A concert by drummer Eddie PrŽvost, electric guitarist N.O. Moore, and saxophonist Jason Yarde on alto & soprano recorded at the Vortex Jazz Club, in London, Moore deploying effects and Yarde using electronics to create subtexts of sounds, especially on the extended 25 minute "Impossible Meaning" where unusual structures meld with the acoustic free playing.

The 2nd Code Girl release from guitarist Mary Halvorson presents an embraceable and ambitious set of songs from 8 poetic forms for which Halvorson composed words & music, 3 of which are sung by Robert Wyatt, the others by Amirtha Kidambi, in a band with Thumbscrew members Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), plus Maria Grand (sax) and Adam O'Farrill (trumpet).

Austrian composer Peter Ablinger wrote this study, which is not intended for live performance, using a violin performing a slow glissando over one octave, here performed by violinist Johnny Chang, the recording then composed in the studio as a proportion canon, virtually layering 16 violins in a study displaying the harmonic interactions of that single glissando.

Recordings from 3 days of live performances in May, 1984 at the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in France, using AACM legend and computer music innovator George Lewis' interactive virtual improvisor sytem Rainbow Family in virtual duo, trio and quartet settings with Douglas Ewart, Joelle Leandre, Derek Bailey & Steve Lacy.

Acoustic and sublime minimal acoustic improvisation with an emphasis on strings from the Portuguese quintet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Almeida on acoustic guitar, Andre Lanca on electric guitar, Bernardo Alvares on double bass, and Felice Furioso on percussion, performing live during the Small Format Materials Festival at Galeria Monumental, in Lisbon.

Composer Andrew Lafkas' large ensemble piece with performers including C. Spencer Yah, Ron Stabinsky, Barry Weisblat, Sean Meehan, Ben Owen, &c. is a meditative work intended for live performance, this album the 2nd of 3 performances, a brooding and resonant rendering of rich and subtle detail that evolves over 70 minutes, carrying its listeners in a profound revery.

The trio of drummer Klaus Kugel, bassist Mark Tokar and vocalist Andre Pabarciute use extended vocal & instrumental technique, archaic sound objects, & ritual percussion within free metric structure.

AACM legend Muhal Richard Abrams was commissioned by Philadelphia saxophonist Bobby Zankel to compose for Zankel's large ensemble Warriors of the Wonderful Sound, this monumental piece premiered in 2012, but only in 2018 was a 2nd performance possible, conducted by Marty Ehrlich and receiving 2 standing ovations, the band recording this studio version the next day at Drexel University.

A gorgeous and sinuous album of piano and voice from Portuguese pianist Joana Sá, using preparations and props to accompany the incredibly illustrative voice of Greek vocalist Savina Yannatou, whose profound skills create a sense of mystery and narrative that surpasses language and intent, creating something uniquely fragile yet fiercely alluring.

Drummer Joao Lobo's trio with guitarist Norberto Lobo and double bassist Soet Kempeneer perform the drummer's dynamic compositions, along with one traditional works, a tight trio of highly interactive playing and a sense of familial interplay as the band weaves around Lobo's layered drumming and emphatic grooves, taking time for introspection among their energetic spontaneity.

Three heavy "Concept" pieces of electric jazz from the quartet of Lisbon saxophonist José Lencastre, electric bassist Felipe Zenicola (from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil), drummer João Valinho and Jorge Nuno, a guitarist generally associated with psychedelic rock, as the band slowly seethes through a brew that flirts with rock and 70s fusion in unique ways.

A rich and lyrical album of solo piano improvisation from Lisbon-based Portuguese pianist Luísa Gonçalves, improvised yet merging elements of contemporary compositional music into beautiful and graceful forms that she reveals in a contemplative and pensive mood, savoring her notes and progressions while allowing melody to come forward in sophisticated ways.

A compilation of compositions for conventional, acoustic, musical instruments, performed through synthetics and computer processing as an album of electronic music, composed by Lisbon based sound and media artist André Gonçalves, each of 9 parts simply titled "Instrumental", and each a fascinating microcosm of kinetic, synthetic-acoustic potential.

