A lyrical album of original compositions from New York pianist Zack Clarke, in an acoustic jazz piano trio with double bassist Kim Cass and drummer Dre Hocevar, recording in the Systems Two studio in Brooklyn for nine pieces of both optimistic and mercurial temperament, a great example mixing virtuosic form and perceptive communication in a classic configuration.

"Here Now Hear" is comprised of nine innovative Australian works commissioned and recorded by the Monash Art Ensemble between 2017 & 2019, featuring an eclectic mix of contemporary cross-genre music by significant Australian composers: Paul Grabowsky, Kate Neal, Andrew Ford, Robert Burke, Cat Hope, Marc Hannaford, Paul Williamson, Johannes Luebbers and Sandy Evans.

British saxophonist Paul Dunmall and American trombonist Steve Swell in a quartet with master drummer Mark Sanders and emerging UK bassist James Owston took the stage at Jubilee Center Birmingham, UK in 2019 for this dynamic album of collective improvisation, in a staggering concert of powerful technique and upbeat, ultimately swinging free jazz.

A smoking session recorded at Bristol Fringe Club, UK in 2019 from the quartet of frequent collaborators Percy Pursglove on bass & trumpet, Mark Sanders on drums, and Paul Dunmall on soprano & tenor saxophones and alto flute, and on this concert John Etheridge (Soft Machine, Zappatistas) on electric guitar, adding great technical skill and intensity to this exceptional concert.

Drawn from 305 traditional ballads from England and Scotland alongside their American variants, anthologised by Francis James Child during the second half of the nineteenth century, are here sung by Ed Pettersen in the fascinating intersection of traditional lyrics and experimental interpretations of melodies, performed by the 11-piece London Experimental Ensemble.

Using the natural resonance of the St. Martin's Church, in Smartno, Slovenia, percussionist Zlatko Kaucic leads the quintet of Michael Moore on alto sax & clarinet, Marco Colonna on clarinet & bass clarinet, Albert Cirera on tenor sax, and Silvia Bolognesi on Double Bass, in ten conversations from cinematic conversation to commandingly interactive.

Three saxophonists -- Evan Parker, Lotte Anker, and Torben Snekkestad -- all on soprano sax plus Anker on tenor and Snekkestad on trumpet, in a primarily reed trio performing live in in Copenhagen, Denmark at KoncertKirken Blagards Plads, in two highly interactive improvisations that explore harmonic interaction, interference, and tonal intersections; fascinating!

Part of Evan Parker's 70th birthday in 2014, this album captures the super-charged quartet of Evan Parker on tenor saxophone, Mikolaj Trzaska on alto sax, bass clarinet, John Edwards on double bass, and Mark Sanders on drums, in two sets for two extended improvisations of both power playing and powerful communication, along with one shorter final statement.

The 2nd release from the trio of Chicago cornetist Josh Berman, UK drummer/percussionist Paul Lytton and Chicago bassist Jason Roebke, featuring material recorded during the trio's April 2018 European tour, in two extended side-long improvisations from Padova, Italy and Trondheim, Norway, in sets of profound technique and creative prowess; exceptional.

An excellent album of informed free improvisation in the debut of this masterful trio of legendary musicians spread across the US--Joe McPhee on soprano sax & pocket trumpet [NY], Ken Vandermark on tenor sax & clarinet [Chicago], and Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar [Texas], a profound album from assertive to introspective playing in seven captivating collective improvisations.

Created out of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and drummer/percussionist Moe Staiano's Mute Socialite, this 7-piece improvising rock band turns rock on it's side in mostly instrumental, energetically complex and twisted rock pieces with acerbic social narrative, the band employing three drummers, bass & two guitars, piano and trumpet from Darren Johnston.

Multi-instrumentalist Daniel Carter's Telepathic Band with Patrick Holmes (clarinet), Matthew Putman (keyboards), Hilliard Greene (bass) and Federico Ughi (drums) present their first volume of "psych-jazz", in actively mesmerizing music that explores the border between the "default world" and the "dream world", a meditation on electricity through profound playing.

The working trio of New York trumpeter & saxophonist Joe McPhee, London double bassist John Edwards, and German drummer Klaus Kugel, actively touring through Europe since 2017, are heard live at Alchemia in Krakow, Poland in 2018, for four monumental examples of free improvisation in superlative playing with intense rhythmic interaction and deeply expressive soloing.

