London's Apartment House in a quintet configuration performs four chamber works by Slovakian composer Adrian Democ, plus the Czech ensemble Ostravska Band / Fama Q performing one composition; gentle music of deceptive simplicity, using color, shade and hue through unique orchestration, his works built upon creative foundations steeped in historic reference.

A set of varied compositions from Frank Denyer, most of them of a delicate acoustic intimacy, with works for female singers & flute, two works for koto, a string quartet, one for flute and electronics and the two-part "Frog" for a bowed stringed instrument of Denyer design, the "sneh"; uncategorizable music of sublime imagination and unusual approaches.

A uniquely epic work in 14 parts by composer Frank Denyer, with a large ensemble of 40 musicians, many playing specially built instruments made from discarded materials, with other instrumentation including sitar, mandolin and hammered dulcimer, 4 male vocalists, 4 female vocalists, 4 players of adapted organ pipes, crumhorns, bowed wine glasses, 3 double basses, a contrabassoon, &c. &c.

The Field/Vidic duo of Slovenian saxophonist based in Switzerland Gregor Vidic and London born drummer Niclas Field is expanded with Japanese free improvising guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, recording at Gok Sound in Tokyo in 2017 for three exceptional and suspenseful and electroacoustic improvisations, merging melodic and abstract approaches in uniquely detailed ways.

The Field/Vidic duo of Slovenian saxophonist based in Switzerland Gregor Vidic and London born drummer Niclas Field is expanded with Japanese free improvising guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama, recording at Gok Sound in Tokyo in 2017 for three exceptional and suspenseful and electroacoustic improvisations, merging melodic and abstract approaches in uniquely detailed ways.

This is the 2nd release by this trio on Clean Feed, with Tobias Klein (alto saxophone, bass clarinet, contrabass clarinet), Goncalo Almeida (double bass) and Martin van Duynhoven (drums) captured live at Bimhuis in Amsterdam in 2017, taking on compositions by Ornette Coleman alongside original compositions from all three players in a free jazz mode.

Pianist Daniel Bernardes pays homage to French composer Olivier Messiaen, augmenting his piano trio of Antonio Augusto Aguiar on bass and Mario Costa on drums with the Drumming GP Ensemble of Miquel Bernat on marimba, Jeffrey Davis & Pedro Gois on vibraphones, and Joao Dias on glockenspiel, a wonderful merging of contemporary percussive composition and modern jazz.

The 4th album from German saxophonist Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla Mask, the 3rd on Clean Feed, is another powerful blending of jazz and rock forms in restless and profoundly determined music, energetic but intelligently structured, with great riffs and melodic grooves from Roland Fidezius (electric bass) and Rudi Fischerlehner (drums and percussion).

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

Three active Norwegians musicians based in Oslo-- guitarist Karl Bjora (Yes Deer, Megalodon Collective), drummer Dag Erik Knedal (Saka, Akode) and saxophonist Karl-Hjalmar Nyberg (Left Exit, Megalodon Collective)--in their debut album as a performing trio, showing both assertive collective playing in a free jazz mode and deeply introspective exploration.

The collective free jazz Nau Quartet led by alto saxophonist Jose Lencastre with Red Trio pianist and bassist Rodrigo Pinheiro and Hernani Faustino and drummer Joao Lencastre are caught live at Moscow's DOM Cultural Center for this album of thoughtfully informed improvisation, using open and spontaneous structures as they evolve each conversation in organic ways.

After his debut on Astral Spirits, Chicago-based guitarist Tim Stine assembled this quartet with Nick Mazzarella on saxophone, Matt Ulery on bass, and Quin Kirchner on drums, all skilled as bandleaders themselves, to realize Stine's avant compositions, precise harmonically and rhthmically interesting works with a Threadgill feel in surprising shifts of direction.

The ever-shifting lineup of jazz/no-wave/avant/aberrant improvisers The Flying Luttenbachers, anchored by drummer Weasel Walters, brings multi-reedist Matt Nelson, two guitarists (Brandon Seabrook & Henry Kaiser), bassist Tim Dahl and Brad Laner on synth for an aggressively informed and excitingly unpredictable album of superb playing and possibly bad intention; recommended!

Satoko Fujii leads her 13-piece big band through 5 thrilling and insightful compositions with a who's-who of NY improvisation: Nels Cline (guitar), Ches Smith (drums), Joe Fiedler & Curt Hasselbring (drums), Oscar Noriega, Ellery Eskelin, Briggan Krauss, Andy Laster & Tony Malaby (sax), Herb Robertson, Natsuki Tamura & Dave Ballou (trumpet) & bassist Stomu Takeishi; wow!

