One of two albums marking trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith's 80th birthday, and showing his creative and technical skills still in peak form, here in a trio for the first time uniting independent collaborators, pianist & keyboardist Vijay Iyer and drummer Jack DeJohnette, in compositions from each of the performers plus one collective improvisation.

Inspired by Don Cherry's 1966 Symphony For Improvisers and intended to illustrate the profound cultural contributions Chicagoans & Midwesterners have made, trumpeter Leo Smith's presents four expansive symphonies, three performed with Henry Threadgill (sax & flute), John Lindberg (bass) and Jack DeJohnette (drums), the fourth with Jonathon Haffner (sax) plus Smith, Lindberg and DeJohnette.

A set of succinct string improvisations using extraordinary technique and concentration with a chamber improvisation feeling, recorded at Vivaldisaal in Berlin from the quartet of Portuguese father & son improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, and Berlin performers Julia Brussel on violin and Klaus Kurvers on double bass.

An introspectively lovely and reflective album of electroacoustic composition through minimal electronics, piano, samples and electronics, from the collaboration of Italian sound artists Michelangelo Decorato and Leo Cicala, with trumpeter Luca Calabrese joining on one piece; sophisticatedly languid, alluring and detailed ambient music.

A play on the Percaso band name "Day & Taxi", the trio of Christoph Gallio on soprano & alto saxophones, Dominique Girod on double bass and Dieter Ulrich on drums & bugle recorded this extended improvisation, a combination of scrambling, determined expression and post-bop creative jazz, part of the series "Life At The Zoo" at Studio the Zoo in Berne, Switzerland.

A duo of free and spaciously building exchanges between Dutch drummer George Hadow (Zwerv, The Blue Lines Trio) and Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries (A New Wave of Jazz), in an extended dialog of great technical skills and creative use of their instruments, performing live at the 2021 JazzBlast event held in the chapel Groels Kapel in Bocholt, Belgium.

Post-pandemic, the electroacoustic IKB ensemble returned to the stage in 2021 at O'Culto da Ajuda in Lisbon with some of Portugal's finest improvisers performing under the direction of violist Ernetso Rodrigues, to express in sound the large rainforest beetle Titanus Giganteus, represented in an extended collective improvisation of restraint fueled by masterful and creative skill.

Led by Sydney, Australia double bassist and composer Elsen Price, the Inlay Ensemble with violist Carl St. Jacque and violinist Susie Bishop merges contemporary composed and improvisational styles in an album with each piece reflecting a distinct mood based off a single motif, creating unique perspectives that the ensemble develops through improvisation.

Recorded live in 2019 at Burgbachkeller in Zug, Switzerland, the international trio Jorge's Orbe creates tapestries of sound, bringing together free improvisers from three different parts of the world: Switzerland through trombonist George Francis Marti, Japan through pianist Tsukiko Amakawa, and Spain through Pelayo Fernandez Arrizabalaga on turntables and voice.

Italian and Portuguese musicians meet in the studio in Berlin for a set of studio free improvisations, from Creative Sources father/son collaborators Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello meeting trombonist Davide Piersanti and vocalist Ligia Liberatori for twelve exceptionally open, informed and unusual conversations.

With a history of collaboration in the Lisbon improvisation scene through bands including Variable Geometry Orchestra, IKB, Isotope Ensemble, &c., guitarist Abdul Moimême (performing on two guitars simultaneously) and electronics artist Carlos Santos join with Chicago cellist & electronic improviser Fred Lonberg-Holm for five elaborate alien soundscapes of impressive detail and skill.

Two extended acoustic improvisations of reductionist approaches recorded in the studio in Parede, Portugal in 2021 from the quartet of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet, Andre Hencleeday on piano and Joao Valinho on percussion, guided by a poem from Rodrigues as they slowly and exquisitly explore a "Closed Window" and an "Open Window".

