Using the interference points of closely pitched sound, long-time collaborators Xavier Charles and Bertrand Gauguet use acoustic and amplified clarinets and saxophones to create frequency landscapes that change slowly, ringing with harmonics while finding unison and conflict in their tones, creating meditative aural environments of great beauty and reflection.

Instigated by Simon Reynell and Ryoko Akama and recorded on the last day of a residency at at Dai Hall in Huddersfield in early 2020, the long-standing collaborative relationship of violinist Angharad Davies and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze are joined by Klaus Lang on harmonium, heard in this incredibly rich, mesmerizing and fascinating journey in pitch, tone & timbre.

Four chamber pieces for strings, covering 5 decades of work by veteran German composer Ernstalbrecht Stiebler--each with his representative focus on concentration and quiet intensity--recorded in Bulgaria and performed by violinist Biliana Voutchkova, to whom two of the pieces are dedicated, with Michael Rauter (cello) and Nurit Stark (viola).

First performed in November 2019 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and then at the Splitter Orchester festival in Berlin, this studio recording of Magnus Granberg's delicately complex and exquisitely dream-like composition features his Skogen ensemble, including Granberg, Rhodri Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Erik Carlsson, Petter Wastberg, &c.

A beautiful, melancholic soundworld created by three musicians who have a rare rapport--Cyril Bondi on Indian harmonium, Pierre on Yves Martel on viola da Gamba, and Christoph Schiller on spinet--following their previous CDs tse and awire by moving on to new territory in 3 compositions allowing for freedom from each musician, two from Schiller and one from Bondi.

The title aptly describes the intense excitement and exhilaration of NY guitarist Brandon Seabrook's second trio album on Astral Spirits, performed with rhythm giants Cooper-Moore on Diddley Bow (a single-string bass) and free jazz drum legend Gerald Cleaver, the two creating a percolating interactive foundation for Seabrooks powerfully expressive and investigative playing.

Compatriots in bands over many years, the quintet of David Liebman on saxophones, Randy Brecker on trumpets, Marc Copland on piano, Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums, joined by trumpeter Ralph Alessi on 2 tracks, come together to bring joyfully lyrical enthusiasm and masterful skill to works by Liebman, Gress, Baron, Brecker, and Ellington.

Two trumpeters--Nate Wooley from New York City, and Torben Snekkestad from Norway, also performing on soprano sax--met in Copenhagen in 2015 for this live concert "KoncertKirken--Blagards Plads", a monumental meeting of exploratory and investigative improvisation, using unusual and unorthodox techniques on their instruments to present 3 unique and singular dialogs.

As part of the Polish website Jazzarium.pl's 5th anniversary celebration, UK tenor saxophonist Evan Parker joined the Polish RGG free-improvising piano trio of Lukasz Ojdana on piano, Maciej Garbowski on bass, and Krzysztof Gradziuk on drums, for this four-part sophisticated collective improvisation recorded at the legendary Alchemia club in Krakow.

Two massive drone works for organ and pre-recorded tracks commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for organist Hampus Lindwall, with tapes by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer, each piece titled anagrammatically (ie. Nagro = Organ) and recorded with the composer at the Manufacture d'orgues Thomas and Orgelbau Klais organ in the Collegiale Sainte-Waudru, in Mons, Belgium.

Extremely patient compositions for electronics, cello, guitar and tenor sax from French sound and visual artist Pierre Gerard: "Air" using recordings from his duo partner of tenor saxophonist Bertrand De Lamalle with long sections of silence; "Cavity" employs previously recorded guitar improvisations that interact with Gerard's live electronic improvisations.

Bob Drake takes his listeners on a 22 piece instrumental journey through a "Beastley" garden of confident melodic foundation anBob Drake takes his listeners on a 22 piece instrumental journey through a "Beastley" garden of confident melodic foundation and experimental forays, captured by day and night, a tour de force of conception and execution.

Greg Foster has been merging poetry with music since the 60s, including work with Miles Davis, Art Blakey, and Thelonious Monk, here joins pianist Joel Futterman also on curved soprano saxophone and Indian flute, accompanying Foster's potent words and messages in 8 poems, including the 19 minutes "Alabama Exequy" examining the pain and horror of racism.

A stunning exploration of interior architecture through recordings of the elements of three spaces including La Casa's own apartment, finding micro and macro-scopic sound in common elements that he uses to create fascinating compositions reflecting both the captivating fullness and stillness of each space, as the composer questions his relationship with each space.

