A series of duo improvisation between long-time Downtown NY collaborators, alto saxophonist John Zorn and electric bassist Bill Laswell, recorded in the studio during pandemic lockdown and the first return for Zorn to the saxophone after 15 months, in a uniquely thoughtful set of recordings named for artists including Brion Gysin, W.S. Burroughs, Alejandro Jodorowsky, &c.

John Zorn remakes his Masada Quartet with the new quartet of Kenny Wollesen on drums, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass, and the leader and composer himself on alto saxophone, the band having honed the elements of the Masada Songbook through live performance in NYC since 2019, here captured in Bill Laswell's studio in 2021 for 8 lyrically ecstatic recordings.

Next generation tenor saxophonist Zoh Amba, a Tennessee transplant living in NYC who grew up playing with the mountains & forest of her native state, in her debut album with the quartet of pianist Micah Thomas, bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Joey Barron, performing a mix of Amba compositions and collective improvisations, including one with John Zorn on alto sax.

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.

An examination of the lives and work of anti-fascist political activists Natalia and Leone Ginzburg during World War II, researched and developed by late vocalist and composer Jewlia Eisenberg, this album completed by her longtime collaborator Marika Hughes and performed with musicians including Nils Frykdahl, Darren Johnston, Dan Cantrell, &c.

A large work from Downtown New York improviser and innovator Ikue Mori, seven piece dedicated to women artists whose vision found them creating into their 80's & 90s, performed in an ensemble with Sylvie Courvoisier, Ned Rothenberg, Zeena Parkins, Satoko Fujii, Natsuki Tamura, Erik Friedlander, David Watson, Makigami Koichi, Charmaine Lee & Sae Hashimoto.

The fifth set of compositions from John Zorn for the guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley, these works inspired by the short stories of Argentine philosopher and writer Jorge Luis Borges, each of the nine pieces drawing on elements of folk, classical, jazz, bluegrass, world music and more, rendered impeccably by the masterful skills of all three guitarists.

Two exceptional live performances of John Zorn's interactive "Fencing" concept leading free improv into unusual directions, from the early Downtown NY scene in 1978, first at Zorn's own loft in the trio of guitarists Eugene Chadbourne, Duck Baker and Randy Hutton; then at Bard College, in Kingston, NY with Zorn on multiple reeds, Chadbourne on guitar and Polly Bradfield on violin.

Blurring the lines between composed and improvised music, John Zorn's ten-part composition in his "Suite for Piano" was inspired in part by the Goldberg Variations and Schoenberg's solo piano music, set in the classic piano trio format and performed by extraordinary New York musicians and improvisers, Brian Marsella on piano, Jorge Roeder on bass, and Ches Smith on drums.

Led by West Coast-based New Zealand guitarist Sally Gates, the 2nd album from this genre-blurring heavy improv band of original members Matt Hollenberg on the 6-string bass VI and Kenny Grohowski on drums, now officially a quartet with prior guest bassist Trevor Dunn a fourth member, here in 6 tracks that shred and weave intricate layers of jazz, rock, blues and metal.

Bringing together John Zorn's trio from Suite for Piano (Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, Ches Smith) with guitarist Julian Lage, this new jazz quartet is a versatile and flexible unit capable of instantaneous changes in direction of genre or mood with virtuosic finesse and sensitivity, as Zorn's compositions explore concepts from Freud, Sartre, and the Uncertainty Principle.

A combination CD and DVD of John Zorn's improvisation on the powerful organ at Henri LeBoeuf Hall, Bozar in Brussels in a dramatic musical reading of the epic Faust legend, performed with classical soprano vocalist Barbara Hannigan, who improvises with Zorn for the first time, the film allowing listeners to view Zorn's unusual keyboard techniques in close proximity.

John Zorn's extended solo organ improvisation at the 2022 Big Ears Festival in Knoxville, TN performing on the Goulding & Wood seventy-rank organ at St. John's Cathedral, Zorn's performance inspired by Aleister Crowley's Liber Liberi vel Lapidis Lazuli and performed in a kind of trance state, as he traversed moods and mystery in a 44 minute journey of massive sound.

NY composer Mario Diaz de Leon, who is influenced by Scelsi, Ligeti, Dumitrescu & Radulescu, focuses on acoustic & electronic hybrids that often fuse both elements into unified meta-instruments.

Bringing together three Japanese avant experimenters and improvisers — Ikue Mori (DNA, Downtown NY mainstay), YoshimiO (Boredoms, Saicobab and OOIOO) and Phew (Aunt Sally) — for a live performance at U.F.O. Club, in Tokyo in 2019, blurring the edges of experimentation, improvisation, and rock, an exciting and powerful first meeting for this trio.

