Formed in 1972 and releasing their first album in 1975, the enduring quartet OM of Urs Leimgruber on soprano saxophone, Christy Doran on electric guitar, Bobby Burri on double bass and Fredy Studer on drums & percussion, celebrate 50 years of intense genre-blurring creative jazz leveraging rock music's energy with this exhilarating album of structured collective improv.

A leading statesman of free jazz drumming, Andrew Cyrille's approach is influenced by both the Blue Note era and the groundbreaking work he participated in with Cecil Taylor or Trio3, still going strongÊand perceptively wise as heard on these eleven succinct studio solo performances, featuring favored percussive instruments adding melodic elements to these solid rhythmic vignettes.

Magnificent and succinct compositions merging contemporary and improvised approaches in powerfully elegant ways from Swiss pianist Katharina Weber, performing solo in the studio in 2022, presenting seventeen original compositions and two by György Kurtág, including pieces dedicated to Kurtág and Marta Kurtág, along with dedications to Heinz Holliger, Roland Moser, Gertrud Schneider, &c.

Starting each day in the Australian studio with a 20-minute improvisation, The Necks trio of Chris Abrahams on piano & keyboards, Tony Buck on drums and Lloyd Swanton on bass developed this, their 21st album, as a collection of "shorter" and varied improvisations, released with minimal overdubs to present their music closer to their exceptional live performances.

Starting each day in the Australian studio with a 20-minute improvisation, The Necks trio of Chris Abrahams on piano & keyboards, Tony Buck on drums and Lloyd Swanton on bass developed this, their 21st album, as a collection of "shorter" and varied improvisations, released with minimal overdubs to present their music closer to their exceptional live performances.

Trumpeter & composer Sei Miguel's second O Carro De Fogo De Sei Migue continues his merging of electric jazz with ea-overtones, in three live recordings with Fala Mariam on trombone & Rings, Nuno Torres on saxophone & Rings, Bruno Silva on electric guitar, Pedro Lourenco on electric bass, Andre Goncalves on organs & ATMOS and Luis Desirat & Raphael Soares on percussion.

A well-balanced and often scorching performance at Igreja do Espírito Santo in Portugal from trumpeter Luis Vicente, presented as two long improvisations each comprised of two works inspired by childhood times in a rural environment and by everyday life at home during pandemic, performed with the outstanding quartet of saxophonist John Dikeman, bassist Luke Stewart and drummer Onno Goevart.

Long-time collaborators, German reed & wind player Frank Gratkowski and pianist Simon Nabatov release their third collaboration as a duo, concentrating their playing from large bands including the Simon Nabatov Quartet to the essence of their personal and impressive dialog, here performing at the LOFT, in Cologne for the celebration of Nabatov's birthday.

Developing their language together since childhood, Norwegian brothers Lauritz Heitmann Skeidsvoll on saxophone and Isach Skeidsvoll on piano & melodica converse in a way that only two family members can, using their knowledge of each other's playing as a confident foundation for remarkable flights of technically challenging yet innately lyrical improvisations.

A relaxed and informed dialog between young generation Portuguese improvisers Tomás Marques on alto saxophone and Afonso Pais on guitar, demonstrating their experience from bands like L.U.M.E. and Joao Hasselberg / Pedro Branco, these five expressive and intuitively melodic improvisations were recorded by the artists in 2022 and are presented without edits.

For 35 years saxophonist & composer Christoph Gallio has directed the exemplary Swiss jazz group Day & Taxi, here in a trio format with bassist Silvan Jeger and drummer Gerry Hemingway, Gallio on soprano, alto & C melody saxophones, heard in this 2021 live performance at Stadtbistro Isebahnli, in Baden, Germany for nine diverse, creative and delightfully quirky pieces.

Recording in Brooklyn, the trio led by Venezuelan guitarist Juanma Trujillo, with Costa Rican bassist Kenneth Jimenez and New York drummer Gerald Cleaver, merge avant jazz, heavy rock grooves with a Sonny Sharrock flavor, and abstract almost chamber jazz, a fascinating combination of contrasts that keeps the boundaries of their contours flexible and masterfully unpredictable.

