European free jazz pioneer, drummer Pierre Favre in 1 of 2 duo CDs with younger musicians released together: "Vol a Voile" with trombonist Samuel Blaser, and "Albatros" with guitarist Pilipp Schaufelberger.

Percussionist Pierre Favre's 10 piece Ensemble performing Favre's original compositions and one Swiss traditional number, large scale works that transcend and follow great jazz tradition.

First-time CD releases of three Pierre Favre solo albums from 40 years ago: Drum Conversations [originally an LP from Calig-Verlag label]; Abanaba [LP on Futura]; Mountain Wind [LP on Gemini].

Six distinct "phases" of entrancing drones performed on an unprepared but slightly damaged harmonium by French improviser Monsieur Favriou, demonstrating the timbral range of the pedal-pumped reed organ.

Thematic improvisation from this Scandinavian trio in an eclectic mix of improvised music, experiemental yet melodic music blending acoustic and electronic instrumentation from Daniel Rorke (sax & laptop), Rune Nergaard (bass) and Tomas Jarmry (drums).

Saxophonist Fefer's NY based trio with bassist Eric Revis and drummer Chad Taylor play an ecstatic and spiritually charged modern jazz style with great drive and expressiveness.

Debut CD by this new quartet performing the spiritual compositions of Hassidic dynasties of Lubavitch, a rich catalog of music passed down for centuries by oral tradition.

"Two Pianos" is one of Morton Feldman's most experimental and radical works, performed here by John Tilbury & Philip Thomas; plus lesser known works including 'Piece for Four Pianos', 'Between Categories', 'False Relationships and the Extended Ending' and 'Two Pieces for Three Pianos'.

WPG is John Ferguson and Robert van Heumen, blending a fractured pulse with dynamic texture into an immersive and disorientating music, from subtle to invasive sound.

Italian saxophonist Stefano Ferrian in a duo with pianist Simone Quatrana, Ferrian bounding terse phrases against Quatrana's concise but tenacious dissections of pattern and rhythm, using angularity, counterpoint and expansive harmonics in a rewarding dialog.

A remarkable album of free improvisation from the Scandinavian quartet of Isak Hedtjarn on clarinet, Lisa Ullen on piano, Elsa Bergman on double bass, and Erik Carlsson on drums, captivating the listener with active and detailed interplay of strong intention and technical skill.

Subtle and reflective improvisations with electronics, flutes and melodica from these two active women of the European improvisation scene.

Italian soprano saxophonist Gianni Mimmo meets Boston guitarist Garrison Fewell for 10 freely improvised duets of strong dialog balancing technical and lyrical skills with an ebullient intensity and warm spirit, engaging the listener in their joyful dialog.

Multiphonic trombonist Fiedler in a trio playing nine original Fiedler compositions.

Extended harmolodic free-jazz following the classic models of Ornette Coleman and Eric Dolphy using odd time signatures, beats, and quirky turn-arounds.

The beautiful and introspective duo of guitarist Scott Fields and Jeffrey Lependorf, a certified master of the shakuhachi, performing new works for guitar and shakuhachi that combine written and improvised material, lovely and intelligent music.

Frequent collaborators Fields and Schubert on electric guitar and tenor saxophone performing innovative and virtuosic material in ways that sound much larger than a duo setting would imply.

Originally released in 1995 on Field's own Geode label, these compositions for choreographer Li Chiao-Ping use complex rhythms and tonalities in a serial pitch "system of circles".

A live concert of Fields' Quite Large Orchestra (aka Multiple Joyce Orchestra) with Frank Gratkowski, Christina Fuchs, Thomas Lehn, Carl Hubsch, &c. &c. performing modular compositions for improvising chamber group, plus an homage to Merzbow.

Recorded in 1996 and first released by Music and Arts, this is perhaps Scott Fields' most important recording session to date: intricate compositions and superior interplay with his Chicago peers of Hamid Drake, Marilyn Crispell, and Hans Sturm.

A series of brief guitar improvisations based on the visual art of Thomas Hornung, who creates chalk artwork that usually takes less than 1 minute to create.

The NY trio of Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and new drummer Tyshawn Sorey in their 3rd Pi release, with wide influences from M-Base, Ornette Coleman, Art Ensemble, &c.

Matthew White's collective Fight the Big Bull nonet utilizes the history of jazz in compsitions that refer to Blind Willie Johnson, Charles Mingus, Art Ensemble, &c. &c.

