A double CD of pianist Muhal Richard Abrams, the first in duo with saxophonist Fred Anderson, and the second with trombonist George Lewis, also on laptop, celebrating Abram's 80th birthday!

Alto saxophonist Steve Coleman takes his long-standing M-Base band Five Elements ongoing study into patterns found in nature in an album of music reflecting the irrational rhythms found in healthy human heartbeat patterns.

Saxophonist Coleman's 1st US label release in 9 years, 6 original compositions of complex, constantly shifting rhythms that convey a fundamental sense of groove from his 6 piece band.

Steve Coleman and Five Elements with Tim Albright, Tyshawn Sorey, Jen Shyu, &c., in an album incorporating the saxophonist's lifetime of researchg into cycles found in nature and astronomy.

An important new recording in the continuing advancement of jazz from the trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and tenor saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh.

NY based Iraqi-American trumpeter ElSaffar in an emotionally charged work that invokes ancient Iraqi musical traditions and frames them in a modern jazz setting.

The latest chapter in trumpeter Amir ElSaffar's continuing investigation into the tonal systems of Middle Eastern cultures within a jazz context, in a quintet with Ole Mathisen (sax), John Escreet (piano), Francois Moutin (bass) & Dan Weiss (drums).

The NY trio of Steve Lehman, Vijay Iyer and new drummer Tyshawn Sorey in their 3rd Pi release, with wide influences from M-Base, Ornette Coleman, Art Ensemble, &c.

A member of alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's band Five Elements, this is the debut album from a trumpeter widely admired for his ability to tackle cutting-edge musical concepts with confidence and great skill.

An intense look at veterans of color from the last decade's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan performed with lyricist Mike Ladd, Maurice Decaul, Lynn Hill, Guillermo & Pamela Z, plus the band of Liberty Ellman (guitar), Kassa Overall (drums) and Okkyung Lee (cello).

NY saxophonist Steve Lehman builds on his work with spectral harmony, expanding the harmonic palette with live electronics & a custom-built vibraphone, in an octet with Jonathan Finlayson, Mark Shim, Tim Albright, Chris Dingman, Jose Davila, Drew Gress & Tyshawn Sorey.

NY alto saxophonist Lehman's 2nd Pi releases combines groove-oriented musical content with highly contrapuntal, asymmetrical, and non-repetitive structural devices.

NY saxophonist Steve Lehman's Octet integrates delicate and highly nuanced spectral harmonies into meticulously crafted rhythmic settings, advanced and compelling jazz.

The debut recording from NY pianist Matt Mitchell, in a duo with drummer Ches Smith on drums, percussion & vibes, 15 inventive original compositions written to push Mitchell's technical skills in improvisational settings, each an ingenious little puzzle.

The next step in Iranian-American saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh's quest to create a seamless cross-cultural exchange of musical structures between the Persian dastgah and American jazz.

Debut recording from Marc Ribot's Ceramic Dog, a post-everything band joining Downtown NY mayhem makers Marc Ribot and Shahzad Ismaily, with West Coast drummer Ches Smith.

Marc Ribot's highly anticipated debut as a leader in a band with Henry Grimes on bass and Chad Taylor on drums, performing at the iconic Village Vanguard, with material including Albert Ayler, John Coltrane, &c.

Guitarist Ribot in a gorgeous and contemplative album of adaptations of music he has written for films, for classic silent movies, and that he scored for his personal amusement and imagination.

Drummer Tyshawn Sorey's trio with bassist Christopher Tordine and pianist Cory Smythe in an album dedicated to Butch Morris and to his mother; intelligent and pensively restrained through-composed jazz influenced by modern composition as much as the history of the jazz trio.

Henry Threadgill's new epic work in four movements written specifically to feature each of the musicians in Zooid: "Ceroepic" for Elliott Kavee (drums), "Dosepic" for Christopher Hoffman (cello), "Tresepic" for Jose Davila (trombone & tuba), and "Unoepic" for Liberty Ellman (guitar).

