Evan Parker's Electroacoustic Ensemble, merging reeds, strings and percussion with live signal processing to create something indescribably transformative is further amplified with the addition of free improvising vocalist and Tuvan throat singer Sainkho Namtchylak, adding an unearthly layer of interaction and transmogrification to this incredible 1996 FIMAV performance.

The 10th album from The Rempis Percussion Quartet, the dual-drumming free improvising collective quartet of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass, and Tim Daisy & Frank Rosaly on drums, celebrating their 15th anniversary as a working band through this exhilarating concert captured during their 2019 European Tour at AMR in Geneva, Switzerland.

Three CDs, each dedicated to a mix of concert and studio recordings of double bass duos, the first between Damon Smith and Peter Kowald in 2000 at Gallery 2310, in Oakland, CA; the 2nd between Smith and Joëlle Léandre in 2002, which was recorded by Henry Kaiser; and between Smith and Bertram Turetzky at 1510 8th St. Performance Space, in Oakland, CA in 2007.

Having been acquainted with each other for decades but never finding the opportunity to record, improvising American guitarist Duck Baker and British guitarist Mike Cooper finally found their chance in 2010 while both were in Rome, taking two acoustic nylon Spanish guitars into the studio to record these three extended, intertwining improvisations.

First release on the Alt.Vinyl label in 2014, this album finds harpist Rhodri Davies performing on the same instrument as his prior album Wound Response, but here with no amplification, preparations or distortion, improvising through "tumbling phrases, arpeggios and articulate rhythms", in a compelling album of assertive and joyful playing.

First released in 2012 on the Alt.Vinyl label and now reissued on his own Amgen label, Rhodri Davies performs solo in Newcastle upon Tyne on lap harp and electronics, using two main techniques: over-articulation of the strings (what harpists are taught not to do) and attacking the strings with a plectrum, forcing the tuning into new relationships until the strings eventually break.

Drummer Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II trades off duos with a set of masterful musicians in the second volume of his "Silenced" project, here with guitarist Elliott Sharp for a complex and inspired dialog; with bassist Bill Laswell for a rich and moody soundscape; and with guitarist Vernon Reid in a piece for McKenzie's daughter; plus one solo drum piece.

The fourth of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Janet Feder, Martin Vishnick, Ikbal Lubys, Edward J. Gibbs, Joshua Weitzel, Guram Machavari, Eric Wong, Garth Erasmus, and Bill Horist.

The title Indústria was chosen by Eddie Prevost in tribute to the history behind the Museu Industrial de Bala do Tejo, in Portugal where this concert took place by the legendary free improvisation band AMM, represented here as the duo of percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury, performing as part of the 2015 OUT.FEST - Festival Internacional de Musica Exploratoria do Barreiro.

Having worked together for 40 years starting in the 80's in the Downtown NY scene, guitarist Fred Frith and electronic artist Ikue Mori recorded this album in Germany, using studio time left after recording the music for a radio play by Werner Penzel, using that work as an influence for these exceptional improvisations on home made instruments, toys and electronics.

An album of duets between trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and pianist Satoko Fujii, the husband & wife core of Libra Records, recorded as a DIY effort during the 2020 pandemic in their own home recording space and mixed by themselves, a diverse album of intimate and impressive improvisations that find the two in uniquely deep and expressively concentrative conversations.

The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.

The "guess" was guitarist and electronics artist Dave Tucker's educated guess that these four musicians--himself, pianist/keyboardist Pat Thomas, guitarist Thurston Moore and drummer/percussionist Mark Sanders--would create someting extraordinary if he brought them together for a concert at London's Cafe OTO, this boundary-pushing album the indisputably successful result.

"Shifa", or "Healing", is the London-based trio of saxophonist Rachel Musson, pianist Pat Thomas, and drummer Mark Sanders, here in a live concert at Cafe Oto in 2018 of two collective improvisations of arching sax lines, rolling and potent drumming, powerful block chords and intricate lines, from dark to joyful moments, an intoxicating tonic for the ears.

