The second release for the Chicago trio of Keefe Jackson on tenor & sopranino saxophones, Jim Baker on piano & synthesizer, and Julian Kirshner on drums, following their 2016 album The Noisy Miner, are heard in two performances a year apart at the Hungry Brain, each an extended exploration of remarkably compatible, creative and uniquely lyrical collective collaboration.av

During Chilean trumpeter Benjamn Vergara's visit to Chicago in 2016 he joined forces with multi-reedist Keefe Jackson, pianist and ARP synth player Jim Baker, and drummer Phil Sudderberg to record this album of collective free jazz, a mix of lyrical and abstract playing that references bop and the modern Chicago creative scene in sublime ways.

An inventive and lyrical set of duos between Chicago tenor saxophonist and bass clarinetist Keefe Jackson and vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz, nine concise pieces that blend free improvisation with compositions seamlessly in a really delightful duo.

Clarinetist Tom Jackson with two string playesr--violist Benedict Taylor and guitarist Daniel Thompson--in empathic improvisation where their individual voices permit a wide range of approaches in interactive improvisation, from fragile contemplation to active interaction.

Using small objects and contact microphones to create peacefully clacking, mewling and idiosyncratic utterances, sound artists Takamitsu Ohta and Anne-Francoise Jacques developed this installation shown in 2019 at the Bonjour! Gendaibunmei gallery in Kyoto, recorded by Jacques as a tour of the various sonic manifestations that a visitor to the gallery might experience.

The fourth release from the long-standing sonic research duo of Montreal sound artist Anne-F Jacques, who uses "rotating devices" based around small amplified motors, and Montreal ex-patriot living in Kobe, Japan Tim Olive (845 Audio), using magnetic pickups on objects and self-built instruments, here in six richly detailed and sometimes curiously menacing recordings.

Saxophonist and clarinetist Michael Jaeger's quartet with Vincent Membrez (piano), Luca Sisera (bass) and Norbert Pfammatter (drums) play with rhythms, sounds and spaces, merging traditional and new forms in euphoric ways.

Formerly known as J@K@L, this Chicago trio has explored hard hitting improvisation since 2014, the band name an amalgamation of the performer's names--Keefe Jackson on tenor & sopranino saxophone & tube, Julian Kirshner on drums and Fred Lonberg-Holm on cello, tenor guitar and electronics--in a dynamic and exciting 2022 concert at Elastic Arts, in Chicago.

Recorded in Brooklyn and Paris, this quintet crosses the threshold between jazz, rock and electronic sound with a somewhat dark intent, using guitar & sitar, organs, syths, pianos, drums, bass and sounds to evoke thick and extended psychedelic environments.

Italian Transalpine reedist Piero Bittolo (El Gallo Rojo) in his oddly named trio playing freeform jazz with a groovy accent, refined technique, imagination, soul and guts.

Improvising artists Catherine Jauniaux on voice, bird call, cupule, cazoo and eRikm on turntables, electronics, live sampling, architect lamp recorded these 17 pieces for the radio show A L'improviste by Anne Montaron for France Culture Radio.

Electronic Artist Larry Jefferson explores issues of philosophy and loss and this is reflected in this collection of 9 songs & music in a professionally manufactured cassette.

Electronic Artist Larry Jefferson explores issues of philosophy and loss and this is reflected in this collection of 9 songs & music in a professionally manufactured cassette.

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.

Pianist John Tilbury is captured with remarkable clarity by Sebastian Lexer as he performs works by composers Terry Jennings and John Cage (with Lexer on electronics); superb performances!

An energetic and sophisticated album of free improvisation based around three compositions by and under the direction of Boston-based South Korean pianist Eunhye Jeong, in a quintet with Allison Burik on alto saxophone & bass clarinet, Max Ridley on double bass, Francisco Mela on drums and Mina Kim on cello, who also performs Jeong's solo work for cello on the center track.

The title referring to the Korean word for "play" in a sense of transcending physical reality without abandoning it, pianist Eunhye Jeong, aka Chi-Da, presents a playful and free-flowing enjoyment in nine original compositions, revealing discerning experience and a nimble approach to her instrument as she explores a diverse range of moods through impressive technical skill.

Two western-US, like-minded sound artists and improviser who started their musical lives as drummer/percussionists, Jeph Jerman and Ted Byrnes present nine relatively succinct tracks of unusual and unidentifiable sources, typically formed around a rhythmic center and always actively engaging, finding logic in curious or even chaotic interaction.

