Chicago-based guitarist Christopher Rigg, founder of the Holy Cheever Church Records, developed this set of pieces called "extinction bursts", performed with Emily David on drums and George Romaine on piano, a work he refers to as "maximalist harsh free jazz wall", using a lurching and squealing guitar figure over which David and Romaine overlay slow progressions.

Frequent collaborators, Canadian drummer and experimentalist Eric Hamelin joins Chris Dadge, who more typically performs as a drummer/percussionist, in a duo with Dadge on violin, as the two create wonderfully active environments of sound that follow conceptual paths embracing electroacoustic methodology through two pieces performed live in the studio.

The second release from the trio of legendary London improvising drummer Roger Turner, Montreal trombonist Scott Thomson and guitarist Arthur Bull, aka Moniker, after their 2018 Ambiances Magnetiques album "Spine", in three improvisations about "Books", quick witted active improvisation with a carefree and bright approach to exceptionally detailed interaction.

Recorded at the historic Bimhuis during the Felix Meritis festival, this was the first meeting of the Felix Quartet featuring frequent collaborators Michael Moore on sax & clarinet and trombonist Wolter Wierbos, with Wilbert de Joode on bass and Michael Vatcher on drums & hammer dulcimer, performing Moore's superb compositions written for this event & for these players.

A rollicking set of interwoven tunes and improvisations from the trio of Michael Moore on clarinet, bass clarinet, alto saxophone & melodica, Will Holshouser on accordion, and Han Bennink on drums, performing live at Drom, in New York City in 2009 during a 2-week American tour, a joyfully upbeat and lyrical set of improvisations with exuberant drive.

Fall 2020 issue of Canada's finest new music magazine, focusing on guitars--hollow, heavy, bowed, cracked, pedalled, flung, trusty companions & feedback demons; Plus articles on Casey Koyczan, Susan Alcorn, Amy Brandon, Aidan Baker, Eliza Kavtion, C. Diab, Markus Lake, Catherine Debard, Cloud Chamber, &c; and an 11-track CD with music from the aforementioned.

Using electronic and digital tools similar to those that fuel his Arcane Device project, New York sound artist David Lee Myers presents an accessibly engaging set of compositions using modular electronics, feedback matrices, guitar textures, voices, and frogs in 11 polyrhythmic adventures; quirky yet non-chaotic, sublime experimental works of tone and texture.

Captured live in Ljubljana during the 2019 "Sound Disobedience Festival", European Free Improv legendary drummer Paul Lovens co-composed this work with Swiss guitarist Florian Stoffner, "Tetra" referring to structures of 4, as in their 4-part improvisation with each player using all 4 limbs in a remarkable dialog of time, tone, technique, and nearly telepathic intention.

Revisiting two of the most essential and influential albums of saxophonist Albert Ayler's discography, both recorded in 1965 — Spirits Rejoice in a sextet and Bells in a quintet — both drawing from some of NY's finest players including Charles Tyler, Henry Grimes, Gary Peacock, Sunny Murray, Donald Ayler and Lewis Worrell, properly remastered to showcase Ayler's stunning conceptions in free jazz.

Essential radio and live recordings from saxophonist Albert Ayler's European tour in 1964 with Don Cherry on cornet, Gary Peacock on double bass and Sunny Murray on drums, a quintessential grouping for Ayler's compositions, here in outstanding renditions of classic works including "Spirits", "Ghosts", "Vibrations", "Mothers", "Childrens", plus Don Cherry's "Infant Happiness".

Named for a Don Cherry composition included on this album, the core trio of The Thing--Mats Gustafsson on reeds, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass, and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums--is joined by saxophonist and pocket trumpter Joe McPhee, recording classic free jazz and harmolodic pieces by Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, James Blood Ulmer, Frank Lowe, & Joe McPhee.

Improvised and heavy forms of experimental rock from the French duo of piccolo bassist Eric Brochard and drummer Fabrice Favriou, their music dramatic, ritualistic and urgent as they reference Maya Deren and mythological experience, their music hypnotically mesmerizing and sonically rich, slowly whirling dervishes in five varying sequences that growl and transfix.

Plan Kruutntoone joins forces with avant-garde pianist Reinier van Houdt for a conceptual narrative blurring improvised music, compositional and rock forms, with a narrative based around Zorro and Rosa, geography (and Spielberg) and Brodski, or in their terms: composed and deranged music and lyrics (and other words) on guitars, basses, drums and a piano.

Plan Kruutntoone joins forces with avant-garde pianist Reinier van Houdt for a conceptual narrative blurring improvised music, compositional and rock forms, with a narrative based around Zorro and Rosa, geography (and Spielberg) and Brodski, or in their terms: composed and deranged music and lyrics (and other words) on guitars, basses, drums and a piano.

UK-based violinist Phillip Wachsmann, an essential player bringing contemporary approaches of indeterminacy, conceptualism and electroacoustics to the early community of improvisers and experimentalists, in a reissue of his 1984 Bead Records album, presenting his astute and sophisticated live solo performance for violin and electronics at the Actual Festival in July 1984, London.