Seriously joyful and consequential "avant-garde party music" from the Norwegian Cortex quartet of Ola Hoyer on double bass, Gard Nilssen on drums & percussion, Kristoffer Berre Alberts on saxophone, and Thomas Johansson on trumpet, in their 6th album of irresistible, upbeat free jazz.

Self-described as Scandinavian jazz rock noir, the Chrome Hill quartet of Asbjorn Lerheim on baritone guitar, Roger Arntzen on double bass, Torstein Lofthus on drums & vibraphone, and Atle Nymo on tenor saxophone, present a dramatic album of contrasts inspired by cinematic and musical moods, merging elements of folk, Delta blues and cowboy rock into their darkly cool sound.

The Norwegian trio Ballrog, which started as the duo of Klaus Ellerhusen-Holm on clarinet and Roger Arntzen on double bass, then expanded with guitarist Ivar Grydeland, who is replaced by guitarist David Stackenäus, a perfect choice for the lyrical chamber approach of intertwining lines and fluid melodic statement, with a sense of "free chamber americana"; beautiful.

New York and Chicago string improvisers combine for an album of dense abstractions through individual lines that weave between the two players, briefly combining then moving off to independent methods, as guitarist Joe Morris and cellist Tomeka Reid meet in a Brooklyn studio to record ten improvisations, including one each dedicated to their home cities.

Recorded during Sabu Toyozumi's first collaboration with Rick Countryman in 2017, this album features music from the same nights that produced Jya-Ne and Center of Contradiction: 6 tracks from an August 11th quintet performance with voice and trombone, and electric bass; plus 2 tracks from the following night in a trio format with acoustic bass.

Half protest statement and half call for renewal, America offers a wonderful combination of the familiar and the unexpected in improvised and heartland music.

Prolific and working incredibly fertile creative ground, New Yorkers Cooper-Moore, Tsahar and Taylor release their first as a trio on Tsahar's Hopscotch label.

Cooper-Moore's astonishing solo piano album live in Guelph shows his immense knowledge of jazz idioms crossed with mind-altering, outer-edge playing, Moore's "improvisation as lifeblood".

The duo of Downtown NY-ers poet Steve Dalachinsky and pianist Matthew Shipp improvising over 22 of Dalachinsky's sharply worded poems of "everyday" observation.

The 2nd Digital Primitives release (Cooper-Moore, Asif Tsahar, Chad Taylor) digs in deep to fuse a new sound from blues, folk, jazz & funk, with accents from the music's African antecedents.

The trio of saxophonist Assif Tsahar, drummer Chad Taylor and multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore in the 3rd Digital Primitives release, rhythmic and soulful improvisation with an inventive New York attitude.

The duo of late bassist Peter Kowald and inside-and-out pianist Agusti Fernandez in a set of extraordinary energetical, rhythmic and irrepressible improvisations.

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.

Drummer Ibarra's trio with Cooper-Moore and violinist Charles Burnham blur boundaries in a band of great versatility, taste and collective musicianship.

Israeli saxophonist Yoni Kretzmer now living in NY in a trio with NY drummer Mike Pride and Chicago/NY bassist Jason Ajemian, technical, lyrical, conceptual, and emotional jazz.

A conceptual performance piece from Christina Kubisch, composed and recorded between 1974-84 while in Italy, including a NY performance recorded by Phill Niblock, realized with Arturo Morfino on drums, guitar & objects and Fabrizio Plessi gargling water; an unusual, engrossing and excursive work integrating electronics, field recordings, wind instruments and voice.

Two hauntingly beautiful works in microtonal composer and violist Catherine Lamb's "Prisma Interius" series, the first a duo with violinist Johnny Change and Xavier Lopez on the "secondary rainbow synthesizer", which channels the sound outside of the performance space as a generator of ambient sound; then a sextet of strings and winds with two secondary rainbow synthesizers.