Sound Artist Jeph Jerman explored his Cottonwood, Arizona environment between 2019-2021 to capture the field recordings, windswept drones and close mic-ed minimal sounds that make up Flapndr, combining them in the studio to form complex and sometimes dense compositions that evolve and mutate in a fascinating hybrid of nature and noise.

Two side-long compositions from audio explorer Jeph Jerman, assembled using recordings of objects including "mouth, stone, wood, glass, metal, paper, plastic, radio" plus field recordings made through the spring and summer of 2020 in and around Cottonwood, AZ, joined with audio contributions from Doug Theriault, Chris Reider, Julie Schubert, &c.

An evening of free improvisation recorded in Berlin at au Topsi Pohl in 2020 from the Swedish trio of Euro Free Jazz legend Sven-Ake Johansson on drums, Niklas Fite on acoustic guitar and Joel Grip on double bass, performing two extended and dynamic improvisations, and then settling into jazz standard form for "Isn't It Romantic" and "Out of Nowhere" sung by by Johansson.

The Swedish title translating to "Species", the contemplatively elegant interactions between pianist Karin Johansson and tenor saxophonist Lisen Rylander are named for extinct species of animals and plants, as the two improvise over the loss of species that disappear from the earth every year, their wistful music augmented through preparations, kalimbas, live electronics and percussion.

The Swedish title translating to "Species", the contemplatively elegant interactions between pianist Karin Johansson and tenor saxophonist Lisen Rylander are named for extinct species of animals and plants, as the two improvise over the loss of species that disappear from the earth every year, their wistful music augmented through preparations, kalimbas, live electronics and percussion.

Documenting the 1994 avant music drama composed by pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach and accordionist Sven-Ake Johansson, uber Ursache und Wirkung der Meinungsverschiedenheiten beim Turmbau zu Babel (on the cause and effect of the disagreements over the building of the Tower of Babel) through a double LP, DVD, libretto and 16-page booklet in a solid box set.

Five works from US composer often based in Amsterdam, Evan Johnson, in solo, duo and trio settings including a triptych titled "L'art de toucher" in three configurations, demonstrating his unique approach to writing using disparate musical influences from modern to Baroque, mated to anarchic experimentalism and a Wandelweiser sensibility; fascinating!

A sophisticaed album of modern jazz inspired by the 1968 British TV show of the same name; atmospheric to melodic free music composed by New York bassist Max Johnson and performed with Ingrid Laubrock (tenor saxophone), Mat Maneri (viola) and Tomas Fujiwara (drums).

A new trio from NY bassist Max Johnson with Anna Webber on tenor saxophone & flute and Michael Sarin on drums, performing five lyrically inclined yet inventive compositions from Johnson, allowing distinction for each performer as they bridge sections between fluid straight-ahead playing and spaciously singular experimentation, keeping player and listener on their toes.

The New York trio of trumpeter Kirk Knuffke, bassist Max Johnson and Ziv Ravitz recording mostly original compositions in the studio, modern improvisation blending melodic and free improvisation in excellent ways.

A patiently evolving collective performance at Chicago's Hungry Brain from the trio of New Yorkers--trumpeter Russ Johnson and bassist Max Johnson--and Chicago drummer Tim Daisy, whose arsenal of percussive devices adds unexpected asides to the trio's confident free jazz explorations, Johnson adding lyrical lines as the band moves as one through two extended improvisations.

Pianist Samuel Vriezen performs Tom Johnson's work presenting what Johnson describes as a natural phenomenon within a musical scale: progressions in 1 to 5 voices of all possible combinations of notes with each voice being limited to 3 steps, a perfect 4th or a perfect 5th.

Cylinder with Aram Shelton on sax, Darren Johnston on trumpet, Kjell Nordeson on drums and Lisa Mezzacappa on bass, sharing Ornette Coleman's chordless instrumentation in inventive harmolodic compositions.

Joker brings together 12 vocalists, many core members of the Ambiances Magnetiques/Musique Actuelle collective including Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Michel F Cote, Lori Freedman, &c, performing unusual works of voice and narration composed by Joane Hetu.

Joker brings together 12 vocalists, many core members of the Ambiances Magnetiques/Musique Actuelle collective including Joane Hetu, Jean Derome, Diane Labrosse, Michel F Cote, Lori Freedman, &c, performing unusual works of voice and narration composed by Joane Hetu.

An album celebrating the unconquerable sun, imagined through rhythm, reeds, bass and sonic landscape, composed by Antwerp double bassist Hannes d'Hoine with multi-reedist Hanne De Backer on bass clarinet & baritone saxophone, slowly unfolding in light and dark tones and steady momentum, neither ambient nor excessive but richly building arrangements through which light emerges.

