Chris Dadge (drums, percussion) and Andre Bourgeois (saxophones) play two sets of mostly straightforward free jazz with reasonably fixed outlines throughout the structure of each piece.

A live concert in Quezon City from the Manila based duo of Rich Countryman on alto saxophone and Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, who are joined on one track by acoustic bassist Simon Tan and trombonist Isla Antinero.

Percussionist Hemingway with John Butcher on tenor and soprano sax performing live in 2005, demonstrating their extended language in a brilliant and eccentric dialog.

Intense free improvisation recorded in the studio from the Netherlands duo of Rene Aquarius on drums and Otto Kokke on saxophone, in an ever-shifting display of technical prowess and twisted approaches to playing, a controlled grindcore of cathartic jazz.

The collaboration of UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall and American ex-pat drummer Tony Bianco has at least a 15 year history, heard in these telepathic duos of free improvisation recorded at Delbury Hall, Shropshire in 2014 for 3 extended works of breathtaking playing.

Inspired by European improvisation, 60's NY-loft-avant-garde and Ethiopian jazz, Heaven, the Norwegian collaborative project of Danish saxophonist Henrik Pultz Melbye and Norwegian drummer Ole Mofjell, merge rhythmic and melodic realms, adding stretches of noise and non-idiomatic sounds, in fast-paced, highly-energetic, and highly-informed performances.

A demanding duo from New York drummer William Hooker and Lithunian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas, performing live at the 2013 Vilnius Jazz Festival, hard-edged and rugged free music from two outstanding players.

Drawing on several years and many shared projects, the duo of Ingrid Laubrock (sax) and Tom Rainey (drums) recorded this excellent album of sophisticated improvisation at the end of a 17-date tour, performing for a studio audience at Audio for the Arts in Madison, Wisconsin.

After many years collaborating together, New York saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey present their debut as a duo in a series of improvisations, from subtle interaction to rousing interplay.

2011 live recordings from The Loft in Cologne of Swiss saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and London drummer/percussionist Roger Turner, 7 improvisations that shifts from introspective to highly active discourse using extended and unusual techniques.

Berlin-based improvisers Christian Lillinger on drums and Tobias Delius on tenor sax and clarinet in an album of powerful rhythms, instant melodies, and quick-witted responses, bridging a generation of experience in dialog and give and take that works well head on and in reserve, a great encounter from two modern and active creative players.

Much more than a simple duo, with overdubbed saxophone Martin & Shaw make large and complex environments & orchestral sections over which they nimbly improvise.

The first in a series of releases from Bug Incision's archive of late saxophonist Dan Meichel, from recordings in Calgary in 2008 showing Meichel's articulately heavy style against Dadge's inventive drumming and percussion.

London master drummer Steve Noble (Rip Rig and Panic, Derek Bailey), a mainstay on the scene for decades, with Scandinavian free improvising saxophonist Kristoffer Berre Alberts (Cortex, Saka, Starlite Motel) for a live album of uproariously driven, skronky free jazz.

An extremely unique sax and drums album, as Rova leader Larry Ochs and New York drummer Gerald Cleaver take their tenor and sopranino saxophones, and drums and percussion, into the absolute darkness and stillness of the Portel Cave in the South of France, using the resonance and inspiration of the cave to record these seven incredible improvisations.

The enduring sax and drum duo format is invigorated with US drummer Chris Corsano and Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen, who push each other in free improvisation that uses insanely great technique while delivering a passionate and ecstatic dialog.

Long-time collaborators and compatriots Frank Paul Schubert on soprano sax and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums and percussion recorded these intricate and engaging improvisations in their shared studio in Berlin, presented as a live album, unedited and in the order performed.

A live concert from soprano saxophonist Airel Shibolet performing with drummer Haggai Fershtman live in Tel Aviv, 2010, part of Kadima's Cy Twombly live performance series.

Members of the Polish Infant Joy Quintet and Warsaw Improvisers Orchestra--saxophonist Jan Malkowski and drummer Dominik Mokrzewski--pair off in a dynamic album of solid free jazz, influences feeling like Albert Ayler or Steve Lacy, as the two show great technical and creative skills, sometimes in great motion, sometimes reflective, showing great command and direction.

