Guitarist Sandy Ewen and double bassist Damon Smith recorded these 2 extended improvsations in concert as part a "Desbordamientos" series at Cine Tonala, in Mexico City, pairing live music with screenings of Derek Bailey's 4-part series on improvisation.

A swinging album mining earlier jazz forms from the modern jazz sextet of Ben Goldberg on clarinet, Joshua Redman on tenor sax, Ron Miles on trumpet, Devin Hoff on bass, and drummers Ches Smith and Scott Amendola.

The third recording from this group of long-time collaborators, with Golia on soprano, alto and tenor sax, Bobby Bradford on cornet, Ken Filiano on bass and Alex Cline on drums in a set of Golia original compositions.

Two amazing wind players - saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist Vinny Golia and saxophonist Urs Leimgruber - in a series of free improvising duos pushing their instruments into unusual and captivating territories.

Composer and double bassist Giovanni Maier creates the illusion of being everywhere at once while he plays alongside members of his quartet (Parrini, Calabrese & Amendola) as his instrument "talks" to theirs in this beautiful album.

San Francisco Bay Area bassist Lisa Mezzacappa's "garage jazz" quartet, a raw collective with an energized approach to jazz that focuses on band sound and chemistry.

Art Ensemble founder Roscoe Mitchel on reeds, winds and percussion, in an extended electroacoustic work performed with James Fei on reeds and analog electronics and William Winant on percussion; a composition/improvisation blending sound and space in creative and compelling ways.

Percussionist Robair placed an Ebow over a street-sweeper blade or a short length of guitar string, and then placed those on the head of a snare drum or floor tom, recording without effects to allow natural rhythms and harmonic modulation to come forth.

San Francisco' Jacob Heule (known for his work with Ettrick & Barn Owl) and Tony Dryer join Euro improvisers Havard Skaset and Guro Skumsnes Moe for seven free improvisations using extended techniques and unusual approaches to their instruments.

A trio of collective-improvisers recording in NYC's East Village in 2015 for exceptionally sympathetic dialog, instigated by electric keyboard improvisor Thollem McDonas, with Nels Cline on guitar and Charles Gayle cohort Michael Wimberly on drums; Fred Frith liner notes!

The quartet of Cosottini, Melano, Pisani, Miano (EAQuartet Electroacoustic) in compositions referring to the 4 cardinal map points using graphic scores, games, open readings, &c.

The Oakland-based Ton Trio II featuring Aram Shelton on alto saxophone, Scott Brown on bass, and Alex Vittum on drums, perform avant sophisticated jazz weaving through melody, rhythm, and texture while allowing for spacious improvisations.

Influenced by noir crime novels from the 20s set in the Bay Area, bassist Mezacappa wrote these sophisticated and lyrical compositions for selected scenes or characters, performed by the superb sextet of William Winant, Tim Perkis, Aaron Benett, John Finkbeiner, & Jordan Glenn.

Recorded at an exhibition of visual works by Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek in Texas, this was the first meeting with pianist Thollem McDonas, in an ardent session of explorative improvisation using electric and analog piano, sythn, samplers, cornet, voice, bells and effects; inquisitive and cathartic music of great drive.

US West Coast multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi performs an unorthodox set at 2575 Mission in Los Angeles, California, using alto saxophone, bells, electric toothbrush, ipod, pie tin, spoons, tape player, and voice to create a yearning work expressing the frustration of longing and estrangement.

Multi-instrumentalist improviser Novak, who has worked with Tim Daisy and Tatsuya Nakatani, in an eclectic and complex solo release of colliding genres.

The Rova Saxophone Quartet performing compositions by Lindsay Cooper, Fred Frith, Barry Guy, and Larry Ochs, live in the studio in 1996.

Composer John Shiurba with an impressive West Coast octet including vocalists Lara Bruckmann & Morgan Guberman, trumpeter Tom Djll, drummer Gino Robair, and bassist Matthew Sperry, &c. conducting them through five twisted compositions.

The Montreal free improvising trio Still of Nicolas Caloia on bass, Peter Valsamis on drums, and Yves Charuest on saxophone is joined in the studio by visiting Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez for a superb set of detailed and energetic free jazz, 6 pieces titled "(un fold)" I - VI, making an album of first rate and exciting collective music.

The TSIGOTI quarter brings together Italians Jacopo Andreini on guitar, Andrea Caprara on drums, and Piero Spitilli on bass with California pianist Thollem McDonas for critical avant punk with a technically brilliant flair.

