Four reed players of the European improv community in a series of compositions exploring drones, flutters, grainy tones, and powerfully radical approaches to the sax.
The eclectic, transformative and fascinating Biota (Mnemonists) in their 6th ReR CD of freeform sound, with video files and 13 images of paintings, drawing and woodcuts.
Double CD of two extended Braxton compositions performed in trio with Taylor Ho Bynum and Tom Crean, recorded at the Glasgow's Centre for Contemporary Art in 2005.
Since 2003 this Vancouver septet has merged jazz, improv, electro-acoustic, and progressive/avant musics into an exhilarating ordered chaos of highly listenable music.
The trio of Peter Zummo, Yvette Perez (both members of Birdbrain) and Danny Tunick in a set of delicate and sophisticated songs about housework and nature.
Vancouver 4-piece with members from Fond of Tigers, Tony Wilson 6Tet, Carsick, &c, merging jazz, noise rock and free improv into music with few sonic boundaries.
A studio project from the elusive violinist Eyvind Kang, featuring many of his musical associates as well as several orchestral ensembles from around the world.
Intensely technical to beautifully pastoral dual acoustic guitars from Parisian Marzan, who has worked with Beresford, Rowe and Russell, and SME alumni Roger Smith.
One long straight take of New York percussionist Nakatani in a building set of primal energy in bowed, rubbed and struck cymbals, gongs, bowls and drums.
Powerful debut from Vancouver guitarist Wilson's 6Tet after 4 years of musical investigations into collective improvisation, melody & noise, meter shifts, African Rhythms, &c.
Vancouver veterans Wilson, Lee & Bentley in a percussion-less improvisational trio that balances introspective beauty with adventurous technical ability.
Vancouver guitarist Tony Wilson in his 1st solo release recorded in an island cabin, showing his influences from Leadbelly, Fahey, Coltrane, and Ribot.
Using mostly unprocessed electric guitars, the duo of Elliott Sharp and Scott Fields' latest release presents eight dueling guitar works using dynamic, angular tones and textures, from extremely aggressive work to clean avant-jazz with twisted technical intent.
The trio of bassist Gary Peacock, pianist Paul Bley, and trumpeter Franz Koglmann interpret and improvise on the music of avant song-writer Annette Peacock.
The quartet of Cosottini, Melano, Pisani, Miano (EAQuartet Electroacoustic) in compositions referring to the 4 cardinal map points using graphic scores, games, open readings, &c.
A reduction of composer Simon James Phillips' 5 hour improvisation performed with Tony Buck (drums), Werner Dafeldecker (bass), BJ Nilsen (electronics), Liz Allbee (trumpet), Arthur Rother (guitar) & Simon James Phillips (piano) exploring time, perception and place.
An historical recording of Hermann Scherchen directing the RTSI Orchestra in a rehearsal of Beethoven's 6th Symphony, 1964, one of the works Scherchen is most associated with.
The Ex were in Ethopia in 2010 for their "Free the Jazz" saxophone project, here presenting Mats Gustafsson on baritone saxophone, Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, and Mesele Asmamaw on krar, a stringed bowl-shaped lyre.
The second release on Intakt pairing pianist Ulrich Gumpert and percussionist Gunter Baby Sommer in an album that borrows from blues, boogie-woogie, hard bop, German folk songs, and free jazz.
Turntablist/sine wave artist Ignaz Schnick with laptop artist Dawid Szczesny in a series of minimalist recordings created around live performances in Wroclaw and Germany.
A masterful fountain of melodic ideas, intriguing rhythms, and exceptional technical skill from the duo of Hamid Drake on drums and frame drum, and Sylvain Kassap on clarinets and chalumeau, recording live at the France Musique at Studio Theatre dÕAlfortville and in the studio.
A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.
The Brooklyn duo of saxophonist Sam Weinberg (Captain Phillips) and synth player Chris Welcome (Chris Pitsiokos, Mike Pride) in an album of abrasive, rhythmically abraded and contorted electro-acoustic improvisation, each player embedding themselves into each other's sound, at time making their instruments indistinguishable from one another.
Vocalist Savoldelli in an exquisitely-crafted album of overdubbed vocal work, with help from trumpeter Paolo Fresu and bassist Jimmy Haslip; elaborite harmonies, interlocking rhythms, exultant influences.
Vancouver guitarist Tony Wilson in his 1st solo release recorded in an island cabin, showing his influences from Leadbelly, Fahey, Coltrane, and Ribot.
Toronto percussionist Debashis Sinha's first release as the Ima Ensemble features the vocals of Toronto world music singers Jayne Brown and Sophia Grigoriadis.
Calgary's saxophonist Darren Williams, who has worked with Mats Gustafsson, Cody Oliver, Eugene Chadbourne, and Han Bennink, in a solo album of remarkable power using extended techniques in composed and improvised pieces that push Williams into astounding territory.
