French composer Herve Boghossian pays hommage to electronic composer Eliane Radigue while asserting his own approach to continuous electronic sound in textures and pulsations, using a laptop recording feedback, plus harmonicas, drums, brooms, tuner and voice.
A live recording at Belfast's Sonic Arts Research Centre during the Translating Improvisation: Beyond Disciplines Beyond Borders colloquium, from the intrepid improvising trio of Matthew Bourne (piano), Steve Davis (drums) and Dave Kane (double bass).
Beautifully slow drifting compositions for clarinet, ARP 2600, piano and prepared piano from the duo of Anthony Burr and Anthony Pateras, drawing on Cage and Feldman in these expansive and tranquil works that create beautiful and quietly exotic sound environments.
A live recording at the Jazzfest Trondheim, Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst, in May 2015 from the freely improvising duo of John Butcher and contrabassist Michael Duch, a superb extended concert of incredible reed technique and concept anchored by Duch's flexible bass work.
The Japanese trio of Hirose Junji on tenor saxophone, Innocence label founder Uchihashi Kazuhisa on guitar, and Yoshida Tatsuya on drums, initiating Magaibutsu's "Improv Session Series" with this on-fire album of controlled chaos, recorded live at Foxhole in Kichijoji.
Two concert improvisations for unamplified voice recorded in Canberra, Australia at the 2015 SoundOut Festival and in Tokyo, Japan at the Kid Ailack Art Hall in 2014, using extended vocal techniques and leveraging the room acoustics and social space between Kahn and the audience.
Canada's premier new music magazine in their 125th issue, articles include Ayo Leilani; Ocean Bug and Bird Songs; Gabriel Dharmoo; crys cole; Thin Edge New Music Collective; plus a CD with tracks from Witch Prophet; Gabriel Dharmoo; Tim Brady; crys cole; Marc Saba; &c. &c.
A recording of two London based improvisers of different generations communing in the resonant surroundings of the 100 Years Gallery, with drummer Noble creating glittering bell and gong like tones over which guitar Thompson hangs fractured harmonics and strange bending chords.
Drawing from Xenakian architextures, Carterian set theory, Carnatic music, sharp-edged pointillism & orchestrational symbiosis, pianist Anthony Pateras steps back from electronic music for chamber-oriented improvisations with trumpeter Scott Tinkler & voilinist Erkki Veltheim.
Following their 2015 album "Songs for children who don't want to sleep", the quartet of Yan Pittard on guitar & oud, Mitsuru Nasuno on bass, Maki Nakano on vocals, and Tatsuya Yoshida on drums present this soundtrack album, which translates to "the creative urge".
A book and 2 CDs celebrating the 25th anniversary of this unusual and fascinating musical instrument designed and built by Hal Rammel, an artist's palette outfitted with a contact mic and vertically-mounted rods, played with a variety of uniquely designed bows and mallets.
The Japanese improvising rock trio of Kazuto Shimizu on keyboards, Nasyuno Mitsuru on bass, and Yoshida Tatsuya on drums performing live at Club Goodman in Akihabara, Japan, 2016 for technically superb, fast paced, turn-on-a-dime, joyful prog-oriented playing.
Sparse yet intently focused interaction with unusual timbre and technique in the 2nd release from the working duo of Hans Koch (Koch-Schutz-Studer) and Gaudenz Badrutt (strom), pairing reeds and electronics in micro-world improvisations that delight in subtlety.
A great set of Downtown NY players led by trombonist Steve Swell, with Jemeel Moondoc on alto sax, Dave Burrell on piano, William Parker on double bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums, a heartfelt and masterfully soulful album of excellent modern jazz in a limited LP.
Part of a trio of releases including "Reasons for Viola and Cello" and "Viola Cello Room", this album finds violist Paolo Valladoid and cellist Gary Rouzer in a large tunnel in Alexandria, Virginia, their music mixed with joggers, birds, traffic, flowing water, insects, &c. &c.
As close to straight-ahead improvisation as you'll hear from audio explorer Mark Wastell, in an authoritative quartet of free improvisers, with both Olie Brice and Dominic Lash on double bass, Alan Wilkinson on alto sax, and Wastell himself on violoncello.
The Japanese improvising rock quintet The World Heritage--Yamamoto Seiichi, Katsui Yuji, Kido Natsuki, Nasuno Mitsuru, and Yoshida Tatsuya--with two guitars, violin, bass and drums, in a live recording of dynamic collective improvisation at Akihabara Goodman in 2013.
Beautifully paced and enigmatically interesting compositions from Marc Baron, using only analog processes in three compositions for reel to reel tape, blending field recordings, cut-up, noise, found sound, pre-recorded and degraded tapes in unusual and absorbing ways.
The results of years of collaboration between the Cremaster electroacoustic improvising duo of Ferran Fages and Alfredo Costa Monteiro with pianist Sophie Agnel, in a remarkable album of fragile yet rich tones and tonal punctuations, a feast of timbral possibilities.