Rova leader Larry Ochs takes his Sax and Drumming Core to the next level with this charged album of mind-bending free improvisation with an hallucinatory edge, joined by Libra artists Satoko Fujii on piano & synth and Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, with Scott Amendola on drums, William Winant and Matthias Bossi on a wild set of percussive instruments.

"Farhadian is an American composer and performer with a base in San Francisco and one in Berlin. Her work often is about connecting solo violin and interactive electronics. Combining her classical background as violist (Berkeley Symphon...

Multi-reedist Peter Kuhn returned to the San Diego scene in 2013, forming the Dependent Origination band with a core of drummer Alex Cline and saxophonist Dave Sewelson, referencing the Buddhist concept of interdependent co-arising; 4 years later this album adding Dan Clucas (cornet) & Scott Walton (bass) represents the current state of this excellent collective band.

Contrasting his concurrent piano trio album with Nate McBride and Luther Gray, "Pools", "Cliff" is a first encounter between Boston-area pianist and composer Pandelis Karayorgis and drummer Eric Rosenthal with double bassist Damon Smith, recently migrated from the West Coast, as the three present a concentrative album of collective improvisation revealing three masterful players.

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.

Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.

Born out of Eugene Chadbourne's Twins band concepts from the 70s, which included over time saxophonist Bruce Ackley, and guitarists Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith; fast forward to 2018 as Ackley & Frith return to the concept with Henry Kaiser and saxophonist Aram Shelton to revisit the original approach through pieces by those artists plus Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne, and John Zorn.

Long-time collaborators, guitarists Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne perform the compositions of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, starting with their recording from 1977 of his "Wind Crystals", then improvising over 5 other Smith compositions, ending the album with an updated, 2017 version of "Wind Crystals"; an excellent refresh and retrospective from two incredible improvisers.

After introducing his new trio with pianist Paul Bley and double bassist Steve Swallow in two 1961 albums on Verve, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre embarked on a tour of Europe, this recently discovered, well-recorded concert in Graf, Austria the perfect example of his unique concepts yielding intensely focused, harmonically challenging, rhythmically abstract, and exquisite chamber jazz.

Two drums and two saxophones merge to create this epic 2-part free jazz trek - "Right Eye Sun" and "Left Eye Moon", the album title taken from a sun deity in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle", who mated with the moon; this pairing is realized by West Coast masterful musicians Patrick Shiroishi & Vinny Golia (sax) and Dylan Fujioka and Alex Cline (drums & percussion).

An absurdly paced and spectacular album of electronic improvisation, percussion and voice, as the West Coast improvising trio Monopiece of Nathan Corder on electronics, Matt Robidoux on guitar, and Timothy Russell on percussion meet legendary improvising vocalist and electronics artist Jaap Blonk, recording at The Center for Contemporary Music, at Mills College.

Recording in electric harpist Zeena Parkin's office at Mills College in Oakland with Jon Leideker, aka Wobbly, performing on mobile phones, tablets, booper, and mixer, their output run through a series of simple listening devices, machines designed to sing along with the melodies they believe themselves to be hearing, though they are often wrong; singular and surprising!

Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.

Recorded live at Temescal Art Center in Oakland, CA as part of their Babylon 2018 evening, the quartet of Gino Robair (electronics), Phillip Greenlief (tenor sax and clarinet), Mike Khoury (viola) and Dominic Cramp, aka Lord Tang (lyra) improvise in 2 short and 2 extended electroacoustic conversations of detailed restraint, unique pointillism and unforseen atmospheres.

Recording at the magnificent cathedral at Berner Münster in Switzerland during the 2017 Zoom In Festival, the improvising string duo of violist Frantz Loriot and cellist Theresa Wong, also on voice, performed this extended work of creative string interaction, energetic and idiosyncratic and wonderfully expressive, enhanced by the natural resonance of the space.

Schizophrenically skronky improv of ea-cutups and semi-maniacal segments that resolve to near-stillness from the West Coast TONED trio of Nathan Corder on electronics, Leo Suarez on drums, and Tom Weeks on sax, using a nonlinear and nonhierarchical organizational process and multiple layers of compositional feedback loops to create unpredictably bizarre and overtly fun music.

A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).

The first of two volumes in celebration of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker's 100th birthday, here remastering his landmark recordings for the Dial label on the US West Coast between 1946-47, performing with jazz greats including Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson, Erroll Garner, Barney Kessel, Red Calender, JJ Johson, Max Roach, &c. for some of Parker's best known and essential compositions.

