4 Corners with Ken Vandermark, Magnus Broo, Adam Land and Paal Nilssen-Love in a live DVD from a March 2007 gig in Portugal playing 5 extended tracks. (PAL format)

Chicago and Norway collide in the continuing collaboration of the "free-wheeling trio" of Ballister: Dave Rempis, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Paal Nilssen-Love, amazing and forward-thinking free jazz.

The trio of Peter Brotzmann, Massimo Pupillo (Zu) and Paal Nilssen-Love seriously tearing it up at the Casa del Jazz in Rome, December 2008.

Frode Gjerstad's Circulasione Totale Orchestra with a new line-up including Louis Moholo-Moholo, lstad, Sabir Mateen, Kevin Norton, Bobby Bradford, Lasse Marhaug & Paal Nilssen-Love, &c.

A massive composition recorded in Norway from a great group of European improvisers led by Frode Gjerstad with Paal Nilssen-Love, Bobby Bradford, Lasse Marhaug, Louis Moholo, &c. &c.

Extraordinary reed player Gjerstad on alto sax and clarinet in a quartet with two cellos (Fred Lonberg-Holm & Amit Sen) and all around drummer Paal Nielsen-Love.

One of the great modern groups in free improvisations, saxophonist & clarinetist Frode Gjerstad leads teh trio of Jon Rune Strom on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums in a liver performance at Miyazaki, Japan for 2 extended and 1 short improv of vital, informed and exuberant improvisations.

Trumpeter Magnus Broo with pianist Sten Sandell's Trio of bassist Johan Berthling and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, here with Sandell on the Hammond organ.

A live recording of two extended improvisations at Audio Rebel's Quintavant in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil from the quartet of Arthur Lacerda on guitar and electronics, electric bassist Felipe Zenicola, guitarist Eduardo Manso, and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love.

Paal Nilssen-Love with Lasse Marhaug, recorded and edited by Fe-mail/Spunk Hild Sofie Tafjord to create 6 fascinating free-form compositions of sound and texture.

Ex guitarist Terrie and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love met in the Jottem Studio in Wormerveer, NL, to record these 4 extended and rugged improvisations; rhythm vs strings with a skronky temperament.

An incredible hour-long 6 part drum set from one of Europe's most active drummers, performing live at Foundacio Joan Miro in Barceloa during the Nits de Music series.

Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit of some of Norway's brightest young improvisers in a solid 3-CD box set recorded live during their 2014 tour, performing Nilssen-Love's compositions that focus on interaction, free improvisation, sound, dynamics and energy.

Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit of some of Norway's brightest young improvisers in a 4 LP box set with a bonus CD & flexi disc, recorded live during their 2014 tour, performing Nilssen-Love's compositions that focus on interaction, free improvisation, sound, dynamics and energy.

Norway's younger generation of improvising musicians, acoustic and electronic, perform in percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit from their first EP, a live recording from Molde Jazzfestival 2013.

Drummer and percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love performed this incredibly diverse solo set at the Forum, Norway during the 2002 Molde International Jazz Festival.

Rune Grammofon's latest release of duo combinations brings together Swedish pianist Sten Sandell and Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, two free improvising masters from similar circles captured live in an outstanding set at the 2013 Kongsberg Jazz Festival.

Skronky improv from the trio of Mats Gustafsson (sax), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (electric bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) in this 180gm vinyl issue of their 2011 Smalltown Superjazz release, recorded in monaural sound for straight-to-your-brain free jazz!

A 2 song EP from The Thing--Mats Gustaffson (sax), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums)--reprising their "MONO" release, the title track a Bob Weston remix of that hard-hitting number; and "Bruremarsj" an abstract take on a traditional Norwegian wedding march.

An all-star lineup for European free jazz with Evan Parker, Sten Sandell, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten and Paal Nilssen Love on a double CD recorded live at Belleville.

Victoriaville celebrated European Free Jazz legend Peter Brotzmann's 70th birthday by presenting two concerts: one solo, and one with the amazing Trio Roma of Massimo Pupillo and Paal Nilssen-Love, both presented on this essential 2 CD release.

The amazing combination of Ex guitarists Terrie Ex and Andy Moor with drummer Paal Nilssen-love and Chicago saxophonist Ken Vandermark in their 5th release, a live album from Italy showing the aggressive and exuberantly determined band in excellent form.

An explosive mix of rock, jazz, noise and free improv when the guitarists from The Ex (Terrie Ex, Andy Moor) come together with Ken Vandermark (saxophone, clarinet) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) for their 3rd inspired release.

Wild free jazz grooves, another monster of an album from the trio of reedist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love with guests Anna Hogberg on alto sax and Goran Kajfes on cornet; intense, passionate, and precise.

