Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Recorded 8/8/8 in Portland, OR, The Naked Future, is a quartet of four drunken wizards conjuring up a heady brew. Their diverse backgrounds - from the classical, rock and experimental realms - forge a release modernist in its construction with more than a pinch of old time alchemy. ESP is proud to welcome them to its circle with their first CD release, Gigantomachia. After several solo albums and shared projects with Rick Rivera, Edoardo Ricci, Rent Romus and dancer, Germaul Barnes, classical pi…

Rejuvenation is the first studio recording from Flow Trio, a powerful tenor sax/bass/drums trio in the tradition of 60s free jazz with an up-to-the-minute sense of universal awareness. Flow Trio consists of tenor saxophonist Louie Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris and drummer Charles Downs (Rashid Bakr), all well-known in many and varied groups and recordings. Their combined energies create innovative and contemporary improvisation informed by everything from Albert Ayler to Oliver Messiaen.

Bird in Time: 1940-1947 is a unique four disc set produced by bebop jazz historian Michael D. Anderson. This set chronicles the early developmental stages of the career of the artist from 1940 to the fall of 1947. This includes his performances in the Jay McShann band, his work as a sideman, collaborations with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, as well as his leadership of various groups. In addition to select recordings, the four disc set includes unique interviews by Mr. Anderson with artists who per…

Charles, Barnacled's new full-length, and first outing for ESP-Disk', is a rollicking, propulsive offering featuring the band in some of its most intricate formations. This deftly arranged record follows Barnacled as it tightens itself into high corners, only to purposely fall down, find new ground, and pick itself back up again. This work is highly playful, even at its most intense—and it does get intense, with saxophone battles surging over electronics and highly distorted accordion fire offer…

Duos, quartets and quintets of FREE improvisations by Tony Coe (clarinet), John Edwards (bass), Alan Hacker (clarinet), Sylvia Hallett (violin, voice, sarangi), Marcio Mattos (cello), Evan Parker (tenor saxophone), Philipp Wachsmann (violin, electronics), Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn).

Yximalloo is a one-man mysterious phenomenon. He has maintained obscurity, even though he has been making and recording music since the 1970's and his champions include artists as diverse as Jad Fair (Half Japanese), Momus, and members of Animal Collective. This is Yximalloo's first recording in 9 years, and it is his first to include his one-man-band sound of guitar, laptop and vocals. It builds on his primitive trance-like rhythms mixed with offbeat pop sensibilities by way of crude electronic…

Reissue of this obscure ESP-Disk release from 1968. Digipak format, includes foldout poster. 13 year old guitarist Sean Levitt was improvising on a borrowed guitar at the Central Park fountain for a young attentive audience when he was spotted by ESP. While being auditioned, Sean mentioned his musical family, which included his father, drummer Al Levitt; his mother, vocalist Stella Levitt; his 15 year old drummer brother George; his singing sisters Michele (16), Minou (14) and Teresa (11); and h…

Composed by bassist/composer Stephane Furic Leibovici (The Twitter Machine, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry - Soul Note Records) this 'trio music is based on compositional material which is developed through organic means (not repetitive means).' This session was recorded with long time collaborators Chris Speed and Chris Cheek, produced by Jim Black and recorded by Joey Marciano in NYC on June 20th, 2006.

CD version. In February, 1968, as the false Spring of hope was rising in occupied Czechoslovakia, ESP instructed Karl Velebny to record his group of improvisers during their upcoming tour of Germany. In April, 1968, the clandestine project was completed. Karel survived a terrible auto crash and sent photographs to ESP, which were utilized on the LP cover as a symbolic reference to the plight of the Czech people. A must for anyone interested in European jazz and the history of its relationship wi…

Drummer James Zitro is far from the most obscure ESP-Disk' artist, but he has not recorded prolifically (this LP, his debut, is half of the output under his name) or maintained a high profile. According to Sonny Simmons, who used him on his second ESP LP, Zitro had studied tabla in India. It was that appearance with Simmons that led to ESP's interest in a Zitro-led album that came to fruition the following year. Zitro is masterful throughout, whether laying down a dense polyrhythmic carpet under…

Lester Young is one of the most influential tenor saxophonists of the bebop era. ESP-Disk is now releasing previously unavailable 1950’s broadcasts recorded at Birdland, with an array of stellar side-performers. It is our pleasure to pay homage to Prez (Lester Young) with this disc. Featuring Jesse Drakes (trumpet), Earl Knight (piano), Aaron Bell (bass), Lee Abrahams (percussion), Steve Allen House Band, Count Basie Orchestra.

