Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by the Eddie Prévost Trio recorded at Gateway Studio, Kingston, England on 9th March 1997. The album includes seven tracks performed by Eddie Prévost - Drums, Tom Chant - Soprano saxophone, and John Edwards - Double bass. "This trio, quite intuitively (because I never spelt out what I hoped would happen) works in a subtle, attentive way: examining what the music is and where it is going all within the process of playing; feeling the sound to be comple…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost trio recorded at Gateway Studios, Kingston-upon-Thames, London on October 17th 2003. The album includes five tracks performed by Tom Chant - tenor saxophone, bass clarinet, John Edwards - double bass, and Eddie Prévost - drums.

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost quartet. This album is composed of two parts. Part 1 was recorded at the Bracknell Jazz Festival on the 3rd of July, 1983. Part 2 was recorded at Porcupine Studios London. The album includes five tracks performed by Larry Stabbins - Tenor and Soprano Saxophones, Veryan Weston - Piano, Marcio Mattos - Double Bass, and Eddie Prévost - Drums. "The music you hear on this DL has a distinct urgency and excitement. It moves forward in a comp…

Solo piano improvisations by Keith Jarrett, a suite in thirteen parts recorded live on 6 July 2016 at the Auditorium of the Opéra National de Bordeaux during his last European tour. Recorded by Martin Pearson, produced by Keith Jarrett.

Duo improvisations by Barre Phillips (double bass) and György Kurtág jr. (synthesizers, digital percussion, live electronics). Recorded in 2020 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Fully improvised solo piano concert by Craig Taborn, recorded live on 2 March 2020 in the Mozart-Saal of the Wiener Konzerthaus, Vienna. Produced by Manfred Eicher; his second ECM solo album after Avenging Angel.

Solo piano album by Polish pianist Dominik Wania, eleven freely improvised pieces recorded in November 2019 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, engineered by Stefano Amerio and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second duo album by cellist Anja Lechner and pianist François Couturier: improvisations, original pieces and music by Dutilleux, Kancheli, Brahem, Bach and Ariel Ramírez. Recorded October 2019 at Sendesaal Bremen, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Andrew Cyrille (drums) with Bill Frisell (guitar), David Virelles (piano, synthesizer) and Ben Street (double bass), in tunes by Frisell, Virelles, Cyrille and Adegoke Steve Colson. Recorded August 2019 at Sound on Sound, produced by Sun Chung.

First meeting on record of the Marcin Wasilewski Trio (Wasilewski piano, Sławomir Kurkiewicz double bass, Michał Miśkiewicz drums) with tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano. Recorded August 2019 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines, produced by Manfred Eicher.

First duo album by pianists Vijay Iyer and Craig Taborn, recorded live on 12 March 2018 at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music, Budapest, and produced by Manfred Eicher. Eight improvised pieces, several dedicated to Cecil Taylor, Muhal Richard Abrams, Geri Allen and Jack Whitten.

Debut album by the trio of Thomas Strønen (drums, percussion), Ayumi Tanaka (piano) and Marthe Lea (clarinet, voice, percussion), collectively improvised apart from a Norwegian folk tune, recorded August 2018 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by keyboardist Kit Downes (piano, church organ) with Tom Challenger (tenor saxophone), Lucy Railton (cello), Stian Westerhus (guitar) and Sebastian Rochford (drums), recorded November 2018 in Huddersfield and Snape, produced by Sun Chung.

Debut album of the trio Sun of Goldfinger: David Torn (electric guitar, live looping, electronics), Tim Berne (alto saxophone) and Ches Smith (drums, electronics, tanbou), with Craig Taborn and strings on one track, recorded 2015 and 2018 in New York studios.

First recording by the trio of Michele Rabbia (drums, electronics), Gianluca Petrella (trombone, sounds) and Eivind Aarset (guitar, electronics), mostly improvised, recorded January 2018 at ArteSuono Studio, Udine, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Derek Bailey (guitar) & Mm Xiao-Fen (pipa). Recorded N.Y.C. 1999." I met Derek at Clinton Studio and we started recording. I remember that my playing felt stiff at first, but I told myself to watch, listen and try to a have dialog with him and most importantly to follow my feelings. I still remember, during the middle of one track, Derek broke a string. I thought he might stop, but he continued playing, using the broken string to scratch on the frets. The results sounded incredible. Incredibly, …

Recorded live at Verity's 1972, this CD represents possibly the finest duo performance of Derek Bailey and Han Bennink. Reissue of the rare LP on Incus

Solo pipe organ album by Kit Downes, played on organs at Union Chapel, London, and two Suffolk churches (Snape and Bromeswell), with Tom Challenger on tenor saxophone on one track. Recorded November 2016; produced by Sun Chung.

