The trio of saxophonist Paul Dunmall, drummer Mark Sanders, and guitarist Barry Edwards performing live at the University of West England in the fall of 2007.

A double CD of delicate music from the French composer Bruno Duplant, the first disc containing three chamber pieces exquisitely played by the Suidobashi Chamber Ensemble, the second disc a long piece for solo guitar, performed by Taku Sugimoto in a public park in Tokyo, incorporating an extraordinary variety of environmental sounds.

Electricity and metal trash object meet in a banging and sparking session of minimal improvisation from percussionist Elisabeth Flunger and electronic artist Tomas Tello.

This album documents guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist John Butcher's first head-to-head encounter in a recording studio, two titans of their instruments playing without overdubs in a single session for remarkable creative and sonic results.

A fierce display of raw free improvisation from a concert that closed the open-minded and essential New York City venue Tonic in 2007, from the the Full Blast trio of Peter Brotzmann on reeds, Marino Pliakas on electric bass, and Michael Wertmuller on drums, playing to a receptive and excited crowd, with Brotzmann speaking to the audience before the final burner.

The first meeting between the Austrian duo of bass clarinetist Susanna Gartmayer and Christof Kurzmann, here using ppool software, voice and rubber band, creating 4 elusive and immersive works that float somewhere in the void between experimental electronics, improvisation and song, creating diaphanous tension and mysterious environments; spellbinding.

The latest project from Rafal Gorzycki, leader of "Ecstasy Project" & "Sing Sing Penelope", here with music composed for poems and inspired by modern electronic, jazz and chamber music.

Saxophonist Alexandra Grimal in a quartet with guitarist Todd Neufeld, bassist Thomas Morgan, and drummer Tyshawn Sorey, a weaving and interstellar odyssey inspired by the night sky of the MacDowell Colony.

Swiss saxophonist & composerChristoph Irniger extends his long-running trio of bassist Raffaele Bossard and drummer Ziv Ravitz with Brooklyn alto saxophonist Loren Stillmand and German trombonist Nils Wogram, combining arrangement and improvisation in the jazz tradition, performed with inventive clarity and a strong regard for melody, making this an upbeat and creative album of modern jazz.

A quirky and fascinating duo of unusual instrumentation from Ute Wasserman's voice & whistles, and Aleks Kokowski on stroh instrumements (viola, violin), noseflute, bird calls, musical saw, &c..

A live recording from the Vilnius Jazz and Music of Silent Film Festival in 2016, performing for an adaptation of the silent film "The Lost World" by Arturas Jevdokimovas, by the trio of Martin Kuchen on sax & flute, Mark Tokar on bass, and Arkadijus Goesmanas on drums.

Kook is the duo of Norweigan guitarists Stian Larsen and Erik Ahlsen creating a series of improvised soundscapes using their guitars and live electronics; absorbing music of unusual tone, texture, and direction.

Pianist and accordionist Joao Lucas' music for Andresa Soares' choreography "It was a very abstract thing", structured acoustic improvisation with a slight electronic edge.

Authoritative and playful free improvisation in the European Free Jazz style, this 1978 album on Misha Mengelberg and Han Bennink's Instant Composers Pool (ICP) label, included the pianist and drummer along with Peter Brotzmann, Peter Bennink and Evan Paker on sax, Paul Rutherford on trombone, and Derek Bailey on guitar, in a much-need reissue of this seminal album.

Combining concerts from a number of festivals and venues between 2009 & 2017, this album presents the best of the collaboration between London free improvising vocalist Phil Minton and Austrian turntablist and experimenter Dieb13, each of them masterfully unleashed in overwhelmingly creative, outlandish, sometimes frightening/sometimes uproarious, truly unique music.

The first meeting for the trio of Tuvan free improvising vocalist & throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak, saxophonist Ned Rothenberg and turntablist Dieb13, captured in performance at Music Unlimited 33, at Alter Schlachthof Wels, Austria in 2019 for 2 improvisations — the 40 minute "Shave and a Haircut" and the 11 minute "Two Bits" — in incredibly creative and formidable music.