Pianist and composer Brian Marsella leads an all-star octet including Cyro Baptista, Mark Feldman, Jon Irabagon performing Marsella's lyrical and upbeat compositions inspired by classical, jazz, and folkloric Brazilian music and influenced by composers from Ernesto Nazareth, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Pixinguinha to Baden Powell and Egberto Gismonti; irrepressible!

With three percussionists--JC Maillard, Franco Pinna, and Thierry Aprino--Maillard also playing bass & stringed instruments, plus vocalist and frequent Zorn collaborator Sofia Rei, Zorn's series "The Book Beri'ah" presenting the final 92 compositions in his Masada series initiates with this compellingly beautiful and propulsive album of song.

The duo of cellist and vocalist Theresa Wong with Carla Kihlstedt on violin and voice in fascinating experimental art songs inspired by the "Disasters of War" etchings by Francisco Goya.

Two compositions by John Zorn for solo cello and two works for cello and rhythm section, performed by cellists Jay Campbell (JACK Quartet) and Michael Nicolas (Brooklyn Rider, International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE)), with drummer Ches Smith and bassist Jorge Roeder taking the rhythm chairs; exciting and innovative compositions in virtuoso performances.

From Philadelphia comes this exuberant album with its feet firmly planted in jazz tradition as the trio of pianist Brian Marsella, bassist Christian McBride, and drummer Anway Marshall pay tribute to composer and pianist Hasaan Ibn Ali (1931-1980), an influence on Coltrane, Tyner, etc., with 7 Ali originals and a composition for Ali from Marsella.

Composer and guitarist Jason Schimme of Secret Chiefs 3 steps out on his own with a set of effusive and irresistible compositions for a large ensemble of primarily West Coast musicians, his works blending a wide variety of traditions and styles, from blues, jazz and surf rock to Balkan folk, shifting quickly within each piece in nimble and clever ways.

An outrageous interpretation of Alfred Jarry's fictional character Ubu performed with with the International Contemporary Ensemble and core Downtown New York performers Ikue Mori, Ches Smith and Zorn himself, using Zorn's quick cut approach to composition; presented along with a work inspired by French poet Charles Baudelaire and an elegy to painter Paul Gauguin.

The third volume in John Zorn's "Olympiad" series is this solo performance in 2007 at the Kompo Cultural Center in Gyungee, Korea by Zorn associate and eccentrically eminent improviser Eugene Chadbourne, performing on electric and acoustic guitars as he interprets 15 compositions for improvisers from John Zorn's seminal 1976 series: The Book of Heads.

LOWER PRICE! Taking on another set of compositions from John Zorn's Masada Songbook, the New and electrified Masada quartet of Kenny Wollesen on drums, Julian Lage on guitar, Jorge Roeder on bass and Zorn himself on alto saxophone releases their second volume, seven melodically rich and intricate works that lead to incredible, often burning soloing and group interchange.

Inspired by the writings of Russian philosopher, mystic and composer Georges Gurdjieff (1866-1949), John Zorn composes for his piano trio of Brian Marsella (piano), Ches Smith (drums) and Jorge Roeder (bass), their 3rd album after Suite for Piano and their quartet work with guitarist Julian Lage on Incerto; technically sophisticated and melodically compelling music; exceptional.

The 4th release from the New York electric jazz quartet Chaos Magick of Brian Marsella on electric piano, John Medeski on organ, Kenny Grohowski on drums and Matt Hollenberg on electric guitar, playing the lyrical & passionate compositions of John Zorn, in eight tracks varying from rhythmically propulsive to contemplatively dream-like, with a little Chaos thrown in.

A heartfelt tribute to three significant jazz innovators associated with the 1960's free jazz scene--Pharoah Sanders, Wayne Shorter, and Milford Graves--in one improvisation each from the long-running collaboration of alto saxophonist John Zorn and bassist Bill Laswell, contrasting Laswell's fx-expanded bass underpinnings with Zorn's emphatic and expressive playing.

Based on the influential 1929 novel by Welsh writer Richard Hughes, A High Wind in Jamaica, about the disturbing ordeal of four children captured by pirates on the sea, realized through John Zorn's compositions for two guitarist--Julian Lage and Gyan Riley--and expressed through a spectrum of tranquil and portentous passages of virtuosic playing.