A confluence of strings from the trio of Portuguese improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, performing in Berlin with double bassist Stephan Bleier, the title referring to a gradual ascending progression formed through small changes, an apt analogy for the illusory and shape-shifting approach their 5-part improvisations lead.

The Virtual Balboa trio of Philadelphia improvisers Zachary Darrup on guitar, Evan Lipson on double bass and Ben Bennett on percussion, all performers associated with Spring Garden Music & saxophonist Jack Wright, are joined by open-form trumpeter Greg Kelley for this wonderfully scrabbly and tenacious live set captured at Vermillion in Seattle in 2019.

The first album from the duo of American composer & violinist Jordan Dykstra and Dutch composer Koen Nutters, developed by exchanging material of ambient & spacious nature using slow chord development, field recordings, viola, pitch pipe, crotales, piano EBow and electronic programming, the resulting work diverse and constantly evolving through fascinating details.

Applying techniques that Michael Pisaro uses in his audio compositions to song formats, this album presents 11 new versions of songs from his 2013 Human Ear Music album, here reworked for clarity and recorded under the artistic direction of the Lille-based pianist Barbara Dang and six members of the Muzzix collective (Bellefont, Cruz, Orins, Pruvost & Pruvost).

Twelve etudes for solo piano by French composer Bruno Duplant and interpreted by pianist Guy Vandromme, each etude consisting of eight lines of lowercase letters a-g representing white keys, with accents, uppercase shifts, apostrophes, &c. affecting those letters, the performer given an "infinity of possibilities" through choices of combinations and repetions of the score.

Five pieces composed as a diary manifest in song from Bay Area cellist and singer Theresa Wong, reflecting on her time in Venice through labyrinthine melodic and rhythmic pathways, adding piano and the Japanese 5-string tonkori instrument to add exotic flavor to each eclectic song, blurring genres as Wong's impressions and expression lets each song lead where it must.

[Bonus Edition] Bay Area experimental music scene legend and multi-disciplinary artist Barabara Golden celebrates her 80th birthday presents works created between 1980-2020, including performances by Robert Ashley, Maggi Payne, Chris Brown, WIGband with Johanna Poethig, George Lewis, William Winant, Mary Oliver and texts by Melody Sumner Carnahan.

Bay Area experimental music scene legend and multi-disciplinary artist Barabara Golden celebrates her 80th birthday presents works created between 1980-2020, including performances by Robert Ashley, Maggi Payne, Chris Brown, WIGband with Johanna Poethig, George Lewis, William Winant, Mary Oliver and texts by Melody Sumner Carnahan.

Merging gritty and angular guitar work with versatile and creative drumming, the duo of Finish guitarist Heikki Ruokangas and North Carolina multi-instrumentalist Landon George show their diverse interests in both technically assertive playing and beautifully misty environments, through eleven concise works including two parts of "Chaos", a "Rainy Day" and a "Rainy Eve".

Part of Tzadik's Spectrum series, the Downtown NY trio of electroacoustic improviser and composer Ikue Mori, pianist Brian Marsella performing on electric keyboards and synths, and classical percussionist Sae Hashimoto on a wealth of marimbas, drums, bells, shakers and chimes, composed these intricately fascinating works by exchanging tracks composed in their home studios.

Six beautiful, fragile and mysterious works for piano in combinations with other orchestral arrangements and solo, including pitch-based compositions and a graphic work directed by photographs, performed by members of Apartment House in duos, quintets & sextets; works initially commissioned by Another Timbre and Philip Thomas and here performed on piano by Siwan Rhys.

Inspired by the broadcast performance by The Apartment House ensemble of three works by Morton Feldman, Another Timbre requested that they record the exceptional late work of the minimalist composer, Piano and String Quartet, captured at Henry Wood Hall two months later in a stunning interpretation of this enigmatic work of sensually dissipating motion.

Four clarinet-based works in trio, duo and solo from UK composer and musicologist Martin Iddon, performed by Heather Roche on bass and contrabass clarinets, Juliet Fraser on voice for "Muses", Anton Lukoszevieze on cello and James Opstad on double bass; music with intricate, interweaving lines, the title piece a mesmerising work for multi-tracked clarinets and field recordings.

