A 3" CD of three technically impressive, intricate improvisations: first in a solo piano piece by pianist Oliver Schwerdt, followed by a duo with drummer & percussionist Christian Lillinger with Schwerdt also on small instruments, ending in a piano trio format with double bassist Robert Landfermann, a high-speed affair of quick-witted interplay and almost telepathic communication.

Opening with a powerful solo set from pianist Elan Pauer, this album was released on the occasion of Pauer's 80th birthday, revealing itself to be the incredible free jazz quintet of of Pauer, Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on clarinet & shepherds' flutes, both John Edwards & Robert Landfermann on double bass, and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion.

Four impressive free improvisations of tremendous mastery and advanced and unusual technical skill from the trio of Axel Dorner on trumpet, Elan Pauer on piano & percussion and Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion, performing at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany in 2013, augmented on one track by John Edwards knocking on the venue door.

A 3" CD-EP of the New Old Luten Trio, expanded into a quintet by the addition of two double bassists--John Edwards and Robert Landfermann--to the lineup of Euro Free Jazz reedist Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer (aka Oliver Schwerdt) and drummer/percussionist Christian Lillinger, in the warm-up set before the concert yielding the album Tumult!.

A tumultuously wonderful free jazz epic recorded in Leipzig in 2013 from original New Old Luten founders, saxophonist & clarinetist Enrst-Ludwig Petrowsky and drummer Christian Lillinger, the band configured as a quintet with Elan Pauer taking on the piano role plus percussives, and the dual and powerful double bassists John Edwards and Robert Landfermann.

Ominous and dense with layers of strata intended for nighttime listening, the German quartet of Axel Dorner on trumpet & electronics, Matthias Lorenz on cello, and both Robert Landfermann and John Edwards on double bass recorded these four tremendous electroacoustic improvisations at their live performance at naTo in Leipzig, Germany in 2013.

Ra Ra da Boff is an alter ego for keyboardist Oliver Schwerdt, here performing on electric organ in a trio with trumpeter Axel Dörner and percussionist Roger Turner, the three turning free improvisation on its ear through extended and unusual approaches to their instruments in an impressionistic set of three impressive and slowly tumultuous extended conversations; exemplary!

One year after the 2013 recording by New Old Luten Quintet, Tumult!, the exceptional free jazz grouping of Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky on sax & clarinet, Elan Pauer on grand piano & percussion, John Edwards & Robert Landfermann on double bass and Christian Lillinger on drums, took the stage at naTo, in Leipzig to record this energetic and strongly percussive followup.

A double CD of pianist, Euphorium label-leader and EUPHORIUM_freakestra leader Oliver Schwerdt in a double CD of solo recordings in the studio in Leipzig, 3 extended improvisations and 1 concise piece titled "Prestige" I & II and "No Smoking" I & II, remarkably concentrative work displaying an acute and extraordinarily inventive approach to improvisation.

Eschewing his many monikers (Birg Borgenthal, Elan Pauer and Ra Ra da Boff) pianist Oliver Schwerdt steps away from EUPHORIUM_freakestra, uses his given name, and takes the stage of the Bauhaus building in Dessau where such legends as Fred van Hove and Alexander von Schlippenbach have played, to record these four exemplary and extended, kinetic & free solo piano improvisations.

This evolutionary project titled as "loud, colorful hustle & bustle" started with the trio of wind & reed player Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer and drummer Christian Lillinger (Radau!), then expanded to a quintet with two double bassists-John Edwards & Robert Landfermann--and here as a septet with saxophonist Urs Leimgruber and trumpeter Axel Dšrner.

The second step in this evolutionary project, the title referring to "noisy bustle; Riot" started with the trio of wind & reed player Ernst-Ludwig Petrowsky, pianist Elan Pauer and drummer Christian Lillinger (Radau!), then expanded to this quintet with two double bassists-John Edwards & Robert Landfermann--captured live at naTo/ in Leipzig, Germany in 2015.

An outstanding pair of concerts from Austrian pianist & vocalist Igrid Schmoliner and Chicago drummer & percussionist Hamid Drake, Schmoliner coming from a compositional/avant background, Drake merging jazz and world approaches to his playing, together creating something wonderfully informed and exciting, making their complex interplay radiantly lucid to their audience.