A six track album from drummer Donald Sturge Anthony McKenzie II written about the abuse of force from those charged to protect us, in a series of duos with amazing performances from guitarist Nels Cline, saxophonist Arnold Lee, bassist Melvin Gibbs, bassist Dave Hofstra, guitarist Vernon Reid, and drummer/keyboardist CX KIDTRONIX; disturbing and important work.

Two quartets performing two live concerts from 1963 led by John Coltrane on tenor & soprano saxophones, the first at the Newport Jazz Festival with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on double bass and Roy Haynes on drums, the second at Birdland with Elvin Jones on the drums, plus 2 studio recordings with that quartet at Van Gelder Studio in the same year.

Swiss trumpeter Silvan Schmid (Silvan Schmid Quintett, London Improvisers Orchestra, Floor Poodle, &c) in a solo album of remarkable technique, pacing and intention, using traditional brass elements like rips, smears, half-valved notes and portamento, along with murmurs, pops & percussive evocations of indescribable origination, at times augmented via amplification.

Pianist Alexander Hawkins' six movement composition is realized by the UK Riot Ensemble, known primarily for their work with notated contemporary music, adding Evan Parker's incredible soprano sax soloing, and filtered through Matthew Wright's live electronic processing, resulting in this amazing hybrid masterwork that bridges modern 21st Century forms.

Bringing an innate lyricism to free improvisation in the piano trio format, albeit a thoroughly modern take on that format where all performers are equal and active participants, from Aki Takase on piano, Christian Weber on bass, and Michael Griener on drums, performing five Takase originals, one from Griener & Takase, and 8 collective works.

Including six of his own compositions, a work by Sylvie Courvoiser and Ornette Coleman's "Peace Warrior", New York violin virtuoso Mark Feldman's new solo album, recorded in the studio in Brooklyn, is a touchpoint to his skills and creative imagination today, 26 years after his first solo album, displaying a profound ability to engage and inspire his listeners.

The Brooklyn trio of Yuma Uesaka on tenor saxophone & clarinets, Cat Toren on piano & synthesizer, and Colin Hinton on drums, percussion, gongs, glockenspiel, & vibraphone, in a sophisticated album of modern creative improvisation with a lyrical attitude and a confidently introspective approach, all three players contributing original compositions to this debut album.

Working in a Derek Bailey vein of solo guitar improvisation, Portland, Maine improviser E. Jason Gibbs presents 14 performances on the acoustic guitar, cohesive pieces of confident development that reference not only the London improviser, but also shades of Americana and a unique voice and set of strategies uniquely his own.

Recorded during the The Futuristic Sounds of Sun Ra sessions in 1961 after moving the Arkestra to the Philadelphia/NY area from his original Chicago base, these two ballads are sung by Ricky Murray, "I Struck a Match..." written by Sun Ra and very much an Arkestra tune, while "Dreamsville" is a Livingston-Mancini-Evans tune that receives Ra's big band treatment.

John Zorn's Gnostic Quartet of Bill Frisell on guitar, Carol Emanuel on harp, John Medeski on organ, piano & Fender Rhodes, and Kenny Wollesen on vibraphone perform Zorn's melodic compositions dedicated to one of Zorn's earliest mentors, Ennio Morricone, through nine compositions of "beautiful harmonies, a driving rhythmic pulse and stunning lyricism."

Zorn's compositions on this album bridge the worlds of contemporary compositional and fully improvised jazz, Zorn conducting a quartet with Stephen Gosling's piano and Sae Hashimoto's vibraphone parts fully notated, while drummer Ches Smith and bassist Jorge Roeder provide an improvisational rhythm section, bringing to life these dynamic and lyrical works.

The debut of a new electric jazz quintet from NY violinist Sana Nagano, with Peter Appfelbaum on tenor saxophone & megaphone, Keisuke Matsuno on electric guitar, Ken Filiano on acoustic bass & effects, and Joe Hertenstein on drums, an inventive and energetic album of joyful urgency and tremendous group dynamic, fueled by Nagano's exuberant and lyrical compositions.

