Rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythmic traditions yet intent on dismantling them, Tony Lugano and Frank Rosaly engage drums and electronics in a dense, dialogic exploration where traditional Caribbean patterns are fragmented into indiscernible matrices and charged sonic fields, transforming percussion into an act of cultural remembrance, resistance and deeply physical free improvisation.

Emerging from a first-time meeting at the 2023 Catalytic Sound Festival in Chicago, pianist Erez Dessel convenes Ben Hall, Fred Jackson Jr., Mai Sugimoto and poet Marvin Tate for a volatile, story-driven set where probing vocals, twin woodwinds, driving drums and insistent piano collide in sharp-edged, quick-turn improvisations that balance chaos, lyricism and collective intensity in a gripping live debut.

Inspired by the 1960s Mission Rebels youth movement founded by his father, Rev. Jesse James, Bay Area guitarist David James leads an ensemble of trombone, clarinet, viola, bass, drums and voices in a socially resonant instrumental and song suite that blends chamber textures and improvisation into a reflective, community-rooted work of memory and tribute.

Vocalist and composer Anna Gadt joins the Warsaw Cello Quartet in a carefully balanced encounter between composed structure and improvisational expression, where layered cellos and an extended vocal presence explore contrast and convergence through restraint, silence, and a continuously shifting dialogue between sound and abstraction, captured live at Hashtag Lab, in Warszawa.

Bringing together clarinets, sopranino, baritone, and soprano saxophones with kyotaku (a Japanese bamboo flute) and resonant percussion, this trio shapes a highly attentive improvisation where breath, extended techniques, and shifting timbres unfold through close listening, moving fluidly between fragile textures, explosive gestures, and an organic, imaginary folklore that emerges from collective intuition.

Inspired by Sol LeWitt's Incomplete Open Cubes, Bay Area duo B. — bassist Lisa Mezzacappa and drummer Jason Levis — translate the artist's serial logic into a system of modular compositions and improvisations, shaping asymmetrical grooves, bowed-bass textures and expanded drumset sonorities into a dynamic drums-and-bass dialogue that balances structural rigor with spontaneous interplay.

The quartet Things Of This Nature — Caylie Davis (trumpet), Chris Ferrari (woodwinds), Shogo Yamagishi (bass), and JJ Mazza (drums) — brings together a young generation of New York improvisers whose tight ensemble interplay, bold free jazz sensibility, and energetic collective approach draw deeply from the tradition while pushing their music toward fresh and expressive terrain.

Recorded solo at Bruschini's Bru Note Studio in NYC (Jan-Feb 2008), this intimate set invites the listener into a "raw state" process of real-time composition, where construction/deconstruction cycles steer the guitar from groove and grit into textural free improv, revealing fresh techniques as motifs mutate, collapse, and re-form.

Cellist Khabat Abas and violist Ivor Kallin engage in a taut, exploratory duo dialogue built from extended techniques, fractured vocalizations, and deliberate use of space, where cantankerous textures, unconventional pacing, and carefully placed silences shape a curiously absorbing improvisation that balances raw intensity with focused restraint.

Whisker — the Chicago duo of modular synthesist Ben Baker Billington and bassist Andrew Scott Young — expand their psychedelic, noise-forged language through collaborations with Chris Corsano, Lia Kohl and Norman W. Long, blending polyrhythmic free jazz propulsion, ambient cello-inflected drift and drum-machine-driven electronic abstraction into three high-voltage sessions.

The Expanse Percussion Edition assembles a large electro-acoustic improvising ensemble led by David Peck and Michael Knoblach, blending horns, electronics, bass, and an enormous array of percussion into a long-form free improv performance where shifting textures, metallic resonances, and rhythmic explorations unfold through the Evil Clown aesthetic of constantly transforming sonorities.