The debut album by the British Improvised Music trio Bay's Leap of clarinetist Noel Taylor, pianist Clare Simmonds and cellist James Barralet, presenting 11 spontaneously improvised compositions that bridge avant jazz and contemporary classical chamber music.
Sicilian pianist Tommaso Vespo assembled the multinational sextet of Antonio Aiella (bass), Noel Taylor (clarinet), Antonio Longo (drums), Nicola Hein (guitar), Ricardo Teje (saxophone), and Tommaso Vespo (piano), blending lyrical jazz, chamber, and free improvisation.
A live recording from the Casa Del Popolo club in Montreal, Canada, named because Gjerstad was upset that Air Canada had messed up his sax in transit, which he played regardless; his frustration pushed him into an overwhelmingly amazing set of smoking free jazz!
Drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit recorded this ecstatic, Brazilian influenced material in 2015 after a mammoth European and North-American tour, hours after their performance at the 2015 Oslo Jazzfestival with an extended line-up with Brazilian percussion players.
Assembling a wide range of percussive instruments accumulated through world travels, from Korean gongs to scrap metal sheets from Ethiopia, Paal Nilssen-Love presents an intense and wide-ranging solo percussion tour-de-force, recorded in Oslo by frequent collaborator Lasse Marhaug.
Chicago free improvising mainstay Fred Lonberg-Holm's Stirrup trio with Nick Macri on double bass and Charles Rumback on drums crosses genres and grooves in an album balancing lyrical and hard-grooved tunes, with Lonberg-Holm taking up guitar on a number of tracks.
Japanese Koto virtuoso Michiyo Yagi joins the longstanding duo of drummer Paal-Nilssen-Love and electronics wizard Lasse Marhaug for a session of extended improvisations, driving the traditional Japanese instruments into non-idiomatic and percussive extremes.
Madrid multi-instrumentalist and cross media artist Edith Alonso in an album of prepared solo electric bass improvisations, a four part work of muscular and shadowy sound, dark vibrations with crepitating edges making a sinister and cathartic dungeon of sound.
The Ensemble Daswirdas performs John Cage's "Branches" composition, which is based on a previous work, "Child of Tree", but here each performer plays an 8 minute variation of that work, which is performed on amplified pods, cacti, and other plant materials.
Double-bassist Carlo Costa, originally from the Canary Islands and who has worked with Tim Berne, Tomas Fujiwara, Ingar Zach, Wade Matthews, &c. in a solo album of solid and unusual bass technique including plucking, bowing and scraping, in his 9-part series of "Doors".
Dedicated to both composer Olivier Messiaen and hip-hop record producer J Dilla, David Fiuczynski uses non-Western tuning to show the connections between exotic bird calls and J Dilla's 'flam beats' while referencing Messiaen, Gagaku, and other Pan-Asian ingredients.
A 2-disc + book release from Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit, the 1st recorded at the Casa del Popolo club in Montreal presenting smaller units of duos and trios, and the 2nd capturing the full orchestra as they ended their North American tour at Seattle's Earshot Jazz festival.
A beautifully ambient album of analogue synthesiser, microtonal saxophone and electronics by Argentinian saxophonist Sergio Merce, a single long track that pauses and resumes its rich tones and harmonies at a deliberate and measured pace, allowing each environment to ring.
Live recordings from 2012 & 2015 by German pianist Uwe Oberg performing a mix of original compositions and work by Monk, Bley, Lacy, & A. Peacock, balancing melodic and exploratory playing with passionate conviction backed by masterly skills and impeccable pacing.
Playful, joyful and absolutely commanding performances from the duo of German pianist Uwe Oberg and Silke Eberhard on alto sax and clarinet, performing both live and in the studio on original compositions and pieces by Carla Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, and Annette Peacock.
Referencing the color "blue" rather than the blues themselves, the duo of New York tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and Joe Morris on acoustic guitar present free improvisations balancing technical and melodic musings, an intimate and thoughtful album of concentrative playing.
The second CD that NY saxophonist Ivo Perelman has recorded with Ornette alumni Karl Berger, the first with Berger on piano, and here on vibraphone, opening new aspects of sound to the commanding dialog between these two friends and seasoned improvisers.
After many years working together in the vital Downtown NY scene, saxophonist Ivo Perelman and Matthew Shipp take their playing the next step after their previous duo "Callas", in thoughtful improv that expresses in both their mutual language and masterful skills.
The longÐrunning duo of NY pianist Matthew Shipp and Brazilian/NY saxophonist Ivo Perelman forms the basis for this excellent quartet, with mainstays Michael Bisio on bass and Whit Dickey on drums, in an expressive and soulful album that balances enthusiasm and brilliant restraint.
Albert Mangelsdorf Award-winning pianist Achim Kaufmann and multi-reedist Gebhard Ullmann met in the studio for the first time in Berlin, Germany to record these upbeat free improvisations, intricate collective playing covering a wide range of moods and styles.