Chicago saxophonist and Kettle Hole label leader Gerrit Hatcher joins with West Coast saxophonists Rob Magill (Weird Cry Records, Dreamcolour) and Japanese saxophonist based in Los Angeles Patrick Shiroishi, for five collective free improvisations of informed saxophone interaction; three approaches to the horn that complement and contrast in fascinating ways.

The Chicago collective trio of tenor saxophonist Gerrit Hatcher, Lebanese bassist Eli Namay and drummer/percussionist Bill Harris are captured live at Chicago's The Whistler in the summer of 2019 for two extended and exploratory improvisations, showing both technical mastery and a curiosity for new modes of expression through inspired and intuitive conversation.

2005 freely improvised studio recordings from the duo of Ike Levin on tenor saxophone & bass clarinet and Joel Futterman on piano and, surprisingly, on soprano sax in duo with Levin, along with three trio recordings adding alto saxophonist Benjamin Tomassetti (who also engineered the session), all music collectively created "in the moment".

A remarkable tour de force of solo piano improvisation on this self-released album from Virginia-based but New York-associated pianist Joel Futterman, recording in the studio in 2009 for a three-part series of exploratory and profoundly masterful improvisations, captivating with intense and technical passages that yield to lyrically beautiful and expansive playing.

Recorded at the same time and influenced by the recording of their 2020 album The Anthony Braxton Project, the NY Thumbscrew trio of Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formanek on double bass & electric bass present 9 original compositions, three pieces from each of the musicians, of melodically inclined forward thinking, creative jazz.

The first of a 3-album trilogy Playfield offers the musical equivalency of a walk through the diversity of New York in a loft-style extended improvisation from the octet of Daniel Carter on horns & reeds, Luisa Muhr on voice, Ayumi Ishito on sax, Eric Plaks on piano, Aron Namenwirth & Yutaka Takahashi on guitars, Zach Swanson on bass, and Jon Panikkar on drums.

The debut of a new electric jazz quintet from NY violinist Sana Nagano, with Peter Appfelbaum on tenor saxophone & megaphone, Keisuke Matsuno on electric guitar, Ken Filiano on acoustic bass & effects, and Joe Hertenstein on drums, an inventive and energetic album of joyful urgency and tremendous group dynamic, fueled by Nagano's exuberant and lyrical compositions.

The fifth PEK Solo effort of 2020 focuses on the family of clarinets, with Evil Clown leader David Peck performing on piccolo, B flat, G Albert, alto, Bass, contralto, and contrabass clarinets in a massive studio construction, overdubbing his work on multiple clarinets to create a virtual quartet of clarinet voices improvising in layers.

On their 6th recording as a trio concept, The Fire! trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Johan Berthling (bass guitar) and Andreas Werlin (drums) add to their energetic approach to free improvisation through Mats Gustafsson performing on both baritone sax and flute, and by the addition of guests Goran Kajfes on quartertone trumpet and Mats Aleklint on trombone and sousaphone.

With the sudden cessation of touring due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Satoko Fujii turned to composing and recording herself in a home studio that she developed with the help of sound engineer Mike Marciano, freeing herself to explore new compositional methods and approaches to theory, this superb solo album the results of seven months of sublime self-expression.

Referring to an improvisational style only possible after many years of collaboration, which they refer to as a "ghostly, boundary-pushing music between friends", this is the 4th sublime album from the quintet of Daniel Carter on reeds & trumpet, Patrick Holmes on clarinet, Matthew Putman on piano & keys, Hilliard Greene on bass, and Federico Ughi on drums.

The Montreal-based Chorale Joker ensemble directed and conducted by Joane Hétu, Danielle Palardy, and Jean Derome, who are also participants, is one of the most unusual and fascinating improvising vocal ensembles active, heard here in a concert coordinated with Productions SuperMusique at Le Vivier, Amphiteatre du Gesu, Montreal in early 2020; indescribably fascinating!

