The 2nd of two studio albums from the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone & flute, Matthew Shipp on piano, William Parker on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums, recordings from the same sessions as the 1st volume with five shorter works, as the long-time collaborators and friends show their nearly telepathic rapport in adventurous and masterful modern jazz.

Recorded during the 2002 studio sessions that yielded the albums A Short Visit to Nowhere and Broken English, this unreleased recording of a Mars Williams composition is issued as a 1-sided LP with the stellar lineup of Brötzmann with Williams, Ken Vandermark, Jeb Bishop, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Kent Kessler, Michael Zerang, Hamid Drake, Mats Gustafsson and Joe McPhee.

A 12-inch 45rpm EP from Chicago Ken Vandermark's band Marker with guest Joe McPhee on tenor saxophone, performing the Parliament Funkadelic track "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" and DNA's "Egomaniac's Kiss", with Vandermark on tenor & baritone saxophones plus guitarists Andrew Clinkman & Steve Marquette, keyboardist Macie Stewart and drummer Phil Sudderberg.

Perhaps the darkest and most experimental album from the Flying Luttenbachers, the 4th from the NYC-based version of Weasel Walter on guitars & drums+bagpipe chanter & electronics, Tim Dahl on bass, Katie Battistoni on guitar, Matt Nelson on sax & live electronics and Sam Ospovat on drums, in two extended, terrific collective improvisations.

An aggressive album of ballistic free improvisation recorded live at Seizures Palace, in Brooklyn in 2021 from the trio of Martin Escalante on saxophone, Tete Leguia on bass guitar and Weasel Walter on drums, three tracks of sax multiphonics, altissimo shrieks and subtones, bass feedback, magnetic field disruption, found objects, and distortion and high impact drumming.

The project and ensemble "Songs" brings together Swiss trombonist & composer Samuel Blaser and pianist & composer Oscar Strasnoy, taking the instrumentation and concept of Lucio Berio's Folksongs and expanding it into Blaser's "Worksongs", a set of songs around Mississippi Delta blues, and Strasnoy's "Chanzuns Popularas Rumanchas" based on the traditional music of the Canton of Grisons.

Eclipse has always been the most mysterious of the Takayanagi and New Direction records, originally issued in an edition of 100 copies, this reissue remasters the album from the original tapes to present the unique vision of improvising guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi and his band with Kenji Mori on alto sax, flute & recorder, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass and Hiroshi Yamazaki on drums.

Reissuing and remastering the two PSF albums from Japanese improvising guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi's New Directions group of bassist Motoharu Yoshizawa, saxophonist Mototeru Takagi and drummer Sabu Toyozumi, plus a previously unreleased side-long "Mass Projection" recording, presented in a deluxe 3 LP box set with images by Yuji Itsumi and liner notes in English and Japanese.

With titles for the album and all compositions from a poem by US poet E.E. Cummings, guitarist Samo Salamon developed these structured improvisations during the pandemic, inviting a set of masterful improvisers including Martin Küchen, Luis Viocente, Vasco Trilla, Emanuele Parrini, &c. &c. to contribute to these magnificent long distance collective improvisations.

Vibraphonist Emilio Gordoa leads this superb quartet with Don Malfon on alto & baritone saxophones, John Edwards on double bass and Dag Magnus Narvesen on drums, in an incredible live performance at the 2019 Alte Gerberei Artacts Festival in Austria, a captivating set of creative techniques yielding well-controlled passages of both intense activity and unique introspection.

Ensemble Supermusique, Montreal's premiere open-minded improvising ensemble, here led by saxophonist & vocalist Joane Hetu and conducted by percussionist Danielle Palardy Roger, present a live concert of graphic scores dating back to 1920, with works from Fred Frith (Stone, Brick, Glass, Wood, Wire), Luigi Russolo, Maxime Daigneault, Emilie Girard-Charest & Anestis Logothetis.

The collective ensemble Supermusique featuring key performers from Montréal's musique actuelle scene, including Jean Derome, Isaiah Ceccarelli, Joane Hetu, Danielle Palardy, &c. perform "Sounding the Image", three animated scores composed through the creation of moving images and rendered live in a remarkable concert at Amphiteatre de Gesu, in Montreal in 2019.