The trio of guitarists Patricia Bateira (NATurlich), Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten) and Vitor Rua (Vitor Rua & The Metaphysical Angels) combine to create a new style of long-form electronic music, a richly continuous work seemingly without start or end, incorporating sustain, effects, & field recordings into a beautifully abstract aural environment.

A 5-part concert and encore from Masami Akita, AKA Merzbow, performing in Australia at Room40's Open Frame Festival in 2019, a wrenching performance of distinctive yet diverse noise sources and textures revealed as a controlled tumult; all profits from this edition will be donated to assisting wildlife recovery in the wake of the Australia bushfire crisis of 2020.

Four new commissioned works by Chris Cutler, Andzrej Karpinski, Nick Sudnik and Alessandro Monti performed on Futurist conceptualist Luigi Russolo's "Intonarumori", unique boxes capable of mechanically creating sounds including roars, thunderings, explosions, hissing, whistling, puffing, mumbling, muttering, gurgling, screeching, creaking, buzzing, crackling and scraping.

The first of two volumes in celebration of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker's 100th birthday, here remastering his landmark recordings for the Dial label on the US West Coast between 1946-47, performing with jazz greats including Miles Davis, Lucky Thompson, Erroll Garner, Barney Kessel, Red Calender, JJ Johson, Max Roach, &c. for some of Parker's best known and essential compositions.

The second of two volumes in celebration of legendary saxophonist Charlie Parker's 100th birthday, here remastering his landmark recordings for the Savoy label in New York City between 1945-48, performing with jazz greats including Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, John Lewis, Curley Russel, Max Roach, &c. for some of be-bop's finest and best known compositions.

Embracing a wide and diverse stylistic range, from burning modern electric jazz to introspective interplay, NY guitarist Adam Caines' band with fellow guitarist Bob Lanzetti, Adam Lane on acoustic bass, Billy Mintz on drums, and Nick Lyons on alto saxophone, perform with great taste, technical mastery and superb interplay, releasing an extremely well-balanced collection.

Saxophonist Francois Carrier joins Shibusashirazu director & double bassist Daisuke Fuwa, drummer Takashi Itani, and alto saxophonist Masayo Koketsu (also of Shibusashirazu) for a live performance at Yamaneko-ken, in Saitama to capture this 6-part suite of intensely creative free jazz, the inventive rhythm section driving both saxophonists into both raucous and beautiful territory.

Two thirds of the free jazz group "Boom Box"--saxophonist Thomas Borgmann and drummer Willi Kellers--and referencing that band's 2011 album titled Jazz, Keys & Screws is rounded out as a trio with double bassist Jan Roder, following the format of Jazz with compositions from each player following head/solo format, fueled by each player's extensive experience.

During the 2019 concert series dedicated to improvised music, "Improdimensija", Catalan pianist Agusti Fernández met with Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas in the MAMAstudio in Vilnius to record the two part, 3 sections-each "Improdimensions", a masterwork of piano and sax dialog of incredible technique and taste, from rapid runs to profoundly impressionist sections.

Two thirds of the free jazz group "Boom Box"--saxophonist Thomas Borgmann and drummer Willi Kellers--and referencing that band's 2011 album titled Jazz, Keys & Screws is rounded out as a trio with double bassist Jan Roder, following the format of "Jazz" with compositions from each player following head/solo format, fueled by each player's extensive experience.

Captured live in San Francisco in 1978, the lastest in the NoBusiness Sam Rivers Archive series finds the masterful wind player in peak form with the trio of Dave Holland on bass & cello, and Barry Altschul on drums, Rivers on tenor & soprano sax, flute & piano, in the 52 minute free jazz epic "Ricochet", a high-energy work of diverse mood and character; superb!

The Chicago trio of Jason Stein on bass clarinet, Ben Cruz on guitar, and Emerson Hunton on drums perform compositions from Cruz & Hunton, informed works of free improvisation that blend style and approach from textural beauty to avant aggressive fury, controlled in quick pivots or enticing in brooding atmospheres, a well-balanced and thoroughly engaging album.

Based on a series of improvisations on a very hands-on hardware setup, with an old tone generator, effects pedals, dictaphones, contact mics, &c., Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) took these recordings into the studio to compose these four works, 2 brief pieces and the 2-part, intricate "Amalgaam", in an absorbing album of dramatic texture & sound.