Virtually unprecedented for the time, Evan Parker's 1976 solo soprano saxophone album captures Parker's prowess and unusual harmonic approach to the saxophone in a 1975 concert at the Unity Theatre in London and in the FMP studio the same year, using the instrument in startling ways as he captivates his listeners through a unique revelation of logic, drama and staggering skill.

London's Otoroku label keeps this magnificent album in print with a 2021 reissue of the 1982 Incus release featuring Evan Parker performing solo on soprano saxophone, using the natural resonance of the Church Of St. Jude-on-the-Hill, in Hampstead London as he explores upper tones and high frequency split tones in a technically brilliant display.

After work supporting Lee Morgan, Gerry Mulligan, Sonny Rollins, McCoy Tyner, Steve Lacy, Albert Ayler, Don Cherry, Cecil Taylor, &c., free jazz bassist Henry Grimes recorded this great example of his skills as a composer and leader, in a trio with Tom Price on drums and Perry Robinson, here in a definitive vinyl LP reissue of this exemplary album.

Best known for his work with Sun Ra, Bassist Ronnie Boykin took 10 years to compose and arrange this, his only solo album, originally issued in 1974 and performed in a septet with a strong front line of wind and brass players and fueled by two drummer/percussionists, Boykin's natural bass sound in the foreground over a wealth of moods and textures.

Recorded at the same time and influenced by the recording of their 2020 album The Anthony Braxton Project, the NY Thumbscrew trio of Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Michael Formanek on double bass & electric bass present 9 original compositions, three pieces from each of the musicians, of melodically inclined forward thinking, creative jazz.

The fourth and final night of a series of concerts after three nights of trios and quartets, this live recording captures the duo of legendary Japanese drummer Sabu Toyozumi and American alto saxophonist living in the Philippines Rick Countryman, freely improvising four impresseive and creative conversations of both intricate and reflective dialog.

The remarkably creative flutist & saxophonist Jean Derome often incorporates unusual instruments into his improvisations and compositions, including bird calls, harps, kalimbas, sirens, flower plastic wrappings, bells, &c &c.... on this album Derome focuses on those unique instruments and noise makers through 23 surprising pieces illustrating his incredible collection.

Perhaps one of the quirkiest releases from the Klaxon Gueule trio of Michel F Côté, Bernard Falaise and Alexandre St-Onge, performing respectively on drums, guitar and bass, and all on synthesizers and computer, recalling early electronic albums while adding a whimsical and alluring edge to their often darker and more experimental prior releases.

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

The boisterous and wonderfully controlled Downtown NY trio of Zeena Parkins on electric harp & objects, Mette Rasmussen on alto saxophone & objects, and Ryan Sawyer on percussion burn through six free improvisations of enthusiastic drive and incredible interaction using "string, breath and bell, harp, horn and drum" in a great example of modern creative improv.

The husband and wife duo of New York free improvisers, Reut Regev on trombone and Igal Foni on drums, both bringing electronics to their session, in surprisingly their debut duo release after two decades of musical collaboration and shared life, their assurance and intimacy evident in the relaxed spontaneity and sheer musicality they bring to their dialogs.

Two concert recordings between alto saxophonist Bertrand Gauget and pianist John Tilbury, one at Eglise Saint Maximin, in Metz, France in 2016 and the other at Festival Paysages d'écoute at Les Quinconces, France in 2019, leveraging the natural resonance of both spaces as they perform with concentrative pacing using advanced techniques to create drama and intensity.

Chicago-based tenor saxophonist, improviser, and composer Gerrit Hatcher (Devouring the Guilt, duos with Anton Hatwich, duos with Julian Kirshner) in a solo album of seven succinct statements, diverse expressions from scrabbling determination to pensive reflection, all informed by masterful skills that add nuance and intrigue to each track.

