Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Private recordings of incredible historical importance (practically the holy grail to fans of free improvisation), Pieces for Guitar presents the earliest known solo recordings of guitar innovator Derek Bailey. Dating from 1966 (possibly 1965) these …

The first solo recording in over thirty years by the brilliant composer/performer Wadada Leo Smith. Born in Leland, Mississippi, Leo was a founding member of the AACM in Chicago, and has been performing his music all over the world since the mid-1960…

Tzadik is proud to release a new recording by Steve Lacy, MacArthur Fellow and for 40 years the undisputed master of the soprano saxophone. Recorded at his home in Paris from February to April 1998, Sands is Steve Lacy's most personal and remarkable …

Dynamic and astonishing music from two of the world’s greatest musical pioneers, this is another special project from multi-instrumentalist/composer/improviser Fred Frith who has been bravely crossing musical borders since the early 1970’s. These rem…

A longtime dream project of Wadada Leo Smith, one of creative music’s most original voices, Tzadik is proud to present the first recording by a modern jazz supergroup. The four instrumental giants that comprise the Golden Quartet are veterans of some…

All compositions by Jean-Luc Cappozzo, Didier Lasserre. Recorded live at la Maison Peinte, Labarthe-sur-Lèze, December 19th, 2014. Jean-Luc Cappozzo was born in Belfort, France, in 1954. He started playing the trumpet in the local orchestra of his na…

WBCN-FM broadcast from the Jazz Workshop, Boston, September 4th, 1973. Bass – David Williams, Congas – Ray Armando, Drums – Keith Kilgo, Guitar – Bernard Perry, Piano – Kevin Toney, Saxophone, Flute – Alan Barnes, Trumpet – Donald Byrd. Byrd attended…

A rhythm-driven, analog-leaning record built from hypnotic basslines, warm synth textures, and layered percussion, "Simulacra" is the debut LP from Venetian bassist and producer Eric Demuro, a fully realized studio statement that brings his compositi…

A historical masterpiece recorded on 23 May 1969 at the Tokyo Studio Centre by the "Togashi Masahiko Quartet", consisting of Masahiko Togashi (drums), Motoki Takagi (saxophone), Masayuki Takayanagi (guitar) and Motoharu Yoshizawa (bass). Recorded at …

On Ola Tunji, Ola Tunji channel a luminous strain of spiritual and free jazz: collective meditations where Ornella Noulet’s fierce, tender saxophone rides a young quintet’s searching interplay toward something like secular devotion.

Smalltown Superjazzz is very proud to present two new albums by The Thing. And this time it is The Thing with guitars! And none others than two of the best guitar players in the improv world today; Otomo Yoshihide and Jim O`Rourke. Both albums are re…

The latest chapter in the unfolding musical story of Bill Wells finds the Scottish jazz outsider’s compositions played by a trio of tuba players with contributions from young brass players from his adopted hometown of Glasgow.  The results, The Viadu…

A 2 CD issue of the 2013 LP with 78 additional minutes, from the two day residency at UK's Cafe Oto of Decoy with special guest Joe McPhee on pocket trumpet and alto sax.

CD version. Recording of the stunning first set performed by the trio of Peter Brötzmann, Steve Noble and John Edwards at Cafe OTO in January 2010 during Brotzmann's first residency at the venue. This was also the first time the trio had played toget…

First physical solo release from legendary vocal improvisor, dancer, and performer Maggie Nicols, and the follow up to Creative Contradiction (Takuroku 2020). While she might be best known as an improviser (most notably in Spontaneous Music Ensemble,…

Two totally infectious sets from Decoy -- the trio of John Edwards, Steve Noble, and Alexander Hawkins -- reunited with pocket trumpet and saxophone player Joe McPhee on the closing night of his four day residency at Cafe OTO. In the eight years betw…

Otoroku is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of "Blue Notes for Johnny" - a defining statement by one of the greatest ensembles in the history of jazz. Recorded in mid-1987 by Blue Notes - then reduced to the trio of Dudu Pukwana on alto sax, …

Otoroku is proud to present the first vinyl reissue of "Blue Notes for Mongezi", one of the most passionate celebrations of a life in music ever laid to tape. Recorded in late 1975 by Blue Notes, then reduced to a quartet - Dudu Pukwana on  alto sax,…

III (pronounced /el/) is Daichi Yoshikawa, Paul Abbott and Seymour Wright. This recording includes two bare 20-minute excerpts from separate performances at Café OTO. Daichi Yoshikawa (feedback); Paul Abbott (drums); Seymour Wright (alto saxophone). …