Intended to be played continuously without a break, composer and violinist Andrew McIntosh's long-form composition features field recordings of pine woods in his home state of California in performance with violin, viola, piano, wine glasses, slate and electronics, an ethereal work combining improvisation, open tunings, just intonation and sympathetic resonance.

Eight chamber works of interestingly structured and exquisitely restrained character, composed between 2016 and 2021 by UK composer Georgia Rodgers, performed by the Apartment House ensemble in configurations of acoustic duos, trios & quartets, one solo piece for piano & electronics, one solo work for electronics and the title piece in 3 parts by a quintet.

One of a series of pianist Thollem McDonas' Astral Traveling Sessions, this unique duo configuration with NY saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh uses a sonic palette of eight re-tuned pitches for piano and saxophone in an attempt to expand harmonic empathy, bringing Eastern pitch relationships to Western improvisation through a series of extraordinary solo and duo recordings.

One of a series of pianist Thollem McDonas' Astral Traveling Sessions, a 25-album series of concerts from around the globe, performing concerts in varying configurations with 70 musicians, here with two collaborations: in Kingston, NY with the great vibraphonist Karl Berger for 3 improvisations, and in Toronto with pianist Michael Snow for an extended piano duo.

As part of Thollem McDonas' Astral Traveling Sessions concert series, the pianist met Chicago legendary drummer Avreeayl Ra and and highly active improvising bassist Matthew Lux for this exceptional concert of two extended improvisations, followed by 8 duo studio improvisations as "Sunken Cages" recorded in Philadelphia with electroacoustic drummer Ravish Momin.

An epic journey in free vocal improvised music from the trio of vocalist Anna Gadt with Zbigniew Chojnacki on accordion & live electronics and Krzysztof Gradziuk on drums, performing live in the studio in Nieport, Poland, with arrangements, deconstructions and original music by Anna Gadt, along with the theme from "Monumentum pro Gesualdo" by Igor Stravinski.

A series of real-time improvised performances from Athens, Georgia guitarist Killick Hinds, made with strings and occasional computer augmentation, an album he describes as to date his fullest expression of the Appalachian Trance Metal/Piedmont Shaman Rock concept that he has been developing for years, these works inspired by Zaila Avant-garde, Paolo Angeli and Bali.

Using piano, synthesizer, electronic feedback, field recordings and amplified objects, sound artist Andrea Parkins' long-cycle installation composition explores time and space in an 8-channel, multi-room work designed so that adjacent acoustical spaces respond to each other, creating shifting and unexpected sonic juxtapositions; CD package include a link to "The Third Room".

The collaboration of saxophonist Yedo Gibson and Vasco Trilla, heard as a duo on Multikulti Project and together in projects released on Emanem, NoBusiness and Creative Sources, are heard in this second Fish Wool trio album with trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, a uniquely voiced band of two horns and versatile percussion, captured live at the 24th Jazz Cerkno in 2018.

Captured at the 2015 Lublin Jazz Festival, the collective trio of Gerard Lebik on tenor saxophone, John Edwards on double bass and Paul Lovens on drums performed a seamless extended improvisation that was divided by index in post-production as parts A through D, but which should be listened to in a single sitting to appreciate their sublime interplay.

Meeting regularly since 2018, these three Luzern, Switzerland improvisers have developed a shared language of collective creative improv, the best known of the three being drummer & percussionist Gerry Hemingway working with two younger generation musicians, acoustic & electric guitarist Florestan Berset and vocalist Vera Baumann, here in their first wonderfully paced album.

With a history of both improvisation and rock, NY saxophonist and sound artist (Creature Automatic, Love As Laughter) concentrates on the sopranino saxophone in this solo album, performing acoustic feats of impressive technical skill, and on many tracks performing with tuning forks and live electronics, sequenced in a compelling journey of contrasts and wonder.