Drawing musicians from across the Northeast, the 30-member Turbulence Orchestra and Sub-Units — directed by PEK — convenes for a sprawling 2-disc session of conducted large-ensemble free improv, first presenting six compact sub-unit improvisations before merging into a sweeping hour-long orchestral performance of shifting instrumentations, graphic cues, and evolving textures.

Drawing from Evil Clown's ever-evolving Turbulence ensemble, this septet session led by PEK assembles a dense horn front line with an expansive rhythm section, navigating a broad palette of textures through constant instrument shifts, where reeds, brass, electronics, and an array of percussion converge in a richly varied and continuously transforming program of ensemble-driven free improv.

The seventh and final release from Orchestra Of The Upper Atmosphere blends krautrock pulse, psychedelia, textural improv, and free jazz into a vibrant studio construction, where Martin Archer and Jan Todd shape live ensemble recordings through collage, editing, and overdubs, guiding the music from luminous delicacy through darker passages before resolving in celebratory light.

Bringing together Ziv Taubenfeld on bass clarinet and gongs, Helena Espvall on cello, and João Sousa on drums, this trio release weaves restless plucked figures, plaintive bowing, and propulsive percussion into searching improvisations that move from hushed lyricism to surging intensity, evoking dreamlike visions, winged melodies, and the fragile beauty of a song discovered in the act of becoming.

French trumpeter and flugelhornist Aymeric Avice joins D.C./NY/Chicago artists Luke Stewart on double bass & mbira and Chad Taylor on drums & mbira for a richly conversational trio session that moves from delicately textured mbira duets to expansive improvisations rooted in the evolving language of jazz, spontaneously blending lyrical elements into a deeply interactive and forward-looking album.

An active trio session at EMPAC from Jonas Braasch on soprano saxophone, Pauline Oliveros on V-accordion, and Doug Van Nort on GREIS electronics engage in a free improv dialog where acoustic, physically modeled, and electronic sound sources continuously merge and diverge, Van Nort's real-time processing reshaping the ensemble's output as Oliveros bends timbral models and Braasch explores extended techniques.

Three distinct compositions from the collaborative work of sound artists Vanessa Rossetto and Lionel Marchetti, the first a wonderfully complex work of musique concrète and acousmatic sources guided by the composers' instincts; "The Tower" expands their concepts through the addition of 18 voices, while the final track features the violin of Anouck Genthon.

The Leap Of Faith Orchestra sextet — core duo David Peck and Glynis Lomon with brass regulars John Fugarino and Bob Moores, bassist Scott Samenfeld, drummer Jared Seabrook, and Joel Simches on real-time signal processing — navigates a sweeping long-form free improv marked by deep ensemble rapport, extensive instrumental doubling, and a vast array of acoustic and electronic timbres that continuously transform across a broad, vividly articulated sonic palette.

Turbulence — the horn-driven offshoot of the Leap Of Faith Orchestra led by PEK — convenes a trio of brass and reeds with John Fugarino and Bob Moores, powered by bassist Scott Samenfeld, drummer Jared Seabrook, for a dynamically shifting free improv that channels their Art Ensemble-inspired model into intricate counterpoint, dense textural layering, and expansive acoustic-electronic interplay.

Perturbations, pairing David Peck with engineer and electronic manipulator Joel Simches, presents its 10th set with a three-horn frontline of David Peck, Michael Caglianone, and John Fugarino, unfolding a spacious yet volatile free improv where frequent doubling across reeds, brass, percussion, and electronics meets Simches' real-time signal processing with textural disruption and transformation.

The 1st release on the Ars Nova Classics label presents 'Eclecticism' composer Nick Vasallo in genre�blurring avant and electro-acoustic works performed by several ensembles.

Seeded Plain is the duo of Bryan Day and Jay Kreimer, who create homemade instruments and use them to create far-ranging improvisations with a unique set of timbres and percussive elements.

The millefleurs vocal ensemble brings 12 vocalists together in varying groups for minimal and unique vocalisation over a taxonomy of floral genres and species.