A profound contemporary work integrating improvisation into composed forms from Montreal composer and percussionist Isaiah Ceccarelli and performed by an ensemble of 16 Musique Actuelle improvisers and performers, beautifully balanced between diverse instrumental passages and texts inspired by different poetical and musical forms of the past; sublime.

Four compositions written between 2000-2019 from Joane Hétu: a duo between bassist Nicolas Caloia & bass clarinetist/vocalist Lori Freedman; a work with Hétu & Jean Derome plus the Quaturo Bozzini string and Quasar saxophone quartets; a composition for 20 electric guitars; and one movement from "Préoccupant, c'est Préoccupant performed by Ensemble Supermusique.

A live recording of free improvisation recorded at Theater im Viertel, in Saarbrucken, Germany in 2021 from the SteDaJoDa quartet of Daniel Studer on double bass, Stefan Scheib on double bass, Daniel Weber on drums and Johannes Schmitz on guitar, the dark double bass foundation and floating ("Schwebend") percussion work balanced by Schmitz' blues oriented electric.

2003 release of the Lisbon improvising trio of Bruno Pedroso on drums, Joao Paulo on piano and Paulo Curado on saxophone, merging jazz and world styles from Lisbon, America, Arabic and Jewish forms with lyrical strength, clear communication and an experimental attitude between the three players, a great example of the Portuguese free improvising scene.

An absolutely avant piano trio of masterful playing that pushes the envelope on melodic, harmonic and rhythmic interaction, from Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion, Kaja Draksler on piano and Petter Eldh on bass, performing live at the 2021 Unheard Of Festival at Rote Fabrik, in Zurich, Switzerland for 13 concise and energetic collective improvisations.

Expanding on his live album "Zurich Concert" with trumpeter Jaimie Branch, Swiss guitarist Dave Gisler's trio with Raffaele Bossard on bass and Lionel Friedli on drums release this studio album with Branch returning, and adding New York tenor saxophonist David Murray for a mix of demanding jazz and introspective improv environments, a beautifully balanced album of avant jazz.

Quebecois guitarist Bernard Falaise of Miriodor, Klaxon Gueule, Papa Boa and Les Projectionnistes fame, continues his solo series with the fifth note of the scale, "Sol (G)", reflected in a series of eight inventive guitar improvisations using timbral effects and looping structures to expand his virtual ensemble as does in his live performances.

Ultimately it's Martin KŸchen's saxophone improvisations that lead these sensitively moody environments built around multi-tracked tapes of ambiance from snare, speaker, radio and tambora (a 2-headed drum) used unusually to create subtle and spacious drone environments over which KŸchen performs, hauntingly, emotionally and beautifully captivating his listeners.

14 musicians from 9 different countries in various collaborative groupings performing acoustic & electronic free improvisations, the focus on soundscape and limited to 15 minute performances, developed by saxophonist Harri Sjöström in 2013 as "SoundScapes Festivals" and presented in Helsinki and now in Munich as part of the art-project "Aspects of Free Improvisation 2021".

A set of trio improvisations on acoustic strings and drums from the Dutch trio of Henk Zwerver on acoustic guitar, Wim Janssen on drums and Aaron Lumley on double bass, performing live at Zaal 100, in Amsterdam in 2021 as the trio expand their sound through superb technique, their music balanced between energetic scurries and introspective contemplation.

The third release from the Barcelona-based experimental improvising duo L'Ocell of Chilean acoustic guitarist Fernando Carraso and Spanish double bassist Àlex Reviriego-double bass, here joined by guitarist Ferran Fages (a member of Phicus and Radium with Reviriego), for a set of mysteriously dark improvisations recorded live at Sant Roma de Mianigues church.

Two live recordings from Miles Davis in the 1960s, first from Stockholm in 1967 with the classic 60s quintet of Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams; then two years later also in Stockholm with the "Lost Quintet" of Miles, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette, pushing new directions with tracks including "Bitches Brew".