A joint release between Astral Spirts and Relative Pitch, guitarist Ava Mendoza conjures five assertive and rugged "spells" performed on solo electric guitar, passionate works of raw technical skill and bold power as she improvises over two songs composed by herself, alongside pieces written for her from Devin Hoff, Trevor Dunn and John Dikeman.

Chicago spiritual jazz shaman, drummer/percussionist Kahil El'Zabar, leads a quartet of younger generation musicians--Corey Wilkes (trumpet), Justin Dillard (keyboards), Isaiah Collier (saxophone)--through a set of seven original compositions, plus Coltrane's "Resolution"; warmly soulful grooves intended as the healing force so needed in the context of this album's era.

Chaos Magick, composer John Zorn's quartet with Brian Marsella on Fender Rhodes, piano & Mellotron, John Medeski on organ, Kenny Grohowski on drums and Matt Hollenberg on guitar, merge contemporary classical with jazz, funk, rock, blues, film soundtrack, and noise improvisation on a journey of 9 compositional Cantos into Orpheus' ninth concentric Circle of Hell.

This year's An Ayler Xmas is the 5th in the series from saxophonist Mars Williams, mashing holiday classics with works by saxophonist Albert Ayler, with the amazing sextet of Josh Berman on cornet, Jim Baker on piano, viola & Arp Synth, Brian Sandstrom on bass, guitar & trumpet, Steve Hunt on drums, Peter Maunu on violin and Kent Kessler or Krzysztof Pabian on bass.

Each track named for the instruments used (aquaspring, overtone triangles, metronome & blowing tube, &c.) and inspired by a book from Elias Canetti, Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla's creative improvisations reflect on the phrase: "every completely unknown language is a kind of acoustic mask; as soon as one learns it, it becomes a face, understandable and soon familiar."

Bringing to life the story of an event that changed the course of Finland's 1918 civil war, taking listeners on a narrative journey of haunting beauty and power presented through a layering of chamber composition and improvisation, from the duo of Pepa Paivinen performing on flutes, woodwinds & Seagull Merlin dulcimer and drummer/percussionist Jussi Miettola.

Given the chance to perform in the dark fresco-covered room of the Emmanuel Vigeland Mausoleum and museum in Oslo, Norway, guitarist Ed Petterson brought his 8-string Weissenborn guitar, various keyboards and a modular synth, using the pensive atmosphere of the location to trace spacious and exploratory works through 15 varied and succinct improvisations.

The core quartet of Gulfh of Berlin — Gebhard Ullmann on tenor saxophone & bass clarinet, Gerhard Gschlossl on trombone & sousaphone, Johannes Fink on double bass & cello and Jan Leipnitz on drums & objects — are heard in the studio with guest Michael Haves providing live sound processing, expanding the sound of Gulfh's innovative sound-sculpting avant jazz

The first installment in a new series from Alva Noto, aka Carsten Nicola, bringing together heterogeneous composition methods that aim to merge astrophysics phenomena, fiction, and performance movements, inspired by cinematic visual techniques and static images portraying scientific events; includes graphic inserts of notations informed by the album's sonic and acoustic code.

The sophomore release from this Norwegian instrumental rock band, with all members of the quartet coming from an improvisation/jazz background that fuels their diverse interests in the rock format, from blistering runs, dark blues grooves and even a nod to Swedish folk jazz; a dynamic album of great technical playing but more importantly, a strong commitment to rock.

A tribute to legendary audio engineer George Belle (1948-2019) who worked with a who's who including Horace Tapscott, Jimmy Smith, Gene Rodenberry, &c., in a set of compositions from Mal Waldron, Albert Heath, Herbie Nichols plus original work from leader James Bennigton, saxophonist Dustin Laurenzi, saxophonist James Cook, and group improvisations.

Chicago drummer and composer Jimmy Bennington is heard live at Andy's Jazz Club in 2018 in a solid straight-ahead set with his Colour and Sound sextet of Fred Jackson, Jr. on alto & soprano saxophones, Artie Black on tenor saxophone, Dustin Laurenzi on tenor saxophone, Dan Pierson on piano, Mike Harmon on bass, with compositions from band members and arrangments from Bennington.