Free improvisations and a few fascinating covers of work by Cecil Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Johnny Dyani from the duo of double bassist Damon Smith and legendary drummer Alvin Fielder, showing intense and unusual approaches in great rhythmic dialog.

Keyboardist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Fred Frith, Samech) composed this song cycle about ancient Greek figures in collaboration with David Yearsley, Theresa Wong and Russell Greenberg, poetic pieces contrasting traditional use of instruments with subtle experimental approaches in a unique and fascinating set of compositional strategies.

A series of ominous duos on the dark side from NY improviser Jeremiah Cymerman on clarinets & pedals, and Charlie Looker (Extra Life, Psalm Zero) on guitars & piano, each of the five pieces exploring murky caverns of warmly bleak environments rendered through Looker's deep piano & guitar work, perforated by cracks of light through Cymerman's riffs & exclamations.

Chicago saxophonist and Kettle Hole label leader Gerrit Hatcher joins with West Coast saxophonists Rob Magill (Weird Cry Records, Dreamcolour) and Japanese saxophonist based in Los Angeles Patrick Shiroishi, for five collective free improvisations of informed saxophone interaction; three approaches to the horn that complement and contrast in fascinating ways.

The first meeting between Art Ensemble of Chicago saxophone legend Roscoe Mitchell and the long running improvisational trio of Sandy Ewen (guitar), Damon Smith (double bass) and Weasel Walter (drums), in an epic 72-minute recording captured live at Duende in Oakland, CA in 2014, an amazing display contrasting control & chaos, form and deconstruction; exemplary!

Known as a percussionist, Bay Area improviser Charles K. Noyes' first part of his Crimes In High Places is performed on electric & resonator guitars plus amplified guqin, expanding on the innovations of Derek Bailey in free-form non-idiomatic playing as he works to create a personal language on the instrument, presenting a dark and creatively foreboding vision.

1999 recordings from the trio of cornetist Bobby Bradford, Tuba player Tom Heasley and guitarist Ken Rosser, bridging chamber and free jazz with a unique orchestration.

In tribute to late free jazz pianist Cecil Taylor, the West Coast/Vancouver trio of guitarist Henry Kaiser, alto saxophonist John Oswald and vibraphonist Paul Plimley explore the intention of Taylor's singular style in six anagrammatically titled improvisations, with Chicago violinist Tracy Silverman joining for the massive "Oceans Felons Salad", and Scott Amendola joing for "fir loom".

Explorative improvisation, from mysteriously quiet moments to scrabbling and determined conversation, configured as trios and quintets by Rebecca Novak on piano, cornet, radio & glassware, Danny Kamins on baritone saxophone, Sandy Ewen on guitar, Damon Smith on double bass and Jerome Bryerton on percussion, all bringing unique moments through extended techniques, objects & radio.

Four decades into their project, the SF Bay Area saxophone quartet ROVA of Bruce Ackley (soprano & tenor), Steve Adams (alto & sopranino), Larry Ochs (tenor) and Jon Raskin (baritone) continue expanding their magnificent repertoire with original compositions, collective improvisations, and a piece from Glenn Spearman (Cecil Taylor, Double Trio) arranged by Larry Ochs.

Exploring the sonic and visual territory of water, centering on concepts of metamorphoses and breathing underwater, pianist Joshua White and trumpeter & flugelhorn player Steph Richards also employ resonating water vessels and percussion as they present three fluid and introspectively fathomed works in multiple movements: "Sacred Sea"; "Sequoia"; and "Northern Lights".

Five pieces composed as a diary manifest in song from Bay Area cellist and singer Theresa Wong, reflecting on her time in Venice through labyrinthine melodic and rhythmic pathways, adding piano and the Japanese 5-string tonkori instrument to add exotic flavor to each eclectic song, blurring genres as Wong's impressions and expression lets each song lead where it must.

Bay Area experimental music scene legend and multi-disciplinary artist Barabara Golden celebrates her 80th birthday presents works created between 1980-2020, including performances by Robert Ashley, Maggi Payne, Chris Brown, WIGband with Johanna Poethig, George Lewis, William Winant, Mary Oliver and texts by Melody Sumner Carnahan.

One of a series of pianist Thollem McDonas' Astral Traveling Sessions, this unique duo configuration with NY saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh uses a sonic palette of eight re-tuned pitches for piano and saxophone in an attempt to expand harmonic empathy, bringing Eastern pitch relationships to Western improvisation through a series of extraordinary solo and duo recordings.