Dedicated to the late Mike Panico, who requested that viola player Ig Henneman develop a concept for the Relative Pitch label, this trio brings together the Amsterdam-based Henneman and flutist Anne La Berge with US trumpeter Jaimie Branch, three women in an eccentric and fearless trio of energetic interaction marked by masterful technique and exuberant delivery.

A split cassette between Wilmington sound artists Joshua Marquez, a Filipino-American composer, guitarist, and activist who explores the liminal space between tone and noise; and Mr. Stonecipher, aka Ryan L Lewis IV, a sound artist and filmmaker who works with dramatic sound and feedback of a cinematic quality, often employing unusual objects as source.

Following their debut album, "Geometry of Caves", the quartet of improvising musicians Joe Morris (guitar), Tomeka Reid (cello), Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet) and Kyoko Kitamura (voice) return for this album of passionate free improvisation, here even more attuned as a group as they employ their collective language using unusual technique and incredible expertise; spectacular!

Performing on saxophones and cymbal, the debut album from NY-based Canadian-American composer, saxophonist, and performance artist Erin Rogers uses multiphonics, vocalization, circular breathing, and inciting of outer resonance to add layers of complexity to her gripping improvisations, which she describes as "No electronics, no bandmates, no composers... just me + dark room + 2 saxophones".

Iconoclastic legend of the European Free Jazz movement, saxophonist Peter Brotzmann surprises with a (mostly) lyrical album of jazz standards (and some of his own compositions), interpreting pieces by Harry Barris/Gordon Clifford, Sigmund Romberg/Oscar Hammerstein II, Herbie Nichols, Dizzy Gillespie, George Gershwin/Ira Gershwin, and Sonny Rollins.

Aum Fidelity's David S. Ware Archive series continues with this excellent live quartet recording from 2008 at Theatre Garonne in Toulouse, France with the late tenor saxophonist performing with Joe Morris on guitar, William Parker on bass and Warren Smith on drums, presenting expanded and re-arranged compositions from their recent "Shakti" album.

Composed for choir and jazz trio, pianist Eri Yamamoto and her trio with drummer Ikuo Takeuchi and bassist David Ambrosio present a 7-part work based on a traditional circle-dance song performed at festivals in the Shiga prefecture of Japan, emulating the vocal parts of that tradition with the choir Choral Chameleon, directed by Vince Peterson.

The 1st of two volumes from the quartet of Jeb Bishop on trombone & electronics, Jaap Blonk on voice & electronics, Weasel Walter on percussion, and Damon Smith on double bass, each player an innovator and leader on their own, together bringing unique elements of virtuoso quirk and passionate mastery, merging voice, electronics and acoustics in profoundly unusual ways.

Investigating the possibilities of instability with synthesizers and electronic instruments, sound artists Eryck Abecassis (France) and Lars Akerlund (Sweden) present 7 impressive tracks of "Dark Energy" in two parts, combining electronics and modular synth, with credits to VICC (Visby International Centre for Composers) and EMS (Electronic Music Studio, Stockholm).

FEN (Far East Network) is comprised of improvisers from Singapore (Yuen Chee Wai), Japan (Otomo Yoshihide), China (Yan Jun), and Korea (Ryu Hankil), using electroacoustic instrumentation to create a unique merging of cultural and personal aesthetic, in their 1st album recorded in NYC using electronic feedback, computer noises and guitar; intriguing and unconventional.

Marilyn Lerner (piano), Ken Filiano (bass & effects) and Lou Grassi (drums & percussion) extend their trio work after their previous two NoBusiness releases with this album of profound collective improvisation, blending lyrical and abstract work in energetic but never frenetic conversation, in a range of mood performed with incredible technical and inventive skill.

An exciting trio recording of the creatively unorthodox and superb collective piano trio of German pianist Uwe Oberg, Spanish drummer & percussionist based in Berlin Lucia Martinez, and New York bassist Joe Fonda, also on flute, performing at the the 2019 Just Music Festival in Weisboden, the band's implicit joy of their performance clearly heard in these recordings.

The performing duo of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen bring two strong voices from different generations of free improvisers, creating a unique sound that merges the creative energies and vocabulary of each in dynamic and subtle expressions of vigorous movements that unravel in layered improvisation, rewarding their listeners.

Jim O'Rourke expands on his recent electronic work from his Steamroom studio with this exceptional 4-CD set of the 4-part "To Magnetize Money and Catch a Roving Eye", presumably including the Serge synthesizer, each expansive piece building dreamlike environments that shift and wander in purposeful ways as sound emerges and disappears into a beautifully threatening cloud.

