Continuity, Fragility, Resonance is an extended compositions by Jürg Frey orchestrated for an octet of a string quartet and a saxophone quartet, here recorded after the 2021 premier of the work in a 2022 3-day recording session in Bern, Switzlerland in the presence of the composer at the Auditorium of Zentrum Paul Klee; gorgeous and delicate.

Referencing the traditional dance of Salento named for the tarantula, this Italian 9-piece improvising ensemble spent several days developing the unique orchestration, melodies and themes of these eight pieces, recorded after the OSIMU festival held in Taviano, using an acousmatic recording device to optimize the details of their insightful and often biting conversations.

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An extended work for 10 improvisers using a composite composition of graphic scores, open notations, and two trio sub-pieces titled "skelf" (electric guitar, double bass and drums) and "antiphon" (violin, viola and double bass), all directed by UK saxophonist Matt London in an ensemble with reeds, winds, brass, strings, electric guitar, and Mark Sanders on drums.

The two volumes of "Heliocentric Worlds", recorded 7 months apart in 1965, represent perhaps one of greatest chapters in Sun Ra's legacy, bringing together his immense orchestration skills with future-leaning free jazz, allowing his players expanse inside disciplined compositions that reflect on both space and the then-new freedom explored by jazz soloists.

Joker brings together 12 vocalists, many core members of the Ambiances Magnetiques/Musique Actuelle collective including Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Michel F Cote, Lori Freedman, &c, performing unusual works of voice and narration composed by Joane Hetu.

"The Invisible Story" was produced over a four year period, and completed just last ear: This work deals with the ideas of Bela Hamvas (1897-1968), a Hungarian literary figure whose fate was literally sealed by his country's history. In...

Swiss pianist/composer Luzia von Wyl and her Ensemble of jazz and classical performers presents von Wyl's compositions that borrow from modern and early jazz, chamber music and world sources, in works that draw on her experiences traveling and performing through the world.

Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.

Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.

The premiere of late composer Julius Eastman's work for an eclectically orchestrated chamber ensemble, presented in 1974 at Composers Forum in Albany, NY, a uniquely joyful and absorbing work rendered in this original inspired performance that continues to bring interest to Eastman's work, now remastered by Jim O'Rourke and released in a deluxe double LP gatefold edition.

Two works written for a group of Australian performers living in Berlin--Jon Heilbron, Rebecca Lane, Jess Aszodi & Sam Dunscombe--by Australian composer and pianist Anthony Pateras, A Dread Of Voids developed for a residency at the Archipel Festival in Geneva after enduring a pandemic quarantine; and Patterned Language, composed for the Astra Chamber Music Society.

Composed for and recorded with the International Contemporary Ensemble, NY drummer Kate Gentile's 13-movement composition biome ii integrates improvisation into a chamber music ensemble, each movement describing fictional flora or fauna from a biome of creatures as quirky and fascinating as the music Gentile has developed for this idiosyncratic and exceptional symphony.

Formed as a collective in 2016, Baraque à Free brings together young free improvisers from Toulouse, France, who leverage influences from jazz, contemporary and rock forms, creating passages that include harmonious tranquillity, noisy spaces, rhythmic rage, math rock, and hints of orchestral chamber music; a positive album of musical statement and emotional release.

Fusing many styles into a strange jazz-like environment fueled by exotica, electronica, orchestral forms and unusual transitions, Dutch multi-instrumentalist & composer Jeroen Kimman, along with ten Amsterdam musicians including John Dikeman, Koen Nutters, Michael Moore and Mark Morse, present Kimman's unusual and often rubbery musical vision while continually fascinating his listeners.

Frog Squad is a Memphis, TN ensemble led by guitarist & composer David Collins, whose compositions provide song templates for improvised music under the influence of traditional jazz and jazz/rock fusion, psychedelic, contemporary and experimental forms, here in eleven works filled with compellingly strong melodic elements and surprisings twists and turns.

The fourth collaboration between composer & saxophonist Ron Caines and arranger & saxophonist Martin Archer, recorded in Brighton between 2022 & 2023 with a cast of UK luminary improvisers--Charlotte Keefe, Chris Sharkey, Graham Clark, Gus Garside and Johnny Hunter--chosen for their applicability to each piece, in configurations from solo to full octet ensemble.

