Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

A never-before released Mal Waldron Trio 1970 live recordings. First official release with the full permission and cooperation of the Mal Waldron Estate & INA (Institut National de l’Audiovisuel).

1989 release ** "Métarythmes de l’Air, a ten year-old band, consists of the prolific composer Christian Leroy, he is also an occasional keyboard and percussion player, contrebassist José Bedeur, a graduate from Huy Music Schaol, and Philippe Saucez, who has made a name for himself in classical clarinet playing. The trio has recently turned into an octet, with five new musicians, classical, contemporary, jazz or free-jazz: Jeannot Gillis (violin), Ivo Van Der Borght (percussions), Adelsan Defrise…

2009 release ** "Millefleurs is a vocal ensemble led by Christoph Schiller. More precisely: an experimental choir. Imagine a dozen vocalists in the vein of Phil Minton and Joane Hétu joining forces. It’s a nice surprise. Twelve pieces, each featuring a different line-up of singers (between one and ten). Abstract, textural, guttural pieces without words. It gets long (70 minutes), and with two or three selected tracks edited out the album would have been tighter and better sustained the listener’…

2020 release ** "Isabelle Duthoit makes her throat jump like a madwoman, Thierry Waziniak grinds on the skins with rage and circumspection, Pascal Bréchet makes his electrocuted guitar implode and shred, Franz Hautzinger articulates by belching into the mouthpiece, detonating the vibrations of the air in the bell of his trumpet. What is astonishing is the precise alternation of interventions, which makes them play more as a three-piece than a four-piece, as each imposes brief silences, which ind…

1989 release **

2025 Stock. In 1976, Joe McPhee recorded the landmark album Tenor, kicking off a solo period of finding and refining the distinctive voice that continues to inform his music to this day. Solos: The Lost Tapes (1980-1981-1984) is a collection of material from McPhee's personal archives that shines new light on the legendary multi-instrumentalist's work during this time. 'Wind Cycles,' for tenor saxophone, explores the permutations of breath on reed and brass, from quiet whispers to full-throated …

Madronas’ debut LP Erogenous Biome is an amorphous, murky, cathartic offering. A duet of modular synthesizer and winds that’s equal parts doom and devotion, it’s the sound of a majestic butterfly emerging from it’s slimy chrysalis just in time to catch the sun setting on the end of days, a bewitching, heavy ceremony, a power-wash of both mind and spirit. Tracked in one continuous take at Brooklyn’s Heavy Meadow studio, individual tracks were gleaned from the purge and eschew predictable structur…

2004 release ** "In 1981, Italian Drummer Tiziano Tononi And Saxophonist Daniele Cavallanti Established Nexus An Avant-Garde Constantly Evolving Jazz Ensemble, Who Recorded Extensively For Splasc(H) Records Nexus Today Releases Its Eleventh Album With Unchanged And Renewed Passion. The Sound Continuity Is Represented By The Combined Presence Of Both The Violin And The Vibes. The latest Nexus issue is a live recording published in September 2004, "Rivers Of Dreams", that defines under the name Th…

*2024 stock* ‘Live in Oslo’ is the sophomore album from Shifa, the outstanding UK trio featuring pianist extraordinaire Pat Thomas, celebrated saxophonist Rachel Musson, and sonic transcendent drummer Mark Sanders. The group derives its name from the Arabic word for healing and the music they make aspires to do just that. This album follows their acclaimed, Downbeat 4-star debut ‘Shifa Live at Cafe Oto’. Listen to ‘Shifa Live in Oslo’ and discover contemporary master musicians celebrating the mo…

"Just want to emphasize that Detroit is my heart. That’s the environment of my imagination. From the beginning." Gerald Cleaver

*2024 stock* Brooklyn-based pianist Eva Novoa delivers a masterfully executed trio album of melodic themes replete with touches of swing, grooves and exquisite electronic landscapes. Novoa’s articulated playing flows with plenty of room gifting the band full freedom of improvisation. On the track ‘Rocket Man’ you can hear the possibilities of the traditional jazz trio format as it projects into the future, combining the acoustic beauty of the piano with the electronic tapestry of modular synthes…

