Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

3-CD box collecting Codona's three ECM albums (Codona, Codona 2, Codona 3) by Collin Walcott, Don Cherry and Naná Vasconcelos, recorded at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, in 1978, 1980 and 1982, produced by Manfred Eicher.

*100 copies limited edition* I went looking for a dictionary definition of brutalism, trying to understand it a bit better. It had been our starting point since the first rehearsal. But did we actually understand it? Does any of it have something to do with our music? Does it even make sense — instrumental pieces inspired by buildings?We didn't set out to make a genre out of it. We set out to strip things down. Take a melody, take a rhythm, cut away everything that isn't essential — no polish, n…

The Globe Unity Orchestra at ten years old, recorded in Baden-Baden in November 1975 with Braxton, Rava, Wheeler, Brötzmann, Parker, Mangelsdorff and Lovens: five pieces from inside the orchestra, nearly all unreleased until this CD.

Peter Brötzmann solo on clarinets and alto, tenor and bass saxophones, recorded at the FMP studio in May 1976: the twelve pieces of the LP Brötzmann/Solo, from 27 seconds to ten minutes.

Steve Lacy in Berlin: the 1975 solo soprano recordings of the Stabs LP, plus the 1977 quintet with Steve Potts, Irène Aebi, Kent Carter and Oliver Johnson playing Esteem and Follies at the Workshop Freie Musik.

Irène Schweizer, Rüdiger Carl and Louis Moholo: the LP Messer, live in Moers and in the FMP studio in 1975, followed by Tuned Boots, the twenty-minute trio piece recorded in Graz in 1977.

Fred Van Hove alone at the piano: Prosper, recorded live at Flöz in Berlin in 1981, and Die Letzte, recorded at Studio Casablanca in 1986, the two SAJ solo LPs on one CD.

Peter Brötzmann's Die Like a Dog Quartet with Toshinori Kondo, William Parker and Hamid Drake, live at the Total Music Meeting in Berlin in November 1994: two long pieces, Close Up (Man) and Close Up (Woman).

Radu Malfatti on trombone and Stephan Wittwer on guitar in Innsbruck, February 1977: the duo LP Und? plus Untitled?, a fourteen-minute piece from the same tapes released here for the first time.

Peter Kowald solo on double bass and voice, live at Podewil in Berlin in November 2000 and edited by Kowald himself in June 2002: a concert version of his solo album Was da ist, in seven parts.

Cellist Tristan Honsinger and guitarist Olaf Rupp in their first recorded duo, Berlin, March 2010: one hour-long improvisation, Can You Imagine a Conversation Between a Table and a Chair?, in eight parts.

Manuela+, the quartet of Rüdiger Carl, Jin Hi Kim on komungo, Hans Reichel on guitar and daxophone and Carlos Zingaro on violin, live at the Total Music Meeting in Berlin in 1999: an hour-long improvisation in seven parts.

** 2021 Repress ** If Conversations celebrates the memory, the artistic and spiritual heritage of bassist Fred Hopkins -- a historical member of the revolutionary Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians of Chicago -- who died in January 1999, it also marks the amazing collaboration between the Ritual Trio of Kahil El'Zabar (with Ari Brown and Malachi Favors) and the intrepid veteran Archie Shepp, the great voice of the '70s Afro-free-jazz. Being a tribute that invites to an intimat…

Listening to the music of Al Doum & The Faryds is always like staying in the pristine nature of an exotic island, in the sacred harmony of a new organic society; imaging all brothers and sisters singing and dancing in the unity of the brotherhood. This is the message of love and joy that pervade this fourth album, Spirit Rejoin. Moving towards accents of jazz ancestry, the Faryds absorb and re-elaborate -- with remarkable insights -- disparate elements and influences of electric jazz of the '70s…

Happy Today, the third album from guitarist/bandleader Jeff Parker’s long-running ETA IVtet, was recorded live at Lodge Room in Los Angeles on August 20, 2025. This fresh entry into the IVtet’s catalog captures Parker and the band – including drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, and saxophonist Josh Johnson – on record outside of the now-shuttered Highland Park micro-club ETA for the first time. The performance also captures a distinctly joyful night of togetherness set against the back…

Strong music is timeless. Ofelia was produced 20 years ago, the demo was lying in a drawer for 18 years until last autumn I found it again. And today it sounds as contemporary as made last night. The album makes a Finnish version of Dreams Less Sweet by Psychic TV brought to mad 21-century. 80's industrial sounds blend with neo classical parts and contemporary drone music ending up to insane Dada-piece Ofelia.