Patrick Brennan's compositions propose a series of groove instances or cells, each laying out a contrasting polyrhythm in bass & treble so that at least two melodic lines can be played over them simultaneously and the series looped, cleverly accomplished with Brian Groder on trumpet, Rod Williams on piano, Hilliard Greene on bass, Michael TA Thompson on drums and Brenann on sax.

Netherlands keyboardist, sound artist and composer Michel Banabila's work is explored through 14 recent projects in different configurations with 10 collaborators including guitarist Anton Goudsmit, violinist Oene van Geel, clarinetist Gareth Davis, cellist Peter Hollo, &c.; beautifully dramatic works of great depth and texture with rich and often haunting melodies.

A frequent collaborator with NY saxophonist and composer Tim Berne, French guitarist Marc Ducret takes on Berne's compositions, at times in multiple interpretations of the same work or by merging pieces together, performed with the superb support of trumpeter Fabrice Martinez, flutist Sylvaine Helary, trombonist Christiane Bopp and Ducret's son, cellist Bruno Ducret.

Derived from the name Georgios and its dual meaning of earth and work, drummer & composer John Hollenbeck (Claudia Quintet) developed these lyrical and sometimes pop-inspired compositions, along with arrangements of Sonny Bono's "Bang Bang" and Cyril Tawney's "Grey Funnel Line", performed with Anna Weber on sax & flute, Aurora Nealand on voice, keys & sax, and Chiquita Magic on keys & voice.

Wabanaki bassist, composer and songwriter Mali Obomsawin presents a compositional suite that highlights the art and culture of her people, binding together blues, jazz, hymns and folk songs with an ensemble of exceptional NY improvisers: Savannah Harris (drums), Miriam Elhajli (guitars, voice), Allison Burik (reeds), Noah Campbell (sax) and Taylor Ho Bynum (cornet & flugelhorn).

An assertive duo of piano and trumpet from Canadian improvisers Marilyn Lerner playing inside and out of the piano, and trumpeter Nicole Rampersaud performing with powerful and unusually expressive technique, this the first meeting between the two in a set of seven studio recordings, creative interactions of wide-ranging and cohesive approaches to their dialogs.

In a nod to alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, Montreal trombonist Scott Thomson brings together four exceptional Canadian alto saxophonists with whom he has worked and who motivate his improvisational drive, heard here in four duos: two with Toronto alto saxophonists John Oswald and Karen Ng, and two with Montreal alto saxophonists Jean Derome and Yves Charuest.

An exceptional album of widely-embracing collective improvisation recorded during Vertical Squirrel's 2019-20 residency at Silence as part of the You Are I Am series, the core quartet of Daniel Fischlin on guitars, monotron, flute & percussion, Ajay Heble on piano, Lewis Melville on bass & percussion and Ted Warren on drums & percussion are joined by cornetist and world instrumentalist Gary Diggins and vocalist & percussionist Dong-Won Kim.

The long-standing Montreal trio of saxophonist Jean Derome, here on alto & baritone sax, flute and voice, bassist Norman Guilbeault and drummer Pierre Tanguay, frequent collaborators through a vast set of creative improv/Actuelle projects, continue their research into the history of jazz with compositions including those from Ornette Coleman, Duke Ellington, Eric Dolphy, &c.

Translating her concepts from the electronic realm into acoustic, composer Eliane Radigue used an oral compositional process with the Montreal string quartet Quatuor Bozzini, for whom this work is dedicated, allowing each performance a uniqueness through sustained tones, microbeats and emerging harmonies, creating a profoundly meditative and rich work.

A unique exposition of an 1893 text by Robert Charles Hope exploring the legends of England's "holy wells", the water of which was purported to have healing properties, adapted to atmospheric songs by Drake and performed on a 1940 Hammond model BC organ and a Challen upright piano; delicate and descriptive songs that detail the legends and the hope they inspired.

A triple CD of extended and magnificent performances between 2004 & 2005 from the quartet of Steve Swell on trombone, William Parker on double bass, Hamid Drake on drums and Jemeel Moondoc on alto saxophone, to whom this album is dedicated; two concerts in Texas and one at the Guelph Jazz Festival, with compositions from Swell and Moondoc plus collective improvisations.