Reissuing two albums showing trumpeter Don Cherry's musical evolution through the 1960s, recorded two years apart--Where is Brooklyn from NY in 1966, and Eternal Rhythm recorded in Germany in 1968--demonstrating the development of his style from Ornette-influenced free jazz into music influenced by Northern Indian music and the percussion of Southeast Asia.

John Zorn composes for, conducts and plays saxophone with his Simulacrum group with Kenny Grohowski on drums, Matt Hollenberg on guitar and John Medeski on organ & electric piano, a scorching band that combines Downtown NY jazz and metal forms as they explore the life and thoughts of Dutch 17th century Age of Enlightenment philosopher Baruch Spinoza.

Known for his The Rite of Trio, guitarist Andre B. Silva releases his 2nd solo album featuring compositions in a chamber jazz mode, including long passages of composed music that open into improvisation, performed with Jose Soares on saxophone, Raquel Reis on cello, Sophie Bernado on basson, Paulo Bernardino on bass clarinet, Andre Carvalho on double bass & Ricardo Coelho on drums & vibes.

A newly commissioned suite of ten pieces requested by the City of Gent and Handelsbeurs Theater to commemorate 600 years since the creation of the Gent Altarpiece by Jan Van Eyck performed with an international group of younger musicians, orchestrated with an unusual mix of instruments including serpent, lute, organ and sampler; a discerning and accomplished major work.

A fully free, quirky and marvelous set of virtually indescribable improvisation from the trio of French vocalist Clara Weill (known from her work with Fred Frith), Olivia Scemama on bass and Tom Malmendier on drums, three active international collaborators with powerful technical skills and a strange sense of humor willing to take their music where ever it oddly leads.

New generation New York tenor saxophonist Zoe Amba, a Tennesse transplant whose spirit is illuminated with free styles that harken back to Ayler, recording in the studio with a trio of luminary players--William Parker on bass and Francisco Mela on drums--performing three Amba compositions, one featuring Amba on flute; the CD edition contains one bonus improvisation.

Known from the TGB trio and work with Bernardo Sassetti, Portuguese deep brass player Sergio Carolino turns from his typical tuba for a solo album on a new instrument of his own invention--the lusophone--a standing tuba based on the Jazzophon, a trumpet in the shape of a saxophone, here built from parts of frontal bell tubas and demonstrated in an impressive, extended improvisation.

Following the visual scores of multi-disciplinary artist Tina Douglas, pianist Magda Mayas uses objects and preparations on piano, clavinet & rhodes keyboards to expand on Douglas' sculptural and tactile scores, exposing the fragility or imperfections in each, allowing one melody, chord or noise to become the focus of Maya's aural rendering and interpretations.

A series of live recordings and related materials that trace the development of turntable artist Marina Rosenfeld's tactile approach to experimental sound, using dub plates--vinyl albums she has had pressed to develop a personal library of sound for performance--here in six improvisations accompanied by a 24-page book with a discussion between Rosenfeld and Lawrence English.

Few quintets deserve the designation of super-group more than pianist Myra Melford's quintet with Mary Halvorson on guitar, Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano saxophones, Tomeka Reid on cello and Susie Ibarra on drums & percussion, performing Melford's wonderfully inventive 10-part composition.

A set of dramatic improvisations of incredible technical skill and creative drive from the working trio of Luis Vicente on trumpet, Seppe Gebruers on unprepared piano and Onno Govaert on drums, unedited improvisations presented as played, "composed by an interaction between the musicians and instruments, a nameless room, audience, microphones and you."

Beautifully lyrical compositions filled with a sense of wonder and mystery in the 4th Clean Feed release from double bassist and composer Hugo Carvalhais, improvising in a sextet with Emile Parisien on soprano saxophone, Liudas Mockunas on tenor saxophone & clarinet, Fabio Almeida on alto saxophone & flute, Gabriel Pinto on piano & keys and Mario Costa on drums.

A superb, inventive duo collusion between percussionist Ra Kalam Bob Moses and double bassist Damon Smith, continuing their collaborations that started with "Astral Plain Crash" with Vinny Golia, Henry Kaiser & Weasel Walter, here in concentrated form, recording and layer in the studio for 14 diverse dialogs using advanced techniques on drums, gongs, spring drums and double bass.

Live recordings from the trio of Chicago improvisers Jason Stein on bass clarinet and Adam Shead on drums & percussion in a trio with double bassist Damon Smith, 3 tracks recorded in the studio at Chicago's Elastic Arts and then 2 live performances captured at The Hungry Brain that same night, an album of rich proportion through the deep strings, dark drums and deep reeds.

Two distinct session, the first CD presenting free improv trio perfomances in St. Louis, MO between Paul Hartsaw on soprano & tenor saxophones, Damon Smith on double bass and Jerome Bryerton on percussion, the 2nd CD finding Hartsaw and Smith in the studio in Oakland CA for a more experimental session, Smith adding laptop & field recordings and both employing extended techniques.

An extended improvisation interweaving acoustic and electronic instruments in a beautifully coherent evolution of mysterious and approachable sources, from the trio of Jan Bang, David Toop and Mark Wastell, combining tam tams, gongs, flutes, lapsteel, live sampling, gongs, brushes, elastic, paper and more to captivate the curious listener.

Initially based around improvisations on a mbira and a tiny accordion, NY improvisor Ted Reichman expanded the concept through complex systems of electronic treatments, developing layers of feedback, transpositions, distortions, intentional or accidental patterning that were performed in real time, creating an extended, deeply aquatic work split between the sides of a cassette.

Reissuing their limited 2014 release on Joachim Nordwall Editions, the Oceans Of Silver & Blood duo of Joachim Nordwall on analog synthesizer, effects & tape and percussionist Mark Wastell on tam tam and timpani present two pieces, the first an environmental work underpinned by subtle percussion, the second a richly resonating work of threatening warmth.

The second in Discus Music's "Unreleased" series selected from percussionist and electronics legend Tony Oxley personal collection, here in three configurations: a quintet with Barry Guy, Dave Holdsworth, Howard Riley and Paul Rutherford; a quintet with Howard Riley, Larry Stabbins, Phillip Wachsmann and Hugh Metcalfe; and a duo with Stefan Hoekler.

Using simple motives to guide remarkably complex and lyric collective improvisations clearly in the jazz tradition, the Portuguese quartet of João Mortágua on alto & soprano saxophones, Carlos Azevedo on piano, Miguel Angelo on double bass and Mário Costa on drums approach their music with concise expression and a clear exuberance for the music they create.

A serious album of expressive free jazz from innately lyrical playing to scrabbly exploration, by the Twin Cities, Minneapolis trio of George Cartwright on saxophones, Josh Granowski on upright bass and Dave King on drums, performing live at Jazz Central Studio for two CDs of superb playing, the title inspired by the novel "A Calculated Life" by Anne Charnock.

With exceptionally quick spontaneity and astute anticipation, free improvising pianist Joel Futterman and drummer Steve Hirsh engage in a series of extended dialogs across two CDs of "Warp" & "Weft" in multiple parts, pushing each other in both technical and expressive interaction, weaving complex interplay with startling ease and creative intention.

Recording in Berlin in 2021, the quartet of English saxophonist Simon Rose, here on baritone sax and German double bassist and Evil Rabbit label leader Meinrad Kneer join with Creative Sources father/son string improvisers Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello for seven delicately commanding, chamber-oriented free improvisations.

Four improvisations recorded iteratively during the pandemic and assembled into this exquisitely subtle two-part composition with Eva Maria Houben's piano & organ recorded in Berlin in 2020, Guilherme Rodrigues's cello recorded in Berlin and Ernesto Rodrigues's zither recorded in Lisbon in 2021, merged with nocturnal recordings from Carlos Santos captured in Spain & Portugal.

Bringing together New York City and Philadelphia improvisers, the trio of T.J. Borden on cello, James McKain on tenor sax and Leo Suarez on drums, freely improvising through a "personally refined approach to pointillistic communication, interplay and the construction/demolition of static foundations" evolved through repeated sessions and live recordings.

"March" refers to the foundation of repurposed march rhythms NY drummer Tomas Fujiwara employs for the compositions in his second release with his Triple Double sextet, actually two trumpet-guitar-drum trios brilliantly interacting, with fellow drummer Gerald Cleaver, both Mary Halvorson & Brandon Seabrook on guitar and Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet & Ralph Alessi on trumpet.

