Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

2010 release ** Cardboard sleeve.  Pal Toth aka én: electronic devices, objects, contact mics, voiceQuentin Rollet aka Q.: alto sax, mic, feedback, voiceZsolt Söres aka Ahad: viola, analogue synth, objects, contact mics, feedback, voice+Jozef Cseres aka HEyeRMEarS: additional voice on "Paw Lesson" and "The Real Paw"

"Samādhi,- a Sanskrit word meaning “concentration,” can refer to both the activity of Buddhist meditation and the absorbed state of mind of a meditating person. Wherever I’ve known the improvisatory gesture to manifest – whether in experimental music, live art, writing, radical research workshops or the subtle space of meditation – I’ve found a similar set of energetic qualities budding. Openness, presence, surprise, delight and even sometimes the ‘dropping off of mind and body’ (as 13th century…

From 1971-1979 Wadada Leo Smith released four albums on his own, privately pressed label Kabell. Under the supervision of the composer, this material has now been collected, remastered and coupled with over two hours of unreleased bonus tracks, including the second set of the influential Reflectativity concert and the legendary Mapenzi solo concert from 1976. Complete with a twenty-eight page booklet featuring session photos and tributes from musical associates such as George Lewis, Alvin Single…

Philadelphia vibraphonist Khan Jamal's 1974 Palm masterpiece receives its first proper reissue. Recorded during Parisian exile, this exploratory album showcases revolutionary vibraphone techniques across four essential tracks - a crucial document of jazz's global underground network.

Tip! *2025 stock* Reissue of the landmark free jazz album "Overhang-Party (A Memorial To Kaoru Abe)" by the visionary Abe-Toyozumi Duo. Originally recorded in Tokyo in August 1978 and released in 1979, this historic release stands as a breathtaking testament to the artistry and legacy of legendary Japanese saxophonist Kaoru Abe, with dynamic support from renowned percussionist Sabu (Yoshisaburo) Toyozumi. "Overhang-Party" captures the electrifying chemistry between Abe and Toyozumi, two leading …

*2025 stock* In essence, group improvisation is a conversation. It relates to a certain point in time, its current surroundings, personal expression and the stories each performer choses to tell from their musical paths. On Sound Flower three masters of improvised music from different generations meet for the first time as a trio and their world of sound (in Danish: klangverden) is immediately captivating. You can listen to each performer and they will tell you a story of their own, or you can t…

Tip! "I stood on top of the mountain and looked out over the landscape. It was so beautiful that my chest hurt. The light vibrated, time stood still, and the contours dissolved for a moment. Everything had changed; I felt it then. I took their little hands so as not to lose contact with the ground. Then we ran down the mountain, scraping our knees. Still, we didn't make it. You had already put away all the nautical charts, loosened the moorings and steered out among the skerries. Mum stood wavin…

2011 release ** Oversize folded cardstock sleeve "This disc is the most sublime treatment of minimalist form. Dominique Lash performs brackets of beauty on his wary, droning double bass while Patrick Farmer teases possibility out from hidden silent edges with different percussion styles. Both of these musicians are accomplished in their own right, skilled at their various instruments, well-instructed in the traditional modes of music composition. This feeds and informs the work on Bestiaries.  Y…

2017 release ** "Three top-class international sound adventurers set out the connection of electronics and acoustic sound generators. Experience is the shaping of ephemeral, extreme, genreference and cliché-free sound adventures – a meeting of improvised music. The connection of two identical instruments in the concert frame is rare when you don't want to become a battle, and then with two fancy woodwind instruments is almost exotic. Deep-sounding instruments are mostly and inflexible, but in ma…

This is the debut album from that modern free jazz impro trio. Hypomaniac recorded on March 15th 2025 at Thessaloniki-Greece during ''Take 2'' festival organized by defkaz records and Mikri Skini venue. The end result is absolutely fascinating, bringing a fantastic journey that is hypnotic and build up like a sonic storm setting the house on fire. The interplay between the trio sounds organic, flowing and inventive, despite their different approaches. Collective chaos but always grooving very ha…