Skull Defekts member and a part of Ocean Of Silver And Blood, Joachim Nordwal is captured in a 2008 concert in Oslo for this 17 minute lo-fi set of textured sound work, a grainy drone of howling sound.

The Polish trio OWL of Marcin Halat on violin, Maciej Garbowski on double bass, and Krzysztof Gradziuk on drums invited German pianist Pablo Held for a concert at Loft in Cologne, 2019, to perform three lyrical and dynamic compositions from violinist Halat, alongside a 6-part "IMPRO" collective improvisation, balancing free and lyrical approches to superb modern jazz.

The electroacoustic improvising quartet of guitarist Peter Alexius, drummer Joe Herteinstein, Joker Nies on raw electronics, and Sebastian Grammss on spacebass, in 9 tracks that run the gamut from groove-based intensity to open dialog using unusual voices.

Franz Hautzinger formed the orchestra in 1995 as an ensemble for experimental music, developing into an advanced improvising band that incorporates a shifting and diverse set of styles, heard here at Klangspuren Festival in 2019 with Hautzinger on trumpet, Christian Fennesz on guitar & laptop, Otomo Yoshihide on guitar & turntables, Luc Ex on bass, and Tony Buck on drums.

Guitarist Vitor Rua (GNR, Telectu) recorded the 15 pieces of this 2-CD set first as a series of overdubbed solo improvisations, using his virtuosic skills to create intriguing and compelling works, which he orchestrated and recorded with the quintet of Hernani Faustino on bass, Luis San Payo on drums, Manuel Guimaraes on organ, Nuno Reis on trumpet, and Paulo Galao on clarinets.

Two extended improvisations from pianist Sten Sandell's trio with bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Paal Nillsen-Love, recorded live in Tokyo in 2008.

Christoph Schiller's first solo work for spinet, amplified objects and piano, using a simple but brilliant structure which combines improvised pieces in a unique chain-like pattern of repetition and development.

Pianist von Schlippenbach and drummer Eddie Prevost on an album of two solo works each, and then together for a piece inspired by Thelonius Monk.

The trio of drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, electronic and turntable artist Lasse Marhaug and vocalist/electronic artist Maja Solveig Kjestrup Ratkje met at Cafe Mono during the Oslo Jazz Festival to perform these excellent and disturbing recordings.

French vocalist Claudia Solal provides the lyrics--sung-spoken narratives, prose and poetic forms--performed with pianist Benoit Delbecq, who uses internal preparations and a variety of creative approaches to keys, both intricate and melodic, setting the fascinating and insightful stories that Solal spiels; a wonderful union of instrument and word.

The Swedish trio of Jonas Kullhammar on sax, Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass and Daniel Fredriksson drums live at Glenn Miller Cafe in 2007 in a mix of originals and standards.

Manuel Perovic arranges the story of Narcissus and Echo, as told by Ovid for saxophonist Jurg Wickihalder and a theatrical band including Michael Jaeger, Damian Zangger, Chris Wiesendanger, &c.

The two parts of "Spuren" from Swiss percussionist Christian Wolfarth cover each side in an album of concentrative timbre and strategy, evoking continuous sounds that are diverted into unexpected avenues, drawing the listener into trance-like states with rich resonance, tone, and malleable rhythms, then surprising with unforseen audio twists.

The longstanding collaboration of cornetist Bobby Bradford and reedist Frode Gjerstad (together since '86) with bassist Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass and Frank Rosaly on drums, recording at Philadelphia Art Alliance in 2014, a powerful lineup of modern free players.

Recordings of improvisations from different rooms with unique resonant properties, manipulated and organized into 5 compositions mixing musique concrete and e-a improv.