1st release for the duo of wind player Linsey Wellman and percussionist Mike Essoudry embracing stasis and movement, meditation and exuberance, delicacy and amplitude.

The longstanding relationship between US alto saxophonist living in the Phillipines, Rick Countryman, and legendary free improvising Japanese percussionist Sabu Toyozumi, heard in two previous albums, is here captured live in concert in the Phillipines in 2018, revealing active and thoughtful dialog of great expression and skill, an inspired encounter of free playing.

Featuring an x-rated insert in a puff-up brown paper package, Mr. Dorgon attacks with two electronic works and a harmonica solo from a live show on KFJC in California.

Through extended approaches to their instruments, Lebanese saxophonist Christine Abdelnour and NY drummer and slide clarinetist Chris Corsano create anomalous and unorthodox sound environments, Abdelnour making acoustics sound electronic through growls, smears and odd harmonics, while Corsano abuses an impressive palette of sound from every inch of his drums.

Chicago percussionist Frank Rosaly relocated to Amsterdam in 2016, but his 20+ year collaboration & friendship with Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis continues, as evidenced in this live performance at Elastic Arts in 2018 during Rosaly's visit back to the Windy City, rewarding listeners with 2 CDs experiencing the two reacquaint through beautifully paced, adventurous dialog.

Half protest statement and half call for renewal, America offers a wonderful combination of the familiar and the unexpected in improvised and heartland music.

Performing at Astor Place in the East Village, NYC every Sunday for 3 years prior to this recording created the unique sound and tight interactions of these remarkable recordings.

A truly unique duo album of sax and drums from Chicago reedist Mars Williams and Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla, using their immense technical skills to pivot reflective and meditative playing around exuberant free jazz spirit, maintaining a sense of journey and sonic introspection through unusual and extended technique; a beautifully balanced album.

A burning album of free jazz caught live at Au Topsi Pohl, in Berlin, Germany in 2019 between the long-running duo of tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and drummer Antonin Gerbal, best known for their work in Zoor or Denzler-Gerbal-Dorner, here working an "Interstellar Space" area of strength and energy through intense interaction and cathartic playing.

After 3 consecutive nights performing in trio & quartet formats at Balete at Kamias, in Quezon City, Philippines, the duo of drummer Sabu Toyozum and alto saxophonist Rick Countryman performed the final set as a duo, their many collaborations evident in the freedom and flexibility each provides to the other, delivering an exemplary example of a free jazz sax & drum duo.

Two Chicago compatriots--established drummer/percussionist Adam Shead and newcomer to the Chicago improvised scene, saxophonist and multi-reedist Chris Moore, in an expressive album of sax & drum interaction, thoughtful interactions in twelve succinct dialogs that focuses on the depth of their conversation through clear expression and response.

The quartet of Sergio Armaroli (vibraphone), Martina Brodbeck (cello), Francesca Gemmo (piano), and Fritz Hauser (drums & percussion), also heard in free improvisational duos and trios, perform Armaroli's "Structuring the Silence", aiming to extend the performers' improvisational freedom using time and space through broad compositional instructions.

Six compositions for solo piano written by English composer Christopher Fox between 1991 and 2015, performed by Netherlands pianist John Snijders at Abbey Road Studios in London, each work uniquely approached in both writing and performance, each a concept or style that brings something unique to Fox's music while still retaining his voice and character in composition.

Seven works composed in the 21st century by Sebastian Gottschick, who arranges and conducts the Ensemble Fur Neue Musick Zurich, configured as an ensemble with percussion, a sextet, a chamber ensemble with baritone and soprano, and performing himself solo on viola; sophisticated and modern works that employ complex tonality, timbre and playing techniques.

Active since 2010, the German/Swiss duo of classical guitarist Christian Buck and improviser Christian Wolfarth occupies a space between music and sound art, as they perform two works each by Ed Haubensak and Tomas Korber, pieces that make use of time, microharmonies, multiphonics, unusual tuning systems, interference patterns, and other conceptual approaches to music.