An introduction to Amsterdam-based percussionist and composer Domen Cizej through five studio-recorded CDs of differing configurations of his ensembles, one album each from the 8-piece Domen Cizej Percussion Ensemble, the trio Domen Cizej Koška Čias, the Domen Cizej Duo and Trio, and Cizej solo; a set of diverse and upbeat settings with liner notes by Joe Morris.

The title and text drawn from Samuel Beckett's last poem and meditation on language, "what is the word" and also his "Brief Dream", plus a poem from Barra O Seaghdha and two 18th century Edo Haikus, Barry Guy's exquisite work about life in transit through eight movements is performed with a stellar ensemble including Agusti Fernandez, Maya Homburg, Lucas Niggli, Percuy Pursgolve, &c.

To celebrate drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday, Café Oto hosted four concerts once a week in June, 2022, each a differing configuration from Prévost's history; this first concert brings together Prévost with four horn players, NO Moore on guitar and Marcio Matttons on double bass, for varying duos, trios and full ensemble performances.

To celebrate drummer/percussionist Eddie Prévost's 80th birthday, Café Oto hosted four concerts once a week in June, 2022, each a differing configuration from Prévost's history; this third concert presents combinations of improvisers from Prévost's weekly workshop series through diverse groupings from trio to septet.

A powerful set of succint compositions, themes and sea shanties for the soundtrack for Danielle Krudy and Bridget Savage Cole's film Blow the Man Down , scored through the collaboration of composers Jordan Dykstra, who also performs on viola, piano, prepared piano, vibraphone & percussion, and Brian Mcomber, who also performs on keyboards and percussion.

The original score composed by Brooklyn violist and multi-instrumental Jordan Dykstra for the documentary movie Globes directed by Nina de Vroome, exploring the relationship between bees and humans through their history and affect on the global economy and our cultures, realized in a diverse set of contemporary musical forms from orchestral to electronica.

A much-needed reissue of this 2000 CD of three orchestral works from late composer Morton Feldman--"String Quartet and Orchestra" (1973), "Oboe and Orchestra" (1976), and "Atlantis" (1959)--demonstrating the evolution of his incredible control in working with tone, mood and instrumental combinations, from his earliest large-scale work to later mature works.

Reissuing three essential album from trumpeter Bill Dixon's work in the 60's, first his 1962 album with saxophonist Archie Shepp in configurations of trio & quartet; then Dixon's septet album from 1964 in two compositions; and his orchestra album from 1967, showing the evolution of the trumpeter's work, approach to soloing, and his unique sense of orchestration.

A unique and fascinating edition of the Leap of Faith Orchestra, bringing special guests Jimmy Zhao, Yazhi Gao, Jiaxin Winky Wan, Ziya Gao, and Jiangcheng Guan performing on Chinese instruments to join with the core duo of David Peck on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice, along with percussionist/drummer Michael Knoblach.

A special edition of the Turbulence wind ensemble, part of the Leap of Faith Orchestra, in a live to 2-track recording with live processing, extending the core group of wind & brass players David Peck, Michael Caglianone, Dennis Livingston, Bob Moores and Duane Reeds with trumpeter John Fugarino and drummer percussionist, who brought flute & sax player Bonnie Kane of WOO fame.

The extended horn section from the Boston collective Leap of Faith Orchestra is heard in this ensemble session with reeds and winds from David Peck and Michael Caglianone, and brass from Eric Dahlman, Bob Moores and John Fugarino on trumpets and Duane Reed on double bell euphonium, plus Jared Seabrook on drums and all members performing on the Evil Clown extended percussion arsenal.

Irish guitarist and composer Scott Fields has worked with the poems of late New York writer Steve Dalachinsky over the years, here bringing together an ensemble of improvisers, electronic and contemporary classical performers to set a suite of six poems by Dalachinsky sung by soprano Barbara Schachtner, with interludes between each weaving them into a larger and satisfying opus.