Doug Carn created a personalized strain of jazz music that expressed a loving hopefulness. He found a home at the Black Jazz label, where African-Americans called the shots and, of course, racial tension was nonexistent. Who was this 22-year-old whose first album, Infant Eyes, sold very well away from the machinations of the music industry? Once a child prodigy on piano and alto saxophone, Carn had attended Jacksonville University on a full music scholarship and afterwards performed on the Flori…

Seychelles is the debut solo album by Japanese guitarist and composer Masayoshi Takanaka, released on Kitty Records in July 1976. Named after the Indian Ocean archipelago, it introduced the bright, melodic fusion sound that would become his signature. Across eight tracks, Takanaka blends jazz fusion, funk, Latin rhythms, reggae textures, and early Japanese city-pop sensibility. His guitar leads are fluid and sunny, moving from the playful groove of “Oh! Tengo Suerte” and “Tokyo Reggie” to the ex…

An Insatiable High is the third studio album by Japanese jazz-fusion guitarist Masayoshi Takanaka, originally released by Kitty Records in 1977 and reissued in 2024. The album blends polished jazz fusion, disco, city pop, and sun-soaked West Coast funk, showcasing Takanaka’s fluid guitar work and effortlessly breezy production. This edition was released on August 23, 2024, pressed on clear yellow vinyl as a Japanese import. It features contributions from major Los Angeles session musicians of th…

Drawn from two September 1964 sessions at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio with producer Bob Thiele, The Voice That Is! features vocalist Johnny Hartman in his third and final album for Impulse! following a celebrated collaboration with John Coltrane. The album blends two sessions arranged by Bob Hammer: one pairing Hartman with pianist Hank Jones, bassist Richard Davis, and drummer Osie Johnson, and another for octet, with English horn, flute, marimba and Latin percussion flourishes throughout. The rep…

Best known for his association with Charles Mingus, the Texas-born tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin was a distinctive soloist with an assertive and immediately recognizable sound. One of Ervin’s pinnacle statements as a leader was the first of his two Pacific Jazz albums, Structurally Sound, which he cut in 1966 shortly after returning to the U.S. from a two-year period of living in Barcelona and working across Europe. Featuring Ervin fronting a top-shelf quintet with Charles Tolliver on trumpet, …

Trumpeter Freddie Hubbard burst out of the gates taking the jazz world by storm with his Blue Note debut Open Sesame in 1960. Within 14 months he had recorded three more hard bop classics—Goin’ Up, Hub Cap, and Ready For Freddie—each one a showcase for his dynamic playing. Recorded in April 1961, Hub Cap was the first of his Blue Note dates that also highlighted Hubbard’s growing skill as a composer, with four of the album’s six pieces coming from his pen including the hard-charging title track,…

Cut on February 23 and 25, 1965, at Rudy Van Gelder’s studio and released later that year on Impulse!, Dear John C. marks drummer Elvin Jones’s first album for the label as a full-fledged leader, boldly looking forward while honoring his transformative contributions with the John Coltrane Quartet since the beginning of the decade. Produced by Bob Thiele, the sessions feature alto saxophonist Charlie Mariano, pianists Roland Hanna and Elvin’s brother Hank Jones, bassist Richard Davis, and Jones o…

Following the genre-redefining revelations of A Love Supreme in 1965, John Coltrane began a dramatic shift toward spiritual free jazz, abandoning familiar forms in favor of a more abstract sonic palette and bold questions he'd spend the rest of his life and career pursuing. Meditations, released by Impulse! in 1966, continues that emotional throughline while retaining, for the last time in full, the classic quartet that propelled Trane to greatness: pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison an…

A saxophonist of striking originality, Sam Rivers’ music had a strong avant-garde undercurrent though he kept a foot planted firmly in post-bop and the blues, a sound heard to great effect on his masterful 1964 debut Fuchsia Swing Song. The last of Rivers’ four highly-distinctive Blue Note albums, 1967’s Dimensions & Extensions, is fascinating for the presence of trumpeter Donald Byrd who makes a rare foray into the avant-garde alongside Rivers on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, and flute, J…

Masahiko Togashi's 1976 Denon Jazz album: six 'Expressions' for a percussion-led ensemble with Sabu Toyozumi, Tatsuji Yokoyama, Masahiko Satoh and three woodwind players, recorded in Tokyo with early PCM digital technology. LP reissue.

“Hasabe” is a thoughtfully curated collection of Ethio-groove recordings from one of the overlooked pioneers of 1970s Addis Ababa’s vibrant music scene—Ayalew Mesfin and his Black Lion Band. Expect trap drum kits, jazz big-band styled horn sections, funky guitars played through wah wah and fuzz pedals— all seasoned with a unique Ethiopian touch… Reissued once again thanks to our collaboration with Now Again. Pressed on 180g vinyl.