Drawing on material from Billy Strayhorn, Thelonious Monk, Michel Legrand, Harry Warren, and Victor Young, the lyrical duo of saxophonist Alex Hendriksen (Swiss Jazz Orchestra) and double bassist Fabian Gisler (Jurg Wickihalder European Quartet) cite the art form of storytelling as central to their music as they reflect thoughtfully on the American Songbook.

As part of her Colonial Piano Project, Australian pianist Gabriella Smart commissioned and performs "Kaps Freed" by Cat Hope, a contemplation of composer Percy Grainger's Free Music ideals, with Stuart James on electronics; and the alliterative "Two New Proposals for an Overland Telegraph Line ..." by Erkki Veltheim, inspired by the 1st piano to arrive in Alice Springs, AU.

The second album of piano works from Japanese composer Jo Kondo performed by pianist Satoko Inoue--a noted interpreter of solo works by Feldman, Ferrari, and Cage--here presenting all of Kondo's works for solo piano written from 2001 to 2012, alongside two early works from 1975, exploring a wealth of harmonic, rhythmic, and conceptual ideas from a diversity of projects.

Conductor Sebastian Gottschick presents an additional selection of songs and chamber music works from composer Charles Edward Ives that reflect this broad range, 20 mostly brief and innovative works composed between 1898 and 1921, blurring the boundaries between genres through unusual motifs, themes, gestures and phrases that appear in new vocal and/or instrumental contexts.

West Coast composer and saxophonist Noah Kaplan, associated with Anthony Coleman, David Tronzo, Peter Erskine, Rinde Eckert, Joe Morris, Mat Maneri, Joe Maneri, &c., here in his 3rd album with his Noah Kaplan Quartet, in a set of original compositions and one standard performed with Joe Morris (guitar), Giacomo Merega (electric bass) & Jason Nazary (drums, electronics).

The innovative string trio of Daniel Studer on double bass, Harald Kimmig on violin, and Alfred Zimmerlin on cello, develop focused environments of timbre, texture, dynamic and space, seemingly abstract yet incredibly concentrative and virtuosic interaction, here joined by Chicago trombonist and electronics artist George Lewis adding a 4th profound layer to their incredible conversation.

The long-running duo since 1987 of spouses, pianist Hildegard Kleeb and trombonist Roland Dahinden, are joined by Swiss-born/ Berlin-based percussionist & vibraphonist Alexandre Babel for an album of interweaving and contrasting instrumental lines, blurring the boundaries between contemporary music and improvisation through exceptional mastery and dialog.

1992 live performances demonstrating masterful freedom in improvisation, recorded while on their first tour as a duo after working together in larger ensembles, from Hans Koch on clarinet, bass clarinet and tenor & soprano saxophones, and Paul Lovens on drums, cymbals, gongs & musical saw, in four live improvisations from Bulgaria presented in the order recorded.

With a superb septet of improvisers also versed in contemporary music, trumpeter Franz Koglmann presents sophisticated compositions that interject the concept of "solitude" in the three-part title track, alongside Koglmann compositions and Jimmy Giuffre's "Finger Snapper", using striking orchestration of trumpet, sax, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, french horn, cello and double bass.

The Die Unwucht (The Imbalance) duo of saxophonist Christopher Kunz and drummer Florian Fische was formed to explore jazz tradition while looking for ways to break down restrictive boundaries and create their own forms of expression, achieving a great balance and equality in Kunz' lyrical playing with a Getz/Desmond sound against Fische's active interactions.

Two works commissioned by the Austrian Studio Dan ensemble: "As We May Feel" by George Lewis, referencing visionary engineer Vannevar Bush's concepts of data linking & association, in a work reminding how music recombines and associates; and Oxana Omelchuk's double concerto for two trombonists, "Wow and Flutter", taking listeners on a profound journey through recording technologies.