A set of Jeb Bishop compositions performed at The Hungry Brain in Chicago, from the inventively lyrical quartet of Jeb Bishop (trombone), Russ Johnson (trumpet), Frank Rosaly (drums), and Jason Roebke (bass), performing music written for this same quartet at the invitation of Ken Vandermark for the Okka Festival 7 in Milwaukee; optimistic and joyful modern jazz!

Merging and remastering two essential albums from free jazz saxophonist Marion Brown: his 1966 ESP album "Marion Brown Quartet" with trumpeter Alan Shorter, bassist Reggie Johnson and percussionist Rahied Ali; and his 1967 Fontana album "Juba-Lee" in a septet with Reggie Johnson, drummer Beaver Harris, pianist Dave Burrell, trombonist Grachan Moncur III & saxophonist Bennie Maupin.

Three variations of quartet settings from iconoclastic free jazz saxophonist Albert Ayler, remastering and combining two Debut Records albums, "Spirits" from 1964 with Norman Howard (trumpet), Sunny Murray (drums), and alternating bass between Henry Grimes & Earle Henderson; and 1965's "Ghosts" on Debut Records with Don Cherry (trumpet), Gary Peacock (bass), and Sunny Murray.

The collaboration between Magaibutsu label leader, Yoshida Tatsuya (Ruins, Korekyojinn, Koenji, The World Heritage, &c) on drums, keyboards & voice, and Heldon mastermind Richard Pinhas on guitar & effects, continues with this CD of live material from their 2014 Japanese tour, extending the 2015 "Live in Japan" album, including the 8-part "Ascension".

His first solo album in a career spanning back to 1976, Chicago percussionist Michael Zerang presents a diverse set of improvisations demonstrating the wealth of approaches he has developed over the year, including the use of vibrating drumhead surfaces, expressive friction passages, multiple timbre percussion, and straight up trap-set drumming; absolutely impressive.

The second album of this Guy Segers (Univers Zero) project in an eclectic ensemble of improvisers, rock musicians and experimenters, a genre-defying project of primarily instrumental work with interventions of song, merging acoustic & electric instruments with electronics, live improvisation with studio manipulation, to find new forms of mesmerizing music.

Mujician pianist Keith Tippetts embarked on his first solo tour in 1979, capturing these concert recordings that were originally released in 1980 on vinyl on the Universe Label; long out of print, Discus has revived these extraordinary recordings, showing the incredible technical abilities, endurance, and quick-witted creative powers of this legendary improviser.

Composed by saxophonist Evan Parker and electronic artist Matthew Right, "Trance Map" has Parker triggering interactions with samples from Wright's record collection, reshaped by live processing, here in an incredible expanded performance at Konfrontationen 2017 with Adam Linson on bass & electronics, John Coxon on turntable & electronics, and Ashley Wales on electronics.

Chester Hawkins' long-running BSI project now based in DC, layering groove based (kraut)rock with unearthly sound sources, plundered samples, and all form of unmentionable sound.

The fourth of a collection dedicated to the French Musique Action Festival, here in a tribute to Tom Cora recorded in 1998 with Catherine Jauniaux, Phil Minton, Zeena Parkins, Christian Marclay, Otomo Yoshihide, Veryan Weston, &c. &c.

Weasel Walter is the constant in the no-wave influenced free improvising band Flying Luttenbachers, formed in 1991 and on hiatus since 2007; Walter reassembled the concept in 2018 for a tour in France, then again in 2019 with this lineup of saxophonist Matt Nelson, guitarist Brandon Seabrook and bassist Tim Dahl, recording this startling, demanding and excellent album.

John Zorn brings together Downtown New Yorkers, Marc Ribot on guitar, Trevor Dunn on bass and Tyshawn Sorey on drums, for 12 instrumental miniatures combining atonal lyricism with rock intensity; scronky, demanding and exciting hybrids of improv and rock.

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.

An unusual and distinctive record from violinist and ornithologist Hollis Taylor, a book with 2 CDS presenting 41 tracks of recordings of the Australian pied butcherbird, each track pairing a bird, environmental sound, and a single instrumentalist, with an impressive list of performers who take unique approaches to the challenge of accompanying a bird.

New source for this amazing album: "Massive and intense in-studio interpretation of John Coltrane's masterwork, Ascension, as performed by an all-star ensemble featuring The Rova Saxophone Quartet, Nels Cline (Wilco), guitar legend Fred Frith, Ikue Mori (formerly of No New York stars DNA), turntable wizard Otomo Yoshihide, plus other stellar guests."-Larry Ochs

Tokyo-based electronics artist Toshimaru Nakamura's 9th album of No-Input Mixing Board music, elucidating sound from the mixing board without any audio sources, showing the amazing evolution of his approach as he turns this "empty" "instrument" into an amazing source of rhythmic and assertive sound that's both surprising and wonderfully musical.

