The Squid's Ear Magazine
The Squid's Ear Magazine
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Milton Michaeli / Asaf Shchori / Hamid Drake
Universal Butterfly
(577 Records)

Bridging generations of creative music, pianist Milton Michaeli, double bassist Asaf Shchori, and drummer Hamid Drake form a vividly responsive trio, blending original compositions and improvisation into music shaped by jazz and Latin traditions, deep grooves, bowed textures, lyrical bass movement, spiritual rhythm, and inspirations from Sun Ra and Ras Michael.


John Tilbury
At Home [4 CDs]
(Another Timbre)

Spanning home recordings from 2018 to 2026 with selected archival material, this four-CD set closes John Tilbury's recording career through piano, clavichord, organ and voice, joined by Keith Rowe, Klaus Filip and six pianists in music ranging from Elizabethan songbooks and contemporary compositions to quiet improvisation and reflection.


K Trio (Kei / Takao / Yoichi)
Parientes De La Vida
(577 Records)

Japanese K Trio unites Kei's poetry with Takao Miyazaki's electric guitar and objects and Yoichi Ichikawa's piano, objects and subjective stereophonic recording, preserving performances from three differently scaled rooms as language, improvisation and environmental resonance interrupt and reshape one another, shifting between intimate spoken detail, unstable acoustic perspective and exploratory sound.


Henry Grimes / Marzette Watts (w/ Robinson / Lancaster / Sharrock / Thornton / Berger / Moses &c)
The Call
(ALAY)

Reissuing Henry Grimes' concise, darkly lyrical 1965 trio album with clarinetist Perry Robinson and drummer Tom Price alongside Marzette Watts' turbulent 1966 octet session, this remastered edition contrasts free improvisation with a dense collective of Byard Lancaster, Clifford Thornton, Sonny Sharrock, Karl Berger, Juini Booth and J. C. Moses, Grimes the link between two vital expressions of 1960s freedom


Barry Guy / Roberto Ottaviano
Synantisi
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

A first recorded meeting between British bassist Barry Guy and Italian soprano saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano, bringing two master improvisers into a highly exposed duo setting where Guy's orchestral range of bowed, plucked and percussive bass techniques meets Ottaviano's agile soprano and voice in thirteen alert, rapidly evolving exchanges shaped by instantaneous response, restraint, lyricism and playful confrontation.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


Golding / Brice / Prevost
High Laver Levitations Vol 4: Sound-Out - jazz is dead, long live jazz
(Matchless)

Binker Golding, Olie Brice and Eddie Prévost reduce their earlier Secret Handshake with Danger collaboration to an elemental saxophone, bass and drums trio, bringing contemporary London jazz into Prévost's High Laver Levitations series through vigorous free improvisation where pulse, melody, resonance and abstraction continually test and renew the boundaries of jazz.


Joe Morris / Rob Brown / Anna Webber / Matthew Rousseaux
Counter Spectacle
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Joe Morris leads alto saxophonist Rob Brown, tenor saxophonist/flutist Anna Webber and drummer Matthew Rousseau in a quartet balancing composed structure with spontaneous free improvisation, recorded live at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, where Morris's idea of a "continuous beginning" drives music shaped by collective interaction, change, freedom, hope and possibility.


Evan Parker / John Zorn
Those Landings
(Tzadik)

Longtime friends and saxophone innovators Evan Parker on soprano and John Zorn on alto meet for their first dedicated studio collaboration, layering circular-breathed lines, multiphonics, whispers, cries and volatile gestures into five spacious works that treat the reeds as sources of breath, texture and atmosphere, balancing intimate beauty with finely controlled turbulence.


Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe
After the Storm
(Libra)

Satoko Fujii conducts her 14-piece Orchestra Kobe through a four-part work composed during the pandemic as an optimistic vision of shared humanity, joining layered reeds and brass with Takumi Seino's volatile guitar, Keishiro Saito's bass and dual drummers Yoshikazu Isaki and Hiromasa Sadaoka in a sweeping progression from stately melody and intimate subgroups to dissonant mass, fiery improvisation and a jubilant final theme.


Miles Davis 3rd Quintet
Reference: Bitches Brew Live 1969 In Europe [2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ALAY)

Documenting Miles Davis' 1969 "lost" third quintet live in Berlin, Stockholm and Rotterdam with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, this 2-CD set captures the post-In a Silent Way ensemble reshaping material headed toward Bitches Brew, balancing lyricism and abstraction through open forms, electric-piano clusters, volatile rhythmic invention and Davis' fiercely exploratory trumpet.


Laura Strobl / Georg Graewe / Mark Sanders
Acutance
(Random Acoustics)

Bringing violist Laura Strobl together with pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Mark Sanders, this 2025 Vienna session presents eleven freely improvised chamber pieces in which fleeting melodies, abstract gestures, and sharply contrasted textures coalesce into poised, intricate forms, highlighting the trio's acute responsiveness and the viola's distinctive role within the ensemble.


Sonic Fiction Special (Gratkowski / Strobl / Graewe / Hemingway) feat. Earl Howard
Banding Patterns
(Random Acoustics)

Reducing Georg Graewe's Sonic Fiction concept to an agile chamber group with Frank Gratkowski, Laura Strobl and Gerry Hemingway, joined by Earl Howard on electronics and alto saxophone, this 2025 Cologne session unfolds through nine intricate improvisations where acoustic counterpoint, extended timbres and electronic transformation continually reshape the ensemble's shifting sonic relationships.


B:A:N:S BAND (Sophie Agnel / John Butcher / Pascal Niggenkemper / Stale Liavik Solberg)
Foam & Mesh
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

The debut recording from B:A:N:S Band brings Sophie Agnel's radically extended piano together with John Butcher's exploratory saxophones, Pascal Niggenkemper's highly physical double bass and Ståle Liavik Solberg's responsive percussion in two long-form collective improvisations of texture, resonance, density and silence, captured live at Austria's 2024 Artacts Festival.


Chris Potter (feat Bill Frisell)
Alive With Ghosts Today
(Edition Records)

Chris Potter's suite draws on abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry to examine conviction, sacrifice and America's unresolved conflicts, with Bill Frisell's grainy guitar joined by Burniss Travis, Nate Smith, Sara Caswell, Rane Moore and Zekkereya El-magharbel in an American-rooted sound of blues, folk melody, spacious orchestration and rhythmic drive, balancing historical gravity with vivid ensemble color.


Jaki Byard
The Classic 1960s Albums [4 CDs]
(Enlightenment)

Collecting eight Jaki Byard albums from 1960-67, this 4-CD set follows the pianist and occasional alto saxophonist through his extraordinary synthesis of ragtime, stride, swing, bop and free jazz, joined across varied sessions by Booker Ervin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Joe Farrell, Richard Williams, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Alan Dawson and others in music of encyclopedic reach, sharp humor and restless invention.


Frank Gratkowski / Sebi Tramontana / Steve Beresford
Almost This
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Frank Gratkowski's reeds, Sebi Tramontana's trombone and Steve Beresford's piano meet in freely improvised music built on decades of individual experience and mutual trust, moving between playful exchange, dissonance, lyricism and near-organization in a Köln studio session that reveals three instantly recognizable voices continually reshaping their collective language.


Angles 4 (Kuchen / Haker-Flaten / Stahl / Nordeson)
Angles 4 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Martin Küchen reunites the Håker Flaten/Nordeson core of Angles 3 with longtime Angles 6/8/9 vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, revisiting older compositions in a lean quartet setting where volatile bass-and-drum momentum meets metallic resonance around Küchen's stark saxophone themes, distilling the larger ensemble's power into a clearer, more spacious and sharply focused form.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Play Monk [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)

After six albums reimagining Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal and Seymour Wright turn their transformative [Ahmed] project toward Thelonious Monk, atomising his compositions across two CDs into volatile, time-bending forms where piano, bass, drums and alto saxophone fracture and reassemble melody, rhythm and space through free jazz intensity, pulse and radical collective invention.


The Williams Tony Emergency w/ John McLaughlin / Larry Young
Emergency!
(ALAY)

A restored edition of Tony Williams Lifetime's incendiary 1969 trio debut with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ, documenting one of jazz-rock fusion's earliest and most audacious statements, where Williams' radical rhythmic designs, Young's dense harmonic force, and McLaughlin's searing electric vocabulary collide in urgent, psychedelic, genre-defying improvisation.


Gerry Hemingway / Izumi Kimura / Frank Gratkowski / Christian Weber
Live At Bau 4
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Gerry Hemingway leads a site-specific quartet with pianist Izumi Kimura, multi-reedist Frank Gratkowski and bassist Christian Weber, weaving composed structures, extended techniques, improvisational formations and wood-scrap percussion from Bau 4 itself into a tribute to the venue's founders, balancing melodic fragments, rhythmic propulsion, microtonal color and vivid ensemble transformation.


Onilu (Chambers / Diehl / McIver / Villarreal)
Jakuta's Dance
(577 Records)

A boundary-defying percussion quartet with the legendary Joe Chambers on vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, Kevin Diehl on sensory percussion drum kit, Craig McIver on marimba, vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, and Daniel Villarreal on drum kit, sensory percussion, bata okonkolo, conga, cajon and marimba, drawing on Yoruba-rooted ritual energy, avant-jazz, Latin folk and funk.


Fats Navarro
Reference: Nostaligia w/ Tadd Dameron and Charlie Rouse / Dexter Gordon / Ernie Henry / Art Blakey
(ALAY)

Restoring New York sessions from 1947 to 1949, this collection places Fats Navarro's brilliant, cleanly articulated trumpet within Tadd Dameron's harmonically refined bebop writing, joined by Charlie Rouse, Dexter Gordon, Ernie Henry, Leo Parker, Wardell Gray, Cecil Payne, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke and others as the ensembles move between intricate modern lines, swing-rooted lyricism and early Afro-Cuban color.


Glass Triangle (Parkins / Rasmussen / Sawyer)
3 X 1 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen and Ryan Sawyer return for Glass Triangle's third album, expanding the electric harp, alto saxophone and percussion language of their earlier releases with voice, preparations and bells, while distilling their volatile free improvisation into shorter, sharply focused pieces balancing texture, space, momentum and spontaneous collective change.


