Born out of Eugene Chadbourne's Twins band concepts from the 70s, which included over time saxophonist Bruce Ackley, and guitarists Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith; fast forward to 2018 as Ackley & Frith return to the concept with Henry Kaiser and saxophonist Aram Shelton to revisit the original approach through pieces by those artists plus Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne, and John Zorn.

An original member of the AACM and owner & director of the Velvet Lounge jazz club leading Chicago's free and experimental music scenes, and a mentor to countless young jazz musicians, tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson is heard in the counterpart to the 2000 Unheard Music Series album, The Milwaukee Tapes, this 2nd unissued volume of material from the same 1980 concert.

A brilliant quintet brought together for the Tampere Jazz Happening, in Finland in 2013, with NY trumpeter Peter Evans, UK saxophonist John Butcher, Australian bassist Clayton Thomas, German drummer/percussionist Paul Lovens, and French pianist Frederic Blondy for a phenomenal extended improvisation presented in parts: "Une Aile Dissoute Dans La Lumiere".

An intimate dialog between frequent collaborators, UK guitarist Fred Frith and Copenhagen saxophonist Lotte Anker, both players listening carefully as they interact in a fragile dialog of profound technique and inventive approach, using texture and nuance to create unusual and captivating interchanges that demonstrate how compatible these two very different instruments can be.

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.

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.

Captured live at Chicago's Elastic Arts, the trio of Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, Ben Bennett on percussion, and Zoots Houston on synthesizer, work on a nearly microscopic level as they use extended techniques and unusual synthetic timbres, transforming from abrasive and gritty to broad tonal environments, from monumental sound to moments of pin drops; fascinating.

Music inspired by artist, teacher, writer and civic protestor Robert Henri (1865-1929) who in the early 1900s exhibited against the restrictive academic requirements of the National Academy of Design, from the free improvising trio of bassist Michael Bisio, Kirk Knuffke on cornet and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello & electronics, in a mix of Bisio compositions and collective improvisations.

Mauricio Kagel's 1970s avant cinema film "Ludwig Van" about Beethoven's music, is reinterpreted by pianist Frederic Blondy and turntablist DJ Lenar, improvising at Zacheta National Gallery of Art, in Warsaw, Poland, 2011, and assembled in studio.

During a residency in 2020 at the Domaine de Kerguehennec in Brittany, saxophonist and composer Baptiste Boiron developed this repertoire for the trio Lá of Boiron on soprano, alto & tenor saxophones, Bruno Chevillon on double bass, and Frederic Gastard on bass saxophone, Boiron's compositions applying a wealth of creative approaches merging contemporary and improvised playing.

Recording in the rich resonant structure of the Church of Gauriac, in Gironde, France, Italian reedist Ugo Boscain on contrabass clarinet and French double bassist Fred Marty explore the lower registers in five dialogs of an album titled for "ecstasi" (ecstasy), using a wealth of creative approaches and insane technique, from reserved to spirited forays.

Recorded for radio for the series Jazz in der Kammer Nr 71, this 1974 concert was the first in East Germany for Peter Brötzmann, Fred Van Hove, and Han Bennink, bridging the divided German states through an energetic set of improvisations that extended traditional jazz with outrageous approaches to improv in an exciting, quirky and profoundly masterful set of European Free Jazz.

Recorded for radio for the series Jazz in der Kammer Nr 71, this 1974 concert was the first in East Germany for Peter Brötzmann, Fred Van Hove, and Han Bennink, bridging the divided German states through an energetic set of improvisations that extended traditional jazz with outrageous approaches to improv in an exciting, quirky and profoundly masterful set of European Free Jazz.

Part of Peter Brötzmann's 80th birthday concerts in his hometown of Wuppertal, the saxophonist assembled a trio from his typically duo partner, pedal steel guitarist Heather Leigh (Charalambides, Dream/Aktion Unit) and Chicago cellist and electronic improviser Fred Lonberg-Holm, performing the extended title track at INSEL | Kultur im ADA, along with two succinct improvisations.

While both improvisers were in New York City for the 2019 Vision Festival, multi-reedist and European Free Improv legend Peter Brötzmann met Chicago cellist and electronics artist Fred Lonberg-Holm to record their 3rd album together, their 1st album in the studio a diverse set of incredible concentration, with Brötzmann performing on tenor saxophone, woodwind, and clarinet.

Recorded live at the Velvet Lounge a year before saxophonist and club owner Fred Anderson passed away, the Chicago Trio (Ernest Dawkins, Harrison Bankhead, Hamid Drake) dedicates this double CD to the legendary Chicago figure.

"Blood Burden is the debut album from Brooklyn-based saxophonist, composer, and bandleader Alfredo Colon. Deeply rooted in the blues tradition, Alfredo brings harrowingly raw emotion in the form of barely-contained chaos to Blood Burden...

Fred Frith's West Coast Cosa Brava with Carla Kihlstedt, Zeena Parkins, and Matthias Bossi playing all Frith compositions driven by his love of the (improvised) rock format.

A uniquely eccentric free improv album by Fred Frith on electric guitar and Lol Coxhill on soprano sax, originally released in 1983 on the French AAA label, the album assembles recordings from the "Musiques de Traverses" Festival 1981, 1978 concerts in Sainte Croix, in Poitiers, and at M.J.C. Aliénor D'Aquitaine in Limoges, plus additional material from 1999 in Munchen & London.