A selection of Machinefabriek's (Rutger Zuydervelt) favorite remixes made between 2005 and 2015 of his reworks and reinterpretations of tracks by Mensenkinderen, Wouter Van Veldhoven, Fieldhead, Aaron Martin, Coppice, de la mancha, The Moi Non Plus, Djivan Gasparyan, Amon Tobin, Gareth Hardwick, Fiium Shaarrk, Vladimir and Red Stars Over Tokyo.

While developing a soundtrack with violinist and violist Anne Bakker, Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek, began editing a series of Bakker's improvisations, creating new works from those recordings by layering them into succinct short works or "scenes"--twenty of them in the end--that he sequenced into this album of confidently dramatic and delicately beautiful episodes.

The 2nd release from the Bonjintan quartet led by Akira Sakata on saxophone, clarinet & voice, with Jim O'Rourke on double bass, Giovanni Di Domenico on piano & Hohner pianet, and Tatsuhisa Yamamoto on drums, an international grouping with experimental approaches to improvisation and avant music, yielding unusual results of great character, tension and pointed expression.

The second album from the Norwegian electric jazz quartet of Havard Nordberg Funderud on guitar, Lauritz Lyster Skeidsvoll on saxophone, Karl Erik Horndalsveen on double bass, and Martin Heggli Mellem on drums, after their 2018 album The Concert Koan on the Clean Feed label, here in six powerfully thrilling tracks of youthful exuberance and impressive skill.

An essential asset of the NY Downtown scene since the 70s, trombonist Steve Swell leads and composes for an exemplary and uniquely orchestrated sextet bridging generations: Jason Kao Hwang on violin, viola & electronics, Ariel Bart on harmonica, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, Robert Boston on piano & organ, and Andrew Cyrille on drums & percussion.

The Stirrup trio of cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, Nick Macri (bass), and Charles Rumback (drums) is merged with improvisers from Lonberg-Holm's Lightbox Orchestra project--Keefe Jackson & Mars Williams on reeds, guitarist Peter Maunu, violist Jen Clare Paulson, trumpeter Russ Johnson & Zoots Houston on electronics -for this compelling structured performance at Elastic Arts.

Merging players from the NY, Philidelphia and Chicago scenes, the trio of drummer Chad Taylor, saxophonist Brian Settles and pianist Neil Podgurski have a history reaching into the 90s in NYC, bringing a confident kinetic energy to their playing, energized by Taylor's powerful rhythmic center and a lyrical bent that makes their music exuberant and intelligent at once.

Drawn from some of New Yorks finest and most active improvisers, cellist Tomeka Reid's string-centric quartet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Jason Roebke on bass, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums, take Reid's lyrical compositions into ebullient territory, showing the effective power of these versatile string instruments in creative and irresistible modern jazz.

Dating back to the 13th century in Wales, the Telyn Rawn is a nearly forgotten horsehair harp; UK improvising harpist Rhodri Davies researched the instrument and its unique sound, commissioning the construction of a harp on which he performs 18 improvisations of impressive technique and sonority, launching his new Amgen Records label with this album named for the instrument.

The collaboration of American alto saxophonist living in the Philippines Rick Countryman with legendary Japanese free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozumim, also performing on Erhu, continues with this outstanding performance at the LIMBO Art Gallery in Makati, Philippines in 2020, joined by Malaysian tenor saxophonist Yong Yandsen for a burning set of free jazz.

Recorded over 2 days in a Chicago studio in configurations from duos to an octet, drummer Quin Kirchner provides the compositions on this double CD for 11 pieces, alongside works by Frank Foster, Phil Cohran, Sun Ra & Carla Bley, presented as a story or a journey of differing styles and forms, made cohesive by Kirchner's remarkable drumming and coherently diverse interests.

The collective Who Trio of pianist Michel Wintsch, bassist Bänz Oester and drummer Gerry Hemingway take on the music of Billy Strayhorn & Duke Ellington in eight studio recordings and one live performance, interpreting in a collective fashion rather than straight readings of each work, allowing a unique level of freedom to be applied to these essential jazz compositions.

Constrast from shifts in sound, texture and dynamic in Pedro Melo Alves' commissioned work for the Jazz No Parque Festival, using 3 vocalists (Aubrey Johnson, Beatriz Nunes, & Mariana Dionisio) to layer and interact over a quartet of contemporary and improvised instrumentalists: Eve Risser (piano), Mark Dresser (bass), Abdul Moimeme (electric guitar), and Alves (drums & percussion).