Two large-scale compositions from "Through-Composer of Brutal Classical" Nandor Nevai, scored for 35 brass players and a vocalist, accomplished through 10 layers of Peter Evans (trumpet, piccolo trumpet), 9 of Steve B (tenor trombone), 7 of Ron Stabinsky (bass trombone) and 10 of Nevai himself on tenor trombone & voice; plus "Gospel Power Walls" for a chorus of 5 (bad) people.

Trying to strike a balance between composition and the challenges of being a young parent, Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, created a series of short tracks that could be developed quickly with invited collaborators, a concept that worked so well that in little time he found 52 enthusiastic and diverse musicians to develop the expanse of this impressive collection.

The second of two volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.

The second of two volumes from the quartet of John Dikeman on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, John Edwards on bass and Steve Noble on drums, bringing the American saxophonist working throughout Europe together with this nearly telepathic collaborative grouping of UK frequent collaborators, captured in concert at Cafe OTO in 2019 for two absorbing improvisations.

Originally released in 2001 on the Magaibutsu label, the 3rd studio album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei led by drummer/vocalist Yoshida Tatsuya energetically blends progressive rock, chamber rock, fusion and composed forms, here revisited for the 2nd time with the 2009 expanded reissue remixed again with new additions, plus three bonus tracks from a 2020 concert.

Originally released in 2001 on the Magaibutsu label, the 3rd studio album from Japan's Koenjihyakkei led by drummer/vocalist Yoshida Tatsuya energetically blends progressive rock, chamber rock, fusion and composed forms, here revisited for the 2nd time with the 2009 expanded reissue remixed again with new additions, plus three bonus tracks from a 2020 concert.

Spanish pianist based in NYC Eva Novoa has since 2017 led this international but definitely NY-oriented piano trio of Japanese bassist based in NY Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver, here in her first album on 577, her sixth as a leader, presenting eight Novoa compositions of restlessly probing, dynamically interactive and inherently melodic free improvisation.

Spanish pianist based in NYC Eva Novoa has since 2017 led this international but definitely NY-oriented piano trio of Japanese bassist based in NY Masa Kamaguchi and drummer Gerald Cleaver, here in her first album on 577, her sixth as a leader, presenting eight Novoa compositions of restlessly probing, dynamically interactive and inherently melodic free improvisation.

Adding guitarist Joe Morris to the long-standing collaboration of tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman and pianist Matthew Shipp directs the New York trio into a fascinatingly unique direction, Morris' often pointillistic style bringing out quick responses and conglomerates of ideas, balanced by hauntingly lyrical and suspended moments; an evokative album of spirited improvisation.

Sheltered in place during the pandemic, trombonist Steve Swell occupied his time listening to recordings forgotten or never released, seizing on these excellent studio session from 2007 organized with drummer Ray Sage, performed in duo, trio and quartet configurations with clarinetist Perry Robinson and pianist Borah Bergman, demonstrating that in bad circumstance, good can appear.

Confronted and assaulted by Asian bigotry in NYC shortly after the start of the pandemic, pianist Eri Yamamoto adopted a wig, mask and sunglasses to hide her ethnicity, about which she sings in the title track of her album, a mix of the sophisticated jazz instrumentals with bassist David Ambrosio and drummer Ikuo Takeuchi punctuated with songs of Yamamoto's pandemic experience.

Meeting in Minneapolis, home of saxophonist & guitarist George Cartwright (Curlew), the quintet of Cartwright, Steve Hirsh on drums, Chad Fowler on stritch, Kelley Hurt on voice and Christopher Parker on piano have many collaborative and friendly connections, heard in their easy-going and informed dialog, with some quirks & comments tossed in to personalize these excellent studio sessions.

Continuing the connections from prior Mahakala Music albums Warp & Weft, (Futterman/Hirsch) and Two Five None (Fowler/Hirsch) this album brings the three together as a dynamic trio recording the two-part "Ebb & Flow", a spectacular convergence that, true to the title, shows tremendous momentum and moments of great introspection, an incredible collective free encounter!

