Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

If it can be said of someone that he is more than a musician, more than an improviser, more than an artist then it can certainly be said of Slovenian drummer Zlatko Kaucic. Zlatko is a good spirit, he is a man who not only goes down in musical history as a partner of the greatest artists of improvised music, but also as a good spirit. As someone who, when he plays and when he enters a room, the world becomes brighter, wiser and arranged as it should be. This year Zlatko Kaucic turned 70 and his …

Legendary percussionist, leader and founder of Ictus Records, a publishing house legendary in the world of improvised music. He has recorded with Derek Bailey, Steve Lacy, Don Cherry and an infinite number of the world's most creative artists. Andrea Centazzo is a great figure, an outstanding drummer who needs no introduction to anyone and who continues to play with the greatest. We are proud to bring you a documentary of the concerts that took place at the Out Off theatre in Milan, where Andrea…

"Agusti Fernandez one of the greatest living piano masters, a brilliant improviser, an endlessly creative artist but also a friend. I can't quite find the words to describe well enough who he is not only for me, but also for FSRecords. So I will just say that it is perhaps thanks to him and his confidence that the label was able to embark on the path it is on now. 10 years ago, when no one knew about FSR yet, Agusti trusted me and agreed to release the album ‘Agusti Fernandez@60 - River, Tiger, …

The ultimate cosmic music has arrived! Prepare to be gently led into an invigorating electronic dreamscape by a skillfully creative partnership. Despite collaborating since 2016, Endless Season is the first duo album from 577 Records Co-Creator (and legendary maestro), Daniel Carter, and rising tenor saxist Ayumi Ishito. Originally recorded as an acoustic set, the plan changed when Carter encouraged Ishito to explore audio production. Before they knew it, she had shaped beats and sounds that per…

"Furthered" is the new album by Alex Ward Item 4. The quartet's music is the fullest realization of Ward's long-standing desire to create a context where his compositional concerns can coexist with improvisation of the most unfettered stripe. Given a line-up which would be perfectly capable of creating compelling music without recourse to pre-written elements at all, Ward's compositions aim to function as another "personality" within the overall mix, subject to the same spontaneous interrogation…

2025 stock Mats Gustafsson plays slide, tenor, baritone, bass saxophones. Christof Kurzmann uses special ppooll software and voice, live processing. Recorded, mixed & mastered at Garnison 7, Vienna by Martin Siewert. Artwork by Jimmy Draht. Liner notes by Ken Vandermark. Limited vinyl edition of 300 with screen-printed covers. Ken Vandermark, from the liner notes: "On the surface, its fundamental components seem to come from the 20th century: the saxophone (invented in 1846, but not coming to th…

This is the debut album of a group dedicated to the invisible world. Some people operate invisibly by choice, some are invisible because of the nature of events in their life, some remain invisible and unknown against their will.

"Teshuvah' reflects a first meeting between of two experienced veteran improvisors: Tim Hodgkinson (Henry Cow, Konk Pack, etc.) and Milo Fine. The career of Fine goes back to 1969 when he started The Milo Fine Free Jazz Ensemble. Throughout his career he was dedicated to free improvised music. I guess both gentlemen are more or less of the same age. Also Hodgkinson has a longlasting relation with free improvisation, as it was already part of the Henry Cow. They combined rock and free improvisati…

Norwegian guitarist Stian Larsen joins London-based musicians Colin Webster (alto sax), Andrew Lisle (drums), and Ruth Goller (bass) for an exciting collision of energetic free jazz, post-rock and noise that is dynamic, playful and hard-hitting.

These duets exemplify a compelling musical interplay, characterized by symmetrical encounters and an organic, intuitive dialogue that seamlessly weaves together elements of core improvisation, contemporary classical influences, and jazzy choruses, resulting in a rich tapestry of sound that is captivating in its spontaneity and depth.Alexandra Grimal: tenor and soprano saxophonesGiovanni Di Domenico: acoustic grand pianos, celesta, pipe organ

The Amsterdam based improvisers quartet performs a song cycle composed by John Dikeman reflecting on colonisation, and the double edged sword of religion which can lead to transcendence or tyranny.

"Sophie Agnel and Michael Zerang are relentless on every surface and in the diving pit of improvisation. You've got to hear it to see it to believe it: it's a water lily drum set in the soundboard of a pond piano. At times, it seems as if a single instrument is being played by two people, with razor-sharp clarity" - Alexandre Pierrepont

After a wonderful concert at the Elastic Arts Foundation, Chicago, the ES Trio (Kwan/Zerang/Steyer), decided to record their music to document this inspiring collaboration. In their trio work they focused on sound oriented pieces, that were nurtured by the individual approaches to their instruments. The duo works of Zerang and Steyer also reflect the work of Steyer concerning instrumental ornamentation, that is inspired by the multi-ethnic, mostly near eastern sounds of the streets in Berlin.