Two masterful, virtuosic and inquiring musicians--Alvin Curran on piano, sampler & shofar, and Jon Rose on violins, 6-string drain pipe and singing saw--in an incredible album of improvisation that seems to know no boundary, farcically claiming to be revisiting their earliest experiences in cocktail club bands, but instead shredding the concept with breakneck speed and surprise; wow!

Double disc of South-African trumpeter Mongezi Feza, who worked with Robert Wyatt, Henry Cow, &c, from 1972 recordings in an amazing group of Swedish improvisers.

Two reed players, Frode Gjerstad from Norway and Luis Conte from Buenos Aires, in studio recordings of improvised interactions using unusual and extended techniques through eleven short and incisive tracks.

First performed in November 2019 at the Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival and then at the Splitter Orchester festival in Berlin, this studio recording of Magnus Granberg's delicately complex and exquisitely dream-like composition features his Skogen ensemble, including Granberg, Rhodri Davies, Toshimaru Nakamura, Erik Carlsson, Petter Wastberg, &c.

Composer Magnus Granberg took influences from Schubert's song cycle "Die Winterreise", extracting tonal material, which he merged with rhythmic influences from medieval English folk music and a song by Dowland, merging them into a temporal framework for this large and subtle composition, executed by a setpet including Angharad Davies, Erik Carlsson, Henrik Olsson, d'incise, &c.

A collection of compositions from clarinetist Guillermo Gregorio alongside collective improvisations from the trio with bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Ramon Lopez, sophisticated chamber-oriented jazz from masterful players recording in the studio in New Jersey, as they explore the musical intersection of disparate cultural, geographic and life experiences.

Four recordings of subtle improvisation for saxophone & percussion, recorded for Radio Nationale Slovene in Ljubljana, and in the library of Jean-Paul Manganaro, Paris.

Jean-Luc Guionnet and Eric La Casa in a work for the Uninstal Festival interviewing inhabitants of Glasgow in their home spaces, the results organized into compositions blending spoken word, music, improvisation and field recordings; each CD unveils the process of the composition.

The XPACT quarter of late saxophonist Wolfgang Fuchs, percussionist/electronics artist Paul Lytton, bassist Hans Schneider and electric guitarist Erhard Hirt came together in the mid-80s from members of M.A.I. Orchestra and Übü Örchestrü, disbanding after 4 years and now reunited 34 years later as a quartet with Stefan Keuene replacing Fuchs, releasing this album of masterful free improv.

The result of three improvisation sessions held in 2003 from these frequent collaborators.

Playful, joyful and absolutely commanding performances from the duo of German pianist Uwe Oberg and Silke Eberhard on alto sax and clarinet, performing both live and in the studio on original compositions and pieces by Carla Bley, Jimmy Giuffre, and Annette Peacock.

The Swiss string trio led by violinist Harald Kimmig, with Daniel Studer on bass and Alfred Zimmerlin on cello, is joined by UK saxophonist John Butcher for a set of improvisations that build with a unique percussive vitality and burning intensity.

Following their album of compositions by Alvin Lucier, the New York violin duo String Noise of Conrad Harris and Pauline Kim Harris present a series of solo and duo compositions by American avant composer Christian Wolff, a peer of Brown, Cage, and Feldman from the New York School, works composed across the span of his career through a wealth of concepts and motives.

A large work composed and arranged by Norwegian guitarist Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen for the 12-piece Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, this album shows Mollestad's increasing range in expressive work that extends boundaries between composed, improvised and rock music, with authoritative playing balancing serious concepts from pandemic or motherhood with playfully whimsical moments.

Formed in 1977, the freely improvising group of David Toop, Peter Cusack, Terry Day & Steve Beresford approached their performances with an extensive collection of instruments spread across the floor, allowing a vast range of expression both conventional and bewildering, collective and combative, as the group reveled in a concept of "production friction", here in never-released live recordings.

One of the most capable and unusual voices on the planet, German sound artist and vocalist Ute Wasserrmann emulates the most baffling of bird songs in 10 unique performances using seemingly impossible vocal technique that morphs aviary exclamation with alien and indescribable utterance, performed along with a vast collection of bird whistles; strange indeed!