Four compositions for strings from German composer Hannes Lingens, including the three-part "Triptych" work performed by the Ensemble CoÔ, a septet directed by bassist Félicie Bazelair that emphasizes bowed strings; and two solo works performed by Bazelair: "Methods and Materials" & "Solo for String Instruments" employing advanced approaches to the double bass.

Excerpting part of an eight-hour performance recorded over an amplified live environment of a text score for two pianists using one piano, each positioned at the opposite registers of the piano, one player creating a block of note phrases using intervals of a 2nd or 3rd with each note allowed to decay before the next, repeated by the other player following a set of rules.

Composer Andre O. Moller's work for solo double bass, performed by Hans Eberhard Maldfeld, was inspired by Moller's fascination in just tuning & rational frequency relations and an admiration for the work of Hans Eberhard Maldfeld, presented compositionally as a group of 7 pieces for 5-stringed double bass and pre-produced playback, creating a virtual double bass choir.

Using a metasynth, a software instrument that allows the user to draw or paint music, and a photograph of a small tree observed at a former train station in the German town of Kranenbur, composer Florian Wittenburg generates complex sound structures from the simple structures of the tree's branches used as a template for four rich sonic sketches.

Variations of a score incorporated within a choreographic performance presented at the Archeological Museum of Thessaloniki in 2019 from the Greek experimental band Eventless Plot, the core trio of Vasilis Liolios (psaltery & bow), Yiannis Tsirikoglou (electronics) and Aris Giatas (analog synth) extended with Chris Cundy (bass clarinet), Nefeli Sani (piano) and Eva Matsigou (flute).

Norwegian composer Fredrik Rasten, a guitarist who himself has recorded pieces by pianist/composer Johan Lindvall, sees Lindvall beautifully perform 15 of his works for solo equal tempered piano, minimal pieces developed under the influence of Debussy and Bartok's Mikrokosmos compositions along with adaptations of his own microtonal/just intonation work.

A collaboration with German soprano vocalist Irene Kurka from London-born composer currently working in China, Toby Charles Roundell, seven works for unaccompanied solo voice, who have worked for several years exploring psalms, antiphons and books from the minor prophets, in seven contemplative works of spiritual, resonant vocal progressions.

"Trios" refers to the relationship of two keyboards and the pedals of an organ, as performed by accomplished American composer Carson Cooman as he patiently unfolds Eva-Maria Houben's three minimal compositions exploring the relationships between three melodic lines or three-tone chords, presented on the Organ Probsteikirche St. Ludgerus, in Billerbeck, Germany.

Four unique interpretations of David Henri Thoreau's essay "Walking", "a transcendental essay that analyzes the relationship between man and nature, trying to find a balance between society and our raw animal nature." (Wikipedia), performed by Antoine Beuger, Marianne Schuppe, Stefan Thut, Sylvia Alexandra Schimag and Marie-Cecile Reber.

Two renditions of two sound works from Massachusetts composer currently based in NYC, Eli Neuman-Hammond, both pieces using slide whistles in scores for multiple performers, captured in the open air in Ridgewood, NY, Washington Square Park, and in Marblehead, MA, each performance a minimal configuration that varies the fingerings or breathwork of the performers.

A series of eight "voices" for piano, extended minimal works slowly unfolding in the performance of composer Carlo Inderhees' "8 stimmen" composition for solo piano, expressed by Guy Vandromme as the piece answers the questions "what is music made of?" with the word "voices: a sequence of sounds and silences, with its own consistency".

Wandelweiser composer and performer Antoine Beuger reflects, or more correctly, laments, in nine solo vocal works of profound emotional depth, utterances first on the dearth of time and the vicissitudes and intersections we face; then on mourning and grief, a requiem that extolls the listener to use our voice to confront sadness that we may gain strength from it.

A truly diverse set of improvisations, from solo work to large scale ensemble, as Euphorium_Freakestra are joined by European Free Jazz legends, drummer Baby Sommer and double bassist Barry Guy, in a band with leader & pianist Oliver Schwerdt, plus Bertrand Denzler, Burkard Beins, John Eckhardt, Pierre-Antoine Badaroux, Patrick Schanze, Daniel Beilschmidt & Freidrich Kettlitz.

