Stemeseder / Lillinger Quartet w/ Peter Evans & Russell Hall:
Umbra II (Intakt)
Austrian pianist Elias Stemeseder and German percussionist Christian Lillinger expand their partnership into a quartet with brilliant New York trumpeter Peter Evans and double bassist Russell Hall, in this all-acoustic follow-up to their 2023 album Umbra in 13 avant jazz compositions, inventively lyrical and unpredictably impressive, recorded in the warmth of the Van Gelder studios. ... Click to View
Keefe Jackson / Raoul van der Weide / Frank Rosaly :
Live at de Tanker (Kettle Hole Records)
Keefe Jackson on tenor & bass clarinets, Raoul Van Der Weide on bass & cracklebox, and Frank Rosaly on drums are heard in this 2022 live performance at De Roze Tanker in Amsterdam, reuniting the Chicago reedist with Rosaly, who is now based in Amsterdam, for six free jazz tunes: two Jackson compositions and four superb collective dialogs. ... Click to View
Pandelis Karayorgis / George Kokkinaris:
Out From Athens (Driff Records)
An active and well-balanced duo between Greek pianist based in Boston, Pandelis Karayorgis, and Greek bassist, concert organizer and publisher, George Kokkinaris, both from Athens and recording in the studio in that city, drawing on elements of contemporary music and free jazz in a mix of spontaneous dialogs, one solo improvisation from each, and three Karayorgis compositions. ... Click to View
Francisco Mela featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker:
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3 (577 Records)
The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing. ... Click to View
Francisco Mela featuring. Leo Genovese / William Parker:
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 3 [VINYL] (577 Records)
The third chapter in Cuban-Born, New York-based drummer Francisco Mela's tribute to his legendary mentor and bandleader Mccoy Tyner, in a trio with William Parker on bass and Leo Genovese on piano, celebrating the avant side of Tyner's work with Coltrane and his own bands, and the influence he had on Mela in encouraging him to push the boundaries of his playing. ... Click to View
Gleaming Shard (Wang / Bryerton):
Mirrors in Light Diamonds (Balance Point Acoustics)
Sculpted sonics through prepared guitars, electronics, synthetics, drums, gongs, metal and percussion, the Chicago duo Gleaming Shards of guitarist Da Wei Wang and drummer Jerome Bryerton, both veterans of improvisation, experimental and avant rock groups, evoke the album title and group name through shimmering and subtly shifting expanses of sound and punctuated movement. ... Click to View
Jean-Marc Foussat / Daunik Lazro:
Trente-Cing Miniutes & Vingt-Trois Secondes (Fou Records)
Titled for the length of the album (Thirty-Five Minutes & Twenty-Three Seconds) the duo of Foussat & Lazro, who have performed as a trio with Evan Parker and in the Clifford Thornton Memorial Quartet, concentrate their work into this incredible merging of transformative synthetics and textural sax expression, with moments of lyrical and alien beauty emerging from their sophisticated dialog. ... Click to View
Elliott Sharp (w / Sally Gates / Toshi Dorji):
Ere Guitar (Intakt)
Following his 2017 trio album with guitarists Marc Ribot and Mary Halvorson, New York guitarist Elliott Sharp returns to his Manhattan studio with two different guitarists--Bhutan guitarist Tashi Dorji living in Asheville, and New Zealand guitarist living in New York Sally Gates--for ten far-ranging improvisations of inspired technique and creative intent. ... Click to View
TriJJo (Jung-Jae Kim / Joel Haag / Henrik Wartel):
Conversations with Snow (Creative Sources)
The Swedish trio of South Korean tenor saxophonist Jung-Jae Kim, Joel Haag on guitar and Henrik Wartel on drums, recording in the studio for a mix of five original compositions from Jung-Jae Kim, often based around a motive or idea which is developed and expanded upon by each member of the trio, and five collective improvisation borrowing from a variety of styles. ... Click to View
Metal Chaos Ensemble:
Insanity Is Contagious (Evil Clown)
Metal Chaos Ensemble was formed in 2015 by reedist & percussionist David Peck and drummer Yuri Zbitnov as a working project to explore chaotic rhythms on metallic instruments with a rock sensibility; drummer Steve Niemitz now holds the drum chair, and the band is a prolific sextet with saxophonist Michael Caglione, trumpeter Bob Moores, synth player Eric Woods and guitarist Mike Gruen. ... Click to View
