An unusual duo of double bass, voice, hammered dulcimer, recorder, slide whistle, and various objects, recorded in 2019 between bassist Damon Smith and Sarah Ruth Alexander, freely improvising through nine pieces that show the breadth of creative imagination and powerful technical skills of each; curiously compelling, unpredictable and marvelously diverse.

The 2nd release in a new series of small groups drawn from members of the Discus Music family, where the group meets, writes, rehearses and records in one single session, here developing ten compositions from all four players edited into a continuous sequence of structure and improvisation, embracing melody, texture and pure abstraction.

Martin Archer introduces a new sextet based on Chicago's AACM approach to free improvisation, in a 2-CD set of 6 large works divided into 5 or 6 chapters each, presenting character themes, rhythm ideas, composed duets, and improvised instructions; superb!

The Architek Percussion ensemble is a Montreal quartet performing works by Canadian composers, using percussion, drums, sampling, electronics and synth in wonderfully odd ways, here with two guest performers presenting works composed and mixed by Elliot Britton.

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.

Ever-inventive drummer/percussionist Raymond Strid and performance collaborator, Norwegian-Swedish free improvising vocalist Andreas Backer, for a set of unusual, absurd and detailed improvisations, as the two complement each other in unexpected ways.

The Snus trio of Niklas Barno (trumpet), Joel Grip (bass) and Didier Lasserre (drums) return for their second album, an addictive mix of free jazz and free improv, subtle to skronking music of great beauty and power.

The New York trio of pianist Jerome Kitzke, bassist Steve Rust on electric and acoustic, and drummer/percussionist Harvey Sorgen, alternate consummately clever approaches to collective playing with Kitzke's humorously ironic and insightful reading of four poems by Lawrence Ferlinghetti from his book "A Coney Island of the Mind", in honor of his 100th birthday.

The 2nd release from Italian composer/performer Alessandro Bosetti and Australian pianist Chris Abrahams (The Necks), a very intimate album of sonic explorations that spans improvised fragments and original renditions of compositions like Steve Lacy's "Esteem" with Bosetti's lyrics.

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.

Montreal creative guitarist Tim Brady and his Bradyworks (Lori Freedman, Karen Young, &c) performing 6 duos for electric guitar with other instruments, and 12 compositions for electric guitar (with and without effects pedals).

Solo piano works from Brennan, also performing on arcopiano, pizzicatopiano, sordinopiano, tamburopiano, frampiano, indian harmonium, Irish whistle, Hohner accordion & melodica, Yamaha e-piano.

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.

Bridging contemporary and improvised music, Montreal double bassist Nicolas Caloia wrote these pieces for textured and impossible rhythms; blending pieces by Nancarrow and Grand Master Flash; and manipulating poems by Genevieve Letarte; with supporting improv from Jean Derome & Lori Freedman.

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

During their 2014 tour, Canadian saxophonist Francois Carrier and long-time partner, percussionist Michel Lambert, went into the Experimental Sound Gallery [ESG 21] in St. Petersburg, Russia with pianist Alexey Lapin to record these superb free improvisations.

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.

An aural map of extended pianist Charity Chan's techniques, in unusual non-invasive, object interactive and excursive approaches to the acoustic piano.

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.

Two generations of improvisers--Valentin Ceccaldi on cello the senior, and the younger performer, David Chevallier on electric guitar and 6- and 12-stringed acoustic guitars--meet for the first time to intertwine strings in Nantes, France, with Benjamin Duboc recording seven diverse dialogs of imaginative style and authoritative technique.

Recording at the Lilypad in Cambridge, MA, the Boston-area trio of pianist Pandelis Karayorgis, bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Eric Rosenthal are captured in concert for an adventurous album of free improvisation, Karayorgis's compositions leading this piano trio of magnificent mastery into buoyantly exciting interaction as they take their listeners to a dizzying precipice edge.

Michel F Cote in a hybrid release of country and actuelle music that is unpredictable and funny with help from artists such as Bernard Falaise, Frank Martel, Billie Folliday, etc.