An essential part of the New York jazz scene since the mid-80s, pianist Russ Lossing's compositions employ concept and space in unique and personal ways, as heard in these 8 original works performed with his trio of long-time collaborators, double bassist Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Billy Mintz, for an album of highly evolved and lyrically sophisticated music.

Captured live in Ljubljana during the 2019 "Sound Disobedience Festival", European Free Improv legendary drummer Paul Lovens co-composed this work with Swiss guitarist Florian Stoffner, "Tetra" referring to structures of 4, as in their 4-part improvisation with each player using all 4 limbs in a remarkable dialog of time, tone, technique, and nearly telepathic intention.

The innovative acoustic free improvising ensemble Polwechsel, bridging contemporary music and free improvisation in ways that sound deceptively electroacoustic and comprised of Michael Moser on cello, Werner Dafeldecker on double bass, and Martin Brandlmayr & Burkhard Beins on cymbals & percussion, are joined by Klaus Lang performing on the church organ of St. Lambrecht's Abbey.

Swiss trumpeter Silvan Schmid (Silvan Schmid Quintett, London Improvisers Orchestra, Floor Poodle, &c) in a solo album of remarkable technique, pacing and intention, using traditional brass elements like rips, smears, half-valved notes and portamento, along with murmurs, pops & percussive evocations of indescribable origination, at times augmented via amplification.

Captured live at the 2016 Jazz at the Factory Festival in Sao Paulo, this addition to New York pianist Matthew Shipp's catalog finds the masterful player presenting his own compositions like "Symbol Systems", "Gamma Ray" or "Invisible" light alongside unique takes on "Angel Eyes", "On Green Dolphin Street", "Yesterdays" and "Summertime".

A live album at Kunstraum Walcheturm from Swiss double bassist Daniel Studer's quintet of strings and piano, with Harald Kimmig on violin, Frantz Loriot on viola, Alfred Zimmerlin on violoncello, and Philip Zoubek on piano, performing an inventive set of Studer compositions extending string improvisation to extremes through unorthodox structures and techniques.

Named for a Don Cherry composition included on this album, the core trio of The Thing--Mats Gustafsson on reeds, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums--is joined by saxophonist and pocket trumpter Joe McPhee, recording classic free jazz and harmolodic pieces by Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, James Blood Ulmer, Frank Lowe, & Joe McPhee.

Trumpeter Marco von Orelli's piano-less quartet with Tommy Meier on tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, Luca Sisera on double bass, and Sheldon Suter on drums is caught live at Theater am Gleis, in Winterthur, Switzerland in 2018, and at Boudoir au Revoir, the same year, performing von Orelli's compellingly clever compositions, plus one each from Adam lane and Tommy Meier.

A remarkable album of solo trumpet improvisation of incredible and creative technique, performed on trumpet, cornet, piccolo trumpet and slide trumpet, from Swiss trumpeter Marco von Orelli, the album title referencing a work by Charles Ives for offstage string ensemble, woodwind quartet and, most significantly for this album, solo trumpet.

Through preparations, computers, contact microphones, gongs, feedback and other tools, Swiss pianist, composer & improviser Judith Wegmann's work transform the sound of the piano into an otherworldly instrument, set against more traditional acoustic pieces of a reflective nature, together creating a conceptual set of ten pieces in a uniquely flexible approach.

Borrowing elements from a vast spectrum of improvisatory styles, fueled by a variety of saxophones, tanpura, drums, prepared cymbals and voice, Swedish improviser Martin Küchen (Angles) joins with Slovak percussionist living in Oslo, Michaela Antalová, taking their listeners on a meteorological journey through a remarkable tempest of sound.

For more than 15 years multi-reedist, wind and trumpet player Daniel Carter and drummer Federico Ughi have collaborated in live performance and on record, here showing the results of their work in this duo album, the vinyl edition of their exceptional 2013 CD release that shows their melodic and technical sides, their jazz roots, and their warm camaraderie.

Primarily a bass and guitar duo between Portugese natives Joao Hasselberg, on double bass and electric, and electric guitarist Pedro Branco, here in their second album together of delicately sophisticated string improvisations, joined by a a great set of collaborators to expand the duo to trio and quartet.

