Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

*Limited Edition of 100. Pink Vinyl!* Super groups are not a riskless endeavor—but when they’re made up of longtime friends and master improvisers, they tend to work. On their collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, up-and-coming American saxophonist John Dikeman (When The Time Is Right, 577 Records, 2021) is accompanied by a group of UK-based music masters: pianist Pat Thomas, a 577 Records mainstay (Shifa Live at Cafe Oto 2019, BleySchool 2019, Shifa Live in Oslo 2020, Educated Guess 2021), bas…

Can music liberate us? Francisco Mela, who worked and partnered with the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner, believes so. On this album, the second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, Mela collaborates with pianist Cooper-Moore and bassist William Parker to build a 2-part extended track project of advanced dialogue between 3 of the genre's most important instruments. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, and perhaps best-known for playing in John Coltrane’s quartet, which revoluti…

Temporary super offer!  Pharoah Sanders, live at the Antibes Jazz Festival in Juan-les-Pins on July 21, 1968. Experimental jazz titan Pharoah Sanders made a lasting impact with his unorthodox approach to tenor saxophone. Born Farrell Sanders in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1940, he was given the nickname Pharoah by grandmother, in reference to the potential regal lineage of his African heritage. Playing clarinet at church services during his youth, he began playing tenor sax at high school. In 1959 …

'A Black Mass' is an ultra rare recording of a play by Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones), featuring Sun Ra & the Myth-Science Arkestra. Originally released by Jihad Productions on vinyl 1968. It has only been briefly available on CD previously and has been lovingly re-mastered. Baraka was an African-American writer of poetry, drama, fiction, essays and music criticism. He was the author of numerous books of poetry and taught at a number of universities, including the State University of New York at Buf…

In 1971, in Denmark, at the end of a tour, Sun Ra suddenly decided to take his whole band to Egypt. They had no concerts and no contacts there, but Ra sold some recording rights to Black Lion to pay for the tickets and they flew out. They were stopped at customs and their instruments were temporarily impounded, but they were let through as tourists. Then they booked into a hotel facing the pyramid at Giza. Word got to Hartmut Geerken, then working at the Goethe institute, and he quickly threw a …

This is an overlooked gem drawn from the 1971 Balloon Theater (Cairo) show, with the title track recorded at the home of the esteemed Mr. Hartmut Geerken. The Balloon Theater material is, in contrast to many of the more raucous live albums of this period, deep, dark, and intimate-sounding...even meditative. Discipline 11 and Discipline 15 both feature slow, haunting ensemble horns and reeds playing those wild intervals that saxophonist John Gilmore always cited as a reason he made the Arkestra h…

"Cosmos" is a hard-to-find, alternately chaotic and tightly organized mid-'70s session that was issued on the Cobra, and then Inner City labels. Sun Ra provided some stunning moments on the Rocksichord, while leading The Arkestra through stomping full-band cuts of atmospheric or alternately hard bop compositions, peeling off various saxophonists for skittering, screaming, at times spacey dialogues. (AMG)

Universe in Blue is a rarity. After-hours music, showcasing Sun Ra's twisted take on the Blues, these live recordings from 1972 provide an intriguing glimpse of the Arkestra’s repertoire and virtuosity at the close of their first decade playing in New York, and brought him to the greater attention of the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship. Ra and his band performed at the famed East Village Slug's almost every Monday night for several years through the late…

Perhaps there is no need to introduce this legendary recording, but few people realized that this year it will be 50 years (!) since the band secretly set foot in Hrad Houska and started recording there in the winter of 1974. And Sváťa Karásek shined a light on them.

7 years since its release; the iconic debut from Godtet gets a repress. The self-titled LP marked the inception of La Sape Records along with the genesis of Godtet. Stitched together more like a beat tape. 12 movements recorded live with no overdubs; "This record came about with no preconceived ideas of what we were making or what it would sound like". A crystallisation of Godtet which aided to form the sound of La Sape. Traversing across spiritual jazz, dub and experimental gestures. It caught …

Black Truffle is pleased to announce The Leisure Principle, a new solo LP from London-based bassist and sound artist Otto Willberg. A key player in the London underground, Willberg is often heard on acoustic and electric bass in free improv settings and bands with Laurie Tompkins (Yes Indeed) and Charles Hayward (Abstract Concrete), as well as the fractured No Wave unit Historically Fucked. His previous solo releases have ranged from extended technique double bass to explorations of the acoustic…

‘Harlesden Sessions’ is a collection of duo recordings between versatile saxophonist David Bitelli and gifted drummer Ollie Usiskin, whose imaginative improvisations take us on a journey through post-bop, jazz-funk and free jazz landscapes. The two North West London natives would meet up on occasional Thursdays to play improvised sax and drums duo sessions. As their understanding grew, they decided to start recording them and ‘Harlesden Sessions’ presents the best of these concise improvised exc…

