Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

After introducing his new trio with pianist Paul Bley and double bassist Steve Swallow in two 1961 albums on Verve, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre embarked on a tour of Europe, this recently discovered, well-recorded concert in Graf, Austria the perfect example of his unique concepts yielding intensely focused, harmonically challenging, rhythmically abstract, and exquisite chamber jazz.

Temporary Super Offer! 'Jost may have had Fire Music and Mama Too Tight in mind when he suggested that by 1965 Archie Shepp spoke “basically two musical languages whose grammar and syntax had hardly anything in common.” This reflected the commentaries’s insistence that a chasm existed between free jazz and mainstream jazz practices, and, implicitly, between the New Wave in Jazz and the New Breed led by James Brown. What was revolutionary about Shepp’s music is that it rejected the underlying bin…

2004 release ** "In 2003 Milo Fine joined forces with his father and percussion teacher, the legendary Elliot Fine and the great mystic drummer Davu Seru. Percussion Music; Improvised, a mammoth double CD grew out of this iconic clash of drummers. Exploring the possibility of creating monumental, pulseless music made up of great blocks of seemingly static, but subtly changing, textures whose components parts flowed seamlessly in and out of each other. Right through the endless-sounding “Impressi…

2005 release ** "Matt Heckert has been working as a performance and sound artist since 1978. In the 80"s he worked as one of the directors of Survival Research Laboratories building robots and designing soundtracks for the performances and for film. In 1989 he began working on the Mechanical Sound Orchestra, a group of computer controlled mechanical sound instruments. He has presented this in the USA and in Europe since that time, working solo and in collaboration with others."

Balloons On Grass is a collaborative album by Tony Orzano, Bryan Rohmer, and Jeremy Wexler that thrives on the unpredictable energy of improvisation. Recorded in a single, free-form session, the album is a vivid journey through the intersecting worlds of post-rock, noise, and free jazz. Each track unfolds organically, with the musicians responding to each other in real-time, creating a dynamic tapestry of sound that is both spontaneous and deeply intentional. The album opens with shimmering guit…

Acoustic jazz recording featuring Holcomb's eleven-minute title-track, Lenny Pickett's ten-minute Dance Music for Composer Orchestra, Elliott Sharp's eight-minute Skew and Horvitz's nine-minute Paper Money and an eleven-minute composition by Anthony Braxton.

Glorious Ravage is a panoramic free jazz song cycle by San Francisco Bay Area bassist and composer Lisa Mezzacappa, that features a large ensemble of stellar California improvisers performing with films created by Bay Area moving image artists Janis Crystal Lipzin, Kathleen Quillian, Alfonso Alvarez and Konrad Steiner. The program takes as its inspiration the adventures and writings of lady explorers of the 19th century who trekked to the wildest parts of the earth, to escape, to discover, and t…

ATA are proud to release their latest recording of The Lewis Express – Doo Ha! Featuring flautist Chip Wickham and recorded live to 2-inch analogue tape at All Things Analogue Studios, Leeds, UK, this album is a living, breathing tribute to the golden age of soul-jazz — the electric alchemy of smoky clubs, Sunday afternoons at the record store, and the spiritual communion of groove and grit. But this isn't nostalgia. It's revival. It's a reminder that music has always been about feel, not files.…

Draguns & Cozzolino Reunite as Flying Sutra to Win Over a New Generation of Fans with Fresh Hit Album Featuring Blossoming Saxist Ayumi Ishito

When Jacobo Vega-Albela left New Mexico for upstate New York to pursue a lifelong dream of becoming a performer and composer, he knew it would change him forever. Ready to expand his potential, he soon found himself on a path that some only fantasize about. He has since transformed his extraordinary journey and its captivating highs and lows into his first album with 577 Records.   “Un-Belonging is a record underpinned by tremendous joy, optimism, and love for the world counterbalanced by a pers…

Bukas: How Karl Evangelista is Exploring the Future of Free Music with his Quintet and Special Guest, Andrew Cyrille

