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.

Referencing the book Letters to Milena (Briefe an Milena) by Franz Kafka of his intense love affair with Czech journalist & writer Milena Jesenská, through four lettered parts of a subtly sophisticated set of improvisations by Ernesto Rodrigues (viola), Nuno Torres (alto sax), Guilherme Rodrigues (cello), Eric Bauer (electronics) and Stephen Flinn (percussion).

Father and son string improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello join with Berlin improvisers Fumio Okura (Ensemble 222) on violin and Hannes Buder on guitar for six collective chamber free improvisations using extraordinary technique and focus, creating parallel and converging conversations that build and recede in vigorous momentum.

Emulating the Korean river Taedong through it's undulating flows, uproar, flux and treachery in eleven succinct chamber-oriented improvisations from the quartet of South Korean tenor saxophonist Jung-Jae Kim, French-born South Korean-based drummer Quentin Cholet, with the Portuguese father/son duo of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello.

Berlin recordings from the lowercase chamber improvising string quartet of New Zealand violinist Sarah Claman, Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist son based in Berlin, Guilherme Rodrigues, with Swiss sound artist Caroline Cecilia Tallone on electroacoustic hurdy gurdy & amplified objects, exploring three shadow aspects of "Umbra", "Penumbra" and "Antumbra".

Recording at Berlin-Wedding's performance space Werkhalle Wiesenburg in the summer of 2023, the free improvising chamber trio of violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist Guilherme Rodrigues meet with Portuguese flutist Carlos Bechegas, bringing contemporary classical technique to an extended and energetically tempestuous improvisation and a sprightly "Time Between".

Burning electric improvisation that draws from rock, metal, jazz and free improv by the Lisbon trio of Luis Guerreiro on trumpet, electronics, Jorge Nuno on electric guitar and Joao Valinho on drums, recording in the studio for an extended and unremitting collective improvisation that roars with galvanic, dramatic strength; terrifying!

An exemplary album of thoughtful free improv from the trio of tenor saxophonist Pedro Alves Sousa with 2/3's of Red Trio--pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini--recorded after a five day residency at the Goethe-Institut Lisbon, the band finding new approaches to playing to distance themselves from the typically fast & energetic music they are often associated with.

Six permutations on motion from the Kinetic duo of Portuguese pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro (Red Trio) and Pedro Carneiro performing on marimba with quarter tone extension, the duo emerging from "shadows and resonance" and ending with "inertia and collision", as they explore the interactions of keys and percussion in improvisations executed with the precision of composed music.

Presenting concentrative and contemplative free improvisation from the Portuguese trio of Jorge Nuno on acoustic guitar, Hernâni Faustino on double bass and João Valinho on drums & percussion, recording in the studio for a 4-part and cohevise set of improvisation through muscular plucking, rich bowing, abstracted string progressions and mysterious drums & percussion; fascinating.

Having collaborated over 15 years in bands including Slow is Possible and Cat in a Bag, the Portuguese quartet of Duarte Fonseca on drums, Joao Clemente on guitar, Nuno Santos Dias on Waldorf Zarenbourg electric piano and Ricardo Sousa on double bass, borrow from electric 70's jazz, rock and experimental forms through 10 diverse and intriguing concepts tinged with a dark wit.

Saxophonist José Lencastre's Nau Quartet of Lencastre on alto & tenor, Hernani Faustino on double bass, Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano and João Lencastre on drums are joined by Pedro Carneiro on marimba for four extended improvisations that balance melodic intentions with urgent force, the additional percussive elements motivating the band from edgy soloing to introspective contemplation.

A remarkable trio of active players on the Lisbon free improv scene -- José Lencastre (alto sax), Hernâni Faustino (double bass) and Vasco Furtado (drums) -- and the debut release for the Phonogram Unit label, in six collective improvisations recorded in the studio, evenly proportioned between boppish free jazz and abstract, almost chamber sonic expression; beautiful.

The second trio release from alto saxophonist Jose Lencastre, Hernâni Faustino (Red Trio) here on electric bass and drummer Vasco Furtado, three Portuguese improvisers whose continued work together adds strength to their collective improvisation, heard in five pieces recorded live in the warm space of the Espírito Santo Church in Caldas da Rainha in Western Portugal.

