Ecstatic and unusual free jazz recordings for Radio-Studio DRS Zurich from the 6ix-tet of Jacques Demierre on piano, Urs Leimgruber on saxophone, Okkyung Lee on cello, Thomas Lehn on synth, Dorothea Schurch voice and singing saw, and Roger Turner on percussion.

Exhiliarating melodic free jazz from the trio of Biondini (accordion), Godard (tuba & serpent) and Niggli (drums & percussion) in an album referencing the clear blue color of earth as seen from space.

A 6 CD/DVD box set of the 1980s UK/Euro improvising rock band Cassiber, an amazing band merging experimental rock, fringe jazz, punk, pop, plunderphonics, improvisation, & musique concrete with an energetic and complex form of studio composition - superb!

Theo Ceccarelli expands his string trio from their Ayler debut album, "Carrousel", adding bassist and free vocalist Joelle Leandre to the group, yielding a new dimension to their rapidly expanding repertoire of rich, interactive improvisation.

A live recording at Cafe Oto in 2013 from this sextet in an extended and dynamic piece in which the musicians develop material they had presented in small groups in the first half of the concert, mixing improvised and prepared elements.

The long-standing duo of violinist Mark Feldman and pianist Sylvie Courvoisier in 7 compositions dedicated to the memory of Cuban baseball legend Rene Gonzalez, performing live at the Theatre Vidy-Lausanne.

Site recordings from Berlin by audio explorer Peter Cusack, documenting evocative locations throughout the city based on an inquiry into Berlin resident's favorite sounds, with a booklet detailing the 31 recordings and the scope of the project.

Switzerland's 10-piece contemporary classical Ensemble Montaigne adapt 7 compositions from Anthony Braxton, blurring the lines between improvisation and composition in captivating ways.

A composed piece from guitarist Fages for a small ensemble of instruments and live electronics using shifting sinetones alongside sustained sounds from the acoustic instruments to create shimmering music that unfolds slowly and gracefully.

The beautiful and introspective duo of guitarist Scott Fields and Jeffrey Lependorf, a certified master of the shakuhachi, performing new works for guitar and shakuhachi that combine written and improvised material, lovely and intelligent music.

Drummer Jeremy Carlstedt and guitarist Martin Philadelphy in a duo of "slow epic earth/space traveling, some indie rock shimmy shake, the floating of textures and waves, old school freak punk throwdown and even some swinging."

Seven recent works from UK composer Richard Glover, whose process music is based on the exposition of simple harmonic patterns which transform in deceptive ways, gradually altering the nature of the overall sonority.

Ensemble XII performs pieces by percussionist Fritz Hauser that were composed with an attention to detail that is heard in the timbre, texture, density and dynamics of his arrangements.

Saxophonist and clarinetist Michael Jaeger's quartet with Vincent Membrez (piano), Luca Sisera (bass) and Norbert Pfammatter (drums) play with rhythms, sounds and spaces, merging traditional and new forms in euphoric ways.

Henry Kaiser in a solo album paying tribute to a handful of his heroes who have tragically died in the past few years, including Basho, Stockhausen, Randy California, Sun Ra, Morton Feldman, Masayuki Takayanagi, Toru Takemitsu, Pete Cosey, Sonny Sharrock, &c.

Russian new music from reed and wind player Alexey Kruglov, in a quartet with Alexey Lapin on piano, Oleg Yudanov on drums, and Estonian guitarist Jaak Sooaar, energetic and unusual improvisation recorded live at Jazz Centre in Yaroslavl, Russia.

Site specific recordings made for two live performances in Le Havre and Liege (2010) by sound artists Eric La Casa and Cedric Peyronnet, one disc each of sound sculpted from the same field recordings, but with vastly different results.

Hong Kong composer Lee Ingrid in four pieces from subtle beauty to harsh power, including a duo for piano and accordion, a piece for vibrating amplified snare drums, a work for piano, electric guitar and percussion, and one for string quintet and vibraphone.

A live recording from the 2008 Kongsberg Jazzfestival of the duo of reedist Joe McPhee and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, extraordinary playing from two masters, keeping their listeners on the edge of their seat in insanely great improvisation.

The third CD of Objets Trouves, which translates to "a natural or discarded object found by chance and held to have aesthetic value", from Gabriela Friedli (piano), Co Streiff (sax), Dieter Ulrich (percussion) and Jan Schlegel (bass).

A live recording from Warsaw and Berlin of John Zorn & Bill Laswell's Painkiller project performing with drummer Yoshida Tatsuya, an epic hour long suite surrounded by two short hardcore blasts of searing intensity.

