Under the inspiration of Japanese painter Katsushika Hokusai, Berlin-based improvising pianist Aki Takase recorded these impressive works over two days at the Sendesaal Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg, some live during an award ceremony where she was awarded The Berlin Jazz Prize, some in the studio, including a duo with pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach.

An exhilarating duo between Danish saxophonist Mette Rasmussen on alto sax and French electric guitarist Julien Desprez using a variety of effects, recording in France for seven approach-ably twisted dialogs using spectacular technique and a diversity of approaches, from full force playing to introspective textural work, a marvel of spontaneity.

Quartet, trio and duo sessions between Paul Medley on alto saxophone & bass clarinet, Trevor Taylor on percussion & electronics, Matthew Hutchinson on piano, and Philipp Wachsmann on violin & electronics; improv and ea-improv that uses space and patient pacing, merging approaches from Circuit Electro-Acoustic Ensemble with an overall acoustic chamber feel--beautiful.

Downtown NY guitarist Chris Cochrane (No Safety, Curlew) joins up with bassist Stuart Popejoy (Sugarlife, Bassoon, Sarah Bernstein Quartet) for an album of exploratory sonic environments born from improvisation, with rich guitar processing, glitch, heavy riffs, and indescribable sonic environments in a well-balance album of informed experimentation.

Fred Frith's solo career started on the West Coast Ralph Records label, home of The Residents; Frith met Residents front man Hardy Fox in passing in 1991, making recordings on a Pacific beach using Fox's Walkman, which they brought to a multi-track studio to record the basis for an ultimately unreleased album, now revived decades later as Fox rediscovered this fascinating material.

Denmark to NY transplant Dam Eckardt Jensen blends her vocals, saxophone and flute work with Texan/NY bassist Tom Blancarte's furious playing to create unique sound worlds, including 5 hallucinatory and musical dreams.

A wild and exciting duo between cellist Okkyung Lee and legendary turntable improviser Christian Marclay performing live at London's Cafe Oto for a single long track that runs through an astonishing dynamic of invention and atmospheres in a gripping and spellbinding set.

Italian sonic explorer Francesco Gregoretti uses his drumkit like a lead instrument, amplifying and modifying its sound through effects, as he pursues his varied "Imploded" bands (Strongly Imploded, Grizzly Imploded) fueled by the mathematics of Chaos Theory, here with guitarist Maurizio Argenziano in an album of dense sound, from near-minimal to highly interactive.

Udo Schindler marks his 80th Salon fur Klang+Kunst in Munich as his first duo recording with a drummer, in a first-time meeting with long-time acquaintance, drummer/percussionist Eric Zwang Eriksson, joining him as they find inspired common ground with Schindler on alto sax, bass clarinet, cornet and euphonium and Eriksson using all aspects of his drums and percussive devices.

Brooklyn-based composer, bassist, and writer Nick Dunston in his debut album, blending jazz, contemporary, chamber and avant forms, in a uniquely voiced quintet with Louna Dekker on Vargas on flutes & piccolo, Ledah Finck on violin & viola, Tal Yahalom on guitar, and Stephen Boegehold on drums, in a sophisticated album of concisely fascinating compositions.

Minimalist Chilean guitarist Cristian Alvear and Tim Olive first played together in October 2016, doing three concerts in Japan, Alvear returning to Japan in October of 2017 for additional performances in Kyoto and Osaka, then spending a day recording in Kobe; this single improvised piece he result of that day, heard as it was recorded, with a few structural edits.

NY violinist Mark Feldman, an intensely active musician in improvisation and contemporary composition, and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez, active with an impressive list of jazz masters including Barry Guy and The Turbine!, join together in the studio for the seven-part improvisation "Trappist-1", a virtuosic intertwining from introspective to exuberantly energetic.

An authoritative meeting between two of New York City's strongest players--Matthew Shipp on piano and Nate Wooley on trumpet--distilled to their essence after work with saxophonist Ivo Pereleman, here performing a set of 12 Shipp compositions brilliantly captured in the studio, illuminating Shipp's solid mastery of the keys and Wooley's remarkable technique and creative drive.

Originally meeting in 2015 at a music festival, the Berlin-based duo of pianist Antonis Anissegos and cellist Anil Eraslan worked together in different ensembles, and formally declared their duo project in 2018, this their first album, a superb set of both spirited and contemplative dialogs, intricate yet clearly unfolding interaction of masterful skill.