An exquisite album of chamber-oriented free improvisation that naturally merges contemporary and jazz forms while underpinned by swinging grooves, each player expressing passion and abstraction to create unique sonic combinations, from Jose Lencastre on alto saxophone, Carlos Zingaro on violin, Clara Lai on piano, Goncalo Almeida on double bass and Joao Sousa on drums.

"corpos" is the first album by the Barcelona-based trio, formed by pianist Clara Lai, double bassist Alex Reviriego and drummer Oriol Roca. The music of this album explores collective construction in trio format, visiting different soun...

Formed in 2019 by Red Trio members Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano and Hernani Faustino on double bass plus core Creative Sources electronic musician Carlos Santos, with Joao Almeida on trumpet and Joao Valinho on drums, the "inter.independence" referencing an experimental approach to collective improv through independent layers that interact to create unexpected intersections.

After a first meeting at an improvised music festival, the trio of Portuguese drummer Vasco Furtad, Wuppertal-based drummer/vibraphonist Salome Amend and German alto saxophonist Luise Volkmann agreed to meet again in the studio to record these five collective improvisations, focused on sparse yet active textures influenced by melodic implications.

Focused on unusual rhythms at the intersections of electrified bass and guitars, the trio of Italian improviser Felice Furioso on drums & percussion, Portuguese electric guitarist Jorge Nuno and Brazilian electric bassist Felipe Zenicola (Chinese Cookie Poets) turn in seven generally growling and aggressively paced works under the umbrella of experienced prejudice.

As described, twelve solo improvisations from Portuguese double bassist Hernani Faustino, known for Red Trio, Jose Lencastre Nau Quartet, innumerable Creative Sources ensembles, &c., here displaying his muscular yet lyrical approach to the big strings through plucking, bowing and instrument emanations, paced to value expression over exhibitionism; beautiful.

An enthusiastic and well-balanced studio recording in San Francisco from the trio of Zoh Amba on tenor saxophone, Chris Corsano on drums and Bill Orcutt on electric guitar, following Amba & Corsano's duo tour of the West Coast; this is a first meeting between Amba & Orcutt, who perform as a duo on two tracks, including a guitar duo with Amba on acoustic.

Reissuing and remastering this exceptional 1969 album from avant-garde jazz pioneers Art Ensemble of Chicago as Lester Bowie (trumpets, horns & bass drum), Joseph Jarman saxophones, reeds, winds keys), Roscoe Mitchell (saxophones, reeds, winds, sirens, bells & whistle), and Malachi Favors (bass, banjo & sitar), adding two bonus tracks: "Tthinitthedalen" Parts 1 & 2.

A 4-part suite from oboe/english hornist Kyle Bruckman based on Thomas Pynchon's early novels, exhilarating jazz performed with Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Darren Johnston (trumpet), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Tim Daisy (drums), Jen Paulson (viola) and Anton Hatwich (bass).

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.

A superb instrumental exploration of the American musical language - jazz, folk, gospel, rock, bluegrass, orchestral, electronic, minimalism and post-modernism, with improvised parts played by Jean Derome, Jacques Seguin, Guillaume Bourque and Yanik Cloutier.

From 2008-16 until drummer Frank Rosaly moved to Amsterdam, alto saxophonist Nick Mazzarella's Trio was an active part of Chicago's creative jazz scene; in early 2018 Rosaly returned for a visit and Mazzarella composed a suite of 6 new pieces to commemorate the trio's tenth anniversary, the exuberant result this excellent concert recorded at Co-Prosperity Sphere!

Drawing inspiration from the same set of Cy Twombly drawings as her previous release, For The Love Of Fire And Water, and with nearly the same ensemble — Myra Melford on piano, Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor saxophones, Tomeka Reid on cello and here Lesley Mok on drums — Melford presents five brightly original and sophisticated compositions.

The Swedish duo of percussionist Andreas Pollak and prepared pianist Johan Graden (Adam & Alma) in an album of references and innuendo, clandestine and furtive sounds that evoke great mystery and drama in beautifully shaped sound; evocative music that deceives to emerge from the electronic realm while in actuality coming from all acoustic sources.

