The Spring 2016 issue of Canada's best creative music magazine covering composed, improvised and experimental music. Articles include: Juan Camilo Vasquez' Caliope (canto de las abejas); First-Place Winner, Musicworks' 2015 Electronic M...

The first release from the NY/West Coast trio of Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Ben Goldberg on clarinet, and Mary Halvorson on guitar, a collaborative improv of lyrical and nuanced improv, using great skill and sophistication in dialog that takes unexpected twists and turns.

Crossing NY and Chicago artists, the quartet of Mike Ladd on vocals & synth, Jeff Parker on electric guitar, Tyshawn Sorey on drums, trombone & electric piano, and HPRIZM/High Priest on synth create thought-provoking spoken environments of intense improv.

A beautifully evolving set of duos, or "paths" from Philadelphia saxophonist Keir Neuringer and Polish bassis Rafal Mazur, using monumental technique to support a dialog that's technical and intensely focused while remaining lyrically sophisticated and imaginative.

Using electronics and voice, composer & sound artist Gtanit Elyakim presents a diverse set of compositions in collaboration with other acoustic, voice and electronic artists, a superb debut for an artist interested in aspects of the human and the digital paradigm.

The Leena Circus trio of Antoine Letellier on sax, trumpet & guitar, Nicolas Moulin on guitar, and Guillaume Arbonville on drums, joins with trumpeter Itaru Oki for an album of open-ended and downright psychedelic free improvisation, a superb achievement in creative music.

Serbian violist Szilard Mezei trio with double bassist Ervin Malina and drummer/percussionist Istvan Csik, in two extended works that blend seemingly chaotic approaches to improvisation with subtle and spacious playing, a tremendous achievement.

Polish conceptual composer Zygmunt Krauze meets pianist John Tilbury, who studied in Warsaw in the 1960s, and returned in 2015 for a residency; this delicate and beautiful work was recorded at the Concert Studio of Polish Radio in Warsaw with 4 pianos and a percussionist.

Anthony Pateras & Valerio Tricoli worked 7 years transforming pianos, organs, harpsichords, tape machines and synthesizers into an expansive sonic otherworld that celebrates the "End of Times" in three parts; a meticulous and fascinating work.

Extended Pianos employ stochastic improvisations, live analogue processing, feedback experiments, atmospheric tape composition, and ultra-physical episodic structures to manipulate prepared piano performances in real time, creating an exceptional and engrossing work.

Using saxophone and electronics in unexpected ways, Warszawa composer Kamil Szuszkiewicz's 9 movement "Robot Czarek" is described as a "sound cartoon", using odd punctuation of voice and effected interactive instrumental interjections to tell his libretto's strange tale.

Henry Threadgill's tribute to friend, composer-conductor Lawrence D. Butch Morris, in a detailed 4-part work with an excellent set of improvisers: Henry Threadgill, Jose Davila, Jason Moran, Christopher Hoffman, David Virelles, Roman Filiu, Curtis Macdonald, and Craig Weinrib.

UK guitarist and vocalist Richard Youngs, also on zither, suggested performing his large song work "Parallel Winter" on the first day of his Warszawa tour of Poland, a piece that changes in length based on location and environment, here in an extended and contemplative version.

Crossing heavy improv with jazz, classical, world music and more, Zorn's latest compositions are handled by the ensemble of John Medeski (organ), Ches Smith (congas, Voudun drums), Kenny Wollesen (vibes), Kenny Grohowski (drums), and Matt Hollenberg (guitar).

A pop-infused psychedelic trip featuring Cyro with a huge lineup of superb musicians, lyrical improvisation with latin and world influences, with Baptista taking vocals over his eclectic and melodically embraceable music; a beautiful album to return to frequently.

Originally intended as a trio recording, when the 3rd player missed the Nepal Jazzmandu Jazz Festival, saxophonist Francois Carrier and drummer Michael Lambert carried on as a duo, these recordings from two sets displaying their impressive "freely melodic" approach to improvised music.

