The tenth year of the working and touring international Ballister trio of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, here in an outrageously powerful yet explorative concert at Dom Cultural Center, in Moscow, Russia in 2019, a fierce example of what this band is capable of.

Turning his attention from original compositions to the music of his heroes--Ornette Coleman, Stevie Wonder, Keith Jarrett, Johnny Cash, John Coltrane & Charlie Parker--saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa turns in an upbeat and exuberant album of standards performed in a trio with bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston.

The first four pieces of a concert at Splendor Performance Space in Amsterdam in 2019 by the free improvising trio of Michael Moore on alto sax, clarinets & bird whistles, Barre Phillips on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion, three open-minded and masterful improvisers who balance free jazz forms and non-idiomatic approaches with a chamber sensilbility.

If fragile means a thoughtful album of improvisation with a lyrical intention and sophisticated playing, then reedist Michael Moore's quartet with Harmen Fraanje on piano, Clemens van der Feen on bass, and Gerry Hemingway on drums & percussion shows a sublimely muscular fragilility in a lovely and extremely intelligent modern jazz album of embraceable and exemplary work.

Two extended solo percussion works by Swiss improviser Christian Wolfarth, focusing on two components of the standard drum set--a tom or simple drum, and a cymbal--the first side a "Souvenir From a Drum" using brushes and sticks to disrupt then mesmerize the listener; the second side a "Souvenir from a Cymbal", a shifting roll and pattern that evokes a myriad of tonalities.

Drawn from 3 days of recording in July 2019, after more than 6 years of collaboration in the Philippines between drummer Christian Bucher, alto saxophonist Rick Countryman, and bassist Simon Tan, and released as a complement to their "Empathy" album, in trio improvisations, plus the title track a duo between Bucher & Countryman; a melodic and well-balanced album of free jazz.

Representing some of the finest of UK free improvisers, the quartet of John Edwards on bass, Mark Sanders on drums, Liam Noble on piano, and Paul Dunmall on tenor & alto saxophones are recorded in the studio in Birmingham for three extended improvisations of commanding technique, creative drive and wide dynamics; the power of free jazz in the hands of masters.

A searing album in the European Free Jazz tradition from the trio of Stefan Keune on tenor sax, Dominic Lash on double bass, and Steve Noble on drums, performing live at Cafe Oto in London in 2020 for an explosive set that at times catches its breath, but which always returns to their assertive and astounding displays, ultimately ending with a unique introspection; magnificent.

Scottish improviser Raymond MacDonald (Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra) and Gogs AKA Gordon Maclean, the Creative Director of Music & Literature at the AnTobar Arts Centre on the Isle of Mull, met in Tobar and without discussion, in a single take, recorded these soulful, warm and well-balanced dialogs, a lyrical and cultured discourse between two friends.

Percussionist Steve Hubback's project Metal Moves presents the percussionist, composer and instrument maker's work, using drums, gongs, bells, cymbals and percussive sculptures in well-developed compositions, evoking mysterious environments that evolve into muscular displays of extraordinary power, a beautifully balanced album of uniquely voice solo percussion.

UK sax and wind player James Arben and cellist Shirley Smart explore the possibilities of chamber-oriented free improvisation through a series of dialogues of harmonic, rhythmic and timbral tension and resolution, created from bold experimental playing techniques and melodic discourse that draws on influences from jazz to Middle Eastern, folk and contemporary music.

Collecting 4 albums with pianist Keith Tippetts: The Bern Concert, a 1993 live duo with Howard Riley; Linückea, a 2000 studio album with The Kreutzer String Quartet plus a narrated work; The Dartington Trio of Keith Tippett, Julie Tippetts & Paul Dunmall live in 2003; and The Dartington Trio Live at The Priory at the Southend International Jazz Festival.

Malaysian tenor saxophonist Yong Yandsen joins the working trio of Sabu Toyozumi, Simon Tan, and Rick Countryman for a lively set of performances, Sabu and Countryman having met Yandsen in Kuala Lumpur several times the previous year for unrelated projects, bringing confident familiarity to their improvisations, captured here as a trio and quartet from a 3-night engagement in Manila.

Performing a set of UK bass clarinetist Chris Cundy's compositions, along with one collective improvisation, TrioFolio is complemented with the father/son team of double bassist Paul K. Scott and drummer Saul Scott, exploring the borders between classic modern jazz and free forms of improvisation, all heard in the lower instrumental spectrum through rich lyrical jazz.