The debut release of bassist Ken Filiano's quartet, Quantum Entanglements, with Michael Attias, Tony Malaby and Michael T.A. Thompson, playing all Filiano original compositions.

The minimalist duo of Klaus Fili performing on sinus-waves and Dafne Vicente-Sandoval on bassoon, performed deconstructively and amplified with miniature microphones, in two extended recordings of introspective and austere dialog.

Two slowly unfolding improvisations from trumpeter Leonel Kaplan using extended and unconventional techniques, and electronic artist Klaus Filip performing on sine waves, in a two part extended piece recorded in Buenos Aires after the two met in live performance.

A member of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's band Five Elements, this is the debut album from a trumpeter widely admired for his ability to tackle cutting-edge musical concepts with confidence and great skill.

The incredible Fire! Orchestra in a 21-piece rendition performs in the studio for an ecstatic album of free improvisation and song, with an amazing lineup including Mats Gustafsson, Mette Rasmussen, Johan Berthling, Hild Sofie Tafjord, Lotte Anker, &c. &c.

Mats Gustafsson, Johan Berthling and Andreas Werlin are joined by Jim O'Rourke to add a driving guitar & electronic layer to the "hypnotic jazz psychedelia and sonic mayhem" of Fire!

The 5th album from the Swedish trio of saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin, drawing on influences from free jazz, psychedelic rock, and noise, here joined by guitarist Oren Ambarchi and Leo Svensson on cello.

The fifth album from the powerful Swedish trio Fire!, comprised of Mats Gustafsson (The Thing), Johan Berthling (Tape) and drummer Andreas Werliin (Wildbirds & Peacedrums), with Mats playing keyboards and electronics on selected tracks.

2007 release from the quintet of guitarist John Lindblom, reedist Fredrik Ljungkvist, trumpeter Magnus Broo, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Kjell Nordeson, performing live at Sweden's Glenn Miller Cafe.

The long-running trio of alto saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet and drummer Edward Perraud (Hubbub) and bassist Benjamin Duboc in a studio album of intense and expressive free jazz in the Albert Ayler tradition.

For more than 25 years the duo of saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Randall Colbourne have performed as a duo, here captured in the studio for six tracks of exceptional and telepathic free improvisation.

Recorded after a tour in Netherlands, Germany & Belgium, Jorrit Djikstra's Flatlands Collective crosses Europe and Chicago with players Jeb Bishop, Jason Roebke, Fred Lonberg-Holm, &c.

The debut studio recordings from Calgary, Canada's Mark Fleischhaker and Scott Munro, electronically manipulated vocals with a loose sense of the word.

The first studio release for the trio of tenor saxophonist Louis Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris and drummer Charles Downs, profound NY free improvisation.

Live recordings from NYC's Stone of the trio of saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris, and drummer Charles Downs, excellent free-flowing jazz from three masterful players.

Since 2003 this Vancouver septet has merged jazz, improv, electro-acoustic, and progressive/avant musics into an exhilarating ordered chaos of highly listenable music.

American noise from 910 Noise Collective artists August Traeger and Ryan Lewis, a mix of harsh and atmospheric sound in an EP of wild, untamed and surprising sound work.

Forro is a NY East Village rock ensemble that reinterprets forro--traditional Brazilian folk music--using modern Downtown language, here taking on the compositions of John Zorn in rhythmically rich melodic approaches that's equal parts tribute and collaboration.

The improvising quartet of Canaries on the Pole (Foschia / goyvaerts / Irmer / Wissel) in their second release after their self-titled debut on the Free Elephant label.

London Improviser Orchestra peer Jacques Foschia in a double CD of solo clarinet works extending the instrument's range, performed in the studio & live in Brussels & London.

Another slab of basement strangeness from this Hamilton, Ontario-based trio/duo that pivots around sound artist David Payne; a baffling work of sound and noise.

French drummer Denis Fournier's open structure compositions are performed by the magnificent quintet of flutist Nicole Mitchell, saxophonist Hanah Jon Taylor, cellist Tomeka Reid and bassist Bernard Santacruz.

This very strange CD-ROM-enhanced recording combines 20 tracks of what can only be called deliciously weird music coupled with surreal visual images.

Pianist Danny Fox's trio with bassist Chris van Voorst van Beest and drummer Max Goldman in an album showing how the tight rapport this touring band has developed on the road, performing Fox's melodic and inventive compositions with a wealth of influences and style.

Double bassist Alexander Frangenheim, peer to Phil Durrant, Evan Parker, Phil Wachsman, Thomas Lehn, Roger Turner, &c., in a 17 part solo work of gripping and exhilarating playing.

