Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Get ready to ignite your turntable: Cal Tjader's seminal 1965 Latin jazz masterpiece Soul Sauce is back on vinyl for the first time since 1993. This vibrant reissue celebrates the album's enduring groove, fusing the vibraphonist's shimmering melodies with irresistible Afro-Cuban rhythms like mambo and boogaloo. A cornerstone of Latin jazz, Soul Sauce captivated audiences with its tight, danceable grooves and accessible yet sophisticated arrangements. Tjader, the vibraphone virtuoso who bridged j…

Originally released in 2003, With A Heartbeat brings together Pharoah Sanders, Bill Laswell and Graham Haynes in a collaboration that remains as elusive as it is forward-thinking. Now reissued by Glossy Mistakes, the album receives its first official vinyl edition, remastered and available both in standard black and a limited burgundy pressing. At the core of the record lies an unusual but striking element: the steady pulse of a human heartbeat. Rather than a conceptual gesture, it becomes the f…

French-born, London-based composer and musician Pascal Bideau aka Akusmi announces his second full-length Terra Incognita, an album of intrepid sonic exploration that delights in the sensation of being somewhere you've never been before. The listener is invited to experience seven faraway sonic imaginariums, as global and spiritual jazz are fused with modern electronics and life affirming minimalism into a hypnotic, polyrhythmic odyssey. The album's rich multilayered sound world features contrib…

*2023 repress* Akhenaten was the first album Nat released on the fledgling Gondwana label back in 2009, it was the second release on the label and has remained a hugely popular and much sought after album ever since. Jazzman Records issued a vinyl version in 2016 (which quickly sold out and is now a collector’s item) and Nat reissued a CD version a few years later, but this is a much needed and long awaited new vinyl pressing. Featuring four original compositions the album is a deeply meditative…

2023 much-need repress. Nat Birchall continues apace with his “one-semble” recording projects, this album being the fourth one to feature only Nat himself playing all the instruments. The Infinite presents seven original compositions loosely based around various mystical aspects of the universe. The recording demonstrates Nat’s belief in the music having its own life outside of any human input, and also that it has its own laws and innate sense of balance and form, as does the universe itself. A…

Join the Kyle Shepherd Trio on “A Dance More Sweetly Played” as they explore, collaborate and improvise on the ‘songs we like to play’. The album’s title is a dedication to the celebrated South African artist William Kentridge, with whom Shepherd collaborated on a joint-work “Waiting for Sybil” that has toured world-wide. In addition to ten Shepherd originals, perhaps most unexpected is the inclusion of an exquisite reading of Massive Attack’s ‘Teardrop’ and a deconstructed take of Journey’s ‘Do…

Departing from a run of releases for Discus Music featuring mainly large group composition, this stripped down, free-blowing session features a group of great players on top form, delivering music which is in turns heavily incisive and delicately traced. Dunmall himself has never sounded better than he does here.

We Are Busy Bodies presents Drive Unlimited. A gem by South African group The Drive, founded in 1971 by Adolphus "Bunny" Luthuli and Henry Sithole. Remastered reissue by We Are Busy Bodies. Art restoration by Steve Lewin.

What if the blue that I see is different from the blue that you see? This question is an infrastructure for my Afro-Surrealist Anti-Opera, Colla Voce. Often, when we think of Surrealism, we think of subconscious mental states, dreams, nightmares-those unexplored corners of our psyche. But Afro-Surrealism protests: what if that which one calls a ‘dream' is a nightmare to another? What if that which one calls ‘rational' is completely baseless to another? And surely, we must have varying ideas of w…

Deluxe reissue edition. Restoration and digital transfer from original analogue tapes. Reissue of a 1976 duo recording. The Quest is a live album by Sam Rivers on which he is accompanied by double bassist Dave Holland and drummer Barry Altschul. It was recorded on March 12 and 13, 1976, during the Rassegna Internazionale Jazz at the Palazzo dello Sport in Milan, Italy, and was initially released later that year by Red Records.  The trio was active from 1972 until 1978,[and was influential in the…

Everything Is Possible, the third album from Peace Flag Ensemble, pushes the boundaries of jazz improvisation and ambient experimentation. Led by Jon Neher’s lyrical piano and complemented by subtle electronic flourishes from Michael Scott Dawson, the group’s ensemble dialogue traverses gentle melodic passages and unexpected textural turns, resulting in a collection that is both introspective and quietly assertive.​

Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf, the latest release from Dun-Dun Band, is a hypnotic excursion through polyrhythmic landscapes and global traditions. Guitarist Craig Dunsmuir leads a ten-piece ensemble in Toronto, weaving intricate ostinato riffs with jazz, Afrobeat, and ambient influences, resulting in a set of four expansive compositions that enchant and provoke.​

In 1975, the New York City alto saxophonist Alan Braufman released his debut album, Valley of Search on the India Navigation label. Recorded at the now legendary 501 Canal St. loft, the album was heralded by Village Voice jazz critic Gray Giddins, who wrote, "These are the musicians who are taking the chances today and their gifts and commitment ought to be attended." Braufman went on to record and tour with everyone from Carla Bley to The Psychedelic Furs, and didn't release another album under…

