Bassist Babin's Benzene band mixes free improvisation with rock overtones, tight changes giving way to excellent solos from all members of this exceptional quartet.
2 CD cassette archive reissue combining live solo recordings with a multitracked homestudio demo that was the basis of the "Vermin of the Blues" album, and additional unreleased songs.
Double CD reissue of 2 of Doc Chad's 80s cassettes, combining two extended compositions utilizing home overdubbing and homemade instruments, released in their entirety.
Trumpeter Tamura in an album of improvisational fragmentation, textural and timbral explorations, and rapid-fire juxtapositions that create kaleidoscopic sound collages.
Pianist-composer Satoko Fujii's Orchestra Tokyo formed in 1999 to perform her compositions, music that spans a wide range of styles and moods, complemented by a great set of soloists.
Trumpeter Natsuki Tamura & bassist Norikatsu Koreyasu's Gato Libre with Satoko Fujii on accordion and guitarist Kazuhiko Tsumara, in their 4th release, beautifully melodic improvisation.
2004 improvised recordings from this trio of European and Japanese players using a fragile and fascinating mix of acoustics and electronics, rewarding music for detailed listening.
The 3rd full length from Canada's Inhabitants expands the sonic experiments of this quartet's intuitive group improvisations, mixing rich feedback with alluring lyricism.
This exquisite improvising trio in a passionate and lyrical sequence of group improvisations, introducing one of Toronto's extraordinary creative music ensembles.
Saxophonist Dave Liebman arranged this, his (surprisingly) first encounter with Evan Parker, with the help of drummer Tony Bianco, performing live at the Vortext for BBC Radio 3.
New York keyboardist/composer Carl Maguire's Floriculture with John Hebert and Dan Weiss, in an expanded line-up featuring violist Stephanie Griffin and veteran reedist Oscar Noriega.
Chicago flautist Mitchell's Black Earth Ensemble in a release inspired by the work of Afrofuturist writer Octavia Butler; powerful, dissonant and intense performances.
The great Canadian magazine of improv and compositional music, with articles on Yannis Kyriakides, Charles Stankievech, Anna Friz, loK8Tr, plus a 12 track CD including those artists.
This Calgary based trio with Jay Crocker on guitar & electronics, J.C. Jones on trombone and Eric Hamelin on drums & percussion, mix free bop with small sound electronic improv.
William Parker performed these three solo pieces at Tortono's Somewhere There, performing on acoustic bass, dousn'gouni and double flute, distinctive and inspired solo work.
West Coast's Tin Hat with clarinetist Ben Goldberg, violinist Carla Kihlstedt guitarist Mark Orton, and trumpeter Ara Anderson in live recordings from Mallorca & Berkeley.
Zorn with Rob Burger, Greg Cohen, Ben Perowsky, Kenny Wollesen and Shanir Blumenkranz in a work inspired by esoteric spiritual practices, white magic, ritual, traditional myths & ancient legends.
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.
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.
Saxophonist John Butcher in a release of solo and multitrack recordings using close-miking, amplification, room resonance, and feedback saxes, creating unusual & fascinating experiments.
Dale Gorfinkel is a multi-instrumentalist, improvisor, instrument creator and installation artist, creating unexpected aural environments exploring acoustic phenomena or creating acoustic sculptures using common materials like switches, balloons, hoses, cages, &c.
"Surreal slabs of processed sound float by each other in brilliant high fidelity, from the man behind much of the documentation of Bug Incision's live activites..."
Flutist Leah Paul presents two engaging compositions in multiple movements, performed with a chamber ensemble of Chris Speed (reeds), Rob Jost (french horn), Sara Schoenbeck (bassoon), Peter Sachon (cello), Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola), Ben Kono (oboe) and Michel Gentile (flute).
(Reissued on Not Two) Solo viola and double bass compositions from Voivodina Hungarian composer, violinist, viola player, and double bass player Szilárd Mezei.
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.
A co-production between BeCoq Records and Creative Sources, the quartet of saxophonist Mathhiew Lebrun with 3 guitarists--Leo Rathier, Paul Menard, and Thomas Coquelet--use preparations, feedbacks, glass, cymbals, microswitches, and unusual sax techniques to create unusual sonic environments that ebb and flow in introspective and disquieting ways.
The latest project from Rafal Gorzycki, leader of "Ecstasy Project" & "Sing Sing Penelope", here with music composed for poems and inspired by modern electronic, jazz and chamber music.
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.
Two basses and a lower-end saxophone from the trio of Damon Smith on double bass, Andrew Durham on electric bass, and Danny Kamins on baritone sax, Durham also adding effects and "Radio Manipulation" to their deep sound, Durham & Kamins the core of CARL with Damon Smith adding extra underpinnings to their slowly developing, sometimes pensive, sometimes cantankerous, profound improvisation.
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).
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.
A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).
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.
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.
Using hard bop as his jumping off point, Swiss saxophonist Omri Ziegele Tomorrow Trio with Christian Weber on bass and Han Bennink on drums--musicians who have toured and performed together over years--went into the studio hot off of a 13 day tour to record these 6 Ziegele original compositions, lyrically balanced with room for exemplary soloing and group interplay.