Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

2004 release ** "If you dig just a little deeper into experimental acoustic guitar music, the name Steffen Basho-Junghans should come up. A German-born guitarist and performer, Basho-Junghans stands out amongst others with his unique guitar style. Implementing elements of American folk with Indian raga for a unique sound, he has created a strong catalog that spans nearly 15 years. On 7Books, Basho-Junghans goes all out with a double-disc collection of extended tracks, in the range of ten to fift…

2008 release ** "For fans of Lounge Lizards this is a must-have, as we have two of the main musicians of this legendary band, tuba player Marcus Rojas and trumpeter Steven Bernstein. The line-up is completed by the excellent Danish drummer Kresten Osgood. The album begins with a moving howl from Marcus Rojas on the tuba, but this is just an introduction to Charles Brackeen's prayerful composition 'Prince of Night'. Then we have songs by the band members and Thelonius Monk, Charles Mingus, Hank W…

2014 release  ** "As if anything could be the same is a duet album by the father and son team of saxophonist Jack Wright and contrabassist Ben Wright . In the world of improvised music, or non-idiomatic improvised music if one must, Jack Wright is a seminal figure. A self-taught bluegrass and folk musician as a youth, and later a history professor at Temple University, Wright's trajectory out of "normal" life coincided with his burgeoning political activism during the early 1970s. His subsequent…

2016 release  ** "In pessimistic times of murky imminence, the alchemy of improvisation transmitting an explicit lucidity arrives as the proverbial unexpected gift. On a second thought, by analyzing Ute Völker and Udo Schindler’s curricula one does not anticipate anything less than that. Both proficient instrumentalists (on accordion and reeds, respectively), the former is a teacher and the latter an architect. The formal aspect of playing – and we don’t mean “academy”; rather, “respect of impli…

** Rare original copies. Second pressing on Jazz Workshop from the mid '70s (estimated) of this impossible to obtain album, the original issue being available only as a mail-order release. Unplayed copies from a dead-stock, possible wear due to ageing on covers ** On September 25, 1965, at UCLA’s Royce Hall, Charles Mingus took the stage with an octet of some of the most forward-thinking jazz musicians of the era. The occasion was not just any concert, but a determined response to an earlier set…

Track 1 recorded May 21, 1976 at the Wildflowers festival Track 2 recorded June 20, 1974 Jimmy Lyons - alto saxophone Karen Borca - bassoon  Hayes Burnett - bass Henry Letcher - drums Syd Smart - drums

Recorded August 22, 1979 at Campagne Premiere, Paris, France All compositions by Dave Burrell and Monica Larsson, unless otherwise noted Dave Burrell - piano Sam Woodyard - drums

Recorded on 8th September, 1993 at Café Amores in Hofu City, Yamaguchi, Japan Motoharu Yoshizawa - homemade electric vertical five strings bass Kim Dae Hwan - percussion

Recorded on 21st October, 2000 at Aoshima Hall, Shizuoka City, Japan Misha Mengelberg - pianoSabu Toyozumi - drums

Imagine it’s late afternoon, you’re outside by the lake, and there’s sunlight on the water. This is the peaceful and contemplative scene that Matt Gold and Resavoir set on their collaborative LP Horizon. Across 10 lush and exploratory tracks, it’s the product of two Chicago-based musicians—Will Miller, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more, and Gold, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and accomplished guitarist—effortlessly combining their distinc…

Finnish bassist Antti Lötjönen returns in February 2023 with his second Quintet East album on We Jazz Records. With Verneri Pohjola on trumpet, Mikko Innanen and Jussi Kannaste on saxes, and Joonas Riippa on drums, Quintet East is a hard-hitting ensemble of Helsinki scene A-listers. The new release sees the quintet work with Lötjönen's inspired new music with remarkable spirit, spreading out on a quest for new sounds and ideas, and returning to base with a fresh batch of acoustic creative music,…

A real brain ripping free jazzing blast from the past. Togashi Masahiko may be a name you have already encountered if you are a bit acquainted with Japanese free hardcore blowing jazz. He was the man responsible for churning out Japan's first free jazz disc being “We Now Create” for which he got assisted by Takayanagi Masayuki and Yoshizawa Motoharu amongst others. The following year in 1969, he teamed up with another hardcore blowing spirit, Takagi Mototeru - one of Japan's most unique sax howl…

2025 stock Exact repro of this 1971 release by saxophonist Hank Crawford. The personnel also includes Eric Gale (guitar), Cornell Dupree (guitar), Richard Tee (piano), Chuck Rainey (electric bass), Ron Carter (electric bass) and Bernard Purdie (drums).