Percussionist Danielle Palardy Roger's first major solo composition in 13 pieces which is performed by Claude Beaugrand, Jean Derome, André Duchesne, Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, and Martin Ouellet.

Solo improvisations on the Turkish Clarinet from Claudio Parodi, an Italian classically trained pianist who also works with self-built/self-modified electronics, non-western reeds, and selected percussions.

Saxophonist Marc Baron & bassist Loic Blairon recorded 6 improvisations and then recomposed and organized them into these two 30 minute works, one acoustic and one digital.

Summer 2011 issue of Canada's premiere music magazine and CD, with articles and tracks from Gregory Oh, Grimes, Doldrums, The Vegetable Orchestra, Terri Hron, Miguel Azguime, Rachel Wadham, &c.

Organized sound compositions using recordings from Monteiro's home environment, compositing acoustic sound without adding electronic effects processing.

Makrokosmos Quartet playing the Crumb piece from which their name derives, along with works by Stefano Gervasoni and Georg Friedrich Haas.

Pianist and accordionist Joao Lucas' music for Andresa Soares' choreography "It was a very abstract thing", structured acoustic improvisation with a slight electronic edge.

11 beautiful and technically interesting instant compositions improvised on piano by Nico Huijbregts.

A musical theatre in 3 acts using texts, songs, free improvisation and compositional textures, "an evocation of the fusion between opposite forces-tight and flexible, male and female".

Sporadic sonic exchanges exploring guidelines, graphic scores, or completely improvised, with an expansive instrumentorium from the sextet of Magali Babin, Andrea-Jane Cornell, Martine H Crispo, Anne-Francoise Jacques, Emilie Mouchous, and Erin Sexton.

Fred Frith's 1982 live album of his solo concerts at various venues in Japan, 1981, performing on guitar, throat mike, violin and piano; long out of print and now remastered by Tom Dimuzio.

A collection of guitar, electronic and voice pieces from Anne-James Chaton and Andy Moor, originally released as a series of four seven inch singles here combined into a single CD with 3 bonus tracks.

Percussionist Isaiah Ceccarelli's work for percussion, two voices, two bass clarinets and viola da gamba, woven from the delicate fabric of the tension between darkness and light.

Wakool is an interrogation into an expanded range of techniques and gestures from David Brown playing banjo, electroacoustic guitar, bandura, and eukolin.

John Wolf Brennan, Marco Jencarelli, and Tony Majdalani in a musical trip reflecting a spiritual journey through sound and unusual instrumentation, with an extensive and insightful 17 page booklet to guide the listener.

Twelve pieces for guitar performed by Tim Brady, including three updated versions of previous pieces, new compositions by Brady, and four pieces composed by other artists.

Guitarist and singer Sylvie Chenard in duet with musician/performance artist Jon Asencio, joyfully exploring the energies of resistance and anarchy, in shades of science-fiction and totalitarian reality.

Inspired by Gertrude Stein's experimental poem Yet Dish, Swiss saxophonist Christoph Gallio leads an ensemble with vocalist Sonia Loenne, bassist Vito Cadonau, and percussionist Flo Hufschmid in a nuanced exploration of language and sound, transforming Stein's rhythmic abstractions into vivid musical dialogues where wit, structure, and spontaneity intertwine with poetic precision.

Composed by Cat Hope and recorded live at the Tura and Perth Festival, this striking opera for four vocal soloists, bass orchestra, and community choir unites the visceral voices of Caitlin Cassidy, Judith Dodsworth, Sage Pbbbt, and Karina Utomo under conductor Aaron Wyatt in a profound, wordless protest against the inhumanity of refugee detention and a moving appeal to shared compassion.

A fierce live collision of Jaap Blonk's phonetic vocal and electronic inventions and Jasper Stadhouders' raw guitar improvisation, forging a surreal language of sputtered syllables, scraped strings, and disruptive humor, where meaning dissolves into texture and every gesture feels simultaneously unhinged and meticulously alive.