Thematic improvisations pairing synthetic sounds and effects with acoustic bass, sax and drums, recorded in the studio by the Chicago quartet of Jimmy Bennington on drums & percussion, Phil Hunger on synth, guitar & effects, Dvi Priest on acoustic bass & effects, Brian Seyler on tenor saxophone, augmented by field recording from a Syrian marketplace, Jackals and Hyenas.

Wandelweiser composer and performer Antoine Beuger reflects, or more correctly, laments, in nine solo vocal works of profound emotional depth, utterances first on the dearth of time and the vicissitudes and intersections we face; then on mourning and grief, a requiem that extolls the listener to use our voice to confront sadness that we may gain strength from it.

Excerpting part of an eight-hour performance recorded over an amplified live environment of a text score for two pianists using one piano, each positioned at the opposite registers of the piano, one player creating a block of note phrases using intervals of a 2nd or 3rd with each note allowed to decay before the next, repeated by the other player following a set of rules.

The second of two volumes from legendary Downtown NY pianist Cooper-Moore and saxophonist Stephen Gauci, recorded after a seven-month residency at Happylucky No. 1 Gallery in Brooklyn, allowing the two players to develop a natural dialog of unique and idiosyncratic approaches to their instruments, resulting in these seven solid recordings freely improvised in the studio.

Variations of a score incorporated within a choreographic performance presented at the Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki in 2019 from the Greek experimental band Eventless Plot, the core trio of Vasilis Liolios (psaltery & bow), Yiannis Tsirikoglou (electronics) and Aris Giatas (analog synth) extended with Chris Cundy (bass clarinet), Nefeli Sani (piano) and Eva Matsigou (flute).

"Trios" refers to the relationship of two keyboards and the pedals of an organ, as performed by accomplished American composer Carson Cooman as he patiently unfolds Eva-Maria Houben's three minimal compositions exploring the relationships between three melodic lines or three-tone chords, presented on the Organ Probsteikirche St. Ludgerus, in Billerbeck, Germany.

A series of eight "voices" for piano, extended minimal works slowly unfolding in the performance of composer Carlo Inderhees' "8 stimmen" composition for solo piano, expressed by Guy Vandromme as the piece answers the questions "what is music made of?" with the word "voices: a sequence of sounds and silences, with its own consistency".

Four compositions for strings from German composer Hannes Lingens, including the three-part "Triptych" work performed by the Ensemble CoÔ, a septet directed by bassist Félicie Bazelair that emphasizes bowed strings; and two solo works performed by Bazelair: "Methods and Materials" & "Solo for String Instruments" employing advanced approaches to the double bass.

Since 2017 the father/son duo of double bassist Michael Formanek and woodwind player Peter Formanek have performed, recorded and toured together, here recording in the studio in 2019 with the wind player on tenor saxophone and clarinet, the familial history and life of collaboration showing in the warmth and easy discourse between the two, heard in 13 succinct improvisations.

Two renditions of two sound works from Massachusetts composer currently based in NYC, Eli Neuman-Hammond, both pieces using slide whistles in scores for multiple performers, captured in the open air in Ridgewood, NY, Washington Square Park, and in Marblehead, MA, each performance a minimal configuration that varies the fingerings or breathwork of the performers.

Norwegian composer Fredrik Rasten, a guitarist who himself has recorded pieces by pianist/composer Johan Lindvall, sees Lindvall beautifully perform 15 of his works for solo equal tempered piano, minimal pieces developed under the influence of Debussy and Bartok's Mikrokosmos compositions along with adaptations of his own microtonal/just intonation work.

A collaboration with German soprano vocalist Irene Kurka from London-born composer currently working in China, Toby Charles Roundell, seven works for unaccompanied solo voice, who have worked for several years exploring psalms, antiphons and books from the minor prophets, in seven contemplative works of spiritual, resonant vocal progressions.

