Bassist Jason Ajemian composed these 8 works performed with the Chicago/NY band of Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Rob Mazurek on cornet & electronics, and Chad Taylor on drums, a dynamic set of music that varies through a spectrum of styles while staying true to its jazz roots.
Rinus van Alebeek plays a CD copy of the late composer Luc Ferrari's "Cycles Des Souvenirs" in Luc Ferrari's house, while his widow Brunhild Ferrari reads the liner notes and Van Alebeek makes recording inside the house and its surroundings.
The trio of Dave Rempis (sax), Fred Lonberg-Hold (cello & electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love in a vinyl edition of their hard-hitting and powerful free improvisation performing live in concert in February, 2012 at Powiekszenie, Warsaw.
Five fascinating works composed from old cassette tapes accelerated or slowed down, layered and transformed with analog devices, with the addition of sources from movies soundtracks and classical or liturgical music extracts.
Mauricio Kagel's 1970s avant cinema film "Ludwig Van" about Beethoven's music, is reinterpreted by pianist Frederic Blondy and turntablist DJ Lenar, improvising at Zacheta National Gallery of Art, in Warsaw, Poland, 2011, and assembled in studio.
The duo of Liz Allbee on trumpet and Anthea Caddy on cello in beautifully paced, mysterious improvisations using a minimal approach of extended and often disconcerting techniques augmented with subtle electroacoustic touches.
Recorded on various floors and in different rooms at the music school Bochum in Germany in 2014, the duo of reedists Katharina Bohlen and Claudius Reimann add spring drums, gongs, cymbals, tubular bells, and sound plates to their understated and moody improvisations.
A return to the group that kick-started Otoroku - the veteran German reedsman and free jazz pioneer Peter Brotzmann with the long-running London bass/drums partnership of John Edwards and Steve Noble, recording at the last set of a two-day residency at Cafe OTO in 2013.
A return to the group that kick-started Otoroku - the veteran German reedsman and free jazz pioneer Peter Brotzmann with the long-running London bass/drums partnership of John Edwards and Steve Noble, recording at the last set of a two-day residency at Cafe OTO in 2013.
For more than 25 years the duo of saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Randall Colbourne have performed as a duo, here captured in the studio for six tracks of exceptional and telepathic free improvisation.
Pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuka Tamura performing in the studio in Krakow, Poland, 2005 for a duo of sublime power and great dynamic, modern jazz with a wealth of influence and performed with technical prowess.
72 extractions of electroacoustic improvisation from saxophonist Christoph Gallio, and an accompanying DVD from director Beat Streuli, with music and sound coming from Dominique Girod (bass), Julian Sartorius (drums), Andrea Neumann (piano), and Ernst Thoma (synth).
The NY trio of saxophonist Stephen Gauci, cornetist Kirk Knuffke and bassist Ken Filiano in a set of group improvisations plus compositions from each player, great melodic and interactive playing from three exceptional players.
The 2nd release from the free improvising trio of trumpeter Tom Arthurs, bassist Miles Perkins, and drummer Yorgo Dimitriadis, recording in the studio in Berlin, 2012 for 8 collective improvisations with melodic strength and intensive communication.
The duo of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and sound artist Lasse Marhaug in a studio album of textural soundwork, crossing unusual amplified sax techniques with extreme electronics to create unidentifiable but engrossing works that defy description.
Six pieces for strings, wind and percussion, free improvisation using unusual and extended techniques from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Chris Heenan (alto saxophone, contrabass clarinet), Alexander Frangenheim (double bass),and Ofer Bymel (percussion).
A large Lisboa ensemble presenting a collective improvisation titled after a painting by Yves Klein, with performers including Ernesto Rodrigues (baritone violin), Miguel Mira (bass), Nuno Torres (sax), Carlos Santos (electronics), Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano), &c. &c.
Clarinetist Theo Jorgensmann's quartet with double bassist Christian Ramond, drummer Klaus Kugel, and vibraphonist Christopher Dell recording in the studio in German, 1999.
Matthias Kaul performing percussion works recorded on using cymbalon, hurdy-gurdy, bicycle, telephone, voice, &c., with Stefan Romeyan providing and reciting his poetry on "Roma".
