Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

*2022 stock. In process of stocking. 200 limited edition* Recorded during a month-long residency at Brooklyn art space Pioneer Works in late 2020, Cymerman’s fifth solo album is his most accessible work to date. While past releases have included extensive edits, overdubs, and effects processing to push his clarinet into the realm of abstraction, nearly each piece on Citadels & Sanctuaries was captured in a single take. “This album was recorded when playing lines and melodies were feeling really …

NYC-based electroacoustic improvisation trio Bloodmist presents Arc, their third full length album.

Double CD Edition. Recorded at Ronnie Scott's, London, on either the 17th or 18th October 1972. Double CD in digipak with 24 page booklet containing previously unseen images and an extensive essay researched and written by Simon Spillett. From the Ron Mathewson tape archive. This previously unissued live recording features one of the final appearances by the ‘classic’ Tubby Hayes Quartet featuring pianist Mick Pyne, bassist Ron Mathewson (who made the original recording) and drummer Tony Levin, …

Craftman presents a live concert by New Direction. The album includes 2 tracks performed by Masayuki Takayanagi - Guitar, and Kaoru Abe - Alto Saxophone. The first album track: Thursday / Gradually Projection, was recorded on June 18, 1970 at Tokyo. The second one: Jha / Mass Projection was recorded on May or June, 1970 at Tokyo. Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. Was one of the earliest no…

Were We Where We Were is a recording of set of compositions by Michael Formanek, and performed here by him, saxophonist and clarinetist Chet Doxas, and drummer Vinnie Sperrazza, collectively as the Michael Formanek Drome Trio. These pieces were loosely grouped together as Palindrome Series 1 and Palindrome Series 2, from 2020. They started out as a series graphic scores that were then reinterpreted as conventionally notated music for this trio. The Drome trio learned the music and rehearsed outs…

TIp! *Tone Poet serie. Highly recommended audiophiles new master* An album as representative as ever of the most avant-garde wing within that extraordinary laboratory called Blue Note: the reinventor of the vibraphone Bobby Hutcherson here (this is 1966) joins Joe Henderson on tenor sax, McCoy Tyner on piano, Herbie Lewis on double bass and Billy Higgins on drums to record a memorable album, including original compositions and a danceable 'Una muy bonita', a well-known Tex-Mex flavour track by O…

Now! by Masaru Imada was the second album released by the fledgling Three Blind Mice label and the pianist's first leader album for the label. All four tunes are Imada's original compositions. The two slow numbers – "Nostalgia" and "The Shadow of the Castle" show his lyrical, "quiet but emotional," qualities. "Alter" is an adventurous tune whose focus is on free improvisation while "Gehi Dorian" is a modal composition as the title suggests.

** In process of stocking ** Craftman records presents One For Duke by Masaru Imada Trio. Recorded May 27, 1975. Art Direction – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Isoo Fukui, Drums – Tetsujiro Obara, Engineer – Yoshihiko Kannari, Piano – Masaru Imada, Producer – Takeshi Fujii.

Japanese free jazz pioneer and trumpeter Itaru Oki, who passed away in August 2020, was active mainly in Europe. He was one the key players in the development of a distinctively Japanese take on free jazz in the Tokyo scene of the late 1960s and early 70s, leading his own power trio and collaborating with other formative names like percussionist Masahiko Togashi and bassist Keiki Midorikawa. His last recording (recorded live on October 7, 2018) was a 75-minute improvisation with legendary Masahi…

A collection of improvised duets with guitarist Jim O’Rourke and reedist Mats Gustafsson. All of the material has been newly remastered for release on 2xLP & digital and marks the first ever vinyl pressing with previously unreleased tracks. Tracks A1, B3 (excerpt), C1, C2 and D3 (excerpt) were in parts or in its complete form released on legendary Incus label (1999) with a different mix and master. The duo recorded the improvised duets at Chicago’s Acme Studios during 1999, with Gustafsson on te…

Over the last half-decade Saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis has emerged as one of the most exciting figures in jazz and improvised music, a voracious listener who rejects stylistic hierarchies and one that has feverishly explored new ideas and embraced fresh motivations with every new project. Inspired by molecular biology, he develops a special system for a surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aruán Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. He has ta…

A previously unissued 1972 concert by the original version of Iskra 1903 - Paul Rutherford (trombone), Derek Bailey (guitar) and Barry Guy (double bass) - extraordinary performances, plus 2 short extracts from another concert. "Iskra 1903 was one of my favourite groups. I cannot remember hearing a performance that I did not enjoy, although inevitably some were better than others. The previously unissued concert on this CD was arguably one of their best.I first heard this recording about ten year…

Outside of Peter Brotzmann and Derek Bailey, I am not certain there are many players, European or otherwise, that maintain such sustained reverence from their peers as Paul Rutherford. And deservedly so, since I know of very few musicians as uncompromising as the British trombonist.While the trombone has languished in mediocrity over the past three decades, with the exception of a select number, on American shores, the European improvisers who call the trombone their home have continued its forw…

