RED trio and Celebration Band:
Suite 10 Years Anniversary [2 CDs] (NoBusiness)

The Red Trio of pianist Rodrigo Pinheiro, bassist Hernâni Faustino and drummer Gabriel Ferrandini mark their 10th anniversary as a trio on this 2-CD set of an outstanding concert in Lisboa, PT, joining forces with the 13-member Celebration Band, whose members include John Butcher, Ernesto Rodrigues, Luis Vicente, Sei Miguel, Rodrigo Amado, Mattias Stahl, Carlos Santana, &c.; ... Click to View

Nate Wooley / Liudas Mockunas / Barry Guy / Arkadijus Gotesmanas:
NOX [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

An exceptional album of demanding collective free improvisation from the transatlantic quartet of Nate Wooley on trumpet, Liudas Mockunas on contrabass clarinet and saxophones, Barry Guy on bass, and Arkadijus Gotesmanas on drums & percussion, recorded in the studio in Vilnius, Lithuania while Wooley and Guy were artists in residence for the 2019 Improdimensions. ... Click to View

Barry Guy :
Irvin's Comet [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

One of London's most significant and prominent free improvising double bassists, from Spontaneous Music Ensemble to London Jazz Composers Orchestra and innumerable projects with some of the globe's finest improvisers, entered the studio in 2019 to record this exceptional and diverse solo album of advanced forms and remarkably creative imagination. ... Click to View

Frank Gratkowski / Achim Kaufmann / Wilbert de Joode / Tony Buck:
Flatbosc & Cautery (NoBusiness)

A superb mix of propulsive free jazz and pensively introspective free improv from the quartet of Frank Gratkowski on alto saxophone, clarinets & flutes, Achim Kaufmann on piano, Wilbert de Joode on bass, and Tony Buck (The Necks) on drums & percussion, recorded in a live concert at Loft, in Koln, Germany in 2018 for six inspired collective improvisations. ... Click to View

Juozas Milasius / Tomas Kutavicius / Dalius Naujokaitis, featuring Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra:
Live At Willisau, 1993 [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

A raucous and passionate concert led by the trio of Juozas Milasius on guitar, Tomas Kutavicius on piano, and Dalius Naujokaitis on drums, with the Lithuanian Young Composers Orchestra assisting on voice, cymbals, clapping, and "trampling", creating moments of adventurous disorder that lead to beautiful moments of heartfelt playing, in what must have been a marvel to experience. ... Click to View

Masayuki Takayanagi JoJo / Nobuyoshi Ino / Masabumi PUU Kikuchi:
Live At Jazz Inn Lovely 1990 (NoBusiness)

A 1990 concert at Jazz Inn Lovely, in Nagoya, Japan in configurations of duos and trios, from free improvising legends Masayuki Takayanagi on guitar, Nobuyoshi Ino on bass, and Masabumi Kikuchi on piano, with a 16 page booklet of photos from private collections and a detailed essay from Kohjiro Tanaka in English & Japanese providing background on the performance. ... Click to View

Alvin Curran / Roberto Laneri / Giancarlo Schiaffini:
Beat 72 Lost Date (Eargong Records)

Sounding current in the modern age of free improvisation, this 1973 recording of a live concert at Teatro Beat 72 in Rome, led by outstanding performers, trumpeter Alvin Curran (MEV), clarinetist Roberto Laneri (Prima Materia) and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini (Gruppo di improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza), stands as a testament to the free improv movement they helped to expand. ... Click to View

Alvin Curran / Roberto Laneri / Giancarlo Schiaffini:
Beat 72 Lost Date [VINYL] (Eargong Records)

Sounding current in the modern age of free improvisation, this 1973 recording of a live concert at Teatro Beat 72 in Rome, led by outstanding performers, trumpeter Alvin Curran (MEV), clarinetist Roberto Laneri (Prima Materia) and trombonist Giancarlo Schiaffini (Gruppo di improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza), stands as a testament to the free improv movement they helped to expand. ... Click to View

Harry Bertoia:
Glowing Sounds [VINYL] (Sombient)