Bud Powell was one of the major architects of bebop; his piano style became the template for most other bop pianists. But a head injury incurred during a police beating, combined with alcohol and drug abuse and poor medical treatment (including electroshock), made him mentally unstable and led to a deterioration in his playing. Eventually he moved to France to get away from the exacerbating conditions of New York. His later work has a bad reputation; the increasing unpredictability of his person…

Recentemente vi abbiamo presentato il nuovo lavoro di un gruppo aperto di improvvisatori, i DEK, giunti ad una apprezzata seconda produzione audio. Questa volta due dei molti musicisti impegnati in quel progetto ci propongono la loro personale visione musicale, in un lavoro ""di coppia"" (col violino di Deborah Penzo e le chitarre, synth, theremin ecc di Paolo Boschi) altrettanto riuscito. Si tratta ancora di improvvisazione, di matrice contemporanea (soprattutto per le linee molto ""chiare"" ed…

This double CD pairs a studio recording from December 2003 (the Gateway part) with a May 2002 concert recording of two long improvisations (the Vienna part). When this trio released their previous Emanem CD Mercury Concert in 1999, Veryan Weston was described as "underrated and John Edwards and Mark Sanders were described as "younger, unacclaimed players who are regulars on the London improv circuit. In the intervening years, Edwards and Sanders have advanced in acclaim, to the point where they …

Digital concert recording Colchester (Mercury Theatre) - 1998 June 24 All of the music of the concert is included unedited, in the order of performance. All instruments were used without amplification or other electronics.

Featuring: Norman Howard (trumpet); Joe Phillips (alto saxophone); Cornelius Milsap (percussion); Walter Cliff (bass). The exciting, long-lost session from Norman Howard is finally released on CD. Featuring the compositions of Joe Phillips, the music has been digitally remastered with extensive liner notes from producer Michael D. Anderson, Clifford Allen and Joe Phillips who reminisces on the session, the Cleveland jazz scene, and the social atmosphere surrounding the music.

This is a soprano sax/acoustic guitar session recorded at Sehnaoui's apartment in Paris, which is near an old cloister. The record comprises three long improvisations whose grammar derives from an obstinate research for uncharted areas of intelligent needlework, thus fertilizing the ground for new contiguities between the percussive resonance of instruments. The results achieved by this duo through the application of extended techniques bring the whole thing to shine, and quite often. Cha…

"Drawing from their extensive experience of playing with virtually every household name in the experimental and avant-garde jazz areas, this quartet featuring Hans Tammen, Alfred 23 Harth, Chris Dahlgren and Jay Rosen delivers a real thrill ride with their new release Expedition. Its members have played with John Zorn, Sonny Sharrock, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Brötzmann, David Murray, Fred Frith, Peter Kowald, Anthony Braxton, Roscoe Mitchell, Keith Rowe, Günter Müller, Paul Lytton, William Parker, …

Sonny Rollins with Jimmy Garrison (bass), Elvin Jones (drums) and Freddie Hubbard (trumpet, title track only), recorded for Impulse! at Van Gelder Studio on May 9, 1966. Verve Acoustic Sounds LP reissue.

McCoy Tyner's 1964 Impulse! album, joining a trio session with Jimmy Garrison and Albert Heath (4 June 1963) and a sextet with Thad Jones, Frank Strozier, John Gilmore, Butch Warren and Elvin Jones (4 February 1964). Verve By Request reissue, 2024.

John Coltrane live at the Village Vanguard, New York, 2 and 3 November 1961, with Eric Dolphy, McCoy Tyner, Reggie Workman, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones, first released by Impulse! in 1962. Acoustic Sounds Series reissue, 2022.

McCoy Tyner quartet with Bobby Hutcherson, Herbie Lewis and Freddie Waits, recorded on 17 May 1968 for Blue Note and first released in 1969. Tone Poet 180g LP.

Tetuzi Akyiama: tape delayed electric guitar ; Jason Kahn: analogue synthesizer, percussion ; Utah Kawasaki: dismanteled roland synthesizer, cell phone. Recorded on 22 April 2004, Tokyo, Japan. 'No less than six new releases on the Creative Sources label, placing the label right in the centre of improvised music. East meets west on the disc of Tetuzi Akiyama (tape-delayed electric guitar), Jason Kahn (analogue synthesizer and percussion) and Utah Kawasaki (dismantled roland synthesizer and cell …

Part two of Sun Ra's 1970 appearance at the Fondation Maeght. An important document for this innovator of jazz. Improvisation, percussion, Afro rhythms, mysticism, and the occult -- all this and more is what the Sun Ra universe is made of. One of the most mysterious and fascinating figures in the history of jazz. Many potential listeners may be initially dismayed at the seeming discord that is inherent in the free and avant-garde subgenres. For them, Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, Vol. 2 might be…

Nuits de la Fondation Maeght, Vol. 1 (1970) is the first of two releases capturing Sun Ra and the Arkestra at Saint Paul de Vence, Côte d'Azur, France, in August of 1970, on what was their first European excursion. As a rule, free and avant-garde jazz are a decidedly acquired taste. However, for discerning palettes, these installments present the aggregate at their absolute pinnacle in terms of performance and inspiration. The four works included here offer a wide variety of styles and approache…

"Two improvising laptop trios, Stilluppsteypa hailing from Iceland and Chicago's TV Pow, met for the first time in the fall of 2000 and embarked on a week-long tour, captured in part on this recording. As in most successful examples of this genre, the musicians mesh into a whole wherein individual accomplishments are impossible to quantify. The range of sounds and depth of detail produced by this sextet are remarkable, from the quietest clicks and rattles to deeply sonorous hums and ratchetings,…

Music for four saxophones (Steve Lacy, Evan Parker, Steve Potts & Trevor Watts) with guitar (Derek Bailey) & synthesizer (Michel Waisvisz). Plus highlights from an earlier London concert by Lacy, Potts, Bailey, Kent Carter & John Stevens. Improvisations on original compositions. Reissue of Emanem 3310 (plus an extra piece from the same concert) and the better half of Emanem 304.

