Jazz /
Brass Conspiracy
Composer, trumpeter, and educator Frank London has been a central figure of the Downtown Scene since the mid 1980s. A founding member of the Klezmatics, the Klezmer Conservatory Band, and Hasidic New Wave, he has worked with everyone from LaMonte Young, Itzhak Perlman, John Cale, and Allen Ginsberg to Gal Costa, Lester Bowie, and Iggy Pop. This exciting project is a startling new take on the deep tradition of music for brass and percussion and is informed by Latin, New Orleans, Soundtrack, Ragti…
Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume Two
Volume Two documenting Barbara Hannigan’s collaboration with Downtown alchemist John Zorn presents four dramatic pieces for voice and ensemble—three composed expressly for Hannigan! Liber Loagaeth, a meditative composition for voice and string quartet that lies somewhere between a spell and a prayer—Star Catcher, a powerful tour-de-force for voice, piano, and rhythm section—Ab Eo, Quod, scored for voice, cello, vibes, electronics, and drums—and a Zorn classic, Pandora’s Box, his dramatic take on…
Hannigan Sings Zorn Volume One
A remarkable meeting of two musical forces of nature finally available on recording!
Ballades
This third CD from the dynamic piano trio of Brian Marsella, Jorge Roeder, and Ches Smith is a delightful surprise--and one of Zorn's greatest achievements. Exploring a wide variety of tempi, moods, and feelings the compositions dive deeply into the parameters of melody, harmony, hythm, and texture, stretching the ballade format to its limits and beyond. The trio, three essential members of Zorn's inner circle, performs with passion, imagination, virtuosity, and a telepathic improvisational inte…
The Hermetic Organ Vol. 13 - Biennale Musica Venezia
Zorn's first appearance at the world renowned Venice Biennale was a spectacular one. Invited to perform The Hermetic Organ at the famed 17th century Palazzo Pisano, he was surprised to find two small antique organs opposite one another on the small stage of its intimate concert hall. His performance that day was one of the very best Offices of The Hermetic Organ—a wild, acoustic affair that takes full advantage of the rich reeds, flutes, and horns of these two outstanding instruments. Zorn ran b…
Volatile Object
Tip! The second album from the high-caliber improvising trio Fictional Souvenirs captures a visceral meeting between three of improvised music’s most idiosyncratic, elusive figures. On Volatile Object Pat Thomas (piano and electronics), John Butcher (saxophones), and Ståle Liavik Solberg (durms) were recorded live at London’s Café Oto in January of 2023.
The Canopy
"Ken Field’s triumphal music enables listeners to see with their mind’s eye what the dancers are performing on stage, helping us to contain loss, survive sorrow, live through grief, and ultimately transform us via this journey." - Mark Corroto, AllAboutJazz.com
Live at the Adler Planetarium
Beautiful new live document from interdisciplinary artist, composer and bandleader Rob Mazurek and a nine-piece iteration of his long-running Exploding Star Orchestra (ESO). Live at the Adler Planetarium will be released on LP, CD and DD on September 27th.
Kon.Takte
"Kontakte makes contacts between acoustic instrumental sounds and electronic music, its multidimensionality and its invitation to time travel, all promised a future in which humanity might transcend the limitations of material reality. In Spiegelung and Geschichte der Gewalt the electronic sounds emerge as transformations of this reality." – Christopher Fox
Propulsion
Propulsion is the debut album by a stellar quartet of journeymen Chicago improvisers assembled by saxophonist and Aerophonic Records founder Dave Rempis. Vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz is known for his extensive work with the late Peter Brötzmann, Hamid Drake, Mike Reed, and his own trio Sun Rooms. Bassist Joshua Abrams is the leader of Natural Information Society, perhaps the best-known group internationally to emerge from Chicago over the last decade. He also maintains longstanding relationship…
Roughly Random
*200 copies limited edition* Akira Sakata is a treasure of Japan’s free jazz/improvised music world. Rie Nakajima is a London-based sound artist with an international career in Europe and beyond. Sakata and Nakajima have performed together in Japan and other countries since the mid-2010s. When Nakajima came to Japan for a time in 2023, the two appeared at Ftarri, Tokyo, on December 4, performing two duo sets. Sakata, on alto sax and clarinet, forgoes ferocious sound-making and plays with calm el…
Rip, Rig & Panic
Featuring Roland Kirk, Elvin Jones, Jaki Byard, and Richard Davis. This incredible line-up strengthens 'Rip, Rig and Panic' as another indispensable Roland Kirk album.
Upstream
Killer youth jazz from Finland’s new tenor sensation Jimi Ahlroos - energetic rhythmical trio jazz recorded at studio Pelto
Jimi Ahlroos Trio
Killer youth jazz from Finland’s new tenor sensation Jimi Ahlroos - energetic rhythmical trio jazz recorded at studio Pelto
Frice
Before Don Cherry appeared in Ornette Coleman's quartet, the band's trumpeter was Bobby Bradford. Responsibility for his family dissuaded him from his career as a nomadic musician. It's a well-known story, but it's hard not to wonder "what would have happened if Bradford had stayed in New York and continued to create with Coleman?" This thought is even more intriguing when we learn that the marriage, which dominated the development of the young musician, broke up in 1970.I like to think that if …
Ephemeral Shapes
We have a special relationship with Ivo Perelman, so when his latest trio with Cuban-born and hugely respected pianist Aruan Ortiz and Spanish-born but French-based friend of our label Ramon Lopez finally came about, we felt that their first studio meeting had to be in our catalog. Their first album, Ephemeral Shapes, was recorded in Catalonia's Rosazul studio under the delectable ear of Ferran Conangla himself. We are all the more pleased that the band has entered the roster of the famous Akamu…
Ecstasy
One of the most brilliant contemporary improvisers playing the recorder, Dominik Strycharski is not the first time he has appeared on recordings in our catalog. An album featuring him came out nearly a decade ago, Myriad Duo, recorded with bass guitar virtuoso Rafal Mazur, sometime later a solo recital Flauto Dolphy, dedicated to the music of the great Eric Dolphy. And then October Suite, a disc documenting the anniversary concert of the RGG formation, during which Dominik was a special guest al…
Ephemeral Locations
Udo Schindler is truly a man of many talents. He was a rock musician, an educated architect, a pretty well-educated instrumentalist, and a virtuoso playing clarinets, saxophones and flutes. His extensive activity in the field of art includes composition, improvisation and live performance, and in each of these areas Udo Schindler has gained a reputation as a deep-thinking explorer and expert. This resulted in collaborations with musicians such as Hubert Bergmann, Gerry Hemingway, Eddie Prévost, …
Tribal Ghost
** 2024 restock, long out of print - few copies available ** Here’s an astonishing fact: This album was recorded during John Tchicai’s first and only weeklong residency at a New York jazz club. Tchicai — co-founder of the New York Art Quartet, one of the most innovative bands of the 1960s; member of Albert Ayer's New York Eye and Ear Control; participant in John Coltrane’s Ascension, perhaps the most influential of Coltrane’s late works; practitioner of world music-jazz fusions in bands such as…
Prayer for peace
** 2024 restock, long out of print - few copies avaialble ** Reissue of the legendary Amalgam recording with Trevor Watts, Jeff Clyne, John Stevens and Barry Guy. This recording received the highest rating by The Penguin Guide to Jazz. It was re-mastered from the original reel to reel tapes. : In the late 60s, British jazz was in a state of flux, pulling itself into strange new shapes influenced by the U.S. avant garde, European improvisation and rock and giving birth to bands such as Keith Tip…