A live recording from 1999 at Hint House in Harlem of TEST, led by Tom Bruno on drums with Matthew Heyner on bass and Sabir Mateen on alto & tenor sax, flute & clarinet, joined by Daniel Carter on alto & tenor sax, trumpet & flute, the set recorded by Matt Motel who captures the essence of this freewheeling band who brought their music not only to jazz clubs, but also to the street and subway.

Drawing from contemporary composers including Tom Johnson, Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Adrian Democ, James Tenney, &c, this is the 3rd chapter of Italian flutist Manuel Zurria's project/research on "minimalisms" in contemporary music, taking an active interpretation of the classification over 16 informed and adventurous recordings.

The long collaboration between saxophonist Mike Pride and drummer/percussionist Jonathan Moritz is concentrated in these superb studio recording, bring great clarity to the far-ranging and detailed interactions both bring to their improvisations through unusual technique, an expansive arsenal of percussive devices, and wonderfully inventive attitudes.

A soulful and lyrically passionate album of modern jazz from Chicago drummer Charles Rumback in a trio with pianist Jim Baker and bassist John Tate, their third album together, with all three bringing compositions to the session, yielding a sensitive, understated yet impeccable balance of melodic music that reveals great strength at its center.

Continuing her series of large works inspired by the dystopic writings of Octavia E. Butler, composer and flutist Nicole Mitchell assembles Chicago improvisers including cellist Tomeka Reid, percussionist Avreeayl Ra, trumpeter Ben LaMar Gay and interdisciplinary artist Lisa E. Harris to explore facets of Butler's Parable of the Sower.

Recorded in 2005 with an ensemble of like-minded instrumentalists and then edited and collaged for the next year and a half, this was a project of Charles Hayward during his time at The Albany in Deptford, London, using their digital recording suite to create a large work using a variety of strategies and developed in a dramatic story form, issued here for the 1st time.

An excellent example of the 80s Downtown NY approach to improvisation from the trio of wind player Ned Rothenberg on alto & tenor saxophones, bass clarinet & flute, Elliott Sharp on guitar, bass & violin, and Samm Bennett on drums, percussion & electronic drums, all in the height and excitement of the new music being developed and performed in NYC in the 1980s; awe-inspiring!

Matthew Shipp (piano), John Butcher (saxophones) and Thomas Lehn (electronics) in a studio album recorded in France in 2017, a uniquely voiced collective trio of transformative improvisation, Lehn's additions and modifications blending perfectly with Shipp's solid foundations and Butcher's advanced technical expression, for an engrossing and expressive set of recordings.

Since their 1988 duo album Sonic Explorations and through a number of group collaborations, the duo of alto saxophonist Rob Brown and pianist Matthew Shipp have extended and evolved their uniquely astute and confident dialog, as heard in this magnificent 8-part studio album, a reflection on their compatibility and perceptive artistry.

As much a solo percussion album as a collection of large-scale compositions, Tatsuya Nakatani created hundreds of recordings of his collection of gongs, meticulously capturing each instrument's voice and arranging them into seven large works, maintaining the character of each instrument as material for these wonderfully dramatic and resonant works of silence, space and texture.

Previously unreleased 1990's recordings from Arnold Dreyblatt and his Orchestra of Excited Strings, including six pieces performed by three different iterations of the Orchestra; ensembles of modified percussion, string, and wind instruments; pieces using Dreyblatt's Dynamic Processing System; plus 2 pieces composed for the 10th anniversary of the Orchestra in Europe.

Pieces written for the Ever Present Orchestra, a 13-piece ensemble formed in 2016 exclusively to perform composer Alvin Lucier's works, with a core of 4 guitarists, 3 saxophones, 4 violins and piano, here presenting Lucier's continuing exploration of the behaviour of sound in physical space, blending electronic and acoustic sources with subtle tension and mystery.

Reissuing the 1975 album of Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi's New Direction Unit with Kenji Mori on reeds, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass & cello, and Hiroshi Yamazaki on percussion, in a 2-CD set of the band's open-minded free-flowing and conceptual improvisation series "Fragments", captured live at Yasuda Seimei Hall in Tokyo, Japan and presented in performance order.

The flexible zeitkratzer ensemble joins with Swedish singer Mariam Wallentin to focus on jazz music, in an unusual tribute to great jazz musicians from Sweet Emma Barrett to Muhal Richard Abrams, interpreting pieces like "Jelly Roll Blues" and "Strange Fruit", filtered through zeitkratzer's unusual lense and recorded live at Festival Sacrum Profanum in Krakow, Poland, 2018.