Fundacja Sluchaj! presents a new recording by Gerard Lebik (tenor sax), John Edwards (doubke bass) and Paul Lovens (Drums), performed live on 23 of April 2015 at Lublin Jazz Festival "They are sameïliar which means each one resembles the one before as well as the consecutive one as if they were the same. Perhaps they were all the same in a utopian past, or there was even only one of them – which must have been, then, identical. The sameïliarity they show holds that the same is always different. …

Recorded by Maxim Khaikin at Dom Cultural Center, Moscow, on November 6th 2017

First time ever on CD, never before published Cecil Taylor Quintet feat. Harri Sjostrom - sax, Tristan Honsinger - cello, Teppo Hauta-aho - bass, and Paul Lovens - drums. The legendary band recorded live at Tampere Jazz Happening 1998. Recorded October 30.1998 at Tampere Jazz Happening by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE at Tampere Jazz Happening. Originally produced for YLE by Veli- Pekka Heinonen. Final mix by Patrick Römer and Harri Sjöström + Paul Lovens. Mastering by Patrick Römer of Un…

An all-round musician, Cristiano Calcagnile defines his trio with these words: "Anchored low and hanging high, the trio vibrates in the belly like a single string". A trio with double bass and drums that takes into account the more modern sonorities of this classic formation but at the same time insinuates and welcomes sounds and attitudes that come from the freest experiences in the history of improvised music. Giorgio Pacorig pianoGabriele Evangelista double bassCristiano Calcagnile drums, per…

Tip! "It is my great pleasure to introduce you to the second volume of the "Japanese Jazz Spectacle" series. Following the first compilation which focused on recordings from the Nippon Columbia catalog, this time we are digging into the King Records archives. It is almost impossible to capture the whole picture of Wa-Jazz in a couple of compilation albums since it is such a broad and deep genre, however, by extracting tracks from the Nippon Columbia and King Records collections - both labels hav…

"Hey, there's this new guy around that plays like Herbie Hancock!!". When Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro arrived in Argentina fleeing Pinochet's dictatorship, word spread like wildfire in the local jazz scene. In the two short years that Pizarro spent in Buenos Aires, he became one third of the Viejas Raíces project alongside local jazz heroes Jorge López Ruiz and Pocho Lapouble, recorded with famed Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and released his own solo album, Pelo de Rata ("Rat's hair"). Pizar…

Limited Edition Gatefold Double Vinyl (includes two artprints of Sun Ra and Marshall Allen by Damon Locks, on special gilded 300 gr paper by Black Monument Ensemble’s Damon Locks, 180 gr 2LP in black, obi strip, special cut vinyl sleeves, gatefold jacket, double sided insert sheet, gold foil stamped cover art.) For more than two decades, the disciple that has most visibly carried on Sun Ra Arkestra’s legacy and sound is their musical director, alto saxophonist Marshall Allen, the iconic fire br…

4x CD Box set in printed fold-over CD case release from Strut Records. With a 32-page b&W info booklet featuring extended interviews with The Pyramids by Francis Gooding and a host of unseen photos.  A brand new 4CD box set bringing together the incredible 1970s recordings of Afrofuturism pioneers The Pyramids, led by saxophonist Idris Ackamoor. The set features the remastered LPs Lalibela, King Of Kings and Birth / Speed / Merging alongside the first ever vinyl issue of their live session for K…

Not Two presents the latest recording by The Nu Band: Thomas Heberer - trumpet, Kenny Wessel - guitar, Joe Fonda - bass, Lou Grassi - drums & percussion. May 16, 2022, at Tedesco Studios, Paramus, NJ

The title of Tom Skinner’s first release under his own name is a reference to cellist Abdul Wadud’s ultra-rare 1978 solo album ‘By Myself’, which Skinner listened to repeatedly during lockdown. Wadud’s album was privately pressed on his own label, Bisharra, and whilst Skinner’s title uses the more conventional spelling of this common Arabic name, they both have the same intention or meaning: it translates as ‘good news’, or ‘the bringer of good news’. This is a classic-sounding record that conne…

Another luminous compilation from London's Death is Not the End, this time examining the city's modern jazz and hard-bop scenes from the end of the 1940s until the early '60s.

'Sometimes a piece of music seems to trigger a sense of déjà vu. I had that experience listening to the Nick Mazzarella Trio’s new recording. It was as if all the things that had caught my sincere attention for some years was suddenly distilled into one set of compositions. That was an illusion, as déjà vu always is; however, it was not without some substance. I heard traces of traces of Andrew Cyrille, Steve Lacy, and Fred Anderson. This recording hit me like some of those did. The beginning of…

An evening of free improvisation recorded in Berlin at au Topsi Pohl in 2020 from the Swedish trio of Euro Free Jazz legend Sven-Ake Johansson on drums, Niklas Fite on acoustic guitar and Joel Grip on double bass, performing two extended and dynamic improvisations, and then settling into jazz standard form for "Isn't It Romantic" and "Out of Nowhere" sung by by Johansson. The novelty and warmth of the songs aside, the serious work heard in Sets 1 & 2 of shows the trio in fine form, evolving thei…

** First pressing of 200 with artwork by Jaime Zuverza ** Astral Spirit presents Sans Soleil by Chris Williams and Patrick Shiroishi. Engineered by: Jared Rodriguez. Mixed and Mastered: Weston Olencki. Special thanks: Jared Rodriguez, Weston Olencki, Nate Cross, Amber Navran, Laura Pérez. Chris Williams: Trumpet, Cornet, Flugelhorn, Synth, Objects.Patrick Shiroishi: Alto, Bari, Sopranino, Soprano and Tenor Saxophones, Clarinet, Electric Toothbrush, Glockenspiel.