*2024 stock* This project is the exciting, unusual and at times unexpected result of five musicians from different backgrounds getting together in a room and making music together for the first time. The chemistry they create is driven by a telepathic understanding, hence the title of the album. This is not the first project for musicians Daniel Carter, Matthew Putman and Federico Ughi. The three have been collaborating closely for the last ten years. Their first album, The Gowanus Recordings, (…

2024 stock. Iconic downtown sax player Sabir Mateen, together with up-and-coming Texan clarinetist Patrick Holmes and drum wiz Federico Ughi, celebrate the cosmic dimensions of creative music via their new album Survival Situation.The three musicians have collaborated in the past, in New York, in different projects but never as a trio. This time they met in a recording studio in Tuscany, Italy, not far from where Sabir Mateen has been living for the last few years. They freely improvised, then t…

*2025 stock* Drummer Gard Nilssen’s ECM leader debut follows acclaimed recordings for the label with the Maciej Obara Quartet and with Mathias Eick. Elastic Wave presents Nilssen’s powerful trio with fellow Norwegian André Roligheten on reeds and Swedish bassist Petter Eldh. The group’s dynamic interaction, dancing sense of pulse and boldly etched themes – all three players contribute compositions – make Acoustic Unity one of the most engaging bands on the circuit today, able to address fiery an…

*2025 stock* Rekindling the familiarly flowing interplay with fellow travellers Thomas Morgan and João  Lobo – the trio’s musical partnership goes back over a decade at this point –, on A New Day Italian pianist Giovanni Guidi moreover expands the group’s instrumental grasp with the introduction of American saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, who makes his ECM debut here. Not only is the ensemble scope widened; with Brandon Lewis in tow, new dialects and fresh perspectives are broached, and differe…

*2025 stock* For the follow-up of his ECM-leader-debut La traversée, French saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave expands his trio of German pianist Florian Weber and Swiss bassist Patrice Moret with the unique sensibilities of drummer James Maddren, whose unrelenting pulse adds deft counterpoint to the group’s already idiosyncratic sound. Besides the soulfully angular rendering of John Coltrane’s “Compassion”, the quartet tackles eight Bordenave-originals that bridge the gap between chamber-jazz dynam…

2000 release ** "Founded by Village Voice icon Greg Tate and co-led with Dayton Ohio monster bassist Jared Michael Nickerson since 1999, Burnt Sugar the Arkestra Chamber is a sprawling band of musicians whose prodigious personnel allows them to freely juggle a wide swath of the experimental soul-jazz-hip hop spectrum. Burnt Sugar was originally conceived as a forum for the New York area improvisational musician to compose, record and perform material which reflects the breadth and depth of Ameri…

2025 Stock. Deluxe, embossed 2 LP box set. Alongside a remastered version of Pharoah, his seminal record from 1977, are two previously unreleased live performances of his masterpiece, “Harvest Time.” Includes a 24-page booklet with rarely seen photographs and ephemera, as well as interviews with many of the participants and a conversation with Pharoah himself.  With Pharoah Sanders’ blessing, we present the definitive, remastered version of  Pharoah, his seminal record from 1977, in an embossed …

Considered one of Nathan Davis' best albums, and long a collector's item, The Hip Walk was recorded in 1965, a time when the Afro-American Davis lived in Europe, working with such legends as Kenny Clarke, Art Blakey, Ray Charles, Dexter Gordon, Eric Dolphy and Woody Shaw. Nathan's Kansas City school mate, trumpeter Carmell Jones - who e.g. worked with Horace Silver, Paul Kuhn, Eugen Cicero - comes along for the ride. A superb album of soulful, swinging jazz - the perfect companion when you feel …

Tip! Science Fiction is an album by the American avant-garde jazz saxophonist and composer Ornette Coleman, released in February 1972. It is considered as Coleman's creative rebirth. A stunningly inventive and appropriately alien-sounding blast of manic energy, where Coleman combines his past and future, working with bassist Charlie Haden and drummers Billy Higgins and Ed Blackwell. The album is made up of spacy, long-toned melodies and rhythm, including two songs with Indian vocalist Asha Puthl…