2025 stock In 1976, Alf Emil Eik embarked on an extraordinary journey in a studio in Oslo. Armed with a 16-track MCI recorder and a vast array of instruments, including a couple of his precious bass guitars, he set out to create his musical masterpiece. Eik, a composer, musician, technician, and producer all in one, used the studio as his compositional playground and experimented with percussion, synthesizers, bass riffs, and tape phasing effects, pushing the boundaries of what was possible at t…

Steve Beresford, a central figure on the British and international music scene for over forty years, meets the Tilli/Tramontana duo. The friction between the British aplomb with the multifaceted Italic personality and the underlying love and seriousness towards music give us a trio full of verve, gimmicks, and profound lightness.

"Colapesce” is an album that delves into the dark and mysterious depths of the Sicilian legend, reinterpreting it through a contemporary and experimental lens. Colapesce, the legendary man-fish who sacrifices himself to support Sicily, becomes a symbol of resilience, metamorphosis, and sacrifice. The album blends elements of free jazz, musique concrète, electronic music, and radical improvisation to evoke an underwater journey into the unknown, amidst sound waves and unfathomable abysses. This w…

Jeff Parker’s 2016 album The New Breed was a turning point for both Parker and International Anthem, changing the trajectory of his solo career as well as drawing an abundance of attention to our fresh imprint despite our then very limited catalog. Most importantly though, the album is the first to give voice to Parker’s wholly unique take on sample-based beat construction augmented by improvisation and live instrumentation (performed in this case by the high-level crew of Paul Bryan on bass, Jo…

Irreversible Entanglements’s self-titled debut album was originally released in September 2017, and features the first music ever played together by the freshly assembled Philly/NY/DC-based quintet of poet Camae Ayewa (aka Moor Mother), bassist Luke Stewart, saxophonist Keir Neuringer, trumpeter Aquiles Navarro, and drummer Tcheser Holmes. The explosive collection of improvised free-jazz with spoken word accompaniment was born after the group's initial meeting at a Musicians Against Police Bruta…

**CD version** "A primal force of something... real. I have listened back and forth to the new album of Anna Högberg's “Attack” numerous times now and it hit me like a split axe in a split second: this music is for real! Wham Bam! This is liberating music. Allowing music. It hits me just as the split axe hits the wood. Without hesitation, but still very sensitive. Pure power does not cut the wood automatically. No fancy flirts with post-this and post-that. Just the force. Of itself. This music i…

**2025 stock** Heavyweight Vinyl,Vinyl Only / Black Vinyl / 400 mcn paper / Original poster insert printed on 250 mcn.Danish jazz band founded in 1969. Band line up: Henrik Hove on bass, Ole Mathiessen on piano, Jesper Nehammer  (later Thors Hammer, Alrune Rod and Entrance) on tenorsax, and Jon Finsen on drums. Played for a while every Monday in the famous Jazzhouse Montmatre in Copenhagen.
 Tordenskjolds Soldater only made this record (1970).
 The small record label Spectator Records was founde…

When Michael Bisio heard Korean pianist Eunhye Jeong's ESP-Disk 2021 album NOLDA, he expressed interest in working with her. After a successful and riveting duo concert in Kingston, NY showed what a good match they were, ESP was eager to document their musical affinity. One of the concert attendees was avant-jazz sax icon Joe McPhee, who guested with the duo at their subsequent studio session along with one of ESP's favorite drummers, Jay Rosen. Magical moments abounded, as you can hear on this …

