Composer Dominic Lash's Consort ensemble explores the possibilities of combining sustained-tone music, guided & free improvisation, and the relationship between acoustic and amplified sound, heard in this evolving, extended concert at Café Oto on Lash's 40th birthday, in a unique mix of acoustic & electronic instruments that even includes an amplified kitchen sink!

Honing their conversation in their third release as a band, British double bassist Dominic Lash's Quartet with Javier Carmona on drums & percussion, Ricardo Tejero on alto saxophone and Alex Ward on electric guitar are heard live at Cafe OTO in London, Lash providing all compositions and arrangements over six wide-ranging, edgy and innovative improvisations; outstanding!

A set of lyrical, thoughtful and sometimes whimsical works from the Scottish-based duo of Rob Hall & Chick Lyall (Green Room Trio), who have been developing their musical language since 2003, drawing from a wide range of genres from Baroque chamber music to free jazz and folk idioms, their lack of boundaries lending itself to a uniquely diverse and embraceable music.

Naming each track for the teeth of a different type of zip-fastener (curved, triangular, saggitate, &c) Swiss double bassists Daniel Studer and Peter K. Frey improvise a fascinating set of interlocking and intersecting abstractions, recorded live at at Kronen Galerie, in Zurich as the two celebrated their 20th anniversary as a duo through a series of 10 half-hour concerts.

On their first concert as a duo in 2014, alto saxophonist Michael Attias and pianist Simon Nabatov recorded these five creatively lyrical improvisations at iBeam in Brooklyn, Nabatov on the keys and inside the piano and both using tremendous technique in a mix of perky and introspective free expression, including an extended work that melds into Herbie Nichol's "Spinning Song".

Two works from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith and performed by cellist Anton Lukoszevieze and pianist Kerry Yong: "Through the Low Hills" a piece for constrained variations like an object viewed from different angles as it is turned over; and "Ballad" a major work intended for performance that unfolds slowly, allowing for delicate melodic interaction.

Five chamber works from UK composer James Week performed by Explore Ensemble, developing works extending the poetic idea of a piece as an imaginary or remembered space by exploring combinations of instruments such as the mixed instrumental duos, the use of slow-moving or static background harmonics, and intimate instrumental idioms based on long, breath-length sounds.

A member of the Paul Dunmall Quintet and Ed Gauden's Crux, Birmingham UK pianist, composer and band leader Steve Tromans presents an album of original work, lyrical and introspective pieces improvised in the studio as a response to the duress of the global pandemic, motivated to record on a great piano in the great Sansom Studio based on recent life experiences.

An energetic trio of Serbian free improvisers from Tibor Takacs Faki on reeds, Laslo Lenkes on guitar and Goran Grubisic on drums, Tibor Takacs Faki and Goran Grubisic both part of the rock band Wooden Ambulance, that energy translating into their indefatigable approach to collective improvisation, just keeping a lid on their rambunctious interaction.

Recorded at the 79th Salon fur Klang+Kunst, in Krailling, Munich, the pairing of multi-instrumentalist Udo Schindler performing on alto saxophone, brass & synthesizer and Patrick Schimanski performing on percussion, live electronics & voice was inspired by the novella fragment Lenz written by Georg Büchner in 1836 based on Jean Frédéric Oberlin's diary.

Using prepared drums drums, objects, voice, and Kalimba, Italian drummer Alberto Pederneschi presents eight solo works recorded in the studio, an unhurried but authoritative set of pieces that merge composed and improvised sections, drawing and evoking a narrative sense in coherent arrangements and intimate story telling.

Three disparate improvisers--Guy-Frank Pellerin on soprano & tenor saxophones, Matthias Boss on violin & voice and Eugenio Sanna on amplified guitar plus small metallic layers, balloons & voice--present a non-idiomatic, fully improvised set of "sonorities, fragments, atmospheres seeming to constitute independent parts, but actually forming a unicum".

The title Indústria was chosen by Eddie Prevost in tribute to the history behind the Museu Industrial de Bala do Tejo, in Portugal where this concert took place by the legendary free improvisation band AMM, represented here as the duo of percussionist Eddie Prévost and pianist John Tilbury, performing as part of the 2015 OUT.FEST - Festival Internacional de Musica Exploratoria do Barreiro.

First release on the Alt.Vinyl label in 2014, this album finds harpist Rhodri Davies performing on the same instrument as his prior album Wound Response, but here with no amplification, preparations or distortion, improvising through "tumbling phrases, arpeggios and articulate rhythms", in a compelling album of assertive and joyful playing.

First released in 2012 on the Alt.Vinyl label and now reissued on his own Amgen label, Rhodri Davies performs solo in Newcastle upon Tyne on lap harp and electronics, using two main techniques: over-articulation of the strings (what harpists are taught not to do) and attacking the strings with a plectrum, forcing the tuning into new relationships until the strings eventually break.