SALON fur Klang + Kunst multi-reedist Udo Schindler met Japanese pianist Masako Ohta at Mohrvilla, Munchen/Freimann, Germany in 2017 to record this extended live improvisation, bringing Schindler's free jazz and non-idiomatic styles together with Ohta's contemporary classical background, in an intently educated and fascinating merging of styles and approaches.

A split vinyl release between Urge (Caen) and Tokyo's Sete Star Sept, with one track from the French free jazz trio Urge of Antoine Ulmann on sax, Bubu Pagier on gutiar, and Yann Fontbonne on drums, playing in a Borbetomagus mode; and the Japanese gridcore duo of drummer Ryosuke Kiyasu and bassist/vocalist Kae Takahashi providing a thick extended rock grindcore piece; a blistering combo.

New York drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell first played toghether in 2014, this only their 3rd performance, at The Kitchen in 2018 as part of a 3-day career accomplishments series for Sorey, the two performing in the dark as they spontaneously evolve a brilliant piece of innate orchestration, color, texture, rhythm, and thematic development.

Named for Sunny Murray's 1969 album "Big Chief", the long-runing collaborations of tenor saxophonist & pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love pay tribute to the late drummer Sunny Murray in this concert recording at London's Cafe Oto for a dynamic dialog of free jazz, with two nuanced free improv pieces including a "Fantasy for Lester [Bowie]".

Two pianists--Vadim Neselovskyi and Craig Taborn--take on the 11th volume of composer John Zorn's 3rd book of Masada compositions, The Book Beri'ah, in settings from solo piano, piano duos, and three pieces for piano, bass and drums, performed with bassist Dan Loomis and drummer Ronen Itzik; beautifully lyrical work merging contemporary compositional and improvisation forms.

The duo of Japanese improvisers, pianist Satoko Fujii and drummer Tatsuya Yoshida, continue their collaborations which includes many albums with the Satoko Fujii Quartet, their duo "Erans" record on Tzadik, and the original "Toh-Kichi" album on Victo, here in a new studio album of intricate, energetic and ebullient improvised dialogs, named for the aquatic flower "Baikamo".

Subtle, beautiful, haunting, masterful and delicately commanding, the duo of pianist and vibraphonist Karl Berger and Jason Kao Hwang on violin and viola recorded these 8 dialogs in Berger's Woodstock studio, their familiarity from Hwang's participation in Berger's Creative Music Orchestra summoning lyrical and sensitive music, finding profundity in restraint.

Three free improvisations for voice & double bass + improvisations on Hugo Ball's Six Sound Poems from the duo of free improvising vocalist Jaap Blonk and double bassist Damon Smith.

A set of varied compositions from Frank Denyer, most of them of a delicate acoustic intimacy, with works for female singers & flute, two works for koto, a string quartet, one for flute and electronics and the two-part "Frog" for a bowed stringed instrument of Denyer design, the "sneh"; uncategorizable music of sublime imagination and unusual approaches.

Swedish bass player Egil Kalman, here on modular syntheizer, joins Norwegian guitarist Fredrik Rasten for a lovely album of drifting electronics and beautifully entwining acoustic guitar, unhurriedly developing environments of warm, slowly evolving chord structures that show influences from players like Catherine Lamb or the Wandelweiser collective.

Recorded during Ken Vandermark's residency titled "The Unexpectable", in Krakow in 2017 at Klub Alchemia, plus concerts at Hevre and Black Box in Germany, with duos, trios and quartets in a variety of configurations with artists including Ken Vandermark, Nate Wooley, Ikue Mori, John Butcher, Kent Kessler, Steve Noble, Mette Rasmussen, Eddie Prevost, Joe McPhee &c.

The performing duo of pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and drummer Dag Magnus Narvesen bring two strong voices from different generations of free improvisers, creating a unique sound that merges the creative energies and vocabulary of each in dynamic and subtle expressions of vigorous movements that unravel in layered improvisation, rewarding their listeners.

Derek Bailey's impressive guests for his July 1982 "Company" concert at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts were pianist Ursula Oppens, singer Julie Tippetts and pianist Keith Tippett, violinist/electronics wizard Philipp Wachsmann, guitarist Fred Frith, trombonist George Lewis, harpist Anne LeBaron, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa and sound artist Akio Suzuki.

