Jazz /
Black Man's Blues
Violinist Billy Bang made his recording debut as a leader with the Survival Ensemble, the first working band he ever led, on New York Collage in 1979. Bang, saxophonists Bilal Abdur Rahman and Henry Warner, bassist William Parker, and percussionists Rashid Bakr and Khuwana John Fuller played incendiary free jazz more clearly indebted to the New York avant-garde of the preceding decade than any album Bang would record again. The music’s urgency and passion arose from the exhilaration of artistic …
Live at Kerrytown House
*2023 stock* "Though modern, “avant-garde” jazz is an ensemble music often based on collective improvisation, solo performance is its own extraordinarily fruitful sub-area of investigation for the creative improviser. Without a reactive, interpretive partner (or several), the solo recital blurs the lines between composition and improvisation as the performer enters a world of unfettered development. Greene has been performing and recording solo since the 1970s, and these settings have yielded so…
Upcoming Hurricane
*2023 stock. 300 copies limited edition* "I was already familiar with Pascal Niggenkemper's work as a result of the release, Klippe by Thomas Heberer, early this summer and a superb trio with Robin Verheyen and Tyshawn Sorey, PN Trio. So this was always going to be an exciting adventure to see what his new trio would put forth. And the new album, Upcoming Hurricane, pretty much says it all. This is a heavy storm of sound that comes on quietly but resonates brightly over 60+ minutes. Clean, open …
Katarsis4
*2023 stock* Katarsis4 - saxophone quartet from Lithuania founded by Arminas Bižys, Kazimieras Jušinskas, Algirdas Janonis, and Danielius Pancerovas. Their music moves between structurally free improvisation, which makes it sound each time differently, as well as academic music and the motives of Lithuanian folk music. The saxophone quartet creatively presents the instrument itself - extending the use of saxophone by unusual methods. Also, the quartet not only uses extended techniques for extrac…
For Children
The 1970 album For Children by Eero Koivistoinen was originally released by the book publishing company, Otava, which was responsible for his earlier two albums as well. Jazzpuu/Sähkö Recordings reissued For Children in 2006 as did we in 2016, yet both of these releases have been hard to find ever since. This time around Svart brings this important piece of Koivistoinen's career, a successful amalgam of acoustic jazz and funky fusion back on the market on a limited Svart exclusive blue vinyl ed…
Odysseus
Odysseus, Eero Koivistoinen's first proper jazz album, gets its title from the wandering spirit of its songs, traveling from one mood to another. Performed by the Eero Koivistoinen Quintet & Sextet, because Koivistoinen wanted to extend his standard quartet (Koivistoinen-Sarmanto-Laine-Hietanen) to a quintet and invited trumpetist Bertil Lövgren to join. Also Juhani Aaltonen is questing on two tracks. Odysseus is an excellent, youthful package of forward-thinking jazz played by ambitious young j…
The Attic
*2023 stock* "This is a stellar freely improvised session featuring Rodrigo Amado on tenor saxophone, Goncalo Almeida on bass and Marco Franco on drums, recorded live in Portugal in December of 2015. "Shadow" opens the album with scraping bowed bass that is recorded beautifully, giving the sound a physical immediacy and presence. After the epic bowed bass opening, Amado's raw, rending saxophone and Franco's measured percussion enter, imposing their power upon the proceedings, burning a path thro…
Hydro 2
*2023 stock* Music for soprano sax and water prepared keyless overtone saxophones.
Hasparren
*2023 stock* "Recorded in Hasparren, in the French basque county, we find two of the country's most eloquent free improvisers in a fantastic duo album. Daunik Lazro is on baritone sax and Joëlle Léandre on bass. Their music is a sheer delight. It is subtle, nuanced, powerful and sensitive, flowing in the most natural kind of way, together in the same direction. [...] Beautiful, beautiful ... and rich." - Stef Gijssels
Live With Repertoire
*2023 stock* "Riley’s music has often been called reserved and constructivist, maybe because of his classical avant-garde background. However, his approach is by no means unemotional, there is a very beautiful lyricism in his style. On “Live with Repertoire” you can see this if you compare his version of “Round Midnight” with the one by Miles Davis, whose interpretation of the classic Monk tune sounds like a soundtrack to a French film noir in which the protagonist strolls through a deserted Par…
In Residency At Bitches Brew
*2023 stock* "In December 2018 I had a four-night residency at the Bitches Brew jazz club in Yokohama. These concerts were organized by Mr Kenny Inaoka, founder and editor-in-chief of the webzine JazzTokyo.com and a prodigious jazz record producer and Seiichi Sugita, the owner of the Bitces Brew. They managed to invite some of the greatest improvisers from the Tokyo area to join me for four concerts in a row. This album captures some sound memories of those unforgettable performances with fantas…
Hall Of Mirrors / Pulse
*2023 stock* Double concert of sax titan Evan Parker and Italian electronic musician Walter Prati. The first CD is a reissue of Hall of Mirrors released in 1991 on MM&T label. Digitally recorded at FX studio Milan, February 1990. The second CD, Pulse, was recorded in May 2016 at the Limonaia of Villa Strozzi, Florence, during Tempo Reale festival.