Key artists in the San Francisco Bay Area, composers and bandleaders Larry Ochs on tenor and sopranino saxophones and Aram Shelton on alto saxophone join together with Swedish drummer Kjell Nordeson, joined by either double bassist Mark Dresser or Scott Walton, in an album drawn from two sessions featuring exhiliarating pieces of unique approach from both composers.

Blues with a strong sonic sense in Atlanta, GA guitarist Tyler Higgin's 2nd release on Shhpuma, his trio again featuring drummer Paul Stevens, and here adding bassist Gabriel Monticello, known for symphonic, jazz and rock forms, bringing masterful skill to this album that richly blends blues, gospel, folk, jazz and rock forms with passion and style.

Saxophonist Martin Küchen (Angles) joins together with the Landaeus Trio of pianist Martin Landaeus, double bassist Johnny Aman, and drummer Cornelia Lisson, augmenting the sophisticated lyricism of the Landaeus piano trio with an atypically lyrical voice from Kuchen, as they are recorded in front of a live audience in the Gula Studion in Malmo, Sweden.

Architect John Körmeling and maverick musician Charlemagne Palestine collaborate on a whole new system of music, reworking the harpsichord to generate notes of Pythagorean ratios, Kormeling asking the visionary and idiosyncratic to composer create a set of recordings on the instrument that Palestine dubbed "The Frogischord".

A collection of digital video artworks presented by Orgeon sound and noise artist Chefkirk, combining improvised drone and powerful electronics into energetic works, edited and sequenced with visuals by Obscura Film's Ryan Lewis (910 Noise), presenting 8 pieces of abstract and gripping sound with complementing colorful object and silhouette motion animation.

Vocalist and electronic artist Lynn Cassier leads the "Yun" project, a sextet including fellow Octurn saxophonist Bo Van der Werf, plus two keyboardists (Erik Vermeulen & Jozef Dumoulin), bassist Manolo Cabras and drummer Marek Patrman, as she rearranges 12 pieces from the American Songbook, applying unique electroacoustic harmonic and rhythmic structures.

Vocalist and electronic artist Lynn Cassier leads the "Yun" project, a sextet including fellow Octurn saxophonist Bo Van der Werf, plus two keyboardists (Erik Vermeulen & Jozef Dumoulin), bassist Manolo Cabras and drummer Marek Patrman, as she rearranges 12 pieces from the American Songbook, applying unique electroacoustic harmonic and rhythmic structures.

A collection of digital video artworks presented by Orgeon sound and noise artist Chefkirk, combining improvised drone and powerful electronics into energetic works, edited and sequenced with visuals by Obscura Film's Ryan Lewis (910 Noise), presenting 8 pieces of abstract and gripping sound with complementing colorful object and silhouette motion animation.

ppooll sound artist Klaus Filip and Japanese experimental vocalist Moe Kamura (10Tet, Taku Sugimoto) in a two-part improvisation of electronic tones, textures, silence, and minimalist vocalization and utterance, Filip using a dynamic frequency palette inspiring Kamura's wordless expression; lowercase or Onkyo, a meditative and moody work.

The fourth collaboration between electronic composer Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, and violinist, violist and vocalist Anne Bakker, in a work that merges and contrasts Bakker's string work and wordless vocals with soundscape, obscured field recordings and concrete sounds, using consonance and dissonance to create emotional pressure and release.

Takamitsu Ohta, known for his work with artists Anne-F Jacques & Ryoko Akama, in three unexpected recordings using the microphone and speaker of small devices with recording and playback ability, from five to fifteen such linked devices creating surprisingly stacatto and expressive voices from feedback, each piece aptly named for the resulting articulation each combination creates.

West Coast sound artist Nicolas Snyder is a composer, filmmaker, sound-documenter, gardener, and forager; fascinated by the sounds of nature, he took recordings from streams and National Parks in Vietnam, Pennsylvania, and California and merged them with music composed in the studio to create these works of great beauty as a study of locational and emotional memory.

Violinist, improviser, songwriter and composer from Thessaloniki, Greece, Dimos Vryzas creates a virtual electroacoustic ensemble using violin, voice and effects, contrasting acoustic and electronic sounds in the search for music expression, his studies with Fred Frith and Alfred Zimmerlin a good indicator of the kind of sound approach Vryzas employs.