Zorn expands the canon for his lyrical jazz quartet Incerto of Brian Marsella on piano, Ches Smith on drums & Haitian Tanbou, Julian Lage on guitar and Jorge Roeder on bass, composing a suite of seven subtle and passionate nocturnes inspired by the night imagery of Shakespeare, merging jazz and chamber forms with a Downtown NY sensibility; gorgeous.

Continuing his work with the Incerto quartet of Julian Lage on guitar, Brian Marsella on piano, Jorge Roeder on bass and Ches Smith on drums, the fourth album for the group from John Zorn's compositional pen explores the artwork of Spanish surrealist/irrealist painter María de los Remedios Alicia Rodriga Varo, whose life was influenced by Paris enlightenment and the terrors of war.

Reissuing the 1st CD on UK free improvising guitarist Derek Bailey's Incus label is this 1982 duo with Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, a remarkable dialog that draws percussive qualities from Bailey and lyrical aspects from Baptista, as the two push each other into inventive and exotic exchanges in an exuberant album; an incredible start to the Incus CD series.

A pop-infused psychedelic trip featuring Cyro with a huge lineup of superb musicians, lyrical improvisation with latin and world influences, with Baptista taking vocals over his eclectic and melodically embraceable music; a beautiful album to return to frequently.

Recorded in the studio as an urgent response to the latent unease in the time of pandemic and political dissent, NY poet, violinist, composer and improviser Sarah Bernstein uses washes of distorted violin, ecstatic vocalizations, and poetic spoken word, an expression of immediacy and tension between extremes, a personal and articulate set of observational expressions.

Guitarist Adam Caine's trio with bassist Tom Blancarte and drummer John Wagner in studio recordings of eight original Caine compositions, great driven modern jazz.

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.

Chris Pitsiokos' Unit with electric guitarist Brandon Seabrook, electric bassist Tim Dahl, and drummer Weasel Walter turn in a fiery and demanding album of compelling free jazz, using traditional jazz structures but turning them on their head in joyfully unconventional ways.

"Even though J.A. Deane has collaborated with many American avant-garde musicians, his solo albums are few. Sadly, his most accessible is also one of his less interesting. Nomad is an untypical release in the catalog of the label Disques...

Originally called Treffpunkt, or "meeting point", the partnership of violist Frantz Loriot and pianist Cedric Piromalli has evolved as they added collaborators to their idiosyncratic approach to improv, here with guests Antoine Chessex on tenor sax and Christian Wolfarth on percussion and cymbals for an extended, upbeat and wonderfully creative performance.

A collection of southeast darkwave & post rock band Electric Bird Noise (Brian Lea McKenzie) from 2000-2010, cinematic, richly eclectic, and absorbing instrumental music.

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.

Taking their band name from an Ornette Coleman album, this European quintet presents new compositions in the style of Ornette, Archie Shepp, Pharoah Sanders and John Carter, ecstatic free jazz with a hard bop foundation, extended with modern technique and experience.

Taking his Bay Area trio with bassist Jason Hoopes and drummer Jordan Glenn on the "Road", guitarist and improviser Fred Frith first presents the trio itself in a wonderfully diverse extended set at the Week-End Fest in Koln, Germany; then invites trumpeter Susana Santos Silva at Old Cabell Hall in University of Virginia; and then saxophonist Lotte Anker at Altes Kino in Ebersberg, Germany.

Two cycles of compositions from Fred Frith: "The Big Picture - For Saxophone Quartet and Two Improvising Soloists" and his legendary 90s copositions: "Freedom in Fragments".

The second of three sturdy box sets from innovative guitarist, composer and improviser Fred Frith, here with 8 CDs from the Recommended Records label plus a bonus CD, a thick booklet of artwork, photographs & extensive notes from Frith; albums included are Live in Japan, Speechless, Prints, Step Across the Border, Impur 2, Art of Memory II, Skeleton Crew, Helter Skelter.

Works for dance constructed by guitarist/composer Fred Frith as accompaniment to Amanda Miller's choreography for Nederland Dans Theater in 2011, revisited and revised by Frith into these beautiful pieces, with help from William Wynant, Lotte Anker, Karla Kihlstedt Arditti, &c.

Originally issued in two volumes on their own SRP Records in 1966 & 67 as In Concert At Yale University and Nommo, the duo of drummer/percussionist Milford Graves and pianist Don Pullen are heard live in in this excitingly energetic and revelatory concert at Yale University, redefining the roles of their instruments during the most exploratory period of free jazz.

Drummer Gerry Hemingway in a CD & DVD release, 15 audio tracks and accompanying video and interview, dividing the program into "mist, dust, light, and sex", highlighting aspects of this prominent percussionist that expand our understanding of his prodigious abilities.