John Tilbury
At Home [4 CDs]
(Another Timbre)

Spanning home recordings from 2018 to 2026 with selected archival material, this four-CD set closes John Tilbury's recording career through piano, clavichord, organ and voice, joined by Keith Rowe, Klaus Filip and six pianists in music ranging from Elizabethan songbooks and contemporary compositions to quiet improvisation and reflection.


K Trio (Kei / Takao / Yoichi)
Parientes De La Vida
(577 Records)

Japanese K Trio unites Kei's poetry with Takao Miyazaki's electric guitar and objects and Yoichi Ichikawa's piano, objects and subjective stereophonic recording, preserving performances from three differently scaled rooms as language, improvisation and environmental resonance interrupt and reshape one another, shifting between intimate spoken detail, unstable acoustic perspective and exploratory sound.


Henry Grimes / Marzette Watts (w/ Robinson / Lancaster / Sharrock / Thornton / Berger / Moses &c)
The Call
(ALAY)

Reissuing Henry Grimes' concise, darkly lyrical 1965 trio album with clarinetist Perry Robinson and drummer Tom Price alongside Marzette Watts' turbulent 1966 octet session, this remastered edition contrasts free improvisation with a dense collective of Byard Lancaster, Clifford Thornton, Sonny Sharrock, Karl Berger, Juini Booth and J. C. Moses, Grimes the link between two vital expressions of 1960s freedom


Barry Guy / Roberto Ottaviano
Synantisi
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

A first recorded meeting between British bassist Barry Guy and Italian soprano saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano, bringing two master improvisers into a highly exposed duo setting where Guy's orchestral range of bowed, plucked and percussive bass techniques meets Ottaviano's agile soprano and voice in thirteen alert, rapidly evolving exchanges shaped by instantaneous response, restraint, lyricism and playful confrontation.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


Golding / Brice / Prevost
High Laver Levitations Vol 4: Sound-Out - jazz is dead, long live jazz
(Matchless)

Binker Golding, Olie Brice and Eddie Prévost reduce their earlier Secret Handshake with Danger collaboration to an elemental saxophone, bass and drums trio, bringing contemporary London jazz into Prévost's High Laver Levitations series through vigorous free improvisation where pulse, melody, resonance and abstraction continually test and renew the boundaries of jazz.


Joe Morris / Rob Brown / Anna Webber / Matthew Rousseaux
Counter Spectacle
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Joe Morris leads alto saxophonist Rob Brown, tenor saxophonist/flutist Anna Webber and drummer Matthew Rousseau in a quartet balancing composed structure with spontaneous free improvisation, recorded live at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, where Morris's idea of a "continuous beginning" drives music shaped by collective interaction, change, freedom, hope and possibility.


Evan Parker / John Zorn
Those Landings
(Tzadik)

Longtime friends and saxophone innovators Evan Parker on soprano and John Zorn on alto meet for their first dedicated studio collaboration, layering circular-breathed lines, multiphonics, whispers, cries and volatile gestures into five spacious works that treat the reeds as sources of breath, texture and atmosphere, balancing intimate beauty with finely controlled turbulence.


Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe
After the Storm
(Libra)

Satoko Fujii conducts her 14-piece Orchestra Kobe through a four-part work composed during the pandemic as an optimistic vision of shared humanity, joining layered reeds and brass with Takumi Seino's volatile guitar, Keishiro Saito's bass and dual drummers Yoshikazu Isaki and Hiromasa Sadaoka in a sweeping progression from stately melody and intimate subgroups to dissonant mass, fiery improvisation and a jubilant final theme.


Miles Davis 3rd Quintet
Reference: Bitches Brew Live 1969 In Europe [2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ALAY)

Documenting Miles Davis' 1969 "lost" third quintet live in Berlin, Stockholm and Rotterdam with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, this 2-CD set captures the post-In a Silent Way ensemble reshaping material headed toward Bitches Brew, balancing lyricism and abstraction through open forms, electric-piano clusters, volatile rhythmic invention and Davis' fiercely exploratory trumpet.


Laura Strobl / Georg Graewe / Mark Sanders
Acutance
(Random Acoustics)

Bringing violist Laura Strobl together with pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Mark Sanders, this 2025 Vienna session presents eleven freely improvised chamber pieces in which fleeting melodies, abstract gestures, and sharply contrasted textures coalesce into poised, intricate forms, highlighting the trio's acute responsiveness and the viola's distinctive role within the ensemble.


Sonic Fiction Special (Gratkowski / Strobl / Graewe / Hemingway) feat. Earl Howard
Banding Patterns
(Random Acoustics)

Reducing Georg Graewe's Sonic Fiction concept to an agile chamber group with Frank Gratkowski, Laura Strobl and Gerry Hemingway, joined by Earl Howard on electronics and alto saxophone, this 2025 Cologne session unfolds through nine intricate improvisations where acoustic counterpoint, extended timbres and electronic transformation continually reshape the ensemble's shifting sonic relationships.


B:A:N:S BAND (Sophie Agnel / John Butcher / Pascal Niggenkemper / Stale Liavik Solberg)
Foam & Mesh
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

The debut recording from B:A:N:S Band brings Sophie Agnel's radically extended piano together with John Butcher's exploratory saxophones, Pascal Niggenkemper's highly physical double bass and Ståle Liavik Solberg's responsive percussion in two long-form collective improvisations of texture, resonance, density and silence, captured live at Austria's 2024 Artacts Festival.


Chris Potter (feat Bill Frisell)
Alive With Ghosts Today
(Edition Records)

Chris Potter's suite draws on abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry to examine conviction, sacrifice and America's unresolved conflicts, with Bill Frisell's grainy guitar joined by Burniss Travis, Nate Smith, Sara Caswell, Rane Moore and Zekkereya El-magharbel in an American-rooted sound of blues, folk melody, spacious orchestration and rhythmic drive, balancing historical gravity with vivid ensemble color.


Jaki Byard
The Classic 1960s Albums [4 CDs]
(Enlightenment)

Collecting eight Jaki Byard albums from 1960-67, this 4-CD set follows the pianist and occasional alto saxophonist through his extraordinary synthesis of ragtime, stride, swing, bop and free jazz, joined across varied sessions by Booker Ervin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Joe Farrell, Richard Williams, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Alan Dawson and others in music of encyclopedic reach, sharp humor and restless invention.


Frank Gratkowski / Sebi Tramontana / Steve Beresford
Almost This
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Frank Gratkowski's reeds, Sebi Tramontana's trombone and Steve Beresford's piano meet in freely improvised music built on decades of individual experience and mutual trust, moving between playful exchange, dissonance, lyricism and near-organization in a Köln studio session that reveals three instantly recognizable voices continually reshaping their collective language.


Angles 4 (Kuchen / Haker-Flaten / Stahl / Nordeson)
Angles 4 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Martin Küchen reunites the Håker Flaten/Nordeson core of Angles 3 with longtime Angles 6/8/9 vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, revisiting older compositions in a lean quartet setting where volatile bass-and-drum momentum meets metallic resonance around Küchen's stark saxophone themes, distilling the larger ensemble's power into a clearer, more spacious and sharply focused form.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Play Monk [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)

After six albums reimagining Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal and Seymour Wright turn their transformative [Ahmed] project toward Thelonious Monk, atomising his compositions across two CDs into volatile, time-bending forms where piano, bass, drums and alto saxophone fracture and reassemble melody, rhythm and space through free jazz intensity, pulse and radical collective invention.


The Williams Tony Emergency w/ John McLaughlin / Larry Young
Emergency!
(ALAY)

A restored edition of Tony Williams Lifetime's incendiary 1969 trio debut with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ, documenting one of jazz-rock fusion's earliest and most audacious statements, where Williams' radical rhythmic designs, Young's dense harmonic force, and McLaughlin's searing electric vocabulary collide in urgent, psychedelic, genre-defying improvisation.


Gerry Hemingway / Izumi Kimura / Frank Gratkowski / Christian Weber
Live At Bau 4
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Gerry Hemingway leads a site-specific quartet with pianist Izumi Kimura, multi-reedist Frank Gratkowski and bassist Christian Weber, weaving composed structures, extended techniques, improvisational formations and wood-scrap percussion from Bau 4 itself into a tribute to the venue's founders, balancing melodic fragments, rhythmic propulsion, microtonal color and vivid ensemble transformation.


Onilu (Chambers / Diehl / McIver / Villarreal)
Jakuta's Dance
(577 Records)

A boundary-defying percussion quartet with the legendary Joe Chambers on vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, Kevin Diehl on sensory percussion drum kit, Craig McIver on marimba, vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, and Daniel Villarreal on drum kit, sensory percussion, bata okonkolo, conga, cajon and marimba, drawing on Yoruba-rooted ritual energy, avant-jazz, Latin folk and funk.


Fats Navarro
Reference: Nostaligia w/ Tadd Dameron and Charlie Rouse / Dexter Gordon / Ernie Henry / Art Blakey
(ALAY)

Restoring New York sessions from 1947 to 1949, this collection places Fats Navarro's brilliant, cleanly articulated trumpet within Tadd Dameron's harmonically refined bebop writing, joined by Charlie Rouse, Dexter Gordon, Ernie Henry, Leo Parker, Wardell Gray, Cecil Payne, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke and others as the ensembles move between intricate modern lines, swing-rooted lyricism and early Afro-Cuban color.


Glass Triangle (Parkins / Rasmussen / Sawyer)
3 X 1 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen and Ryan Sawyer return for Glass Triangle's third album, expanding the electric harp, alto saxophone and percussion language of their earlier releases with voice, preparations and bells, while distilling their volatile free improvisation into shorter, sharply focused pieces balancing texture, space, momentum and spontaneous collective change.


Gebhard Ullmann / Uwe Oberg / Joe Fonda / Dieter Ulrich
New Conference Call
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reconfiguring the long-running Conference Call quartet with pianist Uwe Oberg alongside tenor saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer/bugler Dieter Ulrich, this first New Conference Call release moves through intricate compositions, spacious collective improvisation and volatile free-jazz exchanges, including tributes to Joe Maneri, Ornette Coleman and Jim Pepper.


AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Phlegm
(Matchless)

A late-period live recording from AMM — Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and John Tilbury — capturing their refined electroacoustic free improv language of near-silence, where percussion, electronics, and piano dissolve into a shared sonic field shaped by extreme restraint, microscopic detail, and a collective focus on texture, duration, and deep listening.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Sama'a (Audition) [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)

Reimagining and transforming Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Jazz Sahara in their first studio session, the [Ahmed] quartet of Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal, and Seymour Wright ignite four compact, single-take explorations that fuse percussive intensity, kaleidoscopic group interplay, and a fearless reshaping of tradition into dizzying, future-leaning improvisation.


Joelle Leandre / Remy Belanger de Beauport
Jeux De Mains [VINYL]
(Tour de Bras)

Joelle Leandre on double bass and Remy Belanger de Beauport on violoncello engage in eight finely attuned live improvisations, moving between visceral arco attacks, percussive pizzicato, string scrape, fragile micro-gestures, resonant drones, and sudden silences, dissolving conventional instrumental roles through an alert, risk-taking dialog that balances raw intensity with spaciousness, textural detail, and quietly unfolding form.


Schlippenbach Trio
Elf Bagatellen [DOUBLE VINYL]
(Cien Fuegos)

Capturing the Schlippenbach Trio, one of European free jazz's foundational ensembles, in a more distilled and compositionally focused mode, this 1990 session with Evan Parker on soprano & tenor saxophones, von Schlippenbach on piano, and Paul Lovens on drums and cymbals unfolds through eleven concise improvisations of taut interplay, fractured lyricism, and chamber-like precision.


Mary Halvorson Septet
Illusionary Sea [VINYL 2 LPS]
(Firehouse 12 Records)

Mary Halvorson leads her Septet with Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jon Irabagon (alto sax), Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Jacob Garchik (trombone), John Hebert (bass) & Ches Smith (drums) through 6 original compositions and a Robert Wyatt cover!


Mary Halvorson
Away With You [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)

Mary Halvorson continues her string of excellent modern jazz albums with this octet release with fellow guitarist Susan Alcorn, Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jon Irabagon & Ingrid Laubrock (sax), Jacob Garchik (trombone), John Hebert (bass) and Ches Smith (drums).


Sei Miguel
O Carro De Fogo De Sei Miguel [VINYL]
(Clean Feed)

Recording live in the Namouche Studios in Lisbon in 2018, trumpeter Sei Miguel's octet performs a large work translating to "Fire Car", inspired by William Blake's "Jerusalem" (Chariot of Fire), reminding of early 70's Miles/fusion work as organist Andre Goncalves creates an atmospheric backbone over which the band introduces repetition and variation; mysterious and singular.


John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble
Volume 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second of two volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.


Steve Lehman Trio + Mark Turner
The Music of Anthony Braxton [VINYL]
(Pi Recordings)

Alto saxophonist Steve Lehman leads his trio with bassist Matt Brewer and drummer Damion Reid, joined by tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, in a vibrant live homage to Anthony Braxton's small ensemble works, blending intricate modern jazz interplay with searing emotional expression in a bold, high-energy celebration of Braxton's enduring influence.


Eva Novoa
Solo (I) [VINYL]
(577 Records)

On her first solo piano recording, Brooklyn-based pianist and composer Eva Novoa explores an intimate and adventurous sonic palette across six original pieces, combining grand piano with Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, gongs, percussion, voice, and whistling, creating a rhythmically charged and cinematic performance that expands the expressive possibilities of the solo format.


Horatiu Radulescu
Clepsydra / Astray [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

Romanian-French composer Horatiu Radulescu with 2 works from 1983: "Clepsydra" for 16 Sound Icons played on a sideway piano, and the 1984 work "Astray" for 6 saxophones and Sound Icons.


Mary Halvorson
Bending Bridges [2 VINYL LPs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)

Limited edition LP of Brooklyn-based guitarist/composer Mary Halvorson's second recording with her amazing working quintet of trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, saxophonist Jon Irabagon, bassist John Hebert, and drummer Ches Smith.


Bobby Bradford / Frode Gjerstad Quartet
The Delaware River [VINYL]
(NoBusiness)

The longstanding collaboration of cornetist Bobby Bradford and reedist Frode Gjerstad (together since '86) with bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass and Frank Rosaly on drums, recording at Philadelphia Art Alliance in 2014, a powerful lineup of modern free players.


Fake Humans (Fisher / Didur)
Exegesis [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)

The Toronto-based duo of Colin Fisher on woodwinds and percussion and Carl Didur on keyboards and bass bridge acoustic and electronic improv with science fiction sensibilities in their two part "Exegesis", a critical exposition of un-genred music that borrows from global sources in service to their unusual and exotic tale; a wonderfully perplexing album.


Daniel Carter / Watson Jennison / William Parker / Federico Ughi
Live! Volume 1: Erie [VINYL]
(577 Records)

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.


Rachel Musson / Pat Thomas / Mark Sanders
Shifa: Live at Cafe Oto [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577 Records)

"Shifa", or "Healing", is the London-based trio of saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Pat Thomas, and drummer Mark Sanders, here in a live concert at Cafe Oto in 2018 of two collective improvisations of arching sax lines, rolling and potent drumming, powerful block chords and intricate lines, from dark to joyful moments, an intoxicating tonic for the ears.


Daniel Carter / Patrick Holmes / Matthew Putman / Hilliard Greene / Federico Ughi
Electric Telepathy, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter's Telepathic Band with Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Matthew Putman (keyboards), Hilliard Greene (bass) and Federico Ughi (drums) present their first volume of "psych-jazz", in actively mesmerizing music that explores the border between the "default world" and the "dream world", a meditation on electricity through profound playing.


Sabir Mateen / Patrick Holmes / Federico Ughi
Survival Situation [VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(577 Records)

Having played together in a variety of settings, but never as a trio, saxophonist Sabir Mateen, clarinetist Patrick Holmes and drummer Federico Ughi met in a recording studio in Tuscany, Italy to record this album of wide-ranging free improvisation, Mateen's Farfisa playing and vocal declamations bringing a Sun Ra element to the vehement and profound dialog.


Mary Halvorson's Code Girl
Artlessly Falling [VINYL WHITE 2 LPs]
(Firehouse 12 Records)

The 2nd Code Girl release from guitarist Mary Halvorson presents an embraceable and ambitious set of songs from 8 poetic forms for which Halvorson composed words & music, 3 of which are sung by Robert Wyatt, the others by Amirtha Kidambi, in a band with Thumbscrew members Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), plus Maria Grand (sax) and Adam O'Farrill (trumpet).


Daniel Carter / Tobias Wilner / Djibril Toure / Federico Ughi
New York United Volume 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second volume of this rich and exotic quartet in a sublime merging of jazz, electronics and compositional approaches yielding melodically dream-like music and environments, from reedist, flutist && trumpeter Daniel Carter, Tobias Wilner (Blue Foundation) on synth and keys, Wu-Tang Clan bassist Djibril Toure and Italian/NY drummer Federico Ughi.


Daniel Carter / Patrick Holmes / Matthew Putman / Hilliard Greene / Federico Ughi
Telepatica [VINYL]
(577 Records)

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.


Daniel Carter / Matthew Shipp / William Parker / Gerald Cleaver
Welcome Adventure! Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The 2nd of two studio albums from the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums, recordings from the same sessions as the 1st volume with five shorter works, as the long-time collaborators and friends show their nearly telepathic rapport in adventurous and masterful modern jazz.


Alexander Schlippenbach von
Globe Unity [VINYL]
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Wild, nearly unprecedented and an exhilarating direction in European Free Improvisation heard in the 1st recordings from 1966 of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach's Globe Unity band, a 14-piece ensemble that included young saxophonists Peter Brötzmann, Gerd Dudek & Kris Wanders, bassist Peter Kowald, bass clarinetist Willem Breuker, trumpeter Manfred Schoof, &c.


Zoh Amba / William Parker / Francisco Mela
O Life, O Light Vol. 2 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The second volume from the trio of Tennessee-to-NYC transplant Zoe Amba on tenor saxophone & flute, legendary double bassist William Parker and Francisco Mela on drums, performing three compositions by Amba recorded in the studio in NYC; emphatic free jazz with a powerful rhythm section elucidating Amba's spiritually fueled approach to compelling, lyrical improvisation.


John Dikeman / Pat Thomas / John Edwards / Steve Noble
Volume 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

The first of two planned volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.


Daniel Carter / Leo Genovese / William Parker / Francisco Mela
Shine Hear, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

Inspired by a poem Carter wrote about New York's interminable motion, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this first of two planned volumes from an excellent studio session.


K Trio (Kei / Takao / Yoichi)
Parientes De La Vida
(577 Records)

Japanese K Trio unites Kei's poetry with Takao Miyazaki's electric guitar and objects and Yoichi Ichikawa's piano, objects and subjective stereophonic recording, preserving performances from three differently scaled rooms as language, improvisation and environmental resonance interrupt and reshape one another, shifting between intimate spoken detail, unstable acoustic perspective and exploratory sound.


Henry Grimes / Marzette Watts (w/ Robinson / Lancaster / Sharrock / Thornton / Berger / Moses &c)
The Call
(ALAY)

Reissuing Henry Grimes' concise, darkly lyrical 1965 trio album with clarinetist Perry Robinson and drummer Tom Price alongside Marzette Watts' turbulent 1966 octet session, this remastered edition contrasts free improvisation with a dense collective of Byard Lancaster, Clifford Thornton, Sonny Sharrock, Karl Berger, Juini Booth and J. C. Moses, Grimes the link between two vital expressions of 1960s freedom


Barry Guy / Roberto Ottaviano
Synantisi
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

A first recorded meeting between British bassist Barry Guy and Italian soprano saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano, bringing two master improvisers into a highly exposed duo setting where Guy's orchestral range of bowed, plucked and percussive bass techniques meets Ottaviano's agile soprano and voice in thirteen alert, rapidly evolving exchanges shaped by instantaneous response, restraint, lyricism and playful confrontation.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


Golding / Brice / Prevost
High Laver Levitations Vol 4: Sound-Out - jazz is dead, long live jazz
(Matchless)

Binker Golding, Olie Brice and Eddie Prévost reduce their earlier Secret Handshake with Danger collaboration to an elemental saxophone, bass and drums trio, bringing contemporary London jazz into Prévost's High Laver Levitations series through vigorous free improvisation where pulse, melody, resonance and abstraction continually test and renew the boundaries of jazz.