Henry Threadgill's Zooid with Liberty Ellman, Jose Davila, Stomu Takeishi and Elliot Kavee in all new Threadgill compositions, important and influential modern jazz!

Threadgill's 2nd Volume with Jose Davila, Liberty Ellman, Elliot Humberto Kavee, and Stomu Takeishi, intelligent and cutting-edge music exploring the boundaries of composition & improvisation.

Great record from Threadgill's Zooid ensemble, an all-acoustic group with guitar, cello, oud, tuba and drums, along with the leaders saxophone and flute. Beautiful compositions, nicely played.

Cuban-born pianist David Virelles in a collaborative effort with legendary drummer Andrew Cyrille, bassist Ben Street, and Cuban folkloric percussionist/poet Roman Diaz, inspired by various aspects of Afro-Cuban religious practices.

Fourteen musicians perform drummer Dan Weiss' ambitious compositional project, a through-composed work featuring an ensemble with guitar, horns, voices, harp, piano, organ, bass and percussion, with players including Weiss, Matt Mitchell, Judith Berkson, David Binney, &c. &c.

Chicago trumpeter Wilkes, who plays in El'Zabar's Ethnic Heritage Ensemble and Exploding Star Orchestra, in his own Abstrakt Pulse sextet, a modern take on mid-60s jazz.

NY trumpeter Amir ElSaffar's Two Rivers Ensemble, exploring the juncture between jazz and music of the Middle East through sophisticated and lyrically stunning music, here focusing on revolution, civil war, and sectarian violence; a culture's struggle for survival.

Guitarist Liberty Ellman leads a sextet with Steve Lehman (alto sax), Jose Davila (tuba), Stephan Crump (bass), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet) and Damon Reid (drums) in a diverse collection of eight original compositions of energetic, lyrical and informed NY jazz.

Trumpeter Amir ElSaffar and his quintet expand the sonic possibilities of jazz by building on the modal music of the Iraqi maqam, adding a microtonal harmonic and melodic language influenced by the pitch-flexibility of Middle Eastern music.

The follow-up to drummer/composer Dan Weiss's release "Fourteen" presents a larger ensemble taking on jazz, world music, prog rock, contemporary classical music and more in compositions named for drummers, with a diverse orchestration of acoustic and unconventional instruments.

Henry Threadgill's tribute to friend, composer-conductor Lawrence D. Butch Morris, in a detailed 4-part work with an excellent set of improvisers: Henry Threadgill, Jose Davila, Jason Moran, Christopher Hoffman, David Virelles, Roman Filiu, Curtis Macdonald, and Craig Weinrib.

New York drummer Tyshawn Sorey's impressive work for double trio is an ambitious chamber jazz composition using multiple harmonic, formal, rhythmic, and modal vocabularies in an exploratory and improvisational framework, inspired by the work of Lawrence D. Butch Morris.

NY saxophonist Steve Lehman merges his sophisticated jazz roots with the experimental hip-hop community, including French saxophonist Maciek Lasserre, vocalists HPrizm & Gaston Bandimic alongside bassist Drew Gress, drummer Damion Reid, and pianist Carlos Homs.

NY trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson's 2nd Pi album, in a quintet with pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist John Hebert, guitarist Miles Okazaki, and drummer Craig Weinrib, for 6 original lyrical compositions with captivating progressions and top notch soloing making great modern jazz.

A masterful fountain of melodic ideas, intriguing rhythms, and exceptional technical skill from the duo of Hamid Drake on drums and frame drum, and Sylvain Kassap on clarinets and chalumeau, recording live at the France Musique at Studio Theatre dÕAlfortville and in the studio.

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.

Intricate interplay in modern jazz from guitarist Miles Okazaki in a quartet with fellow New Yorkers Craig Taborn on piano, Anthony Tidd on bass, and Sean Rickman on drums--Tidd and Rickman his compatriots in Steve Coleman and Five Elements--performing Okazaki's playfully complex and innovative compositions that drive some serious grooves.

Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus named "Clinamen" the unpredictable (in time and space) swerve of atoms falling in the void, which aptly describes the unexpected directions taken in subtle free improvisation from this French trio, led by bassist Louis-Michel Marion, with Jacques Di Donato on clarinet, and Philippe Berger on viola.

Composer Henry Threadgill's Double Up band does not include Threadgill himself, but for this second release with the group he adds a 3rd piano (also doubling on harmonium) alongside two alto saxophones, cello, tuba, drums and percussion, the octet performing Threadgill's complex yet effortlessly intricate and distinctive compositions that allow his performers to shine.

Composer, saxophonist and flutist Henry Threadgill presents 2 full-length works for his 15 piece band "14 or 15 Kestra: Agg", as he explores new ways of integrating composition with group improvisation, here using an entirely new system of improvisation based on preconceived series of intervals realized in multi-layered counterpoint, rigorous polyphony, and timbral contrasts.

Cuban born NY pianist David Virelles documents the musicians of his birthplace, Santiago de Cuba, home to musical styles such as son, changui, nengon, and conga, in two distinct projects: Volume I, where Virelles introduces Orquesta Luz de Oriente tracing the roots of the Cuban big band tradition; and Volume II, reinterpreting the piano music of iconic pianist Antonio Maria Romeu.

Marking 50 years for Chicago's most important and innovative ensembles, formed in 1969 to advance creative musicians as part of the AACM, is this tribute to and based on music written by late members Lester Bowie, Malachi Favors, and Joseph Jarman, performed by 15 innovative musicians young and old, and presented in 2 CDs: one in the studio and one live at the 2018 Edgefest.

The sophisticated compositions of New York pianist Matt Mitchell on piano, also performing on synthesizer, are heard in this quintet with Miles Okazaki on electric & acoustic guitars, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone & marimba, Kim Cass on bass, and Kate Gentile on drums & percussion, a challenging album that rewards through intensity and incredible detail.

Saxophonist Steve Lehman's trio with drummer Damion Reid and double bassist Matt Brewer is expanded with pianist Craig Taborn for an album of Lehman originals and compositions by Autechre, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Kenny Kirkland, and Jeff "Tain" Watts, plus three duo recordings between Lehman and Taborn; intricate cutting edge jazz made effortless and exuberant!

An album of intelligent modern jazz that twists contemporary bop forms through unusual time signatures and highly interactive playing, in the 5th album from composer and bandleader Miles Okazaki, retaining his rhythm section of Anthony Tidd (bass) and Sean Rickman (drums) and here with Matt Mitchell on piano and keys; forward-thinking and embraceable.

New York drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist Marilyn Crispell first played toghether in 2014, this only their 3rd performance, at The Kitchen in 2018 as part of a 3-day career accomplishments series for Sorey, the two performing in the dark as they spontaneously evolve a brilliant piece of innate orchestration, color, texture, rhythm, and thematic development.

Wind player and composer Anna Weber pays homage to 20th Century composers' works for percussion, using Xenakis, Feldman, Varese, Stockhausen, Babbitt & Cage as influences in compositions leaving room for improvisation from her septet of Jeremy Viner (sax & clarinet), Jacob Garchik (trombone), Christopher Hoffman (cello), Matt Mitchell (piano), Chris Tordini (bass), and Ches Smith (drums).

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.

An articulate and important collection of songs devoted to the marginalized voices of women around the world from NY vocalist Jen Shyu, performed in a masterful quintet with Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, Mat Maneri on viola, Thomas Morgan on bass, Dan Weiss on drums, Shyu singing and performing on percussion, piano, Taiwanese moon lute, and Japanese biwa.

Recorded a year after Volume 1, alto saxophonist Steve Coleman's Five Elements band with Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, Anthony Tidd on bass, Sean Rickman on drums and, replacing guitarist Miles Okazaki, improvising vocalist Kokayi credited as "wordsmith", performing at The Village Vanguard for a sophisticated, rhythmically fascinating and energetic concert; exemplary!

Cuban/NY pianist David Virelles in his first solo album, 14 original compositions and 2 from Cuban composers, blending modern jazz with Cuban, African and European influences, a tour-de-force of clear and balanced, irrepresible rhythms and elegant ballads, an inspired album opening on marimbula and expanded with percussion from Julio Barreto on three tracks.