The 2nd volume of the UK/US West Coast quintet of legendary AMM drummer Eddie Prévost, guitarist Henry Kaiser, N.O. Moore on "guitarisism", Blinker Golding on saxophone and Olie Brice on double bass, merging free jazz and free improvisation in a rollicking album of electric jazz recorded in London, adding two more exhilarating "Doors" of quick shifting improv.

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.

Long-time collaborators and iconoclastic improvisers, drummer Eddie Prévost and saxophonist John Butcher, met at All Hallows Church, in High Laver, Essex in 2023, using the natural ambience of the space to capture these three improvisations, Prévost playing primarily on a drum kit and both in a more jazz-oriented sax and drum duo, extended by both players' exceptional technique.

Two unfolding, extended sets from a 2022 concert at Cafe OTO by AMM legendary percussionist Eddie Prévost and French pianist based in London, Marjolain Charbin, the pianist playing inside and out her of instrument augmented by objects, Prévost creating sonic environments through cymbal bowing and scraping, as the duo evolve into high motion and withdraw into suspenseful beauty.

Joining the long-running Trespass Trio of Per Zanussi on double bass, Martin Küchen on baritone & sopranino saxophone and Raymond Strid on drums for their performance at the 2018 Blow Out Festival in Oslo was Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, performing Küchen compositions and a unique group take on Charlie Parker's "Koko", in a concert of both ardent and exuberant improvisation.

Lyrically upbeat and expressive piano trio compositions from Polish pianist Grzegorz Tarwid and his trio with double bassist Max Mucha and drummer Albert Karch, all active performers on the Polish and European free jazz secene, here in six works of diverse moods that start with Latin tinges and seamlessly work through playful and pointillistic pieces to end in a tranquil "Sleep".

Crossing styles, generations and approaches to improvisations, multi-reedist and composer Ned Rothenberg's quartet of Rothenberg on clarinets & alto sax, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Mary Halvorson on guitar & effects and Tomas Fujiwara on drums perform five Rothenberg compositions and one by Rothenberg & Courvoisier, of spectacular timbral, rhythmic and melodic intersections.

Reflecting on the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream", pianist Aruan Ortiz is influenced by King's concepts of form and structure, assembling an incredible quintet including Don Byron on reeds, Pheeroan akLaff on drums, Yves Dhar & Lester St. Lousi on cello and narration by Mtume Gant, for a 7-song cycle musically depicting the turbulence of the time.

Joining pianist Simon Nabatov's trio with bassist Stefan Schönegg and drummer Dominik Mahnig are Leondhard Huhn on saxophone & clarinet and Philip Zoubek on synthesizer, this Cologne-based 3+2 quintet expanding Nabatov's space as the group performs six collective improvisations interpreting a series of semantics signal that influence tempo, pitch, tone and timbre; extraordinary.

From the fertile Montreal improv scene, the long-collaborating Mercury duo of double bassist Nicolas Caloia and clarinetist Lori Freedman on b-flat and bass clarinets are heard in eight rugged dialogs captured live as they seemingly flay the body through visceral dialog with titles including "Eyeball-Eyelid"; "Teeth-Tongue-Throat-Lip"; or "Ass-Brain".

Upbeat retro-future jazz with a bit of an acerbic wit, from the organ trio of Finnish saxophonist Mikko Innanen, Danish drummer Stefan Pasborg and French Hammond organ player Cédric Piromalli, in nine diverse pieces from funky swing to lush balladry, with Canadian improviser Lori Freedman providing sharply inquisitive narrative on two pieces.

A first encounter between Swiss drummer Fritz Hauser and Portuguese marimba master Pedro Carneiro, the title translating roughly to "step of two", implying a dance heard in elusively minimal yet highly active interactions between the two, each progressively numbered work borrowing from improvisational and contemporary approaches; fascinatingly sophisticated and often joyful work.

Their first duo album, Collect My Thoughts released in 1995 on Nine Winds, these live improvisations captured at Berkeley's The Shinebox in 2017 show the two West Coast collaborators--Phillip Greenlief on alto & tenor saxophones plus clarinet, and drummer/percussionist Scott Amendola--'staying with it' in an energetic set of five informed dialogs.

The second box set from Slovenia-born pianist Miha Gantar, named for his adopted city of Amsterdam, through five CDs presenting the many aspects of chamber-oriented, refined jazz that he composes and improvises around, with one CD each of trio and quartet settings, a CD of duos with Michael Moore, an extended solo improvisation, and a dual piano work.