The long-running Chicago free-rock trio Mako Sica currently comprised of Przemyslaw Drazek (trumpet & guitar), Brent Fuscaldo (guitar) and Chaetan Newell (drums & piano) are joined by free improvising legend Hamid Drake on drum kit, tablas and frame drum for a beautiful and rich album of genre merging, spiritually warm, primarily instrumental music, inclusive and persuasive.

A wild and exciting duo between cellist Okkyung Lee and legendary turntable improviser Christian Marclay performing live at London's Cafe Oto for a single long track that runs through an astonishing dynamic of invention and atmospheres in a gripping and spellbinding set.

Peter Hammill continues his immense solo career, intricately linked to his work with Van Der Graaf Generator, but more focused in intelligent lyrics, profound vocal layering, and fluid song structures, a unique voice who for more than 35 studio albums has developed an approach to songwriting and intellectual observation of subtle sophistication and detail.

Germany's Grid Mesh (Frank Paul Schubert-saxophones; Andreas Willers-guitar; Willi Kellers-drums; Johannes Bauer-trombone) performs suspenseful, multi-dimensional improv with a fascinating blend of acoustic & electric sounds, here captured live in Madrid, 2011.

A stunning example of modern creative improv from the duo of bassists Peter Frey and Daniel Studer, in concert with configurations of duos, trios and one septet, with performers including John Butcher, Hans Koch, Magda Mayas, Jacques Demierre, Gerry Hemingway, &c. &c.

Few musicians better represent the Downtown NY scene's early years than late cellist Tom Cora, a key player who performed and recorded with John Zorn, Fred Frith, Polly Bradfield, Samm Bennett, &c, &c, bridging and blurring the lines between jazz, improv, rock, and compositional music, heard here in an exuberant and masterful solo set live at Vancouver's The Western Front in 1986.

Saxophonist Braxton in a limited 4 CD set of live concerts with his quartet performing standards from the American Songbook, plus pieces by Monk, McLean, Coltrane, &c.

A decade after their last album "Dim Bulb", "The Dull Blade" follows up with the trio of Chris Corsano on drums and duel saxophonist Steve Baczkowski and Paul Flaherty, recorded live in the studio at New Haven, Connecticut's Firehouse 12, an incredible album of fiery and ferocious playing with an outsider jazz attitude; brilliant.

Inspired by the life and thought of the spiritual figure Saint Francis of Assisi, John Zorn composed these ten guitar trios as a suite to be performed during a residency at the Frick museum in New York City, with guitarists Julian Lage and Gyan Riley, heard on his previous "Midsummer Moons" album, joined by guitarist Bil Frisell; contemplative and lyrical music.

Jon Madof's 10-piece Zion80 ensemble exploring the Jewish tradition through the lense of afro-beat, funk, rock and jazz takeJon Madof's 1Jon Madof's 10-piece Zion80 ensemble exploring the Jewish tradition through the lenses of afro-beat, funk, rock and jazz, takes on John Zorn's 8th volume of his Book Beri'ah in 9 lyrically upbeat and effusive compositions that are rhythmically exciting and charged by superb soloing, a great album of irresistible beats and euphoric melody.0-piece Zion80 ensemble exploring the Jewish tradition through the lense of afro-beat, funk, rock and jazz takes on John Zorn's 8th volume of his Book Beri'ah in 9 lyrically upbeat and effusive compositions that are rhythmically exciting and charged by superb soloing, a great album of irresistible beats and euphoric melody.s on John Zorn's 8th volume of his Book Beri'ah in 9 lyrically upbeat and effusive compositions that are rhythmically exciting and charged by superb soloing, a great album of irresistible beats and euphoric melody.

Led by Chicago percussionist and AACM member Kahil El'Zabar and founded in 1981, Ethnic Heritage Ensemble releases this album of Afro-centric spiritual jazz, El'Zabar's voice drawing us into the compelling rhythms and grooves he and cellist Ian Maksin provide as foundations for baritone saxophonist Alex Harding and trumpeter Corey Wilkes' profound soloing.