Marcos Valle is one of the few artists you cannot miss if you have the slightest interest in Brazilian music. Whether your taste is focused on bossa jazz, samba, psych folk or soul, Valle has surely recorded a great album for you. “Garra” was originally released in 1971 and brought us Valle’s classics such as ‘Com Mais De 30’, ‘O Cafona’, ‘Vinte E Seis Anos De Vida Normal’ and the rare groove classic ‘Wanda Vidal.’ Remastered from the original tapes and pressed on 180g vinyl. This release is par…

Celebrated Italian saxophonist Roberto Ottaviano collaborated with Martin Phillips on his recent biography of Keith Tippett which was published by Jazz In Britain. During that process he also sent us the recordings that make up this new release. Recorded live in Geneva, Switzerland in February 1991, this 2 CD set is taken from two performances of extraordinary dexterity and beauty that feature Tippett on piano plus his usual array of objects and toys alongside Ottaviano’s virtuoso soprano saxoph…

A powerful "electric Miles" sounding band reinterprets a couple of classics  - In A Silent Way and Freedom Jazz Dance - and adds some wholly contemporary improvisation to the mix."2026 Is Miles and Coltrane's Centenary year and if Jazz music needs any Gods then surely they fit the bill without question. When I heard In a Silent Way for the first time back in 1970 when I was 17 (incidentally that was the first year I heard Coltrane as well) it truly was music like nothing I had ever heard before.…

The Rhythm Machine is now available again to the musical public, legitimately reissued in its original packaging. Offering up brilliant soul, haunting ballads and high-energy mid-70s funk, this tasty medley is served best in its entirety. Virtually impossible to find in its original edition, we are now reissuing it once again thanks to a collaboration with Now Again. Pressed on 180g vinyl.

Step into the golden era of soul-jazz with the long-awaited vinyl reissue of “Vibrations” (1976) by Roy Ayers Ubiquity — a record that captures the unmistakable warmth, groove, and sophistication that defined Roy Ayers’ sound at its peak. Beyond its original impact, “Vibrations” has taken on a second life through hip-hop. Its grooves, breaks, and melodies have been extensively sampled by generations of producers and artists, becoming a foundational source for crate diggers and beatmakers alike. …

Naissoo Freeform Quintet is a vivid exploration of jazz improvisation and collective creativity, recorded by Estonian keyboardist and composer Tõnu Naissoo and a handpicked ensemble of accomplished local musicians. Captured during two highly spontaneous sessions in Tallinn in July 2024, the album foregrounds the chemistry of the quintet - with Naissoo’s Rhodes, Moog Source, and ARP Odyssey providing the core, and enhanced by the agile bass work of Mihkel Mälgand, the resonant bass clarinet of Me…

Special discounted Bundle. Two of the greatest free jazz records ever laid to tape, back where they belong. Superior Viaduct reissues Noah Howard's The Black Ark and Julius Hemphill's Dogon A.D. — both from 1972, both inexplicably scarce for decades, both essential. The Black Ark finds Howard backed by a towering ensemble — Norris Jones (Sirone), Arthur Doyle, Leslie Waldron, Earl Cross, Juma Sultan, Mohammed Ali — in four tracks that move from hard-blown spiritual fire to lyrical catharsis. Des…

"Originally planned for issue on Strata-East, Hammond took his collaboration with Durrah to Detroit and issued his masterpiece. Lacquered by Bernie Grundman. Now-Again presents the definitive Tribe Records reissues. Deep, spiritual jazz of the highest order. The Tribe label, one of the brightest lights of America's 1970s jazz underground, receives the Now-Again reissue treatment. This is your chance to indulge in the music and story of one of the most meaningful, local movements of the 20th Cent…

*2025 repress* Made with the intention of exploring and experiencing the various musical and cultural perspectives of a territory as vast as that of Persia, "Near And Far East" is a significant historical document that transcends the restrictive concept of territory but rather inhabits a space of absolute time. The album's content is not just window into faraway places, but a leap into the times and cultures that have now been swallowed up by the incessant movement of globalization and capitalis…

“Brillian album by Khan Jamal” - Gilles Peterson, BBC Radio 6

Outstanding freeform blow-out by Free jazz percussionist, experimental composer, and all-round awesome dude Cristiano Calcagnile. The album features Calcagnile’s technically-brilliant drumming accompanied by a menagerie of found objects, glockenspiel, aerophone instruments and electrified metal sheet. The resultant is utterly unique. A vibrant album that blazes a trail of rhythmic intensity taking in many styles on his journey, also incorporating combustible electronics and effects in complex bu…

** Temporary reduced price ** Quoting Dusted magazine "This is not a jazz album. This is the music of ritual. Any resemblance it has to jazz is purely coincidental and passing. This is the sound of utopia, of equality, of the universal egalitarian dream, of the earth, the water, and the life force in all its various guises." and "This is an album of education in practice. Don Cherry spent the summer of 1971 teaching at a youth music camp normally devoted to the study of classical music. Somewher…

Licensed from Futura Records. 180 gram vinyl. "I get something out of listening to Coltrane, Shepp, and Coleman; I'm really pleased that young players are trying to change things. If they go back the roots and come up with something new, that's fantastic." This comment was made by saxophonist Hal Singer to Gérard Terronès for the magazine Jazz Hot in 1968. Two years later, Terronès would issue Singer's album Blues and News, on his label Futura Records. Though born in 1919, Hal Singer claims, jus…