*300 copies limited edition* The first duo recording between towering free jazz saxophonist Paul Dunmall and the highly creative saxophonist Kevin Figes, sees them perform ten improvised pieces using an assortment of instruments, including various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. With no pre-composed themes or motifs, what you hear are two master musicians in the moment of creativity. The wholly improvised conversations seem to encompass and distil the history of jazz, moving between free and c…

*300 copies limited edition* 'Happy Apples’ presents a collection of improvised duo exchanges between legendary free jazz vocalist Julie Tippetts, whose spell-binding vocals intermingle perfectly with saxophonist Kevin Figes’ atmospheric playing. Both musicians supplement the recording with an array of percussive devices, including the quirky tinkling 1970s toy that lends the album its name. The epic opening track “The Third Harmony” sets the mood for the recording as Tippetts displays a dazzlin…

Nine previously unreleased tracks from the golden era of British jazz. Featuring the cream of players and composers from the period. Stereophonic sound.All tracks original source - public domain. These restorations and remasters by British Progressive Jazz © 2024

Dig right now into the Wamono sound - the cream of the Japanese jazz, funk, soul, rare groove and disco music developed throughout the years since the end of the sixties in Japan!

Temporary Super Offer! Reaching a near-mythical status amongst fans of free jazz's most worldly intrepid explorer, these seldom heard Paris soundtrack sessions known as Music, Wisdom, Love have evaded collectors' grasps and confused historians for exactly 50 years. Instigated in Paris in 1967 and filmed during Don Cherry's downtime on a visit to the Chat qui Pêche nightclub in March 1967, where he played with Karl Berger, Henri Texier, and Jacques Thollot, the bulk of this cinematic portrait was…

Seven years of effervescent activity: few free jazz groups can be proud of such longevity, especially with a line-up as stable as that of Perception. Yes, there would be several guest musicians, including Kent Carter and Jean-Charles Capon, on the second album... Yes the "existential problems" of Siegfried Kessler would necessitate him being temporarily replaced by Manuel Villaroel... But for the most part, it was the core quartet of the first album which would tour Europe, through concerts from…

Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Workshop De Lyon's La Chasse De Shirah Sharibad, originally released in 1975. In France, in the years 1960-1970, musicians pondered over how to transpose the political struggle of free jazz onto a completely different political terrain. One of the first to do so was pianist François Tusques (agitator, theorist and militant) who recorded 1965's Free Jazz (CACK 020LP), and then continued with Le Nouveau Jazz (1967), French equivalents to th…

** First ever standalone vinyl reissue. Carefully remastered. 4 page booklet with rare and unpublished photos. Heavyweight 180 gr. LP ** In May 1972, the wave of anger and the thirst for freedom that had swept the world in 1968 arrived in Madagascar. The Malagasy youth took the opportunity to exile in search of a brighter future. Several of them, all jazz musicians and often polyintrumentalists, came to Paris with their afro hair and bellbottoms. Their names were Sylvin Marc, his cousin Ange "Zi…

Deluxe edition, Comes with obi strip with 12 pages booklet. Limited edition of 700 copies. Souffle Continu Records present the first ever reissue of Dharma Quintet's Mr Robinson, originally released in 1970. In an interview with Jazz Magazine in the early 1970s, Dharma, as a collective voice, outlined their method: "we try to reach, within free jazz, the same sort of rhythmic cohesion as in bop, a cohesion based not exactly on tempo, but something which feels like tempo. A kind of underlying pul…

Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) is the powerful new work by composer & alto saxophonist Darius Jones. Both of his tremendous artistic strengths are to the fore here in a fully committed trio communion with longtime collaborator Gerald Cleaver (drums) & Chris Lightcap (bass). Five potent new Jones compositions, and a striking arrangement of “No More My Lord” (a prison song rec. by Alan Lomax at Parchman Farm). Legend of e’Boi is the 7th chapter (of 9 on completion) in Jones’ expansive Man…

The trio of Scandinavian rhythm section Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) and Johan Berthling (double bass) hooking up with Japanese free jazz legend Akira Sakata (saxophone/clarinet) started in 2013 at the Molde Jazz Festival in Norway. The trio took their name from the legendary 1977 collaborative album by Yosuke Yamashita Trio and dance group Dairakudakan – an album that Sakata was a central part of, that even 40 years later stand solid as a radical and bold musical statement. And this piece of histo…

Foster, Wick and Bennett each subvert the traditional expectations of their instruments in favor of a timbrally rich palette of unconventional sounds. The interplay on these improvisations is sympathetic; they communicate fluently in their own collective language.

Composer/Performer Zeena Parkins announces the release of two multi-part compositions, inspired by discoveries she made combing through the Walter Benjamin archives in Berlin. “Past Turned Space” features virtuoso players William Winant/percussion and Brett Carson/keyboards navigating a set of vignettes, flickering in response to Benjamin’s intimate descriptions of childhood memories. “Dam Against the Spring Tide” is graced with an all-star band of composer/performers, including: Zeena Parkins/a…

Horizons Held Close is the first unadorned Trance Map release featuring only Evan Parker and Matthew Wright since their 2011 debut. The sounds are strange but utterly compelling. Parker's soprano snakes its way through Wright's turntables, software, and processing/sampling.

