Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

One of the finest Sun Ra recordings from his final years, this effort is particularly recommended due to the many Ra keyboard solos and John Gilmore features, the latter of which include a tenor showcase on "Opus In Springtime." Trumpeters Michael Ray and Ahmed Abdullah, altoist Marshall Allen and singer June Tyson also have their spots, and the repertoire consists of ten Ra originals (including a remake of "El Is the Sound of Joy") and three standard ballads. Overall, this is a fine all-around …

At 28 minutes in length, the title track boogies from fat funk break to fat funk break as though James Brown possessed the structural ambition of Duke Ellington. Recorded when Fela's 34-piece band was at its apex, this indispensable Fela disc has it all: wavelike call-and-response blowing and singing, thundering-herd percussion, dynamic electric grooves, and potent lyrical invective. The title track excoriates a government no less corrupt today than when it was written.

In Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, Fela explains the role of the teacher in any society with the concept that all the things we consider to be problems and all that we consider to be good in life begin with what we are taught, whether it's by our mothers at home, our teachers at school, lecturers at University or the government beyond that. Who then is the governments teacher? 'Culture and Tradition' says Fela.

original, 1 copy available

Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti specialized in the percolating jam, peppered with idiosyncratic horn stabs and political chants, underpinned with sinuous, interweaving guitar and bass lines, and propelled by Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, blending traditional Yoruban rhythms and contemporary James Brown beats. SHUFFERING AND SHMILING is trademark Fela, mixing several lengthy, irresistibly danceable tracks (including "Dog Eat Dog," a collaboration with Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter L…

His mixture of raw energy and sophistication is as remarkable today as it was when he first put it all on wax.

"Monkey Banana/Excuse O" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series. (By the way, the cover art posted on this page is that of "Upside Down" not "Monkey Banana.") It should be noted that unlike some of the other titles in this series, the song "Monkey Banana" was previously available on the original Celluloid label release of "Zombie" in the mid-1980s. Both the original "Monkey Banana" (with its b-side "Sense Wiseness") and "Excuse O" (with its b-side "Mr. Grammarticalogylisa…

"JJD/Unnecessary Begging" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series on MCA. As original LPs, "JJD (Johnny Just Drop)," recorded live at Fela's home/club/compound, Kalakuta Republic, was released in 1977, while "Unnecessary Begging" and its b-side "No Buredi (No Bread)" were issued a year earlier in 1976. These albums were part of what was arguably Fela's greatest period as he released more than a dozen albums between 1975-77! While "Zombie" and "Opposite People" are clearly …

Recorded in 1975. Includes liner notes by Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam, Michael A. Veal & Rikki Stein. Newcomers to the music of Fela Kuti are faced with some difficult choices since the late-1990s/early-2000s reissues of his string of classic '70s albums (the reissues put two records back-to-back). In truth, they're all good, so it is hard to go wrong picking one at random. Still, EXPENSIVE SHIT/HE MISS ROAD is arguably one of his best. In addition to its burbling percussive groove, infectious h…

"Everything Scatter/Noise for Vendor Mouth" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series on MCA. It should be noted that unlike some of the other titles in this series, the tracks that make up the "Everything Scatter" LP -- the title cut and "Who No Know Go Know" -- were previously available on CD on the Celluloid label in the late 80s. "Scatter" was part of the original "Zombie" disc, and "Who No Know" was on "Mr. Follow Follow." Both "Everything Scatter" and "Noise for Vendor…

Richard Bamford, drums, percussion. Stuart Brown, drums, percussion. John Burgess, bass clarinet. George Burt, acoustic guitar. Matthew Cairns, trumpet. Aileen Campbell, voice. Neil Davidson, electric guitar. Nick Fells, shakuhachi. Krzysztof Hladowski, bouzouki. George Lyle, double bass. Raymond MacDonald, soprano & alto saxophones. George Murray, trombone. Peter Nicholson, cello, voice. Emma Roche, flute, baroque flute. Ernesto Rodrigues, viola. Guilherme Rodrigues, cello. Matthew Studdert-Ken…

Notwithstanding a fruitful career, the great, late bass player Malachi Favors was quite a discreet musician even though no one has forgotten his role as the central mainstay of the Art Ensemble of Chicago until his death in January 2004. Apart from this, he only made one splendid solo album but no group recording as a leader was heard until this Maghostut Trio. Consequently, the present beautiful, original, intense and cohesive record is also a rare musical moment to enjoy. A few months before h…

Sharp-edged work from Right Hemisphere -- nothing too cerebral, and instead some great improvisations from a quartet that includes Matthew Shipp on piano, Rob Brown on alto sax, Joe Morris on bass, and Whit Dickey on drums! Shipp's brooding piano really sets the tone for the record -- even when played sparingly, as it is on some tracks -- and the tunes are a mix of tentative sound explorations, and a few fiercer moments -- but even these latter ones still have a sensitive, almost poetic feel at …

Roscoe Mitchell is of course one of the figureheads of free jazz, a long time member of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, and nowadays productive in smaller settings, duets and trios. On this double CD he is accompanied by Harrison Bankhead (bass, cello) and Vincent Davis (drums) , to bring 24 compositions varying between 2 and 14 minutes. The trio improvizes along structural patterns, and the interplay and technical skills of the three musicians, and then especially Mitchell himself, are excellent. …

The music improvised by Drake, Abrams, Alexander, Morris, Parker and Parker is getting close. The music improvised by the second incarnation of Bindu is also a trance music: so is its rhythm of growth, the crossroad. The music can only grow, propagate waves, navigate through forms. Dance upon the laying body of cinder-covered structures. Everything is good to it, nothing dictates its behavior.