The inquisitive nature of saxophonist Perelman searches for denser forms of expression with pianist Matthew Shipp and two drummers - Whit Dickey and Gerald Cleaver - allowing intense rhythmic playing over which Perelman's expressive voice slurs and shines.

Working at the juncture of improvisation and contemporary composition, Polwechsel performs 4 pieces, each composed by a different member of the group, that allow individual players to express themselves while remaining a part of the group.

The second Sax Ruins album with Tatsuya Yoshida (drums) and Ono Ryoko (alto sax) with guest Ryuichi Yoshida on baritone sax, performing new arrangements of Ruins works including "Vrresto", "Refusal Fossil", &c.

Trio 3 - Oliver Lake (sax), Reggie Workman (bass) & Andrew Cyrille (drums) - in their 5th release, adding guest pianist Jason Moran, who acts as a catalyst to push the group into far-reaching modern territory, including a rhythmic narrative work from Oliver Lake.

The improvisational and untraditional piano trio of Michel Wintsch (piano, synthesizers), Christian Weber (bass), and Christian Wolfart (drums) in a fantastic, live performance from Willisau.

The World Heritage in their 5th release recorded live at Tokyo's Akihabara Goodman in 2012, amazing improvised instrumental rock from Tatsuya Yoshida (drums), Seiichi Yamamoto (guitar), Natsuki Kido (guitar), Yuji Katsui (violin) and Mitsuru Nasuno (bass).

Zorn's 3rd CD for his 21st century ensemble The Gnostic Trio - Bill Frisell (guitar), Carol Emanuel (harp), Kenny Wollesen (vibraphone & bells) - and guest Ikue Mori (electronics) in a transcendent record celebrating the work of poet and artist William Blake.

3 pieces of magic and religious mysticism: a string trio-satanic counterpoint for the Witches' Sabbath written for the ICE Ensemble; a work for Shakespeare's "The Tempest"; and Chicago-based Fifth House Ensemble performing Zorn's mini piano concerto.

John Zorn draws on traditions from plainchant, mediaeval ars nova, Renaissance madrigals, 20th century vocal techniques and minimalism in an album for a cappella voice as performed by The Sapphites vocal quintet.

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.

Eric La Casa and Cedric Peyronnet collected sounds in a triangular area in the north of the Creuse departement, France, giving the landscape a sonic corporeality by each initiating a sound work based on a specific site, which the other composer expanded upon.

After performing at Jean-Herve Peron's 2010 Avant Garde Festival, Yumi Hara (keys, violin & voice), Geoff Leigh (winds & electronics), John Greaves (bass & piano) and Chris Cutler (drums & percussion) present their first studio album mixing open-minded composed and improvised music.

The DVD movie and CD soundtrack of 10 years of Nanni Angeli's photo documentation of the strange story of Paolo Angelis exotic, extended giant Sardinian guitar.

A survey of French and Australian Sound Art recorded in 2011 at Les Instants Chavires, Montreuil during Parisonic, with artists including Eric La Casa, Philip Samartzis, Marc Baron, Jean-Luc Guionnet, &c. &c.

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 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.

The string quartet sei-jaku by German composer Klaus Lang, documented on this CD, was performed on June 30, 2002 in the Grober Sendesaal of the SFB Berlin by the Arditti String Quartet during the festival Inventionen 2002.

Saxophone solo improvisation omnibus by three free saxophonists from around the globe: Lao Dan from China recording in an underground bomb shelter in an agressive solo performance; US ex-pat Rick Countryman from the Philippines in a traditional yet extremely free jazz exposition; and London's Colin Webster on baritone sax for an exploration of extended techniques.

A series of improvised performances with the central idea of acoustic and electronic artists experimenting with the electronic medium in a live setting with musicians with whom they have never played with before.

A survey of French and Australian Sound Art recorded in 2011 at Les Instants Chavires, Montreuil during Parisonic, with artists including Eric La Casa, Philip Samartzis, Marc Baron, Jean-Luc Guionnet, &c. &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.

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!

Reissuing pianist Ran Blake's 1965 ESP release presenting original compositions and works by Ornette Coleman and George Russell, along with arrangements of standards, an expressive and passionate release heralding Blake's long and brilliant career.

Double bassist and balafonist Enrico Fazio leads this 9-piece band, here in their 3rd Leo release, demonstrating his unique approach to harmony and melody through sometimes dense but always accessible and compelling compositions.

Germany's Grid Mesh (Frank Paul Schubert-saxophones; Andreas Willers-guitar; Willi Kellers-drums; Johannes Bauer-trombone) performs suspenseful, multi-dimensional improv with a fascinating blend of acoustic & electric sounds, here captured live in Madrid, 2011.

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".