Null Hypothesis is a return to the birth of Metal Chaos Ensemble 5 years previously with Null Theory, the duo of David Peck (PEK) on reeds, winds, percussion and other unique percussive elements, and Yuri Zbitnoff on drums, chimes, and other percussion - no spoken words accompaniment tracks, or overdubs, simply Zbitnoff and PEK and a room full of percussion, horns and electronics tearing it up live to YouTube for 70 minutes; epic.

Four times David Peck, as the Boston reedist and multi-instrumentalist leverages concepts from his graphic scores for the Leap of Faith Orchestra designed to limit the excesses of large ensemble in improvisation, following his score of symbols and written instructions through four recorded iterations, listening to and reacting to the previous layers in a virtual quartet of PEKs.

The final issue of 2020 is is dedicated to the art of conversation in music and about music during the age of pandemic; with Debby Friday on the cover, plus articles about Victoria-based composer Anna Höstman, Tehran-born Araz Salek, Tkarón:to-based saxophonist and composer Olivia Shortt, with a CD including tracks from those artists, plus reviews, articles, &c.

Founded in 1967 by pianist Misha Mengelberg, drummer Han Bennink, and saxophonist & clarinetist Willem Breuker, this double CD documents the earliest years of the ICP collective through live & studio recordings from 1966-71, with an impressive cast of jazz and contemporary compositional players creating a delightfully diverse set of approaches to improvisation.

Since 1979 cellist & trombonist Günter Christmann has led around 50 variations of "Vario", inviting musicians, actors, dancers, & filmmakers to partake; Vario 34--Christmann, Paul Loven (percussionist), Mats Gustafsson (sax), Thomas Lehn (live-electronics), and Alexander Frangenheim (bass)--first performed in 1993, and these Berlin recordings are from their 3rd meeting in 2018.

An exciting album of free jazz from the Australia/London-based Cyclone Trio, their name apt in the feverish interaction between saxophonist Massimo Magee and dual drummers Tony Irving and Tim Green on the opening work, the album patterned like a storm that slows introspectively for a quiet eye, then drums up a final gale force that dissipates to a sort of calm; brilliant.

Using an unusual re-tuning of the piano, saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh enlists three inventive pianists--Kris Davis, Tyshawn Sorey, and Craig Taborn--for a set of melodically-oriented duos, Modirzadeh using alternate fingerings and embouchure adjustments to achieve intervals between major and minor, together freeing the improvisers to explore new tonal possibilities.

The follow-up to NY drummer/composer Dan Weiss's 2018 release Starebaby is an unconventional compounding of electric jazz, doom metal, electronic music, and improvisation, performed with Matt Mitchell on piano & Prophet 6, Craig Taborn on piano, Fender Rhodes & synthesizers, Ben Monder on guitars, and Trevor Dunn on electric bass.

A Russian-Swiss collaboration between Boris Shershenkov (St. Petersburg), Kurt Liedwart and Mikhail Myasoedov (Moscow), Thomas Korber (Zurich), Christian Kobi (Berne) and Christian Muller (Biel), recording in the remote Vallée de Joux, on the border between Switzerland & France, leveraging diverse approaches to sound to create these six detailed electroacoustic improvisations.

Using a variety of extended techniques, Chicago cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm conjures a barrage of multiphonics, interwoven timbral excursions and minuscule textural knots lined along the peripheral architecture of these pieces, captured live in the studio at at Namouche Studios, in Lisbon in 2019 for a series of 10 fascinating and distinctive free improvisations.

Applying extended techniques from rubbing & scraping to sawing and striking, New York violinist Gabby Fluke-Mogul presents a bold solo violin album of 6 pieces with titles like "Bruise" or "Teeth", drawing an incredible gamut of unusual sounds from the violin and its body, occasionally adding vocal utterance, all laid out with a wonderfully quirky sense of timing.

A single piece recorded live for Ingebrit Haker Flaten's 2020 Sonic Transmissions Festival finds the Danish saxophonist in an extended improvisation of varying moods, applying a diverse set of methods and technical approaches to the horn, from quiet meditate work to full-throated exuberance, in a remarkably personal journey of confident exposition.

