Jazz /
Paper of pins
"the coming together of this quartet on "paper of pins" has resulted in mature, yet unforced sounding compositions. the touching number "brown reduse" wins you over with its catchy piano sounds and subtle trumpet which is rounded off by the electronica. it's a small orchestral gem in the jazz style which is still edgy despite its perfection. this is highlighted, for example, by the fact that you can hear the brass player drawing breath on some tracks. certainly, the scottish composer is no perfe…
The Paris Tapes
Surprisingly, this remarkable and magnificently captured performance has never been issued on LP (or CD) before. Sun Ra and his larger than usual Arkestra are caught live here – dancers and all – sometime during 1971 at the Théâter du Châtelet in Paris, France for what is surely one of the Arkestra's finest concert happenings – particularly during this period.While Ra's Arkestra was recorded live several times during 1971, the personnel and the instrumentation presented here are closest to a Oct…
Space Probe
Recorded mostly in the early'60s with Ra, Marshall Allen, John Gilmore, James Jacson, Nimrod Hunt and Thea Barbara, Space Probe explores stripped back forms and colour combinations that are far from jazz Ð or that attempt, very successfully, to take jazz into wholly new territories. Especially notable is the extraordinary Conversation Of J.P. for piano and percussion which, along with the opening track - an 18-minute Moog solo, probably recorded in 1970, just after Ra had newly acquired the…
A Message From Mozambique
restocked, 2010 repress. Exact repro, originally released in 1973 on the Strata-East affiliated Black Fire label. This is the first LP from this classic Afro free jazz group. Very much in the spirit of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, but with more spiritual/soul jazz stylings tempering the pure free jazz fire music vibe. The group would shortly hereafter change their name to Oneness of Juju.
One Night In '88/Pas De Trois
"The boundaries in jazz have now become smoother, the horizon is expanding. Dauner, Mariano and Saluzzi anticipated these developments back in the eighties. You can hear it immediately: three world class musicians get together. Wolfgang Dauner is one of the pioneers of German jazz and is one of the first avant-garde players; he also explores classical territory on the piano. Charlie Mariano showed for decades that he had an open ear for world music influences. And the virtuoso on the bandoneon, …
Identical Sunsets
"Best known for his collaborations with people like Paul Flaherty, Michael Flower and Thurston Moore as well as a year-and-a-half stint as the drummer for Björk's Volta tour, Chris Corsano is widely considered to be one of the best and most adaptive drummers of his generation. Equally adaptive is UK saxophone giant, Paul Dunmall, who has worked disparately with jazz greats like Alice Coltrane and Evan Parker as well as funk and folk acts like Johnny Guitar Watson and Dando Shaft. After a…
The outer darkness
"Our third volume of Sun Ra spoken word opens with a rare space story that I discovered on an unmarked five inch reel of tape. When I played the recording, I discovered an incredible story recited by an unknown artist, with Sun Ra going beyond the call of duty on keyboard. Included are two complete lengthy performances from this 1967 session.... The group recitation, 'The Outer Darkness,' is a reworking of the poem 'I Seek A Better World' originally recited by Ray Stubbs on the first volume.... …
Birdtalking
'When dealing with female interpreters of the art of advanced vocalism, four personal favourites come to mind : Diamanda Galàs, Meredith Monk, Shelley Hirsch and - more recently - Non Credo's Kira Vollman. I'm afraid that I'll have to add a fifth chair at the table. I had already met Ute Wassermann in a great CD on Creative Sources, Kunststoff, a duo with trumpet player Birgit Ulher; yet, Birdtalking is one of those records that immediately raise all aerials, a top-rank effort in which a single …
Out Trios Vol. 2
"The second installment in Atavistic's Out Trios series features three highly regarded Chicago-based artists: guitarist Jeff Parker (Tortoise / Isotope), electronics savant Kevin Drumm (drag city solo / vandermark territory band) and Chicago free jazz titan Michael Zerang (solistice w/hamid drake). Check." (Boomkat)
African Skies
African Skies was recorded in 1993 for the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, Illinois.