David Murray, Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell associate Ragin in a solo trumpet album of intense strategies that also pays tribute to Braxton, Miles and Leo Smith.

Three creative young musicians in New York Tsahar, Mat Maneri and Black in a trio of warmly orchestrated free improv with witty restraint in extended conversation.

Part of bassist Kowald's 2000 US tour of solo and performances with local musicians, here with alto player Tsahar and drum legend Rashied Ali in a brilliant encounter.

Performing at Astor Place in the East Village, NYC every Sunday for 3 years prior to this recording created the unique sound and tight interactions of these remarkable recordings.

Tsahar's New York Underground Orchestra with an all-star set of New York players including Okkyung Lee, Oscar Noriega, Matt Lavelle, Tatsuya Nakatani, &c. &c performing Tsahar's 10 part "labyrinth".

Tsahar's 60-minute suite with his NY heavyweights Zoanthropic Orchestra is a sort of self-portrait in sound, drawing on auditory memories from his childhood on.

Tsahar's 9-piece Brass Reeds Ensemble Herb Robertson, Chris Jonas, Rob Brown, Susie Ibarra, &c. is an ambitious and incredible undertaking of group improvisation.

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.

Alto saxophonist/composer Tsahar further investigates what 3rd stream music left behind, a gorgeous exploration of sound and movement with percussionist Nakatani and the KJLA String 4tet.

Remarkably remastered recordings of Charlie Parker's quintets from 1945-49, performing live at Carnegie Hall, Royal Roost, & Town Hall with configurations of Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Kenny Dorham, Red Rodney, Don Byas, Al Haig, Max Roach, Roy Haynes, Kenny Clarke, Tommy Potter & Curley Russell, allowing us to re-live the consistent brilliance of the leader and his sidemen.

The 5th album from the UK collective improvising progressive rock band of reedist Martin Archer, drummer Steve Dinsdale, bassists Lorin Halsall & Terry Todd, percussionist Walt Shaw, keyboardist Andy Peake, violinist Yvonna Magda and string player & vocalist Jad Todd, merging acoustic and electronic instruments in rich and often dreamlike forms that flow with spirited refinement.

The 2nd orchestral album from saxophonist Ingrid Laubrock, two very different but complementary sets of compositions using electronics in mostly acoustic settings: the 1st with the larger EOS Chamber Orchestra and guests including Cory Smythe, Tom Rainey, & Sam Pluta; the 2nd a smaller group of Laubrock, Smythe & Pluta + guests Adam Motlock, Josh Modney, and Zeena Parkins.

A rollicking album of electric & acoustic jazz from guitarist Dave Gisler's trio with Raffaele Bossard on bass and Lionel Friedli on drums, with guest Jamie Branch on trumpet, recorded live at unerhort!-Festival, in Zurich, Switzerland in 2019, performing all Gisler compositions of ebullient drive pushing all 4 to exultant and impressive soloing.

A live concert at Area Sismica, Forlì, in 2019 between two masterful French improvisers--double bassist Joëlle Léandre and accordionist Pascal Contet-- each pushing each other in both melodic and abstract improvisations with occasional vocal asides, as they engage their listeners through surprising twists and turns while exploring the farthest reaches of their instruments.

Initiated by West Coast drummer John Hanrahan, A Love Supreme Electric examines John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Meditations album, asking to merge the two as one spiritual ecstatic piece of music, as performed on this 2 CD set with Vinny Golia on sax, Bob Moses on percussion, Henry Kaiser on guitar, Mike Watt on bass and Wayne Peet on organ; profound and powerful!

Blurring the lines between jazz and rock in ECM and blues-tinged playing in compositions with a solid melodic center, Washington-area guitarist Anthony Pirog presents an album of lyrical music tinged by electronics and rich with evocative environments, performed with Michael Formanek on acoustic and electric bass, and Chess Smith on drums, percussion & electronics.