This outstanding set of improvised pieces by the guitarist/oud player Gordon Grdina and the drummer Jim Black, bristles with multi-genre paradoxes and incredible articulations. Recording together for the second time (after Grdina's Nomad Trio's debut album), these lads bring lots to the table with their faultless synergy and love for the avant-jazz, prog-rock, indie electronic and world music.  Things get down to business immediately with "Martian Kitties", the track that gave the album its titl…

Evan Parker (soprano & tenor saxophones), George Lewis (trombone, electronics), Barry Guy (double bass, electronics), Paul Lytton (percussion, electronics). A 1983 Brussels concert featuring three improvisations by this electro-acoustic quartet. Reissue of Incus LP 45.

Alexander Von Schlippenbach (piano), Evan Parker (tenor saxophone), Paul Lovens (percussion). Each year this dauntless and apparently indefatigable trio set out on their winter journey. This record is taken from two December concerts at The Loft in Köln (Cologne) in 2004 & 2005.

The first published recordings of the duo of saxophonist Evan Parker and drummer Paul Lytton, recorded in London, 1927. Evan Parker, soprano and tenor saxophones, home made instruments, cassette recorder; Paul Lytton, percussion, live electronics, sound effects and noise.

**Finally reissued** from last year's North American tour: Evan Parker (saxophones), Alexander Von Schlippenbach (piano), Paul Lytton (percussion) in concert recordings at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans and the Seattle Asian Arts Museum. " Evan Parker is a member of two long standing trios, the Evan Parker Trio with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton, and the Schlippenbach Trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach and Paul Lovens. On very rare occasions—such as Parker's 50th birthday—all five music…

Milestone reissue, one of the greatest singular sonic gestures of the 20th century.. Soprano saxophone solos recorded in 1986 in St. Paul's Church, Oxford by the late Michael Gerzon"Six years after Six of One, Evan Parker proposed another solo album. The Snake Decides features the man, his soprano saxophone, and a gifted sound engineer in Michael Gerzon, to whom Parker pays tribute in the liner notes to the CD reissue (a reissue that sticks to the original album, no bonus material on this one). …

The Topography of the Lungs is finally re-issued. A landmark album in the British avant garde – the first record ever on Incus Records (originally released in 1970) and a monumental set of improvisations between Parker, Bailey, and Bennink, considered by many to be a key recording in the history of improvised music, it brought together three musicians who then continued to develop the genre in the intervening three decades:EVAN PARKER (soprano & tenor saxophones), DEREK BAILEY (guitar) and HAN…

Evan Parker (soprano saxophone, sample collection, co-composition), Matthew Wright (live sampling, turntables, co-composition and sound design). In which the studio becomes the arena for an expanded method of improvisation where successive layers of sound making are built up, revised, scrapped, edited, revisited... (As the notes say 'the tweaks went down to the wire.') In short, the way many musicians have been working for decades, but a new experience for a hard-core, real-time free improviser …

Three different groups in performances utilising frameworks devised by John Stevens sending the music into unexpected areas. From mid-1968 there is the unusual line-up of JOHN STEVENS (percussion), NORMA WINSTONE (voice), KENNY WHEELER (fluegelhorn), PAUL RUTHERFORD (trombone) and TREVOR WATTS (bass clarinet) in a wide-ranging half-hour sequence. Another half-hour sequence features the superb 1971 quartet of STEVENS (percussion & voice), JULIE TIPPETT (voice & guitar), WATTS (soprano sax) and RO…

An expanded reissue of the only published recording by one of the pioneering free improvisation groups, The People Band's self-titled album, originally released in 1970. Containing musicians that also worked with Pete Brown, Mike Westbrook, Ian Dury, Soft Machine, and others, this musical collective coalesced in London in 1968, and soon came to the attention of jazz aficionado Charlie Watts, who financed and oversaw a recording session that October. Improvised, anarchic, and utterly original, …

A definite set of bare essentials from the Spontaneous Music Ensemble – especially given that at this point, the group was stripped down to just the duo of John Stevens on percussion and cornet, and Trevor Watts on soprano sax! The material was all recorded live, and the double-length set is an amazing illustration of the genius that Stevens brought to the group – a way of working and reworking a very simple concept – such that the freedom of improvisation was also given a structure, yet …

Steve Lacy (soprano saxophone), Irene Aebi (voice), George Lewis (trombone), Jean-Jacques Avenel (double bass) and John Betsch (drums). After a long tour of North America, this quintet concluded by playing two concerts in Boston (March 2004) - most of the first one being included here. The material is five of the Beat poems featuring Irene Aebi, plus three instrumentals, including one (Baghdad) that has not been on record before as it had only just been written. After a lot of working together, …