Piano prodigy Ariel, performing complex jazz compositions at the age of 9 (!) with infuences from Matthew Shipp, John Hicks, Kirk Lightsey, Uri Caine, Aaron Goldberg, &c.
Reissue of Derek Bailey's 2nd Incus LP from 1974, fully remastered to bring Bailey's uniquely personal improvisation style clearly into the 21st century.
Toronto's amazing husband & wife team drummer Jean Martin and unusual vocalist Christine Duncan with guest guitarist Justin Haynes and Bernard Falaise, recommended!
Remastered ed. of the '93 release of Berio's "Folk Songs" and "Chamber Music", and Edison Denissow's "La Vie en rouge" performed by the Ensemble for New Music Zurich.
An eclectic assortment of old-fashioned entertainment, pre-harmonic bop, and Canada's new wave of avant garde mariachi from Jean Martin, Nick Fraser, Justin Haynes, &c..
This amazing 7 piece band from Norway play sophisticated and intense jazz compositions led by three reed players including Jonas Kullhammar and Magnus Broo on trumpet.
In the same mode as the "Monkinus" album, this is a new reincarnation of Monk's tunes arranged and performed by bassist Dominic Duval and saxophonist Jimmy Halperin.
The duo of sound sculptor Max Eastley and electric harpist Rhodri Davies in an unedited recording performing live at South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell, UK.
The 4th release by EKG (Bruckmann/Karel) presents live electroacoustic recordings extracted and restructured by Bruckman, emphasizing the electronic nature of their work.
A live concert recording at Towson University, Baltimore in 2007 from this trio whose years together have made them a seamless ensemble with amazing dexterity and sound.
Saxophonist Fefer's NY based trio with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor play an ecstatic and spiritually charged modern jazz style with great drive and expressiveness.
Pianist Agusti Fernandez in a trio with UK improvisers bassist John Edwards and drummer Mark Sanders, international interplay in modern improvisational language.
First meetings between Texan trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez met Portuguese pianist Joao Paulo, playing a delicate, beautiful music full of spirituality, nuance and drive.
Free improvisation from a trio of New Yorkers working in abstract territory but maintaining the pieces in compact works that are succint and spontaneously focused.
Ranging from trio to septet, Herculaneum incorporates a chamber aesthetic into modern improvisational aesthetic with graceful expressiveness and compositional power.
Guitarist and electroacoustic musician Krebs met harpist and electronicist Rhodri Davies in 2008 for these recordings, which Krebs then organized for these fascinating recordings.
The second album from the long running lowercase / ea-improv "pop" duo of Burkhard Stangl and Christof Kurzmann, understated and intensely skewed music and songs.
Chicago's Lucky 7 with trombones from Jeb Bishop & Jeff Albert, Josh Berman on cornet, Keefe Jackson on tenor sax, Jason Adasiewicz on vibes, &c... essential jazz color and style.
Lyrical and sophisticated improvisations performed on just a ukulele and a suitcase from these Toronto musicians playing the compositions of lap steel player Myk Freedman
Drummer and loopster Jean Martin with multi-instrumentalist Colin Fisher in a veritable orchestra of sound resources, inspired and imaginative studio work.
Much more than a simple duo, with overdubbed saxophone Martin & Shaw make large and complex environments & orchestral sections over which they nimbly improvise.
One of the pioneers of laptop electronics, Mori here features her idiosyncratic take on contemporary dance rhythms and electronica in instrumental tracks and an animated video.
The 2nd CD for the quartet of Gabriela Friedli, Co Streiff, Jan Schlegel und Dieter Ulrich, lyric playful melodic lines with erratically pulsating accents of drum and bass.
Evan Parker's 1st solo saxophone recording from 1975 with additional FMP recordings from the same year, extreme and amazing improvisations aptly titled "Aerobatics".
Soprano saxophonist Shibolet performing solo and with the Between the Strings trio (JC Jones, Daniel Hofman, Nori Jacoby) live at the Tel Aviv Museum in 2006.
Sim is the 3 piece electronic/rock band of Teruyuki, Yoshio & Masahiro, here with Otomo Yoshihide on turntables and synth, and amazing album of rhythms in a This Heat "Repeat" mode.
Originally proposed to ECM in 1979 and rejected, the duo of legendary trumpeter Smith and drummer DeJohnette pushes each other into remarkable and telepathic interplay.
Formed in 2008 Speak Easy brings free vocal improvisers Ute Wassermann and Phil Minton together with drummer Martin Blume and synth player Thomas Lehn for 5 tracks recorded in concert.
Sun Ra's 1964 ESP release with a young saxophonist Pharoah Sanders and Black Harold Murray on flute and log drum, remastered and with an additional 45 minutes.
New York's Transit with Jeff Arnal, Seth Misterka, Reuben Radding and Nate Wooley, intelligently designed, unpredictable static and the hyper active free-jazz!
Two of the original innovators of the Tokyo "onkyo" sound movement, understated ea-improvisations, in their first collaboration, constructed asynchronous recordings.
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.
One part Sonic Youth, one part early Residents, Deluxx is the anomalous output of NY/Boston transplant Mark Peretta, a one-man band of crazy riffs and warped song-spieling.
A thoroughly modern and bizarre two-act opera about three struggling roommates in Brooklyn performed with Jason Cady, Mary Halvorson, Tomas Fujiwara, Jessica Pavone, Tim Dahl, Ben Holmes, Katie Young, &c.
Seth Josel performs Peter Ablinger's "33-127" for guitar and field recordings of transportation, graphic minimalism punctuated by bursts of activity - cacophony vs. tranquility.
Folk songs with poetic influences from Erica Pomerance in her 1968 ESP release with an eclectic mix of classical, improvisational, folk and rock musicians.
Spring 2009 issue with articles about Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone, Giuseppe Logan, "Harsh Noise From Iowa City", Big Ears 09 in Knoxvillem, AIMToronto Interface Series w. Evan Parker.
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.
Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus named "Clinamen" the unpredictable (in time and space) swerve of atoms falling in the void, which aptly describes the unexpected directions taken in subtle free improvisation from this French trio, led by bassist Louis-Michel Marion, with Jacques Di Donato on clarinet, and Philippe Berger on viola.
The Swedish duo of percussionist Andreas Pollak and prepared pianist Johan Graden (Adam & Alma) in an album of references and innuendo, clandestine and furtive sounds that evoke great mystery and drama in beautifully shaped sound; evocative music that deceives to emerge from the electronic realm while in actuality coming from all acoustic sources.
Live recordings at LOFT in Cologne, Germany from the trio of George Wissel on prepared saxophone, Achim Tang on doublebass, and Simon Camatta on drums & percussion, performing seven "Movements" that use prodigious technique with reserve and direction, revealing the structure of their work as the pieces build and recede in fascinating ways.
Kadima collective saxophonist Ariel Shibolet and 4 California Bay Area players in impressive and intense improvisation that make for an unusual and open-minded discourse.
Dark and daring electroacoustic improvisation from the trio of baritone saxophonist Stephen Horenstein, bassist JC Jones, and electronic artist Loic Kessous.
Piano prodigy Ariel, performing complex jazz compositions at the age of 9 (!) with infuences from Matthew Shipp, John Hicks, Kirk Lightsey, Uri Caine, Aaron Goldberg, &c.
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.