Guitarist/composer Liberty Ellman's album takes its name from the four deserts--Atacama in South America, the Gobi in China, the Sahara in Egypt, and the "White Desert" of Antarctica--in seven sophisticated compositions performed with Steve Lehman on alto sax, Stephan Crump on bass, Damion Reid on drums, Jonathan Finlayson on trumpet, and Jose Davila on tuba.

Vocalist Jen Shyu and master bassist Mark Dresser in a duo exploring opportunities for space and sound, texture and styles, through informed songs that include texts by Li Po and Ge Hong.

An urgent album of modern jazz, underground urban and electronic music, from the international collective of MCs HPrizm (NYC) & Gaston Bandimic (Dakar), saxophonists Steve Lehman (Los Angeles) & Maciek Lasserre (Paris) and drummer Damon Reid, exploring Islamic mysticism of al-Ghaib with the voices of Billy Higgins and Jackie McLean heard throughout the album.

A 3-volume set from four night's performances at The Jazz Gallery in NYC by the Tyshawn Sorey trio of drummer Sorey, pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Russell Hall, joined by alto saxophonist Greg Osby for sets of exceptionally sophisticated and passionate interpretations of jazz standards including work by Miles Davis, Billy Strayhorn, Cole Porter, Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, &c.

A blazing collaboration between alto saxophonists Rudresh Mahanthappa and Bunky Green in an all-star band with pianist Jason Moran, bassist Francois Moutin and drummers Damion Reid and Jack DeJohnette.

Composed by Henry Threadgill based on his observations of the exodus of people from New York City during the Covid pandemic and the debris left behind, this work titled "Valence" and dedicated to percussionist Milford Graves, is a chamber jazz piece in three movements was taken from recordings at Roulette of the second of two performances entitled "One" and "The Other One".

Drummer Tyshawn Sorey takes his sophisticated piano trio of pianist Aaron Diehl and bassist Matt Brewer into deeper territory following their debut album Continuing, here expanding the breadth of their playing in four extended and passionate interpretations of works by Wayne Shorter, Ahmad Jamal, Sorey's mentor Harold Mabern, and the standard "Angel Eyes".

A collaboration between NY saxophonist & composer Steve Lehman and the French Orchestre National de Jazz (ONJ), performing compositions by both Lehman and ONJ's artistic director, Frédéric Maurin that blur the boundaries between jazz, experimental and composed forms, using spectral harmonies and real-time interactive electronics developed at IRCAM; powerful!

A compilation of works from the late Chicago multi-reedist, experimenter, and AACM founder Muhal Richard Abrams, focused on his widely unknown electronic compositions, in four recording from 1968-1995 with collaborators including Anthony Braxton, Leroy Jenkins, Amina Claudine Myers, Roscoe Mitchell, Maurice McIntyre, Yousef Yancey, Thurman Barker, &c.

Recording in France in 1970, the Art Ensemble of Chicago (Malachi Favors on bass, Joseph Jarman on saxophone, Roscoe Mitchell on saxophone, Lester Bowie on trumpet) recorded the soundtrack to director Moshé Mizrahi's movie Les stances à Sophie, joined by vocalist Fontella Bass, releasing a classic and exciting album that stands as a great testament to the versatility of its players.

An almost ceremonial release in percussive approaches to improvisation from the trio of William Parker on double bass, shakuhachi, thumb piano & more, Hamid Drake on drums, cymbals and gongs, and Joe Morris on guitar, banjo, bass, pocket trumpet, fiddle & whistles.

Recorded in 1996 and first released by Music and Arts, this is perhaps Scott Fields' most important recording session to date: intricate compositions and superior interplay with his Chicago peers of Hamid Drake, Marilyn Crispell, and Hans Sturm.

Sebastian Gottschick's adaptations of Ives' songs and short instrumental pieces pay homage to the composer and develop his work further, as conducted by Gottschick with the ensemble fur neue musik zurich.