2009 release ** "Try to imagine Kevin Drumm and Bhob Rainey playing rock together, with a drummer that deviate their already deviant music playing something coming from the sixties. The aim is to make music “not playing” (barbarous music, quoting Cornelius Cardew), a torn body that spits blood, whose only movement is generated by spastic contractions due to injuries. Agaspastik represents the “step beyond” of A Spirale, that from electroacoustic destructuration of “Porosità” (cd-r) and “Gariga” …

2018 release ** "Multi-reedist Udo Schindler is captured live at Ars Musica, in Stemmerhof, Munich performing on clarinet, soprano sax, and euphonium in a trio with sound artist Korhan Erel and trombonist Sebastiano Tramontana, a uniquely voiced concert that places intricate reed and brass playing against unusual electronic interactions, balancing energetic and spacious moments. This is not your typical ea-improv, Erel adding a unique set of concrete interventions and unexpected rhythmic ornamen…

2010 release

2011 release (light storage wear) ** Limited edition of 150 copies. 'Carl Fredrik Reuterswrd is an artist known for his dadaistic works and Ulf Linde is not only an art professor, he was one of the leading Swedish jazzmen in the early 50s. Usually playing vibraharp. But together with Carl Fredrik on drums they played in small clubs for a while in the late 50s a kind of jazz that is free jazz before it was named that. It is an utterly rare example of free European jazz. Linde plays piano and Reut…

Thanatosis Records (Stockholm) and Corbett vs. Dempsey (Chicago) are pleased to announce a joint release titled Love, the second record by the quartet Das B. The lineup features Maya Magdas on piano, Mazen Kerbaj on trumpet, Mike Majowski on bass, and Tony Buck on drums. Taking structural and dynamic cues from the classic John Coltrane record A Love Supreme, Das B totally reinvents the music and in the process meticulously subverts the notion of the tribute or songbook. The release includes both…

A joint release from US label Astral Spirits (Austin, Texas) and Thanatosis Produktion (Stockholm), It could / If I is the first album from Stockholm-based, longstanding duo Johan Jutterström (saxophone) and Alex Zethson (piano). In addition to the duo’s own reimaginations of a few so-called jazz standards, it contains songs by artists such as Leonard Cohen, Pet Shop Boys, John Lurie, and German 19th century composer Alexander Fesca. "On this record what tunes are played somehow matters less tha…

In 2023 the Swedish bassist and composer Vilhelm Bromander turned heads with the stunning debut album of a new large ensemble, which has now adopted its name— Vilhelm Bromander Unfolding Orchestra—from that recording: In this forever unfolding moment. That album, which earned him the prestigious Gyllene Skivan and Manifest Awards, was an auspicious premiere, that braided many of the passions of the young musician, including his devotion to Indian dhrupad music, the politically charged folk-jazz …

Rare Original A little-known gem of Dutch free music, Picnic is the brainchild of cellist Tristan Honsinger, who composed all but one of its 12 compositions. Brilliant and whimsical, the tracks bring to mind Honsinger's work with ICP Orchestra, for whom he has also composed extensively. Here he's working in an incredible ensemble, with trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, saxophonist Sean Bergen, Jean Jacques Avenel on bass, Michael Vatcher on drums and percussion, and Tiziana Simona Vigni on voice. Decep…

First analog reissue of Masayuki Takayanagi's modern jazz works based on the Tristano-Konitz technique! First analog reissue of this extremely rare modern jazz work originally recorded in 1970! "Although Takayanagi was already devoted to free jazz at this time, this work is a modern jazz piece based on the Tristano-Konitz technique. Familiar numbers are transformed into Takayanagi's unique sense of time, and then pass through Takeshi Shibuya's filter. The sound thus unleashed seems to wander sof…

Recorded at the legendary Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, Words Were Coming Out Our Ears captures a unique musical encounter in the moment. Pianist Johan Graden, bassists Vilhelm Bromander and Pär Ola Landin, and drummer Nils Agnas entered the studio without a fixed plan – the music emerged organically through improvisation and attentive interplay. What sets this album apart is the instrumentation. With two double bass players, the music gains an unusual depth and weight, where the bass not only s…

