A thorough overview of bassist and vocalist Joelle Leandre's recent work in a boxed set of 8 CDs and a 16 page booklet of essays, photos and credits, each CD bringing a unique grouping from Les Diaboliques to duos with Mat Maneri, Fred Frith, Lauren Newton, & Jean-Luc Cappozzo, plus one solo disc and a quartet with Zlatko Kaucic, Evan Parker and Augusti Fernandez; magnificent.

Using unusual techniques and a collection of instruments that include the standard Western instruments of cello and flute, along with guembri, sulittu, dilli kaval, bass xun, launeddas (mancosedda, tumbu), plus the application of objects against strings, the Italian duo of Antonio Bertoni & Stefano Leonardi engage in seven remarkable and assertive improvised duos.

New York pianist Marilyn Lerner in a trio with Ken Filiano and Lou Grassi, instant compositions with great structure, virtuosity and melodic content.

Compellingly lyrical music with a klezmer influence from this Washington, DC trio, blending rock, world music, math rock, klezmer, reggae, noise, ambient and jazz into wonderful groove-based works, here in their 3rd album after 5 years, with a host of guests.

An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.

Composer and double bassist Giovanni Maier creates the illusion of being everywhere at once while he plays alongside members of his quartet (Parrini, Calabrese & Amendola) as his instrument "talks" to theirs in this beautiful album.

An extraordinary and powerful concert at the 2009 Jazz in Luz Festival recorded at Marquee of Luz-Saint-Sauveur when Japanese improvising guitarist and vocalist Keiji Haino joined the electroacoustic improvising trio Marteau Rouge of Jean-Francois Pauvros on electric guitar, Makoto Sato on drums and Jean-Marc Foussat on analog synthesizer & voice.

Fascinating sound and drone music from this interesting German ensemble led by Reinhold Friedl, "ikebana" takes its name from the tradition of Japanese flower arranging which dates back to the 7th century, with 8 tracks named as such: Shoka, Rikka, Nigeria and Morimono.

P (Yann Pittard on oud and guitar & vocals), Y (Tatsuya Yoshida on drums & vocals) and N (Mitsuru Nasuno on bass & vocals) performing Arabian Progressive Pop Improvisation, an unusual melding and orchestration of arabic progressions and melodic prog rock.

Alto saxophonist Robbins in a free improvising and powerful New York quartet with Nate Wooley on trumpet, Daniel Levin on cello, and Jeff Davis on drums.

This Canadian quartet of Guido Del Fabbro, Simon Lapointe, Antonin Provost & Nemo Venba merge rock, prog, jazz and contemporary concepts in impressive ways; reference Conventum, recommended!

Inspired by a work by John Stevens from 1991, Mark Wastell developed this work merging narration and improvisation by transcribing the text from Steven's performance, preseanted here by an electroacoustic ensemble including Phil Durrant, Dominic Lash, Bertrand Denzler, Jennifer Allum &c, yielding an enveloping and fascinatingly mysterious piece presented in two versions.

Mysterious and beautiful, the compositions of Norwegian improvisers, saxophonist, trumpeter and clarinetist Torben Snekkestad and pianist Søren Kjærgaard, are influenced by the peaceful western coast of Norway where they recorded these 12 pieces, with titles adapted from the texts by Torben Ulrich in the work Meridiana: Lines Toward A Nonlocal Alchemy.

Two unusual approaches to the vibraphone in a duo--Dale Gorfinkel using the tremolo mechanism, additional motors, bows and creative percussive techniques; and Robbie Avenaim using homemade electronic sticks and vibrating objects to create rhythms and textures.

The second album from this Norwegian electric improvising power trio, using dark rhythmic grooves over which guitar, electric piano, amplified objects, no-input mixing board, and pianet emerge, creating hypnotic states that lead to exultant moments through sinuous melody, building and releasing intensity while maintaining a consistent gauzy undertone.

Found dead in the Thames River in 1969, pianist & composer Mike Taylor left a legacy of two solid & lyrical jazz albums, of which the complete Trio album and one track from Pendulum are remastered; but he was also a songwriter for the Eric Clapton/Ginger Baker/Jack Bruce band Cream, of which three Taylor compositions with lyrics and vocals by Baker are included.

The third volume of NY bassist, composer, and electronic/computer musician Carl Testa's amazing Sway project, giving an interactive electronic processor its own voice interfacing with any size ensemble, here with two new works--one for quintet among a set of Chicago improvisers, the other in Portland, Maine with a sextet--each uniquely voiced and excitingly unpredictable.

The debut album of the New York Trio Caveat of Jonathan Moritz on tenor and soprano saxophones, John McLellan on drums, and James Ilgenfritz on bass, in an unusual Christmas album taking understated and obscure approaches to tunes like "Blue Christmas" and "Dreidel", where only the attentive listener discovers the melodic and harmonic basis for each tune.

910 Noise presents: Douceur Violente A 14 track compilation of electronic and noise artists from Wilmington, North Carolina.

A survey of French and Australian Sound Art recorded in 2011 at Les Instants Chavires, Montreuil during Parisonic, with artists including Eric La Casa, Philip Samartzis, Marc Baron, Jean-Luc Guionnet, &c. &c.

soccer Committee and Machinefabriek's duo album from 2008 is remixed by artists Nate Wooley, Francisco Lopez, Taylor Deupree, Lawrence English, Xela, &c. &c.

TLASILA was an experimental music collective founded in 1990 by composer Tom Smith; this 3 CD + download releases finds a massive cast of artists restructuring the improvisations from the "Noon and Eternity" album into a massive 240 minute work.

Francisco Lopez initiated this project in 2006 with the Pogus CD "Montreal Sound Matter", now expanded into an acousmatic group of linked tracks from a group of impressive sound artists.

