A transformative experience for John Coltrane, whose 1957 studio sessions with pianist Thelonious Monk, recorded after Monk's residency at the Five Spot, came at a transitional point for the iconic tenor saxophonist, expanding his knowledge of harmonic structure and refining his approach to soloing; with Coleman Hawkins, Art Blakey, Gigi Gryce, Ray Copeland, Wilbur Ware and Shadow Wilson.

Restoring two essential albums from alto saxophonist Eric Dolphy: first his '61 live album at NYC's Five Spot in a quintet with Booker Little, Mal Waldron, Richard Davis & Ed Blackwell; then his '63 studio sessions in varying configurations with Clifford Jordan, Woody Shaw, Sonny Simmons, Prince Lasha, Bobby Hutcherson, Eddie Kahn Richard Davis, Garvin Bushell & J.C. Moses.

A series of intimate duets between Syrian-born, Vancouver-based oud, ney, flamenco guitar and singer Emad Armoush with aA series of intimate duets between Syrian-born, Vancouver-based Emad Armoush performing on oud, ney, flamenco guitar and song, with clarinetist Francois Houle, violinist Jesse Zubot, trumpeter JP Carter, drummer/percussionist Kenton Loewen and cellist Marina Hasselberg--Houle, Zubot and Carter also adding electronic layers--as Armoush reinvents Arabic tradition alongsie original compositions. Francois Houle, violinist Jesse Zubot, trumpeter JP Carter, drummer/percussionist Kenton Loewen and cellist Marina Hasselberg--Houle, Zubot and Carter also adding electronic layers--as Armoush reinvents Arabic tradition alongside original compositions.

In Tibetan Buddhism a terton is a person who is a discoverer of ancient hidden texts or terma, an apt description of the masterful, exploratory free jazz heard in the New York City band Terton of Trevor Dunn on bass, Louie Belogenis on tenor & soprano saxophones and Ryan Sawyer on drums, in ten powerfully assertive studio improvisations.

Creating structured works from real time improvisations, Guy Seger's (Univers Zero) large ensemble of absolutely impressive players breaks down to smaller grouping to record the layers of each piece, which Seger then uses as raw material for each finished piece, as elements of rock, jazz, composed, and experimental forms merge into accomplished and engaging compositions.

Recalling his Sun Quartet album, UK saxophonist Paul Dunmall's new sextet pivots off the jubilant rhythm section of drummer Hamid Drake, double bassist Dave Kane and vibraphonist Corey Mwamba, with three saxophonists--Dunmall on tenor & c-soprano saxophones, Xhosa Cole on tenor and Soweto Kinch on alto & tenor saxophones--in a truly joyful bright celebration of free flowing jazz.

A meeting between two percussive collaborators from legendary UK improviser Tony Oxley and long-time collaborator and member of Oxley's Celebration Orchestra, Stefan Holker, the latter on acoustic percussion while Oxley performs in his inimitable style of close miking and effecting percussive objects, as the pair perform six Oxley compositions of tightly ringing, energetic activity.

Having collaborated over 15 years in bands including Slow is Possible and Cat in a Bag, the Portuguese quartet of Duarte Fonseca on drums, Joao Clemente on guitar, Nuno Santos Dias on Waldorf Zarenbourg electric piano and Ricardo Sousa on double bass, borrow from electric 70's jazz, rock and experimental forms through 10 diverse and intriguing concepts tinged with a dark wit.

An exemplary album of thoughtful free improv from the trio of tenor saxophonist Pedro Alves Sousa with 2/3's of Red Trio--pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini--recorded after a five day residency at the Goethe-Institut Lisbon, the band finding new approaches to playing to distance themselves from the typically fast & energetic music they are often associated with.

An exquisite album of chamber-oriented free improvisation that naturally merges contemporary and jazz forms while underpinned by swinging grooves, each player expressing passion and abstraction to create unique sonic combinations, from Jose Lencastre on alto saxophone, Carlos Zingaro on violin, Clara Lai on piano, Goncalo Almeida on double bass and Joao Sousa on drums.

The second trio release from alto saxophonist Jose Lencastre, Hernâni Faustino (Red Trio) here on electric bass and drummer Vasco Furtado, three Portuguese improvisers whose continued work together adds strength to their collective improvisation, heard in five pieces recorded live in the warm space of the Espírito Santo Church in Caldas da Rainha in Western Portugal.