Third album by François Couturier's Tarkovsky Quartet with Anja Lechner (cello), Jean-Marc Larché (soprano sax) and Jean-Louis Matinier (accordion): compositions, improvisations, Vivaldi and an anonymous piece. Recorded April 2016 in Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

First trio recording by Louis Sclavis (clarinets), Dominique Pifarély (violin) and Vincent Courtois (cello), with compositions by all three and collective improvisation. Recorded September 2016 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Duo album by Vijay Iyer (piano, Fender Rhodes, electronics) and Wadada Leo Smith (trumpet), centred on a seven-part suite for the Indian artist Nasreen Mohamedi. Recorded 17-19 October 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York, produced by Manfred Eicher.

French violinist Dominique Pifarély's quartet with pianist Antonin Rayon, bassist Bruno Chevillon and drummer François Merville, eight Pifarély compositions. Recorded July 2015 at Studios La Buissonne, Pernes-les-Fontaines; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Trio album led by drummer and percussionist Ches Smith with pianist Craig Taborn and violist Mat Maneri, eight Smith compositions for improvisers. Recorded June 2015 at Avatar Studios, New York; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Largely improvised quartet album by Giovanni Guidi (piano), Gianluca Petrella (trombone), Louis Sclavis (clarinet, bass clarinet) and Gerald Cleaver (drums), recorded in February 2015 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano recital by Masabumi Kikuchi: nine improvisations, Bonfá's Manhã de Carnaval and his own Little Abi. Recorded live on 26 October 2012 at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan Recital Hall, his last solo concert; mixed in Oslo and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Second ECM album by the Swiss-Italian trio Third Reel: Nicolas Masson (tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet), Roberto Pianca (guitar), Emanuele Maniscalco (drums, piano). Recorded August 2014 at Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI, Lugano; produced by Manfred Eicher.

ECM leader debut of drummer Andrew Cyrille, with Bill Frisell (guitar), Richard Teitelbaum (synthesizer, piano) and Ben Street (double bass). Recorded July 2014 at Brooklyn Recording, New York; produced by Sun Chung.

Ben Monder's first ECM album as leader: solo electric guitar, duos with Paul Motian (October 2010, Sear Sound) and with Andrew Cyrille, plus trios with Cyrille and Pete Rende on synthesizer (December 2013, Brooklyn Recording). Produced by Sun Chung.

Fifth album by the Norwegian trio Jøkleba (Per Jørgensen, trumpet, voice; Jon Balke, piano, electronics; Audun Kleive, drums, electronics) and its first for ECM: free collective pieces recorded in May 2014 at Madstun and Rainbow Studio, Oslo.

Solo violin recital by Dominique Pifarély, improvised pieces dedicated to poets plus Victor Young's My Foolish Heart, recorded in concert at Poitiers (2012) and Argenteuil (February 2013); produced by Manfred Eicher.

Solo piano concert by Paul Bley, four of his own compositions and Sonny Rollins's Pent-Up House as encore. Recorded live in August 2008 at Kulturkirken Jakob during the Oslo Jazz Festival by Jan Erik Kongshaug; produced by Manfred Eicher.

Miroslav Vitous revisits Weather Report repertoire with a sextet of two saxophonists (Gary Campbell, Roberto Bonisolo), two drummers (Gerald Cleaver, Nasheet Waits) and keyboards. Recorded 2010-2011 at Universal Syncopations Studios, Clavesana.

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Conditions recorded at Gateway Studios Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey England 16th November 2002 and 2nd March 2003. The album includes six tracks performed by John Edwards - Double Bass, Eddie Prévost - Drums, Alex James - Piano, Nathaniel Catchpole - Tenor Saxophone, Jamie Coleman - Trumpet.

Songs and improvisations on Pergolesi's Stabat Mater and opera arias, sung in Neapolitan by Maria Pia De Vito with François Couturier (piano), Anja Lechner (cello) and Michele Rabbia (percussion, electronics). Recorded December 2012 in Lugano, produced by Manfred Eicher.

Debut album of the bass-less Swiss-Italian trio Third Reel: Nicolas Masson (tenor saxophone, clarinet), Roberto Pianca (guitar), Emanuele Maniscalco (drums), sixteen composed and improvised pieces. Recorded February 2012 at the Auditorio RSI, Lugano.

Live duo recording by Lucian Ban (piano) and Mat Maneri (viola): pieces by Ban and Maneri, a joint improvisation and the spiritual Nobody Knows the Trouble I've Seen. Recorded 5 June 2011 at the Culture Palace, Târgu Mureș, Transylvania.

Duo album by bassist Gary Peacock and pianist Marilyn Crispell: compositions by each, three free improvisations and a solo apiece, recorded January-February 2011 at Nevessa Production, Saugerties, NY, and self-produced. ECM 2292, 2013.

Album by the Bobo Stenson Trio, with Bobo Stenson on piano, Anders Jormin on double bass and Jon Fält on drums, recorded in November and December 2011 at the Auditorio RSI in Lugano and produced by Manfred Eicher.