Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

Gatefold double LP version. It can't be easy gathering 28 of Northern Europe's finest jazz and improvising musicians in one place at the same time, which is why Sweden's Fire! Orchestra has been one of the continent's best-kept secrets so far. After playing rare shows a handful of times a year, this incredible mass ensemble is getting ready to unleash its full power with Enter, its first studio recording. This isn't jazz: this is Nordic dynamite. Fire! originated as the trio of Swedish …

In case you weren't there, Bocian present documentation of a pretty unhinged Cafe Oto session between gifted improvisers, Mats Gustafsson (reeds), John Russell (guitar) & Phil Minton (voice). Just imagine stumbling in on this one unprepared - a trio of blokes bleating, parping and yanking like Reeves & Mortimer after three days on the sauce. Of course, that description does a disservice to their well-honed extended technique and dexterity, but we'd defy anyone to keep a totally straight face at …

The brilliant sax player John Butcher continues to expand the boundaries of free improvisation. This is his latest solo release. An inexhaustible outpouring of ideas blends with phantasmagoric, wondrous technique to create a richly colored, dynamic world of sound. Not only is this John Butcher's greatest masterpiece, but as a solo saxophone album it is a valuable document that can even be said to rank alongside Evan Parker's 'Monoceros''. The 3 pieces were performed at Shimanouchi Church …

First solo recording by Mark Sanders, one of the world's great improvisors. Recorded from the drummer's perspective, a beautiful virtuoso performance in 9 parts.

Percussionist Juan Pablo Carletti leads a trio with Tony Malaby on sax and Christopher Hoffman on cello, beautifully unfolding jazz that balances light and dark, melodic and free approaches with textural percussive work. For his debut album, NYC-based Argentinian drummer Juan Pablo Carletti has made some wise choices, even before one considers the music. Foremost among those is the selection of saxophonist Tony Malaby to front his trio. Malaby has a compelling track record of energising such thr…

Big Tip! Unreleased session from 1975."Trumpeter Ted Daniel's Energy Module was a short-lived band. They played exactly two gigs in the course of one week in the fall of 1975-and never played again. They gelled quickly as a quintet, however, in large part because everyone knew each other from working in Daniel's big band, Energy. However, the Energy Module was a less formal affair than the large ensemble, in which they played Daniel's original compositions and arrangements. "We had a couple of r…

2013 release, outstanding edition. "This marvelously produced four-LP box on 180g vinyl (with accompanying digital download) documents three days of concerts in Berlin from October 2011, features sixteen British improvisers in differing combinations—duos, trios, quartets, and quintets. The meticulous presentation includes two essays, one historical by Brian Morton and another contextual by Wolfgang Seidel. The elaborate booklet also contains plenty of photographs, artist bios, and a lengthy inte…

Recorded in concert at The Network Theatre, Waterloo in London, 2012, the trio of Tom Chant on saxophone, John Edwards on bass and Eddie Prevost on drums present a tour de force of modern free jazz with great technical and conversational power.

With a generosity of spirit that is touching, the three tracks on this disc are titled after deceased (and much missed) improv heroes—drummer Tony Marsh, saxophonists Lol Coxhill and John Tchicai. (Coxhill never recorded for Treader but Marsh and Tchicai both did.) That gesture serves as a reminder of the close-knit nature of the improv community—a factor which is vital to its music. Although this CD features the same four musicians as the first one, Coxon here plays synthesiser instead of guita…

You cannot judge a book by its cover. Maybe, but music fans somehow know that expression doesn't lend itself to album covers (in this case, CD covers). Look at the Blue Note Records covers from the 1960 sixties, Miles Davis' On The Corner (Columbia, 1972), or The Clash's London Calling (Columbia, 1979), and tell me you don't have a very good idea what you'll hear on those records. Covers matter, and more importantly they reveal essential information about the music found inside. Since 2004, the …