Eric Normand's Quebec based 12-piece GGRIL (Grand Groupe Regional d'Improvisation) in an album of 5 improvisations and a piece by percussionist Danielle P. Roger; wonderfully creative music with eclectic instrumentation that's simultaneously challenging and fun.

The trio of Chris Caldwell on reeds, Susie Hodder Williams on flute, and Trevor Taylor on percussion and electronics in a set combining free improvisation with written pieces using stochastic & graphic processes, plus a work by Stockhausen, "Aus Den Seien Tagen" and one dedicated to John Mayer.

Amorfon continues their exploration of the "voice" of babies, started with "Kindermusik: Improvised Music by Babies" and expanded here as 14 babies are recorded in a single take, expressing themselves before the learning of language, volume, timbre and speech intervals.

The 1st of 2 album with Amorfon label leader Yoshio Machida performing acoustic improvisation on the steelpan drum influenced by traditional Indian improvised music, adding elements of Jazz, twelve-tone and ethnic music to create a unique hybrid, in a limited clear vinyl LP.

The 2nd of 2 album with Amorfon label leader Yoshio Machida performing acoustic improvisation on the steelpan drum influenced by traditional Indian improvised music, adding elements of Jazz, twelve-tone and ethnic music to create a unique hybrid, in a limited clear vinyl LP.

The improvising steelpan ensemble of Yoshio Machida (steel drums, percussion, electronics, PanKAT), Tatsu (bass, electronics) and Norihide Saji (drums, laptop, electronics) in their 3rd release, an alternative dub album, or music created by poly-rhythm and sound effects.

Using bass, drums, steelpan, electronics and programming, the trio of Tatsu, Norihide Saji and Amorfon label leader Yoshio Machida create a "pulse dub" album of polyrhythms and phase, producing warm, complex and embraceable music that includes a cover of Bjork's "Hyperballad".

The alternative dub steelpan trio of Yoshio Machida (steeldrums, voice, percussion, electronics), Tatus (bass, voice & electronics) and Norihide Saji (drums, laptop & electronics) for 10 tracks of embraceable tunes including a cover of Miles Davis "All Blues".

Live recordings of the trio of Yoshio Machida on steelpans and gamelan, Hiroki Chiba on double bass and electronics, and Jorge Queijo on drums & percussion, performing live at Foxhole and Apollo in Tokyo, 2015, free improvisation with Eastern attitudes and European propulsion.

An intense and dynamic album of unusual electroacoustic improvisation from the duo of Pascal Battus performing on rotating surfaces, styrofoam, paper, plastic objects, and microphones, and Dafne Vicente-Sandoval performing on bassoon, microphones and mixing board.

Guitarist Stephen O'Malley meets UK free improvising drummer Steve Noble in Philadelphia PA to record this mammoth duo of sound and drone guitar with active, deep drumming, a mesmerizing album of intense sound and rhythm.

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.

Glasgow's Improvisers Orchestra from the CCA Glasgow performing three free improvisations and a discretely structured piece by Raymond MacDonald.

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!

Stochastic music for percussion and synthesizers from New York avant conceptualist and keyboardist Charlemagne Palestine, here on piano & electronics, with the Italian duo Trrma' of Giovanni Todisco on percussion and Guiseppe Candiano on synth, in two side-long works of irregular rhythm, complexity and dissonance that build and recede in a suspenseful journey.

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).

Pianist Mathias Landaeus's trio with Johnny Aman on bass and Chris Montgomery on drums are joined by saxophonist Martin Kuchen (Angles, &c) for a limited edition LP of superb music merging free and lyrical elements for a tremendous modern jazz album.

Philipp Wachsmann, Charlotte Hug, Marcio Mattos & John Edwards performing live at the Uncool Festival in Switzerland, 2007, and in studio recordings from 2006.

The solo harsh dream sound project of media and sound artist Ryan Lewis, delving deep into his childhood traumas through sound, which he developed as an outlet and meditative release for the artist using sound.

Jemeel Moondoc's third release on New York's Relative Pitch label is this duo with bassist Hilliar Greene, a soulful album of bluesy free playing, Greene's solid finger and bow work anchoring Moondoc for beautiful, informed, quirky and sincerely heartfelt playing.