Reissue on 180 grams vinyl. For “Afrika”, originally released in 1984, South African expatriate bassist Johnny Dyani enlarged his group to a septet from the quartet formation he had used on prior Steeplechase recordings and, in the process, shifted gears slightly from the deeper, beautifully bitter songs that had been his forte (such as “House Arrest” on Mbizo) to a somewhat lighter fare, replete with catchy, skipping melodies and funky electric bass. Dyani unfortunately passed away before witne…

"Live from the Archives" by Brian Blade & The Fellowship Band is a live double LP recorded at Blues Alley, Washington, D.C., in 2000. Featuring a stellar lineup, the album presents a rich tapestry of original compositions and improvisations that blend jazz with gospel and folk sensibilities. Through its dynamic performances and heartfelt interplay, the record offers an immersive snapshot of the band’s artistry, capturing both their technical brilliance and spiritual depth in a singular live sett…

"Baro 101" unites Mats Gustafsson, Paal Nilssen-Love, and Masele Asmamaw for an electrifying fusion of Scandinavian free jazz and Ethiopian traditions. The album’s two expansive tracks showcase intense improvisation, with Asmamaw’s krar injecting unique rhythms and melodies, creating a bold, genre-defying musical journey.

"Brand New For China!" by Cactus Truck is a fiercely intense debut, blending free jazz with punk energy and noise. The Amsterdam-based trio delivers raw, high-velocity improvisations across tracks that range from explosive outbursts to muscular, dynamic interplay, marking the album as a standout in avant-garde jazz.

Akio Niitsu's first album, "I/O(i･o)" released in 1978, was produced in a homemade studio that had been converted from a storeroom in his home, and he spent three years doing everything from composition to engineering by himself, using overdubbed guitar recordings. Akio Niitsu's first analog re-release has been decided. As a guitar multi-recording album, the idea was realized six years earlier than the album "E2-E4" released in 1984 by Manuel Göttsching, the central figure of "Ash La Tempel", bu…

When eminent jazz practitioners with shared histories convene in the studio without rehearsal or preparatory gigs, a perfunctory, by-the-numbers session is often the outcome. That is decidedly not the case on Solid Jackson, whose personnel, four of whom participated on the well-wrought day-after-Christmas of 1994 Criss Cross album titled Consenting Adults, reside in any hardcore jazz connoisseur’s “top-five”. This second gathering of M.T.B. (titled for the surnames of Brad Mehldau, Mark Turner a…

In his last release for the Impulse label, Hubbard’s ambitious 1963 recording The Body & The Soul includes both an all-star septet and an orchestra with strings. Including a number of Hubbard originals and such notables as Curtis Fuller (trombone), Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone), Cedar Walton (piano), Reggie Workman (bass), and Louis Hayes (drums), the album stands alone as one of the most unique productions in Freddie’s substantive discography and as a showcase fo…

Probably due to the fact that Eric Dolphy died untimely in 1964, making every one of his recorded contributions more widely sought after, pianist Mal Waldron’s album, The Quest, was reissued soon after its release under the reedman’s name. Tenor saxophonist Booker Ervin is also featured on The Quest. Ervin and Dolphy had both been members of the Charles Mingus group and the two reedmen recorded various LPs together with Mingus between 1960 and 1963.

Sun Ra's legendary 1978 Italian studio sessions, now available together for the first time ever on vinyl! Long sought-after by collectors, these extremely rare studio sessions were originally released in 1978 as two double LPs (New Steps and Other Voices, Other Blues) on the mysterious Italian jazz label, Horo Records. They have never been reissued on vinyl (and only partially reissued on CD) until now! With the help of trumpet player, Michael Ray, drummer, Luqman Ali and saxophonist John Gilmor…