A piano sax and bass trio led by Argentinian pianist Nataniel Edelman with Michael Formanek on bass and Michael Attias on alto sax, recording in the studio in Berlin for a mix of five Edelman compositions, one by Attias, and four collective improvisations, recorded in a single day for a consistently lyrical, flowing set of elegantly informed, magnificent playing.

Danish alto saxophonist Mia Dyberg's Trio with drummer Simon Forchhammer and Norwegian double bassist living in Denmark, Asger Thomsen, following their 2018 William S. Burroughs-inspired Clean Feed release with a solid collection of original compostions and solo improvisations from Dyberg; a well-balanced and diverse set of creative jazz expression.

The project name chosen by the duo of Portuguese improvisers, saxophonist Joao Mortagua and pianist Carlos Azevedo, translates to "heel", which they explain "represents the footprint we leave behind as we navigate a constantly evolving musical path", heard in 14 succinct improvisations that balance implicitly lyrical dialog with unconventional and often mischievous technique.

Nearly a decade after their first duo collaboration, Ape Green on the Creative Sources label, Wuppertal-born and Berlin-based double bassist Alexander Frangenheim joins again with Baltimore-based trombonist Patrick Crossland for two live performances of wildly creative interaction: first at the 2022 Livewire 12 Festival, then at The Record Shop in Brooklyn.

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.

Recalling his Sun Quartet album, UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall's new sextet pivots off the jubilant rhythm section of drummer Hamid Drake, double bassist Dave Kane and vibraphonist Corey Mwamba, with three saxophonists--Dunmall on tenor & c-soprano saxophones, Xhosa Cole on tenor and Soweto Kinch on alto & tenor saxophones--in a truly joyful bright celebration of free flowing jazz.

Three configurations of sophisticated duos & trios from four remastered albums recorded between 1962 and 1966 by pianist Bill Evans: first in duos with guitarist Jim Hall (Undercurrent); then with his trio of bassist Gary Peacock & Paul Motian (Trio 64); then with bassist Chuck Israels & drummer Larry Bunker (Trio 65); and last full circle to 1966, again with Jim Hall (Intermodulation).

Remastering previously unavailable and vital performances from three configurations of saxophonist Albert Ayler's bands, including their 1967 Newport Festival concert with Milford Graves, their performance at John Coltrane's 1967 Funeral at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC, and an incredible 1962 concert with Cecil Taylor's group with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in Copenhagen.

The second release from the duo of Spanish percussionist Vasco Trilla and Chicago reedist Mars Williams, the latter performing both on reeds and on toy instruments, each using extraordinary and extended technique to create exotically energetic conversations and beautifully meditative environments, in five creative, playful and impressively informed dialogs.

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.

Six "Dances" of a deeply turbulent nature as legendary French bassist Joëlle Léandre meets Brazilian bassist Vinicius Cajado for a 2022 live concert in Vienna at Alte Schmiede, both employing massively powerful techniques, Léandre vocalizing at times to push their dialog into tempestuous territory; at times darkly explosive but illuminated by incredible creative intent.

An exciting and often unorthodox concert of free improvisation between Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik and Slovenian drummer/percussionist Zlatko Kaucic, captured live in 2022 at the Kulturhalle in Eggersdorf, Austria for a diverse 5-movement freely improvised and very open-minded work, with both performing inside and outside of their instruments, and literally, underneath the piano.

Taking their song titles from Basil Bunting's 1966 poem "Briggflatts", a mixed freeverse work with a changing rhyme scheme that is noted for its use of sound through word play to move its listeners, an apt analogy to the masterful and sophisticated dialog between double bassist Olie Brice and multi-reedist Paul Dunmall, Dunmall performing on alto & tenor saxophones, flute & clarinet.

An impressive set of recordings from the electroacoustic improvising trio of Camille Émaille on percussion, dieb13 on turntables and Hans Koch on soprano sax, clarinet & bass clarinet, recording live in Switzerland at Le Singe and at Poestremeis for eleven intricate exchanges of mystery and suspense using remarkable technique and patient attention to each player's contribution.