The 3rd release from sound sculptor and experimenter Harry Bertoia's tape archive, and the first to be released with specific instructions from the artist, this album containing three versions of a composition recorded in 1975, each transferred at different tape speeds as specified by Bertoia, creating profoundly different effects of drone and overtone. ... Click to View

Apiary (Daniell / Hess / Mills / Stein):
Apiary Cassette [CASSETTE] (The Tapeworm)

Formed in Chicago in 2009, Apiary brought together David Daniell (guitar), Steven Hess (drums), Joseph Clayton Mills (electronics), and Jason Stein (bass clarinet), interweaving disparate strands of Chicago's improvised music community, seamlessly incorporating their influences-ranging from jazz to minimalism to noise-into a whole that was dense and hypnotic. ... Click to View

Sam Rivers Trio (feat Joe Daley / Dave Holland / Thurman Baker ):
Braids: Archive series Volume 4 (NoBusiness)

The fourth volume in the NoBusiness Records Sam Rivers Archive series is this live recording from Hamburg, Germany during River's 1979 tour of Europe, with the multi-instrumentalist performing on tenor & soprano saxophones, flute & piano in a quartet with Joe Daley on tuba, euphonium, Dave Holland on bass, cello, and Thurman Barker on drums. ... Click to View

Sabu Toyozumi / Mats Gustafsson:
Hokusai (NoBusiness)

A duo between Japanese free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozum and Swedish baritone saxophonist & wind player Mats Gustafsson, also performing on his own fluteophone (a mouthpiece attached to the flute), capturing five live improvisation at their 2018 performance at Jazz Spot Candy, in Chiba, Japan for an extremely inventive set of potent playing. ... Click to View

Sabu Toyozumi / Mats Gustafsson:
Hokusai [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

A duo between Japanese free improvising drummer Sabu Toyozum and Swedish baritone saxophonist & wind player Mats Gustafsson, also performing on his own fluteophone (a mouthpiece attached to the flute), capturing five live improvisation at their 2018 performance at Jazz Spot Candy, in Chiba, Japan for an extremely inventive set of potent playing. ... Click to View

Pat Thomas & Matana Roberts:
The Truth [VINYL] (Otoroku)

A first-time encounter between saxophonist Matana Roberts and pianist Pat Thomas, performing live at London's Cafe OTO in 2018, with three short works opening the album as the duo develop their language, the 2nd side presenting an extended improvisation where both players go deeper into their dialog, each showing determination and great self-discipline. ... Click to View

Hernani Faustino / Joao Madeira:
dB Duet (FMR)

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. ... Click to View

Udo Schindler / Ove Volquartz:
Tales About Exploding Tress And Other Absurdites (FMR)

A convergence of reeds across the range of clarinets, from double bass clarinet to piccolo clarinet, in this live recording at Udo Schindler's 88th SALON fur Klang+Kunst in Krailling/Munich between reedists Schindler and Ove Volquartz, with particular emphasis on the deepest of reeds, the most challenging of clarinets, handled masterfully by both players. ... Click to View

Various Artists curated by Nick Vander:
Walk My Way, Volume One (Orbit577)

The first of a five-volume compilation series curated by Nick Vander, a testament to the incredible musical range of the guitar and the imaginative possibility of guitarists around the world, with tracks from L. Hein, Davaajargal Tsaschikher, Alan Courtis, Marco Cappelli, Elliott Sharp, Hery Ujjaya, Killick Hinds, Gilbert Isbin, and Nick Vander. ... Click to View

Marina Rosenfeld :
Deathstar [VINYL 2 LPs] (Shelter Press)

Each side of these 2 LPs is take from one of four installations by Marina Rosendfeld in Frankfurt, Donaueschingen, and NYC, presenting the installation Deathstar; a piano performance within the Deathstar; a re-notation in the form of a concerto for piano and chamber orchestra; and the orchestration's reduction to something like chamber music. ... Click to View

Chris Abrahams:
Thrown (15th Anniversary Edition) (Room40)

Reissuing The Necks' pianist Chris Abrahams' 2004 solo album, a unique set of recordings that reflects both on his improvisational life and his explorative nature, recorded using a Positive Organ, Forte Piano, DX 7 and an acoustic piano, each piece evoking distinct sonic environments and approaches to playing and compositions that makes sense in the overall presentation. ... Click to View