Living on different continents, the possibilities of linking up were few and far between but we did keep in touch and perform when the occasion presented itself. The software SonoBus solved the problem of distance and we recorded, Mark on the edge of a desert in San Diego and me in the middle of three Australian deserts at Alice Springs. A selection from these sessions you hear on this CD.The duos were recorded direct to stereo live.On the last track you will hear our most recent guest Vladimir …

Camila Nebbia and Angelica Sanchez form a remarkable duo with an immediate affinity that is truly striking. Sanchez's austere lyricism beautifully complements Nebbia's highly expressive language, resulting in duets that showcase their creative and profoundly interactive nature.

This foursome is resolute in its acceptance of communal responsibility and creation. Vocalist Kyoko Kitamura sings and speaks in wordless flurries, matching and Taylor Ho Bynum’s brassy exhortations on cornet. Cellist Tomeka Reid and guitarist Joe Morris worry and pluck their respective strings, applying speed and torque in the loosing of spidery cascades of crinkled and crenelated tones. Pitch and timbre differentials are a big part of the interplay with instruments juxtaposed in bursts of acti…

Using 'everyday' objects to prepare the instrument in a simple way structures this  "Prose Métallique", in which each piece offers a poetic approach to language and textual references. Recorded in one day, these close-miked solo pieces for alto saxophone explore the area where voice and instrument converge.

Federico Ughi Together with Leo Genovese and Brandon Lopez Explores the Spaceways in the New Multidimensional CD ‘Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1’

SSWAN presents their first outing "Invisibility is an unnatural disaster" a raucous jaunt of free jazz on the premiere fire music label 577 Records. The music is rooted in the Black American art form of jazz, stemming into the branches of free improvisation, noise and experimentalism while pushing to the edges of each idiom. The idiosyncratic playing of guitarist Jessica Ackerley starts off the album's title track and jumps headfirst into a Hendrix-tinged duo with drummer Jason Nazary. Patrick S…

In January of 2016, Jaimie Branch launched a monthly free jazz series with a new ensemble at Brooklyn’s now debunked Manhattan Inn. Sharing the first night of her series with a trio on tour from Chicago (Nick Mazzarella, Anton Hatwich and Frank Rosaly), the trumpeter Branch assembled a quartet to match: cellist Tomeka Reid, bassist Jason Ajemian, and drummer Chad Taylor. Between visitors and expats, it was a night of performers exclusively from The Windy City. “I wanted New York to hear what Chi…

Previously unreleased recording from the legendary multi- instrumentalist Roland Kirk, cut direct from tape and issued as a 200g premium pressing with Gearbox’s famous production values. Kirk’s influence and following reaches far beyond Jazz. Hendrix idolized him and it’s easy to see why. His appetite for ripping up the rulebook has brought kudos and admirers from all sides, giving him a status and respect that ensures an unearthed, never before released recording such as this added importance.

A superb collaboration between Sonny Sharrock and Peter Brotzman. Recorded live at the 'Elbo Room', Chicago, IL on 12/2/89. Limited edition of 1000 numbered copies, pressed on 180 gram vinyl.

Dredd Foole, vocals, Paul Flaherty, horns, Steve Baczkowski, horns, Chris Corsano, drums, Bill Nace, electric guitar. 

Sven-Ake Johansson (percussion, and crackle box on one track) and Christine Shenaoui (saxophone) recorded in Berlin 2009.

The Norwegian jazz scene is like the hat of a magician: when you think nothing more can get out from its mysterious hole, there’s something else emerging to amaze us. Snik is such a case. The compositions are from two of the members of this quartet, trombonist Kristoffer Kompen and double bassist Ole Morten Vagan. Vagan is one of the most respected names of the Scandinavian jazz, with his membership of Joshua Redman Trio and his quintet Motif, writing scores for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra or p…

** Holy-grail spiritual jazz, available again as an LP for the first time. Another key document of the Los Angeles radical jazz underground** Outernational Sounds proudly presents a Nimbus West spirit jazz essential: the Creative Arts Ensemble’s classic debut One Step Out. Mastered at 45rpm on double vinyl for enhanced sound, this release features all tracks at full length for the first time on wax.One of the most sought after and highly regarded titles to have appeared on Tom Albach’s celebrate…

January 2nd, 2023. Aside from being the second of a new year, it was a pretty ordinary night at ETA in Los Angeles, where guitarist Jeff Parker - alongside his ETA IVtet with saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose - had been holding down a regular Monday gig since 2016. At the time, nobody knew it was the first gig of the last year that ETA would be open for business. Over seven years of holding down that residency, Parker’s ETA ensemble evolved from a band th…