Four compositions depicting the John Muir Trails, a high-quality set of biking trails near Madison and Milwaukee two hours from Chicago, composed by Eva-Maria Houben and performed by the West Coast percussion duo DesoDuo of Katie Eikam and Kevin Good, portraying the trails through bowed cymbals, marimba & vibraphone along with field recordings from the outdoor ambiance.

The Little Village Foundation run by keyboardist Jim Pugh assembled this band through Indian blues harmonica player & singer Aki Kumar, who brought drummer June Core and guitarist Rome Yamilov, deciding to make the release a "crazy guitar album" by adding Henry Kaiser; along with vocalist Lisa Leuschnet they hit the mark in an exuberantly diverse set of blues performing the music of J.B. Lenoir.

Led by bassist Lisle Ellis with a fierce San Francisco contingent, this 1993 studio session brings together saxophonists Christopher Cauley, Joe McPhee, Glenn Spearman, and Larry Ochs with guitarist James Ruthier and drummer Donald Robinson, delivering energetic free jazz rooted in the 1960s tradition but propelled by raw interplay, bold horn lines, and committed group momentum.

"Recorded in studio in November 1996, Ben Goldberg's project Eight Phrases for Jefferson Rubin was his second composition for sextet (after Twelve Minor, released by Avant in 1998). Rubin, who died tragically at the age of 35, was one o...

"This weird little album was made by a quartet of improvisers from all ends of the improvisational planet, who came together in 1993 for a recording date. Edited by Oswald in Toronto, the result can be found here. With two guitarists (K...

"What Is the Difference Between Stripping and Playing the Violin? contains two compositions by West Coast avant-garde artist Miya Masaoka. Although an accomplished koto player, Masaoka does not play on this CD: her hands are full conduc...

"Vancouver pianist Paul Plimley and his comrades, bassist Lisle Ellis and drummer Scott Amendola, have issued a tough little gem of a recording in Safe-Crackers. Plimley's pianism ranges in voice from fierce avant-garde improvisation to...

The West Coast Rova Saxophone quartet in a 7 track studio album from 1995, from Jon Raskin on alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Steve Adams on alto saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone and Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone.

Revealing 40 years of collaborations between late trumpeter Toshinori Kondo and West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser, in configurations of duos between Kondo & Kaiser--most notably a beautiful and extended 2016 improvisation--then earlier duos from 1978, a 1980 trio with pianist Greg Goodman, a 1979 trio with saxophonist John Oswald, ending with a wonderfully idiosyncratic 2020 duo.

An immersive album of solo percussion, slowly sculpted through bowed cymbals, tension across drum heads, resonance and extraneous percussive elements, from New York-based experimental percussionist, composer & improviser, each piece unfolding a meditative yet substantial story built of powerful elements, creating mysterious and often daunting soundscapes.

Ater a concert in Los Angeles with Martin Escalante on the same bill, the twin brothers, guitarist Derek Gaines and drummer Brent Gaines, asked the extreme saxophonist to join them in the creation of a new, cathartic form of improvisation, filled with angst and dramatic release, ending with an extended journey in sound and squawk; a gripping album of gritty improv.

West Coast/San Diego violinist Keir GoGwilt and bassist Kyle Motl are Treesearch, improvising on contrabass and violin with warm strength and expression, using a mix of traditional and creative approaches to their instruments as they bridge jazz and modern compositional approaches to create their own unique approach to free improvisation.

A collective West Coast trio from double bassist Kyle Motl (Treesearch) with cornetist Dan Clucas, also on violin and moxeno (an Andean wind instrument) and drummer Nathan Hubbard, imbued with a spiritual and natural chamber jazz feeling, their improvisations influenced by concepts of daydreams, incandescence and zephyrs; a beautiful and open-minded album.

The second album on Notice Recordings for West Coast free improvising saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi is a duo with San Diego-based double bassist Kyle Motl, in an exceptionally well-balanced example of powerful expression from both players, free blowing and turbulent exchanges offset by experimental introspective passages in four extended and excellent improvisations.

A series of reed and wind improvisations, including two pieces with electronics, from Southern California composer and improviser Rob Magill, each of the 9 tracks on this album focusing on a different instrument: alto saxophone, soprano saxpohone, clarinet, flute, bass clarinet, bass recorder, sheng and tenor saxophone, plus a multi-instrumental "misc".