Winter 2019 issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine and CD, with articles on Buffy Sainte-Marie, Pierre-Yves Martel, Jennifer Thiessen, Wesley Shen, Julia Kent, Tim Olive, Kimia Koochakzadeh-Yazdi, the CD including works by each, plus reviews of recent Canadian and international recordings as well as the fourth annual Calgary New Music Festival.

Lapsteel guitarist and electronic artist Mike Cooper and percussionist Mark Wastell, employing a paiste 32" tam tam and a shruti box, pay homage to the large acoustic sound mirrors used in Britain from 1916 to 1930 as an early form or radar, each of their detailed improvisation referencing one of the locations on the British south and northeast coasts.

Amsterdam-based bass clarinetist Ziv Taubenfeld leads the Bones trio, performing Taubenfeld's compositions, with double bassist Shay Hazan and drummer Nir Sabag, three friends since their youth, as their improvisation emphasizes lower tones through slowly slinking, saurian improvisation that bridges tonal work and energetic scrabbling.

Downtown NY cornerstone pianist Anthony Coleman is heard in a solo album of Coleman originals including a piece dedicated to Roscoe Mitchell, plus one piece each by Billy Strayhorn, John Klenner, and Ellington/George/Hodges/James, all beautifully captured at Boston's Jordan Hall as Coleman reveals his unique logic and inventive approach to solo performance.

A diverse, unique and sometimes explosive saxophone quartet from Lithuania founded by Arminas Bizys, Kazimieras Jusinskas, Algirdas Janonis, and Danielius Pancerovas, using extended techniques, the saxophones themselves, and found objects as they articulately merge structurally free improvisation, academic approaches and motives from Lithuanian folk music.

Working together often over decades, free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozumi and composer/improvising pianist Masahiko Satoh are heard here in a 1997 duo concert at C S Aka-Renga, in Yamaguchi City, Japan, for an engaging concert of energetic interaction, emphasizing Satoh's percussive approach to the keys and Sabu's inherent melodicism in his approach to drumming.

Spanish tenor saxophonist Juan F. G. Vinuesa leads his quartet with Josh Berman on cornet, Jason Roebke on bass, and Mikel Patrick Avery on drums and percussion, three bright stars of the Chicago scene, performing Vinuesa's compositions and arrangements of lyrical modern jazz that blend structure and melody with plenty of space for free playing; wonderful.

A unique album blurring acoustic recordings from saxophonist Mats Gustafsson with the electronic machinations and rhythms of Wendy Gondeln, aka Albert Oehlen, a German experimental electronic artist, the two inviting Martin Siewert for additional guitar on two tracks, and Wolfgang Voight to remix two tracks; funky, unpredictable, amusing, and seductively tantalizing.

Bringing together Chicago's long partnership of saxophonists Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark with frequent Vandermark collaborator, drummer Phil Sudderberg, and New York guitarist Arto Lindsay, meeting on a winter afternoon in a Chicago studio to record these fifteen collective, freely improvised conversations of intense energy, unexpected twists and turns, and brilliant playing.

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.

Trumpeter Dennis Gonzalez merges his Yells at Eel project with bassist Aaron Gonzalez and drummer/percussionist Stefan Gonzalez, with Texas-based experimental rock band Pinkish Black--Daron Beck on keyboards and Jon Teague on drums & synthesizers--for a gripping and masterful hybrid of improvisation, dark synthetic rock and heavy moods; a riveting journey.

Exploring the lineage of the Dukes of Bedford, the Russell lineage in Bedford, England, in groupings of acoustic & electric guitarists John Russell, Ray Russell, and Henry Kaiser along with double bassist Ollie Brice, from duos to quartets, eight Duke "Russells" from 1680 to 2003 are explored through intricate and joyfully creative and technically amazing string improvisations.

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.

Electroacoustic composer Michel Banabila compiles his dynamic works for dance & movement in this beautifully pressed limited double LP, presenting two 2019 works--'Dragonfly II' for "A Trace of Inevitability" (Yin Yue - Pennsylvania Ballet), and "Illicit Acquirement" for "Enough" (Patrick O"Brien - CUNY Dance Initiative)--and six prior pieces featuring his work with Conny Janssen Danst & Annabelle Lopez Ochoa.

The 4th album from German saxophonist Peter Van Huffel's Gorilla Mask, the 3rd on Clean Feed, is another powerful blending of jazz and rock forms in restless and profoundly determined music, energetic but intelligently structured, with great riffs and melodic grooves from Roland Fidezius (electric bass) and Rudi Fischerlehner (drums and percussion).

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten, for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.