An assertive album of free improv bringing together players from New York (drummer Weasel Walters), London (clarinetist & electric guitarist Alex Ward), and Chicago (trombonist Jeb Bishop), their previous shared projects and cross-genre intentions in rock, hardcore jazz and other experimental forms leading to this wonderfully quirky and masterful album of excoriating free jazz.

Recorded at the 2014 Ad Libitum Festival in Warsaw, pianist and composer Agusti Fernandez was invited to perform four concerts in celebration of his 60th birthday, choosing his working trio Aurora for once concert, a solo performance of "El Laberint de la Memoria", his electroacoustic Thunder trio, and a large ensemble conduction: "River, Tiger Fire".

Three astonishing concerts on 3 consecutive nights at the Ad Libitum Festival 2017 in Warsaw, Poland from British bassist Barry Guy in 3 configurations: 1st in a duo with Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez; 2nd in a trio with US pianist Marilyn Crispell and British drummer Paul Lytton; and 3rd in a double bass duo with French bassist Joelle Leandre.

An awe-inspiring concert between two of London's free improvisation legends, recording at Pardon To Tu [Teatr Nowy Clubroom] in Poland--percussionist Eddie Prevost and saxophonist Evan Parker on tenor sax--in an hour-long performance that starts with Prevost's reverberant bowed metal, as the two build and recede with profound concentration and masterful skill.

A formidable meeting of three powerhouses of modern creative improvisation of diverse backgrounds -- Filipina-American drummer/percussionist Susie Ibarra, legendary New York bassist William Parker, and Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez, in a spirited, masterful and stunning live performance at the Joan Miro Foundation in Barcelona recorded in 1998.

A complete, powerful performance at London's Vortex club from the indefatigable quartet led by Canadian saxophonist Francois Carrier, featuring one of the finest European young piano virtuosos, Alexander Hawkins, one of the most in-demand bass players on the Euro/London free improv scene, John Edwards, and long running partner to Carrier, drummer Michel Lambert.

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

Having previously worked together with Joe McPhee and Kent Kessler, this album distills the Portuguese saxophonist Rodrigo Amado and NY drummer/percussionist Chris Corsano to a concentrated sax and drum duo of earnest and edgy playing, bending jazz, free and blues idioms to their will with magnificent technique and power, both clearly elated in their meeting.

"Letters and Folds", contains 6 interpretive pieces by French composer Bruno Duplant, realized in multiple layers by Dutch pianist & composer Reinier van Houdt; "Letters" are letter-form scores addressed to van Houdt containing letter sequences distributed across the page; each "Fold" is a response to each letter, combining piano with field recordings made on John Cage's 100th birthday.

After more than 10 years of working together, bassist Joe Fonda and drummer Barry Altschul asked saxophonist Oliver Lake and trumpeter Graham Haynes to join in this quartet, their name taken from their first initials, as they present compositions from all four players, plus a poem from Lake, ending with two collective improvisations; a solid and dynamic start to a new quartet.

The New York supergroup of Mary Halvorson on guitar, Tomas Fujiwara on drums, Benoit Delbecq on piano, and Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet & flugelhorn in a studio album with compositions from all 4 players, their friendship and history of working together bringing virtuosity, precision, freedom in exploration and exuberance to their collective conversations.

Born from the duo of Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell and French bassist Joelle Leandre ("Sisters Where") and brought together by Myra Melford, this is the 2nd album from their Tiger Trio formation, joining profound skill, unusual creative intent, ferociously authoritative conversation, shrewd wit, and an innate sense of balance to 11 succinct collective improvisations.

Following their 2016 album "I Am Three, Mingus, Mingus, Mingus", the German trio of Silke Eberhard on alto saxophone, Nikolaus Neuser on trumpet, and Christian Marien on drums invited British improvising vocalist Maggie Nicols to further explore the works of jazz legend Charles Mingus in song and spoken word in a thoroughly enjoyable and worthy tribute to his work.

The 3rd album of NY-based Brazilian tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman's Strings series with Mat Maneri on viola adds trumpeter Nate Wooley, an unusual instrument for a string series, but in the adaptable creative intent of Wooley's playing the trumpet is found intertwining with the strings and Perelman's cello-like sax runs to create a remarkable complement in their collective voice.

With two violins (Mat Maneri & Mark Feldman) and one viola (Jason Kao Hwang), Ivo Perelman initiates his 7-CD "Strings" series, freely improvising in an unusual collective setting as an illusionary string quartet, Perelman functioning as a virtual cello on the saxophone, another tenor instrument he played for years before turning to the sax; stunning.