An extended improvisation in two parts at Dagny's Coffe Company in Bakersfield, CA: first a solo performance by Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani in a sweeping sonic manifestation of bowed gongs, cymbals, bass drums and objects, which then continues as a duo with trumpeter Kris Tiner for an exhilaratingly peak of adept brass excitement ending in a pensive reflection.

Dedicated to Dada legend Hugo Ball, founder of the Cabaret Voltaire, through modern interpretations of six sound poems written by Ball in 1916, performed at BIMHUIS in 1989 by the trio of Jaap Blonk (voice), Bart van der Putten (saxophone) and Pieter Meurs (double bass); and in 2013 at radio station KUHF by the duo of Jaap Blonk and Damon Smith on double bass.

Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.

The title gives a sense of the unusual acoustic improvisation this West Coast collective perform, along with their description "prickles and bleats, an abrasive delicacy; fricative rasp and withheld breath seethe together in a discomfiting cuddle" — from Kyle Bruckmann on oboe & English horn, Tom Djll on trumpet, Jacob Felix Heule on floor tom, and Kanoko Nishi-Smith on koto.

Performing on oboe, English horn and live electronics, West Coast double-reedist Kyle Bruckmann presents three extended solo works of deep electroacoustic binding, each dedicated to a writer, artist or musician: "A Spurious Autobiography for John Barth (2015)"; "An Extruded Introversion for Blixa Bargeld (2016)"; and "A Fuzzy Monolith for James Turrell (2015)".

Taking song titles from the Arawak language, the Estamos Trio of Thollem McDonas (piano), Milo Tamez (drums) and Carmina Escobar (voice & electronics) brings together artists from the Mexican/U.S. border, creating beautiful creative works.

Highlighting issues between the US & Mexican borders, Thollem McDonas' Estamos Trio presents their 2nd album, here with Carmina Escobar (vocals, electronics, guitarron), Milo Tamez (percussion, found objects, electronics) and Thollem (keyboard, vocals, clay pot) in a work commissioned by and recorded at the 2018 "Casa Tomada" (House Taken Over) in Santa Fe for SITE.

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.

The first complete solo release from Seattle, Washington bassist and vocalist Kelsey Mines, active in both classical music as a member of Yakima Symphony, Symphony Tacoma and the Paramount Orchestra, and as an improviser, here presenting a series of improvised solo-duets that explore how listening to our on-going internal dialogue helps us conjure honest, outward expressions.

A series of instrumental pieces and songs from Chinese-American composer, cellist, and vocalist Theresa Wong, inspired by the sounds of the natural world and a personal sense of "sonic genetic memory", her works merging composition and improvisation, the album recorded by Wong herself using specific microphone placement to bring out the warmth of her instrument and voice.

In 1980 Duck Baker's first label deal had expired and the label changed direction, as did Baker himself from arranging traditional tunes into compositions for improvisation; still, these well-recorded demos from 1982 held an appeal through song selection and a uniquely edgy yet lyrical approach to his playing, now finally released to the public 40 years later.

A confluence of reeds from Bay Area saxophonists David Boyce and Phillip Greenlief, both performing on and professing an open love letter to the tenor saxophone, the positioning of each clear through stereo placement as they improvise seven dialogs of intent listening and tremendous technique, from high speed intertwining to introspective contemplation.

A truly inventive collective trio of free improvisers from Denman Maroney on hyperpiano (a conventional piano played with one hand on the keys and other inside the piano), West Coast double bassist Scott Walton and French drummer Denis Fournier, performing within the piano trio format and then turning it on its side with unexpected approaches to their conversations.

Led by West Coast-based New Zealand guitarist Sally Gates, the 2nd album from this genre-blurring heavy improv band of original members Matt Hollenberg on the 6-string bass VI and Kenny Grohowski on drums, now officially a quartet with prior guest bassist Trevor Dunn a fourth member, here in 6 tracks that shred and weave intricate layers of jazz, rock, blues and metal.

Unusual improvisational forms from the quartet of saxophonist Paul Hartsaw, guitarist Kristian Aspelin, bassist Damon Smith and percussionist Jerome Byrerton, recording in Oakland, CA in 2006.

Inspired by Larry Ochs' Rova and Darren Johnston's collaborations with Rempis, this free-improvising trio began life in 2011, developing an "invisible architecture" that guides their playing, as heard in these seven superb recordings.

Celebrating 40 years as a performing ensemble, the West Coast saxophone quartet ROVA of Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, Steve Adams on alto & sopranino saxophones, Jon Raskin on baritone saxophone, and Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, reworked compositions from all members transversing their past 34 years, in an absolutely impressive and diverse album.