The third solo saxophone record from Brooklyn improviser Josh Sinton, and his first recorded solely on the baritone saxophone, an instrument for which Sinton explains he has dedicated half his life, heard in this remarkably diverse set on the lower horn that he approaches lyrically, technically, emotionally and with startling singularity.

Concentrating on the lower reeds, baritone saxophone and bass clarinetist Josh Sinton's Predicate Trio brings the best of New York's Downtown improv scene through drummer Tom Rainey and cellist Christopher Hoffman, the album opening with a submerged baritone solo leading to seven original Sinton compositions and two uniquely mischievous and informed collective improvisations.

Originally recorded in 2005 for a small 100-copy release, the single extended track on Mahogany Rain offers an hour of mesmerizing improvisational sound, sparsely composed and deeply experimental and performed by Keith Tippett on piano & percussion, Julie Tippetts on xylophone & voice, Philip Gibbs on guitars, and Paul Dunmall on soprano & tenor saxophones.

Four unique interpretations of David Henri Thoreau's essay "Walking", "a transcendental essay that analyzes the relationship between man and nature, trying to find a balance between society and our raw animal nature." (Wikipedia), performed by Antoine Beuger, Marianne Schuppe, Stefan Thut, Sylvia Alexandra Schimag and Marie-Cecile Reber.

Using a metasynth, a software instrument that allows the user to draw or paint music, and a photograph of a small tree observed at a former train station in the German town of Kranenbur, composer Florian Wittenburg generates complex sound structures from the simple structures of the tree's branches used as a template for four rich sonic sketches.

Four mysteriously untitled and extended works of electronics subtitled Impressions From the Next Era, using feedback, aberrant sound, glitch, rich synthetics, bi-directional sound and indescribable sonic sources to fuel David Lee Myer's latest in his long-running and essential listening project Arcane Device; shimmering, inscrutable, and awe-inspiring.

Dovetailing and combining the rich harmonics of Michel Doneda's soprano and sopranino saxophone with Pascal Battus' rotating surfaces--mechanisms from small consumer electronics and their like put in motion and in contact with resonators and vibrators--this French improvising duo create fascinatingly shifting, unusual textures and sonic environments.

An overlooked chapter in Ornette Coleman's recording career, these two Blue Note albums recorded in NY in 1968 and issued in '68 & '71 feature the innovative alto saxophonist joined by West Coast tenor saxophonist recently moved to NYC, Dewey Redman, and Coltrane sidemen, drummer Elvin Jones & bassist Jimmy Garrison, for two sessions of inventive and accomplished free jazz.

An extraordinary solo double bass set recorded at Saint-Jacques church of Cales, Lot, France in 2021 as part of the Souillac en Jazz festival from Joëlle Léandre, reaching into the depths for an incomparable and intensely concentrated display of technical skill and passion on the deep strings; captivating, visceral and cathartic.

The darker side of David Lee Myer's Arcane Device project, six lettered works from his Noisewall Sessions 2020-2021, using feedback and controlled glitch, delicate noise and drone in long-form extended improvisations; six incredible sonic journeys, each copy of the 2-CD album a in an individual and numbered monoprint package, each copy unique from the other.

Originally released in 1964 on The Sonet label as Volumes 1 & 2, this CD remasters this exceptional 1963 concert of original material and pieces by Ornette & Monk, complete in sequence as performed at Jazzhaus Montmarte in Copenhagen with Archie Shepp on tenor saxophone, Don Cherry on cornet, John Tchicai on alto saxophone, Don Moore on double bass and J.C. Moses on drums.

An intense concert of collective European Free Jazz in two extended improvisations recorded at naTo in Leipzig, German in 2019 from the quintet of Peter Brotzmann on tenor saxophone, clarinet & tarogato, Oliver Schwerdt on grand piano, percussion & little instruments, John Edwards and John Eckhardt on double bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion.