Recorded and performed without loops, overlays or other technological aid, Norwegian drummer and composer Ola Djupvik explores his limits in a mix of European free improvisation, minimalism and contemporary composers like John Cage and Morton Feldman.

Wild free jazz grooves, another monster of an album from the trio of reedist Mats Gustafsson, bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love with guests Anna Hogberg on alto sax and Goran Kajfes on cornet; intense, passionate, and precise.

The sixth studio album from the trio of Mats Gustafsson (saxophones), Ingebrigt Haker Flaten (electric bass), and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums), the first release on their own label, a record that transforms rock, noise, and improv in intense and exultant ways.

Guitarist Luis Jose Martins and pianist Joana Sa, known from their Shhpuma release "Almost a Song" and a release on Creative Sources, join again with harpist Eduardo Raon, with two Shhpuma releases, for a delicately complex, effervescent, and sometimes turbulent release.

"After a free jazz investment for many years, now something entirely different. Avant-garde? Composer / improviser Rob Brown says it's an irrelevant categorization nowadays. Instead of the conventional sax-bass-drums combo of the New Thi...

The second release on Intakt pairing pianist Ulrich Gumpert and percussionist Gunter Baby Sommer in an album that borrows from blues, boogie-woogie, hard bop, German folk songs, and free jazz.

West Coast multi-reedist and founding member of the Rova Sax Quartet Larry Ochs leads this impressive free improvising quintet patterned after the New York Contemporary Five, with the superb lineup of Nate Wooley, Harris Eisenstadt, Pascal Niggenkemper, and Ken Filiano.

A live recording from the Casa Del Popolo club in Montreal, Canada, named because Gjerstad was upset that Air Canada had messed up his sax in transit, which he played regardless; his frustration pushed him into an overwhelmingly amazing set of smoking free jazz!

Drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit recorded this ecstatic, Brazilian influenced material in 2015 after a mammoth European and North-American tour, hours after their performance at the 2015 Oslo Jazzfestival with an extended line-up with Brazilian percussion players.

Assembling a wide range of percussive instruments accumulated through world travels, from Korean gongs to scrap metal sheets from Ethiopia, Paal Nilssen-Love presents an intense and wide-ranging solo percussion tour-de-force, recorded in Oslo by frequent collaborator Lasse Marhaug.

Japanese Koto virtuoso Michiyo Yagi joins the longstanding duo of drummer Paal-Nilssen-Love and electronics wizard Lasse Marhaug for a session of extended improvisations, driving the traditional Japanese instruments into non-idiomatic and percussive extremes.

A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.

Live recordings at LOFT in Cologne, Germany from the trio of George Wissel on prepared saxophone, Achim Tang on doublebass, and Simon Camatta on drums & percussion, performing seven "Movements" that use prodigious technique with reserve and direction, revealing the structure of their work as the pieces build and recede in fascinating ways.

"Pan-Scan" refers to pan-Scandinavian, and the nine players on this thrilling and joyful recordings are all of that origin, performing live at Blow Out in Mir, Oslo, Norway in 2016, including both Lotte Anker and Ann Hogberg on sax, Thomas Johansson, Emil Stranberg and Goran Kajfes on trumpet, Sten Sandell on piano, and Paal Nilssen-Love and Stale Liavik on drums.

The 25 year collaboration of Norwegian free improvisers Frode Gjerstad on saxophones and clarinets and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love, starting with Circulasione Totale Orchestra and best experienced in their duo recordings, here in an album dedicated to Frode's close friend and musical colleague, pianist and accordion player Elvin One Pedersen.

The Thing "again" as Gustafsson on saxophones, Haker Flaten on electric and acoustic bass, and Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion present 3 extended blues-based, Ayler-inflected free jazz pieces, with Gustafsson's powerfully emotional playing over Haker-Flaten and Nilssen-Love's powerful polyrhythmic foundations; Joe McPhee joins for one track taking on a Frank Lowe piece.

An intensively diverse and thrilling game of "cat and dog" between Norwegian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love and Japanese guitarist Otomo Yoshihide, performing live at Dom Cultural Center, Moscow, Russia in 2016 for two extended improvisations that exemplify incredible technical skills, reflective and introspective dialog, and cathartic release; absolutely impressive.

Brought together by dummer Paal Nilssen-Love for the 2018 Roskilde Festival in Denmark, this quintet merges Norwegians Nilssen-Love and long-time collaborator Frode Gjerstad on alto sax with the Brazilian trio of Felipe Zenicola on electric bass, Kiko Dinucci on electric guitar, and Paulinho Bicolor on cuica, for a thrilling and exuberant concert of energetic improvisation.

For their 10th album, the duo of multi-reedist Ken Vandermark and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love took inspiration from experimental cinema, enlisting producer Lasse Marhaug to scour YouTube for concerts from their past 10 years, extracting 60 seconds of audio from each and joining them into 2-minute segments, 21 of which create this unusual album of awe-inspiring performance.

A 5 CD box set that tells the story of The Quintet, which brought two of the most important proponents of Norwegian free jazz in the 60s and 70s--saxophonist Carl Magnus Neumann and bassist Bjornar Andresen--together with younger generation drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, bassist Eivind Opsvik, and guitarist Ketil Gutvik, reissuing their 1999 album and adding 4 studio and live sessions.

The Thing "again" as Gustafsson on saxophones, Haker Flaten on electric and acoustic bass, and Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion present 3 extended blues-based, Ayler-inflected free jazz pieces, with Gustafsson's powerfully emotional playing over Haker-Flaten and Nilssen-Love's powerful polyrhythmic foundations; Joe McPhee joins for one track taking on a Frank Lowe piece.

Heavy free jazz in the 3rd release from the trio of Mats Gustafsson on tenor and baritone sax, Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten on bass, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, covering an eclectic set of punk and free jazz titles including covers of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Sonics, White Stripes, Norman Howard and Brotzmann; thick and sick free improvisation.

Named for Sunny Murray's 1969 album "Big Chief", the long-runing collaborations of tenor saxophonist & pocket trumpeter Joe McPhee and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love pay tribute to the late drummer Sunny Murray in this concert recording at London's Cafe Oto for a dynamic dialog of free jazz, with two nuanced free improv pieces including a "Fantasy for Lester [Bowie]".

Distilling a trio from Paal Nillsen-Love's Large Unit results in Fish & Steel, the trio of Mats Aleklint on trombone, Per Ake Holmlander on tuba, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, an unusual brass & drum orchestration in two extended improvisations with an experimental bent that veers in and out of jazz forms with a mischievous attitude and masterful playing.

A split 7" release between Cremaster (Alfredo Costa Monteiro (electronics) and Ferran Fages (feedback mixing board and electroacoustic devices); and the Komora A trio of Karol Koszniec (electronics), Dominik Kowalczyk (laptop) and Jakub Mikolajczyk (modular synth).

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.

The tenth year of the working and touring international Ballister trio of Dave Rempis on alto & tenor saxophones, Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion, here in an outrageously powerful yet explorative concert at Dom Cultural Center, in Moscow, Russia in 2019, a fierce example of what this band is capable of.

After the 2019 retrospective box-set of the late 90s, legendary band The Quintet, and after the sad passing of bassist Bjornar Andresen, saxophonist Carl Magnus Neumann, guitarist Ketil Gutvik and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love decided to form a new quartet, adding bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, commencing their organization with this outstanding 2020 live concert in Oslo.

The fifth release from the international power trio of Dave Rempis (sax), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello & electronics) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) in a rewarding release of heavy grooves, offset by introspective soundscapes and moments of quiet beauty.

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

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.

A surprising trio for percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love and wind player Frode Gjerstad, who more typically play assertive free jazz of enthusiastic character and technical skill, but here joined by fellow Norwegian, accordionist Kalle Moberg, they instead turn in a beautifully reflective set with Paal primarily playing gongs, using the resonance of Oslo's Gamle Aker Kirke.

One of a pair of albums--New Map and Clusterfuck--recorded in the studio in Oslo, Norway by percussionist and composer Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit, a 15-piece, incredibly flexible and open-minded ensemble, here improvising over a work of graphic notation where the composed structures are balanced with blocks of improvisation, allowing for quick dynamic shifts in direction.

One of a pair of albums--New Map and Clusterfuck--recorded in the studio in Oslo, Norway by percussionist and composer Paal Nilssen-Love's Large Unit, a 15-piece, incredibly flexible and open-minded ensemble, here performing a work where the improvisers are provided with a series of open-form "cells"--concrete ideas, notes and directions--to which they must respond.

Three accordion players, Alfredo Costa Monteiro, Jonas Kocher, and Luca Venitucci, form 300 Basses, an unconventional trio that explores new ways to play this traditional instrument.

A live recording at the Jazzfest Trondheim, Trondelag Senter for Samtidskunst, in May 2015 from the freely improvising duo of John Butcher and contrabassist Michael Duch, a superb extended concert of incredible reed technique and concept anchored by Duch's flexible bass work.