Axioms:
Extensions To Infinity (Evil Clown)
Axioms is based around the core trio of Boston multi-reedist, percussionist and composer David Peck, and Cecil Taylor associates Albey onBass (on bass) and poet Jane SpokenWord, here in a performance with collective core cellist & aquasonic performer Glynis Lomon, and guest improviser from New Orleans, Chris Alford on guitar, stomp box and percussion. ... Click to View
Albert Ayler with Don Cherry:
1964 Recordings First Visit Completed [2 CDs] (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Four sets of recordings from September, 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark from a week performing live at Club Montmarte, and a recording in Hilversum, The Netherlands for VARA Radio, collecting and remastering these vital recordings from tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's most vital free jazz quartet with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums. ... Click to View
Daniel Levin / Fala Mariam / Sei Miguel:
Panorama (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)
Performing in the liminal space between free improv, jazz & chamber-oriented improvisation, the trio of American cellist Daniel Levin with long-time Portuguese collaborators Sei Miguel on pocket trumpet and Fala Mariam on alto trombone, come together for these authoritative recordings in Lisbon, captured in the studio and at a live performance of solos & duos at Galeria Ze dos Bois. ... Click to View
K. Lyle Curtis / George R. Sams / Ra Kalam Bob Moses:
29 Birds You Never Heard (Balance Point Acoustics)
Powerful free improvisation led by the words of poet K. Curtis Lyle, known for his work with Julius Hemphill, part of a sextet with trumpeter George R. Sams, a member of United Front, two double bassists — Adi Bu Dharma Joshua Weinstein and Damon Smith — and two percussionists — Henry Claude and Ra Kalaam Bob Moses — in a gatefold CD with a 10-page booklet of related poems from K.Curtis Lyle. ... Click to View
Piotr Michalowski / Damon Smith:
How To Ripen In Ice (Balance Point Acoustics)
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. ... Click to View
Rebeka Zajc Rusjan :
Introducing Rebeka Rusjan Zajc (Clean Feed)
Clean Feed introduces listeners to Slovenian pianist living and working in Amsterdam, Rebeka Rusjan Zajc, through 5 CD-length "Piano Operas" of real-time compositions recorded in the studio — Fictus; Functio; Factum; Fabula; Furor — each illuminating aspects of the virtuosic artist's unique take on the tradition of solo improvised piano. ... Click to View
Manuel Zurria:
Fame di Vento [3 CDs] (ANTS Records)
A triple CD and 24-page booklet of recordings from Italian flutist and composer Manuel Zurria performing works by luminary composers including Alvin Lucier, James Tenney, Tashi Wada, Jürg Frey, Laurence Crane, &c., with an homage to Italian conceptual artist Alighiero Boetti, each CD punctuated with Preludes and Postludes performed with guest saxophonist Gianni Gebbia. ... Click to View
Eric Mimosa / Christian Vasseur:
Les Sans-Ombre (Creative Sources)
Duo guitar improvisations performed on archtop acoustic guitars from French guitarists Christian Vasseur and Eric Mimosa, nine improvisations recorded in the studio in Mons en Baroeul, France using impressive technique in a well-matched duo of virtuosic playing and wildly creative ideas that run the gamut from extremely energetic discussion to spacious observation. ... Click to View
Derek Baron / Luke Martin:
Distinct and Concealed [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)
NY composer & keyboardist Derek Baron meets with Minneapolis experimental composer & performer Luke Martin at Zeitgeist Center in New Orleans and at Resource Space in Minneapolis, MN to record these live performances on piano, keyboard, no-input mixing board and cassette recordings; minimal works of tension and release, incorporating movement, audience and room sounds into their contemporary improvisations. ... Click to View
Andrew Weathers :
AW Walks to the West Bank of the French Broad Every Day (Glomar Editions)
A 2-part work leveraging binaural recordings made in daily walks in Asheville, NC to different points of the French Broad River: Part 1 "Interior" is collaged as a room resonance study using hydrophone recordings of the French Broad, microtonal instruments by Ben Hjertmann plus piano & synth recordings; Part 2 "Exterior" is a layered alignment of the recordings from his walks. ... Click to View
Achim Kaufmann / Michael Moore:
'22 [2 CDs] (Ramboy)
With more than 25 years of experience playing together in bands including Trio Kamosc, Gueuledeloup Quartet and The Achim Kaufmann Trio, alongside duo performances playing original compositions and the music of Herbie Nicols, here now in a double CD from two concerts in Berlin in 2022, with one third of the material exploring the music of Andrew Hill. ... Click to View
Move (Gibson / Zenicola / Valinho):
Free Baile - Live In Shenzen (Clean Feed)
Move is the Lisbon-based trio of two Brazilian improvisers -- saxophonist Yedo Gibson (Eke, Naked Wolf) and electric bassist Felipe Zenicola (New Brazilian Funk, Chinese Cookie Poets) -- with Portuguese drummer João Valinho (Rodrigo Amado Refraction Quartet, Fashion Eternal), here caught live in a thrilling edge-of-your-seat concert at at B10Live in Shenzhen, China. ... Click to View
Rhodri Davies:
Telyn Wrachiod (Amgen Records)
Continuing his investigations into ancient Welsh Harps, the Telyn Wrachïod (which translates to the Witches Harp) used pegs or brags emerging from the string-holes, in Welsh called gwrachïod, which could be adjusted to press on the strings to create a buzzing percussive sound used for dancing, here in improvisations by Rhodri Davies using a Urquhart bray harp. ... Click to View
Houtkamp / Tramontana / Beresford / Blume:
Frush (FMR)
Expanding the enduring free improvising trio of Netherlands tenor saxophonist and clarinetist Luc Houtkamp, British pianist and player of electronics and objects Steve Beresford, and German drummer and percussionist Martin Blume, with Italian trombonist Sebi Tramontana for this exceptional concert captured live in 2023 at LOFT, in Cologne, Germany. ... Click to View
Anne Foucher / Jean-Marc Foussat:
Chair Ca (Fou Records)
Four journeys in passionately rich sound merging synthetics, acousmatic sources, field recordings and acoustic violin from the duo of Anne Foucher, who has worked with the Acousmaki collective, on violin and electronics, and Jean-Marc Foussat on Synthi AKS, piano, toys and voice, captured live in 2022 at rue Floreal, in Montpellier and at rue de Genac, in Bignac, France. ... Click to View
Gasper Livk:
Introducing Gasper Livk (Clean Feed)
A 5-CD Box set introducing the work of double bassist and composer Gašper Livk in five configurations — Gašper Livk Trio; Gašper Livk Duo; Gašper Livk Large Ensemble; Gašper Livk Double Bass Octet; and Gašper Livk Solo — released to coincide with his artist-in-residence appearance at the 2024 Jazz Festival Ljubljana. ... Click to View
Gerhard Uebele / Ernesto Rodrigues / Guilherme Rodrigues :
Con versa tions (Creative Sources)
Recordings from the Maeng Museum in Berlin, Germany from the free improvising string trio of father/son collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello with Berlin musicologist and violinist Gerhard Uebele, very much in a sophisticated chamber jazz mode that borrows from contemporary classical approaches and free improvisation. ... Click to View
Ernesto Rodrigues / Luisa Goncalves / Flak / Bruno Parrinha / Miguel Mira:
Nocturne (Creative Sources)
The title an apt description of this dreamlike improvisation guided by the piano of Luisa Gonçalves, in a quintet with Flak on acoustic guitar & ebow, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Miguel Mira on cello and Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, the latter adding crepuscular bird calls and whispers to this nuanced nocturnal meditation of dark ambiance and furtive encounters. ... Click to View
Tilth And Wind Tide (Korsmo / McLauglin / Weather / Yantis):
Anemoia (Glomar Editions)
The debut of Andrew Weather's label Editions Glomar, releasing the work of the artists he collaborates with, here in a set of electroacoustic improvisations from his Wind Tide studio in West Texas with Gretchen Korsmo on electric piano & electronics, Nathan McLaughlin on modular synth, Cody Yantis on bass clarinet, piano & synth, and Weathers on guitar, lap steel & electronics. ... Click to View
Erica Lyle Dawn :
Colonial Motels [CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD] (Notice Recordings)
The former touring guitarist for Bikini Kill, who has also worked with The Raincoats and Kim Gordon, in a 2-part solo work of experimental approaches to the electric guitar, starting with minimal loops that slowly layer in intensity until reaching a climactic release and dispersal, picked up again in the second part for a unique work of noise and alien guitar soloing. ... Click to View