* Last copies, sold-out at source * Gatefold triple LP (5 sides of music). Limited pressing of 500 worldwide. Includes new liner notes from Susan Mannheimer, the host of the 1975 event * This recently unearthed recording captures Alan Braufman with his five-piece band in an early 1975 live radio session soon after recording his debut album Valley of Search for the India Navigation label. This was the first meeting for William Parker and Cooper-Moore, whose musical partnership has flourished ever…

Broken Shoes, the reissued LP from Soweto, thrives on the vibrant interplay of jazz and funk, capturing an era where rhythmic conversation takes precedence over polished surfaces. With each groove, the band conjures a sense of lived experience, reframing classic township forms in a manner both contemporary and respectful of the genre’s roots.​

On Sonic House Reunion, Bobby Bradford, Mark Dresser and Hafez Modirzadeh reconvene a long‑running alliance, turning cornet, five‑string bass and hybrid reeds into a quietly radical chamber unit where Ornette‑rooted lyricism, spectral tuning and deep listening pull the music in multiple directions at once.

On Sun’s Blessings, Sunny Murray and Sabu Toyozumi meet as a double‑drum frontline, turning a 1999 Sapporo concert into a two‑part ritual where clattering polyrhythms, rolling thunder and sudden hollows of space make free improvisation feel both volcanic and oddly tender.

On Keeping It In Context, Daniel Carter, Sabir Mateen, William Parker and Lou Grassi turn a 1996 Context Studios session into a blazing, deep‑listening workshop, with twin reeds, singing bass and restless drums stretching free jazz language without losing its earthy pulse.

*2025 much needed repress!!!* Black Truffle is pleased to announce the re-release of Ichida, the first release from the duo of two important yet often underappreciated musicians, Eiko Ishibashi and Darin Gray. Ishibashi is a singer-songwriter, keyboardist, drummer, and multi-instrumentalist, known in Japan both for her own elaborately conceptual solo albums and for her frequent collaborations with figures such as Jim O’Rourke, Merzbow, and Phew. Darin Gray is a bassist and multi-instrumentalist …

*2025 much needed repress!!!* Black Truffle is pleased to announce For McCoy, a new work by Eiko Ishibashi dedicated to the widely loved character of Jack McCoy, portrayed by Sam Waterston in Law & Order. Following on from Hyakki Yagyō (BT064), For McCoy finds Ishibashi further exploring the unique space she has carved out in recent years, bringing together musique concrète techniques, ECM-inspired jazz, lush layers of synths and hints of pop into immersive and affecting structures crafted in he…

In any band there is a constant push and pull. A state of tension and release between written music and improvisation, between leading and following. In the instinctive, unpredictable world of jazz, that push and pull can explode groups and compositions into entirely new forms, yet no matter how far each player might be stretched, there is always something connecting them back to each other and back to the tune. A tether. For New York-based saxophonist and composer Alden Hellmuth, that innate se…

One of the leading lights of contemporary creative saxophone music, Jon Irabagon (b. 1978) hails from Chicago, made his name in New York, and has returned to the Windy City with decisive ferocity, joining the city's bustling scene as an active participant and bandleader. Known for many of his groups, including Mostly Other People Do The Killing and PlainsPeak, as well as membership in ensembles led by Mary Halvorson, Dave Douglas, and Barry Altschul, Irabagon is a ceaselessly inventive horn play…

On Fragments: The Complete 1969 Salle Pleyel Concerts, The Cecil Taylor Unit detonates across two uncut Paris sets: a newly unearthed, vividly mastered document of Taylor, Sam Rivers, Jimmy Lyons and Andrew Cyrille stretching free jazz into an overwhelming, architectural storm of sound.

On Three for Shepp, Marion Brown leads a blazing American free‑jazz ensemble with Dave Burrell, Norris “Sirone” Jones and Grachan Moncur III, unleashing high‑energy fire music that shows the Impulse! era at full boil yet still somehow under‑sung.

On Buttercorn Lady, Art Blakey leads a brief but blazing mid‑60s Jazz Messengers lineup at The Lighthouse, launching a young Keith Jarrett and Chuck Mangione in a hard‑bop set that feels both like a proving ground and a joyous passing of the torch.

On The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960, Miles Davis and John Coltrane turn a standard club set into a knife‑edge drama, Davis all poised understatement, Coltrane in full escape‑velocity experimentation over one of the greatest rhythm sections in jazz.

On The Bagatelles Vol. 8, John Zorn hands nine knotty miniatures from his 300‑tune book to the John Medeski Trio, who turn organ, guitar and drums into a shape‑shifting engine of groove, skronk and sly lyricism that makes each Bagatelle feel like a tiny, exploding suite.