New York jazz vocalist Kosi in an album extending her duo format to a larger ensemble using lyrical jazz forms to create an intimate and emotional album of original and traditional songs.
The superb trio of Daunik Lazro on baritone sax, Benjamin Duboc on bass, and Didier Lasserre on drum & cymbals, in a live recording from Ecouter pour l'instant festival, a long open work inspired by poet Henri Michaux's writings on emptiness & tranquility.
An unusual set of pop compositions from Brussels-based Le Ton Mite, short vignettes blending compositional and folk elements into lovely miniatures, graced with a personal and idiosyncratic style reflected in the collage art covering the album.
Taking their name from the German Town Bad Fallingbostel, this album collects recordings from the 3 year collaboration of these two improvising sound artists: Gunnar Lettow on prepared bass guitar, electronics & objects; and Korhan Erel on computer & controllers.
A quintessential NY release from Brooklyn poet Steve Dalachinsky and saxophonist Dave Liebman with special guest pianist Richie Beirach, in 14 insightful works referencing and dedicated to Cecil Taylor, Billie Holiday, Jackson Pollock, Steve Lacy, &c &c.
NY-based Arto Lindsay's diverse career includes No Wave band DNA, Ambitious Lovers with Peter Scherer, acclaimed Brazilian-tinged pop records, and improvising with a great set of Downtown NY players, much of which is presented in this excellent cross-section of his work to date.
Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell's NY band with Craig Taborn (piano & wurlitzer), David Boykin (sax), Chad Taylor (drums & guitar) in a tribute to her mentor, the late saxophonist Fred Anderson and his Velvet Lounge club, in an excellent mix of free and melodic playing.
A series of exceptional compositions by saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc plus one by Alice Coltrane, performed in a variety of group settings, from duos to quintet, with sidemen Matthew Shipp, Roy Campbell, Steve Swell, Hilliard Greene, and Newman Taylor Baker.
Originally released in 1984 on cassette by ADN tapes, these early works from Bernard Pruvost and Pierre Bastien use an unusual array of instruments to create irregular improvised music with a No Wave aesthetic.
A beautifully balanced Downtown NY album mixing rock forms with improvisation from some of NY's finest improvisers: the trio of Mary Halvorson (guitar, voice, compositions), Kyle Forester (bass), and Kevin Shea (drums) with guests Peter Evans, Sam Kulik, and Dan Peck.
Ergo Phizmiz reinterprets Robert Ashley's disturbing avant-classical work "Purposeful Lady Slow Afternoon", in a group with Ergo Phizmiz (voice, piano), Lula (voice), Maciej Cieslak (guitar), Julia Zietek (violin), Alessandro Bosetti (laptop), and DJ Lenar (turntable).
A DVD compilation of databending & video art from video and sound artists Raul Dominguez & Miguel A. Garcia, Muckrackers, loopool & Zara Kand, Kelly Donovan, Wayne Mason, Nipple Stools, CihanLucia, Third I, Carl Kruger, Meat Hands, Somnaphon, Regosphere.
Pianist Francois Raulin's trio with soprano saxophonist Francois Corneloup and double bassist Bruno Cheviloon, also providing vocals recording in the studio in France, 2000.
Five open improvisations from the quartet of Israeli saxophonist Ariel Shibolet, viola player Nori Jacoby, drummer Offer Bymel and double bassist Alexander Frangenheim, recording in Frangenheim's studio in Germany in 2011.
Sontag Shogun is the trio of pianist Ian Temple and sound artists Jesse Perlstein and Jeremy Young, setting the piano against intricately designed sonic textures and cut-ups of choral voice and acoustic guitar, as well as processed field recordings, here in a 10" 4 track EP.
Brooklyn's Sontag Shogun (Ian Temple-piano; Jesse Perlstein-electronics; Jeremy Young-tapes & electronics) in their debut album, compiling three years of composing and directed textural improvisations, presented in 9 rich musical works.
Limited cassette release of Sizlard's beautiful "colourpalette" loop series, featuring two side-length pieces composed for rotating loop-cycles, which adhere to strict compositional limitations.
