Jazz /
Rotella Variations
2003 release ** "“The human voice must not be limited only to a conventional language, but is an inexhaustible source of natural musical instruments. If it is coupled with jazz it becomes a double musical instrument”: Mimmo Rotella dixit, and here is a combative group of Italian jazz musicians, stimulated by the maestro in his eighties, puts the theory into practice. The Rotella Variations therefore materialize in nineteen episodes of mostly short duration, often introduced or concluded, contami…
Ambleside Days
1992 release ** "A stunning album of duets performed by John Taylor and John Surman composed by the former. This recording documents the longstanding musical relationship between the two Johns captured by Jan Erik Kongshaug at Rainbow Studios in Oslo. Some of the most beautiful music you will ever hear."
Bristol Silence
Tip! An orchestra that played for Nazis. A silence that lasted for generations. A work that lets this silence speak, sing, and scream. Motvind Records presents John Andrew Wilhite’s monumental piece, Bristol Silence, written for the Motvind Festival and premiered at Hotel Bristol in Oslo in the summer of 2023. In this work Bristol Silence, the double bassist and composer brings to light a chapter of Norwegian music history that has remained in the shadows. Wilhite writes: "Having known that Nazi…
Follow A Very Heavy Person, First Visit
"First visit to the audio equivalent of a graphic novel. Follow A Very Heavy Person is more than an album—it is an experience, an inquiry, an adventure into the unknown, defying easy categorization and existing in the liminal space between music, poetry, and philosophy. Armaroli and his quintet have crafted something truly singular—a journey through sound that is both timeless and profoundly rooted in the ephemeral beauty of the present moment." - Mark Corroto
Watusa
When a limited edition 45 single landed on the desk of Jazz Room Head Honcho Paul Murphy he contacted the guys straight away. "Do you want a 45 piece of wax released on Jazz Room Records?" Bells were ringing! The A Side is a Latin Afrosound version of the Sun Ra Classic "Watusa". Featuring members of the Los Angleles based Afro Latin Beat Collective "Jungle Fire". You might have noticed this getting quite a few spins on the Gilles Peterson show on BBC 6 Music. The B Side is a funky version of th…
Die Umelieder-Kollektion
2010 release ** "One of the most hypnotic current albums comes from Switzerland: No wonder, given that so many exciting niches live here, where culture and mentality stand for free spirit, which is evident time and again in the music created there. Ruedi Häusermann, Marco Käppeli, and Claude Meier form what we might call a chamber music, folkloristic, and imaginary trio. In the broadest sense... Ruedi Häusermann, the initiator and creator of the Ume songs, uses various flutes, clarinets, bariton…
Janna
2006 release ** "Janna is the recording on which the extraordinary improvising cellist Ernst Reijseger collaborates with Senegalese poet and instrumentalist Mola Sylla and percussionist Serigne C.M. Gueye on a program of songs and poetry that erases the borders between European and African traditions and creates something entirely new from the ruins. This could only be accomplished if each member of this trio brought the entirety of his musical heritage with him to the table and placed it there …
Monumental
1991 release ** "Combining rhythic rock strength with the unrestrainable consequence of free improvisation. In the course of playing, amazingly sharp contours arise. There is no expression for style that can describe this audacious mixture of precision and imagination. Music as a celebration of the moment with the undertone of euphoria, reflection, pure desire and wild anger. Mobile architecture, movable sounds, moving and hair-raisingly beautiful. Jon Rose: Cello, Violin, Keyboards - Peter Holl…
Hut Ab
2010 release ** "Here, after Schindler+Richter and Schindler/Holzbauer/Lillmeyer, multi-reed player and flautist Udo Schindler meets an old companion from the 90s. Hubert Bergmann, a Fernando Pessoa-adoring and Tai Chi & Qi Gong-inspired jack-of-all-trades from Überlingen on Lake Constance, has already played piano in Schindler Interferenz.3 and with Trio BGS. Now a master craftsman in his own workshop for improvised and new music and, as such, also a duo partner with guitarist Mary Halvorson, B…
An Italian Love Affair
1996 release ** ""The final in a series of three CDs that feature the idiosyncratic Moscow Composer's Orchestra led by the incomparable Vladimir Miller and featuring ex-Ganelin Trio drummer Vladimir Tarasov and, of course, Tuvan vocalist Sainkho Namchylak. The reason for the title of the album is that it was recorded live at the Bolzano Jazz Festival. Unlike the other discs in this series, this one features long versions of two previously released compositions -- "Two Tone Tuva" and "March of th…
Alchymia Musicæ
1995 release ** "Prague saxophonist and composer Jirí Stivín had a grand vision working when he assembled the elements for this recording. His intention was to take the great madrigals and villanelles from the 16th century in his own culture, and add a string quartet and a choir to his own jazz trio and try to bridge the span of centuries. Not only this, of course, but to do so with the mischievous grin of the '60s free jazz continuum that preferred improvisation to taking a shower most of the t…
The Icp Orchestra Performs Nichols - Monk
1989 release ** "The Nichols program, recorded in 1984, was by a band with Sean Bergin (alto sax), Michael Moore (alto sax), Maurice Horsthuis (viola), Toon de Gouw (trumpet), Han Bennink (drums), Ernst Reijseger (cello), Paul Thermos (alto sax), Steve Lacy (soprano sax), Larry Fishkind (tuba), Misha Mengelberg (piano), Wolter Wierbos (trombone), and Garret List (trombone). The Monk program, from 1986, consisted of Ab Baars (soprano and tenor sax, clarinet), Michael Moore (alto sax and clarinet)…
New Archaic Music
1990 release ** "...melodic compositions in artistic arrangements for four wind instruments."
Body And Soul
1993 release ** "No matter how many albums David Murray issues, he never coasts or goes through the motions. This is mainly a quartet date, although Murray shows on the title track his ability to back a singer as Taana Running gives a moving vocal, complete with her original lyrics. Otherwise, these are either spirited uptempo numbers or equally energized ballads. Murray's sweeping tenor sound remains a marvel, and few can match him in controlling drive, pitch and volume. Drummer Rashied Ali has…
Sun
The heart sits and takes in all wakes of the universe. A blessing to discover sound and how it enters the body and is shared to all. I feel the sound wraps in and out of my heart and pours through the saxophone. Searching, discovering the Creator. I pray this music reaches into your heart, goes all the way to the deepest place and blossoms up the most beautiful gardens of joy and love, curiosity. I am forever grateful to meet souls such as Lex, Miguel, and Caroline. Through these recordings I po…
Deep Memory
2016 release ** "After the highly praised trio CDs, Odyssey and ITHAKA, the composer and bassist Barry Guy presents a new CD – Deep Memory – with the same trio members, pianist Marilyn Crispell and percussionist Paul Lytton. For his new compositions, Barry Guy was inspired by Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue - all titles on Deep Memory courtesy of the Irish painter Hughie O’ Donoghue’s Berlin exhibition (2007) entitled “Last Poems”. A music has emerged of a tense and lacerating beauty. Tonal pai…
Turtles, Cats, and Other Creatures
All songs composed, arranged, recorded and mixed by Lauri Kallio. Recorded in Kiikala Church & C.O.W. Kiikala Studio Complex