"We hear harp, electronics, piano, cello and percussion convene in clash and collusion, setting forth a dazzling array of sound and expression. Plains of disarticulation and misdirection are cut by moments of inextricable entanglement, where we hear discrete sounds fuse, instruments bleeding into one another, at times taking on the warp and weft of a companion. The recording is of an extraordinary performance of improvisational prowess by four musicians working at the very limits of their techni…

"This record has stark aesthetic shifts, going between bluesy and abstract territory. After the first two pieces, which “set the ends of the spectrum”, the others move between these two languages. What’s cool is that this allows you to pay close attention to textural qualities of Luciana’s playing. She gets good snap on her pull offs and picking. There is a personal quality to this record that comes out of the juxtaposition of these sounds. As someone who started with rock music and now improvis…

Extempore, formerly known as Ad Libitum Quartet, is a band located in Vienna, Austria. It consists of Mark Holub on drums, Villy Paraskevopoulos on piano, Vinicius Cajado on double bass and Werner Zangerle on saxophone. The band was formed by Paraskevopoulos for a festival in Graz in 2021 as a trio, after which they became a quartet with varying bass players. Since this year Cajado is the definitve fourth member of the group, himself being an outstanding bass player that is active with many diff…

Flowers We Are consists of the versatile, Serbian-based exceptional pianist Marina Džukljev, the sound architect Matija Schellander on bass and electronics and the cello extremist noid /aka Arnold Haberl. The three musicians move with equal ease, playfulness and elegance from minimal electronic sounds to melodic fragments to orchestral fullness. The trio convinces with the wide spectrum of its musical languages. Marina Džukljev is a pianist and educator renowned for her dynamic performances in f…

Sainkho Namtchylak is a singer originally from Tuva, an autonomous republic in the Russian Federation just north of Mongolia. She is known for her Tuvan throat singing or Khöömei. Her music encompasses avant-jazz, electronica, modern composition and Tuvan influences. Once the Soviet Union had collapsed, she moved to Vienna, making it her base, although she traveled widely, working in any number of shifting groups and recording a number of discs that revolved around free improvisation. Amongst th…

"The special qualities of this music emerge from the focus on Lacy’s soprano saxophone in this unique instrumentation; the transparency and intimacy of the bass and guitar create a nuanced background set against the variety of improvisational strategies." - Art Lange"The removal of two recorded compositions and the editing here is based on notes originally written by Steve Lacy on the cassette he sent me to listen to and evaluate the music for release. I acquired the original recording in 1985 f…

"This, it seems to me, is the great strength of Sophie Lüssi’s music here on Atlantic Puffin. It is clearly skilled and doesn't deal in casual approximations. It is built on solid technique, a brilliant appropriation of classical violin methods in the interests of improvisation. But her music, which draws on folk as well as canonical forms, is one that emanates from and addresses the whole person. It's generous music, kindly and open, and in its gentle humour it engages a part of the spirit that…

Elisabeth Harnik, an Austrian based pianist and composer has created a multi-faceted body of work by blurring genre boundaries through various collaborations in the field of improvised music, interdisciplinary projects and contemporary compositional works. She studied classical piano and later – with Beat Furrer – composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts, Graz. As an improviser she works within an electro-acoustic inspired sound-world, using specific preparations and extended t…

*2025 stock* The album "On the Way" is the result of cooperation and friendship of four exceptional artists. The paths of these musicians have been intertwining for many years. Each of them is characterized by a unique sound and awareness of creating their own language, which is a bridge connecting artistic sensitivity, philosophy, mysticism and reality. Each of them blazes its own trail, often through difficult and virgin grounds. Constantly transcending themselves is the essence of their creat…

*2025 stock* Ethnicity, improvisation, jazz, melody, indigenous feeling and groove plus free natural expression are defined by Piotr Damasiewicz Ethno Trio. Recorded live in the old higlander family house.

Named after a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting and inspired by the artists multi-faceted stylistic approach - known for its raw, expressive, and dynamic qualities, blending street art with neo-expressionism to create bold, thought-provoking work. The Exu make layered, intense, creative & beautiful, thought provoking, genre fluid improvised music. The trio brazenly draw their musical influences from the worlds of free jazz, grunge, death metal, hip hop, bebop, & experimental music. Kane says ‘we are…

First released in 1980 via the little-known Pick Up Records, Danish jazz-rockers Ariel's self-titled debut record sees an unlikely reissue via Jazz Room here. A worthy reintroduction of the quintet to the world at large - where before it wasn't well-known at all - it comes after the album was recently helped to by none other than Brownswood aficionado Gilles Peterson, whose encyclopaedic internal memory bank and capacity to chin-wag served the cascading recollection of the album by Jazz Room lab…

"In the quartet on this album, Paul Dunmall has returned to his first love: totally free improvisation based on interaction between the four players. Many aspects of Paul Dunmall’s playing are apparent on this album. His approach is to listen very carefully to what is happening around him and to react to it. If you see him play live, you will see how he concentrates on the flow of the music, often stepping back and allowing the music to develop before choosing the right moment to enter or re-ent…

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…

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…

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 …

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."

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…

2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.

Evan Parker's soprano and tenor saxophones with the voice of Sainkho Namtchylak, live at the Music Gallery in Toronto on 15 May 1996. Circular-breathed lines against throat singing, overtones and wordless cries.

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…

Rare CD 2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.

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 …

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…

2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.

2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** "Recorded at the 1993 Vancouver Jazz Festival, these five group improvisations feature sound explorations by pianist Marilyn Crispell, bassist Barry Guy, and drummer Gerry Hemingway. The interplay is quite spontaneous and the continuous music is rather forbidding, atonal, and with an emphasis on sounds rather than notes."

2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage.