Jazz /
Droplets
Droplets brings together double bassist Dominic Lash with composer Eva-Maria Houben, Taylan Susam, and improvisers Patrick Farmer and Sarah Hughes. At its heart is Lash’s outdoor recording of Houben’s “nachtstück,” where fragile double bass lines merge with the unpredictable sounds of wind, rain, and the wider world. The bass’s deep resonance shares the soundspace with falling rain, creating a duo of musician and nature that is both visually and sonically evocative - every performance choice bec…
Soldier of the road. A portrait of Peter Brötzmann
'How do you become Peter Brötzmann? How do you become what you are: a painter, a musician, an absolute artist? Europe was nothing but a ruin and shame possessed the heart of the young Germans. They needed to invent, scream, regain a lost brotherhood. Overcome this silence ! That's how some young German, British, Dutch, Belgian musicians made Europe exist long before Maastrich and have kept on cherishing, imperturbably, their freedom! They are no longer twenty-year-olds, but others have followed.…
Caisson
Under the name Tierce, Jez riley French, Ivan Palacky, and Dan Jones assemble a sonic laboratory for their album Caisson. The lineup holds French’s broad toolbox - field recordings, salt, paper, contact mics, prepared zither, and electronics - alongside Palacky’s signature amplified knitting machine and Jones’s turntable setup. The result, a single extended live improvisation, is a display of ensemble subtlety and the tactile intrigue of ordinary instruments used in extraordinary ways. Recorded …
Dias das cinzas
200 copies, numbered Born in 1970 and based in Lisbon, Manuel Mota is known for his very personal language in guitar playing. His music is part of a tradition rooted in blues and reveals a multitude of influences and historical references being at the same time actual, with an enigmatic sense of timelessness. This is his last solo LP recorded in a basement of a XIX century house in lisbon - limited 200 copies numbered
African Rhythms
A landmark of Afro-centric jazz in the 70s – and the first album by this famous underground collective! Oneness of Juju were a Washington DC-based group that grew out of the ashes of the Juju avant jazz ensemble "One of the most groundbreaking bands of their time. From early avant-garde jazz work on the Strata East label to their later fusions of Afrobeat, funk and spiritual jazz, Oneness stand as a huge influence for today's jazz scene. Released in 1976, the African Rhythms album is Onen…
Live in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, July 25th, 1970
White vinyl LP release of saxophonist Albert Ayler's quartet with pianist Call Cobbs, bassist Steve Tintweiss, and drummer Allen Blairman performing in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France in 1970 (LP 1 of 2). Just a few months before Albert Ayler presumably jumped to his death from the Statue of Liberty ferry into the frigid November waters of NYC's East River he was on stage for two energy filled nights at the Fondation de Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. Little did he know at the time tha…
Live in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, July 27th, 1970
Grey vinyl LP release of saxophonist Albert Ayler's quartet with pianist Call Cobbs, bassist Steve Tintweiss, and drummer Allen Blairman performing in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France in 1970
"Just a few months before Albert Ayler presumably jumped to his death from the Statue of Liberty ferry into the frigid November waters of NYC's East River he was on stage for two energy filled nights at the Fondation de Maeght in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France. Little did he know at the time that the recordi…
Ceremonies to breathe upon
Two contrabass players here, Andrew Lafkas, of whom I not really heard I think and Michael T. Bullock, of whom I did hear before, and know as someone who likes his improvised playing to be minimal - to say the least. I think Bullock at times also uses electronics, but I am not if he uses any of that here. Its not mentioned on the cover, nor the fact that this is perhaps a live concert. I do however think this is a live recording, however one with no audience, but a direct-to-track recording of t…
Shot
ultralimited lavishly packaged LP (100 handnumbered copies only!), this ground-breaking electro-acoustic trio made my day. The album is largely improvised, with extracts of Charles Bukowski’s poetic works overlapping on the interweavings and multiple stratiï¬Âed references in the trio’s music. It features a faceted palette of acoustic, analogue and digital colours: drums, metallic objects, ethnical instruments, samples, sequences, filtered voice, pedal effects, vinyls, digital electronic…
Live at the Storyville, NYC - 29 October, 1977
Day two of this rare live concert at the Storyville finds Ra and a 19-piece Arkestra again giving the audience a lesson in jazz with tracks like Rodgers and Hammerstein's 'My Favorite Things', Tadd Dameron's 'Lady Bird' and Miles Davis' 'Half Nelson', as well as a taste of his own classics ('Englight(en)Ment' and 'The Satellites')." Clear red vinyl in clear plastic sleeve with blue lettering (limited edition 500 copies).