The first meetings between UK free improvising vocalist Maggie Nicols and percussionist Mark Wastell, heard in two concerts at the Hundred Years Gallery in London, dedicated to Spontaneous Music Ensemble founder John Stevens, Wastell using two of Steven's cymbals and both using a a variety of percussive devices, in two unconventional and extended dialogs of warm camaraderie.

The West Coast power trio of Scott Amendola on drums & live electronics, Henry Kaiser on guitar and Michael Manring on bass are heard in this double album of 15 assertive tracks that balance heavy electronics and effects with intense soloing amidst unusual "soundtracks for quite a number of films that do not exist in our homeworld version of the Earth's infinite timelines."

Four unedited performances of extreme double bass work from Tripticks label leader Nat Baldwin, merging free playing with extraneous bass sounds, noise and unusual techniques, yielding a muscular set of double bass improvisations, the opening tracks building technique around fractured lyrical expression as the album builds to the closing "negation" of burning intensity.

The debut for UK saxophonist John Butcher on 577 Records is this exemplary 2021 live recording at Cafe OTO in London by the quartet of Butcher on tenor and soprano saxophones, Pat Thomas on piano, Dominic Lash on double bass and Steve Noble on drums, four of the UK's leading free improvisers demonstrating their prodigious abilities in concentrated conversation.

A wild live improvisation at Apollo, in Shimokitazawa, Tokyo from legendary Japanese reedist Akira Sakata on alto sax and clarinet, Raiga Hayashi on drums, and Toshimaru Nakamura on no-input mixing board, the latter adding unusual electronic elements to otherwise characteristically energetic free jazz from the Tokyo scene, making this a wonderfully unique album.

Recording in Maria Pinto, Chile, steel guitarist Susan Alcorn combines Chilean folk and nueva cancion with free improvisation and contemporary classical in an expansive set of 5 original compositions and a group arrangement of the Victor Jara's "El Derecho de Vivir en Paz", the achingly beautiful themes paying tribute to the victims of Augusto Pinochet's regime.

Inspired by Judith Schalansky's book "Atlas of Remote Islands: 50 islands I never set foot in and never will", the debut of the chamber improvising trio of Fie Schouten on clarinet & basset horn, Vincent Courtois on cello and Guus Janssen on piano, organ, harmonium & harpsichord reflect on these pristine and untouched areas of the earth in sublimely sophisticated conversation.

Using a wide assortment of guitars (electric, baritone, arch top acoustic, bass) + monochord, waterphone & zulu bells, Necks drummer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Buck joins with percussionist Mark Nauseef performing on bells and gongs for seven exotic improvisations rich in overtones, microtonal movement, ringing harmonics and hybrid motion.

An assertive album of collective free jazz from three masterful NYC players — John Blum (piano), David Murray (tenor sax) and Chad Taylor (drums) — recording in the studio for eight high-octane improvisations inspired by the mathematical and natural concept of recursion, comparing nature's expansive growth with the growth of jazz through the incremental expansion of ideas and influences.

Improviser, influencer and world traveler performing with exceptional players in interesting situations, saxophonist Jack Wright is heard in four solo improvisations that support the description of his wide vocabulary on the horn: "leaping pitches, punchy, precise timing, sharp and intrusive multiphonics, surprising gaps of silence, and obscene animalistic sounds".

The band name Omawi is a conglomerate of this Dutch trio's name, appropriate for the nearly telepathic interaction of pianist Marta Waleris, drummer Onno Govaert and double bassist Wilbert de Joode, captured in their first live performance after the pandemic lockdown at Zaal100, in Amsterdam, their enthusiasm and pent-up expression clearly evident in five extraordinary improvisations.

With a septet of women improvisers and contemporary performers, composer and violinist Jessica Pavone's long-form collective improv compositions are titled after innovations made by women throughout history to circumvent obstructions to their freedoms, revealed through string and bassoon orchestration that balances harmony, dissonance, drone and disruptive experimentation.

Influenced by the landscapes and sonic profiles of Chile's extreme southern territory, Chilean trumpeter Benjamin Vergara (Relincha Festival of Experimental Music) and double bassist Amanda Irarrazabal alliterate and reflect through a series of four improvisations coaxing texture and melody in their dialogs through tremendous technique and concentration.

