Jennifer Allum / John Butcher / Ute Kanngiesser / Eddie Prevost:
Sounds of Assembly (Meenna)

Assembled in London to improvise music for Stewart Morgan's film Eddie Prevost's Blood, this release adds much more material beyond the soundtrack, in a superb example of free and charged creative improvisation seeking unique combinations of expression, from Jennifer Allum on violin, John Butcher on saxophones, Ute Kanngiesser on cello and Eddie Prevost on percussion. ... Click to View

Luis Vicente / Vasco Trilla:
Made of Mist (577 Records)

Mist and mystery in pensive and meticulous improvisation from the Portuguese duo of trumpeter Luis Vicente and percussionist Vasco Trilla, their 2nd studio album after their 2019 Clean Feed release, exploring textures and timbres through extended techniques and detailed percussive interaction, as confident expressions rise and submerges in a wonderfully abstracted haze. ... Click to View

Peter Brotzmann :
Along The Way [BOOK] (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

A beautiful 228 page limited edition hardcover book chronicling the last decade of artwork by saxophonist Peter Brotzmann, created spontaneously while on the road or between tours using materials at hand; featuring essays by Brotzmann, Thomas Milroth, John Corbett, Markus Muller, Sotiris Kontos, Stephen O'Malley, Heather Leigh and Karl Lippegaus. ... Click to View

Un Poco Loco (Fourneyron / Beliah / Gesser):
Ornithologie (Umlaut Records)

Formed in 2014 to explore their own personal history with jazz music, the French trio of Fidel Fourneyron on trombone, Sebastien Beliah on double bass and Geoffroy Gesser on tenor saxophone & clarinet put their focus on the master of be-bop, Charlie Parker, updating, reinventing and making an inventive playground of Parker's music through thirteen classics. ... Click to View

Itaru Oki Quartet:
Live At Jazz Spot Combo 1975 [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Late Japanese free jazz trumpeter and flute player Itaru Oki--one of the significant and early free jazz players in Japan in the 1970s, moving to France in the mid-70s to seek more opportunities to play--recorded this concert at Jazz Spot Combon as part of his farewell tour, performing with winds player Yoshiaki Fujikawa, bassist Keiki Midorikawa ad drummer Hozumi Tanaka. ... Click to View

Violeta Garcia / Chris Pitsiokos:
Uanmortaim (Relative Pitch)

From fractured and fragmented to assertively raw improvisation in the unusual pairing of saxophone and cello from Chris Pitsiokos on alto and Argentinian cellist Violeta Garcia, using intense approaches to their instruments in a reactive set of 11 concise dialogs, a well-matched meeting of innovative improvisers uniquely responding to and clearly enjoying an eccentric conversation. ... Click to View

Erin Rogers:
2000 Miles (Relative Pitch)

Focusing intently on multiphonics and long-form statements on the saxophone, the second solo album from Canadian-American saxophonist based in New York City, Erin Rogers, is a tour-de-force of unusual language on the instrument, exploring every inch from the reeds to the pads in manners uniquely harrowing, ingenious, awe-filled, unorthodox, and always inspired. ... Click to View

I/O: Carlos Santos / Ilrich Mitzlaff:
Studies on Colour Fields Modulation (Creative Sources)

Electronic improviser Carlos Santos, whose sound work started with VITRIOL in 1989, a laboratory for experimental sound actions, also studied painting and works as a graphic designer; here he joins with cellist and sound artist Ulrich Mitzlaff for two extended works taking their cue from the visual arts as they study and sonically reflect subtle modulations in color fields. ... Click to View

Nat Baldwin:
AUTONOMIA III: Endnotes [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Tripticks Tapes)

Extending his series of experimental works for solo double bass, NYC-based Nat Baldwin's 3rd "AUTONOMIA" release merges new music with noise in concentrated approaches through positioning the bass in unusual orientations to access the strings from below; using multiple bows, one prepared and one in agressive motion; and exploring the high harmonic range of the instrument. ... Click to View

Tim Olive / Kayu Nakada:
Entenka [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD] (Tsss Tapes)

Applying techniques similar to those of the prepared piano, Japanese experimental artist Kayu Nakada uses circuit bending--circuit boards from electronic instruments short circuited for new effects--joining forces with Japan-based Canadian electronic instrument maker Tim Olive (845 Audio) for four works of intriguingly interactive glitch, hum, static and sonic inexplicables. ... Click to View

Binker Golding / John Edwards / Steve Noble:
Moon Day [VINYL - Limited Edition] (Byrd Out)