Referencing Thomas Chapin, Ornette Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell & Evan Parker, Spanish saxophonist Liba Villavechia's trio with drummer/percussionsit Vasco Trilla and double bassist Alex Reviriego explore the "tentacles that stem from the great Jazz octopus" through five Villavecchia compositions, one collective improv, and Thomas Chapin's "Bypass".

A recently discovered 2007 live concert from Portuguese pianist & composer Bernardo Sassetti's Trio with Carlos Barretto on double bass and Alexandre Frazao on drums, celebrating the trio's then 10th anniversary in a performance at Grande Auditório da Culturgeste in Lisbon, an excellent example of the great skill and dexterity of this much-missed pianist and trio's work.

Featuring some of Poland's most interesting improvisers and contemporary players and led by wind & reedist Marek Pospieszalski, this 8-piece ensemble use the compositions of Krauze, Kotonski, Baird, Rudzinksi, Stachowski, Sikorsi, &c. as the inspiration and influence for sophisticated arrangements & improvisations merging concepts of jazz, contemporary composition & sound art.

Four extended collective improvisations of implicit lyricism and transcendent power from Brazilian-born New York-based tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, recording in the studio with his quartet of frequent collaborator and masterful bassist William Parker, also performing on shakuhachi, along with pianist Christopher Parker and drummer Chad Anderson.

The debut release of NY acoustic & amplified trumpeter Joe Moffett and Argentinian electronics artist based in NY, Cecilia Lopez, presenting a collection of improvised pieces of startling interactions using circuit bending, odd horn techniques and a wonderfully volatile approach to their dialog as they distort, deconstruct and intertwine their instruments.

A reductionist set of spartan improvisation performed live at Casa da Cultura, in Setubal, Portugal in 2021 from the trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, João Silva on trumpet and Andre Hencleeday on piano, applying extended techniques on their instruments in a dark night, quiet but intently close listening conversation from three authoritative voices.

Recording at Studio CCAM Scene Nationale de Vandaeuvre-les-Nancy in France, the freely improvising duo of contemporary saxophonist Violaine Gestalder and double bassist Louis-Michel Marion approach the five improvisations on Marges with an ear to patient sonic interaction through extended and unusual techniques on their instruments.

Two strings, sax, bass and percussion from the free improvising chamber jazz quintet of Mia Dyberg on alto saxophone, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Guilherme Rodrigues on cello, Johan Moir on double bass and Jose Oliveira on percussion, in an interactive and dynamic live performance recorded in 2018 during the CreativeFest XII at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Rich sound worlds or mysterious space and controlled chaos in this work commission by the TAK ensemble, the score devised partly in text and partly through instruction, giving directions for interpretation to the performers--Laura Cocks, Madison Greenstone, Marina Kifferstein, Charlotte Mundy, Ellery Trafford & Lopez himself--allowing each to become part composer, part improviser.

Written for the restored Aeolian-Skinner Organ (Op. 985) and performed live at St. Paul's Chapel at Columbia University, NY, composer and keyboardist Steve Long's piece references the Navajo code talkers of WWII while calling into question fundamental ideas about the nature of language, evoking instances of communication impeded both intentionally and unintentionally.

With the chamber-like orchestration of vibes and viola in the front line, the debut of bassist Michael Bisio's quartet with Karl Berger on vibes and sharing compositional credits, Mat Maneri on viola and Whit Dick on drums, is fueled by masterful improvisation and astute communication, an exemplary album of open-minded creative jazz executed with consummate skill.

Setting out to explore a standard song format for modern times through the instrumental piano jazz format, the French/German trio of basist Joel Grip, drummer Michael Griener and pianist Simon Sieger present a set of six Grip compositions along with two Sieger/Grip and one Sieger piece, all sophisticated, creative and lyrically infused modern jazz.