The 2nd of 2 albums from Derek Bailey's July 1982 "Company" concert at London's Institute of Contemporary Arts with pianist Ursula Oppens, singer Julie Tippetts and pianist Keith Tippett, violinist/electronics wizard Philipp Wachsmann, guitarist Fred Frith, trombonist George Lewis, harpist Anne LeBaron, bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa and sound artist Akio Suzuki.

Lapsteel guitarist and electronic artist Mike Cooper and percussionist Mark Wastell, employing a paiste 32" tam tam and a shruti box, pay homage to the large acoustic sound mirrors used in Britain from 1916 to 1930 as an early form or radar, each of their detailed improvisation referencing one of the locations on the British south and northeast coasts.

Working together often over decades, free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozumi and composer/improvising pianist Masahiko Satoh are heard here in a 1997 duo concert at C S Aka-Renga, in Yamaguchi City, Japan, for an engaging concert of energetic interaction, emphasizing Satoh's percussive approach to the keys and Sabu's inherent melodicism in his approach to drumming.

Working together often over decades, free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozumi and composer/improvising pianist Masahiko Satoh are heard here in a 1997 duo concert at C S Aka-Renga, in Yamaguchi City, Japan, for an engaging concert of energetic interaction, emphasizing Satoh's percussive approach to the keys and Sabu's inherent melodicism in his approach to drumming.

"This Time", "That Time" and "Next Time", the three titles from the first duo meeting of Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone and cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm, also bringing electronics, the distillation of their playing outside of Survival Unit III a revelation in intensity and unconventional creativity, fueled by magnificent playing and an empathetic rapport.

Norwegian guitarist and composer Ivar Grydeland and US guitarist, improviser and composer Henry Kaiser met in the studio with the goal of working on a soundtrack for a classic Norwegian silent film, "Ellsworths flyveekspedition 1925"; in a single take they recorded this amazingly detailed and beautiful improvisation, from which these 5 astounding tracks were selected.

Having performed as duo in 2016 at Jazzfest Berlin, this album distills the chamber-like qualities of pianist Takase and saxophonist Laubrock bring, making playful interaction sophisticated through surprising twists and turns, each succinct conversation showing their empathetic connection, brilliant technical skills, and effortless ability to communicate.

After recording the Not Two trio album "Five Spontaneous Ones", the trio of Catalan saxophonist Albert Cirera, English/Swiss drummer Nicolas Field and Polish bass player Rafalm Mazur planned a concert at Klub Dragon in Poland, but when Mazur was unavailable, Field & Cirera played the concert as a duo, recording this exceptional sax & drum free jazz album.

A live performance at London's Cafe OTO from composer Thanos Chrysakis, performing compositions focused on the deeper reeds from composers Christian Wolff, Iancu Dumitrescu, Hannes Kerschbaumer, Georges Aperghis, and Chrysakis himself, in configurations from solo to quintet, with Tim Hodgkinson, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Heather Roce, Yoni Silver, and Shadanga Duo.

Gamelan Son of Lion partners Philip Corner and Evan Schwartzman perform this Fluxus composition where two pianists play piano notes on the chromatic scale in relationship to numbers counted out loud from 1 to 88, forward and backward, creating an unusual texture and counterpoint that when taken as a whole becomes hypnotic and obsessively absorbing; inexplicably interesting.

Recalling their brokenresearch LP from 2007, trumpeter Nate Wooley and drummer/percussionist Paul Lytton focus on unusual techniques and approaches to their instruments, using amplifiers and electronics to investigate new frontiers in interactive improvisation, each creating inexplicably interesting, masterfully interwoven sonic material.

A constantly evolving electro-acoustic composition for percussion and microphones from the Swiss-based duo of Vincent Glanzmann and Gerry Hemingway, using cymbals, floor tom & percussion, directed by both graphic and collective compositional approaches while applying carefully controlled amplification to prodigious extended techniques on their instruments.

The first recording of the playfully detailed improvisation of two NY collaborators with nearly two decades of work together--Andrea Parkins on accordion, objects & electronics, and Matthew Ostrowski on electronics--improvising in the studio for eight explorative works that seamlessly mesh acoustic and electronics, seemingly forward and backward at the same time!