A live performance at the Loft in Cologne, Germany, 2015 from the recording and performing trio of Carl Ludwig Hubsch on tuba & objects, Pierre Yves Martel on viola da Gamba & harmonica, and Philip Zoubek on the prepared piano, restrained yet highly active playing.

Drummer Ibarra's trio with Cooper-Moore and violinist Charles Burnham blur boundaries in a band of great versatility, taste and collective musicianship.

Part of a sound installation and exhibition of sculptural work by Reinhard Reitzenstein, the Test Tubes perform with strings, glass instruments, and unique instruments to create music of unusual and complex timbral combinations.

The 1st of two volumes from the quartet of Jeb Bishop on trombone & electronics, Jaap Blonk on voice & electronics, Weasel Walter on percussion, and Damon Smith on double bass, each player an innovator and leader on their own, together bringing unique elements of virtuoso quirk and passionate mastery, merging voice, electronics and acoustics in profoundly unusual ways.

The Little Village Foundation run by keyboardist Jim Pugh assembled this band through Indian blues harmonica player & singer Aki Kumar, who brought drummer June Core and guitarist Rome Yamilov, deciding to make the release a "crazy guitar album" by adding Henry Kaiser; along with vocalist Lisa Leuschnet they hit the mark in an exuberantly diverse set of blues performing the music of J.B. Lenoir.

Sound artist Martin Kay focuses on the intimate and visceral symphony of domestic activity reverberating throughout a variety of shared courtyard spaces in Paris, using field recordings from various locations to examine their distinct acoustic characteristics.

The Earshots duo of Daniel Kordik on modular synthesizer and Edward Lucas on trombone reprise their meeting a year earlier with free improvising percussionist and AMM legend Eddie Prévost, drawn by the natural resonance of the All Saints Church in Essex, England, recording these electroacoustic improvisations of astonishing sonic properties and astounding technique.

Extremely personal and passionate, cellist Okkyung Lee recorded this album after separation from her instrument for months as she traveled to Korea to be with her dying father during pandemic; the 9 pieces are layered with strings, instrument sounds, voice and with profound timing, creating an intensely beautiful album reflecting the anguish and loss of the time.

An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.

A strangely agitated garden sculpted from melody, dissonance and instrumental abberation through profound technique and unusual approaches to their instrument, by French double bassist Louis-Michel Marion and pianist Françoise Toullec, bringing a sense of wonder and turbulent environment through a shared passion balancing ominous space with astute activity.

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.

Massacre with Fred Frith, Bill Laswell and Charles Hayward in an album collecting live recordings from Frith's private archives, documenting their 1999 European tour and 2008 performances, spectacular improvised rock.

Trumpeter Manuel Mengis 3rd Hat release, 8 original compositions of sophisticated and enjoyable modern jazz from a sextet with dual sax and guitar leads.

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

Recorded in his home state of New Mexico, Japanese percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani presents a 46 minute continuous improvisation of acoustic percussion, a perfect reflection of his solo performance sets, Nakatani alternating between extremely rapid interactions and reflective and atmospheric environments, always creative and quick-witted through staggeringly impressive playing.

Reissuing percussionist and electronic innovator Tony Oxley's 1977 Incus album, collecting works from Oxley's evolving approaches, including a quartet with bassist Barry Guy and violinists David Bourne & Philipp Wachsmann; a trio with Barry Guy and Ian Brighton on electric guitar; and solo pieces including a piece for Evan Parker emulating his sound through electronics.

Blurring abstract electronics with folk improvisation in gently evolving music with an experimental edge, the London Panang Food Tigers duo of Stephen Lewis and Spencer Grady use keyboards, guitars, dobro, charango, field recordings and electronic sources to create contemplative atmospheres, a sort of ambient-folk music drawing out forgotten daydreams and moods; beautiful.

Two performances by one-off groups, both featuring Evan Parker (saxophones) and Paul Rogers (double bass) -- a 1983 trio studio recording with percussionist Jamie Muir, and a 1991 quartet gig with percussionist Mark Sanders and visiting trombonist Wolter Wierbos.

Violinist Emanuele Parrini leads his quartet with Dimitiri Grechi Espinoz on alto sax, Giovanni Maier on double bass, and Andrea Melani on drums, performing Parrini's 3 part "The Blessed Prince", and original compositions from bassist Maier; lyrical and innovative modern jazz.

The Ratchet Orchestra is a large ensemble of 30 fringe musicians from Montreal headed by director Nicolas Caloia whose compositions allow for improvised chamber jazz and showcase the talents of the orchestra's most passionate players.