A demanding live duo performance from New York drummer William Hooker and Lithunian saxophonist Liudas Mockunas, performing at the 2013 Vilnius Jazz Festival. The playing is hard-edged, rugged and free playing, keeping a strong momentum from Hooker's unabating drive, maintaining a solid pulse without seeming to repeat himself. Mockunas has a thick confident approach to his playing, varying melodic riffs with trance-like playing. An album of edge-of the-seat and persuasive playing."Liudas Mockuna…

In the Dan Blacksberg Trio, the innovative and genre-defying trombonist brings an expansive and creative new vision to the cutting-edge jazz traditions of pioneers like Ornette Coleman, Don Cherry, and Albert Ayler. The trio is celebrating the release of Perilous Architecture, their second album for Lithuanian-based NoBusiness Records. Blacksberg has penned a set of music that pushes at the technical and timbral limits of his instrument, opening up into far-reaching sounds worlds while maintaini…

This open-minded trio recorded Plaything in October of 2012 at Studio Juillaguet, a recording and dance space located in a rural part of southwest France that is run by Kent Carter and his wife, a professional choreographer. Bassist Kent Carter produced the album, along with the NoBusiness label. Gianni Lenoci and Bill Elgart first met in Evil Rabbit's 2010 Amsterdam music festival. Subsequently Lenoci invited Carter to Monopoli, Italy to do a workshop with his orchestra, which Carter …

The 1969 Oliv session was the third Spontaneous Music Ensemble LP to be issued, following on from Challenge (1966) and Karyobin (1968), currently awaiting reissue. Familie appears to be the earliest recorded example of a large Sme group. This music is very influenced by slow-moving Gagaku (Japanese court music), especially the semi-composed first half. The second half is largely a free improvisation with a brief return to the written material at the end. An alternative take was recorded, presuma…

This was a project a long time in the making - Xavier Charles is a not a person you can rush; he has very clear objectives that need the time that they take. When he took interest in the sounds of the appliances in his kitchen, daily sounds that remain unnoticed to most of us, he was to explore listening and perception as part of his music making. Typically, Xavier has worked here with the ambient noise in his recording environment, something he has been exploring and refining for many years now…

finally ZU are back, with an amazing new line-up. Full album to follow in summer.

Dredd Foole, vocals, Paul Flaherty, horns, Steve Baczkowski, horns, Chris Corsano, drums, Bill Nace, electric guitar. 

Even for the standards of NoBusiness, a label that sometimes features artists who haven’t been very well known so far, YAPP is a really young band, all of the band members seem to be around 30. It’s Bryan Rogers ­on tenor saxophone, Alban Bailly ­on guitar, Matt Engle ­on bass and David Flaherty ­on drums, and they cultivate the field between post rock, modern jazz, minimal and improvised music. I must admit that I was rather skeptical when I realized that Bryan Rogers has played in Melody Gardo…

Not enough is heard from Brooklyn-born bassist Adam Lane. He boasts an impressive track record, illuminated by a series of outstanding recordings, mainly on the CIMP label, but culminating in the acclaimed Ashcan Rantings (Clean Feed, 2010). Nothing has surfaced under his own name since, so any new disc grabs attention. That's not to say he has been idle, notching up notable appearances on drummer William Hooker's excellent Bliss Suite (Not Two, 2010) which also featured rising star saxophonist …

For avant modern jazz piano trio music at its free best, you can't go wrong with RED Trio. And their LP on No Business (NBLP 67) is as good a place as any to start. They give us three supercharged cuts. Hernani Faustino's double bass cavorts, rumbles and brings in a storm from the lower depths throughout. I love his pizzicato and his arco equally and he sets up the churning excitement the band generates. Gabriel Ferrandini has the drum dynamics covered--senses the sound colors and thrust needed …