Surprises abound with Lucas Niggli's approach to improvised composition, using 40 playing cards that his ten-piece ensemble interpret, drawing on inspired performers from improvised, experimental and contemporary classical music, their game performed over three rounds, allowing an incredibly diverse set of approaches to reveal themselves on each unique track.

Bringing together a vast range of jazz, song form, theater, and experimental approaches into a joyfully exciting journey of musical forms from German pianist and composer Simon Rummel, recorded with an versatile 11-piece ensemble at LOFT in Cologne, including Georg Wissel and Joris Ruhl on reeds, Matthias Muche and Carl Ludwig Hubsch on brass, and Michael Griener on drums.

Drawing on ideas from the 60s and 70--Ornette Coleman, John and Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry, and Charlie Haden--bassist Vilhelm Bromander assembles an accomplished ensemble of Stockholm improvisers to perform three works of warmth and spiritual power, incorporating jazz, world and contemporary music in a stunning and rich album that exudes a wealth of experience and musical clarity.

Drawing on ideas from the 60s and 70--Ornette Coleman, John and Alice Coltrane, Don Cherry, and Charlie Haden--bassist Vilhelm Bromander assembles an accomplished ensemble of Stockholm improvisers to perform three works of warmth and spiritual power, incorporating jazz, world and contemporary music in a stunning and rich album that exudes a wealth of experience and musical clarity.

A collaboration between NY saxophonist & composer Steve Lehman and the French Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ), performing compositions by both Lehman and ONJ's artistic director, Frédéric Maurin that blur the boundaries between jazz, experimental and composed forms, using spectral harmonies and real-time interactive electronics developed at IRCAM; powerful!

Turbulence is the extended horn section for the Boston collective Leap of Faith Orchestra, along with guests on other instruments, here in a large ensemble performance with Bonnie Kane (sax), Dennis Livingston (flute & winds), John Fugarino, Bob Moores & Eric Dahlman (trumpets), Duane Reed (double bell euphonium), with the rhythm section of John Loggia (drums) and Scott Samenfeld (bass).

Three expansive works from composer and keyboardist/pianist Alex Zethson, developing concepts from themes and motifs developed over more than a decade, recorded over two years with exceptional care as he and his collaborators create subtle and beautifully evocative sonic environments that seamlessly incorporate acoustic, electronic, drone and feedback elements.

Three expansive works from composer and keyboardist/pianist Alex Zethson, developing concepts from themes and motifs developed over more than a decade, recorded over two years with exceptional care as he and his collaborators create subtle and beautifully evocative sonic environments that seamlessly incorporate acoustic, electronic, drone and feedback elements.

The acclaimed daxophonist Hans Reichel meets shruti stick and metallophone inventor Ganesh Anandan for these expressive and unconventional dialogs.

Combining free jazz and post-punk rock forms with pointed commentary about issues of race, gender, the pandemic, and political autonomy, through provocative vocal works expressing modern angst, from three Asian-American female performers living in NYC: tenor saxophonist Ayumi Ishito, drummer Wen-Ting Wu, and activist and Tiananmen Square survivor Rose Tang on voice, guitar & piano.

NY percussionist Billy Fox in a septet playing compositions influenced by music from South Asia, The Middle East and Africa, filtered into compelling compositions for jazz ensemble.

A commissioned work by Stanser Musik-Tage created during Frith's residency at the Benediktinerinnen-kloster Maria-Richenbach and premiered at the Festival on April 22, 2004.

The 16th release in John Zorn's series "The Book of Angels" reworking the Masada songbook, here with the Masada String Trio of Greg Cohen, Mark Feldman, and Erik Friedlander.

Spanish pianist based in NYC Eva Novoa has since 2017 led this international but definitely NY-oriented piano trio of Japanese bassist based in NY Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver, here in her first album on 577, her sixth as a leader, presenting eight Novoa compositions of restlessly probing, dynamically interactive and inherently melodic free improvisation.

The full two-hour performance of Cornelius Cardew's entire 193-page legendary Treatise graphic score, performed at Iklectik in London, England on January 28, 2017 in an 11-member ensemble of some of London's most interesting improvisers including participants in Scratch Orchestra, in a double CD release with liner notes by AMM founder Eddie Prevost.