The Berlin-based trio of free improvising vocalist Almut Kuhne, pianist Achim Kaufmann and reedist Gebhard Ullmann for ten originals, on-the-edge, informed improvisation of great skill and melodic invention, taking their music into uncharted and unconventional territory.
Another strong instrumental rock album, blending heavy prog, free jazz and psychedelia with forceful and technically excellent guitar work from leader Mollestad, backed by fellow Norwegians Ellen Brekken on bass and Ivar Loe Bjornstad on drums; keeping the 70s alive!
The incredible Fire! Orchestra in a 21-piece rendition performs in the studio for an ecstatic album of free improvisation and song, with an amazing lineup including Mats Gustafsson, Mette Rasmussen, Johan Berthling, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lotte Anker, &c. &c.
The incredible Fire! Orchestra in a 21-piece rendition performs in the studio for an ecstatic album of free improvisation and song, with an amazing lineup including Mats Gustafsson, Mette Rasmussen, Johan Berthling, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lotte Anker, &c. &c.
An epic, hypnotic work for three choirs, three pairs of noise musicians, and church organ, to be performed in a cathedral or similar location with musicians surrounding the audience, here from a live performance at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival 2012.
Violinist Clemens Merkel interprets compositions by Wolfgang von Schweinitz's "Sonata for Violine Solo"; Antonie Beuger's "Unwritten Page"; Bruno Madema's "Piece Pour Ivry"; and Thomas Stiegler's cycle "Kammerkomplex" ("quasi una fantasia", "gran partita" and "sonata facile").
German composer Alfred Zimmerlin presents 3 pieces that balance compositional and improvisational approaches, with a 7-part work for strings, a large Klavierstruck work for microtonal piano, and an improvised chamber work, "Klarinettenquintett," with Jurg Frey on clarinet.
Zorn's Book of Angels series presenting the Masada composition books performed by a wide variety of groups, here with AutorYno, a wild power trio of three Paris avant rockers, taking Masada into heavy rock territory blanding Metal, Punk, Thrash, Dub and Surf rock.
The unexpected and open-minded quartet of Pauline Oliveros, Roscoe Mitchell, John Tilbury and Wadada Leo Smith performing live in Italy at the Angelika Festival in 2011, presenting the three part improvised work "Nessuno"; delicate, virtuosic, rewarding music from 4 masters.
Recorded during the 2013 Angelica Festival at Teatro Comunale, Terry Riley's 3 Generations Trio bring Riley on synth, piano and Indian influenced vocals together with son Gyan on guitar and Tracy Silverman on electric violin for an immersive and meditative performance.
Taken from 2 concerts during the 2013 Angelica Festival in Santa Caterina, with the Apartment House Ensemble, percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky, and Wolff himself; compositions include several "Excercises", his "Duo for Violins", and a variation on a Morton Feldman work.
Four works interpreted for accordion performed by Edwin Alexander Buchhol, including John Cage's "Cheap Imitation"; Michael Pisaro's "Here (2)"; Jurg Frey's "Sam Lazaro Bros." and Antoine Beuger's "die geschichte des sandkorns".
A superb program of string trios from minimalist composers Beat Keller, Tom Johnson, and Joseph Kudirka, from cinematic to spacious sound work, as realized by the trio of Julia Schwob on violin, David Schnee on viola, and Nicola Romano on cello.
Pushing the envelope on minimalism, Mannfred Werder's 3 scores for "2003" present just 6 tones, the instructions telling 3, 2 or 1 performers to play a pitch or sound for 3-7 seconds twice during the performance; realized by Erik Carlson, Stephanie Richards, and D. Edward Davis.
Percussionist Michel Blanc's astounding 12-part work was composed around news events that occurred between 1972-89, in a tour-de-force of music drawing from improvised music, RIO oriented rock, and concrete sound; with Marc Ducret, Annabelle Playe, Anne Gimenez, & Antonin Rayon.
An extended electroacoustic piece recorded in 2011 and named as an apt description of the bubbling, dense and intense flow of sound Chrysakis generates using electronic devices, acoustic sounds and field recordings, an absorbing work of audio flux and percolation.
Known mostly as a masterful improviser, this 2015 live performance of her 2009 work for a tenet crosses compositional and improvisation boundaries, reflecting on her 40 year career while bringing out new subtleties from its original release, here with a superb set of performers.
Two interpretations of Luigi Russolo's 1914 Futurist noise composition "Risveglio Di Uns Citta" ("The Awakening Of A City"), performed forwards and backwards, from a live performance at Squidco headquarters in Wilmington, NC.
The duo of Paul Abbot on drum kits, percussion & computer, and Seymour Wright on alto saxophone and feedback, in a massive edge-of-your seat live recording from London's Cafe Oto in 2015, a mix of brutal and beautiful playing with unexpected and surprising twists.
Appalachian guitarist Killick Hinds reunites with West Coast guitarist Henry Kaiser for their second album of sophisticated string interactions, using vast technical skills and creative intent to present an enjoyable and diverse set of textures and styles.