A wonderfully assertive acoustic dialog between London improviser Phil Durrant on mandolin and octave mandolin, and Norwegian percussionist living in Leeds, UK, Emil Karlsen, the two focusing on a quick flow of ideas that ebb and flow naturally, each complementing the other in tightly defined interactions, creating a consistent sound of rapid texture and impetus.

ZNR, the French trio of Hector Zazou, Joseph Racaille, and Patrick Portella, in a deluxe box set combining both of the official ZNR releases, "Barricades III" and "Traite de Mechanique Populaire" along with 2 CDs of additional released and unreleased material and a book of memories, histories, reflections, photographs, documents, interviews and other memorabilia.

"Efflorescence", to reach an optimum stage of development or blossom, as heard through four studio-recorded CDs, expanding on the warm and enduring duo of saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp in beautifully flowing, succinct improvisations with a lyrical inclination, allowing for exploration through the sophisticated support each brings; beautiful.

Filled with mystery and innuendo, the duo of French pianist and keyboardist Loris Binot, performing on prepared piano, prepared Fender Rhodes, Moog & electronics, and French-based accordionist Emilie Skrijelj, also on samples & electronics, are heard in a recording at the performing arts theater at CCAM in Vandoeuvre-les-Nancy for two extended and superbly intriguing improvisations.

Recording at the magnificent cathedral at Berner Münster in Switzerland during the 2017 Zoom In Festival, the improvising string duo of violist Frantz Loriot and cellist Theresa Wong, also on voice, performed this extended work of creative string interaction, energetic and idiosyncratic and wonderfully expressive, enhanced by the natural resonance of the space.

Translating to "sketch", the duo of Japanese improvising guitarist Tetuzi Akiyama and French guitarist Hervé Boghossian recorded these sketches in the studio in Marseille, France, seven succinct free improvisations of an open and intuitively lyrical nature performed on acoustic guitars, in a gorgeous album of uniquely spacious interlaced string improvisation.

The collaboration of Quebec bassist Eric Normand and Australian saxophonist Jim Denley, both dedicated experimenters, in their third duo album under the Plant name, here recording live at the 2019 Syndey, Australia NowNow Festival, with Denley also playing bass flute, fruits and objects, and Normand using objects and playing the bass amp itself.

Recording in Chile at the University Austral in 2018, trumpeter Benjamin Vergara and guitarist Fred Frith take us on two extended journeys through free electroacoustic improvisation, Frith's providing diverse and intense sonic environments over which Vergara's virtuosic and intuitive approach to the trumpet soars; impressive, creative, cathartic.

Bringing together NY drummer/percussionist John Hollenbeck, also on prepared piano, with Berlin bassist Bernhard Meyer for an album that blends textural rock, electronic and jazz approaches in 9 elusively calm yet structurally turbulent pieces, using complex systems of cross rhythms against atmospheric immersion, occasionally disruptive but generally eccentrically controlled and exploratory.

An harmonically rich album of spacious guitar interaction from two Argentinian guitarists and composers--Catriel Nievas and Tomas Cabado--who also work in the trio Merce / Cabado / Nievas, a minimal yet satisfying set of 8 pieces that interact through stereo positioning, harmonic disturbance and long decay, the effect mesmerizing and beautifully peaceful.

Renowned pianist and composer Burton Greene joins French composer and improvising guitarist Guillaume Gargaud performing on acoustic guitar, for four duo improvisations recorded at Tilo's Ark, in Weesp, The Netherlands in 2019, in crisp & often rapid dialog that uses space and reflective moments well, the duo joined by Tilo Baumheier on flute for three pieces.

A work of silence and intervention from Manhattan-based Chinese composer and sound artist Bin Li presenting two versions of the title track, with Stefan Thut on viol & voice on the 1st version, and voice only on the 2nd, using the locations of Manhattan and Gimmelwald, Switzerland as the background of careful viol and voice placement; intriguing and compelling.

Christoph Nicolaus began working with the stone harp around 2007, a block of granite with a slanted top that is deeply notched to create fins that resemble a loaf of bread, played by "bowing" the sides with wet hands causing each to vibrate in unique and beautiful tones; this album collects 13 compositions & improvisations performed between 2008 and 2018, in rich and uniquely evocative sound.