The most exciting of the label's inaugural issues is a new title from Art Ensemble of Chicago founder Roscoe Mitchell. In itself that is always a notable event, but this new group (with Mitchell's longtime rhythm section Jaribu Shahid and Tani Tabal on bass and drums along with new Art Ensemble trumpeter Corey Wilkes and the excellent young pianist Craig Taborn) stands among his greatest bands. They have all the role and bluster of Mitchell's Note Factory, but stripped down to an economic quinte…

Rob Brown has a sound of his own, one that you instantly identify, and it’s a wonder why his unique way of playing alto saxophone still hasn’t found the recognition it deserves. With “Radiant Pools”, not only does he confirm what a great musician he is, but he also shows how he can give life and soul to an orchestra… and what orchestra! Quite noteworthy is the way Rob Brown’s alto sax (hear his high notes) and flute, and Steve Swell’s trombone complement and enrich each other; respond to one ano…

Guitarist Scott Fields points out in the liner notes to his latest record We Were The Philks: “It is my habit to set myself some rules for each project I compose. Otherwise the world is just too big for me. For my contributions to The Phliks book I made myself a rule that every tune would include traditional notation, graphical notation, and improvisation. In the Phliks pieces I would blur the distinction between notated and improvised material.” When one listens to the 70-minute work, a distinc…

Flutists' albums, in jazz, do not clutter up record stores. Michel Edelin is one of the (very) few jazz musicians, French on top of that, to have chosen the flute, in all its forms, as his exclusive instrument. For ages, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Eric Dophy, Jeremy Steig, James Newton, Dave Valentin and the likes have held a central position in his personal pantheon, he who was able to digest their teachings in order to feed his own syntax: a sound of a beautiful elegance, an angular phrasing where a…

Un Piano is the meeting of a pianist with a piano. It gives to Matthew Shipp the opportunity not only to synthesize 20 years of music exploration, but also to go far beyond.

Awesome release, beautifully packaged: 1 CD + two DVDs with two documentaries by the anthropologist Laurence Petit-Jouvet tracing the 2000 US tour by German bassist Peter Kowald. The film finds Kowald performing with many of free improvisation's most important contemporary figures, such as the Bronx-born bassist William Parker. In early 2002, not long after this film was made, Kowald achieved a lifelong dream by securing an apartment in Harlem, which he regarded as the capital of black American …

"Collected Works" is the first compilation of music belonging to the solo works of Valerio Cosi.  It gathers the best recordings from the years between 2005 and 2008.   Many of these recordings were originally released in limited (sometimes ultra limited) quantities through cdr labels and now come renewed and re-mastered in sound.  Valerio started making solo experimental music back in the late 90's which was mostly recorded in his home.  His first released recording called "Immortal Attitudes" …

Recorded live at Pezner, Villeurbanne (France), December 4, 1998. Mastered by Trutone, NYC. Jim Sauter & Don Dietrich : saxophones, Donald Miller : electric guitar.

The work of Jean-Luc Guionnet deals at times with organs, church organs, pipe organs. Only one piece here with organ sounds. All three are granted a text to explain what they are about, but they aren't too easy to understand. Likewise I don't know what Guionnet does to his organ sounds. Are they played in real time? Are they layered? Are they processed? I simply don't know. In 'Espace Bas' it seems this is not the case, and its played 'as is', with lots of air sounding through occasionally playe…

Their first duo album “Dual Pleasure” was hailed as a masterpiece, and among others nominated for Norway`s Alarm Award. The sequel, Dual Pleasure 2 was recorded in the studio over two days in Oslo, while CD 2 was recorded live 2 days after the studio session at Kampen Jazz in Oslo. The result is “Dual Pleasure 2” , a complex and grroving piece of independent underground jazz. A clash between the highly influential and innovative Chicago and Scandinavian jazz scenes that started in 2000 when the …

One of the great archaeological finds of recent years: Three lost tracks from the Nipples sessions. Dateline: Germany, 1969. The legendary lineup: Peter Brötzmann and Evan Parker (saxophones), Derek Bailey (guitar), Fred Van Hove (piano), Buschi Niebergall (bass), Han Bennink (drums). Over the course of two long studio sessions, Peter Brötzmann assembled one of the masterpieces of free jazz from Europe, Nipples, which was reissued by the Unheard Music Series in 2000. Brötzmann has always mention…

180-gram vinyl limited edition LP. This LP was recorded live Dec. 2 1989 at the Elbo Room in Chicago. Numbered limited edition of 1000 copies. Guitar/sax duets.