After a first meeting at an improvised music festival, the trio of Portuguese drummer Vasco Furtad, Wuppertal-based drummer/vibraphonist Salome Amend and German alto saxophonist Luise Volkmann agreed to meet again in the studio to record these five collective improvisations, focused on sparse yet active textures influenced by melodic implications.

Saxophonist José Lencastre's Nau Quartet of Lencastre on alto & tenor, Hernani Faustino on double bass, Rodrigo Pinheiro on piano and João Lencastre on drums are joined by Pedro Carneiro on marimba for four extended improvisations that balance melodic intentions with urgent force, the additional percussive elements motivating the band from edgy soloing to introspective contemplation.

A remarkable trio of active players on the Lisbon free improv scene -- José Lencastre (alto sax), Hernâni Faustino (double bass) and Vasco Furtado (drums) -- and the debut release for the Phonogram Unit label, in six collective improvisations recorded in the studio, evenly proportioned between boppish free jazz and abstract, almost chamber sonic expression; beautiful.

A wild improvising band from Vancouver in their 3rd release of episodic compositions based around instrumental rock forms, six "sick" and wide-ranging pieces that blend rock, jazz, chamber music and inventive forms in magnificent way, from JP Carter on trumpet, Joshua Zubot on violin, Peggy Lee on cello, Cole Schmidt on guitar, James Meger on bass, synths and Dan Gaucher on drums.

Fall 2023 issue of Canada's premiere new music magazine, with Julie Richards on the cover in an article exploring the legacy of little known Black female composers; plus articles on Maria Chavez and her turntable art; Michele Geister use of '80s music TV; composer Trevor Grahl; Mustafa Rafiq; Evan Dysart; plus reviews, essays and a CD of tracks from the aforementioned artists.

Italian percussionist, sound artist, improviser and composer Nicholas Remondino expresses the sentiment of the 18 recordings on this solo album of prepared drum improvisations through a single sentence, each piece flowing into the next through unusual punctuation, gestures and intersections, as the listener is carried along curious landscapes of extraordinary technique.

Joining the long-running Trespass Trio of Per Zanussi on double bass, Martin Küchen on baritone & sopranino saxophone and Raymond Strid on drums for their performance at the 2018 Blow Out Festival in Oslo was Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva, performing Küchen compositions and a unique group take on Charlie Parker's "Koko", in a concert of both ardent and exuberant improvisation.

Crossing styles, generations and approaches to improvisations, multi-reedist and composer Ned Rothenberg's quartet of Rothenberg on clarinets & alto sax, Sylvie Courvoisier on piano, Mary Halvorson on guitar & effects and Tomas Fujiwara on drums perform five Rothenberg compositions and one by Rothenberg & Courvoisier, of spectacular timbral, rhythmic and melodic intersections.

From the fertile Montreal improv scene, the long-collaborating Mercury duo of double bassist Nicolas Caloia and clarinetist Lori Freedman on b-flat and bass clarinets are heard in eight rugged dialogs captured live as they seemingly flay the body through visceral dialog with titles including "Eyeball-Eyelid"; "Teeth-Tongue-Throat-Lip"; or "Ass-Brain".

Their first duo album, Collect My Thoughts released in 1995 on Nine Winds, these live improvisations captured at Berkeley's The Shinebox in 2017 show the two West Coast collaborators--Phillip Greenlief on alto & tenor saxophones plus clarinet, and drummer/percussionist Scott Amendola--'staying with it' in an energetic set of five informed dialogs.

A piano sax and bass trio led by Argentinian pianist Nataniel Edelman with Michael Formanek on bass and Michael Attias on alto sax, recording in the studio in Berlin for a mix of five Edelman compositions, one by Attias, and four collective improvisations, recorded in a single day for a consistently lyrical, flowing set of elegantly informed, magnificent playing.

Reflecting on the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s speech "I Have a Dream", pianist Aruan Ortiz is influenced by King's concepts of form and structure, assembling an incredible quintet including Don Byron on reeds, Pheeroan akLaff on drums, Yves Dhar & Lester St. Lousi on cello and narration by Mtume Gant, for a 7-song cycle musically depicting the turbulence of the time.