Unusual electronic improv that moves from light to dark with great grooves and unusual turns, from the core of Klaxon Gueule with Jesse Levine on organ.

A composition for solo 'modified guitar' from Swiss composer d'incise peformed by guitarist Cristian Alvear, music "at the confluence of sound, melody and rhythm. Something quiet but somehow driven by a pulse, existing somewhere between the electroacoustic and the tonal conceptions of music."

Wandelweiser member and composer Anastassis Philippakopoulos has twelve of her compositions for solo piano performed and realized by French composer/pianist ​Melaine Dalibert, each built around slow moving melodic progressions that resonate through patient performance, each fragment and note ringing beautifully, mysteriously, and dramatically.

French composer and guitarist Clara De Asis composed the extended soundwork "Without" for the duo of Erik Carlson (violin) and Greg Stuart (percussion), defining a precise framework for the position and duration of each sound section and silence, with outlines for texture, volume, use of tone or noise, and percussive materials, but leaving space for many of the performers' choices.

A series of unusual compositions originally written by Jacques Demmiere and Vincent Barras, here reworked by Demmiere and violinist Anouck Genthon, each piece focusing on sounds, breaths, frictions, silences, vowels and consonants, weaving and complementing each other through a mix of traditional, extended and unconventional techniques; fascinating.

25 chamber works composed by Montreal composer, multi-instrumentalist and improviser Jean Derome, presenting pieces from the wealth of projects he's involved in, including Dangereux Zhoms, Ensemble de flutes Alize, duos with Lori Freedmam, Quasar, quatuor de saxophones, &c.

A commissioned piece for Jean Derome by Montreal's O Vertigo dance troupe and their production "The Beast Within" that explores animalistic qualities in a dynamic mix of improvisation and composition.

Two saxophones, two voices; two gargoyles, two satyrs; two forces of nature that agitate, whistle, squeak, scrape, blow, and bite, transforming music into a secular incantation and a banquet of sound.

Vibraphonist Chris Dingman set up his vibraphones next to the bedroom where his father was under hospice care from a rare heart ailment, setting an atmosphere of calm and compassion to help soothe, heal, and carry him through his final challenges, released here as a 5-CD set of 5 hours of ethereal sounds through poignant melodies, swirling textures, and undulating pedal tones.

A much-needed reissue of Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio with guitarist Brad Shepik and drummer Jim Black, a remarkably telepathic group recorded mid-tour after 3 years working together.

A 3 CD set from bassist Benjamin Duboc: a solo disc of low register improv; plus 2 discs in duo and trio settings with Didier Lasserre, Sylvain Guerineau, Jean-Luc Petit, Pascal Battus, Sophie Agnel & Christian Pruvost.

A solo poetic album by Andre Duchesne on acoustic guitar playing 14 beautiful songs.

Live recordings from the trio of Paul Dunmall on soprano and tenor sax, Philip Gibbs on guitar, and Ashley John Young on double bass, performing at Cardiff University School of Music Concert Hall in 2016, a great example of concentrative, complex and lively interplay.

Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and his quintet expand the sonic possibilities of jazz by building on the modal music of the Iraqi maqam, adding a microtonal harmonic and melodic language influenced by the pitch-flexibility of Middle Eastern music.

NY trumpeter Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers Ensemble, exploring the juncture between jazz and music of the Middle East through sophisticated and lyrically stunning music, here focusing on revolution, civil war, and sectarian violence; a culture's struggle for survival.

Ensemble SuperMusique devotes itself to Montreal's "Musique Actuelle" and free improv community in assemblages of some of their finest players, here in a live concert in 2016 at Amphitheater du Gesu in Montreal with a stunning set of performers presenting the work of 4 composer.

A tribute to the music of Thelonious Monk by the group Evidence, comprised of Pierre Cartier (bass), Jean Derome (reeds) and Pierre Tanguay (drums).