Hyperentasis is a double LP celebrating the unique connection between legendary saxophonist Akira Sakata and the city of Thessaloniki. Home to Defkaz Records and the birthplace of the Damianidis brothers, Thessaloniki has welcomed Sakata countless times. This release captures two of his landmark performances as a bandleader in the city. The first LP features the group Entasis with Giovanni Di Domenico (upright piano), Giotis Damianidis (electric guitar), Petros Damianidis (double bass), and Alek…

Bomb! The debut recording by The Ancients, the intergenerational coalition of Isaiah Collier, William Hooker and William Parker formed by Parker to play concerts in conjunction with the Milford Graves' “A Mind-Body Deal” exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and now a working group. Across 2LPs of side-length long-form improvised sets recorded at 2220 Arts & Archives in LA and The Chapel in San Francisco, The Ancients bring the free jazz trio languages first explored by t…

2025 stock. The question is simple, but the answer remains an enigma: "What is Nublu?" The legendary Avenue C club and label exists as a force seemingly without definition, where Forro in the Dark delivers hard-charging Brazilian folk one night, and I Led Three Lives entrances crowds with near-psychedelic tech-jazz two nights later. If there is any promise of unlocking this mystery, the Nublu Orchestra conducted by Butch Morris holds the key. The Nublu Orchestra assembles the multifaceted range …

Verve By Request continues its essential reissue series with Chico Hamilton's "The Dealer", a previously overlooked 1966 gem that captures one of jazz's most innovative drummers at a pivotal creative moment – and marks the recording debut of future fusion pioneer Larry Coryell. While Hamilton built his reputation discovering and nurturing young talent throughout his decades as a bandleader, "The Dealer" represents one of his most prescient finds. Coryell's solid and mellow performance lends a di…

Jazz drumming legend Chico Hamilton fundamentally reimagined his sound in 1961, assembling a groundbreaking quintet that would define a new chapter in modern jazz. WaxTime now presents "Drumfusion", the inaugural album from this revolutionary lineup, in a limited edition 180g audiophile pressing with rare bonus material. Hamilton's revamped group featured future stars Charles Lloyd on tenor saxophone, Gábor Szabó on guitar, Garnett Brown (later replaced by George Bohanon) on trombone, and Albert…

Creative Sources Recordings proudly presents The Dew That Flies, an evocative new work from German multi-instrumentalist Udo Schindler and Catalan pianist Jordina Milla. This album captures the essence of improvisation, offering listeners a journey through sound that is intimate, fearless, and subtly poetic. The title conjures images of fleeting beauty and transformation—like dew glimmering in the air, the music shifts between density and silence, inviting exploration of resonance and texture. S…

2008 release ** Oversize card sleeve.

Esmeralda Sella is a young pianist from Ravenna, Italy. “Magma” is her debut album, and also a turning point. It’s the culmination of a journey that was «essential for understanding myself and the world around me» as she describes it. Sella recorded “Magma” with two key collaborators: Federico Giolito (double bass) and Giovanni Nardiello (drums), following years of mutual trust, shared musical experiences and extensive practice. «Our sound is the result of opinions, ideas, and doubts exchanged o…

RogueArt proudly presents A Near Permanent State of Wonder, the first duo recording by pianist Alexander Hawkins and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. Two of the most distinctive and restlessly inventive voices in contemporary creative music meet in an intimate, exploratory session that balances lyricism and abstraction, rigor and generosity, fragility and fire.   The album documents a rare level of rapport between the musicians. Hawkins, celebrated for his agile navigation between tradition, avant‑gar…

The Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet (ONJQ), one of the most daring and influential ensembles in contemporary avant-garde jazz, proudly announces the release of El Derecho de Vivir en Paz. This new album embodies the group’s uncompromising vision: a deeply expressive sound that weaves together free improvisation, radical jazz traditions, and a politically charged sense of urgency.   The title, El Derecho de Vivir en Paz (“The Right to Live in Peace”), resonates with a historical and universal me…