A subtle album of acoustic interaction recorded at Berlin's Noiseberg from the quartet of Miriam den Boer Salmon on violin, Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & zither, Fredrik Rasten on acoustic guitar, and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello & percussion, sounding almost electronic in their frictional technique and harmonic overtones, ebbing and flowing from active interaction to tranquil discourse.

After 30 years of collaboration between French saxophonist Michel Doneda and Japanese double bassist Tetsu Saitoh, this 2016 recording was to be their last due to the premature passing of Saitoh, the two heard here in a trio with pianist Frederic Blondy recorded for Radio France in a remarkable and consuming performances of fully free and often darkly savage improvisation.

The second album from the trio of Ferran Fages (acoustic turntable), Ruth Barberan (trumpet), and Alfredo Costa Monteiro (accordion) expands on their first "Atolon" album with these two recordings of intense electroacoustic improvisation, a mixture of ritual, controlled chaos, mysterious and often disruptively provocative sound, and other inexplicable evolutions.

Amazing guitar and percussion duo on this first encounter between Frith and Glennie, recorded for the filming of Thomas Riedelsheimer's documentary Touch the Soundabout Scottis.

Extended and captivating improvisations using complex and extended techniques from the duo of prepared pianist Annie Lewandowski (London Improvisers Orchestra, Powerdove, Xiu Xiu) and guitarist Fred Frith (Henry Cow, Skeleton Crew, &c &c) in a thoroughly modern improvised conversation, here reissued with 11 minutes of previously unreleased material.

Both bassist Barry Guy and guitarist Fred Frith are key artists of Switzerland's Intakt label catalog, but surprisingly the two have never shared a stage together; Intakt had a feeling about their pairing and brought them into the studio, this superb duo album being the result in 10 brilliant tracks intertwining acoustic double bass and electric guitar.

Live recordings from this great pair of improvisors, selected from their performances at Festival des musiques de creation in Saguenay and at La Sala Rossa in Montreal.

Bay Area trumpeter Darren Johnston meets improvising guitar legend Fred Frith for an incredibly well-paced series of duos, remarkable improv that uses space, skill, extended techniques and unexpected approaches to both instruments in vivid and beautiful discourse.

A live recording from the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville in 2009 of extended improvisations between guitarist Fred Frith, French clarinetist Louis Sclavis, and percussionist Jean-Pierre Drouet.

Two masters who rarely play together--guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist Evan Parker--performing together as a duo at the 30th Musique Actuelle Festival in Victoriaville, Canada for an amazing exchange of ideas and intensely subtle dialog.

Two commanding players from the UK & European improv scene who have consistently pushed the envelope in free improvisation--electric & prepared guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist/bass clarinetist Hans Koch--present an album of assertive interactions, merging alien environments with amazing technical playing and inexplicable approaches to sound - superb!

Fred Frith's solo career started on the West Coast Ralph Records label, home of The Residents; Frith met Residents front man Hardy Fox in passing in 1991, making recordings on a Pacific beach using Fox's Walkman, which they brought to a multi-track studio to record the basis for an ultimately unreleased album, now revived decades later as Fox rediscovered this fascinating material.

Having worked together for 40 years starting in the 80's in the Downtown NY scene, guitarist Fred Frith and electronic artist Ikue Mori recorded this album in Germany, using studio time left after recording the music for a radio play by Werner Penzel, using that work as an influence for these exceptional improvisations on home made instruments, toys and electronics.

This album documents guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist John Butcher's first head-to-head encounter in a recording studio, two titans of their instruments playing without overdubs in a single session for remarkable creative and sonic results.

Since 2007 NEXMAP has produced "Binary Cities", a performance series bringing together artists from different cities; in 2009 they brought guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist Michel Doneda together in San Francisco for the first time for an incredible night of improvisation.

Filmakers and composers Nicolas Humbert and Marc Parisotto revisit the tapes recorded by Jean Vapeur for the film by Humbert & Werner Penzel, "Step Across the Border" with soundtrack by Fred Frith, extracting more of Vapeur's fascinating field recordings and adding music by Fred Frith with additional music & voice from Tom Cora, Iva Bittova, John Zorn, &c.

Interdisciplinary Spanish percussionist Núria Andorrà whose background includes contemporary music and improvisation with performers including Agustín Fernández, Joëlle Léandre, Mats Gustafsson, Nate Wooley, and Joe Morris joins Fred Frith in Santa Maria de Palautordera for studio and concert recordings of eleven far-ranging dialogs of unusual and imaginative technique and concept.

Recorded thirteen years before this release and rediscovered during pandemic lockdowns, the improvising and extremely open-minded trio of Fred Frith on electric guitar, Sudhu Tewari on percussion (or as credited, "recuperated junk") and Cenk Ergun on electronics recorded these seven superb improvisations in the studio at Expression College for Digital Arts, in Emeryville, CA.

An evocative album of sublime improvisation between guitarist Fred Frith and trumpeter Susana Santo Silva, recorded live for France Musique/Radio France at Motoco, Mulhouse as part of Festival Météo in 2021, the two inspiring remarkable force and assertive direction in a darkly spirited conversation of deep introspection and cathartic exorcism; magnificent!

Idiosyncratic improvisation with a strange set of tools from two master musicians, fascinating recordings from 1983-85 in the blossoming downtown NY scene.