Derek Bailey's Company Week between June 29th and July 3rd in 1982 brought together a superb set of free and open-minded improvisers--including Keith Tippets, Phillip Waschmann, George Lewis, Julie Tippets, Fred Frith, &c--performing "Epiphany" (sides A & B) as a continuous work for all musicians, and "Epiphanies" (sides C & D), shorter pieces of smaller groupings.

Eight sophisticated chamber pieces composed by Linda Catlin Smith and realized by the Canadian Apartment House ensemble, including a solo piano performed by Philip Thomas, a piano duo with Thomas and Mark Knoop, and works for percussion & cello, 2 quintet pieces for strings, percussion and winds, and two 7-piece conducted works with two percussionists, strings and brass.

Recording in Altes Wannenbad Gera, in Gera, Germany, an ensemble of performers associated with Ensemble Open Music Gera and Ensemble Zeitkratzer perform James Tenney's work exploring concepts of tuning systems, sound/noise, consonance/dissonance, sound/silence, and organisation of time, in three pieces that use a climax-oriented form Tenney refers to as "swell pieces".

Following his collaboration with Montreal's Quatuor Bozzini, British Columbia-based composer Christopher Butterfield draws on members of Aventa Ensemble and the Victoria Symphony to perform four works of "knotty contrapuntal figures and an ever-changing instrumental palette", mischievous works of interesting progression and percussive punctuation.

Investigating the experimental legacy of Victorian polymath Alexander J. Ellis, author of the 1880 paper, The History of Musical Pitch, composer Seamus Cater uses 74 tuning forks tuned to represent Elliss research of just ratios of 480Hz, in three compositions focusing on the most consonant tones of the system, and balancing them through minimalist chamber work from a 7-piece ensemble.

Two works for voice and chamber orchestra performed by the UK Explore Ensemble under the direction of Nicholas Moroz, and a multi-tracked vocal work by Lotte Betts-Dean, rich and understated works of rich harmonics and atmospheric overtones composed by Catherine Lamb, placing phonetic vocals in space and ambiance, eschewing words for tone, texture and motion; mesmerizing.

A fortuitous 2015 concert from the lowercase chamber/ea-improv octet Suspensão, captured live at Ler Devagar Bookstore in Lisbon from Ernesto Rodrigues (viola & harp), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Eduardo Chagas (trombone), Antonio Chaparreiro (guitar), Rodrigo Pinheiro (piano & melodica), Miguel Mira (bass), Carlos Santos (electronics) and Jose Oliveira (percussion).

Configured as an electroacoustic chamber nonet led by Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & crackle box, with two saxophones, bass clarinet, piano, electric guitar, double bass, electronics & percussion, in two live, highly concentrative and subtly detailed improvisations performed in 2023 at O'Culto da Ajuda, during Ciclo Indeterminação na Música do Séc. XXI.

Fifty years after pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach joined the Manfred Schoof Quintet with the Peter Brotzmann Trio and named it the Globe Unity Orchestra, the ensemble is larger and stronger than ever, here celebrating the milestone in a band of 18 of the globe's most impressive improvisers, recorded live in a commanding concert at Jazzfest Berlin 2016.

The second volume of the project heard in the previous Creative Sources album, "Suspensao", here in a 9-piece electroacoust ensemble with viola, cello, doublebass, alto sax, trombone, piano, electric guitar, computer and percussion, suspenseful lowercase music that unfolds in mysterious, beautiful and rewarding ways.

Creating structured works from real time improvisations, Guy Seger's (Univers Zero) large ensemble of absolutely impressive players breaks down to smaller grouping to record the layers of each piece, which Seger then uses as raw material for each finished piece, as elements of rock, jazz, composed, and experimental forms merge into accomplished and engaging compositions.

Recorded during the 2019 Kraków Jazz Autumn Festival, NY trombonist Steve Swell leads a series of small groups and a large ensemble, recording at Radio Kraków and at Alchemia with some of Europe's most active improvisers: Gebhard Ullmannm, Elisabeth Harnik, Niklas Barno, Paal Nilssen-Love, Jon Rune Strom, Carlos Zingaro, Mikolaj Trzaska, Signe Emmeluth, Hanne de Backer, Elisabeth Coudoux, & Per Ake Holmlander.

