Percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love in duet with organist Nils Henrik Asheim for dark onimous works of dramatic tension and tactile, scraping and thunderous drumming.

Versatile and prolific drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's 3rd release on his PNL label is a duo with trumpeter Broo Magnus, 6 extended and dynamic improvisations.

Live recordings from LOFT in Cologne, 2007 of this quartet of collective improvisers including Brazilian saxophonist Yedo Gibson and pianist Veryan Weston.

Trombonist Michael Dessen in a trio of works drawing inspiration from Pablo Neruda's "Ars Poetica", with the computer used as a 4th voice in several tracks.

Unusual, head-scratching works of sound & noise or cracked pludnerphonics with a good sense of pacing that lulls and befuddles on it's own schedule.

Sinister looping and shimmering works from Mr. Dorgon taking on the trumpet - or at least, a dead trumpeter: an unusual homage to cool dead player Miles Davis.

Ecstasy Mule's demented improv blues in a maxi-single presenting 3 version of "Missouri Couple seeks Law Against Hunting + Drinking" from 3 NYC performances.

The NY trio of Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and new drummer Tyshawn Sorey in their 3rd Pi release, with wide influences from M-Base, Ornette Coleman, Art Ensemble, &c.

Idiosyncratic improvisation with a strange set of tools from two master musicians, fascinating recordings from 1983-85 in the blossoming downtown NY scene.

Fred's '88 SST release, one of his finest instrumental releases, with Tenko, John Zorn, Christian Marclay in an intense mix of melodic, rhythmic and technological brilliance.

Recomposing works from improvised sessions around the world, bassist JC Jones works with an excellent set of players including Ned Rothenberg, Ayal Maoz, Harold Rubin, &c.

Trumpeter Kirk Knuffke's New York working band with Reuben Radding, Jeff Davis and Brian Drye showing influences of Lester Bowie, Lacy, &c. in free swinging compositions.

Debut recording for Portugese guitarist Luis Lopes' Humanization 4Tet with Rodrigo Amado on tenor sax, exciting free-form jazz with a powerful rhythm section.

Paal Nilssen-Love with Lasse Marhaug, recorded and edited by Fe-mail/Spunk Hild Sofie Tafjord to create 6 fascinating free-form compositions of sound and texture.

Pianist Denman Maroney's quartet with Ned Rothenberg, Reuben Raddin and Michael Sarin, jazz that take modern complexity and makes it audible and comprehensible.

Minton's 3rd release in his doughnut reduction series, solo vocal work in Minton's unique and inimitable style that he hopes will cheer you up in these troubled times.

The piano and vibraphone duo of Sten Sandell and Mattias Stahl in improvisations that borrow from both Sun Ra and contemporary classical such as Cage, Cowell, Xenakis, &c.

Reissue of Matthew Shipp's '97 trio release with Susie Ibarra and William Parker in a set of original numbers, along with Strayhorns "A Train", an Ellington Jam, and "Autumn Leaves".

Reissue of John Stevens' 1982 SME + SMO album using musicians positioned in triangular configurations; and 2 tracks from a live trio recording of a 1978 concert in Newcastle.

Danish pianist Niels Joergen Steen in a 1973 concert at Sweden's Ahus Jazz Festival, with Miles Davis associate Jesper Thilo and Red Mitchell scatting on 1 number.

The Swedish trio of Jonas Kullhammar on sax, Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass and Daniel Fredriksson drums live at Glenn Miller Cafe in 2007 in a mix of originals and standards.

Fred Van Hove's 52 minute solo piano performance at the Jazz à Mulhouse summer festival 2007 reveals one of the giants of improvised music at the height of his creative powers.

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.

Legendary trumpeter, composer and educator Bill Dixon in a 17 piece orchestra playing original compositions live at the 12th Vision Festival in New York City.

Even more hate filled underground improvised metal from the power trio of Jamie Saft, Bobbie Previte and Skerik, captured live in the UK at Subtone in 2005.

Avant noise guitarist Haino Keiji and experimental sound artist Masami Akita (Merzbow) in a powerful and varied live set at the Victoriaville, May 2007.

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Bassist J.C. Jones brings together science & music, enabling an evocative window into the illness MS by making the vibrations of myelin protein audible, over which Jones, Yoni Silver, Harold Rubin, Airel Shibolet, &c. improvise.

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

Pianist Samuel Vriezen performs Tom Johnson's work presenting what Johnson describes as a natural phenomenon within a musical scale: progressions in 1 to 5 voices of all possible combinations of notes with each voice being limited to 3 steps, a perfect 4th or a perfect 5th.

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.

Double CD of bleak and sinister metal-oriented improv from the duo of Jamie Saft on keys and bass and Mike Pride on drums and hostile and freakish vocals.

A tremendous CD of duos, disc one presents Israeli bassist JC Jones in duos with Steve Horenstein, Barre Phillips, Mark Dresser, Damon Smith, Yoni Kretzmer, and Carmel Raz; Disc 2 presents NY saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer in duos with Pascal Niggenkemper, Reuben Radding, Sean Conly, and JC Jones.

An unusual and thickly strung album bridging dark rock and improvised music from saxophonist Noah Kaplan, bassist and prepared bassis Giacomo Merega, bassist and prepared painist Wes Matthews, and vocalist Rosalie Kaplan.

Intricate interactions in free improv from the Portugese trio of violist Joao Camoes, cellist Miguel Mira (Open Field String Trio, Nuovo Camerata), and pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro (Red Trio), focused on the balance between contrasting counterpoint, polyrhythms and fluid soundscapes.

The debut recording of New York double bassist Sean Ali's improvising string trio with violist Joanna Mattrey and cellist Leila Bordreuil, having worked together since 2015, each brings impressive technique and a somewhat twisted approach to their strings in a diverse set of extended improvisation from pensive and spacious to formidable density.

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.

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.

An extended and rich confluence of strings from R Keenan Lawler and John Krausbauer, using resonator guitar and banjo, sustained tones that intertwine in a beautiful and optimistic drone, minimalistic yet drenched in a profusion of harmonic detail; a beautiful and elusive dream mixing between an Indian raga and an alien electronic environment.

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).