A long-form 3-part work of collective improvisation from 3 masterful New York free jazz legends--Daniel Carter on flute, trumpet, clarinet, and saxophones, William Parker on bass, and Matthew Shipp on piano--performing live at Tufts University in 2017 in a beautifully thoughtful and lyrical concert presented after a screening of the '59 film "The Cry of Jazz".

Virgin vinyl gatefold remastered issue of Zorn's 2015 Dreamers album with Cyro Baptista on percussion, Joey Baron on drums, Trevor Dunn on bass, Marc Ribot on guitars, Jamie Saft on keyboards, and Kenny Wollesen on vibes, a lyrical album of tuneful compositions and superb soloing, with beguiling compositions inspired by the imaginary worlds of fantasy literature.

The Portuguese large improvising ensemble String Theory is heard live during the CreativeFest#12, at O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2018, in an extended improvisation of incredible layering and restraint, making an amalgam of mostly acoustic string sources sound electronic and hallucinatory, an incredible achievement in string sonics.

The Lisbon String Trio of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola, Miguel Mira on cello, and Alvaro Rosso on contrabass continue their recent string of collaborations with a fourth player, Portuguese tuba player Gil Goncalves joining to addd a unique complement to their strings, as Goncalves adds bass, blats, growls and unique timbres of upper register low brass.

A fascinating confluence of improvisation and contemporary compositional approaches from this Spanish ensemble led by composer and drummer Nasim Lopez Palacios, using 5 reeds, trumpet, flute, piano, electric guitar, harp, double bass, drums and electronics in an extended work exploring space, tension and motion, with a beautiful build to catharsis.

The first recording from these four exceptional improvisers--Ingrid Laubrock on tenor & soprano saxophones, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Mark Feldman on violin, and Tom Rainey on drums--a session of collective improvisation fueled by each other's familiarity through shared projects over many years, yielding these remarkably cohesive and articulate recordings.

Devoted to the people who helped make these pieces come about, including Franco D'Andrea, Carla Bley, Mary Lou Williams, and Dizzy Gillespie, from the NY trio of Dave Douglas on trumpet and long-time collaborator, pianist Uri Caine, joined by master drummer and percussionist Andrew Cyrille for 10 sophisticated and joyful works in modern creative jazz.

A strong session from formidable alto saxophonist Rob Brown, presenting six compositions performed with the extraordinary grouping of trombonist Steve Swell, double bassist Chris Lightcap, and drummer Chad Taylor, all beautifully recorded in the studio, showing the incisive soloing of each player as they keep their listeners swinging on the edges of their seats.

Berlin-based Canadian double bassist and composer Miles Perkin (Lauzier/Perkin/Kuster, Benoit Delbecq 3, Glue) writes for his own quartet with pianist Delbecq, drummer Jim Black and trumpeter Tom Arthurs, presenting seven compositions leaving room for superb free soloing from all four, in an accomplished album of an optimistic and lyrical intent.

Three in-demand New York improvisers--Mario Pavone on double bass, Matt Mitchell on piano, and Tyshawn Sorey on drums-- recording in the studio in one of the premiere spaces in the Metropolitan area, Firehouse 12, resulting in this profoundly authoritatve piano trio album, with five Pavone original compositions, two from Annette Peacock, and one collective improv.

After pianist Simon Nabatov's return to NYC in 2018 he began assembling this quintet with the goal of pursuing a more traditional jazz setting, enlisting support from some of the city's finest and most versatile players--saxophonist Tony Malaby, drummer Gerald Cleaver, bassist Michael Formanek, and guitarist Brandon Seabrook--here in an exuberant set of Nabatov originals.

Three detailed and fragile compositions from German minimalist composer Eva-Maria Houben reveal themselves over two CDs, performed by the Boston-based experimental music ensemble, Ensemble Ordinary Affects, with Houben herself on organ recording at Memorial Chapel, in Wesleyan University, CT: three movements from "echo fantasy"; "gesang XI"; and "unter anderen".

Reflecting on the passing of artist and musician Robert Ryman, double bassist Damon Smith dedicated this concert of outstanding playing, technique and momentum at Cafe Fixe in Brookline, MA to Ryman, as Smith sought to present a definitive solo concert as an overview of his own work, ably realizing Ryman's concept of finding all the things you can do with your instrument.