Live at the Storyville, NYC - 24 October 1977
Quite simply one of Sun Ra's best live albums. This rare recording (originally on Horo records) finds Ra, along with a 19-piece Arkestra, playing a mix of his own compositions ('Images' and 'Lights') along with several jazz standards (including Jelly Roll Morton's 'King Porter Stomp' and Duke Ellington's 'Lightnin''). While Ra's own compositions were usually more avant-garde affairs, he always revelled in playing the classics as well in an effort to give his audience a lesson in jazz histo…
Semelles de fondation
Ressuage: Michel Pilz (bass clarinet), Itaru Oki (trumpet, flugelhorn, reeds), Benjamin Duboc (doublebass, voice), Jean-Noël Cognard (drums, objects), Patrick Müller (electrosonic) and Sébastian Rivas (laptop). Recorded in 2010 by Patrick Müller. Mixed by Patrick Müller. A coproduction by Bloc Thyristors-Bimbo Tower Records.
Michiyuki
'Thoughtful improvisation from percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani in a duo with Kaoru Watanabe on shinobue, noh kan & ryuteki, stunningly beautiful passages to active and unusual musical forms. The blending of traditional and radical new styles makes this a fascinating disc, with great communication and excellent pacing between the two players. Recommended for aural world travelers.'
White Stone Black Lamp
'From Between Trio partners percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani and saxophonist Michel Doneda in a duo release of unusual improvisation, the first release on Tatsuya's new Kobo label. Doneda performs on soprano and sopranino, chirping and smearing upper register sounds and laying out long tones that play beautifully to Nakatani's gongs, bows, drums, and inexplicable sound sources. Their long association yields an impressive compatibility and almost telepathic power in discourse. Impressive, un…
Swing Low Sweet Spiritual
Following a few years spent living and playing in Scandinavia, an unknown saxophone player by the name of Albert Ayler returned home to the USA to begin imposing his revolutionary style of jazz on the world. Having recorded his debut album, My Name Is Albert Ayler for the Danish label, Debut Records, this session (which took place in New York City on 24 February 1964) was his first American effort, resulting in the eventual release of two albums: Spirits (released in 1964 on Debut) and Swi…
Spirits
After a few years spent living in Sweden and touring with Cecil Taylor's Jazz Unit, Ayler moved to NYC to begin imposing his revolutionary style of jazz on the world through a number of groundbreaking records. Spirits, recorded at Atlantic Studios in New York City on 24 February 1964, was his first effort. Recorded a few months prior to his landmark album for ESP-Disk, Spiritual Unity (but only released in Europe on Denmark's Debut Records), for the occasion Ayler recruited Norman Howard …
Splintered Visions
BR worked with Adam Kriney of La Otracina and Owl Xounds on the Owl Xounds/Family Battle Snake split cassette back in May 2007, and its great to have this raging free jazz improv psyche out bunch back on Blackest Rainbow again for this awesome LP. 'Splintered Visions' was recorded back in February 2007, and has been torn from the archives of some of the wildest jams put to tape. This time round the group is in a quartet zone with Kriney on drums, Gene Janas on upright bass, Mario Rechtern on sax…
Horsky Park
Horsky Park (Another Timbre) documents the refined improvisational encounter of Tiziana Bertoncini - an Italian violinist with deep classical and contemporary training - and Thomas Lehn, renowned for his mercurial analog synth work. The duo’s sound is shaped by the alchemy of their contrasting instruments: violin, with its centuries of tradition, meets the unpredictable surge and sizzle of live electronics. The two primary pieces, recorded in 2006 (Heidelberg) and 2010 (Milan), testify to a matu…
Heart's Reflection
An incredible double CD from trumpeter Leo Smith's Organic with Michael Gregory, Pheeroan AkLaff, Angelica Sanchez, Skuli Sverrisson, Brandon Ross, &c &c... incredible electric and acoustic jazz from the legendary improviser and innovator!"Lauded as "one of the most vital musicians on the planet" by Coda, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most visionary, boldly original and artistically important figures in contemporary American jazz and free music, and one of the most distinctive trumpet pla…
Black Love
Saxophonist Carlos Garnett recorded with Pharoah Sanders, Miles Davis and Art Blakey. His 1974 spiritual jazz album features an amazing line-up of Reggie Lucas (Miles Davis, Sonny Rollins), Buster Williams, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Alex Blake (Sun Ra), Charles Sullivan, Mauricio Smith (Tito Puente), Norman Connors, and Billy Hart. Exact repro reissue.