2010 release ** "This is certainly not William Parker's first solo album, he already released "Lifting The Sanctions", "Testimony" and "Painter's Autumn", but this is the first one on which he doesn't play pizzicato, using his bow for the first and lengthy track, called "Cathedral Wisdom Light", on which he demonstrates the unbelievable riches that are hidden in his instrument : from the cry of whales to those of birds, over the pulsing or a heart, or just bone-chilling shrieks. He goes deep her…

1998 release (light storage wear) ** "It has always been baffling why the work of certain contemporary composers like Anthony Braxton, whose work spans the jazz and classical genres, has not been more widely performed by musicians outside of their own immediate sphere as "standards" of modern repertoire. After all, pieces by modern composers of the generation prior to his, like Ornette Coleman or Charles Mingus, are routinely covered by performers in and outside of jazz. One would think that Bra…

2005 release ** "Recorded at the Institut fur Elektronische Musik und Akustik in Graz, Austria during the first week of August 2003, Anthony Braxton's (+ Duke Ellington) Concept of Freedom is a dazzling exercise in collective creativity. Braxton does not perform on this recording. Neither does Ellington, for that matter. Both men and their substantial accomplishments are honored and invoked by a quartet of skilled improvisers. These are trombonist Roland Dahinden, pianist Hildegard Kleeb, violin…

2004 release ** "Recorded in 2003 at the Clear Lake recording studio in Venice, California. This set places Sam Rivers in the company of drummer Harris Eisenstadt and percussionist Adam Rudolph for a series of seven medium-length freewheeling improvisations. Rivers plays tenor, soprano and flute on these exercises and the effect is electrifying. While completely in the moment, utterly outside, and spontaneously realized, there is a certain warmth and accessibility on this outing that is unexpect…

This is the first time this concert has been published in its entirety. The adventure began in 2022 with a visit to a tape recorder enthusiast in Brittany. It turned out that he had the missing part of this mythical recording. It took us almost two years of traveling through the south of France and the United States to finally find the other original tapes in... Stockholm. We are proud and happy to present this first volume. In October, on the stage of the Olympia - a legendary Parisian venue th…

This CD was released as part of the ICP 30th Anniversary celebrations and came in a paper pocket fixed to the inside front cover of the Anniversary booklet. track 1 recorded at Bimhuis, Amsterdam, NL on January 31, 1997track 2 recorded at Theater Romein, Leeuwarden, NL on April 1, 1992recorded by Dick Lucascover art by Han Bennink

Instant Composers Pool presents East Of The Sun, a series of live sessions performed ICP Orchestra. Recorded March 18th, 19th, 20th 2014 by Kasper Frenkel, Electric Monkey Studio, Amsterdam. Mastered by Frank van der Weij. Artwork by Han Bennink. Photographs by Francesca Patella. Graphic design by Piet Gerards Ontwerpers. Thanks to: Cherry Duyns, Emma Fischer, Huub van Riel. Michael Moore clarinet, alto sax; Ab Baars clarinet tenor sax; Tobias Delius clarinet tenor sax; Wolter Wierbos trombone; …

1993 release ** "This trio, comprised of bassist/vocalist Jöelle Léandre, violinist Carlos Zingaro, and accordion and clarinet player Rüdiger Carl have, under the auspices of Léandre's inspiration, come together to create a musical mosaic under the guise of "chamber improvisation." These players take their cues from long developed practices like nuance, empathy and even a kind of sonic telepathy. Léandre, though most understated, is clearly the catalyst in making all things possible in this trio…

1995 release ** "With Basement Research, Gebhard Ullmann released his first CD for the Italian label Soul Note in 1995. Four of the most interesting individualists out of the new generation of contemporary jazz players realized their very personal and intense musical ideas. The CD was widely critically acclaimed and has been listed in the US-College Radio Jazz Charts for several months. "

1993 release **

1999 release ** "While documenting some of the most important free-style jazz from around the globe, Leo Feigin of Leo Records has focused on discovering new talent, particularly in the former Soviet Union. Here, startlingly unique trumpeter Guyvoronsky is teamed with young accordionist Evelin Petrova for a series of eleven duets that incorporate folk music and jazz in an experimental avant-garde approach that defies convention and focuses on color, humor, and shading. At times, the trumpeter se…

