Three live performances of collaborative electroacoustic compositions from 2007-08, each exploring different points of contact between precomposed structures and spontaneous invention.
In 1988, on the spur of the moment, Blake and Braxton met to record this set of 8 standards, including pieces by Monk, Parker, Gillespie, Miles Davis, Mal Waldron, &c.
Amplified objects artist Lee Patterson and reed player Lucio Capece, also on the sruti box, in 8 rich and slowly paced "empty" works that create mysterious timbral environments.
Frode Gjerstad's Circulasione Totale Orchestra with a new line-up including Louis Moholo-Moholo, lstad, Sabir Mateen, Kevin Norton, Bobby Bradford, Lasse Marhaug & Paal Nilssen-Love, &c.
Bug Incision's label leader Chris Dadge in a follow-up to his 2006 solo drum album "I'd Drive Your Ass Across The World", succinct journeys in a percussive world.
Michel Doneda continues to extend the sonic capabilities of the soprano sax and, in the process, confirms his position as one of the most important and exciting performers of improvised music.
A much-needed reissue of Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio with guitarist Brad Shepik and drummer Jim Black, a remarkably telepathic group recorded mid-tour after 3 years working together.
The trio of vibraphonist Kevin Norton, Frode Gjerstad on clarinets, and accordeonist Eivin One Pederson in a beautifully textural album of improvisations.
Tom Djll put this electro-acoustic improvising group together when Matthieu Werchowski & David Chiesa were visiting the SF area, with performances from duos to octet.
An impressive quartet of European improvisers in active and unusually colored music, two extended works that consistetly engages the listener in amazing dialog.
Reeds and electronics from Art Ensemble's Roscoe Mitchell and improviser David Wessel in a DVD from the Paris IRCAM festival, 2004, and a CD of a 2002 live recording at UC Berkeley.
With a cover borrowing heavily from the Impulse label, this incredible NYC band's 4th release blends 60s jazz with modern improv in creative and edge-of-your seat energetic music.
New York's MOPDTK (Evans/Irabagon/Shea/Elliott) performing band leader Moppa Elliott's post-uber-be-bop that smokes in the future tradition of 50s jazz.
Looking like the cover to Ornette's "This Is Our Music", the brilliant quartet of Peter Evans, Kevin Shea, Jon Irabagon & Moppa Elliott both pay homage to & move forward hard bop music.
Previously unissued recordings from 2003 of Parker's work based on Lynn Margulis' serial endosymbiosis theory (SET), performed by Parker, Barry Guy, Paul Lytton, Furt, Lawrence Casserley, &c.
For a decade this trio has created some of the most interesting electroacoustic improvisation, captured in a 38 minute performance at the Ear We Are Festival in Biel, Switzerland, 2007.
It started with a Mats Gustafsson's LP, for which Ozeki Mitkito created a polyvinyl chloride cutout, which Otomo manipulated on his turntable, recording this limited hand-numbered CD.
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 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.
A live recording from Portugal's Cine-Theatre Curvo-Semedo of the minimal ea-improv quartet of trumpeter Axel Dorner, violist Ernesto Rodrigues, prepared electric guitarist Abdul Moimeme, and Ricardo Guerreiro on computer.
Magaibutsu drummer Yoshida Tatsuya and Innocence/Altered States guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa in a genre-shifting and inspired duo from two of Japan's most active rock improvisers.
Out of Stock Reordered on 6/24/2020 Reordered on 6/24/2020
Named after Jean Genet's infamous novel, New York pianist Matthew Shipp's quartet Declared Enemy with Sabir Mateen on tenor sax & clarinet, William Parker on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, return for a second outstanding album of dynamic and masterful jazz.
Matta Gawa, the free rock duo comprised of guitarist Ed Ricart and drummer Samuel Lohman, uses an unconventional approach in creating energetic, improvised rock music that is unruly yet powerful.
Live recordings in France, 1999 from the trio of saxophonist Michel Doneda, turntablist Erik M, and guitarist/electronic/object player Jean-Marc Montera, a frenetic concert of sonic mayhem.
The dynamic duo of drummer Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins, Korekyojin, Koenji Hyakkei) and guitarist Uchihashi Kazuhisa (Altered States, Ground Zero) meet in the studio with pianist Mishiba Satoshi for ten multi-tracked rock improvisations of great diversity, power and beauty.
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 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.
The second volume of the project heard in the previous Creative Sources album, "Suspensao", here in a 9-piece electroacoust ensemble with viola, cello, doublebass, alto sax, trombone, piano, electric guitar, computer and percussion, suspenseful lowercase music that unfolds in mysterious, beautiful and rewarding ways.
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.
Saxophonist Rives with Wade Matthews on software synthesis and manipulated field recordings in a piece inspired by the story of Arethusa, a servant of the Greek goddess Artemis.
Celebrating the 400th release of Clean Feed Records, Swedish free jazz phenomenon, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson meets with NY jazz pianist Craig Taborn for an unlikely yet highly satisfying encounter that pushes each improviser into unfamiliar, edge-of-their seats, territory.
A much-needed reissue of Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio with guitarist Brad Shepik and drummer Jim Black, a remarkably telepathic group recorded mid-tour after 3 years working together.
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!
More explorations of outer space by the spokesman for the space age, 1965 studio recordings with Marhsall Allen, John Gilmore, Walter Miller, Ronnie Boykins, &c.
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.
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.
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).
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".
'Spilla' means 'to play' in the language of Neapolitan musicians, and playing here are NY guitarist and composer Elliott Sharp and Italian guitarist Sergio Sorrentino, presenting world premier recordings of 4 works recorded live in Vercelli, Italy: two improvisations and two graphic scores performed on electric guitar with incredible technique and passion.
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.
Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez merges his Yells at Eel project with bassist Aaron Gonzalez and drummer/percussionist Stefan Gonzalez, with Texas-based experimental rock band Pinkish Black--Daron Beck on keyboards and Jon Teague on drums & synthesizers--for a gripping and masterful hybrid of improvisation, dark synthetic rock and heavy moods; a riveting journey.
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.
Taking his title from a poem by Octavio Paz with titles from translations by Lysander Kemp of other Octavio Paz poems, this solo album from double bassist Damon Smith is his definitive statement on the instrument: 23 tracks from 46 seconds to 5 minutes 50, developed over 15 years and displaying Smith's incredible technique and creative intent; incomparable.