First ever CD reissue of the only band under bassist Peter Kowald's own name, remastered; originally released by FMP in 1972, this is exemplary European Free Jazz from one of the orignal innovators in a quartet with Peter Kowald on tuba, bass, & alphorn, Gunter Christmann and Paul Rutherford on trombones, Peter van der Locht on alto saxophone, and Paul Lovens on drums.

Sound artist Radboud Mens and composer Michel Banabila collaborated with video artist Marco Douma in a series of live perofrmances in 2015, the audio of which is heard here in electronic beats of a triphop nature, detailed and compelling rhythms from their performances at Le Guess Who festival in Utrecht, Netherlands and at Steim Summer Party, at Bimhuis.

Performing as part of the Blow Out Festival 2019, the UK improvising trio Shifa, meaning "healing", of Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, and Mark Sanders on drums, are captured live in Oslo for four dramatic and masterful collective improvisations, passionate and building works, releasing their tension and rebuilding in powerful waves.

A three-part solo improvisation recorded in the studio and presented in complete unedited first takes with no overdubs, sequenced in the order recorded, from NY-area pianist Joel Futterman, performing "The Fall" in two parts, and "Recovery", each an epic journey through rapid technical virtuosity and nimble creativity, balanced with periods of deep reflection and introspection.

A three part solo improvisation from pianist and composer Joel Futterman, also performing on Indian flute and curved soprano saxophone, each track a complete unedited first take with no overdubs, presented in the order performed, the first part a nearly 53 minute epic of powerful and consequential playing, from vigorous technical runs to beautifully languid moments; stunning.

Portugese tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado met Belgian electric & acoustic guitarist Dirk Serries for this live performance at Jazzblazzt in The Netherlands in 2018 for two extended conversations, the first set finding Serries on electric and the 2nd on acoustic, as the two push and pull each other, intertwining or finding complement in their discourse.

A well-recorded studio session from 1976 of pianist, composer and community educator Horace Tapscott with his Pan Afrikan Peoples Arkestra, a large and ecstatic ensemble with superb soloing; previously unissued, this is a major addition to Tapscott's catalog, and includes a 12 page color booklet with detailed information about the band, personnel and the recording.

Formed in 1961 with the goal of preserving, developing and performing African-American music, pianist Horace Tapscott is heard in this well-recorded concert from 1998, his last public performance, at LACMA in Los Angeles with a 20 piece orchestra including sax, trombone, a 12 member chorus, three bassists, and 3 percussionists; a significant addition to Tapscott's catalog.

"Scraps", or leftovers from the recording sessions of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy and drummer/percussionist Andrea Centazzo, the same sessions that yielded the albums Clangs and Tao, with remastered studio and live sessions in Udine, Bologna and other cities in Italy, plus a live recording from an audio cassette with Kent Cart on bass at Teatro Lirico in Milano.

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.

Vocal performer & musician Jaap Blonk presents a rendering of French dramatist, poet and theatre director Antonin Artaud's "Pour en Finir avec le Jugement de Dieu" (To Have Done With the Judgment of God), a work shelved by the French Radio in 1948 without broadcast as 'too scatological, political, anti-religious, random, and cacophonous through xylophonic and percussive sounds'.

The first working band for Dutch vocal improviser Jaap Blonk in 20 years, as he passes 65 years and is clearly NOT ready for retirement, assembling Miguel Petruccelli (Native Aliens Ensemble) on guitar, Jasper Stadhouders (Cactus Truck) on bass, and Chicago ex-pat Frank Rosaly on drums for a double CD of new work, collective improvisation and reworked Blonk classics.

A meeting in the studio in 2001 between frequent collaborators, pianist Joel Futterman, also performing on curved soprano saxophone & wooden Indian flute, and Chicago tenor saxophonist Ike Levin, also on bass clarinet and Brazilian Kalimba, beautifully capturing the extraordinary conversation of strongly articulated dialog between the two improvisers; impressive!

Four solo imporovisations from pianist Joel Futterman, starting with the nearly 20-minute "Blues For Ronnie" dedicated to his brother Ronald, a lyrical and soulful work that reflects traditional blues and ragtimes forms within a modern perspective, alongside 3 other rich works of the strong technical and melodic skill that define Futterman's mastery and intentions.

Pianist Joel Futterman pays a tribute to late alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy through six Dolphy original compositions, plus one Mal Waldron track and two Futterman originals referencing Dolphy's well-known Blue Note record, "Out to Dinner" parts one & two, each track unedited with no overdubs and the album presented in the sequence in which it was recorded.

UK improvising saxophonist Rachel Musson incorporates spoken word text and daring instrumental experimentation in a large work for an 8-piece ensemble of bass, sax, and strings, with narration in a through-composed text written by Musson that explores the process of improvisation, and her reflections on the experiential process of making music.

With 20 years of performance history, the "Eventless Plot" trio of Thessaloniki, Greece — Vasilis Liolios (Psaltery, percussion, electronics), Yiannis Tsirikoglou (electronics) and Arias Gatas (piano, percussion, electronics) — present three chamber works, performed with other other Greek instrumentalists; extraordinary works of embracing creativity and depth.

