Swiss pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and legendary trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith meet in a deeply focused duo session, their through-composed material unfolding with stunning restraint, architectural clarity, and a quiet but potent freedom, as each phrase, gesture, and interval feels acutely calibrated in a shared space of mystery, immediacy, and poetic intent.

Uniting from different continents and generations, guitarist and vocalist Fred Frith and drummer, percussionist, and vocalist Maria Portugal meet in Cologne for four improvised stretches that blend song form, rhythmic invention, exploratory textures, and creative voice work, revealing a shared musical language that dissolves genre boundaries into a vivid, unpredictable exchange.

Expanding her Amaryllis ensemble with the addition of saxophonists Immanuel Wilkins and Brian Settles, guitarist and composer Mary Halvorson presents eight new works, balancing spectral beauty and sly unease as vibraphone, layered brass, flexible grooves, and her singular harmonic distortions cohere into a richly orchestrated and restlessly inventive large-ensemble statement.

Born from weekly sessions in Oakland, this adventurous sextet of winds, cello, drums, and electronics channels old-school improvisational spirit into a modern orchestral sound that feels both cosmic and grounded, as spontaneous grooves, abstract textures, and Zachary James Watkins' remix work expand their collective language into a vibrant, deeply inventive debut.

Five years after their debut, co-leaders Anna Webber and Angela Morris return with a 19-piece large ensemble recording that showcases their next-level compositional voices, unfolding through the "Just Intonation Etudes for Big Band" suite and a series of richly orchestrated works that balance drones, contrapuntal density, rhythmic blasts, and lyrical themes in an adventurous exploration of sound and structure.

Reinventing his compositional voice, Clevenger charts a reflective and lyrical suite for a deep Bay Area ensemble, the writing balancing chamber-like colour and improvisational space as reeds, low flutes, brass, cello, vibes, marimba, drums and bass articulate an expansive journey of personal discovery and renewed purpose.

Improvised live at Evil Clown HQ in Massachusetts this chamber-sized quartet + live processing version of Leap of Faith spins from airy quietude to dense noise, each multi-instrumentalist shifting timbres and extended techniques through a fluid electro-acoustic soundworld of horns, reeds, percussion, signal processing and inventive instrumental colour.

Centred on improvised spoken absurdism about science and monsters, this Boston septet's playful humour drives a sprawling electro-acoustic free improvisation, each player shifting between wild sonorities, noise sources, rubber chickens and synthesised colour as PEK steers the Neurodivergent Orchestra through a gleefully chaotic sonic experiment.

Drawing inspiration from rediscovered 1998 Ornette Coleman rehearsal tapes and the spirit of Dewey Redman, tenor saxophonist and composer Ohad Talmor opens a new artistic cycle with his core trio of Chris Tordini and Eric McPherson plus a remarkable array of guests, creating kaleidoscopic variations that merge composed forms, liberated improvisation, and subtly deployed electronics.

Conducted by PEK using an expanded system of graphic signs, cue windows and directional frames, this large Turbulence Orchestra realises a continuous narrative of shifting density, guided entrances and exits, and evolving instrumentation, the players responding in real time to PEK's visual triggers to create a vivid, shape-shifting electro-acoustic improvisation.