The duo Senso di Voce, with Esin Gunduz on voice and Paul J. Ferington on oboe, create an immersive chamber work of voice, oboe, and electronics whose movements balance the ancient and the contemporary, weaving resonances, silence, and philosophical imagery into a meditative and exploratory sound world that rewards repeated listening with new layers of detail and emotional depth.

PROMO COPY W/ CUT SLEEVE CORNER

Named for the long history of collaboration over decades, the NY free jazz Telepathic Band of Daniel Carter on saxophones, clarinet & trumpet, Patrick Holmes on clarinet, Matthew Putman on piano, Rhodes, Hilliard Greene on bass and Federico Ughi on drums are heard live at the 2018 Forward Festival in Brooklyn, NY for four outstandingly informed improvisations.

A collage of styles and experimentation developed over several years by bassist and multi-instrumentalist Evan Strauss, using long-form graphically notated conceptual compositions based on bird calls along with thematic material from Ursula K. Le Guin, expanded with narration and poetry from Daniel Carter and titled from an excerpt by Virginia Woolf.

Working together in tours and recording since 2005, the NY trio of multi-reedist and wind player Daniel Carter, bassis William Parker and drummer/percussionist Federico Ughi are joined by saxophonist Watson Jennison also on flute, recorder and keyboards for this enlightened album of modern and transcendent jazz in a limited, remastered LP edition with bonus material.

Debut of this group named by NY multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter, with Stelios Mihas on guitar, Federico Ughi on drums, and (mysterious) Irma Nejando on bass, presenting this studio album of free, well-matched and interactive collective improvisations of acoustic and electric instrumentation, each track dedicated to artists who inspired the members of the quartet.

Guitarist John Welsh presents a deeply personal solo performance captured live at Solar Myth in Philadelphia in October 2024, bridging free improvisation with the creative tradition of Great Black Music, including an interpretation of the standard "Just Friends" alongside spontaneous explorations shaped by his ties to the NYC improv scene.

Celebrating guitarist Joe Morris's 70th, this trio with Brad Barrett on cello and Beth Ann Jones on bass unfolds with deliberate restraint and deep listening, Morris layering textures around Barrett's lyrical and percussive bowing while Jones anchors with sculptural, propulsive bass, the group seamlessly shifting between spacious intimacy and taut collective momentum in an immersive improv dialogue.

Recorded live at the 2022 Vision Festival in Brooklyn, Jason Kao Hwang conducts a remarkable ensemble of strings, guitars, bass, and percussion in a work that blends notated passages with conduction-driven improvisation, forging a powerful and fluid language that transcends cultural and stylistic boundaries while illuminating collective individuality and truth.

A collection of Yoshio Machida's soundtracks for NHK documentaries on artists Shinro Ohtake, Junichiro Tanizaki, and Maruyama Okyo recorded between 2020 and 2023, presenting a wide stylistic range from acoustic chamber works and dreamy piano reverberations to glitch electronics, steel pan melodies, funk beats, and jazz, highlighting Machida's versatility as composer and performer.

An evocative solo album from Yoshio Machida, who performs and overdubs steelpan, piano, bass, drums, and electronics in serene, poetic soundscapes where the transparent timbre of steelpan and keys weave ambient textures of nostalgic beauty, influenced by Buddhist notions of emptiness and form, recalling the refined aesthetics of ECM while creating a deeply personal aural refuge.

An overview of Montreal's Ensemble Supermusique celebrating their 40th anniversary, drawing on works from founders Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, and Danielle Palardy Roger and their projects including Wondeur Brass, Les Poules, Justine, &c., realized by 40 instrumentalists in 8 groups of 3 to 8 players; masterful sophistication with a sense of humor and wonder — exceptionnelle!

Drawing from Moravian folk songs transcribed by her great-grandfather, vocalist Julia Úlehla leads the Vancouver ensemble Dálava in a haunting and emotionally charged set blending Czech and English vocals with experimental improvisation, as Aram Bajakian, Peggy Lee, and Joshua Zubot weave a deeply layered, otherworldly sonic journey that bridges ancestry and avant sound.