A trio sounding much larger than its three contributors--Oliver Schwerdt on grand piano, percussion & little instruments, Baby Sommer on drums, cymbals & percussion and Barry Guy on double bass--captured in concert at naTo, in Leipzig, Germany in 2019 for a joyful and assertive album of collective free improv that merges contemporary, free and jazz idioms seamlessly.

A companion 3" CD to the Karacho! album, with an additional dynamic improvisation from the same concert, the Big Bad Brotzmann Trio bringing together master multi-reedist Peter Brötzmann, here on tenor saxophone & clarinet, with pianist Oliver Schwerdt, also playing percussion & little instruments, and drummer/percussionist Christian Lillinger.

A superb example of European Free Jazz tradition, modern and amazingly creative, from the quintet of pianist Oliver Schwerdt and reedist Peter Brotzmann performing on tenor sax, tarogato & clarinet, with Christian Lillinger on drums & percussion and dual double bassists in John Edwards and John Eckhardt, performing a 50+ minute free masterpiece at club naTo in Liepzig, 2017.

A blistering set of improvisations featuring two electric guitarists--Konkstrukt's own Umut Caglar and NY Sonic improviser Thurston Moore--performing live at SalonIKSV in Istanbul, Turkey, blurring acoustics and electronics as the quintet creates intrepid environments for an intense journey in free improvisation, howling and biting along the way.

Formed in 2014 to explore their own personal history with jazz music, the French trio of Fidel Fourneyron on trombone, Sebastien Beliah on double bass and Geoffroy Gesser on tenor saxophone & clarinet put their focus on the master of be-bop, Charlie Parker, updating, reinventing and making an inventive playground of Parker's music through thirteen classics.

Essential performers on the 80s Downtown NY scene, cellist Tom Cora and percussionist & vocalist David Moss released this album in 1983 on Fred Frith's Rift label, ten active and often absurd duo improvisation of informed interaction, intertwining strings, drums, odd rhythmic sources and strange vocal utterances, yielding to both serious improv and whimsical notions.

These 2016 recording between Bryan Eubanks and Xavier Lopez demonstrate the analog networked sytem they developed, based on the harmonics of random feedback, using this information in real time to shape generative rhythms and other juxtapositions from soprano saxophone and percussion, in four recordings improvised live at Studio 8 bar in Berlin.

An unusual journey in abstract sonic narrative and environments from Portland's Dave Quam (FKA Massacooramaan, Modern Melodies) and Seoul's Joe Foster (English, Don Brown and Dan Reynolds), their four pieces using concrete & acousmatic sources, field recordings, enigmatic errata and instrumental elements presented as sentences in sound that imply and defy intention; gripping.

A burning album of free jazz caught live at Au Topsi Pohl, in Berlin, Germany in 2019 between the long-running duo of tenor saxophonist Bertrand Denzler and drummer Antonin Gerbal, best known for their work in Zoor or Denzler-Gerbal-Dorner, here working an "Interstellar Space" area of strength and energy through intense interaction and cathartic playing.

Bassist Sebastien Beliah leads this French-Polish quartet with Louis Laurain on cornet, Pierre Borel on alto saxophone, and Olga Koziel on voice & percussions, blending free jazz and traditional Polish music & songs with an experimental bent and the flourish of East European folk energy, a passionate mix that entertains and surprises the listener with unexpected twists & turns.

The second incarnation of Frisque Concordance, formed in 1992 by Georg Graewe & John Butcher and currently the quartet of Butcher on tenor & soprano saxophones, Graewe on piano, Wilbert de Joode on double bass and Mark Sanders on drums, in a 2-CD set, the first a superb studio set recorded in Vienna in 2017, the second a live concert at the 2018 Konfrontationen Festival in Nickelsdorf.

A collection of compositions drawn from recent works by Michel Banabila, the composer performing alongside artists Rutger Zuydervelt, Yuko Parris, ok Van Vuuren and all n4tural, showcasing his flexibility in developing a variety of works that include cinematic sweeps, ambient/fourth world, sound and noise, and rhythm-based and synthetic.