The project name chosen by the duo of Portuguese improvisers, saxophonist Joao Mortagua and pianist Carlos Azevedo, translates to "heel", which they explain "represents the footprint we leave behind as we navigate a constantly evolving musical path", heard in 14 succinct improvisations that balance implicitly lyrical dialog with unconventional and often mischievous technique.

Daniel Sine, aka L'eclipse Nue, in his third releases on Love Earth Music and his first on vinyl, the title evoking the sense of joyful noise and ritual aspects to his work through eight pieces of divergent sonic experiments, recalling the work he participated in Japan through bands with Le Chien Nu and SHROUD OF VAPOUR.

Each side of this LP from The Haters mastermind GX Jupitter-Larsen is a minimalistic noise work in the style of The Haters, built from loops and extraneous sounds, obscure and curious and each side ending with a giggle; you either need more of this kind of sonic opaqueness, or perhaps you too are a Hater.

Nearly a decade after their first duo collaboration, Ape Green on the Creative Sources label, Wuppertal-born and Berlin-based double bassist Alexander Frangenheim joins again with Baltimore-based trombonist Patrick Crossland for two live performances of wildly creative interaction: first at the 2022 Livewire 12 Festival, then at The Record Shop in Brooklyn.

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.

With previous albums on Creative Sources, Bug Incision and Eh?, the duo of Jay Kreimer and Public Eyesore label-leader Bryan Day use invented instruments recorded these highly percussive, well-paced and well-recorded improvisations during Kreimer's Fulbright fellowship in India, in Baroda, Hyderabad and Bangalore, the main tracks named for their recording location.

Inspired by Judith Schalansky's book "Atlas of Remote Islands: 50 islands I never set foot in and never will", the debut of the chamber improvising trio of Fie Schouten on clarinet & basset horn, Vincent Courtois on cello and Guus Janssen on piano, organ, harmonium & harpsichord reflect on these pristine and untouched areas of the earth in sublimely sophisticated conversation.

Recording in Maria Pinto, Chile, steel guitarist Susan Alcorn combines Chilean folk and nueva cancion with free improvisation and contemporary classical in an expansive set of 5 original compositions and a group arrangement of the Victor Jara's "El Derecho de Vivir en Paz", the achingly beautiful themes paying tribute to the victims of Augusto Pinochet's regime.

The second album from New York trumpeter Peter Evan's band Being and Becoming stretches out his concepts in five extended works that dovetails superb contemporary jazz — integrating extended techniques and solid vibraphone work — with beautifully rich and explorative passages, masterfully performed with Joel Ross (vibes), Nick Jozwiak (bass) and Michael Shekwoaga (drums).

The first live album from pianist Espen Eriksen's Trio with bassist Lars Tormod Jenset and drummer Andreas Bye, expanded to a quartet with UK saxophonist Andy Sheppard, performing at Nasjonal jazzscene in Victoria, Oslo in 2018 & 2020, at an intimate concert at Propeller Music Division in Oslo 2020, and at Era Jazzu/Czas Komedy, Poznan Poland in 2021.

UK saxophonist Andy Sheppard joins again with pianist Espen Eriksen's Trio of drummer Andreas Bye and bassist Lars Tormod Jenset, for a lyrical set of seven richly melodic original compositions, the trio's 7th release together since 2010 and marking 16 years together as a group, evident from their confident communication and seemingly effortless interaction.

An album of jazz poetry between long-time collaborator, bassist Michael Bisio and poet Paul r. Harding, with former Jimi Hendrix percussionist Juma Sultan joining on half of the tracks, for thirteen narrative poems and utterance that provide incisive observation on ourselves and our country, the bass and percussion weaving around expression that slams, swings, and pulls no punches.

Reflecting on the loft-oriented NYC free improvisation scene, this 2006 concert at Zebulon, in Brooklyn has keyboardist Alon Nechushtan bringing together a spectacular sextet with Roy Campbell on flute & trumpet, Daniel Carter and Sabir Mateen on reeds, William Parker on bass and Federico Ughi on drums, taking flight on two seemingly boundless Nechushtan compositions.

The fifth album from John Zorn's Chaos Magic Ensemble of Brian Marsella on Fender Rhodes Piano, John Medeski on organ, Kenny Grochowski on drums and Matt Hollenberg on guitar, in three free flowing works that display Zorn's perceptive merging and the band's enormous skill, contrasting lyrical electric jazz with turbulent rock forms and disciplined contemporary structure.