Jeremy Young, aka Szilard, in his debut full-length release as a solo performer on guitar and sine waves, with texts from Charles Baudelaire's "Les Fleurs Du Mal" (1857) read by Aki Onda, Ella Joyce Buckley, Liam Singer and Catherine Metayer.
Blending elements of punk, no wave and free improvisation reminding of Crass, The Ex, Gang of Four, &c., the cry of free jazz driven by strong bass lines and groove guitar riffs, this Italian band sings in English on a mix of socially conscious songs and observant themes.
Tarbaby (Orrin Evans on piano, Eric Revis on bass, and Nasheet Waits on drums) is joined by saxophonist Oliver Lake and guitarist Marc Ducret for an album inspired by philosopher, psychologist and revolutionary Franz Fanon, a superb album balancing melodic and intense playing.
Five works from composer James Tenney for solo percussion, performed by Matthias Kaul, plus one work for tape and percussion and one work for percussion and tape-delay-system with Rudiger Orth ("Deus Ex Machina").
Sound manipulators The Norman Conquest (Pete Simonelli-voice, Miron Grzegorkiewicz-guitar, Michet Biela-bass, Dj Lenar-turntable) excerpt and process the recordings of John A. and Ruby T. Lomax's 1939 field recordings, creating a captivating set of concrete compositions.
Andrea Belfi (percussion), David Grubbs (guitar), David Maranha (organ), and Pete Simonelli (voice) perform "Ten Intrusions", following the model set by Harry Partch's 1949-1950 composition "Eleven Intrusions".
Excerpting texts from "Vanishing Point: How to Disappear in America without a Trace" edited by Susanne Burner, David Grubb, Malgorzata Pankalla, Peter Simonelli and David Maranha create a series of startling anti-establishment electroacoustic spoken recordings.
Under the wing of the Warsaw Polish Radio Experimental Studio emerged dozens of hours of socially engaged music from artists including Eugeniusz Rudnik, Krzysztof Penderecki, Elzbieta Sikora, Krzystof Knittel, &c.
Polish Radio Experimental Studio's late 50's achievements included first attempts to write down electronic sounds through graphics; this CD presents 5 such scores heard in experimental realizations commissioned of Lionel Marchetti, Thomas Lehn, Philip Zoubek and Wolfram, &c.
Legendary free improvising saxophonist Jack Wright in a duo with new generation free improvising drummer Ben Bennett, both part of the touring band Wrest Trio, in an album of interactive interchanges informed by unusual technique and masterful playing.
Four contemporary compositions separated by three transmissions from the past from the Xasax saxophone quartet of Jean-Michel Goury, Marcus Weiss, Pierre-Stephane Meuge and Serge Bertocchi.
The Downtown NY trio of Stephen Gosling on piano, Greg Cohen on bass, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums performs Zorn's lyrical jazz trio works blending classical and jazz forms into absorbing forms that are both intricate and enjoyable.
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.
Chvad SB of Things Outside The Skin, Tongue Muzzle, &c in album of ambient drone lament, composed of abstract passages, at times dissonant & at other times melodic, but always with interesting intention.
Limited color edition of guitarist Barry Chabala's interpretation of composer Pisaro's piece, instructing the performer on structure and pitch but allowing the precise timing and sound to the player; plus a reworking of Chabala's recording taking advantage of cassette hiss and sine tones.
Guitarist Barry Chabala's interpretation of composer Pisaro's piece, instructing the performer on structure and pitch but allowing the precise timing and sound to the player; plus a reworking of Chabala's recording taking advantage of cassette hiss and sine tones.
A Record Store Day 7" release to accompany the LP edition of the LP of the same name from The Thing (Mats Gustafsson-bas sax; Paal Nilssen-Love-drums; Ingebrigt Haker Flaten-electric bass), adding 2 tracks: "Empty from Bawling" and "Bruises Without Contact".
Vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Sam Mickens (The Dead Science) leading an excellent band including drummer Mike Pride, bassist Shahzad Ismaily, vocalists Carla Bozulich, Jesse Quattro, &c, through 15 persuasive rock songs recorded in NYC.
The studio debut of drummer Federico Ughi and electric guitarist Adam Caine's project The Moon, a touring band crossing jazz based free improvisation with rock elements in free-flowing and driving music highlight the technical and melodic skills of both players.
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.