*100 copies limited edition* "Fathm isn’t so much an album as it is a question—a pause in the middle of a conversation no one’s having, but everyone’s pretending to understand. It asks nothing of you, but demands your presence, your ear, your breath. The flute, a tender and fragile instrument, becomes almost otherworldly—like a butterfly in another dimension with teeth, or a marsh wren that screams only in windings. It speaks in fragmented thoughts, tracing edges of longing, absence, and memory.…

Hard Top assembles the previously unreleased 1975 recordings of legendary South African saxophonist Kippie Moketsi (also spelled Moeketsi). The 2LP vinyl edition is presented in a gatefold sleeve featuring artwork by Mafa Ngwenya and comes from As-Shams Archive on the heels of the Tete Mbambisa's previously unreleased African Day album in 2024. By 1975, at the age of 50, saxophonist Kippie Moketsi had already earned his stripes as a South African jazz figurehead. His tenure with the Jazz Epistle…

Buenos Aires or any city in the world. Daniel Melingo is in a rehearsal room. The musicians accompanying him have left, exhausted. The instrumentalist musician has been playing all the instruments, which for him are extensions of his body, for hours. The piano, the drums, the guitar, the bass, the xylophone, the saxophone, the bouzouki. He conducts an orchestra made up of himself. As if he was looking for the secret formula in his laboratory where every sound - even if it is not instrumental - i…

Yowzers is a new album by Chicago composer, improvisor, instrumentalist and musical folklorist Ben LaMar Gay. The twelve track collection is a leap forward in the lexicon of Gay’s recorded output, and a veritable masterwork of ancient inner-body rhythms and intuitive melodic storytelling. It’s worth mentioning that a leap forward for Gay is no small feat. The musical ground he has covered in the last decade, both as a bandleader and collaborator, is immense. His de facto debut album—the 2018 com…

During a 50+ year career across the spectrum of music saxophonist Larry Stabbins has worked with most of the important figures at the cutting edge of European Jazz and Improvisation from Mike Westbrook to Keith Tippett and Tony Oxley and Germany’s Peter Brotzmann, as well as with Robert Wyatt and Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA. Alongside this he played in the seminal pop group Weekend and formed Working Week with guitarist Simon Booth, a project that took a melange of latin, soul and jazz into the wo…

This release from composer / saxophonist / poet Keith Jafrate, together with a top flight band of Discus Music regulars, is a powerful and beautiful spiritual work. Never rushing, and always deeply involving, this music creates a peaceful yet mindful vibe in the midst of troubled times. Keith’s liner notes explain how Uroboro’s 2nd double album on discus came into being: “John suggested, during our very first recording session as a quintet, in august 2022, that i should write a pamphlet entitled…

For a few fleeting moments during a sunset, the sky is cast a vivid shade of amber. A dramatic flare of colour, a moment belonging to both the day and the night. It is within this vibrant, ephemeral world, that Mongolian-born, Munich-based Enji has written her new album Sonor. Sonor is a record full of life and optimism, from an artist finding the beauty of existing between two worlds, much as a sunset does. Between the cultures of Mongolia and Germany, tradition and innovation, nostalgia and ex…

2007 release ** "Pangolinorchestrà is a hybrid between a village band, ICP-tet, Liberation Music Orchestra, Albert Ayler Band, Jimi Hendrix Experience, N.E.E.M., Screamin Jay Hawkins, Jannacci and assorted Bennink-stuff. “Ex-perimento #5” - recorded at the “Centro Stabile di Cultura” in San Vito di Leguzzano and produced by the same Center in cooperation with Idee Nere and Stella Nera - gives a good image of a band whose forte should be the action directed from above the stage."

Newly unearthed, never before issued jazz funk hailing from Columbus, Ohio, recorded in 1982 by the short-lived project, Seeds of Fulfillment, Live from Studio 1 drowns the ear in the deep grooves, hair raising tonal interplay, and complex polyrhythms rising from African American communities at the dawn of the 80s.