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.

Tatsuya Yoshida's insanely complex and exhilarating rock project Ruins started around 1986, and bassist Ryuichi Masuda (also a member of Koenji Hyakkei) has been with him since the early days; this CD reissues the 1992 Shimmy Disc album, originally an LP, here with the CD bonus tracks.

While touring Europe in the autumn of 2017, Minami Saeki (voice), Wakana Ikeda (flute), Yoko Ikeda (viola), and Taku Sugimoto (guitar) visited Switzerland and met up with Swiss musicians Stefan Thut (cello) and Manfred Werder (glockenspiel & typewriter), recording these five minimal improvisations in a recording session at the concert venue Theater Delly.

Norway's Scheen Jazzorkester in their 7th album, commissioning works in their goal to make a large conventional jazz orchestra more spontaneous through composition, here recruiting trumpeter Thomas Johansson, co-founder of Cortex and Friends and Neighbors, to compose this set of six ardent works incredibly executed by this 13-piece band; breathtaking creative jazz.

An excellent collection of solo acoustic guitar improvisations by Roger Smith that were digitally recorded at home in London during January, 2002.

An incredible double CD from trumpeter Leo Smith's Organic with Michael Gregory, Pheeroan AkLaff, Angelica Sanchez, Skuli Sverrisson, Brandon Ross, &c &c... incredible electric and acoustic jazz from the legendary improviser and innovator!

A double album of experimental works and songs, virtual meetings curated by composer Dante Boon, recorded in the performer's individual cities as ensembles formed from musicians who have never met, including the Moscow duo The Same Ensemble of Sasha Elina and Kirill Shirokov, Amsterdamn's Seamus Cater's Tree Space, Berlin's Konzert Minimal, and sound artist Gabi Losoncy.

The final night of Otomo and Sachiko's first residency at London's Cafe OTO in 2009 saw the pair joined by the long-running trio of Evan Parker, John Edwards and Tony Marsh and special guest John Butcher, for an exceptional set of creative improvisation.

Two iconic New York players - saxophonist John Zorn and guitarist Thurston Moore - meet for the first time, presenting seven exhilarating improvisations of great diversity, inventiveness, sonic power, and creative drive.

Insanely virtuosic exchanges between two New York heavyweight improvisers--pianist Matt Mitchell and multi-wind player Anna Webber on tenor saxophone & flute--in three concise dialogs and two extended works, through twists and turns supporting each other in an equal exchange of expression that implies telepathic exchange of elegant lyricism or rapid-fire excitement.

The completion of John Zorn's second trilogy of albums performed by the extraordinarily masterful acoustic guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Gyan Riley and Julian Lage, here performing six intricate and lyrically graceful compositions dedicated to literary visionary Samuel Beckett; uniquely packaged in a clear imprinted sleeve.

The fifth album from John Zorn's Chaos Magic Ensemble of Brian Marsella on Fender Rhodes Piano, John Medeski on organ, Kenny Grochowski on drums and Matt Hollenberg on guitar, in three free flowing works that display Zorn's perceptive merging and the band's enormous skill, contrasting lyrical electric jazz with turbulent rock forms and disciplined contemporary structure.

Performing on the 7,466 pipe Æolian-Skinner organ at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco, one of the first American classic-style organs and among the largest church organs in the West, John Zorn continues his solo organ series with this tribute to Terry Riley in two extended improvisations, part of his 70th birthday celebration as part of Fred Barnes's concert series.

In Tibetan Buddhism a terton is a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma, an apt description of the masterful, exploratory free jazz heard in the New York City band Terton of Trevor Dunn on bass, Louie Belogenis on tenor & soprano saxophones and Ryan Sawyer on drums, in ten powerfully assertive studio improvisations.

Distilling their ensemble to its original duo configuration, New York improvisers Zeena Parkins and Ikue Mori reflect on the stories of Japanese author Izumi Suzuki through ten mysteriously eclectic and beautifully developed compositions of harp (acoustic and electric), electronics, percussion, harmonium, ondes martenot, and much more; wonderful, imaginative and evocative work.

The chameleonic styles of Sean Ono Lennon are in full force on this instrumental record, merging rock, jazz, experimental and cinematic styles in captivating ways, performed with the spectacular ensemble of Devon Hoff (bass), Yuka Honda (electronics), Johnny Mathar (drums), João Nogueira (Wurlitzer), Ches Smith (drums), Michael Leonhart (trumpet) & Mauro Refosco (percussion).