Double LP by Dave Okumu, Tom Herbert and Tom Skinner, recorded live at The Crypt in Camberwell, London, on 15 June 2018: covers of Abercrombie, Björk, A.K. Paul and Miles Davis alongside originals.

A collaborative CD released in 1996 on incus, featuring former Skullflower guitarist Stefan Jaworzyn and saxophonist Alan Wilkinson. Recorded by Giles Perring at the Red Rose Club, February 27, 1996. Drums of passion (22.11), My psychotic Valentine (15.01), David Murray dons a cunning Alan Wilkinson disguise and blags his way onto a bill at the Termite Club (11.33), Excerpts from a typical hard bop blowing session (10.49), Give a man a saxophone and he'll end up playing jazz (14.23). GREAT!

A sequence of piano and tenor saxophone free improvisations recorded in concert at the Appleby Jazz Festival in 2004. "Looking for an unlikely pair? Here you have it: Stan Tracey, a pianist on his way to be an octogenarian, with a track record that makes the British mainstream jazz community proud, teaming up with Evan Parker, one of the best and most extreme free improvisers of his generation (which is a generation younger than Tracey), adored in avant-garde circles but still largely ignored by…

A sequence of free improvisations -- eight duos, two piano solos & one tenor saxophone solo -- recorded at Gateway Studios. Recorded 9/28/03. 62 minutes.

2nd volume. The unissued duo works by Stevens (cornet, voice, percussion) and Watts (ss) are way out and an invigorating reminder of the outlandish possibilities of free improvisation, especially "DAA-OOM" ("a loose composition inspired by the music of both the central African pygmies and Albert Ayler -- even 23 years later, the rawness of these pieces is somewhat startling." -- Martin Davidson).

Two of the last performances by the SME which then comprised John Stevens (percussion & pocket trumpet), Roger Smith (guitar) and John Butcher (soprano & tenor saxophones). A new direction for the music that was sadly terminated later that year (1994) by Stevens' untimely death. Added to this reissue are two short pieces from the previous year, when Neil Metcalfe (flute) was also in the group, and some perceptive comments by Stevens. Reissue of Acta CD 8 with extra material. 63 minutes. Reissue …

John Stevens (percussion & cornet), Nigel Coombes (violin), Roger Smith (guitar), Colin Wood (cello). The first recording of the 'string' version of the SME, that lasted (minus Wood) until 1992." "We had a willow tree in the back garden and I used to look at the willow tree and the grass and think, well we could be like this. We could be very close to nature if we learned how to just purely interact..." John Stevens. Reissue plus 35 minutes of extra material from the same session. Originally re…

All previously unissued recordings, mainly made up of the duo of John Stevens (percussion) and Evan Parker (ss, ts), with Peter Kowald (b) on about a third of it. This marks the earliest to date recordings of Parker and is a tremendous snapshot of some ancient history. "Parker and Stevens seemed to break through to a deeper level of hearing, where a sound was not set against other sounds but rather against the silence around it, so that one gained heightened awareness of its growth and decay, it…

French guitarist Nöel Akchoté has confounded critics since his earliest releases with his blend of swinging jazz, free improvisation, and art-song sensibilities. Soundpage(s) are going to do more to further that confusion despite the fact that this album is easily the finest and most consistent realization of Akchoté's musical vision to date. This is a conceptual work centered around the soundbites on television news. And as a result, our composer felt given the vast world of soundbites to criti…

This is Bailey's first record with Japanese powerhouse drummer Shoji Hano, recorded at Moat Studios in London in June 2000. Hano is best known outside of Japan for his brief tenure as drummer in speedfreak rock band High Rise.

Alessandro Bosetti: soprano sax. Michael Thieke: clarinet. Sabine Vogel: flute. Michael Griener: percussion. Recorded 9/2/2003 by Ronny Trocker at studio P4, Berlin.'Space as a musical parameter is something that has long been neglected in recordings of acoustic improvised music. Since, dynamic, attack, sound-color, rythm and duration are commonly regarded as the elements that constitute and give form to what you find in such a recording, the feeling and the use of space has been seldom fully c…

The first solo record by the Berlin based master of the bass clarinet.

Trumpeter Ramanan (who doubles on wooden flutes) has been quietly enriching the London scene for some 15 years now. For the first CD under his leadership, he presents his imaginative current quartet which spans the ground between Free Improvisation and Free Jazz. With Marcio Mattos (cello & electronics), Simon H. Fell (double bass) and Mark Sanders (percussion). 72 minutes -- previously unissued.