Capturing their 2nd gig together, double bassist Olie Brice and trumpeter Percy Pursglove invited two prominent improvisers who had never played together before — drummer Jeff Williams and tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall — to join them for a 2020 concert at Cafe Oto in London, presented into two palindromic-ally named and profound improvisations: "Tattarratta" 1 & 2.

A lost gem from of British free sax and drums & percussion duo of saxophonist Larry Stabbins and percussionist Roy Ashbury, originally released in 1976 on the Bead Label, their interplay including masterful and extended techniques from Stabbins and an array of chimes, chains, wood blocks, shakers, and bowed cymbals augmenting Ashbury's kit; captivating dialog.

Working together since 2015, the Polish guitar trio of Marek Malinowski on guitar, Robert Rychlicki-Gasowski on double bass & bass guitar, and Wojciech Zadruaynski on drums, present Marek Malinowski's embraceable mix of lyrically inclined modern jazz compositions with an explorative side, balancing structure with free space for sprightly spontaneity; a trio to keep track of.

The Norwegian big band Trondheim Jazz Orchestra joins together with the Swedish-origin trio The MaXx (Oscar Gronberg-keyboards, Petter Kraft-guitar & saxophone, Tomas Jarmy-drums) to develop and perform this monumental work of modern electric jazz, an abstract rock opera written specifically to leverage the power of the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.

A stunning album of electroacoustic improv that truly pushes the envelope, from the MKM trio of Gunter Muller on iPods & electronics, Jason Kahn on modular synthesizer, mixer & radio, and Norbert Moslang on cracked everyday electronics, three masters of the form in their 5th Mikroton release after decades working together in configurations on labels like For4Ears.

The followup to their 2019 Corbett vs. Dempsey album and formalizing their trio name as "The Underflow", is an epic double LP of diverse and inspired free-ea from the trio of Mats Gustafsson on flute, fluteophone, baritone saxophone & live electronics, David Grubbs on electric guiar & voice, and Rob Mazurek on piccolo trumpet, wooden flute, electronics, percussion & voice.

The third of a five volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from Sergio Sorrentino, Christian Vasseur, Charbel Haber, Misha Marks, Henry Kaiser, Nick Ashwood, Emil Palme & Taus Bregnhøj-Olesen, Sharif Sehnaoui, Colin Robinson, Martin Huba

Joshua Abrams' (Town & Country, Matana Roberts & Chad Taylor, &c) 2010 album in an infectious groove-based album built around the guimbri, a 3-stringed animal hide bass used by the Gnawa of North Africa, performed with Chicago all-stars Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone, Emmett Kelly on guitar, Frank Rosaly on drums, and Noritaka Tanaka on drums.

A brilliant example of trans-Atlantic collective free improv from the quartet of New York free jazz heavies Matthew Shipp on piano, Joe Morris on double bass, Gerald Cleaver on drums, and UK tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall, playing in the tradition of ecstatic and extended free jazz in a nearly hour long live performance recorded at Roulette in Brooklyn in 2012.

Meeting in France in 2017 for the Festival Météo de Mulhouse, Evan Parker alternating between soprano and tenor saxophones and Matthew Shipp on acoustic piano, present an epic extended improvisation that naturally evolves through several sections, followed by a brief post-script, each musician attentively focused as they support the clarity of each other's playing.

Extending their previous collaborations during the time of pandemic, NY electronic improviser Ikue Mori and Japanese improvisers Natsuki Tamura on trumpet and Satoko Fujii on piano developed this extraordinary ea-improv album via file exchange, starting with Fujii's piano improvisations to which Mori & Tamura added their layers, with Mori mixing the final, startling results.

Tenor saxophonist Albert Ayler's 1966 quintet brought a unique orchestration to his music, heard in these live performances in Berlin, Lörrach, Paris & Stockholm in November of 1966, four concerts presented chronologically as performed with the exemplary playing of brother Donald Ayler on trumpet, Michel Samson on violin, William Folwell on bass, and Beaver Harris on drums.