Dutch composer Michel Banabila amalgamates genres, using acoustic and electronics elements to serve his work, here in 8 recent pieces that blend electronica, world forms and soundscape in sophisticated ways, with vocal samples from all n4tural and Yuko Parris, guitar from Cok Van Vuuren, and a collaborative composition with Machinefabriek/Rutger Zuydervelt.

"Elytra" are the protective fore-wings of beetles & crickets, which are raised and scraped to create a resonating and projecting sound; Greek composer and sound artist Thanos Chryaskis composed these seven works of deeply detailed, resonant and layered sonic interaction as a form of emulation to the action of the elytron, each piece an absorbing sonic experience.

Recording of the premiere performance of Hermann Nitsch's large-scale symphony for full orchestra, brass ensemble and choir, in five movement, composed for the 155th Action of the Orgien-Mysterien-Theater, and performed in 2018 as the first action to be staged in the Nitsch Museum, Mistelbach, coinciding with the occasion of Nitsch's 80th birthday.

First introduced at the "Konfrontationen" festival in Nickelsdorf in 2006, German pianist and composer Georg Graewe's Sonic Fiction Orchestra developed these diverse works of jazz, fusion-tinged, and chamber improv during a residency at the 2018/19 Porgy & Bess in Vienna, recording in the studio in 2020 for this impressive album, particularly the large "Redshift E" composition.

Two works for solo instrumentalists by Baltimore composer Ian Power, both written in 1984: "mahrem bir eser | a private work" using microtonal harmonics and electronic noise, performed by cellist Mariel Robers and recorded in 2016 at Brandeis Univeristy; and "swathe" using overtone and microtone performed by clarinetist Gleb Kanasevich and recorded in NYC in 2019.

Various facets of German composer and experimenter Florian Wittenburg's interests, in two iterations of two pieces and two compositions, using voice, vibraphones and ringing bowls, treated electronically to emphasize unique characteristics of sound from warmly rich to mysteriously fragile, balanced with space and careful timing; a valuable introduction to his work.

French voice artist and composer Yannick GuŽdon living in Brussels composed this extended work, the title translating to "insistence on possibilities", realized with cellist Deborah Walker and violist Cyprien Busolini, Guédon merging extended utterance into long string drones, contrasted with silence, as the piece moves through very specific placement.

Guitarist, computer musician, and improviser Eric Wong (D.N.A.N.D.N.A. with Simon Rose) focuses on sound textures and perception of sound, in three works composed using Ableton Live that explore concepts of psychoacoustic sound through dissonance, harmonic interference and hallucinatory sound, slowly developing works of rich sonic characteristic.

Sharing compositional credits with the title translating to "the cooked", the trio of Andreas Nordheim on cornet, Ole Schmidt on clarinets, and Chris Weinheimer on flutes, with pianist Jan Gerdes guesting on one piece, present 16 recordings of minimalist harmonic and tonal development, mysterious and haunting works are taxonomically named by their location.

Recording in Altes Wannenbad Gera, in Gera, Germany, an ensemble of performers associated with Ensemble Open Music Gera and Ensemble Zeitkratzer perform James Tenney's work exploring concepts of tuning systems, sound/noise, consonance/dissonance, sound/silence, and organisation of time, in three pieces that use a climax-oriented form Tenney refers to as "swell pieces".

Two hauntingly beautiful works in microtonal composer and violist Catherine Lamb's "Prisma Interius" series, the first a duo with violinist Johnny Change and Xavier Lopez on the "secondary rainbow synthesizer", which channels the sound outside of the performance space as a generator of ambient sound; then a sextet of strings and winds with two secondary rainbow synthesizers.

Their first proper vinyl release since forming in 2008, this studio album recorded in Berlin finds Berlin saxophonist and electronic artist Bryan Eubanks, double bassist Andrew Lafkas, and NY drummer & cymbal player Tod Capp in an extended and dark improvisation, with Catherine Lamb's "secondary rainbow synthesizer" interacting and filtering their work as a 4th member.