Two separate live recordings from the UK sax & drum duo of Massimo Magee on tenor, alto and sopranino saxophones, and drummer Tony Irving (Ascension), both captured in 2019 at The Globe in Newcastle Upon Tyne and at Hundred Years Gallery in London, as they burn through three free jazz dialogs of passionate playing informed by personal history and creative drive.

The Leaney-Dadge duo has been working together since 2006; this release is taken from a series of weekly sessions in Mount Pleasant, Calgary, using extended instrumentation including trumpet, percussion, zither, recorder, and piano.

After years of collaboration through New York's Downtown scene, multi-reed & wind player Daniel Carter (also on piano) and drummer Federico Ughi recorded this 2012 studio album, their 3rd duo album together and a great example of their spontaneously lyrical give and take, ability to anticipate each other's momentum, and the deep jazz roots that each brings to their music.

From the same 2017 session that was released as the album Estuary, this concert in the Philippines between American expatriate saxophonist Rick Countryman and visiting Swiss drummer Christian Bucher expands on the free playing of these two empathetic improvisers, presenting a mix of textural, conceptual, melodic and rhythmic interplay steeped in their personal histories.

Free jazz recorded one person at a time from the duo of saxophonist Chad Fowler and WC "Chad" Anderson who, constrained by pandemic, chose to create "simulated concerts" by exchanging solo recording, each starting the process for different pieces and surprised at how "live" the results felt, as they built up the twelve excellent, rule-breaking tracks of this album.

dinged sleeve

Relentlessly playing through the pandemic, the husband & wife duo of tenor & soprano saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and drummer Tom Rainey honed their skills, developing this album of primarily composed pieces worked out through improvising; thirteen succinct, fascinating and sometimes quirky dialogs, displaying a depth that only two such close collaborators could achieve.

Following their 2007 Clean Feed release Delphinius and Lyra the duo of Gunter Baby Sommer and Raymond MacDonald reach deeper into their collective creative conversation for sixteen succinct improvisations--confident, boisterous or introspective--including a 5-part series of "Miniatures", performed on alto & soprano saxophones, drums and an eclectic set of percussive devices.

An unusual sax and drum duo from saxophonist Seymour Wright and percussionist Paul Abbott, taking recordings from a dozen years of their work together and assembling, mixing and re-recording them into these two impressive works of "mutated multiphonics and triggered percussion" offset with periods of reflection; startling, unexpected, amusing, awe inspiring.

Two 2022 live free jazz sessions from Malaysia, the first a saxophone duo between US ex-pat based in The Philippines, Rick Countryman on alto and Malaysian tenor saxophonist Yong Yandsen, appropriately recorded at The Saxophone Store in Kula Lumpur; then 5 trio improvisations recorded in concert at Live Fact in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia on the same tour.

Long-time collaborators, German reed & wind player Frank Gratkowski and pianist Simon Nabatov release their third collaboration as a duo, concentrating their playing from large bands including the Simon Nabatov Quartet to the essence of their personal and impressive dialog, here performing at the LOFT, in Cologne for the celebration of Nabatov's birthday.

Documenting the continued growth and evolution of the longer than a decade collaboration between American alto saxophonist living in the Philippines Ricky Countryman and Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, performing in the Strawberry Jams studio in Quezon City for thirteen succinct improvisations titled with stellar analogies, from pensive music to excitingly dynamic interplay.

Recording in a former hospital funeral chapel in Sweden--Stockholm's Kapellet--the drum and sax duo of alto saxophonist Julia Strzalek and drummer Cornelia Nilsson focuses on melody and clear articulation in a dialog that finds their passion in calmly unfolding conversation, consistently illuminating their instrumental and instant-compositional mastery.

Red Trio drummer Gabriel Ferrandini joins alto saxophonist Ilia Belorukov for a three-part freely improvised set captured live at Masterskaya Anikushina, in St. Petersberg, Russia, the former workspace of architect Mikhail Anikushin, a large space that creates a unique resonance that the two improvisers take advantage of through insistent yet discerningly constrained dialog.