Compositions for violas, bass clarinets and flutes performed by Vincent Royer, Jill Valentine, Jason Alder, Chris Cundy, Tim Hodgkinson, Yoni Silver, Lori Freedman, Carla Rees, Karin de Fleyt, Thanos Chrysakis, Katrina Lauder, with compositions from Gerard Grisey, Iancu Dumitrescu, Thanos Chrysakis, Niels Rasmussen, Salvatore Sciarrino, Lori Freedman, and Tim Hodgkinson.

Bob Drake continues to tug on the heart-strings of prog in short but smart songs that reference the best of the last few decades of prog/psych/avant rock forms, Drake as always handling all parts in a great balance of guitar, electronic & acoustic instruments, including some newly invented instruments; includes a fold-out poster in Bob Drake style from Joe Mruk.

UK sax and wind player James Arben and cellist Shirley Smart explore the possibilities of chamber-oriented free improvisation through a series of dialogues of harmonic, rhythmic and timbral tension and resolution, created from bold experimental playing techniques and melodic discourse that draws on influences from jazz to Middle Eastern, folk and contemporary music.

Capturing their 2nd gig together, double bassist Olie Brice and trumpeter Percy Pursglove invited two prominent improvisers who had never played together before — drummer Jeff Williams and tenor saxophonist Paul Dunmall — to join them for a 2020 concert at Cafe Oto in London, presented into two palindromic-ally named and profound improvisations: "Tattarratta" 1 & 2.

The UK ensemble Apartment House commissioned this work from composer & experimenter Jim O'Rourke based on their performance of other O'Rourke works, here interpreting a new graphic score designed like a sonic mobile, creating a minimal yet episodic piece of flexible interpretation as the performers whistle, hum and quietly sing in combination with bowed harmonics.

Working with Liminar, one of the premier new music ensembles in Mexico, German/US composer Michael Winter wrote this dynamic and extended work pursuing a method of enumerating all ways of articulating a 6-note chord with 7 instruments bound by certain constraints, using the computer science concept of "Gray Code" switches to create shifts within the piece's progressions.

An upbeat and energetic performance at the Konfrontation Festival, Ulrichsberg in 2006, featuring six early compositions by Anthony Braxton, arranged by pianist Pat Thomas and performed by the quintet of superb improvisers and interpreters Alex Ward on clarinet, Evan Thomas on electric guitar, Dominic Lash on electric bass, and Darren Hasson-Davis on drums.

A comprehensive album of live performances from IST (Rhodri Davies: harp, preparations; Simon H. Fell: double bass, preparations; Mark Wastell: violoncello, preparations) between 1996 and 2000, beginning with their concert at Club Orange in London and including concerts in London, Billericay, Norwich and Cambridge, with a 20 page booklet of photos and text from the band & collaborators.

A set of lyrical, thoughtful and sometimes whimsical works from the Scottish-based duo of Rob Hall & Chick Lyall (Green Room Trio), who have been developing their musical language since 2003, drawing from a wide range of genres from Baroque chamber music to free jazz and folk idioms, their lack of boundaries lending itself to a uniquely diverse and embraceable music.

Two deep basses come together in this recording of a live performance at O'Culto de Ajuda, Lisboa, Portugal between Red Trio double bassist Hernani Faustino and Ensemble MIA/String Theory double bassist Joao Madeira, mixing bowed and plucked styles along with preparations and extended techniques in a three part suite of powerfully imposing improvisation.

Refined and free ranging improvisation between German reedist Udo Schindler performing on bass clarinet, tenor & sopranino saxophones and also on cornet, and US double bassist Damon Smith, recorded 3 days after the first volume in this series, presenting two sets from the same day of informed and diverse dialogs between two masterful improvisers.

Performing at the Gottfried Duren/arToxin at Galerie ar Toxin in 2019, the trio of Udo Schindler on clarinet, bass clarinet & alto horn, Damon Smith on double bass, and Karina Erhard on C flute & alto flute present a sophisticated set of free improvisations with a chamber improv feeling, using tremendous technique and intent listening through six fascinating dialogs.

A collection of live recordings from Sverdrup Balance, the trio of Lawrence Casserley on signal processing instrument, Yoko Miura on piano & Melodeon, and Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg on voice, recorded during their 2019 autumn tour in U.K., Belgium and North Italy, a skewed but generally optimistic group of ea- and voice improvisers with a wealth of creative inspirations.

Extremely well paired in their unusual approaches to their instruments both acoustic and electronic, this live recording between Udo Schindler on reed & brass instruments and Jaap Blonk improvising with his voice and using computer electronics, results in eight diverting and inspired recording of extreme creative approaches and impressive technical skill.