UK saxophonist Binker Golding (Binker & Moses) in a new trio with the powerful rhythm section of frequent collaborators, double bassist John Edwards and drummer Steve Noble, in a commanding album of free playing with titles referencing Coltrane, conveying a strong sense of both 60s and modern free playing throughout, propelled by tight and near-telepathic interaction. ... Click to View

Mako Sica / Hamid Drake (feat Tatsu Aoki / Thymme Jones):
Ourania [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Feeding Tube Records)

The core of Chicago's Mako Sica--Brent Fuscaldo (electric bass, voice, harmonica & percussion) and Przemyslaw Krys Drazek (electric trumpet, electric guitar & mandolin)--join forces with Hamid Drake on drums & percussion, Tatsu Aoki on upright bass & shamisen and Cheer-Accident's Thymme Jones on keyboards, trumpet, balloon & voice for a warmly spiritual album. ... Click to View

Phill Niblock:
NuDaf (XI Records)

An extended electroacoustic composition from composer Phil Niblock based on recordings captured at Marcus Schmickler's Piethopraxis studio in Koln of bassoonist Dafne Vicente-Sandoval, layering her playing and using multiphonics to create beautifully rich textures that slowly evolve, shifting in hypnotic ways as the pieces arches and descends through harmonic interaction. ... Click to View

Beatriz Ferreyra :
Canto+ [VINYL + DOWNLOAD] (Room40)

GRM alumnus and collaborator with Pierre Schaeffer & Francois Bayle, French electroacoustic, acousmatic and musique concrete composer Beatriz Ferreyra is heard in five works from 40 years of compositions, astonishing pieces of embraceable, radical, strange and inspired sound, including the amazing "Mad Man's Song" and works dedicated to Bayle & Bernard Bashet. ... Click to View

Bruno Duplant:
Deux Songes (Les Jours Sont Faits Pour Expliquer Les Nuits) (Meenna)

Two beautifully subtle works for an ensemble of strings and electric piano from French composer Bruno Duplant, realized by the Boston-based Ordinary Affects ensemble or Jordan Dykstra, Morgan Evans-Weiler, JPA Falzone, Luke Martin and Ashley Frith, the first a quintet and the second a string quartet, creating illusory affects of motion and space through abstraction. ... Click to View

David Birchall / Adam Fairhall / Michael Perrett / Yoni Silver / Otto Willberg:
Aggregate Glows In The Cold (Creative Sources)

Three fully free studio improvisations recorded in Manchester from the quintet of David Birchall on electric guitar, Adam Fairhall on accordion, Michael Perrett on bass clarinet, Yoni Silver on bass clarinet and Otto Willberg on double bass, all masterful performers using a wealth of creative approaches to create unusual motion in rich sonic interaction. ... Click to View

Mara Kolibri / Fredi Proll:
Primus 17 (Creative Sources)

A diverse set of conversations between Austrian improvisers, drummer/percussionist Fredi Pröll (Trio Now!, Lull) and free vocalist Mara Kolibri, recording in the studio for seven concise and far-ranging dialogs, from cantankerous interactions to controlled incoherence of absurdly implied vocalization punctuated with creative percussive reaction, often returning to lyrical jazz-influenced moments. ... Click to View

Fluke-Mogul / Liberatore / Mattrey / Mendoza :
Death In the Gilded Age [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD (Tripticks Tapes)

Brought together by violinist Joanna Mattrey during the dark period of COVID lockdown, four NY free improvisers (Gabby Fluke on Mogul on violin, Matteo Liberatore on acoustic guitar, Joanna Mattrey on viola and Ava Mendoza on electric guitar) explore the implications of the pandemic through separation, loss and new life in 10 succinct and dynamic explorations. ... Click to View

Brainhack Musicbox (Bobrytsky / Lisovsky / Boldenko):
Brownarium (Brainhack Musicbox)

Each track named after a mythical Scottish character, the Ukrainian trio of Stanislav Bobrytsky on modular synth, Pavlo Lisovsky on tenor saxophone and Anton Boldenko on viola create a music merging free jazz principles with modular synthetic drone, creating an orchestral sound that still elucidates the detail of their uniquely orchestrated, rich sonic explorations. ... Click to View

Amalgamated (Bengsten / Newell / Klampe / Richards):
To (Aubjects)

Crossing experimental sound and rhythmic approaches that blend elements of electronic music, krautrock, noise, electronica and indescribable sonic environments, the quartet of Cory Bengtsen, Bob Newell, Phillip Klampe and Mike Richards are heard in their 6th full-length release, an embraceable and well-paced album of compelling beats and sonic surprises. ... Click to View