Taken from the personal archives of UK drummer/percussionist Tony Oxley, this extremely well recorded duo session with frequent collaborator, iconoclastic NY pianist Cecil Taylor, are heard in a live performance at the Ulrichsberg Festival, Austria in 2002 for a brilliantly frenetic and masterfully controlled, creative set of two jaw-dropping extended dialogs.

Eight melodically structured song pieces from French composer and pianist Melaine Dalibert, his fifth album, presenting an embraceable and heartfelt set of compositions quite different from his typical algorithmic approach to writing, conceived by David Sylvian and recorded with outstanding fidelity on a Steinway at the chapel of the Rennes Conservatory.

Two compositions for two pianos by Jürg Frey and performed Reinier van Houdt abd Dante Boon: "Entre les deux l"instant" (2017/2018) where pianist interchange playing "Melody" and note(s) from a "List of Sounds" with flexibility in performance; and "toucher l"air" (2019) where two pianists play each part at the same time with subtle similarities but in different tempos.

Electronic artist Nathaniel Bartlett (marimba, computer) is joined by Geoffrey Brady (percussion) and Nils Bultmann (viola) for a physical and temporal sound experience.

After twenty years playing together, the Sealed Knot trio of Burkhard Beins on amplified percussion, Rhodri Davies on amplified lap harp, and Mark Wastell on dual 32 past tam tams, gongs & nepalese singing bowls, performed live at Cafe OTO to record this beautifully captured, contemplative concert of tone, texture and ringing sound, like a 20-year dream reflected.

Two extremely compatible guitarists are heard in two live recordings in Tokyo, Japan, at OTOOTO and at Permian, in 2017 & 2018, using unusual tunings, extended techniques and a patient sense of space and momentum that allows each of their contributions to resonate distinctively while maintaining a confident dialog of connected abstraction and exploration.

A uniquely eccentric free improv album by Fred Frith on electric guitar and Lol Coxhill on soprano sax, originally released in 1983 on the French AAA label, the album assembles recordings from the "Musiques de Traverses" Festival 1981, 1978 concerts in Sainte Croix, in Poitiers, and at M.J.C. Aliénor D'Aquitaine in Limoges, plus additional material from 1999 in Munchen & London.

Swedish saxophonist Martin Kuchen in trio with bassist Per Zanussi and drummer Raymond Strid, challenging and urgent jazz from a trio concerned with the state of our world.

Restricted by pandemic, bassist John Edwards took compositions for Remote Viewers written by Dave Petts along with recordings from himself and saxophonists Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover & David Petts, using digital compositional methods to maintain Petts' concepts while manipulating and inverting each piece in wonderfully riotous and unexpected ways.

An immersive record of free improvisation from the French trio of analog synth player Jean-Marc Foussat, trombonist Christiane Bopp, and vocalist Emmanuelle Parrenin, 4 works inspired by a still life painting by Duane Keiser, each an impressive evolution and transmutation of sound in dream-like environments that envelop then surprise its listeners.

Bass clarinetist Chris Cundy, uses the studio as a performance tool for accompaniment along with pre-recorded tapes, as he contrasts two different composers--Cornelius Cardew & Ton de Leeuw and their compositions titled "Mountains", alongside a Cardew graphic score piece, and 2 work for 5 bass clarinets, from Thanos Chrysakis and John Cage, the latter from his Numbers series.

Five CDs with unique and joyfully creative aspects of saxophonist and composer Trevor Watts' work, from concerts and studio settings in the UK, US and South Americal in configurations of Trevor Watts Moiré Music Group, with the Enjambre Acustico Urukungolo, Trevor Watts' Moiré Music Drum Orchestra, and duos with Jamie Harris, and with Marc Hewins.

Seven succinct dialogs between two masterful rhythm improvisers--bassist Bernard Santacruz and drummer Michael Zerang--whose previous work with Jeff Parker, Joelle Leandre, Douglas Eward and Jean-Luc Cappozzo is distilled to this intimate setting, employing innate lyricism and unique approaches to their instruments to fascinate and captivate their listeners.