"Smash", "Even More Smashing" and "Grab" sums up the intense energy that the Ballister trio brought to their 2022 performance at Elastic Arts in Chicago as part of the Catalytic Sound Festival, impelled by Paul Nilssen-Love's powerful drumming and Fred Lonberg-Holm's demanding cello work, with Dave Rempis roaring on alto, tenor and baritone saxophones; wow!

"Smash", "Even More Smashing" and "Grab" sums up the intense energy that the Ballister trio brought to their 2022 performance at Elastic Arts in Chicago as part of the Catalytic Sound Festival, impelled by Paul Nilssen-Love's powerful drumming and Fred Lonberg-Holm's demanding cello work, with Dave Rempis roaring on alto, tenor and baritone saxophones; wow!

Written in response to the excavation of slave quarters on the site of George Washington's President's House, Philadelphia saxophonist and former Cecil Taylor sideman Bobby Zankel presents a 6-section suite performed with Philly luminaries Jaleel Shaw (sax), Robin Eubanks (trombone), Diane Monroe (violin), Ruth Naomi Floyd (voice), Sumi Tonooka (piano), Lee Smith (bass) and Pheeroan AkLaff (drums).

A septet bridging generations of improvisers from Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, DC, Minnesota, and NY, from Chad Fowler (sax & flute), George Cartwright (sax & guitar), Christopher Parker (piano), Kelley Hurt (voice), Luke Stewart (bass), Steve Hirsh (drums), and guest tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, in four works reflecting our turbulent times, plus a tribute to Davey Williams.

Drummer with some of the most significant of free jazz icons--Roscoe Mitchell, David Murray, Henry Threadgill, Anthony Braxton, &c.--Tani Tabbal's own trio with fellow New Yorkers Michael Bisio on bass and Adam Siegel on alto sax are joined by Joe McPhee on tenor sax, with compositions from each of Tabbal, Bisio and Joe McPhee, plus four collective improvisations.

Merging jazz and rock forms, NY bassist Hannah Marks composes and provides the lyrics for 10 inspired songs of incisive, quirky and expressive topics, performed with a sextet of solid players from the genre-mashing NY scene: Sarah Rossy (lead vocals), Lee Meadvin (guitar), Lex Korten (piano), Nathan Reising (alto saxophone), and Connor Parks (drums).

Insanely virtuosic exchanges between two New York heavyweight improvisers--pianist Matt Mitchell and multi-wind player Anna Webber on tenor saxophone & flute--in three concise dialogs and two extended works, through twists and turns supporting each other in an equal exchange of expression that implies telepathic exchange of elegant lyricism or rapid-fire excitement.

The fifth album from John Zorn's Chaos Magic Ensemble of Brian Marsella on Fender Rhodes Piano, John Medeski on organ, Kenny Grochowski on drums and Matt Hollenberg on guitar, in three free flowing works that display Zorn's perceptive merging and the band's enormous skill, contrasting lyrical electric jazz with turbulent rock forms and disciplined contemporary structure.

Using the resonance of the parking garage under the Jazz Cat in Monterey Park, California, Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi recorded nine solo improvisations, interacting with the environmental sound and reverberant ambiance through contemplative, curious and explosive moments, at times augmenting his saxophone with the metallic notes of a glockenspiel.

Restoring two essential albums from alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy: first his '61 live album at NYC's Five Spot in a quintet with Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis & Ed Blackwell; then his '63 studio sessions in varying configurations with Clifford Jordan, Woody Shaw, Sonny Simmons, Prince Lasha, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Kahn Richard Davis, Garvin Bushell & J.C. Moses.

A transformative experience for John Coltrane, whose 1957 studio sessions with pianist Thelonious Monk, recorded after Monk's residency at the Five Spot, came at a transitional point for the iconic tenor saxophonist, expanding his knowledge of harmonic structure and refining his approach to soloing; with Coleman Hawkins, Art Blakey, Gigi Gryce, Ray Copeland, Wilbur Ware and Shadow Wilson.

Presented in two sonic rendering, one for stereo playback and a binaural mix for headophones, this exceptional 2021 chamber jazz string performance at Kunstraum Walcheturm in Zurich displays spectacular technique and concentration, from the quintet of Daniel Studer (double bass), Harald Kimmig (violin), Frantz Loriot (viola), Alfred Zimmerlin (violoncello) and Philip Zoubek (piano).

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.