Expanding on their 1977 FMP album of open-air improvisations by Peter Brotzmann and Han Bennink, recording in the Black Forest of Baden-Wurttemberg using wind instruments & percussion, the ambiance of birds and planes, water, drums from logs, &c.; an idiosyncratic and wonderful album of free possibilities, now paired with a book of photos from their excursion.

The soundtrack to the German film The Painter by director Oliver Hirschbiegel in collaboration with Oliver Hirschbiegel, the first side a diverse set of compositions from electronic musician Gudrun Gut, a one-time member of Einstürzende Neubauten; the second side a set of assertive acoustic improvisations from trumpeter Nate Wooley, alone or in duo with drummer Chris Corsano.

The first meeting of Austrian improviser Christof Kurzmann (The Magic I.D., Schee) and Montreal sound artist Elizabeth Millar (Sound of the Mountain, Ensemble Supermusique) in two tremendous multi-part performances live at the 2019 Suoni Per il Popolo Festival in Montreal, works of mysteriously vibratory backdrop, insinuating narrative voice and unsettling sonic interaction.

Four distinct compositions from French electroacoustic composer Philippe Petit, each using analog synthesizers including Buchla Easel K & Buchla 200 synthesizers, EMS Synthi and a Landscape Stereofield analog synthesizer, interestingly layered and captivatingly paced against processed voices, percussion, insider piano work, broken glass, samplers and turntables.

Recording in Brussels, Rhodri Davies performs a composition for pedal harp written for and dedicated to him by composer and saxophonist Jean-Luc Guionnet, using liberal periods of space that creates hanging anticipation amidst beautiful moments of fragmented string sequence and percussive response using the frame of the harp, leaving the listener in a state of fascinated expectancy.

An incredibly well-rounded musician on sax and flute, performing in both improvised and contemporary settings including Dedalus Ensemble and work with Etron Foun drummer Guigou Chenevier, here Sakina Abdou presents a series of solo saxophone improvisations recorded at her home in Lille, France, drawing on all of her influences in eight informed performances.

Using multiphonics, extended techniques and an intuitive sense of drama and narrative, Barcelona alto and baritone saxophonist Don Malfon takes his listeners on an 8-part journey of "Mutable" solo performances, using every inch of his horn (including inserting resonant objects), his body, tongue and breath to investigate the outer limits of his instruments.

An outrageous interpretation of Alfred Jarry's fictional character Ubu performed with with the International Contemporary Ensemble and core Downtown New York performers Ikue Mori, Ches Smith and Zorn himself, using Zorn's quick cut approach to composition; presented along with a work inspired by French poet Charles Baudelaire and an elegy to painter Paul Gauguin.

Exploring the trio format of clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre and his groundbreaking drumless trio, clarinetist & saxophonist Jürg Bucher and guitarist Samuel Leipold, both members of the Swiss Jazz Orchestra, joined with double bassist Luca Lo Bianco to perform this set of Leipold compositions, alongside Giuffre's "Afternoon" and "Three Clarinet Pieces I" by Stravinsky.

Formed in 2019, the quartet of Dave Rempis on alto sax, Elisabeth Harnik on piano, Fred Lonberg Holm on cello and Tim Daisy on drums celebrate Elisabeth Harnik's 50th birthday in 2020, originally planned as part of a European tour that year but prevented by pandemic, instead recording this well-balanced and often unbridled 2022 concert at Alte Gerberei, St. Johan in Tirol, Austria.

Elliott Sharp's opera is a visceral meditation about the universal search for a safe neutral place, told through text reflecting moments and situations in cosmic and human history that resonate with current events of great urgency, and through creative sound performed by the vocal group Voxnova Italia, and the instrumental ensemble Musikfabrik.

A series of extraordinary sound painting from the Swiss duo of trumpeter Marco von Orelli and percussionist Sheldon Suter, von Orelli also performing on cornet, prepared slidetrumpet & little bells while Suter works with drums, cymbals, prepared zithers, gong & singing bowls, creating detailed aural environments that evoke bewitching twilight spaces.