Presenting both sets of the second night of bassist William Parker's concerts at Brooklyn's ShapeShifter Lab with his group In Order to Survive of pianist Cooper-Moore, alto saxophonist Rob Brown and drummer Hamid Drake, an extraordinary event that featured all new Parker compositions, including an extended suite for late trombonist Grachan Moncur III.

Szilard Mezei's Tiszan Innen Ensemble is a chamber jazz ensemble of rare sophistication and talent, 11 musicians performing Mezei's compositions and arrangements based on Hungarian folk songs, in active and lyrical pieces with wonderful interplay between sections and individual players, and excellent moment of lively and passionate soloing.

The first of two "Psychedelic Backfire" concerts at Oslo's Kampen Bistro, taken from a 4 night residency by the Norwegian Elephant 9 rock trio of drummer Torstein Lofthus, bassist Nikolai Haengsle, and keyboardist Stale Storlokken, expanding on tracks from their excellent studio catalog in strongly lyrical and technically superb instrumental and improvised rock forms.

The second of two "Psychedelic Backfire"s, The Norwegian Elephant 9 improvising rock trio of drummer Torstein Lofthus, bassist Nikolai Haengsle, and keyboardist Stale Storlokken are joined by Dungen guitarist Reine Fiske for an exciting live concert at Kampen Bistro, in Oslo in 2019, the interaction of Fiske and Storlokken a fine example that prog rock is still a vital form.

The 2nd concert at Eastside Jazz Club for the quintet of Paul dunmall on saxophone & penny whistle, Percy Pursglove on trumpet, Steve Tromans on piano, Dave Kane on bass, and Hamid Drake on drums, in a powerfully passionate and profoundly masterful set of lyrical free jazz, the perfect example of Dunmall's skill at assembling inspired jazz bands; highly recommended!

Following up their 2017 album live at SMUP in Lisboa, the Attic trio of Rodrigo Amado on tenor saxophone, Goncalo Almeida on double bass, and Onno Govaert on drums are heard in this concert at the 2018 Summer Bummer Festival in Antwerp, Belgium, in a solid set of confidently exploratory improvisation and engrossing group dialog balancing pensive reflection and fire.

The UK ensemble Apartment House performs two works--Olivier Messiaen's "Quatuor pour la fin du Temps" in 6 movements; and Linda Catlin Smith's "Among the Tarnished Stars"--taking a fresh modern approach to the Messiaen, drawing out its experimental character, and the sense of drama and intricate gradations of sonority in Smith's rich and mysterious work.

John Zorn composed this suite of compositions drawing inspiration from the mystic world of the Tarot and its wide range of impressions, emotions and inferences, from breathtaking activity to introspective elegance, performed as a piano trio by a spectacular group of Downtown NY performers: Brian Marsella on piano, Trevor dunn on bass, and Kenny Wollesen on drums.

Having played in trio settings before, pianist Satoko Fujii and Spanish drummer Ramon Lopez seized the opportunity to record as a duo in the studio in NY, bringing just two Fujii compositions to guide them, they began freely improvising, creating this stunning album of elegant interaction, peaceful yet detailed, intuitively beautiful and sophisticated music.

A truly unique album of free improvisation and unusual narrative from the Berlin-based quartet of Tristan Honsinger on cello, Antonio Borghini on double bass, Axel Dorner on trumpet, and Tobias Delius on tenor saxophone, clarinet, a mix of Honsinger compositions and collective improv, since 2010 a working band combining music, movement and theater; masterfully idiosyncratic.

Recorded at the ICP Jubileum festival in Uithoorn, Holland, in 1978, this concert brings together the core of the Instant Composers Pool--pianist Misha Mengelberg and drummer Han Bennink--with legendary South African alto saxophonist Dudu Pukwana (Blue Notes), Bennink also playing trombone, clarinet, and viola, in a lyrical and unpredictable set filled with humor and astounding playing.

10 years after drummer Han Bennink, pianist Misha Mengelberg, and saxophonist Willem Breuker formed the ICP co-op, Bennink & Mengelberg formed this 10-piece "Tetterettet", an all-star international group including Peter Brotzmann, Tristan Honsinger, John Tchicai, this their first incredible and far-ranging album, remastered and available on CD for the first time.

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.

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.

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).

A unique pairing of reeds, piano and spinet captured live at Le Singe Club in Biel, Switzerland in 2018 between multi-reedist Hans Koch and keyboardist Jacques Demierre, a wild ride from frenetic interaction to introspective experimental, both using unusual techniques and Demierre playing inside his keyboards, a truly excellent and thrilling concert.