid" is the primary ethic of an anarchistic utopia in which each knows what they have, is honest about what they need, and is prepared to give and receive accordingly; here in 8 compositions from trumpeter Nate Wooley performed with Ingrid Laubrock, Sylvie Courvoisier, Cory Smythe, Josh Modney, Matt Moran, Russell Greenberg, and Mariel Roberts. ... Click to View
Flow Trio w/ Joe Mcphee:
Winter Garden (ESP)
Joining the exemplary New York City Flow Trio of Louie Belogenis on tenor & soprano saxophones, Joe Morris on bass, and Charles Downs on drums is NY legendary saxophonist & trumpeter Joe McPhee, performing on tenor saxophone in an album of collective free jazz that reminds its listeners of the power of passionately unfettered yet superbly controlled free playing. ... Click to View
Chris Corsano / Bill Orcutt:
Made Out of Sound (Palilalia Records)
Continuing the collaboration that started in 2013, the duo of drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt expand on their free playing during the pandemic, recording remotely, with Orcutt improvising two passes over Corsano's initial drum tracks, creating something that blurs the lines between jazz, rock, folk and something passionately unique to their dialog. ... Click to View
Chris Corsano / Bill Orcutt:
Made Out of Sound [VINYL] (Palilalia Records)
Continuing the collaboration that started in 2013, the duo of drummer Chris Corsano and guitarist Bill Orcutt expand on their free playing during the pandemic, recording remotely, with Orcutt improvising two passes over Corsano's initial drum tracks, creating something that blurs the lines between jazz, rock, folk and something passionately unique to their dialog. ... Click to View
Playfield (Carter, Muhr, Ishito, Plaks, Namenwirth, Takahashi, Swanson, Panikkar):
Vol. 2 (Orbit577)
The second of a 3-album trilogy, Playfield offers the musical equivalency of a walk through the diversity of New York in a loft-style extended improvisation from the octet of Daniel Carter on horns & reeds, Luisa Muhr on voice, Ayumi Ishito on sax, Eric Plaks on piano, Aron Namenwirth & Yutaka Takahashi on guitars, Zach Swanson on bass, and Jon Panikkar on drums. ... Click to View
Paul Dunmall / Keith Tippett / Philip Gibbs / Pete Fairclough:
Onosante (577)
A 4-track collective improvisation project performed by Paul Dunmall (saxophones, fife & bagpipes), pianist Keith Tippett, guitarist Philip Gibbs and drummer Pete Fairclough, recorded at Victoria Rooms at the University of Bristol, UK in 2000 and originally issued on Dunmall's own DUNS label, here reissued 20 years later in the memory of Keith Tippett. ... Click to View
David Shea:
The Thousand Buddha Caves (Room40)
Composer, keyboardist and conceptualist David Shea continues his musical journeys through the world's ancient trading routes that began with his albums Hsi-Yu Chi, The Tower of Mirrors, Satyricon and Rituals, here in ten encompassing compositions exploring the trading route from ancient Xian to Rome, through music, stories, history and Buddhist influences. ... Click to View
Michel Banabila :
Wah-Wah Whispers (Bureau B)
Dutch composer Michel Banabila amalgamates genres, using acoustic and electronics elements to serve his work, here in 8 recent pieces that blend electronica, world forms and soundscape in sophisticated ways, with vocal samples from all n4tural and Yuko Parris, guitar from Cok Van Vuuren, and a collaborative composition with Machinefabriek/Rutger Zuydervelt. ... Click to View
Sun Ra:
Extensions Out, Plus: Four Poetry Books (1959/1972) [4 BOOKS] (Corbett vs. Dempsey)
Four books of poetry by Sun Ra: two pamphlets that accompanied early Sun Ra albums issued in the late 1950s — Jazz By Sun Ra (1957) and Jazz In Silhouette (1959) — and two published more than a decade later later by Infinity Inc./Saturn Research: The Immeasurable Equation and the very rare Extensions Out: The Immeasurable Equation Vol. II. ... Click to View
Elephant9 :
Arrival Of The New Elders [VINYL] (Rune Grammofon)
After their double live albums, the Norwegian jazz-rock prog trio of Stale Storlokken on keyboards, Nikolai Haengsle on electric bass and electric & acoustic guitars, and Torstein Lofthus on drums & percussion, take a step back from the heavy grooves associated with their music to present a new chapter of sophisticated, spacious and sonically satisfying psychedelic interplay. ... Click to View
Dennis Gonzalez Ataraxia Trio+2 (w / Phelps / Lakpriya + Derek Rogers / Jess Garland):
Nights Enter (Ayler Records)
Unlike anything in trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez's discography, this album was developed from Moog recordings by Derek Rogers, whose shifting tonalities and colors led Gonzalez to a Jon Hassel-influenced approach, adding a rhythmic basis of tabla and djembe from Jagath Lakpriya and sitar-inspired harp from Jess Garland, underpinned by the rich bass work of Drew Phelps. ... Click to View
Baptiste Boiron / Bruno Chevillon / Frederic Gastard:
La [2 CDs] (Ayler)
During a residency in 2020 at the Domaine de Kerguehennec in Brittany, saxophonist and composer Baptiste Boiron developed this repertoire for the trio Lá of Boiron on soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, Bruno Chevillon on double bass, and Frederic Gastard on bass saxophone, Boiron's compositions applying a wealth of creative approaches merging contemporary and improvised playing. ... Click to View
Kuzu (Dave Rempis / Tashi Dorji / Tyler Damon):
The Glass Delusion [VINYL] (Astral Spirits)
A wild ride in two live performances, one at Elastic Arts in Chicago and the other at The Sugar Maple in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, both in 2018 from the Kuzu trio of Dave Rempis on alto, tenor & baritone saxophones, Tashi Dorji on guitar, and Tyler Damon on drums, evolving free improvisation that builds from introspective to full-on burning free jazz. ... Click to View
Luke Stewart Exposure Quintet:
[VINYL 2 LPs] (Astral Spirits)
Dave Rempis invited bassist & composer Luke Stewart to his Exposure Series at Elastic Arts in Chicago in 2018, assembling a band for Stewart with Edward Wilkerson & Ken Vandermark on reeds, Jim Baker on piano, and Avreeayl Ra on drums; Vandermark then invited the band back to his Option Series at Experimental Sound Studio; this double album presents recordings from both. ... Click to View
Sarah Alexander Ruth / Damon Smith:
God Made My Soul an Ornament (Balance Point Acoustics)
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. ... Click to View
Eric Wong:
Cognitive Dissonance (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
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. ... Click to View
Florian Wittenburg :
Beyond The Traceries (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
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. ... Click to View
Yannick Guedon:
L'insistance Des Possibles (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
French voice artist and composer Yannick Guédon 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. ... Click to View
Nordheim / Schmidt / Weinheimer:
Das Gekochte (Edition Wandelweiser Records)
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. ... Click to View
Well... The Yes (Jeph Jerman / Dave Knott):
No, Really. [CASSETTE] (Self Released)
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. ... Click to View