A brooding meeting between free improvising double bassist Joëlle Léandre and Catalonian drummer/percussionist Nuria Andorra (Icarus Ensemble, Barcelona 216, Patchwork Ensemble), two generations of improvisers finding common ground through a simmering boil of intelligent improvisation, imaginative technical skill and passionately assertive playing.

A first meeting between two incredible improvised pairings--Canadians Francois Carrier on alto saxophone and Michel Lambert on drums, and Euro/UK improvisers Alexander von Schlippenbach on piano and John Edwards on double bass-- recording live in the studio in Berlin for seven improvisations of profound creative intent and inventive conversation.

After performing at the Ad Libitum Festival 2021, FSR's Maciej Karlowski organized this recording at Agnieszka Osiecka Polish Radio Concert Hall in Warsaw, bringing together four masterful improvisers from four countries: pianist Izumi Kimura (Japan/Ireland), cornetist Artur Majewski (Poland), bassist Barry Guy (The UK) and drummer/percussionist Ramon Lopez (Spain).

Stepping away from his improvisational work with groups including Exploding Customer and Fire! Orchestra, Swedish trumpeter and keyboardist Tomas Hallonsten releases a solo album of analog synthesis, early electronics and drum machines, lyrically inclinded compositions with diverse influences including George Harrison, Sun Ra and Kraftwerk, plus a cover of Joe Henderson's "Earth".

The seventh release on Potlatch for tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and the first for electronic artist Jason Kahn, in an extended electroacoustic improvisation, Denzler performing his instrument in ways Adolphe Sax did not intend intersected by Kahn's bent and crackly emissions, each increasingly assertive through to a engrossing, exhalable end.

The trio of German pianist/composer Georg Graewe, guitarist Martin Siewert (Radian, Trapist, Also), and drummer Dieter Kern (DEK Trio, Bulbul, Fuckhead) bring together diverse attitudes in free improv from avant jazz to ea-/experimental approaches and bristling rock forms, sharing a unique collective voice with an oddly implied sense of humor and disconcertingly ingenious skill.

For three days in his own Discaholic Studios in Nickelsdorf, saxophonist Mats Gustafsson recorded the playing-card pieces of Peter Brötzmann--compositional prompts intended for a large group or for solo playing--performing on a cross-section of the saxophone family from sopranino to bass, and also one piece for saxophone mouthpiece, creating a set of stunning improvisations.

Translating to Paths of Light and Shadows, Argentine electronic composer Beatriz Ferreyra's 16-channel piece is inspired by astrophysics, the mystery of the pre-Big Bang era and uncanny motions of the unconscious mind; a major work of exploration through electronics and acoustic transformation, presented in two parts: "Abysmal Paths" and "Forgotten Paths".

Italian electroacoustic composer and former directed of the French GMR studio Daniel Teruggi is heard in four major and spectacular acousmatic works from the 1980s into the 2000s: "Space of Mind (2004)" in four movements; "Birds (2006)" in five moments; "Transmutations (2009)" in five movements; and the earlier "Terra" exploring the four fundamental substances.

For 35 years saxophonist & composer Christoph Gallio has directed the exemplary Swiss jazz group Day & Taxi, here in a trio format with bassist Silvan Jeger and drummer Gerry Hemingway, Gallio on soprano, alto & C melody saxophones, heard in this 2021 live performance at Stadtbistro Isebahnli, in Baden, Germany for nine diverse, creative and delightfully quirky pieces.

Long-time collaborators, German reed & wind player Frank Gratkowski and pianist Simon Nabatov release their third collaboration as a duo, concentrating their playing from large bands including the Simon Nabatov Quartet to the essence of their personal and impressive dialog, here performing at the LOFT, in Cologne for the celebration of Nabatov's birthday.