Don Cherry Trio:
Live In Paris, March 1979 [VINYL] (Alternative Fox)

An LP reissue of a 2018 Hi Hat CD, presenting an extremely well-recorded radio studio live recording from Paris in March, 1969 from the Don Cherry Trio with Cherry on cornet, piano, bamboo flute & gong, Jacques Thollot on drums, bells & timbales, and Karl Berger on vibraphone, marimba, piano & percussion, in a passionate and energetic set of extended improvisations. ... Click to View

Cecil Taylor Mixed To Unit:
Structures Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Bringing together two essential and impeccably remastered 1960's Cecil Taylor albums — Cecil Taylor Unit Structures and Cecil Taylor Unit Mixed — presenting both traditional influences and Taylor's unique approaches to modern jazz, featuring two septets with musicians including Jimmy Lyons, Henry Grimes, Archies Shepp, Ted Curson, Andrew Cyrille, Roswell Rudd, Sunny Murray, &c.; ... Click to View

Archie Shepp:
Blase And Yasmina Revisited (ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)

Revisiting two of Archie Shepp's 1969 recordings released on the BYG label as Blasé, and title track to Yasmina, three tracks featuring the vocals of Jeanne Lee, with four band configurations including Dave Burrell, Malachi Favors, Lester Bowie, Roscoe Mitchell, Sunny Murray, Philly Joe Jones, &c.;, beautifully remastered to bring to light Shepp's pan-stylistic impulses. ... Click to View

Futari (Satoko Fujii / Taiko Saito):
Beyond (Libra)

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. ... Click to View

Derek Bailey / Mototeru Takagi:
Live At Farout, Atsugi 1987 (NoBusiness)

Japanese free improvisation legend, soprano saxophonist Mototeru Takagi (高木元輝), having been a one-time member of Masayuki Takayangi's New Direction Unit, shows his affinity to guitarists in this 1987 live performance at FarOut, in Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan with UK free improvising guitar legend Derek Bailey, presenting four contemplative & intricate avant improvisations. ... Click to View

Derek Bailey / Mototeru Takagi:
Live At Farout, Atsugi 1987 [VINYL] (NoBusiness)

Japanese free improvisation legend, soprano saxophonist Mototeru Takagi (高木元輝), having been a one-time member of Masayuki Takayangi's New Direction Unit, shows his affinity to guitarists in this 1987 live performance at FarOut, in Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan with UK free improvising guitar legend Derek Bailey, presenting four contemplative & intricate avant improvisations. ... Click to View

Kassel Jaeger:
Meith [VINYL] (Black Truffle)

Kassel Jaeger, aka François J. Bonnet, a leading figure in electroacoustic and electronic music, presents an extended work of rich and warm layers, slowly unfolding and shifting as both detailed and clouded events emerge and disappear, the consistency and pacing of the work an impressive testament to his compositional control and inspiration. ... Click to View

Joelle Leandre / Pascal Contet:
Area Sismica (We Insist! Records)

A live concert at Area Sismica, Forlì, in 2019 between two masterful French improvisers--double bassist Joëlle Léandre and accordionist Pascal Contet-- each pushing each other in both melodic and abstract improvisations with occasional vocal asides, as they engage their listeners through surprising twists and turns while exploring the farthest reaches of their instruments. ... Click to View

Rob Hall / Chick Lyall:
Upward Fall (FMR)

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. ... Click to View

Mopcut (Konig / Desprez / Chen):
Accelerated Frames Of Reference (Trost Records)

An album of extreme electronic improvisation using heavy underpinning of rhythm, voice and electronics, from a trio of Viennese, French, and Chinese/American performers--Lukas Konig on drums, synthesizer & voice, Julien Desprez on guitar, and Audrey Chen on voice & electronics--blurring the lines of sonic art, rock, and inexplicable ritualistic sound. ... Click to View

Don Cherry:
Relativity Suite [VINYL] (KLIMT)

2020 reissue of trumpeter Don Cherry's '73 album recorded with & commissioned by the Jazz Composer's Orchestra, with Carla Bley on piano, Charlie Haden on bass, and Ed Blackwell on drums, in compositions blending Eastern and Indian music with Western jazz. ... Click to View