Exploring the trio format of clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre and his groundbreaking drumless trio, clarinetist & saxophonist Jürg Bucher and guitarist Samuel Leipold, both members of the Swiss Jazz Orchestra, joined with double bassist Luca Lo Bianco to perform this set of Leipold compositions, alongside Giuffre's "Afternoon" and "Three Clarinet Pieces I" by Stravinsky.

An extended, warm and lyrically rich conversation between New York cornetist Kirk Knuffke and bassist Michael Bisio, recorded in the Park West Studio in Brooklyn, comfortably adept and filled with accomplished technical skill, their dialog flows easily through a variety of moods and topics, a joyful convergence of adventurous playing that never leaves the listener behind.

Translating to "Eulogy of the Shadows", the free improvising duo of violinist Carlos Zingaro and percussionist Pedro Carneiro performing on marimba with a damper pedal, structure their work as though emerging out of the dark night, each step subtly increasing the glow of luminescence through intensity of interaction until receding again into obscurity; sublime.

Drawing on genres blurring avant jazz, compositional forms, experimental rock and their uniquely twisted sense of humor, the Portuguese trio of guitarist Andre Silva, bassist Filipe Louro, and drummer Pedro Alves (also credited for screams!) present their sophomore album, a strange and compelling set of delirious improvisations in three Parts organized across 13 tracks.

An extension to a cycle of recordings that started in 1985 with his Saxifrages Octet, clarinetist Sylvain Kassap leads his sextet through original compositions that integrate jazz, compositional and avant rock structures into a unique chamber jazz form, a sophisticated approach to writing as Kassap commemorates the 1917 October Revolution in Russia.

The second album from the Hydra Ensemble (Goncalo Almeida on double bass, Lucija Gregov on cello, Nina Hitz on cello, Rutger Zuydervelt on electronics) is a live recording with no audience from the Worm club in Rotterdam during the pandemic, reaching deeper into their masterful world of darkly intense chamber improv and electronics, slowly yielding to a spaciously brighter ending.

Three chamber works by Klaus Lang of a beautifully fragile and dark nature and a meticulous inner structure, alongside arrangements of early music pieces by Johannes Ockeghem and Pierre de la Rue, performed by Klaus Lang himself on organ with the Trio Amos of Sylvie Lacroix on flute, Krassimir Sterev on accordion and Michael Moser on cello.

A set of dramatic improvisations of incredible technical skill and creative drive from the working trio of Luis Vicente on trumpet, Seppe Gebruers on unprepared piano and Onno Govaert on drums, unedited improvisations presented as played, "composed by an interaction between the musicians and instruments, a nameless room, audience, microphones and you."

Five extended works of descriptive ambience from Finnish composer and musician Jukka-Pekka Kervinen, working with algorithmic and electronic manifestations over five pieces--four works "Across" and one "Across (Lines)"--based on environmental field recordings of birds and ambiance, structures that he morphs & reiterates to create different facets of a single outdoor space.

Focusing on two collective improvisations for pianist Cecil Taylor, three renowned improvisers who worked with Taylor in his groups and ensembles--drummer Andrew Cyrille, double bassist William Parker and flugelhornist Enrico Rava--each bring original compositions alongside one jazz standard to this well-balanced album of consummate, creative jazz.

Sealed new copy damaged in the post, dinged corners and bends but the LPs are in mint shape.

The first album from the amalgamated band name Herr Borrelgrip, a play on the names of alto saxophonist Pierre Borel and double bassist Joel Grip, developing their work in Stockholm, Berlin and Paris starting in 2008 as a performing duo, heard here in a beautiful gatefold double LP studio release with an extensive LP-sized booklet of text in French and images.

Dovetailing and combining the rich harmonics of Michel Doneda's soprano and sopranino saxophone with Pascal Battus' rotating surfaces--mechanisms from small consumer electronics and their like put in motion and in contact with resonators and vibrators--this French improvising duo create fascinatingly shifting, unusual textures and sonic environments.

Intended to be played continuously without a break, composer and violinist Andrew McIntosh's long-form composition features field recordings of pine woods in his home state of California in performance with violin, viola, piano, wine glasses, slate and electronics, an ethereal work combining improvisation, open tunings, just intonation and sympathetic resonance.