Originally issued in two volumes on their own SRP Records in 1966 & 67 as In Concert At Yale University and Nommo, the duo of drummer/percussionist Milford Graves and pianist Don Pullen are heard live in in this excitingly energetic and revelatory concert at Yale University, redefining the roles of their instruments during the most exploratory period of free jazz.

The second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about that reality, the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman attempted to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard here in Judith Wegmann's 2019 recording, where thThe second of four connected solo piano works by Morton Feldman, Triadic Memories is about the acoustic space created by the piano's strings and soundboard, as Feldman worked to expand the temporal frame of his music, heard her in Judith Wegmann's 2019 studio recording where that space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.at space is revealed by a magnificent Bosendorfer 280VC piano.

A blue vinyl Record Store Day 2020 release from Ned Lagin in a pioneering electronic composition interweaving metaphors from nature, science, art and music and the origins of music, originally released by the Grateful Dead 's Round Records in 1975 and including musicians Jerry Garcia, Phil Lesh, David Crosby, Grace Slick, David Freiberg, Mickey Hart and Spencer Dryden.

A freestyling solo album from NY/Israeli saxophonist Assif Tsahar, performing on tenor sax and bass clarinet in an exciting three-part improvisation of avant forms of technical dexterity and extended range through emphatic and sustained expression of long lines and cycling figures that shift and transform; a great example of Tsahar's skill and imagination.

UK sax and wind player James Arben and cellist Shirley Smart explore the possibilities of chamber-oriented free improvisation through a series of dialogues of harmonic, rhythmic and timbral tension and resolution, created from bold experimental playing techniques and melodic discourse that draws on influences from jazz to Middle Eastern, folk and contemporary music.

Performing a set of UK bass clarinetist Chris Cundy's compositions, along with one collective improvisation, TrioFolio is complemented with the father/son team of double bassist Paul K. Scott and drummer Saul Scott, exploring the borders between classic modern jazz and free forms of improvisation, all heard in the lower instrumental spectrum through rich lyrical jazz.

The Ex's first single from the Netherland unique and socially charged band The Ex of Terrie Ex on guitar, G.W. Sok on voice, Ome Geurt on drums and Bas on bass, starting a legacy of intelligent and pointed rock, improvised and experimental music that continues 40 years later, reissued as a 2020 Record Store Day release on colored 7" vinyl.

The 2nd release from Jason Kahn, here on voice and resonator guitar, with Christian Wolfarth on Chinese Cymbal, an antique marching snare and objects, recorded after a series of concerts across Europe in the fall of 2019, Kahn applying a percussionist's perspective to his guitar by playing it as a lap slide, as the two invoke an unusual incantatory spirit from their improvisations.

A Record Store Day 2020 LP of the collaboration between Acid Mothers Temple guitarist Kawabata Makoto and French/British multi-instrumentalis RG Rough, using guitar drones, electronics, concrete sounds and percussion to create a sonic junble, occasionally soothed by a near-lullaby, only to be subsumed by a cascade of strings or fades into a repetitive minimal piano figure.

Studio improvisations from the far-ranging quartet of Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar, Adrian Northover on saxophone, Mbira & Melodica, Adam Bohman on objects, and Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg on voice, an experimental acoustic set that at times takes on nearly electronic qualities, Van Schouwburg and Bohman bringing unusual and unique elements to authoritatively perplexing dialog.

A 5-part electroacoustic improvisation from the UK duo of electronic and sound artist Thanos Chyrsakis and reedist Chris Cundy, the former using laptop computer, synthesizers, and copicat tape echo to create mesmerizing sheens of sound that circle and complement Cundy's bass clarinet, who also performs on megaphone, voice changer, zither, & objects; entrancing and captivating.

Representing some of the London scene's most innovative and creative improvisers, with years of work together as a trio and as M.A.M.--saxophonist Andrian Northover (Remote Viewers), cellist Marcio Mattos (Stellari String Quartet, Tony Oxley's Celebration Orchestra) and vocalist Marilza Gouvea--are heard here in 2 studio recordings and 3 live recordings at Iklectic.

The free improvising Amsterdam quintet of Andrius Dereviancenko (tenor saxophone), Henk Zwerver (guitar), Nico Chientaroli (piano and keyboards), Raoul van der Weide (bass, objects and squat box) and Onno Govaert (Tilburg, drums) are heard in this live recording at Zaal100 in 2020 for a quirky and first rate free jazz album of wry humor and impressive skill.