Twelve studio improvisations between Kadima-label leader JC Jones playing on a lap-steel plugged in Spanish guitar and French guitarist & improviser Raymond Boni, also performing on harmonica and electronics, where Jones, leveraging his history of work as a double bassist, often takes on the role of percussive/rhythmic foundation against Boni's incredible explorations.

Brighton, UK turntable/electronics improvisor Daniel Jones and the American guitarist Barry Chabala meet for an album of ringing and beautiful lowercase sound.

An interpretation and reimagining of the opening track of Coltrane's Meditations, from the UK trio of Ed Jones on tenor & soprano saxophones, Dominic Lash on double bass and Mark Wastell on tam tam, gongs, cymbal & percussion, performed live at Cafe OTO in London in 2023, transforming the original recording's density into a slowly opening, evolving work of beauty.

The eccentrically named group "Jones Jones" is the trio of Lithuanian drummer Vladimir Tarasov, NY/West Coast bassist Mark Dresser and Rova Saxophone Quartet saxophonist Larry Ochs, since 2008 expressing humor and vexation at the world in sometimes meditative and sometimes explosive collective free improvisation, here in their 4th outstanding album and their 1st in the studio.

Commissioned by the Vancouver artist-run center Western Front, NY saxophonist & composer Darius Jones developed this project during a succession of Western Front residencies between 2019 - 2022, culminating in this concert with fellow New Yorker, Gerald Cleaver (drums), and some of Canada's finest improvisers: Jesse Zubot (violin), Joshua Zubot (violin), Peggy Lee (cello) and James Meger (bass).

Commissioned by the Vancouver artist-run center Western Front, NY saxophonist & composer Darius Jones developed this project during a succession of Western Front residencies between 2019 - 2022, culminating in this concert with fellow New Yorker, Gerald Cleaver (drums), and some of Canada's finest improvisers: Jesse Zubot (violin), Joshua Zubot (violin), Peggy Lee (cello) and James Meger (bass).

The 5th installment in saxophonist/composer Darius Jones' expansive "Man'ish" Boy epic, a well-balanced album of jazz and voice performed with Matt Mitchell (piano), Sean Conly (bass), Ches Smith (drums), Emillie Lesbros (voice, piano) and Pascal Niggenkemper (bass).

Drawing on compositions from black artists who have created something uniquely their own--Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Georgia Anne Muldrow--alto saxophonist Darius Jones pulls from the depths of emotion and vulnerability in five solo tracks recorded in Portland, deeply felt blues reflecting the black experience in America and the pain of isolation.

Drawing on compositions from black artists who have created something uniquely their own--Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Georgia Anne Muldrow--alto saxophonist Darius Jones pulls from the depths of emotion and vulnerability in five solo tracks recorded in Portland, deeply felt blues reflecting the black experience in America and the pain of isolation.

Drawing on compositions from black artists who have created something uniquely their own--Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman, Roscoe Mitchell, Georgia Anne Muldrow--alto saxophonist Darius Jones pulls from the depths of emotion and vulnerability in five solo tracks recorded in Portland, deeply felt blues reflecting the black experience in America and the pain of isolation.

The fourth installment in Darius Jones' on-going "Man'ish Boy" epic, an a cappella presentation from his vocal quartet, The Elizabeth-Caroline Unit using Jones' fictional, mythological sacred language used in the alien birthing ritual of a new being.

Eight improvisations named for the month of recording during the challenges of pandemic from British tenor saxophonist Ed Jones and Norwegian drummer/percussionist Emil Karlsen, often reflective work that explores timbral possibilities on each instrument through flowing lines and deceptively active investigations in a variety of empathetic and sublimely ruminative approaches.

The fifth in bassist, guitarist and Kadima label-leader JC Jones "Distance Series", works assembled through virtual sessions with associated artists, Jones performing on Spanish guitar which he plays as a lap guitar, on Nucleous creating a set of five unusual vocal works with internationally reknown vocalists Meira Asher, Esti Kenan-Ofri, Anat Pick and Josef Sprinzak.

Active and informed improvisations on acoustic guitar from Jean Claude "JC" Jones, label leader of the Kadima Collective and also known as a double bassist, though his roots are in the guitar, which he has returned to with vigor since 2016, performing on lap-style prepared acoustic and prepared Spanish guitar, heard here in 13 concise pieces titled by single words.

Active and informed improvisations on acoustic guitar from Jean Claude "JC" Jones, label leader of the Kadima Collective and also known as a double bassist, though his roots are in the guitar, which he has returned to with vigor since 2016, performing on lap-style prepared acoustic and prepared Spanish guitar, heard here in 13 concise pieces titled by single words.