Having previously worked together with Joe McPhee and Kent Kessler, this album distills the Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and NY drummer/percussionist Chris Corsano to a concentrated sax and drum duo of earnest and edgy playing, bending jazz, free and blues idioms to their will with magnificent technique and power, both clearly elated in their meeting.
Recorded live at Silence Sounds in Guelph Canada, the duo of Xavier Charles on clarinet and Eric Normand on electric bass & objects eschew idiom in favor of their unique natural language on their instruments, applying patient development of truly idiosyncratic and fascinating command through a single extended work punctuated in seven diverse passages.
From 2008-16 until drummer Frank Rosaly moved to Amsterdam, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella's Trio was an active part of Chicago's creative jazz scene; in early 2018 Rosaly returned for a visit and Mazzarella composed a suite of 6 new pieces to commemorate the trio's tenth anniversary, the exuberant result this excellent concert recorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere!
A beautiful solo set of 12 improvisations, Michael Attias performing on alto sax with his left hand and piano with his right, captured in the natural reverberation of La Maison en Bois in Abeville-La-Riviere, France; surprisingly his 1st solo album, developed over 12 years yet played in under an hour with no retakes, a wonderful nuanced reflection in tone, melody & color.
A beautifully hypnotic album of saxophone, accompanied by Pan-Ney, Shruti Box and Organ, recorded in overdubs by composer/wind player Werner Durand in this 2nd chapter of his trilogy focused on the Pan-Ney, a self-built instrument for repetitive foundations, as Durand draws on elements of nature, mythology, dance, religion, literature and folklore.
Toronto-area saxophonist Colin Fisher, best known for his group I Have Eaten The City, with his collective quartet of NY players Daniel Carter on tenor, alto & soprano saxophones + clarinet & flute, Brandon Lopez on upright bass, and Marc Edwards on drums & percussion, for three extended and exploratory improvisations of exemplary creative insight.
Recording in Toronto, the core trio of drummer Nick Fraser, saxophonist Tony Malaby and pianist Kris Davis are joined on four tracks by tenor saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and trumpeter Lina Allemano, in an album of composed and collective improvisation, merging Toronto, NY and European influences in an accomplished album of diverse approaches and orchestrations.
The 5th release from the trio of multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Keiji Haino, guitarist Jim O'Rourke and Oren Ambarchi on wineglass and percussion is an introspective and beautifully developed set recorded live at their March 2013 concert at SuperDeluxe.
Recorded in the mid-90s, Livebatts! was a project of John White (Cornelius Cardew, Scratch Orchestra) developed to exploit "toy" keyboards of the 80s--cheap battery-driven instruments that hold tremendous potential for "serious" music-making--used here in a playful quartet with vocalist MJ Coldiron, Andrea Rocca (guitar & samples) and Nancy Ruffer (electrified flute).
An excellent first meeting of two guitarists recording on a February afternoon and released in the sequence recorded with no edits or changes, from Jim McAuley on guitar and Scot Ray on lap steel slide guitar with effects, an innately lyrical blending of styles masking the strong technical skills and long histories of these two superlative players.
Quietly lurking as it prepares to attack, this Kobra is the free improvising quaret of Aurora Nealand on accordion, alto saxophone, voice & objects, Steve Marquette on acoustic & electric guitars, Anton Hatwich on bass, and Paul Thibodeaux on drums, captured live at Chicago's Hungry Brain during the Instigation Festival for a mysterious 2-part "New Omens" and some "Telly Attire".
Stochastic music for percussion and synthesizers from New York avant conceptualist and keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine, here on piano & electronics, with the Italian duo Trrma' of Giovanni Todisco on percussion and Guiseppe Candiano on synth, in two side-long works of irregular rhythm, complexity and dissonance that build and recede in a suspenseful journey.
While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.
A momentous 2020 concert at London's Cafe OTO, presented in two discs, the 1st with label leader Jean-Marc Foussat in a solo improvisation on synth and voice, the 2nd in a trio with Daunik Lazro on tenor & baritone sax, and Evan Parker on soprano sax, the 2 saxophones weaving and responding to Foussat's remarkable alien soundscapes and vocalization in an immersive extended improvisation.
German saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock and Vancouver pianist Kris Davis, both living and working in NY, and having worked together in a variety of groups including Laubrock's Anti-House, a trio with drummer Tyshawn Sorey, Tom Rainey's Obligatto, &c. &c., concentrate their sophisticated playing with this duo album of 7 original compositions and 2 free improvisations.
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.
Exploring the lineage of the Dukes of Bedford, the Russell lineage in Bedford, England, in groupings of acoustic & electric guitarists John Russell, Ray Russell, and Henry Kaiser along with double bassist Ollie Brice, from duos to quartets, eight Duke "Russells" from 1680 to 2003 are explored through intricate and joyfully creative and technically amazing string improvisations.