A relaxed and informed dialog between young generation Portuguese improvisers Tomás Marques on alto saxophone and Afonso Pais on guitar, demonstrating their experience from bands like L.U.M.E. and Joao Hasselberg / Pedro Branco, these five expressive and intuitively melodic improvisations were recorded by the artists in 2022 and are presented without edits.

Developing their language together since childhood, Norwegian brothers Lauritz Heitmann Skeidsvoll on saxophone and Isach Skeidsvoll on piano & melodica converse in a way that only two family members can, using their knowledge of each other's playing as a confident foundation for remarkable flights of technically challenging yet innately lyrical improvisations.

A well-balanced and often scorching performance at Igreja do Espírito Santo in Portugal from trumpeter Luis Vicente, presented as two long improvisations each comprised of two works inspired by childhood times in a rural environment and by everyday life at home during pandemic, performed with the outstanding quartet of saxophonist John Dikeman, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Onno Goevart.

A frequent collaborator with NY saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, French guitarist Marc Ducret takes on Berne's compositions, at times in multiple interpretations of the same work or by merging pieces together, performed with the superb support of trumpeter Fabrice Martinez, flutist Sylvaine Helary, trombonist Christiane Bopp and Ducret's son, cellist Bruno Ducret.

The first encounter in 2022 between two free improvising guitarists--Guillaume Gargaud, a French composer and improviser playing a 6 string guitar, and Finnish experimental improv guitarist Jukka Kaariainen playing a 12 string--in a 5-part set of dialogs recorded in Helsinki, finding common ground from linear rhythms and high energy playing employing a large dynamical scale.

Taking the dual role of soaring guitar lines and savagely deep string foundations, Susan Alcorn joins clarinetist Patrick Holmes and drummer Ryan Sawyer for this invigorating 2022 concert at Union Pool in Brooklyn, their unique instrumentation providing clarity to each performer's contribution through their dynamic and often wildly energetic collective interplay.

Trumpeter & composer Sei Miguel's second O Carro De Fogo De Sei Migue continues his merging of electric jazz with ea-overtones, in three live recordings with Fala Mariam on trombone & Rings, Nuno Torres on saxophone & Rings, Bruno Silva on electric guitar, Pedro Lourenco on electric bass, Andre Goncalves on organs & ATMOS and Luis Desirat & Raphael Soares on percussion.

Focusing on the compositions of Swedish pianist Per Henrik Wallin, the energetic piano trio of Simon Sieger on piano, Joel Grip on double bass and Michael Griener on drums puts new life into Wallin's 1998 trio album Coyote with the intention of putting Wallin's music in front of a new audience while clearly reveling in his compositions amid their own impressive mastery.

A double CD of Japanese pianist Miharu Ogura's performance of Karlheinz Stockhausen's Klavierstücke I-XI for solopiano, recorded at the MONOPIANO festival in 2021, bringing to a pinnacle her fascination with Stockhausen's unique approach to this set of compositions, captured in her second live performance after a concert in Tokyo in the same year.

Describing their improvisation as a chemical reaction of positive and negative ions, the central trio of the ensemble Skein--Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (winds) and Wilbert de Joode (bass)--are heard in this incredible 2018 concert at Konfrontationen Festival as a septet with Tony Buck (drums), Richard Barrett (electronics), Liz Allbee (trumpet) and Uchihashi Kazuhisa (guitar).

Netherlands keyboardist, sound artist and composer Michel Banabila's work is explored through 14 recent projects in different configurations with 10 collaborators including guitarist Anton Goudsmit, violinist Oene van Geel, clarinetist Gareth Davis, cellist Peter Hollo, &c.; beautifully dramatic works of great depth and texture with rich and often haunting melodies.

An immersive and often explosive set of dark compositions from Seth Nehil & Bruno Duplant, blending field recordings, electronics, percussion and percussive objects into a controlled chaos of inexplicably murky and uncategorizable sounds, at times like a surreal firework display, or inserted into a complex machine on the verge of collapse, all imbued with a consistent resonant hue.