While it would be an exaggeration to suggest that there was a house style for the adventurous Lithuanian No Business imprint, the European saxophone trio nonetheless forms a significant strand in its output. Recent winning entries in the format have included sets from the Anglo Polish Riverloam Trio, Thomas Borgmann's excellent US-German unit, and Evan Parker's longstanding trio. To these illustrious sessions must now be added the Fabric Trio featuring German reedman Frank Paul Schubert alongsid…

Recording during concerts in Chicago by Mikolaj Trzaska - saxophones, bass clarinet; Steve Swell - trombone; Per-Åke Holmlander - tuba; Tim Daisy - drums

After more than 600 concerts around the globe, five studio albums and a variety of live releases over the years, the Scandinavian garage, free jazz trio, The Thing – Mats Gustafsson (bass, baritone, tenor and soprano saxophones), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (electric bass) and Paal Nilssen-Love (drums) — are excited to present their sixth studio album, BOOT! As the first album on their new label, The Thing Records, and first studio album following their collaborative release with Neneh Cherry, 2012’s…

KNM Berlin, Ensemble Zwischentöne, Eberhard Blum, Agnieszka Dziubak, Gunnhildur Einarsdottir, Sven-ke Johansson, a.o. Rec.1992 - 2013. 'Italienische Vekehrsverstndigung' (1983) for seven woodwindplayers woodwind ensemble, conducted by SJ,recorded Ballhaus Naunynstrasse Berlin 1992. 'Klingend und festgehalten' (1995) five stations for combo drum set 'Bom-Zeke-Bom' (1995) for septet, Ensemble Zwischentöne. '22 Miniaturen für Akkordeonorchester' (1991) for accordeon orchestra. Akeordeon Orchestra B…

Astounding LP documenting a high-quality live recording of a performance in Vittorio Veneto (Italy) in July 2012 by Virginia Genta (Jooklo etc), David Vanzan (Jooklo etc) and Chris Corsano. With Genta on tenor & soprano saxophones and clarinet, Vanzan on electric guitar and home-made semi-modular synthesiser, and Corsano on percussion, the trio combine their "informal creative sounds into a set of abstract cosmic-punk improvisations". Pressed on clear, marbled-yellow 180g vinyl and housed in han…

If the city of Beirut doesn’t leap to mind as a hotbed of avant-garde musical activity, listen up: since 2005, the Al Maslakh label (translation: The Slaughterhouse) has been documenting far-thinking sounds from the small but vital Lebanese scene. The “A” Trio’s first release, Music To Our Ears, was one of the most startling debuts of 2011; now, Roaratorio is proud to present their second album (and first vinyl release): Live In Nickelsdorf, recorded at the Konfrontationen Festival in 2012. Whil…

This 7-CD set contains 19 selected performances from the Ftarri Festival, held in April 2008 (Kyoto / Tokyo), and the Ftarri doubtmusic Festival, held in September 2010. The 7 CDs, together with a sequentially numbered Ftarri Collection card, come in a special handmade felt bag about 18 cm high and 17 cm wide. Each bag has a different design. Ftarri Collection 1 with Opera Southern Cross (Taku Sugimoto: composition, images. Katsuaki Iida: words, reading. Toshimaru Nakamura: no-input mixing board…

Taco Bells has been playing their own music since 2006 and mostly with various friends as addition to the trio. Also the previous LP Vadelma / Hawaii (Ikuisuus 2009) came up from the first meeting of the Finnish master Pekko Käppi and Taco Bells in Helsinki 2007. Taco Bells doesn't play too much at private rehearsal places for themselves. Usually there's always at least tiny audience following the situation. Galleries, tours, weddings, bars, cellars… Recordings of Vinterströssel were made in a t…

Some of the most amazing work we've ever heard from this legendary bassist – a set that's not based around music from a wooden flute, but which instead refers to the instrument in its title – as an illustration of the very organic approach of the work within! A 8CD box set of all previously unissued recordings by world-renowned bassist-composer-bandleader William Parker, a 2013 recipient of the Doris Duke Foundation's Artist Award. Parker is a wonderfully prolific composer, and over half of t…

Derek Bailey: acoustic guitar. Simon H. Fell: double bass. This is the full recording - freshly remastered - of the 2001 duo gig, an excerpt from which appeared in 2002 on a long-deleted Sound 323 mini-CD which was voted a record of the year by The Wire magazine. Here at last is the full performance in all its exhilarating acoustic power; an unplugged (but very intense) set from a hot and summery Wednesday afternoon, recorded in the basement of Sound 323 in London by Tim Fletcher.