Joe Morris / Rob Brown / Anna Webber / Matthew Rousseaux
Counter Spectacle
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Joe Morris leads alto saxophonist Rob Brown, tenor saxophonist/flutist Anna Webber and drummer Matthew Rousseau in a quartet balancing composed structure with spontaneous free improvisation, recorded live at Firehouse 12 in New Haven, where Morris's idea of a "continuous beginning" drives music shaped by collective interaction, change, freedom, hope and possibility.


Evan Parker / John Zorn
Those Landings
(Tzadik)

Longtime friends and saxophone innovators Evan Parker on soprano and John Zorn on alto meet for their first dedicated studio collaboration, layering circular-breathed lines, multiphonics, whispers, cries and volatile gestures into five spacious works that treat the reeds as sources of breath, texture and atmosphere, balancing intimate beauty with finely controlled turbulence.


Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe
After the Storm
(Libra)

Satoko Fujii conducts her 14-piece Orchestra Kobe through a four-part work composed during the pandemic as an optimistic vision of shared humanity, joining layered reeds and brass with Takumi Seino's volatile guitar, Keishiro Saito's bass and dual drummers Yoshikazu Isaki and Hiromasa Sadaoka in a sweeping progression from stately melody and intimate subgroups to dissonant mass, fiery improvisation and a jubilant final theme.


Miles Davis 3rd Quintet
Reference: Bitches Brew Live 1969 In Europe [2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ALAY)

Documenting Miles Davis' 1969 "lost" third quintet live in Berlin, Stockholm and Rotterdam with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, this 2-CD set captures the post-In a Silent Way ensemble reshaping material headed toward Bitches Brew, balancing lyricism and abstraction through open forms, electric-piano clusters, volatile rhythmic invention and Davis' fiercely exploratory trumpet.


Laura Strobl / Georg Graewe / Mark Sanders
Acutance
(Random Acoustics)

Bringing violist Laura Strobl together with pianist Georg Graewe and drummer Mark Sanders, this 2025 Vienna session presents eleven freely improvised chamber pieces in which fleeting melodies, abstract gestures, and sharply contrasted textures coalesce into poised, intricate forms, highlighting the trio's acute responsiveness and the viola's distinctive role within the ensemble.


Sonic Fiction Special (Gratkowski / Strobl / Graewe / Hemingway) feat. Earl Howard
Banding Patterns
(Random Acoustics)

Reducing Georg Graewe's Sonic Fiction concept to an agile chamber group with Frank Gratkowski, Laura Strobl and Gerry Hemingway, joined by Earl Howard on electronics and alto saxophone, this 2025 Cologne session unfolds through nine intricate improvisations where acoustic counterpoint, extended timbres and electronic transformation continually reshape the ensemble's shifting sonic relationships.


B:A:N:S BAND (Sophie Agnel / John Butcher / Pascal Niggenkemper / Stale Liavik Solberg)
Foam & Mesh
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

The debut recording from B:A:N:S Band brings Sophie Agnel's radically extended piano together with John Butcher's exploratory saxophones, Pascal Niggenkemper's highly physical double bass and Ståle Liavik Solberg's responsive percussion in two long-form collective improvisations of texture, resonance, density and silence, captured live at Austria's 2024 Artacts Festival.


Chris Potter (feat Bill Frisell)
Alive With Ghosts Today
(Edition Records)

Chris Potter's suite draws on abolitionist John Brown's 1859 raid on Harpers Ferry to examine conviction, sacrifice and America's unresolved conflicts, with Bill Frisell's grainy guitar joined by Burniss Travis, Nate Smith, Sara Caswell, Rane Moore and Zekkereya El-magharbel in an American-rooted sound of blues, folk melody, spacious orchestration and rhythmic drive, balancing historical gravity with vivid ensemble color.


Jaki Byard
The Classic 1960s Albums [4 CDs]
(Enlightenment)

Collecting eight Jaki Byard albums from 1960-67, this 4-CD set follows the pianist and occasional alto saxophonist through his extraordinary synthesis of ragtime, stride, swing, bop and free jazz, joined across varied sessions by Booker Ervin, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Joe Farrell, Richard Williams, Ron Carter, Roy Haynes, Alan Dawson and others in music of encyclopedic reach, sharp humor and restless invention.


Frank Gratkowski / Sebi Tramontana / Steve Beresford
Almost This
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Frank Gratkowski's reeds, Sebi Tramontana's trombone and Steve Beresford's piano meet in freely improvised music built on decades of individual experience and mutual trust, moving between playful exchange, dissonance, lyricism and near-organization in a Köln studio session that reveals three instantly recognizable voices continually reshaping their collective language.


Angles 4 (Kuchen / Haker-Flaten / Stahl / Nordeson)
Angles 4 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Martin Küchen reunites the Håker Flaten/Nordeson core of Angles 3 with longtime Angles 6/8/9 vibraphonist Mattias Ståhl, revisiting older compositions in a lean quartet setting where volatile bass-and-drum momentum meets metallic resonance around Küchen's stark saxophone themes, distilling the larger ensemble's power into a clearer, more spacious and sharply focused form.


Francisco Mela feat. Matthew Shipp / William Parker
Music Frees Our Souls, Vol. 1 [VINYL]
(577 Records)

A member of pianist McCoy Tyner's Trio and Joe Lavano's Quartet, New York drummer Francisco Mela's own career as a leader is heard in this energetic trio album with two of NY's finest--pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker--recording in the studio in Brooklyn in 2020 for two extended and powerful collective improvisations and a brief "Dark Light".


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Play Monk [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)

After six albums reimagining Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal and Seymour Wright turn their transformative [Ahmed] project toward Thelonious Monk, atomising his compositions across two CDs into volatile, time-bending forms where piano, bass, drums and alto saxophone fracture and reassemble melody, rhythm and space through free jazz intensity, pulse and radical collective invention.


The Williams Tony Emergency w/ John McLaughlin / Larry Young
Emergency!
(ALAY)

A restored edition of Tony Williams Lifetime's incendiary 1969 trio debut with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ, documenting one of jazz-rock fusion's earliest and most audacious statements, where Williams' radical rhythmic designs, Young's dense harmonic force, and McLaughlin's searing electric vocabulary collide in urgent, psychedelic, genre-defying improvisation.


Gerry Hemingway / Izumi Kimura / Frank Gratkowski / Christian Weber
Live At Bau 4
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Gerry Hemingway leads a site-specific quartet with pianist Izumi Kimura, multi-reedist Frank Gratkowski and bassist Christian Weber, weaving composed structures, extended techniques, improvisational formations and wood-scrap percussion from Bau 4 itself into a tribute to the venue's founders, balancing melodic fragments, rhythmic propulsion, microtonal color and vivid ensemble transformation.


Onilu (Chambers / Diehl / McIver / Villarreal)
Jakuta's Dance
(577 Records)

A boundary-defying percussion quartet with the legendary Joe Chambers on vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, Kevin Diehl on sensory percussion drum kit, Craig McIver on marimba, vibraphone, drum kit and percussion, and Daniel Villarreal on drum kit, sensory percussion, bata okonkolo, conga, cajon and marimba, drawing on Yoruba-rooted ritual energy, avant-jazz, Latin folk and funk.


Fats Navarro
Reference: Nostaligia w/ Tadd Dameron and Charlie Rouse / Dexter Gordon / Ernie Henry / Art Blakey
(ALAY)

Restoring New York sessions from 1947 to 1949, this collection places Fats Navarro's brilliant, cleanly articulated trumpet within Tadd Dameron's harmonically refined bebop writing, joined by Charlie Rouse, Dexter Gordon, Ernie Henry, Leo Parker, Wardell Gray, Cecil Payne, Art Blakey, Kenny Clarke and others as the ensembles move between intricate modern lines, swing-rooted lyricism and early Afro-Cuban color.


Glass Triangle (Parkins / Rasmussen / Sawyer)
3 X 1 [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

Zeena Parkins, Mette Rasmussen and Ryan Sawyer return for Glass Triangle's third album, expanding the electric harp, alto saxophone and percussion language of their earlier releases with voice, preparations and bells, while distilling their volatile free improvisation into shorter, sharply focused pieces balancing texture, space, momentum and spontaneous collective change.


Gebhard Ullmann / Uwe Oberg / Joe Fonda / Dieter Ulrich
New Conference Call
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reconfiguring the long-running Conference Call quartet with pianist Uwe Oberg alongside tenor saxophonist Gebhard Ullmann, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer/bugler Dieter Ulrich, this first New Conference Call release moves through intricate compositions, spacious collective improvisation and volatile free-jazz exchanges, including tributes to Joe Maneri, Ornette Coleman and Jim Pepper.


AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Phlegm
(Matchless)

A late-period live recording from AMM — Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and John Tilbury — capturing their refined electroacoustic free improv language of near-silence, where percussion, electronics, and piano dissolve into a shared sonic field shaped by extreme restraint, microscopic detail, and a collective focus on texture, duration, and deep listening.


Caleb Chase
Looking At Bugs Under A Log
(Love Earth Music)

Experimental composer Caleb Chase presents 15 succinct electroacoustic pieces that delve into intricate sound spatialization and panning techniques, crafting immersive auditory environments where layered textures and dynamic movements reveal hidden sonic details, rewarding attentive listening through headphones or stereo speakers.


Jay Crocker
Joachim on Eggshells
(Bug Incision Records)

Jay Crockers follows the allure of salvage from six years of recordings, taking sketches and mini-improvs and organizing them into a large and unusual sonic journey.


Machinefabriek
Duotoon
(Machinefabriek)

Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) in an EP of a long sine save compositions that creates a minimally moving piece of consonance and dissonance using beautifully recorded tones.


Jean-Luc Guionnet + Eric La Casa
Reflected Waves [60 pages 21x25 cm + DVD video 1h48mn]
(Passage d'encres)

Eric La Casa and Jean Luc Guionnet recorded this conceptual work in Melbourne, Australia, combining different scales of time, space, & attention, with different working strategies to create a gallery installation, and this book & DVD package exploring the acoustic phenomenon of "standing waves" to engage with the physical relationship between sound and space.


Fake Humans (Fisher / Didur)
Exegesis [VINYL]
(Shhpuma)

The Toronto-based duo of Colin Fisher on woodwinds and percussion and Carl Didur on keyboards and bass bridge acoustic and electronic improv with science fiction sensibilities in their two part "Exegesis", a critical exposition of un-genred music that borrows from global sources in service to their unusual and exotic tale; a wonderfully perplexing album.


Zhao Cong
Rotating, Rotating
(Hitorri)

Three solo tracks by Zhao Cong, who develops suspenseful sonic environments over which she inventively and patiently adds daily objects, sounds from her mixer, condenser microphone, her voice, a cardpaper tube, no input feedback, contact microphones, and a home ballroom light, each piece evolving with a unique disposition towards certain associative sounds; fascinating.


Klaus Filip / Moe Kamura
Passagein
(Winds Measure)

ppooll sound artist Klaus Filip and Japanese experimental vocalist Moe Kamura (10Tet, Taku Sugimoto) in a two-part improvisation of electronic tones, textures, silence, and minimalist vocalization and utterance, Filip using a dynamic frequency palette inspiring Kamura's wordless expression; lowercase or Onkyo, a meditative and moody work.


The Remote Viewers
Let the City Sleep
(Remote Viewers)

Restricted by pandemic, bassist John Edwards took compositions for Remote Viewers written by Dave Petts along with recordings from himself and saxophonists Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover & David Petts, using digital compositional methods to maintain Petts' concepts while manipulating and inverting each piece in wonderfully riotous and unexpected ways.


Richard Comte
Innermap
(Coax)

Addressing the perception and representation of physical space through 9 solo guitar works of sonic textures and treatments imbued with rich solo playing, each track named by coordinates of remembered towns and cities, creating a succession of interconnected sonic landscapes of drones, resonance and clear tones as a metaphor for an internal, mental, cartography.


Jaki Green Shelton
I Want to Undie You [CD EP]
(Soul City Sounds)

A CD EP from North Carolina Poet Laureate Jaki Shelton Green, the first African American and third woman to receive the appointment, persenting her work "I Want to Undie You" expressing her sorrow at the unexpected death of her daughter Imani and a celebration of her life, with audio arrangements by Alec Ferrel, plus versions of the text and music only.


Michel Banabila
Hidden Patterns
(Tapu Records)

Netherlands keyboardist, sound artist and composer Michel Banabila's work is explored through 14 recent projects in different configurations with 10 collaborators including guitarist Anton Goudsmit, violinist Oene van Geel, clarinetist Gareth Davis, cellist Peter Hollo, &c.; beautifully dramatic works of great depth and texture with rich and often haunting melodies.


Nick Dunston
Skultura [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Tripticks Tapes)

Bassist & composer Nick Dunston's Berlin band Skultura creates a uniquely experimental and fascinatingly sculpted approach to free jazz through layers of sound and serious playing punctuated by voice and concrete elements, each piece keeping the listener in anticipation of what might happen next, eased into serious jazz grooves, then whisked away in new directions; not to be missed!


Michel Banabila
Uprooted
(Tapu Records)

Hand-numbered repress edition.
Composer Michel Banabila invited seven musicians to improvise individually, taking recordings from those sessions to create this beautifully structured set of electronic compositions, merging eBow, samplers, synth, guitar and electronics with cello, bass clarinet, viola, violin and double bass in works that display tranquility but hide deep tension below.


Rutger Zuydervelt
Kites (music for a performance by Roshanak Morrowatian)
(Machinefabriek)

Music for a solo dance piece performed by Roshanak Morrowatian and composed by Netherland electronic artist Rutger Zuydervelt, the subject of the dance reflecting on the experience of young asylum seekers forced from their native countries to grow up somewhere unfamiliar, the music in seven parts weaving fragments of Iranian popular music into Zuydervelt's abstract electronics.


Abcess Grenk
Erguss Von Licht [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Copy This!)

Marc Myers, recording in Lincoln, Nebraska, is the creative force behind Abcess Grenk, merging analog electronics and experimental guitar in Erguss Von Licht, as a blend of synthesizers, modular synths, a Fender guitar, and a '69 Fender Deluxe Reverb amp, for richly layered and textured improvisations steeped in a DIY aesthetic that reflects Myers' decades-long evolution in sound exploration.


Rick Reger
Textures & Tonalities for Analogue Synthesizers & Percussion
(Aural Terrains)

Blending vintage analogue synthesizers with resonant percussion, Chicago-based Rick Reger (The Margots) constructs an immersive electroacoustic soundscape that balances harmonic depth and atmospheric tension, sculpting evolving tonalities through Moog, Mellotron, Arp & VCS3 alongside gongs and singing bowls in a meditative and richly textured sonic exploration.


Houser / Jacques / Montiel / Salinas / Weathers
Light Flies Out of Us
(Editions Glomar)

Subtle textures, hushed resonance, and environmental influences converge in a delicate yet immersive sonic space in this collaboration recorded at Wind Tide in Littlefield, Texas, bringing together Justin Houser, Anne-Françoise Jacques, Ernesto Montiel, Veronica Anne Salinas, and Andrew Weathers for an intimate exploration of electroacoustic improvisation.


Halls of the Machine
Atmospheres For Lovers And Sleepers [CASSETTE w/ DOWNLOAD]
(Copy This!)

Expanding beyond their post-industrial rock roots, guitarist Mike Graff and drummer Michael Jerome join forces with producer/keyboardist Van Eric Martin, bassist Mike Daane, and vocalist Blythe Gaissert for an ambient and cinematic work inspired by Metropolis, blending ethereal soundscapes and hypnotic rhythms into an immersive instrumental journey.


Rutger Zuydervelt
Meander
(Machinefabriek)

A mesmerizing sonic counterpart to the acrobatic and dance performance Meander, Rutger Zuydervelt (Machinefabriek) crafts an immersive score that mirrors the movement of Marta & Kim, Knot on Hands, and Felix Zech, blending ambient textures and dynamic shifts to evoke fluidity, weight, and momentum, shaping an auditory journey that unfolds with the same grace and unpredictability as the performance itself.


Zilmrah
Hallucinatory X-Ray Visions
(Love Earth Music)

The debut full-length from Lawry Romani's noise/drone project Zilmrah blends manipulated samples, modular synths, and handcrafted electroacoustic instruments into intriguingly distorted yet spacious soundscapes, balancing hypnotic rhythms with dadaist absurdity and dense sonic experimentation in a captivating journey of cut-up electronics and immersive drones.


Magical
The Gift Of Today
(Love Earth Music)

A visceral plunge into the depths of experimental noise from Massachusetts sound artist Magical, this release juxtaposes brief, deceptively titled tracks with relentless sonic assaults and divisive vocal moments, creating a disorienting yet compelling experience that shifts between the brutal and the mysterious.


Thanos Chrysakis
Psyche
(Eternal Music Projects)

Exploring the depths and boundaries of the psyche through seven compelling electroacoustic compositions, Greek composer Thanos Chrysakis delivers a deeply psychedelic, mysterious, and immersive sonic journey, masterfully blending electronic textures and acousmatic elements that resonate within the listener's consciousness, psyche, and imagination — a vivid reflection on complex inner landscapes.


Dream Weapon
New Blue Lagoon
(Eternal Music Projects)

Under the alias Dream Weapon, Australian visual artist Ben Björk crafts a lush and immersive sonic journey recorded over five years across five continents, blending ambient, new age, shoegaze, and field recordings into a tropical "AmbienGaze" soundscape that drifts from sunrise serenity to twilight unease in a single day's arc.


Liz Allbee
Breath Vessels [VINYL]
(NI-VU-NI-CONNU)

Using self-built breath vessels alongside tuning forks, sine waves, and voice, Liz Allbee creates a form of speculative folk music shaped by respiratory rhythms, resonant drones, and tactile gestures, unfolding a quietly epic, intimate, and immersive soundworld that imagines future collectivity through shared breath, material resonance, and electro-acoustic communion.


Mnemonist Orchestra
Mnemonist Orchestra
(Klanggalerie)

Reissuing the 1979 debut from the Colorado collective that evolved through Mnemonists into Biota, four extended improvisations place Hugh Ragin, William Sharp, John Herdt and a large ensemble amid brass, reeds, prepared piano, electric instruments, voices, found percussion and tapes mixed live into volatile intersections of free jazz, musique concrète, sound poetry and industrial texture.


Giacinto Scelsi
Giacinto Scelsi
(Edition Rz)

Six works by composer Giacinto Scelsi performed by groups including the Ensemble 2E2M, collected and remastered from the original recordings.


Jurg Frey
Outermost Melodie [2 CDs]
(Another Timbre)

Contemporary percussionist Ian Antonio (Wet Ink, Talujon Percussion Ensemble, Zs, Yarn/Wire) performs seven works for percussion by composer Jürg Frey written between 1994 and 2022, joined by members of the Talujon for one piece, though mostly a solo and very personal album for the percussionist, who has been influenced by Frey's approach to stillness and harmony.


Nicolas Gombert / James Weeks
G O M B E R T
(Another Timbre)

Reinterpreting the intricate polyphony of Renaissance composer Nicolas Gombert through the lens of contemporary music, composer James Weeks and the ensemble Apartment House replace choral voices with a varied instrumental ensemble to reveal the interwoven textures of these works, interspersed with new compositions that reflect on history, interpretation, and the evolving role of early music in a modern context.


Klaus Lang / Apartment House
Geschrieben In Wasser
(Another Timbre)

Klaus Lang's chamber works for Apartment House trace a patient, inwardly focused music of sustained tones, structural clarity and lyrical restraint, drawing from Pre-Raphaelite poetry, Basho's autumnal imagery and Keats' epitaph as clarinets, strings, piano and electric organ reveal slowly shifting architectures where beauty, stillness and sound become forms of quiet protest.


Horatiu Radulescu
Clepsydra / Astray [VINYL]
(Edition Rz)

Romanian-French composer Horatiu Radulescu with 2 works from 1983: "Clepsydra" for 16 Sound Icons played on a sideway piano, and the 1984 work "Astray" for 6 saxophones and Sound Icons.


David Tudor
Music for Piano
(Edition Rz)

2-CD set with recordings by the legendary 20th century avantgarde pianist performing compositions by (and with) John Cage, plus Sylvano Bussotti, Morton Feldman, Christian Wolff.


Jani Christou
Enantiodromie / Praxis / Epicycle / Anaparastasis III / Mysterion / Anaparastasis I / Praxis For 12
(Edition Rz)

7 works by Greek composer Jani Christou performed by the Oakland Symphony Orchestra, Rundfunkorchester Hanover, NDR, Ensemble "musik unserer zeit", and Christou himself.


Jakob Ullmann
Voice, Books and Fire 3
(Edition Rz)

A work resulting from Ullmann's reflections about the relationships between music and language: language as sound and language as text, and the numerous relationships between texts of different cultural and religious traditions.


Horatiu Radulescu
20 Jahre Inventionen
(Edition Rz)

Horatiu Radulescu's String Quartet No 4, opus 33 (1976-87) performed by the Arditti String Quartett at IRCAM/Centre Pompidou Paris in 1996.


Various Artists
20 Jahre Inventionen II
(Edition Rz)

Volume 2 documenting the Berlin festival "Inventionen", a retrospective sampler with recordings of works by: Westerkamp, Sciarrino, Cage, Namtchylak, Jones, Scelsi, Fujita, Driscoll.


Harley Gaber
The Winds Rise In The North
(Edition Rz)

Composer Harley Gaber wrote this piece for strings as an emotional examination of the questions posed by Taoist philosopher Chuang Tzu, here performed by a quintet including violinist Malcolm Goldstein.


Joana Gama / Luis Fernandez
Quest
(Shhpuma)

Classical pianist Joana Gama and live electronic processing artist Luis Fernandes bridge compositional and experimental forms in this lyrical work, where Fernandes transforms, dissects, loops and otherwise mutates the Gama's playing in unexpected and elegant ways.


Luigi Nono / Jurg Frey
Works For Violin Duos
(Edition Wandelweiser Records)

Two works from two distinctive composers from different periods--Jurg Frey and Luigi Nono--both for two violins, Frey using the two violins in parallel to emphasize their distinction; Nono using powerful gestures of divergence and contrast in a dream-like duo.


Chiyoko Szlavnics
During a Lifetime
(Another Timbre)

Three works from Canadian composer Chiyoko Szlavnics, two electroacoustic compositions incorporating sinewaves, one with a saxophone quartet and the other with two accordions, two flutes and two percussionists; and a string trio of long sustained tones and slow glissandi.


Jurg Frey / Magnus Granberg
Early to Late
(Another Timbre)

New ensemble pieces by Jurg Frey and Magnus Granberg played by Ensemble Grizzana, commissioned by Another Timbre with the request that both start from the same two fragments of early music, one by Johannes Ockeghem, the other by William Byrd, each composer producing fascinatingly different pieces that both contain echoes of the source material.


Linda Smith Catlin
Wanderer
(Another Timbre)

Eight sophisticated chamber pieces composed by Linda Catlin Smith and realized by the Canadian Apartment House ensemble, including a solo piano performed by Philip Thomas, a piano duo with Thomas and Mark Knoop, and works for percussion & cello, 2 quintet pieces for strings, percussion and winds, and two 7-piece conducted works with two percussionists, strings and brass.


Satoko Fujii / Yuko Yamaoka
Diary 2005-2015: Tuko Yamaoka plays the music of Satoko Fujii [2 CDs]
(Libra)

A double CD of Satoko Fujii compositions, 56 short compositions from a series she started around 2005 to expand her skills as a composer, many of which fueled her many band's repertoires; in 2018 she asked respected classical pianist and educator Yuko Yamaoka to record this set of compositions as part of her 60th birthday monthly album set.


Morton Feldman (Philip Thomas)
Piano [5 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)

Containing the majority of minimalist composer Morton Feldman's compositions for solo piano, 3 CDs of short works and 2 for the magnificent "For Bunita Marcus" and "Triadic Memories", performed by one of the foremost interpreters of Feldman's work, Philip Thomas, and presented in a sturdy 5-CD box set with a 52 page booklet of notes from the performer and artwork.


Morton Feldman (Judith Wegmann)
Triadic Memories [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

The second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about that reality, the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman attempted to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard here in Judith Wegmann's 2019 recording, where thThe second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman worked to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard her in Judith Wegmann's 2019 studio recording where that space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.at space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.


Antonin Artaud (Jaap Blonk)
To Have Done With the Judgment of God
(Kontrans)

Vocal performer & musician Jaap Blonk presents a rendering of French dramatist, poet and theatre director Antonin Artaud's "Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu" (To Have Done With the Judgment of God), a work shelved by the French Radio in 1948 without broadcast as 'too scatological, political, anti-religious, random, and cacophonous through xylophonic and percussive sounds'.


Gerard Grisey / Iancu Dumitrescu / Niels Christian Rasmussen / Thanos Chrysakis / Salvatore Sciarrino / Lori Freedman / Tim Hodgkinson
Music for Violas, Bass Clarinets & Flutes
(Aural Terrains)

Compositions for violas, bass clarinets and flutes performed by Vincent Royer, Jill Valentine, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Tim Hodgkinson, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Carla Rees, Karin de Fleyt, Thanos Chrysakis, Katrina Lauder, with compositions from Gerard Grisey, Iancu Dumitrescu, Thanos Chrysakis, Niels Rasmussen, Salvatore Sciarrino, Lori Freedman, and Tim Hodgkinson.


Karl Naegelen / Toma Gouband / Sylvain Darrifourcq
Cartographie de rythmes - Vitesse Approchante
(Umlaut Records)

Five varied and fascinating percussion duos under the title "Rhythm Mapping - Approximating Velocity" from French composer Karl Naegelen and performed by the duo of Sylvain Darrifourcq and Toma Gouband, both using traditional drums and percussion along with objects and vegetal lithophones (a collection of plants and stones); an innovative, upbeat and compelling album.


Christian Wolfarth
39 / Part I - III
(Hiddenbell Records)

39 tracks make up this compelling 3-part solo percussion work from Swiss improviser and composer Christian Wolfarth, using a game approach where some sequences are determined by the roll of a dice for note values, rest and tempo, Wolfarth performing on dead wood, a drum or 39 pine cones, augmented with recordings of stones, water, footsteps, church bells, &c.


Quatuor Bozzini
Eliane Radigue : Occam Delta XV
(Collection QB)

Translating her concepts from the electronic realm into acoustic, composer Eliane Radigue used an oral compositional process with the Montreal string quartet Quatuor Bozzini, for whom this work is dedicated, allowing each performance a uniqueness through sustained tones, microbeats and emerging harmonies, creating a profoundly meditative and rich work.


Pauline Oliveros / Apartment House
Sound Pieces
(Another Timbre)

Six sound-oriented compositions for acoustic ensemble performed by the UK ensemble Apartment House, beautifully reflective and rich works, the first six pieces being text scores for open instrumentation, along with Peace/Tree, a seven movement work for violin, cello and piano that specifies pitches while leaving room for interpretation and improvisation.


Eugene Chadbourne
There'll Be No Tears Tonight
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)

A much-needed reissue of Eugene Chadbourne's ground-breaking free country improv album recorded in NYC with a great Downtown NY lineup including Tom Cora, John Zorn, Scott Manring, and David Licht, performing twisted takes on classics by Paycheck, Haggard, Miller, &c.


Das Rad
Veer
(Discus)

Adding bassist Jon Short to their lineup, the 4th album from Das Rad continues the band's genre-merging approach of rock & improv forms rooted in prog, kosmiche, and jazz rock, this post-pandemic album bringing the band back together for live interaction, their enthusiasm evident in their energetic intercourse, particularly in the extended suite "Expergefactor".


Sopa Boba
That Moment
(Sub Rosa)

Blending spoken word, modern classical strings, and harsh modular synths, Belgian/Dutch ensemble Sopa Boba crafts a striking electronic-orchestral oratorio based on Moldavian writer Nicoleta Esinencu's That Moment, unraveling a dark, satirical narrative of capitalist excess through seven gripping movements that merge caustic irony with haunting sonic textures.


Tore Elgaroy / Henry Kaiser
The Sound of the Stars
(New Noise)

Uniting Norwegian guitarist Tore Elgarøy with American experimentalist Henry Kaiser, this collaborative set unfolds as a cosmic free improv dialogue of layered textures, electric shimmer, and exploratory interplay, blending ambient atmospheres with rock-tinged abstraction in a fluid, intuitive exchange that highlights both players' distinct voices and shared appetite for sonic adventure.


Rabbit Rabbit Radio (Carla Kihlstedt / Matthias Bossi)
Volume 4: The Animal I Am
(Klanggalerie)

Carla Kihlstedt and Matthias Bossi's Rabbit Rabbit Radio return for their 4th volume of music poised between art rock, folk, chamber music, industrial texture and improvisation, joined by Jeremy Flower and Jon Evans as voice, strings, drums, electronics, guitars and bass shape finely crafted pieces on the border between popular music and art song, balancing experimental detail with direct emotional impact.


Albert Ayler Quintet
Copenhagen, Bordeaux 1966 & Newport 1967 Live First Release
(ALAY)

Previously unreleased recordings from the Albert Ayler Quintet — captured in Copenhagen and Bordeaux during the 1966 Newport in Europe tour and at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1967 — present Ayler with Donald Ayler, Michel Samson, Bill Folwell, and Beaver Harris/Milford Graves in fiercely expressive performances, newly restored and mastered from rediscovered tapes.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Play Monk [2 CDs]
(Otoroku)

After six albums reimagining Ahmed Abdul-Malik, Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal and Seymour Wright turn their transformative [Ahmed] project toward Thelonious Monk, atomising his compositions across two CDs into volatile, time-bending forms where piano, bass, drums and alto saxophone fracture and reassemble melody, rhythm and space through free jazz intensity, pulse and radical collective invention.


Cecil Taylor New Unit (Tony Oxley / Hari Sjostrom / Okkyung Lee / Jackson Krall)
Words & Music (The Last Bandstand)
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Reviving Cecil Taylor's legendary Unit concept, this searing New Unit performance with Okkyung Lee (cello), Tony Oxley (electronics), Harri Sjostrom (soprano and sopranino saxophones), and Jackson Krall (drums) documents the final concert of Taylor's life in a nearly eighty-minute fusion of music and spoken word, recorded live on April 23, 2016, at the Whitney Museum in New York City.


[ahmed] (Thomas / Grip / Gerbal / Wright)
Sama'a (Audition) [VINYL 2 LPs]
(Otoroku)

Reimagining and transforming Ahmed Abdul-Malik's Jazz Sahara in their first studio session, the [Ahmed] quartet of Pat Thomas, Joel Grip, Antonin Gerbal, and Seymour Wright ignite four compact, single-take explorations that fuse percussive intensity, kaleidoscopic group interplay, and a fearless reshaping of tradition into dizzying, future-leaning improvisation.


Miles Davis 3rd Quintet
Reference: Bitches Brew Live 1969 In Europe [2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ALAY)

Documenting Miles Davis' 1969 "lost" third quintet live in Berlin, Stockholm and Rotterdam with Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, this 2-CD set captures the post-In a Silent Way ensemble reshaping material headed toward Bitches Brew, balancing lyricism and abstraction through open forms, electric-piano clusters, volatile rhythmic invention and Davis' fiercely exploratory trumpet.


Art Edmaiston / Chad Fowler w/ Bob Moses / Damon Smith / Clifford Jackson
Memphis Mandala
(Mahakala Music)

Recorded live at Crosstown Arts in Memphis in March 2024, this concert brought together Art Edmaiston, Chad Fowler, Ra Kalam Bob Moses, Damon Smith and Clifford "Pee Wee" Jackson for a spiritually charged free jazz session that channels a deep Southern lineage, blending blues-rooted intensity with fearless collective improvisation into a cohesive, dramatic and wholly spontaneous performance.


Tomeka Reid Quartet (w/ Roebke / Halvorson / Fujiwara)
Dance! Skip! Hop!
(Out Of Your Head Records)

Led by cellist Tomeka Reid, this longstanding quartet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums delivers a rhythmically propulsive and structurally nimble set that balances grounded low-end drive with agile drumming, incisive guitar textures, and Reid's expressive counterpoint, channeling echoes of 1960s jazz while asserting an exuberant, and yes — danceable — release!


Eri Yamamoto / Matthew Shipp
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)

A deeply personal collaboration between pianists Eri Yamamoto and Matthew Shipp, recorded live in the studio with Yamamoto in the left channel and Shipp in the right, as Yamamoto marks thirty years in New York with a set of original compositions for this occasion, their distinctive voices intertwining in an elegant, searching, and harmonically rich conversation of friendship, individuality, and creative life.


AMM (Prevost / Rowe / Tilbury)
Phlegm
(Matchless)

A late-period live recording from AMM — Eddie Prévost, Keith Rowe, and John Tilbury — capturing their refined electroacoustic free improv language of near-silence, where percussion, electronics, and piano dissolve into a shared sonic field shaped by extreme restraint, microscopic detail, and a collective focus on texture, duration, and deep listening.


Manuel Linhares
Atlantico
(577 Records)

Vocalist and composer Manuel Linhares brings together a transatlantic ensemble with Glenn Zaleski, Or Bareket, Keita Ogawa, David Binney, Gil Silva, Hugo Caldeira, Felipe Jose and Antonio Loureiro, shaping jazz-rooted songs that move between New York urgency and Porto melancholy, blending Brazilian rhythmic language, avant-garde texture, folk and pop fragments into a fluid meditation on oceanic distance, memory and change.


Morton Feldman / GBSR Duo w/ Taylor MacLennan
Trios [6 CD BOX SET]
(Another Timbre)

Spanning Morton Feldman's three expansive trios for flute, piano, and percussion, these performances by the GBSR Duo with Taylor MacLennan immerse the listener in an extended temporal field where quiet intensity, precise timbral balance, and fragile rhythmic relationships unfold with hypnotic patience, transforming duration itself into an expressive element of listening, presence, and sustained attention.


Ivo Perelman (w/ Marc Ribot / Elliott Sharp / Joe Morris)
Trifecta [3 CDs]
(Mahakala Music)

Uniting tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman with three distinct guitar voices — Marc Ribot, Elliott Sharp, and Joe Morris — this 3-CD set presents three separate duo encounters recorded at Park West Studios in Brooklyn, highlighting contrasting improvisational languages while exploring timbre, interaction, and the expressive possibilities of the guitar in free improv contexts.


Joe Morris
Perpetual Frontier The Properties of Free Music [BOOK]
(Riti Publishing)

Joe Morris wrote this book to discuss aspects of free music, including responses to his questionnaire written by Joe McPhee, William Parker, Jamie Saft, Ken Vandermark, Marilyn Crispell, Nate Wooley, Jack Wright, Matthew Shipp, &c.


Peter Brotzmann / Steve Hubback
Treforest 82
(FMR)

A previously unreleased duo encounter pairing Peter Brötzmann's ferocious saxophone with Welsh percussionist Steve Hubback's compact and inventive drum setup, captured at the 1982 Treforest festival in the UK in a brief but explosive burst of free improv where probing textures erupt into cathartic climaxes through raw, intensely focused interplay.


Eliane Radigue
Asymptote Versatile (1963-64)
(Amgen Records)

An historic world-premiere recording of Éliane Radigue's earliest surviving work, performed at Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, where a stellar ensemble realizes her flexible "sonic proposition" through evolving textures, mathematical spirals and dynamic transformations that foreshadow her later visionary soundworld.


Derek Bailey / John Stevens
The Duke of Wellington
(Confront)

Seminal figures in the evolution of free or nonidiomatic improvisation, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist/pocket trumpeter John Stevens are heard in a 1989 London performance vividly captured by Michael Gerzon at The Duke of Wellington, their restless and enthusiastic interplay shifting from angular invention to lyrical reflection in a compelling document of their remarkable rapport.


Milton Michaeli / Asaf Shchori / Hamid Drake
Universal Butterfly
(577 Records)

Bridging generations of creative music, pianist Milton Michaeli, double bassist Asaf Shchori, and drummer Hamid Drake form a vividly responsive trio, blending original compositions and improvisation into music shaped by jazz and Latin traditions, deep grooves, bowed textures, lyrical bass movement, spiritual rhythm, and inspirations from Sun Ra and Ras Michael.


Tomas Fujiwara
Dream Up
(Out Of Your Head Records)

Recorded at Roulette Intermedium in Brooklyn, drummer and composer Tomas Fujiwara introduces his Percussion Quartet with Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, Tim Keiper on African strings and percussion, and Kaoru Watanabe on Japanese drums and flute, blending global traditions into vivid, imaginative works that traverse groove, texture, and color with striking originality and depth.


Cecil Taylor Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray)
Live At Fat Tuesday's February 10, 1980 First Visit [CD + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

The 2nd night of the superb, extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.


Evan Parker / Joelle Leandre
Long Bright Summer
(RogueArt)

Drawing on decades of fearless improvising, saxophonist Evan Parker and bassist Joëlle Léandre engage in an intense and unfiltered acoustic dialogue recorded live in France, their shared language enabling lightning reactions, extended techniques, surges of density and flow, hushed textural intimacy, and moments where Léandre's wordless voice merges seamlessly into their spontaneous interplay.


Teiku (Harlow / Taylor / Shahid / Formanek / Leafar)
Teiku
(577 Records)

Teiku, a Talmudic acronym that roughly translates to "unanswered question", was co-founded by pianist Josh Harlow and percussionist Jonathan Barahal Taylor to explore each of their family's unique Passover vocal melodies through improvisation and sonic exploration, performed in a quintet with Art Ensemble/Sun Ra bassist Jaribu Shahid and reedists Peter Formanek & Rafael Leafar.


Byron Coley / Mats Gustafsson / Thurston Moore
Now Jazz Now: 100 Essential Free Jazz & Improvisation Recordings (1960-80) [BOOK]
(Ecstatic Peace Library )

Drawing from deeply personal listening histories, this richly illustrated volume assembles 100 essential free jazz and improvisation recordings from 1960-80, presenting album art, notes, and reflections that frame the music as non-hierarchical and interlinked, offering an immersive guide for adventurous listeners interested in the lineage, spirit, and lived culture of creative freedom.


Steve Lacy Three
Live Lugano 1984 - First Visit [CD + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Recorded live in Lugano in 1984, Steve Lacy's trio with guitarist Barry Wedgle and bassist Jean-Jacques Avenel reimagines his compositions in an intimate and transparent setting, where Lacy's masterful soprano saxophone carves precise yet expressive lines, drawing on influences from poetry, Monk, and visual art to create a striking balance between structure and improvisation.


Albert Ayler Trio
Prophecy Live, First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Recorded live at New York City's Cellar Café in June 1964, this essential document captures Albert Ayler, bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Sunny Murray in a pivotal moment of spiritual free jazz, expressing motifs like 'Ghosts' and 'Spirits' into an ecstatic, ever-evolving language, with this remastered edition offering a refined perspective on a landmark session that shaped Ayler's uncompromising vision.


Albert Ayler with Don Cherry
1964 Recordings First Visit Completed [2 CDs + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Four sets of recordings from September, 1964 in Copenhagen, Denmark from a week performing live at Club Montmarte, and a recording in Hilversum, The Netherlands for VARA Radio, collecting and remastering these vital recordings from tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's most vital free jazz quartet with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums.


Eri Yamamoto Quadraphonic
Fly With The Wings
(Mahakala Music)

A warm and lyrical new quartet from pianist, vocalist, and melodica player Eri Yamamoto alongside Chad Fowler on alto sax & flute, Kevin Thomas on bass, and longtime collaborator Ikuo Takeuchi on drums, blending groove-driven jazz, free improvisation, and tender balladry with Yamamoto's distinctive touch, highlighted by playful interplay, beautiful melodies, and a soulful, unhurried charm.


John Coltrane Quartet (w/ Tyner / Garrison / Jones)
Impressions From Graz 1962, Revisited [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Expanding and remastering the 2019 single CD of John Coltrane's Quartet from its European tour in the fall of 1962, with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass, and Elvin Jones on drums, performing at Stefaniensaal in Graz, Austria, beautifully recorded by ORF Steiermark and now presented in both volumes, showcasing Coltrane's lyrical roots and growing free inclinations.


Fieldwork (Iyer / Lehman / Sorey)
Thereupon
(Pi Recordings)

Seventeen years after their last recording, the New York trio of Steve Lehman (alto saxophone), Vijay Iyer (piano, Rhodes), and Tyshawn Sorey (drums) reunite with dense, high-impact compositions and fearless interplay, blending complexity with groove as they reaffirm their status as one of the most vital ensembles in contemporary improvised music.


Webber/Morris Big Band
Unseparate
(Out Of Your Head Records)

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.


The Williams Tony Emergency w/ John McLaughlin / Larry Young
Emergency!
(ALAY)

A restored edition of Tony Williams Lifetime's incendiary 1969 trio debut with John McLaughlin on guitar and Larry Young on organ, documenting one of jazz-rock fusion's earliest and most audacious statements, where Williams' radical rhythmic designs, Young's dense harmonic force, and McLaughlin's searing electric vocabulary collide in urgent, psychedelic, genre-defying improvisation.


Davis / Ferrari / Mazza
Things Of This Nature
(Mahakala Music)

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.


Pierre Favre Trio (Favre / Schweizer / Mraz)
Bird Food
(Songs)

Captured in 1968 in Zurich and long shelved before its recent discovery, this early trio session brings Pierre Favre, Irene Schweizer, and George Mraz together in a concise, fiery set of attentive free jazz, balancing Ornette Coleman's title piece with Schweizer's compositions, where dynamic interplay and acute listening reveal a nascent yet fully engaged collective voice.


Karl Evangelista's Apura + Andrew Cyrille
Bukas
(577 Records)

West Coast Bay Area guitarist Karl Evangelista leads his Apura ensemble — Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), Francis Wong (tenor sax), Rei Scampavia (keys, electronics), and Lewis Jordan (alto sax) — joined by drum legend Andrew Cyrille in a powerful statement of free improvisation, blending expressive intensity and forward-looking vision with deeply rooted passion and creative openness.


Joseph Holbrooke (w/ Derek Bailey / Gavin Bryars / Tony Oxley)
Last Live 2001 - In Memoriam Derek Bailey And Tony Oxley [2 CDs]
(Tzadik)

The legendary trio Joseph Holbrooke — guitarist Derek Bailey, bassist Gavin Bryars, and drummer Tony Oxley — reunited after decades for one final performance in 2001, captured in this historic live recording that highlights their uncompromising commitment to free improvisation, the set resonating with both the radical spirit of their 1960s origins and the profound artistry of three pioneering voices in avant-garde music.


Joe McPhee / Steve Swell / Mark Tokar / Klaus Kuge
Spontaneous Convergence
(Not Two)

Recorded live at the Alchemia Club in Krakow, Joe McPhee (reeds) and Steve Swell (trombone) join Mark Tokar (bass) and Klaus Kugel (drums) for a sharply interactive quartet session that moves from tight, prickling exchanges to wide-open collective surges, anchored by the twenty-eight-minute "Joy And Imagination Are Uncontainable."


Marion Brown
Capricorn Moon To Juba Lee, Revisited
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.


Cecil Taylor Unit (w/ Lyons / Silva / Cooper / Murray)
Live At Fat Tuesday's February 9 - First Visit Archive [CD + POSTCARDS]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

A superb and extended live performance from 1980 at NYC's Fat Tuesday jazz club, from the outstanding sextet of forward-thinking free improvisers, Jimmy Lyons on alto sax, Ramsey Ameen on violin, Alan Silva on double bass & cello, Jerome Cooper on drums & African Balaphone and Sunny Murray on drums, led by Cecil Taylor on piano in an ecstatic concert never previously released.


Rob Brown / Brandon Lopez / Juan P. Carletti
Walkabout
(Mahakala Music)

An energetic trio session of collective free improvisation from NY alto saxophonist Rob Brown, bassist Brandon Lopez, and drummer Juan Pablo Carletti, recorded in the studio and driven by an intense energy that maintains a powerful swing, with Brown's incisive phrasing, Lopez's commanding bass, and Carletti's dynamic percussion merging into a spontaneous and deeply expressive musical force.


Peter Brotzmann w/ Peter Uuskyla / Peter Friis Nielsen
Flying Feathers
(FMR)

Blazing through a set of raw, high-intensity free jazz, Peter Brötzmann joins Danish bassist Peter Friis Nielsen and Estonian drummer Peeter Uuskyla for a ferocious trio session where roaring saxophone and tarogato collide with clanking electric bass and trance-like percussion, balancing relentless energy with occasional lyrical openings in this fiercely driven improvisational encounter.


Anthony Braxton
Solo Bern 1984 First Visit
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Thirteen years after his breakthrough solo saxophone album For Alto, Anthony Braxton is heard in an inventive solo concert on the same instrument, performing at the Altes Schlachthaus Theatre in Bern, Switzerland for a set of original numbered compositions, the standards "Alone Together" and "I Remember You", and two Coltrane pieces: "Giant Steps" and "Naima".


Henry Threadgill
Listen Ship
(Pi Recordings)

Composer Henry Threadgill conducts a suite for six acoustic guitars and two pianos, bringing together Bill Frisell, Miles Okazaki, Brandon Ross, Gregg Belisle-Chi, Jerome Harris, Stomu Takeishi, Maya Keren, and Rahul Carlberg in an intricately orchestrated work whose intervallic syntax and meticulous counterpoint entwine with unexpected timbres to reveal his singular and sublime vision.


Oliver Lake / Fred Hopkins / Phillip Wilson / Baikida Carroll / Michael Gregory Jackson
Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 4
(NoBusiness)

Recorded during the mid-1970s loft-jazz flowering at Studio Rivbea in New York City, this live session finds Oliver Lake leading a volatile ensemble with Baikida Carroll, Michael Gregory Jackson, Fred Hopkins, and drummers Phillip Wilson and Jerome Cooper, blending post-BAG urgency, searching improvisation, and sharp ensemble interplay into a raw, idealistic document of creative rebirth.


Marty Ehrlich / Julius Hemphill
Circle the Heart [CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)

An archival recording from 1982 at The Piedmont Center For The Arts in Worcester, MA captures visionary saxophonist Julius Hemphill and multi-reedist Marty Ehrlich in a deeply intuitive exchange across soprano and alto saxophones, flute, and bass clarinet, blending open exploration with blues-rooted lyricism as their long-standing creative dialogue unfolds in richly expressive improvisation.


Ellery Eskelin Trio New York
About (or On), First Visit [2 CDs]
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Reuniting for two powerful studio sessions recorded in 2011 and 2013, tenor saxophonist Ellery Eskelin, organist Gary Versace, and drummer Gerald Cleaver form Trio New York, navigating an intuitive path between free improvisation and jazz standards with soulful depth, rich allusions, and a shared language that reimagines the classic organ trio.


Taborn / Cline / Gilmore
Trio of Bloom
(Pyroclastic Records)

A formidable first meeting between keyboardist Craig Taborn, guitarist Nels Cline, and drummer Marcus Gilmore, where three singular voices of modern creative music converge in assertive, Downtown-NY-steeped, genre-defying interplay — originals, reimagined works, and spontaneous improvisations blooming into a vibrant, exploratory dialogue of texture, rhythm, and imagination.


Frode Gjerstad / Alexander von Schlippenbach / Dag Magnus Narvesen
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)

A dynamic trio session from Frode Gjerstad on alto sax & clarinet, Alexander von Schlippenbach on piano, and Dag Magnus Narvesen on drums & percussion, their first collaboration unfolds in seven spontaneous improvisations that balance fierce intensity with lyrical openness, revealing a seasoned interplay that blends deep exploration with collective free jazz sensibility.


Angles 11
Tell Them It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

Martin Küchen's Angles returns as an 11-piece — two trumpets, expanded reeds, vibraphone and amplified violin, Fender Rhodes/synth, and a three-drummer engine — lifting songful, anthemic themes into free, melody-rich interplay and propulsive grooves, the ensemble shifting from playful exchanges to surging peaks as its close-knit rapport balances warmth, bite, and momentum.


Ben Stapp
Uzmic Ro'Samg (Live Solo Tuba)
(577 Records)

A visionary solo exploration from tubist Ben Stapp, merging extreme extended techniques, circular breathing, and multiphonics with a science fiction narrative of consciousness and transformation, unfolding ten pieces that traverse volatile timbres, subterranean drones, and vocal-inflected abstractions in a deeply personal act of world-building beyond mere instrumental prowess.


Borah Bergman / Anthony Braxton / Peter Brotzmann
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)

An extraordinary 1996 Mixtery Studio encounter between pianist Borah Bergman, Anthony Braxton on a wide range of reeds, and Peter Brötzmann on saxophones, clarinet, and tárogató, balancing ferocious torrents of free jazz interplay with moments of surprising lyricism and abstraction, as three titans of improvisation push their individual voices into a thrilling collective dialogue.


Last Dream of the Morning (John Butcher / John Edwards / Marc Sanders)
Sharp Illusion
(Listen! Foundation (Fundacja Sluchaj!))

The third release from the trio of John Butcher, John Edwards and Mark Sanders captures a live performance in Lublin that unfolds across four extended improvisations, balancing explosive collective energy and deep listening restraint as saxophones, bass and percussion interweave in a fluid, highly responsive dialogue shaped by decades of shared experience within the UK and European free improv community.




The Squid's Ear Magazine

The Squid's Ear Magazine

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