A tribute to late experimental sound artist Peter Rehberg (Pita) from collaborators and friends Lasse Marhaug and Jérôme Noetinger, ten recordings of wildly creative, slippery electronics, crunching sound bunts, rapid fire electronic turmoil and tapehead jamming, ending with a beautifully drifting tribute to an artist who widely influenced modern sound culture.

Keyboardist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Fred Frith, Samech) composed this song cycle about ancient Greek figures in collaboration with David Yearsley, Theresa Wong and Russell Greenberg, poetic pieces contrasting traditional use of instruments with subtle experimental approaches in a unique and fascinating set of compositional strategies.

Fiction, folklore and everyday sounds fuel the compositions of NY pianist Angelica Sanchez, with her trio of Michael Formanek on double bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums, the band explores concepts of lucid dreaming, backyard birds, novels, mythical creatures and ancient structures, in a magnificent album of inspired free improvisation.

A collection of compositions from drummer/composer Federico Ughi dedicated to the four cities where he's lived: Rome, London, Montreal and New York, performed in a quartet with Darius Jones (sax), Eri Yamamoto (piano) and Ed Schuller (bass).

"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!

The improvising string duo of stalwart London improvisers, Daniel Thompson on acoustic guitar and Phil Durrant on the octave mandola, are heard in two settings of texturally rich, intricate interactions, first at Cafe OTO in 2022 for an extended improvisation, then at Cable Street Studios two months later for six succint, impressively diverse dialogs.

A CD intended to sell at concerts from Mars Williams' own Soul What Records label, a studio recording in 2012 from the powerhouse trio of Chicago multi-reedist Mars Williams, in-demand Norwegian drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love, and Chicago bassist Kent Kessler, running the gamut from furious blowing to introspective interaction.

Often performing together as a duo after their initial 2004 Chicago Tentet encounter, drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen and multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann typically released albums of live performances, this 2015 studio date in Antwerp unique in their catalog, an exemplary set of recordings, particularly with Brötzmann on a new contra-alto clarinet and Paal adding gongs to their improvisations.

Often performing together as a duo after their initial 2004 Chicago Tentet encounter, drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen and multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann typically released albums of live performances, this 2015 studio date in Antwerp unique in their catalog, an exemplary set of recordings, particularly with Brötzmann on a new contra-alto clarinet and Paal adding gongs to their improvisations.

The trio of Japanese saxophone legend Akira Sakata with the Scandinavian rhythm section of Johan Berthling on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, plus a second drummer with Takeo Moriyama (Yosuke Yamashita Trio), perform six wildly exciting improvisations, Sakata's vocalizations at times pushing the band as they are heard live in this 2019 recording at Tokuzo in Nagoya, Japan.

The trio of Japanese saxophone legend Akira Sakata with the Scandinavian rhythm section of Johan Berthling on double bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums, plus a second drummer with Takeo Moriyama (Yosuke Yamashita Trio), perform six wildly exciting improvisations, Sakata's vocalizations at times pushing the band as they are heard live in this 2019 recording at Tokuzo in Nagoya, Japan.

The 2nd volume following Chicken Shit Bingo from a two-day 2015 studio session in Antwerp, capturing the deep rapport and evolving artistry of multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love through eight powerful and explorative improvisations, reflecting their nearly two-decade collaboration as they experiment with new instruments and demonstrate profound musical expression.

The 2nd volume following Chicken Shit Bingo from a two-day 2015 studio session in Antwerp, capturing the deep rapport and evolving artistry of multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann and drummer/percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love through eight powerful and explorative improvisations, reflecting their nearly two-decade collaboration as they experiment with new instruments and demonstrate profound musical expression.

Captured live at Copenhagen's Jazzhouse in 2016, the explosive trio of Peter Brötzmann on saxophone & clarinet, Steve Swell on trombone, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums & percussion delivers a high-intensity set, opening with the fiery 30-minute "Copenhagen Maneuvers" and continuing through shorter pieces that demonstrate their raw power, deep improvisational synergy, and relentless momentum.

A powerhouse trio of free jazz titans — Peter Brötzmann on saxophone and clarinet, Steve Swell on trombone, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums — captured live at Krakow's Alchemia Club in 2015, delivering a high-energy set of unrelenting interplay, shifting dynamics, and deep improvisational synergy, from explosive full-throttle exchanges to nuanced explorations of timbre and structure.

Captured live in Austria during their 2022 tour, the ferocious trio of Yong Yandsen on tenor sax, Christian Meaas Svendsen on double bass, voice, and shakuhachi, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums conjure a visceral yet nuanced ritual of free improvisation, fusing Buddhist themes and extended technique into a raw, dynamic, and spiritually charged performance.