Elastic Jazz - Sketches of Britain
*2023 stock* Sampler of some of the most iconic figures in the British jazz scene. Comes with a book of 92 pages that contains the artist' profiles, brief history of British jazz and related discography. Notes on each track written by the composers. English/Italian text.
The Soul In The Mist
*2023* "Every now and then a recording comes out which renews the realization of how richly creative improvised music can be. What is intriguing is the idea of the well of introspection that must trigger the musicians’ process. The answer to the question “What comes next?” keeps the listener glued to the music.
In the Ictus release, The Soul in the Mist, Andrea Centazzo, on drums, Mallet Kat and percussion, Nobu Stowe, on piano, and Perry Robinson, on clarinet, render the anticipation of “What c…
The Taoist Concert
*2023 stock* "Back in March 2020, when Covid was taking over the world, we quietly released "The Journey" by Perry Robinson and Andrea Centazzo. We dedicated it to the free spirit clarinetist who journeyed away to the stars on December 2, 2018. During the pandemic lockdown, Andrea rediscovered his duo concert with Perry at The Taoist Sanctuary, which took place on May 29, 2015, the night before "The Journey" session. Peter Kuhn, who also performed with Perry that night with his trio, recorded th…
Derek Bailey Tribute Band
*2023 stock* "For Derek Bailey, improvisation was an end unto itself. He considered the artistic practice to be so sacrosanct that he almost viewed recording as a perversion. Why preserve for posterity a musical act that is meant to be experienced in the moment? Fortunately for us, the most unique improviser to ever strike against six strings has left behind plenty of recordings for us to puzzle over, thanks in large part to percussionist Andrea Centazzo’s label Ictus. One particular record, Dro…
Textures And Pulsations
*2023 stock* “Textures and Pulsations” is a multilayered sonic meeting between two gifted and imaginative pianist/composers, Aruán Ortiz and Bob Gluck. With two pianos and poignantly etched live electronics, this pair crafts a mélange of subtly shifting textures, lyrical melodies, and engaging grooves. This collection of carefully articulated, highly virtuosic improvisations is a study in contrast, offering moments of subtlety and power. Musical moods range from wild flights of pianistic fantasy…
The Battle
*2023 stock* "In ancient Rome, chariot racing was one of the most popular forms of entertainment. Young nobles used to fiercely race their chariots around the 7 hills of the city. People on their path had to scatter to get out of the way, as they stopped for no one. But the event always generated strong spectator enthusiasm. In today’s New York, as this “Centazzo Invasion Orchestra” concert was progressing that evening at the Stone, I suddenly had a vision of such a mighty show. Like those Roma…
Live In Woodstock Two
*2023 stock* This is the debut double album recorded in November 2009 of the new exciting duo The Way formed by soprano sax master Joe Giardullo and percussionist and composer Andrea Centazzo. Finally after chasing each others for years, they met for a new sonic adventure. Recorded live at Sertso Studio Woodstock, November 22 2009. Recording Engineer Ted Orr. Mixed, edited, designed and produced in Los Angeles by Andrea Centazzo.
Live In Woodstock One
2023 stock This is the debut double album recorded in November 2009 of the new exciting duo The Way formed by soprano sax master Joe Giardullo and percussionist and composer Andrea Centazzo. Finally after chasing each others for years, they met for a new sonic adventure. Recorded live at Sertso Studio Woodstock, November 22 2009. Recording Engineer Ted Orr. Mixed, edited, designed and produced in Los Angeles by Andrea Centazzo.