The second chapter of the project, "Break," marks the first encounter with Yosuke Yamashita & Hiroshi Yamazaki in 60 years since their first encounter at Ginpari. Guitarist/composer Otomo Yoshihide has been active all over the world, from movies, plays, TV shows to commercials, without being confined to the framework of free jazz. The live performance recorded on December 27, 2024 at Shinjuku Pit Inn, which has been his "core" since his teenage years, is not only a "milestone" in Otomo's career,…

The opening of the pair of simultaneous releases, "Introduction," is a new wave of free jazz born from an intergenerational improvisation session with Takashi Sugawa (b) and Shun Ishiwaka (ds). Guitarist/composer Otomo Yoshihide has been active all over the world, from movies, plays, TV to commercials, without being confined to the framework of free jazz. The live recording of December 27, 2024 at Shinjuku Pit Inn, which has been his "core" since his teenage years, is not only a "milestone" in O…

This is a recorded document performed by Mark Holub, Johanna Pärli and Sofía Salvo.

** 2021 Stock ** A diverse follow up to their 19 Moons release of 2002. The groups has added longtime Bey collaborator Mike Carey (flute/tenor saxophone) to the ensemble. Ashirai Pattern embodies a higher spiritual plane and elements of mysticism in an aural feast. Instrumentation includes vibes, marimba, voice, bass, drums, tenor saxophone, flute, bass clarinet, violin, and percussion. "The Michigan-based Northwoods Improvisers collective meld the largely undefined sounds of world music with ja…

** 2021 Stock ** The 8th House is a disc of solo clarinet and saxophone improvisations with a few duets with Juma Santos thrown in. Wendell Harrison and the Tribe were pioneers along with BAG in St. Louis and the AACM in Chicago. Here Wendell recalls some of the freedom and soul from his early work with the Tribe in Detroit. He is joined by percussionist Juma Santos on a few tracks. You may recall Juma from his work with Miles Davis on the Bitches Brew record, or some of his work with Marion Bro…

On Ancestry, Trevor Watts approaches improvisation in a more stripped down approach with percussionist Jamie Harris. Both Watts and Harris combine an incredible sense of rhythm with exploration and subtlety. The recordings were culled from live performances and more intimate settings at Trevor's home studio to give a balance of the high energy of performance and relaxed musical exploration between friends. The end result is a stunning document of duo interplay on various hand percussion and reed…

** 2021 Stock ** Kalaparush Maurice McIntyre provides us with a rare glimpse into his live performance. Perhaps one of the most influential and under-recorded artists of the AACM, Kalaparush is joined by Ravish Momin on percussion and Jesse Dulman on tuba. Jesse's tuba recalls the pre-bass second line of jazz music and Ravish provides worldly polyrhythmic sequences. All of the playing comes together with the elegance of Kalaparush's compositions and improvisations. Recorded at one night's perfor…

The Northwoods Improvisers return with a new album comprising their first release in 10 years. Raft is the latest effort with an augmented lineup that includes veterans Mike Johnston (bass, bass recorder, wood flutes, percussion) and Nick Ashton (drums, percussion) and unites them with a fierce front line of saxophones with Dominic Berenga (tenor/alto/soprano saxophones, flute, percussion) and Donovan Boxey (alto/soprano saxophone, clarinet, melodica, wood flutes, percussion). The music is all a…

** 2021 Stock ** "Once a member of Detroit legends Griot Galaxy, Bey's take on jazz is informed by the spectral divinations of Sun Ra, and pieces like "Moors" and "sherrif Sam (Sound By Law)" remind you of prime era Arkestra, floating between beautifully extended melody heads and stretches of languid free blowing, all underpinned by a steady, rolling rhythm section." Jon Dale; Signal To Noise Fall 2008. "If this were merely an audio CD, it would garner excellent reviews. But this set with DVD an…

** 2021 Stock ** Emerging Field marks the sixth release of Faruq Z. Bey with the Northwoods Improvisers on the Entropy Stereo label. This release finds the group exploring rhythm and space in a broader sense than previous offerings. Faruq Z. Bey, Mike Carey, and Skeeter Shelton create thoughtful space and intricate conversations in their horn lines evoking a relaxed and passionate response with a solid blues focus. Mike Johnston and Nick Ashton root the group with their sound rhythmic foundation…