Taking a turn into the Caribbean and the music of Don Drummond, trombonist Samuel Blaser assembled a new group with Alex Wilson on keys, Ira Coleman on bass, Dion Parson on drums, Michael Blake on tenor sax and Soweto Kinch on alto and vocals, with guest performances by Carroll Thompson, dubs by the late Lee 'Scratch' Perry, and a multi-bone section including Steve Turre & John Fedchock.

Assembling a masterful set of New York jazz luminaries including Michael Attias, Ben Goldberg, John Hebert, Thomas Heberer, Sam Ospovat, Chris Speed, Omar Tamez and Kenny Warren, pianist Angelic Sanchez tailors her compositions to these players through nine original compositions, along with Ellington's "Lady of the Lavender Mist" and "Tristeza" by Amarndo Carvajal.

The Swiss-based Ever Present Orchestra, dedicated to the presentation of later works by composer Alvin Lucier written for this orchestra and centered on pieces for the electric guitar, in two works of differing characteristics: "Arrigoni Bridge" for 3 lap steel electric guitars + violin, sax & cello; and "Flips" for two guitars, bass and glockenspiel.

Merging contemporary and traditional instruments, including the spilapipa (a fipple flute), hardanger fiddle, the Bilgoraj suka (a vertical fiddle), alongside prepared piano, organ, trumpet, tuba, baritone sax & voice, Mats Gustafsson's ensemble merges folk, experimental forms, improv & free jazz in a conduction shaped by the participants; absolutely unique & fascinating.

Forming his NU Ensemble in 1997 to merge free-jazz, improv, noise and contemporary forms, Mats Gustafsson presented Hidros One for 9 improvisers, tape & conductor that same year, progressing over 25 years to this 9th conduction of the Hidros concept in his largest ensemble yet: 25 musicians in two 9-piece ensembles plus soloists, captured live at the 2022 Avant Art Festival in Warsaw, Poland.

An exceptional collection of works by composer Frank Denyer written between 1973 and 2021, especially the monumental 5-part "Five Views of the Path", performed by the UK Octandre Ensemble led by composer Christian Mason and conductor Jon Hargreaves, which focuses on modern composers with an emphasis on works of timbre and ritual, Denyer's work being an ideal match.

A stunning album that effortlessly blends styles from jazz, electronics, minimalism and contemporary forms, rendered by an eclectic group of primarily NY artists including Nate Wooley, Jennifer Choi, James Brandin Lews, Oscar Noriega, Anna Webber, Shahzad Ismaily and Smith himself, in an exhilarating and well-balanced set of Smith compositions that inform and groove spectacularly!

One of the largest ensembles associated with Creative Sources, merging acoustic and electronic improvisers, this conduction by violist Ernesto Rodrigues at Torre Do Tombo in Lisbon in 2023 was the opening for an exhibition about the struggle of college students against the Portuguese dictatorship during the years 1970-74, leading to the Carnation Revolution.

Two improvisations by saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet & violinist Dan Warburton recorded in Paris & Melbourne parking garages 14 years apart, registering the behavior and characteristics of environmental and instrumental sound within these unique spaces, edited by Eric La Casa and Philip Samartzis as a 4-channel master by synchronizing two sets of independent stereo recordings.

Merging jazz organizations, Norwegian trumpeter & composer Thomas Johansson brings together the third stream large band Scheen Jazzorkester with the electric jazz band Cortex (Kristoffer Alberts (baritone & tenor saxophone), Ola Høyer (double bass) and Dag Erik Knedal Andersen (drums)), for a rousing, exciting and diverse live concert at Hamar Teater in Norway.

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

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

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

Three sides of Charles Mingus in this remastered reissue set: the 1961 Candid album Mingus Presents Mingus with the classic quartet of Eric Dolphy, Ted Curson and Dannie Richmond; then the Mercury release Pre-Bird from the same year, in ensembles performing the music of or influenced by Duke Ellington, along with the ambitious and brilliant through-composed work, "Half Mast Inhibition".