On The Bagatelles Vol. 7, John Zorn hands a batch of his razor‑cut miniatures to pianist Brian Marsella, who turns thirteen terse themes into a 46‑minute solo suite where classical poise, jazz volatility and downtown mischief share the same set of keys.

Using the crème de la crème of sound engineers and the unsurpassed production quality of Quality Record Pressings, the Acoustic Sounds series is mastered from the original tapes, pressed on 180-gram vinyl and packaged in high-quality gatefold covers produced by Stoughton Printing Co., where — as was customary on records of the era — the printed paper sheet is applied to the cardboard (so the cardboard itself is not directly inked). All this is overseen by Chad Kassem, CEO of Acoustic Sounds, the…

*2026 repress* "With the reissue of the Miles Davis' Birth of the Cool sessions, accompanied by recordings of this seminal nonet’s slightly earlier live dates at New York City’s Royal Roost, we now have as complete as possible an account of this still fresh sounding and beautiful music. The array of talent alone is startling: Miles Davis in transition between his earlier bebop stylings, and his later gorgeous tone and sparer choice of notes; Lee Konitz on alto sax playing startling melodic inven…

*2026 repress!* This is Dorothy Ashby's debut album, originally released in 1957 by the Regent label. Recognized as the woman who gave the harp a jazz voice, here Ashby is at the head of a highly distinctive combo featuring Frank Wess on flute, Eddie Jones or Wendell Marshall on bass and master Ed Thigpen on drums. The Jazz Harpist is an unprecedented mix of evocative classic sounds and jazz soul, awarded by Allmusic as her first and best album, period!

Mana is the International Anthem debut by composer, trombonist and vocalist Kalia Vandever. This new full length carries on the expansive and dazed spirit of their first solo album, We Fell In Turn, while entering a new landscape of spacious songwriting. Vandever’s music has quickly and widely gained traction in the last few years despite the fact that their style has been consistently difficult to pin down, boasting a compositional scope ranging from the cinematic modern jazz of their quartet w…

Norwegian clarinetist Andreas Røysum and the legendary Chicago-based poet / artist Marvin Tate met in 2023, when both were performing at Berlin Jazzfest. “Andreas Røysum Ensemble with Marvin Tate” is the fourth album by the ensemble, and contains the first recorded fruits of this meeting of visionaries. The new-found collaborators bring out the best in each other, reaching new levels of expression and purpose. Dig into richly evocative and multi-layered poetry, expansive long form compositions a…

*2026 stock* Motvind Records stalwarts Miman mark their 10th year as a working band with “X-IV”, their first release since 2021. Including four very different albums, it gives both old and new listeners the opportunity to get to know some of the different musical landscapes in which Miman are right at home. «It doesn’t make much sense to apply a lot of the usual metrics to both the music created by the Scandinavian trio Miman or the way the group operates. Its members possess deep curiosity and …

Music-lovers of all lands, rejoice! Here you have the re-release of the fourth album of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra recorded with the Guinean saxophonist Jo Maka. The title says it all: Vol.4: Jo Maka. But before that, a bit of history: The Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra was created in 1971 by an "old hand" of French free jazz, François Tusques. "Free Jazz" was also the name of the recording made by the pianist and other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François J…

If the jazz of François Tusques is “free”, his spirit is even more so: having recorded Free Jazz with other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais), the pianist had covered a lot of ground, with Barney Wilen (Le Nouveau Jazz) or even solo (Piano Dazibao and Dazibao N°2), so as not to repeat himself… In 1971 he founded the Inter Communal Free Dance Music Orchestra which, as the notes the this album stated, “is an interpretation of a…

This book, the only history of free jazz in Japan, has been reprinted many times in Japan and is finally available to readers overseas in English translation. From its earliest stirrings in the 1960s until it reached international recognition in the 1970s and after, free jazz in Japan is a unique music that has found its perfect scribe. Soejima Teruto was a writer who fell in love with a music and devoted his life to it as promoter, critic, label owner, tour organizer, and much more. All new pho…

Black Truffle is pleased to announce Symphony No. 107 –The Bard, a previously unheard archival recording of the legendary improvising ensemble MEV (Musica Elettronica Viva), captured in concert at Bard College, New York in 2012. Formed by a group of American expat composers in Rome in 1966, the MEV ensemble played an important role in the development of free improvisation, bridging the live electronics tradition begun by John Cage and David Tudor and the high-energy squall of free jazz. Early re…

Following on from the Bergisch-Brandenburgisches Quartett’s anarchic Live ’82 (BT095), Black Truffle continues its deep dive into the archives of legendary drummer/accordionist/photographer/composer/conceptual prankster Sven-Åke Johansson with Scheisse ’71. Recorded in November 1971 during the Berliner Jazztage at a heavy-hitting concert that also included the Spontaneous Music Ensemble and groups led by Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof, and Masahiko Sato, Scheisse ’71 is the only document of a w…

A raw, groove-driven selection of previously overlooked 1990s recordings by legendary Turkish jazz impresario Okay Temiz, compiled here for the first time.