*2025 stock* Silkheart Records is proud to present 5 x Monk, 5 x Lacy, a striking document from one of the most visionary voices in modern jazz, soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy. This album is both a heartfelt homage to Thelonious Monk, one of Lacy’s lifelong inspirations, and an intimate showcase of his own groundbreaking compositional language.   Widely celebrated for bringing the soprano saxophone into contemporary jazz with a fierce individuality, Lacy distinguished himself not only as one of …

For whom you play, for yourselves, for the departed who live within you, for all the dilettantes who listen to you, for the young and the old, for the joyful and the sad, the melancholic of all stripes, for the innumerable, unnamed crowd that flits about on the earthly ball, these are the words of Baudelaire before he evoked the itinerant musicians, “one of the two played one of his compositions, and the other improvised beside him a variation, an accompaniment, an underscore”. I really like thi…

Almost four generations of musicians; four very strong musical personalities, four very rich musical careers and, above all, four musicians who know how much the confrontation of different ideas pushes music forward; and it is exactly what we had hoped from this band, that they find a common language richer than the sum of the individual languages of each of them, a coherent musical material that respect each personality without reducing the great diversity of their individual approaches. If the…

*2025 stock* First released in 1991, Great Bliss Vol. 1 captures saxophonist David S. Ware at a pivotal moment, crystallizing his towering sound and visionary approach to ensemble improvisation. Joined by pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and drummer Marc Edwards, Ware leads a quartet that would go on to redefine the trajectory of free jazz in the 1990s and beyond.   This album presents the quartet in full command of their collective language, balancing unfettered exploration with d…

Silkheart Records is proud to announce the release of Joy (Within)!, a historic duo recording by drummer William Hooker and violinist Billy Bang. Two uncompromising innovators of the New York avant‑garde scene come together in a meeting of fire, vision, and raw spirit, captured at a moment of rare clarity and intensity.   Forged in the legacy of free jazz but always reaching beyond it, Hooker and Bang find common ground in an unrelenting search for emotional truth. Hooker’s propulsive drumming d…

*2025 stock* Silkheart Records proudly presents Naked Colours, a landmark release from the Hal Russell – Joel Futterman Quartet, bringing together four uncompromising voices in avant-garde jazz for a session that is as fearless as it is deeply human.   This recording captures the late Hal Russell, one of the most distinctive multi-instrumentalists in American free jazz, alongside visionary pianist and composer Joel Futterman, with Jay Oliver on bass and Robert Adkins on drums. Together, they pus…

Silkheart Records is proud to announce the release of Lifeline, the latest recording from visionary drummer, composer, and bandleader William Hooker, performed with his dynamic quartet. Lifeline captures the fierce urgency and expansive imagination that has defined Hooker’s work for decades, pushing the boundaries of jazz, free improvisation, and contemporary art music.   Throughout Lifeline, Hooker and his quartet dive deeply into music as a living, breathing force. Every piece reflects a profo…

Silkheart Records proudly presents Raining Fire, a searing new statement from the legendary Charles Gayle Quartet, capturing the uncompromising spirit and transcendent intensity that define Gayle’s artistry. Known worldwide as one of the most powerful voices in free jazz, Gayle channels both ferocity and grace in music that pushes the limits of expression while remaining deeply human at its core.   On Raining Fire, Gayle leads his quartet with raw immediacy, sculpting sound into waves of relentl…

"In the quarter century since the members of AALY Trio were last in the studio together there have been countless performances and albums made by the core members of the band. The remarkable parallels that existed between the improvised music scenes in Stockholm and Chicago from 1995 to 2000 extended well beyond the collaboration with AALY and me. Those circumstances are no longer the same due to the shifting sands of the international scene: artists, venues, record labels, writers, radio DJs, a…