* Repress, on color vinyl* Apparently it's been over a decade since avant jazz deity Pharoah Sanders recorded any new music, it took Sam Shephard aka Floating Points to coax the 80 year old out of near-retirement. Anyone familiar with Sanders' work will know how life-affirming his music can be, from his early work with John Coltrane, through 1967's mind-altering "Tauhid" to his spiritual pairing with Alice Coltrane on "Journey in Satchidananda". Here, he takes a more restrained role, offering bu…

Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda self-released four brilliant cassette albums. These contained music, inpired by the gospel music of the Deroit Churches she grew up in, and the Indian devotional music of her religious practice. Originally available only throughh her ashram, they are her most obscure body of work. Turiyasangitananda’s devotion to spirituality was the central purpose of the final four decades of her life, an often-overlooked awakening that largely took shape during her four-year …

It Was Always Time, the debut duo release from Berke Can Özcan & Jonah Parzen-Johnson out November 1 on We Jazz Records, is a refreshing and full-throated expression of joy and curiosity. In a year when 76 countries hold national elections and we find ourselves in an existential battle against apathy and cynicism, this effortlessly authentic album offers an innocent reminder that the antidote to stagnation is curiosity and the fuel for change is the joy of building something transformative toget…

Curacao + Red Marbled LP. The Swedish quartet Goran Kajfeš Tropiques share their new music We Jazz Records on May 3rd. Tell Us, an album consisting of three long pieces composed by the group, is "slow music" to the bone, a deep body of work utilising the language of jazz as its core mode of communication but echoing way beyond. The quartet is expanded with strings, adding wings to the music and helping it lift off the ground in a personal, highly engaging manner. The Tropiques quartet consists o…

Swiss artist Lukas Traxel releases his powerful debut album One-Eyed Daruma on We Jazz Records, March 10. The trio features Traxel on double bass, Otis Sandsjö on sax and Moritz Baumgärtner on drums. Compact, deep, and organic to the bone, Traxel & co's sound echoes the innovations of rhythmically driven avantgarde jazz while keeping things moving at all times. There's both drive and freedom to this sound. One-Eyed Daruma features eight new compositions by Traxel, who crafted the outline for the…

The eleventh issue of We Jazz Magazine, "Oni Puladi" for Carla Bley. 128 pages, 170 x 240 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers. All articles presented in English. Carla Bley by Stewart Smith, Gondwana Records by Debra Richards, [Ahmed] by Seymour Wright, Amirtha Kidambi by Ayana Contreras, Ruth Goller by Daryl Worthington, Abdul Wadud by Pierre Crépon / David Neil Lee, François Jeanneau by Bret Sjerven, Mette Henriette by Debra Richards, Nduduzo Makha…

Andrew Cyrille’s title Lebroba is a contraction of Leland, Brooklyn and Baltimore, birthplaces of the protagonists of an album bringing together three of creative music’s independent thinkers.  Each of them made his first ECM appearance long ago: drummer Andrew Cyrille on Marion Brown’s Afternoon of a Georgia Faun (1970), trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith on his own classic Divine Love (1978), and guitarist Bill Frisell on Eberhard Weber’s Fluid Rustle (1979); these are, of course, players of enduring …

Uusi Aika is a fresh new ensemble from Finland. Their self-titled debut album will be released by We Jazz Records. The band's music could be described as introspective and meditative, but that's only a part of the story. The instrumentation is acoustic and their sound organic to the bone, but the music's slowly unfolding character brings to mind some deep abstract electronic music or experimental dub explorations at times. That is, there's power just under the surface, just beautifully out of fo…

"Troupeau Bleu” is the 1st and most famous album which had been recorded by the French Jazz-Funk band legend, Cortex. The obscure French jazz group that's been a favorite of funky collectors for years!  In 1974, Alain Mion, Alain Gandolfi & Jeff Huttner formed the mythical band, Cortex, who then recorded several LPs, including the legendary “Troupeau Bleu”. “Troupeau Bleu”, recorded in 2 days in july 1975, is a real musical U.F.O, an unclassifiable record, a mixing of thousand flavours, the kind…

2025 stock Cobham's debut record after making a name for himself collaborating with Miles Davis and the Mahavishnu Orchestra remains a remarkable moment in progressive jazz. "Stratus" would later be sampled on Massive Attack's "Safe From Harm" and featured in Grand Theft Auto IV radio.