A beautifully lyrical and introspective trio recording from saxophonist Rob Hall, keyboardist Tobias Weindorf, and guitarist Philipp van Endert, sharing compositional duties across a set of chamber-like modern jazz works recorded in Germany, where nuanced improvisation, melodic sensitivity, and a refined sense of space define this elegant and democratic debut from the pan-European Tret Trio.

Revived as an experimental supergroup by Biota's Gordon H. Whitlow, Sorry For Laughing brings together a unique cast including Edward Ka-Spel, Martyn Bates, Dave-id Busaras, Patrick Q-Wright, and Janet Feder in Rain Flowers, a two-CD album weaving post-punk echoes, poetic reflections, avant-classical textures, and psychedelic nuance into a vivid and surreal sonic garden.

A fiercely expressive and genre-defying second release from Matt Hollenberg's Shardik, blending avant-garde classical, math metal, free jazz, and world music in a searing and politically charged statement performed with virtuosic intensity by Hollenberg, Nagano, Jost, and Sher, delivering complex forms, daring harmonies, and relentless creative fire.

A cross-cultural instrumental suite uniting British and Australian musicians, featuring the resonant didgeridoo and rhythmic sticks of Paul Rider-Boon, the rich woodwinds of Susie Hodder-Williams and Chris Caldwell, atmospheric electronics and guitar from Sam Hodder, and the expressive voice of Clifton Bieundurry, spiritually merging indigenous sound with contemporary improv and electronica.

The second set of compositions from Christopher Fox emulating the Subharchord's sonic architecture through acoustic means, performed by Dominic Lash on double bass, Elisabeth Flunger on bass drum, and Kathryn Williams on bass flute, drawing deep resonance from extended techniques and elemental gestures in a richly textural exploration of dissent, descent, and transformation.

A sophisticated and delightful cinematic work from Seattle multi-instrumentalist Amy Denio, who composes and leads a 12-piece ensemble in a dynamic new soundtrack to the 1925 silent film Varieté, blending electric guitar, accordion, voice, and hammered dulcimer with a chamber orchestra of woodwinds, strings, and percussion in a rich, genre-defying studio recording.

An intimate and exploratory solo recording from NY flutist Laura Cocks, known for their work with TAK Ensemble, presenting a poetic and deeply focused album where breath, silence, and sound merge into fragile, resonant gestures — Cocks bends time and expectation with extended technique and stillness, inviting the listener into a space of presence and emotional depth.

Italian composer and multi-instrumentalist Matteo Ciminari leads an adventurous sextet through a labyrinth of polyrhythms, dissonant harmonies, and unexpected textures, with virtuosic contributions from Maurizio Moscatelli, Simone Maggio, Mattia Borraccetti, Michele Sperandio, and Luca Orselli, creating an unpredictable yet lyrical fusion of progressive structure, free jazz, and playful experimentation.

The final recordings of Un Drame Musical Instantané with co-founder Bernard Vitet, compiling sessions from 1998 to 2000 with the Machiavel Quartet and guests including Baco Mourchid and Nem, blending free jazz, electroacoustic experimentation, and multimedia spontaneity into cinematic improvisations that showcase the ensemble's enduring commitment to collective creation and sonic innovation.

The Cologne-based free improvising trio Der Vierte Zustand — vocalist Hanna Schörken, guitarist Christina Zurhausen, and drummer Ramon Keck — om a compelling blend of experimental soundscapes, noise rock influences, and free jazz energy, driven by Schörken's acrobatic wordless vocals, Zurhausen's effects-laden guitar textures, and Keck's dynamic rhythms.