Udo Schindler, bass- & contrabass-clarinet, soprano saxophone, cornet. Elisabeth Harnik, pleyel-piano. Live recording Octobver 26, 2012 in München.

Screeches, Scratches, Knocks, Bangs, Explosions and Howls in the Night! “@” is a fabulous studio recording of two Downtown masters. Both long-time supporters of extreme music and proponents of free improvisation, John and Thurston share a deep musical connection and come together here to create their first work together. A varied and powerful program of duo improvisations, “@” presents the community of NY’s Downtown scene at its collaborative best.

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Research diver, underwater videographer, world traveler, film director and guitarist extraordinaire, Henry Kaiser has been a central figure in the Bay Area music scene since the late 1970s. A member of the first generation of American free improvisers, his style is completely unique and touches on Rock, Blues, World Music, Folk, Jazz, Classical and so much more. Here he steps out on his own for a solo guitar album that pays tribute to a handful of his heroes…

Paisatges was recorded on the 4th of August 2008 at the Ciutadella public park of Barcelona, Spain. It is the result of a sonic experimentation, where free improvisation and the natural acoustic environment interact. Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga on zither and Felipe Araya Muñoz on.bombo legüero and percussion, form a dialogue where improvisation is not defined by the natural sounds; it is rather a coexistence of the natural with the artificial world, the one that takes place in situ, making Pais…

“HMS Concert” is a bootleg-release of the legendary Britain-based improvised music ensemble. London Improvisers Orchestra has been an active music community for over 15 years and it has been a platform for local and visiting musicians to experience and to share their enthusiasm over communicating through organized improvisation. This release’s three tracks were recorded during the band’s annual meeting at the “H.M.S President”, a boat-venue on the river Thames, in November the 4th 2011. A group …

About Trumpet and Saxophone brings together New York based trumpeter Nate Wooley and London based saxophonist Seymour Wright for a series of intensely material duo improvisations that inhabit the tricky overlap between these two instruments. Recorded on their second encounter, there's an intriguing balance of freshness and reflection in the music here, one that matches their deep knowledge of improvised music's various pasts as well as their commitment to experiment and discovery.

Eric Cordier, amplified and live processed hurdy gurdy. Jean-Luc Guionnet, amplified and live mixed church organ. Recorded live in the Temple Neuf (Metz - France) in February 2004 - organized by Fragment

Jon Rose, violins. Clayton Thomas, double bass. Mike Majkowski, double bass.Australian string trio Strike combine pure energy, dynamic sensibilities and a bombastic approach to percussive attack Ð diving head first into the chamber. A rare combination of thrash energy, sophisticated listening and unbridled enthusiasm. Led by the pioneering experimentalist Jon Rose, the trio takes fulladvantage of the myriad possibilities of the string, the bow and the box.Jon Rose is Australia's most consiste…

The Topography of the Lungs is finally re-issued. A landmark album in the British avant garde – the first record ever on Incus Records (originally released in 1970) and a monumental set of improvisations between Parker, Bailey, and Bennink, considered by many to be a key recording in the history of improvised music, it brought together three musicians who then continued to develop the genre in the intervening three decades:EVAN PARKER (soprano & tenor saxophones), DEREK BAILEY (guitar) and HAN…

Two concerts from an eight-year gap in the published recordings of the Iskra 1903 trio of Paul Rutherford (trombone), Philipp Wachsmann (violin & electronics) and Barry Guy (bass & electronics), masterful improvisation blending acoustics and electronics.