Giusto Chamber Orchestra performs three works for twelve strings by German composer and visual artist Nikolaus Gerszewski, whose music of shifting pitches, vibrations and volumes--compared with experimental sound & noise work--is influenced by composers Radulescu and Dumitrescu's spectral music, James Tenney's "swell form" and Cornelius Cardew's graphic scores.

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

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

Influenced by New York School composers, Fluxus, Oliveros Sonic Meditations, and Wandelweiser, Boston-based composer Nomi Epstein's fascinating scores take unique and experimental approaches to composition, heard here in three chamber works, two recorded by London's Apartment House, and a live recording from a 2019 concert in Berlin, "sounds for Berlin".

Two movements from a live score for the classic silent film Terje Vigen by Sjöström composed and produced by Swedish pianist & keyboardist Alex Zethson (Angles 9, VÖ, Fire! Orchestra), two long-form tracks of dark and sombre, pulsating folk-drone featuring Norwegian vocal ensemble EMBLA plus appearances by, i.e., Christer Bothén, Kristin Amparo Sundberg and Goran Kajfeš.

Influenced by the New York School of composers (Cage, Feldman, &c.), composer Paul Paccione revisits and revises five of his compositions written 40 years prior, performed by a 10-piece configuration of London's Apartment House; beautifully contemplative pieces linked together through common threads, the momentum of individual moments absorbed by the presence of the larger work.

Commissioned for the 2021 Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, John Butcher's fantastic work for 14 improvisers of unique approach employs what Butcher refers to as "psychological orchestration"--imagining how each performer might respond to particular ideas & their sonic company--the score, which includes photographic imagery, directing specific solos, duos & small groupings.

Three expansive works from composer and keyboardist/pianist Alex Zethson, developing concepts from themes and motifs developed over more than a decade, recorded over two years with exceptional care as he and his collaborators create subtle and beautifully evocative sonic environments that seamlessly incorporate acoustic, electronic, drone and feedback elements.

The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!

The 12th album from Martin Küchen's Angles ensemble is expanded and developed with notations and string arrangements from Alexander Zethson, and the voice of Elle-Kari Sander, in an engrossing album of powerfully compelling jazz rhythms & soloing, orchestral swells and emphatic songs pivoting around the mythology of the nymph Calypso, woven into contemporary concepts; sensational!

Seven works from Italian composer Marco Baldini, a follow-up to his well-received 2023 album Vesperi, this album introducing a variety of recent chamber works for strings from trios to quintets, performed by members of London's Apartment House ensemble, with the pieces "Selva", "Plutone" and "Otto" written specifically for Apartment House.

The current Polwechsel quartet of Werner Dafeldecker, Michael Moser, Martin Brandlmayr and Burkhard Beins — merging improvisation and contemporary forms for outstandingly paced and conceptualized performance — are joined by luminaries John Butcher, Klaus Lang, Magda Mayas, Andrea Neumann and Peter Ablinger, released in a deluxe 4-LP box set with a 32-page booklet.

While typically performing and releasing extended improvisations that last an hour or more, before each of the Evil Clown's Livestreamed performances they record a short improvisation, referred to as "Shorties", taking approaches that yield unique character to the longer works, collected here in 15 recordings with permutations of regular collective members.

A unique and fascinating edition of the Leap of Faith Orchestra, bringing special guests Jimmy Zhao, Yazhi Gao, Jiaxin Winky Wan, Ziya Gao, and Kaixin Hou performing on Chinese instruments to join with the core duo of David Peck on clarinets, saxophones, clarinets & flutes, Glynis Lomon on cello, aquasonic & voice, along with percussionist/drummer Michael Knoblach and bassist Scott Samenfeld.

Multi-reedist Michael Moore presents works from his catalog with the powerfully flexible 19-piece NDR Big Band, drawing from the history of his Ramboy label, including a tribute to Stravinsky, expanding a trio for clarinets, rearranging an Ellingtonian piece originally written for Available Jelly, and the title track, written for his mother as the first recording for Fragile Quartet.