Sweden's late '60s creative explosion saw Roland Keijser's quartet forge unprecedented music, bridging American free jazz, minimal composition, and Swedish folk heritage. These lost Öppet Tre recordings capture a pivotal moment when Swedish musicians created sounds never heard before

Reflectativity, first released on Leo Smith's own label in the early 1970s is one of the most important extended compositions blending improvisation and composition, and one of Leo Smith's masterpieces. This exciting new version features the brilliant pianist/composer Anthony Davis (who performed on the original recording) and longtime friend and colleague Malachi Favors—the legendary monster bass player from the Art Ensemble of Chicago. Coupled with several new compositions, this CD brings toge…

Limited to 450 copies. Includes two-sided postcard insert. A much needed reissue of drummer Stephen McCraven's astounding 1979 debut as a leader, originally issued on Marion Brown's Sweet Earth label. A holy grail of private press loft-jazz, bleeding the lyricism of spiritual jazz and the ambitious expressions of free improvisation. McCraven — father of Makaya McCraven — studied with Max Roach, Archie Shepp, Philly Joe Jones and Kenny Clarke, and worked as sideman with giants like Sam Rivers, Da…

This is free improvised music with two saxophones and two drum sets. The theme of the music is about identity that is linked to the region and culture, especially a specific folksy and indigenous characteristic in the Korean peninsula from long ago. The whole album describes a ceremony and its atmosphere and each track follows each step that is named by an ideogram.

Hyperboreal Trio’s debut album unites the distinct voices of Signe Emmeluth, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, and Axel Filip—three seasoned improvisers bridging the musical extremes of the north and south through raw, yet meticulously crafted pieces.

Listening closely to the duo of Elliott Sharp and Scott Fields one can hear a compact history of modern composition and improvisation. Although the duo has a sound all its own, under the surface you can sense traces of “New Music,” minimalism, free jazz, and blues.

Saxophonist Paul Flaherty is New England's purveyor of the ecstatic jazz pulse. Through the years, Flaherty remained unshakable in the pursuit of soul healing and demon dashing through freedom music. Six pieces of alto and tenor saxophone steeped in the theme of loss and channeled through blasting improvisations that showcase his fabulous wailing and inferno of sound to stark bluesy melodies. "January 20, 2005 was a cold night in Washington D.C. A dozen bands would perform at the Black Cat venue…

This album was recorded in Brno, Czech Republic when these five masterful musicians were invited to perform together at a festival. Quentin Rollet started playing the alto saxophone at the age of 11 and the sopranino saxophone at 37. After a few years spent unlearning the teaching of the conservatory, he devoted himself to free improvisation. This led him to find himself on record or on stage with groups as varied as Nurse With Wound, Prohibition or The Red Krayola. Sylvia Bruckner is an interna…

A sensational quartet that was created by Free Music Forum in Austria. Joe McPhee is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, improviser, conceptualist and theoretician. He is currently the member of Trio X, Survival Unit III and has collaborated with Pauline Oliveros, Peter Brötzmann, Evan Parker, Raymond Boni, The Thing, Trespass Trio, and Universal Indians among many others. With a career spanning nearly 50 years and over 100 recordings, he continues to tour internationally, forge new connections a…

This time we are presenting another great collaborator that has been a part of our community for many years. Marina Džukljev, pianist from Novi Sad, Serbia. She joined the trio TiTiTi a few years ago as a guest, on their debut record Štafelaj out on Zavod Sploh, and then later she performed with them on many occasions including the Jazz Festival in Cerkno, Ring Ring Festival etc. TiTiTi started as a trio of the Slovenian most prominent brotherly connection, a fiery free rhythm section – Vid and …

Maya Recordings  presents "Harmos – Kraków" a breathtaking new release by Barry Guy with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. Capturing the creative spirit and electrifying artistry that has defined Guy’s decades-long career as a composer, director, and double bassist, this album is an essential document for contemporary jazz and improvisational music fans. Recorded live, "Harmos – Kraków" showcases Guy’s celebrated composition Harmos in one of its most compelling interpretations, performed in K…