Brewery Tap is the duo of free jazz saxophonist Evan Parker & Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten. The recordings on this disc was recorded live at Oslo Jazzfestival the 13th of August 2007 at the Belleville venue.

Tenor saxophonist (and occasional trumpeter) Joe McPhee has been a firebrand presence on the American and European avant-garde jazz scenes since the 1970's, while Paal Nilssen-Love is a free jazz drummer from Norway, about half McPhee's age. Yet each is perfectly in tune with the other on Tomorrow Came Today, a high-energy session of freely improvised jazz. Tomorrow Came Today is less about theme-solos-theme, and more about spontaneity, unfettered freedom, and collective interplay. It's likely t…

New CD issue of this classic album, with bonus track and improved sound (previously issued by Mantra). Upon it's original release, 1984, with it's unusual combination of lengthy abstract sound-journeys and short, weirdly devolved James Brown-inspired pieces, gained much critical acclaim. 1984 was an extremely unusual release for 1973 and an extremely unusual project for CBS Records, who first released it. Like the groundbreaking novel after which it was named, Hopper's record was truly ahead of …

A re-reissue of this classic recording of Philip Cohran and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble. This record has only been previously available in limited quantities and is back in print now due to the collaborative efforts of Kelan Zulu productions and Katalyst Entertainment. This historic recording is the definitive representation of one of the most significant groups of this era in jazz history. With several legendary musicians including guitarist Pete Cosey, percussionist Henry Gibson, Louis Satt…

EXCLUSIVE! Recorded live at Sting Jazzklubb in Norway during the Maijazz Festival in 2006. The godfather of European free-jazz, Peter Brotzmann, is joined by respected Scandinavian percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love to form a musical partnership of rare & beautiful balance.

The release of a new album by the Revolutionary Ensemble should come as a shock to many. From their start in the 70's they were a mysterious band. They were one of the first string bands to record free jazz. Graceful yet cutting, the album sounds matured in a way that their output from the 70s didn't. Perhaps it is the improved sound quality, or the time & experience that have filled their playing, but somehow the time apart seems to have cemented the group's focus & direction.

"It's not a church anymore, it's an ex-church, it's used now for cultural purpose, not for praying and religious madness anymore", those are the exact words some random anxious pedestrian yelled at Chris Corsano and Paul Flaherty, trying to stop them from putting the St. John Renaissance Theater in Louisville, Kentucky on fire, Paul Flaherty used his long grey beard to start the fire and blew as high as he could with a rusted tenor and alto saxophone, the flames went high, but not high enough fo…

The maestros of improv noise (with a big N) with their ferocious album for Agaric from 1988. Some call it jazz, some call it improv, some call it noise. Two saxes (Jim Sauter & Don Dietrich) and one guitar (Donald Miller). Great intensity.

This compilation of rare material from the Sun Ra Arkestra draws from tapes recorded between 1963 and 1970, and the space-age jazz shaman conjures up a variety of styles and moods along the way. A balmy tropical vibe greets the ears with the opener ("Island in the Sun"), but it doesn't take long for Ra to set his controls for the stratosphere, and soon, distorted gongs, haunted house organ, and homemade instruments are exploring African mysticism on the title track. "Velvet" is a more traditiona…

The real gems of this prized reissue from Leo Records's Golden Years vault imprint are two previously unreleased tracks. The first features Sun Ra and his Arkestra on an 18-minute "Watusa" from 1984, and the second features a 13-minute piece by Saleh Ragab's Cairo Free Jazz Ensemble, "Music for Angela Davis," from 1971. It's no surprise Sun Ra loved going to Egypt, what with all the astro-mythology he used in the Arkestra. This love shows brightly on "Egypt Strut" and "Dawn," two Ragab tunes pla…

Multi dimensional sound that blurs any line between the notions of Jazz, Improvisation, & New Music. Will appeal to patient & adventurous music fans of AMM, Spontaneous Music Ensemble, Polwechsel, Evan Parker, & the group work of Taku Sugimoto.

Avant-jazz group consisting of guitarist Jason Bivins, soprano saxophonist Marty Belcher, baritone saxophonist Joe Donnelly, flautist Richard Patterson and drummer Matt Griffin. The UE's carefully woven detail becomes richer with each listen, and the group's broad and unblushing sense of humor keeps this disc from devolving into self-absorbed noodling.

The Revolutionary Ensemble was: Leroy Jenkins (violin), Sirone (bass), Jerome Cooper (drums, piano). Long awaited reissue of the Revolutionary Ensemble's 1975 album The Psyche. This group introduced New York to decided musical advances, many pioneered by Chicago's A.A.C.M. musicians. Ex-Chicagoan Leroy Jenkins, who played violin, of all unheard-of modern jazz instruments, had formed his concept from classical, swing, blues, and modern elements and had been one of the radicals who discovered new …