Investigating the continuity of our perceptions through sound--the one sense that flows continuously into our awareness--through a concert at Baza Club in Krakow, Poland in 2018 between alto saxophonist Keir Neuringer and acoustic bass guitarist Rafał Mazur, using magnificent technique as they tentatively then boldy exchanges waves of the past, present and future.

Four settings with improvising bass guitarist Rafal Mazur, 4 CDs, the first a solo studio recording of two extended improvisations; the 2nd a duo with clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio; the 3rd a live concert at Baza Club in Krakow with trumpeter Artur Majewski; the 4th a quintet session with Gregorio, Satoko Fujii (piano), Natsuki Tamura (trumpet), Ramon Lopez (drums).

Picking up where the 2013 Clean Feed album Tone Hunting left off, the quartet of Anna Kaluza on alto saxophone, Artur Majewski on cornet, Rafal Mazur on acoustic bass guitar, with drummer/percussionist Vasco Trilla replacing Kuba Suchar, the refreshed quartet is heard live at the University of Zielona Gora, Poland for an informed 6-part free improvisation.

The title referring to the spatial arrangement where sounds of different frequency are processed in the brain, New York trombonist Steve Swell and Austrian Elisabeth Harnik performing inside and out of the piano, are captured live at Martinsschlossl, in Vienna, Austria in 2019 for 8 free improvisations of immense creative drive and ebullient rapport.

The 4th album on Another Timbre from a series of pieces by composer Antoine Beuger, each acknowledging a cultural or intellectual figure, here titled for philosopher, musicologist, educator and one-time member of the French Resistance, Vladimir Jankélévitch, represented by Beuger in a large dramatic work performed by the Apartment House sextet.

The 2nd Code Girl release from guitarist Mary Halvorson presents an embraceable and ambitious set of songs from 8 poetic forms for which Halvorson composed words & music, 3 of which are sung by Robert Wyatt, the others by Amirtha Kidambi, in a band with Thumbscrew members Michael Formanek (bass), Tomas Fujiwara (drums), plus Maria Grand (sax) and Adam O'Farrill (trumpet).

An innovator in integrating pedal steel guitar into modern improvised music, Cleveland-born, Baltimore-based pedal steel guitar player Susan Alcorn's quintet enlists a superb set of New York players--Mark Feldman on violin, Michael Formanek on double bass, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Ryan Sawyer on drums--taking on a diverse set of Alcorn compositions.

A superb trio of NY improvisers and composers whose collective work bridges the divide between free playing and jazz tradition, a kind of avant swinging bebop.

Two innovators of free vocal improvisation come together for a concert at Santa Chiara Nuova Church during the 2015 ImprovvisaMente festival in Lodi, Italy, setting aside Chen's cello and electronics to focus on pure voice interactions, each using their unique language and technique in a single 37 minute performance of intrepid, inexplicable and unique improv.

A set of informed avant/abstract acoustic and electroacoustic improvisations recorded in the studio in Austria in 2019, from the transatlantic trio of Euro free jazz legend, trombonist Matthias Muller, Quebec bassist Eric Normand on electric bass, and innovative trumpeter Petr Vrba also deploying electronics, the trio's interaction focused on patient and inspired sonic detail.

Jean-Luc Guionnet composes for the Le Grand Groupe Régional d'Improvisation Libérée (GGRIL) directed by bassist Éric Normand, with an 11-piece ensemble recording in the studio for a work of tension and release through fitful sections that explores contrast and unison, space and contraction, guided by a wonderful sense of mystery and surprise.

Exploring the jazz tradition through 12 tone serial tone row scales, along with graphic scores & other variations, from UK composer Trevor Taylor, also on drums & vibraphones, in a quintet with Shanti Paul Jayashina on trumpet, Josh Ison on saxophones, Dan Banks on piano, and Jose Canha on Double Bass, in a set of tunes that beautifully balance freedom and lyricism.