Alarmed by the warning signs of social deterioration, political overreach and planetary damage warning of an imminent need for revolutionary change, composer and sound artist Michael Pisaro-Liu sought and plundered references in sound from historic and current sources, producing 53 tracks that are arranged to tell a story in a mosaic form; an incredible achievement.

Three distinct compositions from the collaborative work of sound artists Vanessa Rossetto and Lionel Marchetti, the first a wonderfully complex work of musique concrète and acousmatic sources guided by the composers' instincts; "The Tower" expands their concepts through the addition of 18 voices, while the final track features the violin of Anouck Genthon.

The second collaboration between pianist Sylvie Courvoisier and guitarist Mary Halvorson, six years after Crop Circles and a product of their tours together and the result of their both writing compositions specifically for their duo project, showing a level of communication that allows incredible inventiveness and moments of poignant exchange; exceptional.

Essentially a piano trio, Portuguese pianist and composer Leo Genovese leads his trio with Demian Cabaud on bass and renowned drummer Jeff Williams (Lookout Farm, Dave Liebman), also joined by Argentinian vocalist Nadia Larcheron for four pieces, Genovese's compositions using interesting structures that balance warmly lyrical and experimental approaches to modern jazz.

A document of bassoonist Sara Shoenbeck's collaborations recorded between 2019-2021 in recording studios across North America, showing the inspired curiosity she brings to improvisation through a diverse set of duos performed with Harris Eisenstadt, Nicole Mitchell, Nels Cline, Roscoe Mitchell, Matt Mitchell, Mark Dresser, Wayne Horvitz, Peggy Lee and Robin Holcomb.

Drummer and composer Chess Smith in a 2-CD set of pieces merging jazz and traditional vodou rhythms, the band featuring Matt Mitchell (piano), Miguel Zenón (saxophone), Nick Dunston (bass), Sirene Dantor Rene (lead vocals), with Daniel Brevil, Markus Schwartz and Fanfan Jean-Guy Rene all on Haitian tanbou drums & vocals, released in a hardshell box with booklets.

A 2nd season from composer, improviser & bassist William Parker, after his 2000 Thirsty Ear release Painter's Spring, this new trio album with drummer Hamid Drake, wind player Daniel Carter performing on trumpet, flute and reeds, and Parker himself on bass, trombonium & shakuhachi, paint the season with sound as they celebrate the winter through visionary jazz music.

New York free jazz master bassist and composer in his first electric guitar trio album as a leader, performed with the innovatively inventive and solid rhythms of Gerald Cleaver on drums and the blazing deep blues work Ava Mendoza on electric guitar, presented as part of Parker's Tone World chronicle of instrumental suites, here following Sun Ra's Space Way.

Named after an Ornette Coleman composition from his album of the same name, alto saxophonist Tim Berne leads his duel-saxophone quartet with Chris Speed on tenor saxophone and the rhythm section from The Bad Plus, drummer Dave King and bassist Reid Anderson, through twelve melodic free jazz works honoring the legacy of Coleman, Redman, Haden & Hemphill.

An exemplary collective piano trio from Stephan Crump on acoustic bass, Kris Davis on piano and Eric McPherson on drums, their 2nd album as Borderlands Trio, recording in the studio for four exceptional, extended improvisations with an innate sense of lyricism and free flowing exchange of confident interaction, developing elegantly warm grooves and melodic progressions; beautiful.

The 4th album from saxophonist & bass clarinetist Silke Ebherard with her long-running powerhouse trio of Jan Roder on bass and Kay Lübke on drums, presenting all Eberhard compositions showing her strong writing voice under the influence of jazz greats like Dolphy, Mingus and Coleman, through nine well-balanced pieces from bluesy introspection to burning freedom.

Two decades after his last solo album, Michael Formanek returned to the studio to record these nine solo bass improvisations, each a profound spontaneous composition realizing structures and melodic development that incorporate journeys from abstraction into logical narrative territory as we follow the muse of a one of modern jazz' greatest bassists.