Tip! LP reissue of Collective Calls, the first duo LP from Evan Parker and percussionist Paul Lytton. Mythically alluded to as ‘An Improvised Urban Psychodrama In Eight Parts”, Collective Calls utilises electronics, pre-records and homemade instrumen…

Originally recorded and released in 1980, "Six of One" beautifully captures the detail in Evan Parker's high frequency split tones for which he is now perhaps better known. Five years on from "Saxophone Solos" and with circular breathing and polyphon…

In Cosmic Music, Andy Beta traces Alice Coltrane’s journey from Detroit church pews to avant‑garde bandstands and ashram altars, revealing a visionary composer, bandleader and spiritual teacher whose work radically reshaped the possibilities of Black…

Altercat proudly presents the definitive reissue of one of the crown jewels of South American jazz. Essentially the brainchild of Argentinian jazz’s leading figure Jorge López Ruiz, the project Viejas Raíces marked Lopez Ruiz’s departure from the tra…

John Zorn and Bill Laswell are two of the Downtown scene’s most consistently intrepid musical explorers, and PainKiller, formed in 1991 is their longest running project together. “The Prophecy,” the first official PainKiller release in over ten years…

Big Tip!  180 gram Vinyl Edition. Gatefold Cover. One of the last records made by avant sax legend Albert Ayler – a really mind-expanding album that's unlike anything else he ever did! By the time of the record, Ayler had made a full round trip betwe…

A truly sensational find, Atlantis Lullaby presents a never-before-heard performance recorded in Avignon, France. Featuring Yusef Lateef in a quartet set with fellow stars Kenny Barron, Bob Cunningham and Albert “Tootie” Heath. Among the highlights a…

Deluxe limited-edition, 180-gram 2-LP set. Gatefold Cover. Transferred from the original reels at the French INA. Includes an extensive booklet with rare photos from the actual performance by Christian Rose, and an exclusive essay by longtime jazz cr…

Biggest Tip! 180 gram Vinyl Edition. Recorded in 1966 and released by Blue Note Records in August of 1967, Don Cherry's Symphony for Improvisers features Gato Barbieri, Henry Grimes, and Ed Blackwell, all of whom had appeared on Cherry's previous alb…

One of Brazilian music's most overlooked treasures returns to vinyl with the reissue of Osmar Milito's Nem Paletó, Nem Gravata, originally released in 1973 on the ATCO/Continental label. The album stands as a definitive document of Brazil's golden er…

Featuring Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Jaki Byard, and Richard Davis. This incredible line-up strengthens 'Rip, Rig and Panic' as another indispensable Roland Kirk album.

Eero Koivistoinen Quartet's rare live album from 1978 reissued for the first time in nearly half a century via Svart Records.

** Edition of 250 copies, remastered from the original master tapes ** This album is a historical document in several respects: echo of a creative season in its early, vigorous blossoming, it presents groundbreaking music as it was performed and list…

** Edition of 250 copies, remastered from the original master tapes ** Recorded live in concert. Rome, Italy December 12-13, 1977 by Nicola Bernardini and at Teatro Comunale, Pistoia, Italy December 14, 1977 by Carla Lugli. "It was a magic evening. N…

** Edition of 250 copies, remastered from the original master tapes ** Real Time is an extraordinary example of interaction between musicians coming from different worlds of new music. I had the chance to perform with those two great musicians on oth…

It’s not often that Aerophonic Records has put out recordings by bands that are first-time groupings. There are a few notable ones, including AR024 and 026 – Of Things Beyond Thule Volume 1 and 2 featuring Joe McPhee, Tomeka Reid, Brandon Lopez, and …

"I started Blink in the summer of 2024, aiming to create a band sound where collective improvisations and responses take precedence over individual solos. The compositions are inspired by group behavioral patterns such as insect swarms and bird flock…

Driff Records proudly announces the release of PorchBone, the latest project from Dutch saxophonist and composer Jorrit Dijkstra, leading an adventurous ensemble that brings new colors and textures to contemporary improvised music.  On PorchBone, Dij…

As students in the late 1980s, Julia Werntz and Pandelis Karayorgis both enrolled in Joe Maneri’s Microtonal Composition and Performance class at the New England Conservatory, beginning a formative period of mentorship and collaborations with musicia…

“Composition 429” is the first piece using a new writing method that Braxton calls “Lorraine.” The composer’s notes to the piece describe Lorraine as “a music system that governs the ‘sonic winds’ of breath.” Saxophonist and longtime collaborator Jam…

150 hand numbered copies. Kick-ass free music recorded in the glorious year of 1966 in Copenhagen. From Finn Von Eyben a leading exponent of the fertile Danish free jazz movement of the 1960s, comes these never-before-released live and studio recordi…