A beautiful 3-CD set with a hardcover book presenting 3 full concerts from 2015 & 2016 of the AMM trio configuration of John Tilbury (piano), Keith Rowe (guitar) and Eddie Prevost (percussion). The 70 page book, dedicated to saxophonist Lou Gare, includes an AMM discography, plus photos, and essays by Paige Mitchell and Allen Fisher; Keith Rowe; Eddie Prevost; and Seymour Wright.

A live recording at the Jazzfest Trondheim, Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst, in May 2015 from the freely improvising duo of John Butcher and contrabassist Michael Duch, a superb extended concert of incredible reed technique and concept anchored by Duch's flexible bass work.

...

A live recording without an audience and the start of the Welcome To Silkeborg project between Lisbon improvisers Tiago Varela (Equinox Quartet, Isotope Ensemble) on melodicas & voice, and Monsieur Trinité (Equinox Quartet, IKB, Potlatch, Variable Geometry Orchestra) on percussive objects, their first encounter finding the two in a relaxed dialog of creative conversation.

Long-time collaborators and iconoclastic improvisers, drummer Eddie Prévost and saxophonist John Butcher, met at All Hallows Church, in High Laver, Essex in 2023, using the natural ambience of the space to capture these three improvisations, Prévost playing primarily on a drum kit and both in a more jazz-oriented sax and drum duo, extended by both players' exceptional technique.

Their first duo album, Collect My Thoughts released in 1995 on Nine Winds, these live improvisations captured at Berkeley's The Shinebox in 2017 show the two West Coast collaborators--Phillip Greenlief on alto & tenor saxophones plus clarinet, and drummer/percussionist Scott Amendola--'staying with it' in an energetic set of five informed dialogs.

The second release from the duo of Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla and Chicago reedist Mars Williams, the latter performing both on reeds and on toy instruments, each using extraordinary and extended technique to create exotically energetic conversations and beautifully meditative environments, in five creative, playful and impressively informed dialogs.

A live album at Kunstraum Walcheturm from Swiss double bassist Daniel Studer's quintet of strings and piano, with Harald Kimmig on violin, Frantz Loriot on viola, Alfred Zimmerlin on violoncello, and Philip Zoubek on piano, performing an inventive set of Studer compositions extending string improvisation to extremes through unorthodox structures and techniques.

A live concert in the Philippines from American expatriate saxophonist Rick Countryman and visiting Swiss drummer Christian Bucher, a classic free jazz drum and sax duo informed by creative playing and superb rhythmic interplay, balancing lyrical progressions with a wonderful stream of concepts, this is a great example of the far reach of free jazz.

Recording in the Van Gelder studio in NJ, the Ghost Trees Duo of Seth Nanaa on drums and Brent Bagwell on tenor saxophone release an album of nine inventive dialogs, expressive and energetic jazz born from fifteen years working together, from the trio The Eastern Seaboard to their own hard-working duo and recent Ghost Tree Big Band project.

Appropriately recording in New Jersey in the Van Gelder Studios, the North Carolina sax & drum duo of Brent Bagwell and Seth Nanaa stand in the shadows of Coltrane & Ali or McHenry & Cyrlle on their fourth release, a 2-LP, 180gm red-vinyl album of swinging, structured free jazz with a lyrically inclined outside attitude; twelve tracks of concise and compelling dialogs.

During a sabbatical in London, Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio (Day & Taxi) renewed his friendship with percussionist Roger Turner, with whom he had performed in a trio with Urs Leimgruber; meeting at Turner's London flat, they developed the spontaneous language heard on this freely improvised album, Gallio on soprano, alto & C-melody saxophones and Turner on drums & distinctive percussive devices.

An unusual and engrossing concert of free dialog using tightly controlled technique between two legendary free jazz improvisers: percussionist Paul Lytton performing on tabletop percussion and "bits and pieces", and saxophonist Georg Wissel performing on augmented alto saxophone and tenor saxophone, from reserved intricate detail to forcefully passionate expression.