Jazz /
Premonitions
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Britain's Free Jazz Quartet is comprised of trombonist Paul Rutherford, reed and woodwind man Harrison Smith, cellist Tony Moore, and drummer Eddie Prévost. Recorded in 1989 in Oxford, the offering here, a series of mid-length improv pieces, bears up well under the free jazz moniker and leaves all the "new music" clichés to another day. Here, the dictates of a European free jazz mapped out by Evan Parker, Tony Coe, Lol Coxhill, and othe…
Band On The Wall
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Recorded in 1994 at a concert in Manchester, England, Band on the Wall -- which is literally where they played -- features the divine dancing of Eddie Prévost's drumming in tandem with the piano of Marilyn Crispell, who was just then emerging out from under the shadows of her two mentors, Cecil Taylor and Anthony Braxton. Since Crispell was used to working with Gerry Hemingway, this set provides an amazing contrast for the pianist, in t…
Ptow!!
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** The West Coast Rova Saxophone quartet in a 7 track studio album from 1995, from Jon Raskin on alto saxophone, baritone saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Steve Adams on alto saxophone, sopranino saxophone, Bruce Ackley on soprano saxophone, tenor saxophone and Larry Ochs on tenor saxophone, sopranino saxophone.
Illuminate
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "This quartet date pairing alto saxophonist Rob Brown with guitar madman Joe Morris dates from 1993 with William Parker, the ubiquitous New York bassist in the avant-garde, and the lesser-known, but very able drummer Jackson Krall. Recorded by Tommy Tedesco (not the guitarist), this set has all the elements that many of Morris' other dates are missing: cohesiveness. Here he is merely part of the band. Sure, he solos, but no more or less …
Red Rope - 3 Pieces For 2 Players
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "On this set recorded live at the Knitting Factory, George Cartwright (switching between various saxophones) and clarinetist Michael Lytle battle it out on three lengthy free improvisations."
FINland
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Alto saxophonist Christopher Cauley's debut recording as a leader carries with it all of the weight of a major talent announcing its "coming out" into a room full of aggressive challengers. To accomplish this, he has enlisted the assistance of a veritable tank of a rhythm section in drummer Gregg Bendian and bassist William Parker, and the occasional help of trombonist Steve Swell. Cauley's approach to improvising has been deeply inspir…
A White Line
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "A White Line is, in many ways, Austrian composer, arranger, flugelhorn player, and bandleader Franz Koglmann's most controversial work because in it, he dares to use race as a compositional element. His is not merely a cultural dissension but a musical one. A White Line is Koglmann's salute to the white lineage in jazz, from Bix Beiderbecke through to Chet Baker, and including perhaps even one of his guests on this recording: pianist an…
Music For Organ & Saxophone
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
Plays Be Bop Vol.2
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
Berlin Images
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Futterman's restless churning lines are countered by the questing trumpet of former Cecil Taylor associate Raphé Malik, who, along with drummer Robert Adkins makes The World Watched and Ask The Price enticing, thought provoking experiences. The collection's closing title, There Is Peace, provides the listener with a intensely swirling, though decidedly less harrowing, aural imagery."
Mars Song
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "This duet performance between improvisational soprano saxophone wizard Evan Parker and Tuvan jazz and new music vocalist Sainkho Namtchylak was recorded live in 1996 at the Toronto Music Gallery. It was not the first time they had played together, though it was the first as a duo. The recording is aptly titled, not because the music is spaced out, but because it appears beyond the scope and breadth of human language to encompass, let al…
End To Slavery
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "These "Ends to Slavery" Eugene Chadbourne refers to in his title are just that: the pieces he played to end his own cultural and musical slavery. To this end, in the liner notes, he discusses -- sometimes at length -- what happens in particular works, or, more interestingly, what they're about and who they're for. The opening track, "Amber," is about a family cocker spaniel who had to be gassed because of her age -- and the fact that sh…
Live In Lausanne
Rare CD 2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
From The Bureau Of Both
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "One of the better albums in Rova's confusingly expansive discography, From the Bureau of Both features some of the quartet's most immediately rewarding moments, as well as a few on the opposite end of the spectrum. Rova can be surprisingly accessible when the group's free explorations are tethered to strong frameworks, and that's the case with much of this album. "Swang" became something of a signature piece for the group, featuring a j…
The Works (Volume 2)
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Many listeners may think of ROVA (comprised of Bruce Ackley on soprano and tenor, Jon Raskin on baritone and alto, Steve Adams on alto and sopranino and Larry Ochs on tenor and sopranino), the most advanced of the saxophone quartets, as playing free jazz, but much of their music on this CD is actually written out, tonal and occasionally rhythmic. The term "avant-garde" does fit as long as one keeps in mind that these very lengthy explor…
The Works (Volume 1)
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "ROVA saxophone quartet provide a tiered, three-dimensional look at the interaction of soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophone. The arrangement of these instruments in the stereo mix -- left to right on all tracks in the sequence soprano, baritone, alto, and then tenor -- offers great contrast in the three-dimensional sound. Even the bright little spark of piccolo or sopranino saxophone involves in these works of sonic texture. Whil…
Holiday
2024 Stock. On their 3rd album Casper Van De Velde and Hendrik Lasure, the two SpongeBobs of Belgian jazz, enter Cortizona and take you on board of their newly discovered musical spectrum: Rollercoastin’ between extreme emotions Casper and Hendrik slide through 90’s Euro-optimism on synths, frantic drum rolls, lost piano sounds and sample wizardry: blending Spanish guitars, voices of singing ladies, slow mo clarinets and the patterns of a percussion robot.
‘Holiday’ is the result of a residency …
Multiple Koller
2024 stock Outstanding performance by the Austrian saxophonist Hans Koller; this is a very uncommon and memorable session from the 1960s. Koller plays tenor in a quartet that also features Fritz Pauer on piano; the track was initially recorded for a sound library session, but it is exemplary 60s contemporary jazz. In a style that appears to really challenge Koller during his solos, maximizing his remarkable tone and phrasing without descending into any kind of overdone experimentalism, most of t…
Icarus
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.
Cantos I-IV
2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Webster's defines the word canto as "one of the major divisions in a long poem." These four cantos of the Austrian composer and flügelhorn maestro Franz Koglmann are indeed major divisions in a long poem, but that poem happens to be musical. Rather than look at Cantos I-IV as a symphony with four movements, it is better to view them as breaks in the various traditions that Koglmann has been inspired by and participates in: jazz in all i…