A live recording without an audience and the start of the Welcome To Silkeborg project between Lisbon improvisers Tiago Varela (Equinox Quartet, Isotope Ensemble) on melodicas & voice, and Monsieur Trinité (Equinox Quartet, IKB, Potlatch, Variable Geometry Orchestra) on percussive objects, their first encounter finding the two in a relaxed dialog of creative conversation.

A superb instrumental exploration of the American musical language - jazz, folk, gospel, rock, bluegrass, orchestral, electronic, minimalism and post-modernism, with improvised parts played by Jean Derome, Jacques Seguin, Guillaume Bourque and Yanik Cloutier.

From the fertile Montreal improv scene, the long-collaborating Mercury duo of double bassist Nicolas Caloia and clarinetist Lori Freedman on b-flat and bass clarinets are heard in eight rugged dialogs captured live as they seemingly flay the body through visceral dialog with titles including "Eyeball-Eyelid"; "Teeth-Tongue-Throat-Lip"; or "Ass-Brain".

The title referring to roots alongside the subtitled comment "agricultural improvisations" in this 2022 free improv recording from the Bêche ta motte (dig your mound) trio of Quebec luminaries Bernard Falaise on guitar, Michel F Cote on percussion & synths and Thomas Gaudet-Asselin on double & electric bass, in twelve succinct experimental improvisations of unusual rhythmic and sonic natures.

Featuring works premiered at the ESM concert "Zigzague and Colore" in November 2022 in Montreal at Escape Orange - Edifice Wilder - Espace Danse, this exceptional concert of Montreal's premiere improvising Ensemble SuperMusique presents the works of three female composers--Elizabeth Millar, Laura Kavanaugh, and Danielle Palardy Roger--through a variety of graphic scores.

In the footsteps of the band for which she's the vocalist — Scott Thomason's The Rent paying homage to the music of Steve Lacy — Montreal vocalist and movement performer Susan Hood steps out on her own to merge the words of German poet Judith Malina, who influenced Lacy and Irene Aebi's "Cycle of Jazz Art Songs", with Steve Lacy's exuberant music, for a captivating and sincere pairing.

Concepts of community, dialog, sharing and transmission, or "recontre", are the linking ideas between these four works commissioned of Montreal composer and wind player Jean Derome, developed for four Quebec ensembles, these pieces combine contemporary and improvisational forms, the scores shaped by constraints from the combinatorial mathematics of Marin Mersenne.

An overview of Montreal's Ensemble Supermusique celebrating their 40th anniversary, drawing on works from founders Joane Hétu, Diane Labrosse, and Danielle Palardy Roger and their projects including Wondeur Brass, Les Poules, Justine, &c., realized by 40 instrumentalists in 8 groups of 3 to 8 players; masterful sophistication with a sense of humor and wonder — exceptionnelle!

Copenhagen composer Niels Lyhne Løkkegaard's long form work refers to units of compositional structure in systems of instruments, each a "bubble" that interacts and collides creating fluctuations, ruptures and tension release in an hypnotic sonic tapestry, performed by Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini on violins, viola, cellos and harmonica; mesmerizing.

Strange and expansive music from the duo of Lee Pui Ming (piano, objects, body) and Joane Hetu (vocals, alto saxophone).

A fascinating work dedicated to improvising cellist Remy Belanger de Beauport written by Montreal composer Joane Hétu and performed by the large Ensemble SuperMusique with Jean Derome, Lori Freedman, Scott Thomson, Diane Labrosse, Danielle Palardy Roger, Pierre Tanguay, &c., commissioned and performed for the Ensemble's 40th anniversary and expanded for this studio edition.

Montreal composer, guitarist and arranger Andre Duchesne developed the pieces on this solo album as a tribute to his sister Carole, "the one who dreamed of horses," who passed in 2010, his pieces incorporating elements of rock, improvisation and compositional forms, a sincere tribute developed by recording daily over a month as a virtual rock band of guitar, bass and drum programming.

Since 1997 the duo of Montreal sonic experimenters Christof Migone and Alexandre St-Onge, both members of Klaxon Gueule, have performed under the name "Undo", here declaring themselves "undone", presenting nine tracks of of live & studio recordings from 1997-2013 of often bizarre yet ever innovative cracked electronics, acoustics, voice, and inexplicable sound; weird and wonderful!

Merging members of Ensemble SuperMusique with a subset of the ensemble Chorale Joker, Joane Hétu presents four premieres that explore our experiences during the pandemic, SuperMusique focused on electronics and synthetic instruments and offset by a wind quintet, the music and vocal interactions often explosive, reflecting on our mental states during an overwhelming cultural malady.

In the footsteps of the band for which she's the vocalist — Scott Thomason's The Rent paying homage to the music of Steve Lacy — Montreal vocalist and movement performer Susan Hood steps out on her own to merge the words of German poet Judith Malina, who influenced Lacy and Irene Aebi's "Cycle of Jazz Art Songs", with Steve Lacy's exuberant music, for a captivating and sincere pairing.

Concepts of community, dialog, sharing and transmission, or "recontre", are the linking ideas between these four works commissioned of Montreal composer and wind player Jean Derome, developed for four Quebec ensembles, these pieces combine contemporary and improvisational forms, the scores shaped by constraints from the combinatorial mathematics of Marin Mersenne.

Titled from the two venues where these concerts were recorded, the duo of Jerome Noetinger and Mimmo Napolitano both use revox reel to reel recorders, plus feedback systems, laptop and other electroacoustic devices to create strange and gripping aural narratives built of abstract elements yet creating deceptively concrete, compelling stories; exceptional.