John Butcher / Dominic Lash / John Russell / Mark Sanders:
Discernment (Spoonhunt)

An album of perceptive free improvisation recorded live at London's Cafe OTO from the quartet of John Butcher on tenor & soprano saxophones, Dominic Lash on double bass, John Russell on guitar and Mark Sanders on drums & percussion, three "discerning" and one "discerned" dialogs of discriminating sophistication that only four such masterful and experienced musicians can convey. ... Click to View

Dominic Lash Quartet (w / Carmona / Tejero / Ward):
Limulus (Spoonhunt)

Honing their conversation in their third release as a band, British double bassist Dominic Lash's Quartet with Javier Carmona on drums & percussion, Ricardo Tejero on alto saxophone and Alex Ward on electric guitar are heard live at Cafe OTO in London, Lash providing all compositions and arrangements over six wide-ranging, edgy and innovative improvisations; outstanding! ... Click to View

Consorts:
Distinctions (Spoonhunt)

Composer Dominic Lash's Consort ensemble explores the possibilities of combining sustained-tone music, guided & free improvisation, and the relationship between acoustic and amplified sound, heard in this evolving, extended concert at Café Oto on Lash's 40th birthday, in a unique mix of acoustic & electronic instruments that even includes an amplified kitchen sink! ... Click to View

Mototeru Takagi Quartet:
Live At Little John, Yokohama 1999 (NoBusiness)

Three reed & wind players and a drummer from Japanese saxophonist Mototeru Takagi's collective free improvising quartet with fellow saxophonist Susumu Kongo, Nao Takeuchi on tenor sax plus flute & bass clarinet, and drummer Shota Koyama, recorded live in 1999 at Little John in Yokohama, Japan for three well-paced conversations of weaving winds and rhythmic intervention. ... Click to View

Itaru Oki Quartet:
Live At Jazz Spot Combo 1975 (NoBusiness)

Late Japanese free jazz trumpeter and flute player Itaru Oki--one of the significant and early free jazz players in Japan in the 1970s, moving to France in the mid-70s to seek more opportunities to play--recorded this concert at Jazz Spot Combon as part of his farewell tour, performing with winds player Yoshiaki Fujikawa, bassist Keiki Midorikawa ad drummer Hozumi Tanaka. ... Click to View

Bob Bellerue (feat. Brandon Lopez / Luke Stewart / Jessica Pavone):
Radioactive Desire [2 CDs] (Elevator Bath)

A fascinating work for free chamber music in feedback environments devised by sound artist Bob Bellerue and employing the talents of improvisers Brandon Lopez & Luke Stewart (double bass), Jessica Pavone (viola), Gabby Fluke-Mogul (violin) and Ed Bear (baritone sax), Bellerue performing on electronics, unattended instruments, feedback, suling gambuh, junk metal & cymbals. ... Click to View

Christian Ronn / Bob Bellerue :
Intoku Inversions (Anarchy Moon Recordings/Nishe)

Beautiful long-form drones and harmonic interactions develop and are then shaken up with sonic deformations and collisions, returning to beautiful environments and then reversed once again, from the duo of sonic explorers Bob Bellerue and Christian Ronn, recording in Copenhagen using organs, electronics, winds, and feedback to create these wonderfully alien domains. ... Click to View

David Myers Lee:
Reduced to a Geometrical Point (Cronica)

Using feedback matrices, oscillator banks and multi-processing, NYC sound and feedback artist David Lee Myers, A.K.A. Arcane Device, references the quote from metaphysics scholar Frithjof Schuon--"You must detach your life from an awareness of the multiple and reduce it to a geometrical point before God"--which he manifests in four focused works of rich, slowly evolving sound. ... Click to View

PEK Solo:
Completeness for Flutes and Double Reeds (Evil Clown)

Boston improviser and multi-instrumentalist David Peck (PEK) in a solo album using his Quartet of PEKs formats, improvising in the studio through four layers, presenting the final installment of a triptych of albums constrained to one or two woodwind instrument families - this one for flutes and double reeds, along with nadaswaram, shenai, goat horn, dizi, bass tromboon, &c &c. ... Click to View

PEK Solo:
Complex and Real Dimensions (Evil Clown)

Before initiating the live improvisation that makes up Complex & Real Dimensions, reedist and multi-instrumentalist David Peck built a foundation track including electro-acoustic instruments created by Tim Kaiser, particularly the loop-capable "Large Spring Box", creating tone, timbre and interludes over which PEK passionately performs. ... Click to View