Toronto drummer and composer Nick Fraser in a superb trio with saxophonist Tony Malaby and pianist Kris Davis, performing Fraser originals that merge free improvisation, jazz and avant compositional approaches with astonishing solos from all three.

Three exquisite electro-acoustic compositions by the New York-based duo of Anne Guthrie (french horn, electronics, recordings) and Billy Gomberg (bass guitar, recordings), using a combination of field recordings, electronics and improvisations on French horn and bass guitar.

Two studio recordings recorded 2 years apart (1969, 1971) of "Frictions", a 6 part work, and the additional 2 part "Frictions Now" from the quartet of Michael Sell (trumpet), Dieter Scherf (sax & winds), Gerhard Konig (guitar & flutes) and Wolfgang Schlick (percussion).

The quartet of Paul Rutherford, Harrison Smith, Tony Moore and Eddie Prevost from a concert in Bristol, UK in 1992, intricate and informed interplay from Euro free jazz masters.

A recording of wide-ranging, freely improvised solos and duets by Montreal clarinetist and bass clarinetist Lori Freedman & Toronto trombonist Scott Thomson.

Bass clarinetist Freedman, with help from pianist Brigitte Poulin, interprets the works of modern composers including Giacinto Scelsi, Georges Aperghis, Monique Jean, &c.

Solo clarinetist Lori Freedman in 13 new pieces of improvisation for soprano and bass clarinets that are vibrant, captivating, and full of texture.

The duo Contour of Stephen Altoff (trumpet) & Lee Forrest Ferguson (percussion) perform Antoine Beuger's "dedekind duos" dedicated to mathematician Julius Wilhelm Richard Dedekind; and Jurg Frey's "22 Sachelchen" or "small things", 22 focused miniature compositions.

Two works, one each from trombonist Radu Malfatti and clarinetist Jurg Frey, also credited with "instruments", field recordings and couterpoints; electroacoustic reductionist work of beautiful character that unfolds slowly and rewards attentive listeners in morphing sound.

The Ensemble Grizzana (Ryoko Akama, Mira Benjamin, Richard Craig, Emma Richards, Philip Thomas and Seth Woods) performs a series of delicate and beautiful chamber pieces by Swiss composer and clarinetist Jurg Frey, who also performs on clarinet.

Two works from composer Frey performed by Montreal's string ensemble Quatuor Bozzini: "String Quartet No. 3", a minimal work of colors, sensations, shadows, durations; and "Unhorbare Zeit" exploring durations without sound, or empty volumes, to achieve lucidity and transparency.

Composer Jurg Frey's 1988 work "String Quartet" realized by Nadia Francavilla, Clemens Merkel, Stephanie Bozzini and Isabelle Bozzini, exploring ideas of audibility: the moment when sound waves move in space and the air touches the body.

"Zwirn" means "twine" in German, an apt description of the interweaving sound that double bassists Daniel Studer and Peter Frey play together, in 7 freely improvised works of unusual technique and new musical structures.

Friction, one of the most important and longest running underground bands in Japan, is currently the trio of Reck (bass, guitar & vocals), Iami Akinobu (guitar) and Sato Minoru (drums), in a hard-edged album of original songs and remixes; demanding and powerful modern rock.

Cellist Erik Friedlander provides the 8th in this series of interpretations of the Masada songbook, a lovely and technically remarkable set of music.

Taking their band name from an Ornette Coleman album, this European quintet presents new compositions in the style of Ornette, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and John Carter, ecstatic free jazz with a hard bop foundation, extended with modern technique and experience.

A remarkable solo guitar CD from Bill Frisell, filled with complex harmonies, bizarre voicings, rich orchestral sonorities, intense screams, delicate phrasing, wild noises and an incredible simultaneity.

Explosive, psychedelic music from the trio of Jean Derome, Fred Frith, and Pierre Tanguay recorded and mixed by Myles Boisen.

Live recordings from this great pair of improvisors, selected from their performances at Festival des musiques de creation in Saguenay and at La Sala Rossa in Montreal.

Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston meets improvising guitar legend Fred Frith for an incredibly well-paced series of duos, remarkable improv that uses space, skill, extended techniques and unexpected approaches to both instruments in vivid and beautiful discourse.

A live recording from the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in 2009 of extended improvisations between guitarist Fred Frith, French clarinetist Louis Sclavis, and percussionist Jean-Pierre Drouet.