Vintage Duets
On Vintage Duets, Anderson is joined by Steve McCall, a drummer who touched many listeners with his style and sensitivity, especially as a member of the group Air. McCall worked with Anderson at various points from early in his career. Recorded on 11 January 1980 at Soto Studios. (label)
Sound of Joy
Sun Ra's second album was a Delmark release, although it was originally intended for the Transition label, which did not survive long enough to release it. Recorded in 1957. Personnel: Sun Ra, piano, electric piano; Art Hoyle & Dave Young, trumpets; John Gilmore, tenor sax; Pat Patrick, alto & baritone sax; Jim Herndon, tympani, timbali; Julian Priester, trombone; Charles Davis, baritone sax; Victor Sproles, bass; William Cochran, drums; Clyde Williams, vocals. (label)
Flora. Fauna. Fervor.
"The second album by Matt Ulery’s Loom fulfills the desire of its leader to front a “band with a sound not only determined by the compositions and the instrumentation, but with the actual players who perform the music.” Ulery, a Chicago-based bassist and composer, adds, “This is why Loom has had an immediately identifiable sound, striving for maximum range of emotional depth while appealing far beyond strictly jazz listeners.”Loom projects a sonically rich, expansive sound on Flora. Fauna. Fervo…
The Warrior
"Not since Albert Ayler stalked the hamnar of Stockholm and reverberated his fire music off the walls of LES tenements has there been an avant-garde jazz saxophonist who can all out wail like Virginia Genta can. Don’t let her calm presence fool you. Nor should David Vanzan’s taller stature lead to believe this is not an equal opportunity free jazz freak-out. From when their poles first were converged by the Cosmic Force in 1999, Italy’s (with Finnish godparents) Jooklo Duo has been winning he…
s/t
In this incredible big band-style ensemble you'll find the likes of Rob Mazurek and Jeff Parker supporting trumpeter and composer Bill Dixon. Spread across three long-form orchestral narratives, featuring various horns and woodwinds, guitar, piano, vibraphone, timpanis and voice. Far from being the muddled affair it could have become, the musicians each somehow find their own space to cut loose a little within the composition, with an accommodating, airy production to match. Of the three pieces,…
Stars Have Shapes
Limited LP edition...MINDBLOWING! a unique and incredible orchestra of acoustic & electronic improvisation. "Jazz cornetist Rob Mazurek has created a sound world that is uniquely his own, sculpting a TOTAL sound environment, by fully utilizing the beautiful instrumentation of the Exploding Star Orchestra and sounds from a variety of sources, including: rain from the Brazilian Amazon, insects at the turn of an eclipse, the hammering overdrive of bicycles in Copenhagen, stacked muted cornets run t…
Waspnest
Aspec(t) are SEC_ and Mario Gabola from Naples, Italy. SEC_ plays electronics through laptop, processed tapes, and analog synthesizer. Mario plays saxophone and feedbacks through a system of resonant drums and small speakers. Their music shares the timbrical research and the execution control typical of some radical impro music (Pateras/Baxter/Brown, John Butcher, Jim Denley, Bruce Russell,..), but meets the visceral intensity and the obscure poetic of the new aktionsm and of noise music (Rudolf…
Fuck De Boere (1968/70)
"Two concert recordings -- never before released, mastered from original radio master tapes-by larger groups led by the German saxophone legend Peter Brötzmann. Both recorded by the esteemed Hessischer Rundfunk organization at the Frankfurt Jazz Festival, in 1968 and 1970. Two of the most explosive, rivetting pieces of music ever to come out of the European vaults. First: an unheard alternate version of Brötzmann's groundbreaking Machine Gun, this time with a nine piece group (same as the LP, ad…
Primitive London
LP version. This is the first-ever release of not ONE but TWO classic Basil Kirchin soundtracks, one from 1965, the other 1971. It's music for strippers, wife-swapping, death, birth, crime and chicken factories. Basil Kirchin is a legendary jazz drummer and grandfather of ambient music. He started his jazz career drumming in his father's jazz band. In the war years, he took over the band and post-war travelled to the East, hung out with the Maharishi, found himself, moved to Australia and finall…
Of Mythic Worlds
Exact repro of this 1980 album, the second Sun Ra album to be released on Philly Jazz following Lanquidity. Undated live recording, not previously reissued on either LP or CD! "Sun Ra's music is equational. It is based on a system and philosophy as old as the most ancient of civilizations, and it points the way of the future as well. Music is not seen as merely entertainment. Ra has oftentimes mentioned the potentials of music to change the social order. In fact, the highlight of many of his per…