An open and free album of modern jazz evoking loft-style collective improvisation but controlled under the compositions of pianist Christopher Parker, in his debut album as a leader with the incredibly talented sextet of Kelley Hurt on vocals, Daniel Carter on winds, Jaimie Branch on trumpet, William Parker on bass and Gerald Cleaver on drums

Sun Ra alumni, bassist Tyler Mitchell leads a small ensemble including current Arkestra leader, saxophonist Marshall Allen, drummer Wayne Smith and percussionsit Elson Nascimento through a series of Sun Ra compositions and core pieces, along with a Thelonious Monk tune and two Mitchell compositions, in a band with saxophonist Chris Hemingway & Nicoletta Manzini.

Reinventing their band with the late drummer Alvin Fielder and saxophonist Kidd Jordan, the core trio of vocalist Kelley Hurt, pianist Christopher Parker and alto saxophonist Chad Fowler bring together drumming legend Brian Blade, bassist William Parker and trumpeter Marc Franklin for three extended works, rich journeys in expressive, soulful and lyrical free jazz

A soulful and even honky-tonk take on jazz from baritone saxophonist and vocalist Dave Sewleson, covering tunes like Nat King Cole's "Nature Boy" (two versions) or leaning back on riffs from popular music through lap steel guitarist Mike Neer, with Dave Hofstra on bass and Bernice "Boom Boom" Brooks on drums, a surprisingly enjoyable merging of popular and free playing.

A startling and energetically exciting collision of cleverly eclectic sound sources when Swiss turntablist and sound artist Joke Lanz met Austrian improviser and turntablist Dieb13 (Dieter Kovacic) for this amazing 2020 concert at GrillX in Vienna, using three turntables to create an incredible collage of sounds from the humorous to the awe inspiring.

An extraordinary and powerful concert at the 2009 Jazz in Luz Festival recorded at Marquee of Luz-Saint-Sauveur when Japanese improvising guitarist and vocalist Keiji Haino joined the electroacoustic improvising trio Marteau Rouge of Jean-Francois Pauvros on electric guitar, Makoto Sato on drums and Jean-Marc Foussat on analog synthesizer & voice.

A leader on the Portuguese free jazz scene, tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado assembles a collective quartet with three exemplary Norwegian improvisers--Thomas Johansson on trumpet, Jon Rune Strom on double bass and Gard Nilssen on drums--for a dynamic concert at ZDB club in Lisbon in 2017, three dialogs of sparking, fiery interactions and a final "Response".

Two burning improvisations from the Chicago / Norwegian trio Ballister of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, performing live at Alchemia in Krakow, Poland in 2019 in an exuberantly assertive concert from three incredibly active artists in the trans-Atlantic community of improvising musicians.

A collection of four concerts, each presented on a single CD, from the chamber-oriented and technically superb trio of Tim Trevor-Briscoe on alto saxophone & clarinet, Szilard Mezei on viola and Nicola Guazzaloca on piano, captured at at Korzo Zenehaz in Hungary; Cultural Centre of Vojvodina in Novi Sad Serbi; Regional Creative Atelier in Serbia; and Harom Hollo in Budapest.

A tribute to NY reedist & wind player Mark Whitecage, who passed away in March 2021, in a concert at Rochester's BopShop in 2018 by the band he is probably best known for: Nu Band, with trumpeter Thomas Heberer taking Roy Campbell's original seat, plus Lou Grassi on drums and Joe Fonda on bass, a great concert blending modern creative jazz with passionate playing and a bit of hard bop.

Barcelona pianist Agustí Fernández and Polish bass guitarist Rafał Mazur correspond through solo tracks recorded in their respective studios, each missive an unusual and impressive free improvisation using extended techniques, inside playing and inexplicable exclamation, in a five-part exchange where each message is alternately addressed "Dear Agusti" and "Dear Rafał".

An idiosyncratic and wonderfully wild improvisational music theater group revolving around composer & cellist Tristan Honsinger, using spoken word and song through eclectic and active free improvisation including strings, reeds, trumpet, toy piano, tap dance, bass & drums, a truly unique and joyfully quirky album that fulfills Honsinger's goal of uniting music, theater & poetry.

Composer, pianist and band leader Manuel Valera presents his second album with New York-based New Cuban Express Big Band, a large ensemble performing Valera's compositions that fuse the music of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Brazil to forge innovative sounds and textures, leaving room for outstanding solos from vocalists and instrumentalists.