Four duets of gracefully moving music that focuses on tone without repeating melodies or rhythms, from composer Kory Reeder in his first release, performed by Erin Cameron & Luke Ellard both on bass clarinet; Jonathan Kierspe (saxophone) & Samuel Anderson (bass trombone); Alaina Clarice & Linda Jenkins, both on flute; and Mia Detwiler (violin) & Kory Reeder (piano).

An album off free improvisations culled from the long-running Minneapolis duo of amplified acoustic guitarist Joseph Damman and multi-instrumentalist Milo fine, recorded in concert at Studio Toile d'Angles in 2018, with Fine performing on percussion, a Bosendorfer imperial piano, B-flat clarinet & marimba, for 8 pieces of explorative and accomplished dialog.

Returning to their duo work together 17 years after their erstwhile records eh, guitarist Burkhard Stangl and turntablist Dieb13 explore and expand the sonic properties of their work in this new "Garden Of Noises", using electronics and recordings of soundscapes from Paris and Montreuil, recorded live at Instants Chavires in France, 2019.

A remarkable set of duos recorded live at three concerts during April 2019 in Bloomington IN, Nashville, TN and Columbus, OH, between Polyorchard leader, double bassist David Menestres, and trombonist Jeb Bishop, two free improvisers using extended and unusual approaches to their instruments as a means to fascinating dialog as they engage their listeners.

An informed set of creative iprovisations recorded in the studio and drawing clearly from the traditional jazz idiom between German pianist Klaus Treuheit and NY drummer Lou Grassi, performing original 4-part compositions including the "Misterioso", "L'espace Sonore", and "Lament # Pb".

Five "Soleil Clandestin" soundscapes using abstract voice, guitar, electronics, field recordings & percussion from sound artists Bruno Duplant and Pierre Gerard, on the surface peaceful, minimal and using space and silence, but buried inside are disquieting additions through vocal abstractions placed in unusual position to the sound; curious and captivating.

2 CDs of works for violin, piano & vibraphone, composed and performed by two young American composers and members of the ensemble Ordinary Affects, who have recorded music by the Jurg Frey, Magnus Granberg, Michael Pisaro, Eva Maria Houben, &c.; the 1st disc presents the Feldman-esque work of JPA Falzone, while the 2nd contains an exquisite new work by Morgan Evans-Weiler.

Reprising their 1972 duo album recorded in a loft in London and employing electronics, the duo of saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer John Lytton revisit that collaboration in this studio album recorded in Chicago, a purely acoustic encounter of remarkable dialog that shows the wealth of experience, skill, and camaraderie developed through the last 50 years.

A tour de force saxophone duo between two masterful New York players--alto saxophonist Tim Berne and drummer Nasheet Waits--recording live at The Sultan Room in Brooklyn NY in 2019, in two impressive dialogs: "Tensile" for nearly 40 minutes of articulate expression and powerful rhythmic interaction; and the more introspective "5See" of impressive technique and intention.

Chicago percussionist Frank Rosaly relocated to Amsterdam in 2016, but his 20+ year collaboration & friendship with Chicago saxophonist Dave Rempis continues, as evidenced in this live performance at Elastic Arts in 2018 during Rosaly's visit back to the Windy City, rewarding listeners with 2 CDs experiencing the two reacquaint through beautifully paced, adventurous dialog.

A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).

The second album for the duo of Japanese avant percussionist living in New Mexico Tatsuya Nakatani and Asheville, NC guitarist Shane Parish (Ahleuchatistas), recorded live at Static Age Records during Nakatani's extensive 2018 tour, finding both players intensely involved in their dialog, through highly interactive and deeply reflective passages.

Guitarist Barry Chabala merges musique concréte and improvisation, using recordings from painter and visual artist Lance Austin Olsen that Olsen recorded in his workshop while creating a series of large collaged and folded paintings--mutterings, physical sounds and other ephemera--which he sent to Chabala to use as a backdrop for these spaciously meditative guitar improvisations.

With intricate interplay and textural passages, Chicago improvising cellist Tomeka Reid and UK pianist Alexander Hawkins present their first collaboration, an exciting set of rapid interchanges of pointillistic playing and introspective playfullness, 9 collective dialogs alongside Leroy Jenkin's piece for "Albert Ayler (His Life Was Too Short)".

After their 2018 Off Label release Radiant Imprints, the dynamic pairing of James Brandon Lewis on tenor sax and drummer Chad Taylor, also on Mbira, are heard live at the Jazz Festival Willisau in 2019 for an exciting concert where the two present and reference pieces by Coltrane, Mal Waldron, Duke Ellington, & Dewey Redman, alongside original work from each; superb!