An apt description for the layers of sonic decay and deteriorated sounds, loops and errata that underpin each of the five tracks on this elusively restrained noise album, Juice Machine, aka Roger H. Smith (Chefkirk) and Heather Chessman, use mangled field recordings and concrete elements of blurred looping structures and aberrant interjection, each unique work a fascinating curiosity.

A journey through drone, abstract sound and concrete elements from Netherlands sound artists and writer Frans de Waard (Vital Weekly), mixed from recordings sessions in 2022 and sourced from small electronics, shortwave radio, aqueous recordings, iPad synths, Walkman and "whatever else", the work suggesting 11 movements through various textures and sonic environments.

Improvisations from graphic scores that influence the structural framework for these five pieces from New York-based artist & composer Nickolas Mohanna, who uses a varied palette of percussive devices alongside electric guitar and computer, including hammered notes and brushed cymbals to create pulsing and immersive shapes that emerge and submerge in each floating work.

Eight illusory and ethereal sound and noise works from Daniel Sine, aka Le Chien Nu, from beautiful sonic environments to raspy nightmares, putting special emphasis on the latter, with enough diversity between each work to make a complete REM cycle of unsettling sleep offset by moments of beauty.

A split release between two noise artists from opposite sides of the planet: first Greek sound artist Manos Michaelides, aka Ego Death, in a brutal assault of abrasive sound recorded over a decade; then an amalgamation of a live recording from Hiroshi Hasegawa (C.C.C.C.) performing at IAF shop in Fukuoka, Japan and in the studio at Koenji-Minami Studio, in Tokyo, Japan.

Remastering previously unavailable and vital performances from three configurations of saxophonist Albert Ayler's bands, including their 1967 Newport Festival concert with Milford Graves, their performance at John Coltrane's 1967 Funeral at St. Peter's Lutheran Church in NYC, and an incredible 1962 concert with Cecil Taylor's group with Jimmy Lyons and Sunny Murray in Copenhagen.

Three configurations of sophisticated duos & trios from four remastered albums recorded between 1962 and 1966 by pianist Bill Evans: first in duos with guitarist Jim Hall (Undercurrent); then with his trio of bassist Gary Peacock & Paul Motian (Trio 64); then with bassist Chuck Israels & drummer Larry Bunker (Trio 65); and last full circle to 1966, again with Jim Hall (Intermodulation).

Three CDs in a beautifully constructed fold-out cross with liner notes and recording data from NY drummer Kate Gentile, in a set of 41 studio recordings with her working band of Matt Mitchell on piano & keys, Kim Cass on acoustic & electric bass and Jeremy Viner on reeds, each disc exploring a distinct yet connected approach to her fascinating compositions and group interaction.

While theremin & synth specialist Andrew Levine was on a 2023 tour of Portugal he met with a core trio of Creative Sources improvisers--Ernesto Rodrigues on viola & Crackle Box, Bruno Parrinha on bass clarinet & objects, Flak on electric guitar & effects--meeting in Flak's countryside studio for one detailed, extensive improvisation and 6 short works of differing sonic characters and colour.

Emulating the Korean river Taedong through it's undulating flows, uproar, flux and treachery in eleven succinct chamber-oriented improvisations from the quartet of South Korean tenor saxophonist Jung-Jae Kim, French-born South Korean-based drummer Quentin Cholet, with the Portuguese father/son duo of Ernesto Rodrigues on viola and Guilherme Rodrigues on cello.

Berlin recordings from the lowercase chamber improvising string quartet of New Zealand violinist Sarah Claman, Portuguese violist Ernesto Rodrigues and cellist son based in Berlin, Guilherme Rodrigues, with Swiss sound artist Caroline Cecilia Tallone on electroacoustic hurdy gurdy & amplified objects, exploring three shadow aspects of "Umbra", "Penumbra" and "Antumbra".

The sophomore release for the acoustic free improvising Amsterdam trio of Ziv Taubenfeld on bass clarinet, Henk Zwerver on guitar, and Maya Felixbrodt on viola, upping the intensity in a set of abstract improvisations of an active nature using unorthodox and extended techniques; upbeat and often exciting collective discourse that leads to great moments of individual expression.