The other side of Paul Dunmall's characteristic saxophone work is heard here on the alto flute, bringing Dunmall together with fellow flutist Neil Metcalf and the rhythm section of James Owston on bass and Tymek Jozwiak on drums for four exceptional improvisations that focus more on interaction and less on soloing, showcasing all four through sophisticated performance.

After 3 consecutive nights performing in trio & quartet formats at Balete at Kamias, in Quezon City, Philippines, the duo of drummer Sabu Toyozum and alto saxophonist Rick Countryman performed the final set as a duo, their many collaborations evident in the freedom and flexibility each provides to the other, delivering an exemplary example of a free jazz sax & drum duo.

Bass clarinetist Chris Cundy, uses the studio as a performance tool for accompaniment along with pre-recorded tapes, as he contrasts two different composers--Cornelius Cardew & Ton de Leeuw and their compositions titled "Mountains", alongside a Cardew graphic score piece, and 2 work for 5 bass clarinets, from Thanos Chrysakis and John Cage, the latter from his Numbers series.

The 4th album on Another Timbre from a series of pieces by composer Antoine Beuger, each acknowledging a cultural or intellectual figure, here titled for philosopher, musicologist, educator and one-time member of the French Resistance, Vladimir Jankélévitch, represented by Beuger in a large dramatic work performed by the Apartment House sextet.

Three minimal works for small ensemble incorporating electronics by Australian-born, UK-resident composer Newton Armstrong: 2 performed by the London-based Plus-Minus Ensemble directed by Mark Knoop as an acoustic quartet configuration and one as an electroacoustic quartet; and a solo work for multiple cello layers and resonance performed by Séverine Ballon.

Five fascinating works by the Belgian composer Maya Verlaak, realized by Apartment House and soloists Sarah Saviet & Mark Knoop, experimental compositions including a work of personal reflection based on "Alouette"; a conceptual game piece; a composition layering pre-recorded segments of "Greensleaves"; and two interactive acoustic & computer pieces.

Restricted by pandemic, bassist John Edwards took compositions for Remote Viewers written by Dave Petts along with recordings from himself and saxophonists Caroline Kraabel, Sue Lynch, Adrian Northover & David Petts, using digital compositional methods to maintain Petts' concepts while manipulating and inverting each piece in wonderfully riotous and unexpected ways.

The 5th album from the UK collective improvising progressive rock band of reedist Martin Archer, drummer Steve Dinsdale, bassists Lorin Halsall & Terry Todd, percussionist Walt Shaw, keyboardist Andy Peake, violinist Yvonna Magda and string player & vocalist Jad Todd, merging acoustic and electronic instruments in rich and often dreamlike forms that flow with spirited refinement.

As though an elegy for the departed pianist and composer, Keith Tippett does not perform on this work, which was commissioned for the 2004 Norwich and Norfolk Festival, but conducts an ensemble that includes Julie Tippetts on voice, a saxophone octet that includes long-time collaborator Paul Dunmall, and the polyphonic choir of the BBC Singers; an exquisite and stirring work.

The Earshots duo of Daniel Kordik on modular synthesizer and Edward Lucas on trombone reprise their meeting a year earlier with free improvising percussionist and AMM legend Eddie Prévost, drawn by the natural resonance of the All Saints Church in Essex, England, recording these electroacoustic improvisations of astonishing sonic properties and astounding technique.

Part of the Iklectic club's "Meetings With Remarkable Saxophonists" programmed by drummer Eddie Prévost and double bassist Guillaume Viltard, here meeting John Butcher performing on tenor and soprano saxophone for a masterful concert of free improvisations, energetically turning the "Electric", "Light", "On", "Click" through 4 extended and remarkable converstations.

A concert by drummer Eddie PrŽvost, electric guitarist N.O. Moore, and saxophonist Jason Yarde on alto & soprano recorded at the Vortex Jazz Club, in London, Moore deploying effects and Yarde using electronics to create subtexts of sounds, especially on the extended 25 minute "Impossible Meaning" where unusual structures meld with the acoustic free playing.

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.

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.

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.

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.

A 5-part electroacoustic improvisation from the UK duo of electronic and sound artist Thanos Chyrsakis and reedist Chris Cundy, the former using laptop computer, synthesizers, and copicat tape echo to create mesmerizing sheens of sound that circle and complement Cundy's bass clarinet, who also performs on megaphone, voice changer, zither, & objects; entrancing and captivating.

An extended work for 10 improvisers using a composite composition of graphic scores, open notations, and two trio sub-pieces titled "skelf" (electric guitar, double bass and drums) and "antiphon" (violin, viola and double bass), all directed by UK saxophonist Matt London in an ensemble with reeds, winds, brass, strings, electric guitar, and Mark Sanders on drums.