Not Two Records celebrates their 20th Anniversary with a festival in Wlen, Poland, inviting 13 of the finest European & US improvisers--Guy, Leandre, Mazur, Nilssen-Love, Kaucic, Fernandez, Gustafsson, Vandermark, Trzaska, Brotzmann, Swell, Holmlander, & Homburg--performing in configurations from duo to quintet, released in a limited 5-CD wooden box set.

Japanese pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura (The NatSat Duo) launch their project Pentas with this album, their 7th as a duo, with compositions from each musician and dedicated as a tribute to Eric and Chris Stern, elder inspirational fans who spoke with the duo after the NY premiere of this music, upon learning that Eric passed away that very night.

The 2nd Aggregat album expands the first release's trio of Elliott Sharp (just on reeds this time), Brad Jones (bass) and Ches Smith (drums) into a quintet with Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Terry L. Green (trombone) for an amazing set of free jazz compositions.

Two trumpeters--Nate Wooley from New York City, and Torben Snekkestad from Norway, also performing on soprano sax--met in Copenhagen in 2015 for this live concert "KoncertKirken--Blagards Plads", a monumental meeting of exploratory and investigative improvisation, using unusual and unorthodox techniques on their instruments to present 3 unique and singular dialogs.

Two massive drone works for organ and pre-recorded tracks commissioned by Musica Festival Strasbourg for organist Hampus Lindwall, with tapes by Emanuel Schmelzer-Ziringer, each piece titled anagrammatically (ie. Nagro = Organ) and recorded with the composer at the Manufacture d'orgues Thomas and Orgelbau Klais organ in the Collegiale Sainte-Waudru, in Mons, Belgium.

Extremely patient compositions for electronics, cello, guitar and tenor sax from French sound and visual artist Pierre Gerard: "Air" using recordings from his duo partner of tenor saxophonist Bertrand De Lamalle with long sections of silence; "Cavity" employs previously recorded guitar improvisations that interact with Gerard's live electronic improvisations.

During the 2019 concert series dedicated to improvised music, "Improdimensija", Catalan pianist Agusti Fernández met with Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas in the MAMAstudio in Vilnius to record the two part, 3 sections-each "Improdimensions", a masterwork of piano and sax dialog of incredible technique and taste, from rapid runs to profoundly impressionist sections.

While developing a soundtrack with violinist and violist Anne Bakker, Rutger Zuydervelt aka Machinefabriek, began editing a series of Bakker's improvisations, creating new works from those recordings by layering them into succinct short works or "scenes"--twenty of them in the end--that he sequenced into this album of confidently dramatic and delicately beautiful episodes.

Recorded over 2 days in a Chicago studio in configurations from duos to an octet, drummer Quin Kirchner provides the compositions on this double CD for 11 pieces, alongside works by Frank Foster, Phil Cohran, Sun Ra & Carla Bley, presented as a story or a journey of differing styles and forms, made cohesive by Kirchner's remarkable drumming and coherently diverse interests.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Reissuing this astonishing 1995 studio recording, capturing the first encounter between two legendary free jazz performers--UK saxophonist Evan Parker on tenor and soprano saxophones and pianist Augustí Fernández--in an 8-part dialog of mercurial speed balanced with moments of passionate introspection, resissued with new mastering, restoring this essential meeting.

Free improvisations and a few fascinating covers of work by Cecil Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Johnny Dyani from the duo of double bassist Damon Smith and legendary drummer Alvin Fielder, showing intense and unusual approaches in great rhythmic dialog.

A meeting in the studio of long-time friends and collaborators, pianist Matthew Shipp and Daniel Carter performing on alto, tenor & soprano saxes, clarinet & trumpet, having played together in many groupings this is only their first duo recording, in a thoughtful set of free improvisations with an innate lyricism and beautiful sense of pacing; masterful and evolved.

Working in the Elektronisches Studio, in Basel, Switzerland, the duo of electronic artist and guitarist Volker Böhm and drummer/percussionist Benjamin Brodbeck, also employing sonic objects of indeterminate source, create a fascinating set of 9 sonic compositions driven by rhythmic interaction, using space and focused recording techniques in superbly timed dialogs.