Two sets of profound composure and restraint, captured at a concert in Munich in May 2019 by Berlin improvising instrumentalists -- Werner Dafeldecker (double bass) and Lucio Capece (bass clarinet, slide saxophone, feedback and room amplification) -- invoking moods of Polwechsel through focused structures of intense precision of dense interaction.

UK composer Oliver Leith presents a work in 8 movements for piano, keys and percussion performed by Siwan Rhys (keys) and George Barton, an invocation of everyday life through a personal and often idiosyncratic orchestration reflective of personal ritual & habits; our good and our irrational, often contradictory impetus, portrayed through quirky and embraceable episodes.

Microtonal composer Kraig Grady in a work for specially adapted brass instruments (Kris Tiner, trumpets; Subhraag Singh-saxophones; Emmett Kim Narushima-trombones) and organ (Terumi Narushima) using a the Meta-Slendro tuning, an obscure 17-tone scale, to create an expansive and organic work assembled from recordings of each musician playing meditations on single notes.

During pandemic lockdowns, flutist Mara Winter and experimentalist Clara de Asís explored locations of natural resonance to capture this mix of composition and improvisation, delicate and detailed recordings of diverse intent, using harmonically rich tones and textures that resonate in mysterious and haunting ways of beautiful dream-like secrets and reveries.

Three quartet improvisations and six duo combinations between Dan Clucas on cornet, Jeb Bishop on trombone, Damon Smith on double bass, and Matt Crane on drums, recording in the studio in Rhode Island, 2018, the various permutations of each player elucidating the full group interactions through focused and captivating investigations of instrumental combinations.

Free improvisations and a few fascinating covers of work by Cecil Taylor, Chico Hamilton, and Johnny Dyani from the duo of double bassist Damon Smith and legendary drummer Alvin Fielder, showing intense and unusual approaches in great rhythmic dialog.

The trio of alto saxophonist Jonathan Suazo, guitarist Gabriel Vicens, and drummer Leonardo Osuna, formed in 2010 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, emerging from a standards-based band influenced by jazz, rock, electronic and ambient music to a fully free improv group, focusing on creative improvisation that balances lyrical moments with raw sound & energetic momentum.

The 2nd release from the UK instrumental rock band Das Rad of Nick Robinson on guitars, keyboards & electronics, Martin Archer on woodwind, keyboards, synth bass & electronics, and Steve Dinsdale on drums, keyboards & electronics, expand their sound and referenes as they tug on the heartstrings of prog, krautrock and other advanced rock forms with modern and mellotron-fueled orchestration.

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.

Vibraphonist Chris Dingman set up his vibraphones next to the bedroom where his father was under hospice care from a rare heart ailment, setting an atmosphere of calm and compassion to help soothe, heal, and carry him through his final challenges, released here as a 5-CD set of 5 hours of ethereal sounds through poignant melodies, swirling textures, and undulating pedal tones.

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.

Pianist & improviser Steve Beresford performing on prepared piano, toys & electronic, percussionist Valentina Magaletti and bass player Pierpaolo Martino are heard in this cataclysmically interesting album based around Beresford's compositions, each piece a vignette that merges elements of free improv, rock, sound & avant structures in inventive and compelling ways.

After twenty years playing together, the Sealed Knot trio of Burkhard Beins on amplified percussion, Rhodri Davies on amplified lap harp, and Mark Wastell on dual 32 past tam tams, gongs & nepalese singing bowls, performed live at Cafe OTO to record this beautifully captured, contemplative concert of tone, texture and ringing sound, like a 20-year dream reflected.

Two extremely compatible guitarists are heard in two live recordings in Tokyo, Japan, at OTOOTO and at Permian, in 2017 & 2018, using unusual tunings, extended techniques and a patient sense of space and momentum that allows each of their contributions to resonate distinctively while maintaining a confident dialog of connected abstraction and exploration.

UK sound artist Fermata Ark, aka Harry Smith, composed this work from improvisations recorded by Mark Wastell performing on cello, double bass and harmonium, and Spencer Grady performing on 5-string banjo, ebow, violin bow and brass slide, creating an extended work of immersive and mesmerizing textures and tones, sounds rising and falling in sublime and passionate ways.

Inspired by a work by John Stevens from 1991, Mark Wastell developed this work merging narration and improvisation by transcribing the text from Steven's performance, preseanted here by an electroacoustic ensemble including Phil Durrant, Dominic Lash, Bertrand Denzler, Jennifer Allum &c, yielding an enveloping and fascinatingly mysterious piece presented in two versions.

The cooperative quartet Kaze of Satoko Fujii on piano, Peter Orins on drums, Christian Pruvost on trumpet, Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, joins with elextroacoustic improviser Ikue Mori for seven exploratory pieces recorded in the studio after a one-week tour in Austria, France, and Russia, their enthusiasm for their extraordinarily unique group sound clearly evident.

Futari (meaning "two people") is the stunningly beautiful debut album of pianist Satoko Fujii and vibraphonist Taiko Saito, recorded in 2019 after a concert tour in Japan, the confluence of these similar instruments and the performer's technical mastery blending in introspective and active modes, adding rich sonic dimensions through preparations and extraordinary technique.