Bernard Falaise's debut solo album in 15 peieces for guitar ensembles played by one guitarist with the help of overdubbing and digital processing.

Morton Feldman was a friend, flatmate and student of John Cage's innovative approaches to composition; he wrote this 3 part work for violin and piano in 1982 as a 70th birthday present for Cage, here performed by violinist Josje Fosie Ter Haar and pianist John Snijders.

Italian saxophonist Stefano Ferrian in a duo with pianist Simone Quatrana, Ferrian bounding terse phrases against Quatrana's concise but tenacious dissections of pattern and rhythm, using angularity, counterpoint and expansive harmonics in a rewarding dialog.

The beautiful and introspective duo of guitarist Scott Fields and Jeffrey Lependorf, a certified master of the shakuhachi, performing new works for guitar and shakuhachi that combine written and improvised material, lovely and intelligent music.

The duo of Richard Barrett and Paul Obermayer in 12 studio tracks of semi-composed electronics, and a live improvised tribute to Karlheinz Stockhausen.

The NY based, long-running trio The Gate led by Dan Peck on tuba and effects, with double bassist Tom Blancarte and drummer Brian Osborne, in a cassette culled from live concerts in Hannover and Brussels while on a European tour in November of 2015, "a brutally unfiltered representation of The Gate's special brand of spontaneous composition."

The latest project from Rafal Gorzycki, leader of "Ecstasy Project" & "Sing Sing Penelope", here with music composed for poems and inspired by modern electronic, jazz and chamber music.

A duo of contrasts and compatabilities from German violinst Gunda Gottschalk and guzheng virtuoso Xu Fengxia, exotic and beautifully textured improvisation live from Victoriaville, 2008.

The trio of Guillermo Gregorio (clarinet), Steve Swell (trombone) and Pandelis Karayorgis (piano) use their unique selection of instruments to play an original set of composition and improv.

An unusual and captivating work from the trio of saxophonist Alexandra Grimal, double bassist Benjaim Duboc, and cellist Valentin Ceccaldi, leading their album with tracks from "Respirer l'ombre" by Giuseppe Penone "spontaneously used without permission but with great admiration," leading to powerful and unpredictable directions in free improvisation; excellent.

Pianist Richard Grossman in a trio with double bassist Ken Filiano and percussionist Alex Cline, playing freely improvised jazz in a live setting.

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".

Pieces in 4 movements - Snow; Never Cold; Gusts; Landscapes - performed by Ensemble SuperMusique: Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Pierre Tanguay, Scott Thomson & Alexandre St-Onge.

Dutch improviser van Heumen (N Collective, OfficeR, &c.) in a dynamic and shifting solo work of laptop electronics, noise textures, and text.

Jim Hobbs piano-less trio in an "emboldened program of muscular angularity Ornette-ish harmolodic lullaby and punk-rock deviousness."

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

The duo project of Berlin-based clarinetists Kai Fagaschinski and Michal Thieke, (Magic I.D., Christof Kurzmann, Splitter Ochester) in their 5th album of timbre-rich, harmonically fascinating and slowly evolving reed interactions, returning to their core duo after their previous quartet album, here presenting a large rich and beautifully weaving work.

The duo of Berlin clarinetists Kai Fagaschinski and Michael Thieke (The Magic I.D.) create rich, evolving soundscapes using tones and odd interjections in unison and in dissonance, dark works of subtle beauty in unique sound oriented compositions.

Since 1995 the string trio of Rhodri Davies, Simon H. Fell & Mark Wastell have created sparse, introspective improvisation, performing here at the Contemporaneamente festival in Lodi, Italy.

Live recordings of JC Jones in duo settings, 14 different collaborations including Ned Rothenberg, Victoria Hanna, Harold Rubin, Josef Sprinzak, Nori Jacoby, &c.

The second CD from Justine, a group of all women composers, arrangers, instrumentalists, and singers who are an offshoot of Wondeur Brass and who create music of dissonance and organized chaos.

Montreal's electroacoustic trio of Michel F Cote (percussion), Bernard Falaise (guitars) and Alexandre St-Onge (bass), in their 6th release, 12 succinct tracks of sophisticated improv merging unorthodox approaches for peculiarly satisfying compositions.

Reissue and fresh master of saxophonist Lee Konitz, pianist Don Friedman and guitarist Attila Zoller's great 1995 Hat release, original compositions of live melodic interplay.

Naming each track for the teeth of a different type of zip-fastener (curved, triangular, saggitate, &c) Swiss double bassists Daniel Studer and Peter K. Frey improvise a fascinating set of interlocking and intersecting abstractions, recorded live at at Kronen Galerie, in Zurich as the two celebrated their 20th anniversary as a duo through a series of 10 half-hour concerts.

During his residency in Vienna as part of Johannes Heuer's "Vor Anker", Kuchen recorded these curious solo works using saxophone and preparations, 6 pieces of understated intent using unconventional approaches rewarding the active listener.

Pianist Mathias Landaeus leads his trio with Johnny Aman on bass and Jonas Holgersson on drums through five original pieces, a mazurka by Chopin, and Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", an eclectic take on the piano trio blending modern techniques with both traditional and creative compositions.

Duo improvisations on pieces composed by clarinetist Pierre Langevin and percussionist Pierre Tanguay, using unusual instruments such as bagpipes, jaw-harps, accordions, etc.

Sparse but detailed improvisational journeys from the long-running duo of saxophonist Philippe Lauzier and bassist/electronic artist Pierre-Yves Martel.

Clarinetist Robert Marcel Lepage in a "sweet and slightly skewed homage" to the American clarinetist and swing player Pee Wee Russell.

Pianist Marilyn Lerner in a compilation of improvisations created by setting up different microphones in various configurations to highlight different sound qualities of the piano.

The duo of Jean Derome and Rene Lussier on their third album of composition and improvisation that was recorded live with no overdubs.

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

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

NY multi-reedist Michael Marcus (Cosmosamatics), here on clarinet, in a large ensemble including Lenwood Turner on trumpet & John Austria on Rhodes piano, performing original and intricate compositions.

Indian-born, currently Amsterdam-based American Rajesh Mehta expands the timbral and textural palette of the trumpet in twelve pieces with accompaniment by Paul Lovens on drums and cymbals.

Solo viola and double bass compositions from Voivodina Hungarian composer, violinist, viola player, and double bass player Szilárd Mezei.

"Here Now Hear" is comprised of nine innovative Australian works commissioned and recorded by the Monash Art Ensemble between 2017 & 2019, featuring an eclectic mix of contemporary cross-genre music by significant Australian composers: Paul Grabowsky, Kate Neal, Andrew Ford, Robert Burke, Cat Hope, Marc Hannaford, Paul Williamson, Johannes Luebbers and Sandy Evans.

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

Dark, edgy and superb electric guitar work from Joe Morris in a trio with Stave Lantner on electric keyboard and Jerome Deupree on drums, the final part of what Morris calls "Big Loud Electric Guitar Trilogy" that started with "Sweatshop" and "Racket Club", following the Hendrix legacy.

Merging Hannes Strobl's electric bass and effects with David Moss' unusual vocal approach into stream of consciousness observations and rich music of momentum and mood that are evocative, mysterious and fully engaging.

The peforming duo of Tokyo pianist Yoko Miura on conventional piano, toy piano and melodica, and free improvising vocalist Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg are recorded in the studio for 14 succinct and unusual improvisations, Fou Records leader Jean-Marc Foussat recording the affair and providing electronics on one track; wonderfully weird and informed.

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.

Canada's premiere new music magazine, with Philip Glass on the cover, plus articles on Jocelyn Morlock, Farah, D'Eon and Gill, and Olivia Block, and a 12 track CD of works by those and other artists.

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.

The second album from Noma, an ensemble formed and directed by trombonist Tom Walsh, that was recorded live in 2000 and 2002.