The other side of Paul Dunmall's characteristic saxophone work is heard here on the alto flute, bringing Dunmall together with fellow flutist Neil Metcalf and the rhythm section of James Owston on bass and Tymek Jozwiak on drums for four exceptional improvisations that focus more on interaction and less on soloing, showcasing all four through sophisticated performance.

Extremely well paired in their unusual approaches to their instruments both acoustic and electronic, this live recording between Udo Schindler on reed & brass instruments and Jaap Blonk improvising with his voice and using computer electronics, results in eight diverting and inspired recording of extreme creative approaches and impressive technical skill.

A superb concert of masterful collective improvisation captured live at LOFT Cologne in 2018 from the trio of Luc Houtkamp on tenor saxophone & clarinet, Steve Beresford on piano & objects, and Martin Blume on drums & percussion, in three extended improvisations, thoughtful work building to periods of powerful passion while maintaining a reflective introspectiveness.

A convergence of reeds across the range of clarinets, from double bass clarinet to piccolo clarinet, in this live recording at Udo Schindler's 88th SALON fur Klang+Kunst in Krailling/Munich between reedists Schindler and Ove Volquartz, with particular emphasis on the deepest of reeds, the most challenging of clarinets, handled masterfully by both players.

Portuguese guitarist Marcelo Dos Reis and trumpeter Luís Vicente, Icelandic pianist Kristján Martinsson and Dutch drummer Onno Govaert release their 2nd album, moving from the studio to a live concert at Salão Brazil in Coimbra in 2018, performing six collective improvisations of explorative and technically advanced, cutting edge free improv.

Refined and free ranging improvisation between German reedist Udo Schindler performing on bass clarinet, tenor & sopranino saxophones and also on cornet, and US double bassist Damon Smith, recorded 3 days after the first volume in this series, presenting two sets from the same day of informed and diverse dialogs between two masterful improvisers.

Double bassist Joshua Abrams provides the compositions for this studio album performed with Ari Brown on tenor sax, Jeff Parker on guitar and Gerald Cleaver on drums, an exceptional quartet of master improvisers who balance lyrical and soulful playing with explorative impulse, fueled by an empathetic responsiveness that only a long history of collaboration can engender.

An epic journey through diverse improvisational approaches within a composed framework, using heavy percussion of unusual & world origins, electronics, rock/groove elements and prepared mixes created from samples, from the Boston duo of David Peck (PEK) on reeds & an arsenal of devices & sources, and Yuri Zbitnoff on drums & percussion, with narration points along the way.

Originally released in 3 LPs as Live in Egypt on Thoth Intergalactic and then as the Saturn albums Dark Myth Equation Visitation, Nidhamu & Horizon, this set reissues and expands the 1971 Sun Ra tour recordings: The Mena House Hotel in Giza; a concert at Hartmut Geerken's in Heliopolis; a live Cairo TV channel broadcast; and a concert at Cairo's the Ballon Theatre.

A suite of short pieces for solo piano subtitled "Images and Impressions for Piano", composed by John Zorn and performed by frequent Zorn interpreter Stephen Gosling, the works inspired by the sketches of English painter J.M.W. Turner, embracing influences including Ligeti, Scriabin, Bach, Glass, Debussy, Bartok, Berio, Feldman, Xenakis, Schoenberg &c.

Revisiting two of Archie Shepp's 1969 recordings released on the BYG label as Blasé, and title track to Yasmina, three tracks featuring the vocals of Jeanne Lee, with four band configurations including Dave Burrell, Malachi Favors, Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Sunny Murray, Philly Joe Jones, &c., beautifully remastered to bring to light Shepp's pan-stylistic impulses.

Bringing together two essential and impeccably remastered 1960's Cecil Taylor albums — Cecil Taylor Unit Structures and Cecil Taylor Unit Mixed — presenting both traditional influences and Taylor's unique approaches to modern jazz, featuring two septets with musicians including Jimmy Lyons, Henry Grimes, Archies Shepp, Ted Curson, Andrew Cyrille, Roswell Rudd, Sunny Murray, &c.