Ensemble Supermusique, Montreal's premiere open-minded improvising ensemble, here led by saxophonist & vocalist Joane Hetu and conducted by percussionist Danielle Palardy Roger, present a live concert of graphic scores dating back to 1920, with works from Fred Frith (Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire), Luigi Russolo, Maxime Daigneault, Emilie Girard-Charest & Anestis Logothetis.

Performing live at SMUP, in Parede, Portugal in 2022, the bass-oriented chamber quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Joao Madeira on double bass, Hernani Faustino on double bass and Jose Oliveira on percussion balance jazz and contemporary compositional approaches to their sophisticated and extremely detailed improvisations.

The sixth release by Creative Sources' detailed electroacoustic improvising group Suspensão led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, with Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Nuno Torres on alto sax, Antonio Chaparreiro on electric guitar, Carlos Santos on computer and Jose Oliveira on percussion & inside piano, is this impressive performance at "Temporada Miso Music 2009" in Lisbon.

A uniquely configured electroacoustic trio recording live in the studio in Lisbon in 2018 between Mexican flutist and founding member of the improv collective Generación Espontánea, Wilfrido Terrazas, and Portuguese improvisers Mariana Carvalho on prepared piano and Abdul Moimeme using two electric guitars and objects, balancing introspective moments with periods of uninhibited excitement.

An unusual trio configuration for violist Ernesto Rodrigues, joined by Bruno Parrinha on soprano & alto saxophones, and by electric guitarist Flak, who brings an experimental almost ea- approach to their 3-part improvisation, aptly named for it's deceptively calm setting, gradually becoming intricate and active through colored motion like a curious breeze that builds and recedes.

A great set of 11 succinct songs and instrumentals from multi-instrumentalist, prog icon Bob Drake of Thinking Plague, The Science Group, VRIL, and Peter Blegvad fame, vignettes that play with pop formats in insidious ways around recurring Drake themes including a Planet of Dogs, three rustic tales, and a perturbing room in the tower, all noted in a colored foldout poster with lyrics.

A joint release with the Berlin record label Maybee Records run by cellist Hui-Chun Lin & Shuichi Chino and Creative Sources, this 2021 concert at Berlin's Kuhlspot Social Club brings together four cellist for an incredible and somewhat vicious display of free improvising string interaction using incredible technique, texture, and intent listening; wild!

Continuing Rodrigues' post-Cage series of single-track acoustic improvisations, this 2025 quintet with Miguel Mira, Flak, Tiago Varela, and Manuel Guimaraes blends viola, cello, electric guitar, fan organ, melodica, and piano in an evolving tapestry of mysterious breath, subtle continuity, and fragile sonic space recorded live in Lisbon with profound delicacy and restraint.

Recorded live in 2019 at Burgbachkeller in Zug, Switzerland, the international trio Jorge's Orbe creates tapestries of sound, bringing together free improvisers from three different parts of the world: Switzerland through trombonist George Francis Marti, Japan through pianist Tsukiko Amakawa, and Spain through Pelayo Fernandez Arrizabalaga on turntables and voice.

The Virtual Balboa trio of Philadelphia improvisers Zachary Darrup on guitar, Evan Lipson on double bass and Ben Bennett on percussion, all performers associated with Spring Garden Music & saxophonist Jack Wright, are joined by open-form trumpeter Greg Kelley for this wonderfully scrabbly and tenacious live set captured at Vermillion in Seattle in 2019.

Four string improviser convene at Ulrichsberger Kaleidophon, in Germany in 2021, two of them from Germany--Dietrich Petzold on violin, viola, clavichord & bowed metal, Matthias Bauer on double bass--and the Portuguese father/son complement of improvisers--Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello--for three works of delicately sinewy intersection & counterpoint.

Guitarist Ed Williams, active in the experimental music scene of Marseille, France, is heard here in two concerts presenting a triptych of solo performances on bowed classical and electric guitar, improvised with no effects, with two parts on electric guitar recorded at the concert series "Aux Soirs Du Chercheur De Noises", the 2nd, "Spectrum, NY" on classical guitar.