1991 release ** The third in a three volume compilation (each available separately) of 114 improvisers from around the world, covering a wide variety of approaches to improvisation. "A turbid dive into new music, this release packs everything from free-form jazz-like scraw to variations in composition, structure and situation to solo exploration." Featuring Pluto, Amy Denio, Davey Williams, LaDonna Smith, Marty Walker, Crawling With Tarts, IDLH, Ed Herrmann, Andrew Voigt, Tom Nunn, Tamio Shirais…

New Vienna is the fourth concert recording to be released from Keith Jarrett’s final European solo tour. It follows Munich 2016, Budapest Concert and Bordeaux Concert. Why New Vienna? As Jarrett aficionados will know, his discography already includes a legendary Vienna Concert (recorded at the Vienna State Opera) whose music, he once claimed, spoke “the language of the flame itself”, after long years of “courting the fire”.  Keith Jarrett’s 2016 return to the Austrian capital brought the flames …

Masterful trio interplay reliant on deeply honed three-way communication and a refined sense of understatement make Fred Hersch’s third recording for ECM an essential entry into the piano trio canon. Hersch tackles a handful of 20th century compositions – spanning from standards to less frequented jazz tunes – as well as three originals, with Drew Gress on bass and Joey Baron on drums – two longstanding companions of Fred’s who have played with him on and off since the late 80s and early 90s res…

After Mette Henriette’s critically acclaimed, self-titled first recording comes Drifting – and album pervaded by trio conversations of idiosyncratic and original expression. With Johan Lindvall returning on piano, new addition Judith Hamann on cello and herself on saxophone, Mette’s chamber musical elaborations prove of a concentrated and exploratory quality, marked by subtle yet intense interaction. Motifs and recurring patterns crystallize and reveal a concise, intricate narrative. The saxopho…

2009 release ** "Creative music making is a matter of energy, heart, and trust, and when all three are present the music flies. A meeting of three old Chicago friends and collaborators, flutist Nicole Mitchell, drummer Hamid Drake, and bassist Harrison Bankhead, the Indigo Trio soars with the kind of spiritual energy that has inspired Great Black Music from its inception... Building a bridge between composition and improvisation, Bankhead, Drake, and Mitchell have created an inspiring album. Wit…

Kicking off what will be an Alice Coltrane year with more releases to come in the next 12 months, is a previously unreleased, killer live recording from 1971.  Recorded live, by Impulse! at a charity gala given at Carnegie Hall for the benefit of the Integral Yoga Institute in 1971, this incredible set never saw commercial release until now. The gala concert was one of two halves with the first two transcendental tunes by Alice taken from the album she had just released on Impulse! and then two …

The 2018 live performance captured on Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s 'Chicago Waves' marked a beautiful turning point for International Anthem. The moment was recorded at our then-HQ in Chicago, Co-Prosperity, the day after Niño and Atwood-Ferguson performed as part of Makaya McCraven’s ensemble to celebrate the release of 'Universal Beings' and recreate their contributions to that album's “Los Angeles Side." The two musicians were keen to use their time in Chicago to not only support Ma…

Ornette Coleman’s "Ornette On Tenor" marks a pivotal moment in jazz, featuring his switch to tenor sax and the addition of Jimmy Garrison on bass. The album’s earthy, darker soundscape, collective improvisation, and absence of fixed themes highlight Coleman’s ongoing musical revolution.

1991 release ** "Recorded at the Listen to Lacy festival in Vienna, 1990, this large ensemble recording is really the Steve Lacy Sextet plus ten. One of the dectet members is Franz Koglmann. Although some of Lacy's other large group experiments met with mixed results, it is not so here. Itinerary, with its seven selections, is an orchestral work on par with at of Gil Evans' (to whom this record is dedicated) Out of the Cool sessions for Impulse, and of course the Gil Evans and Ten recordings tha…