Jazz & Improvisation / Free Jazz

"Mystiphonic" is the third release from Roland P. Young on EM, following "Isophonic Boogie Woogie" [EM1045CD/LP] which was originally released in 1980 and re-issued by EM in 2005, and the 2009 "Istet Serenade" [EM1087CD/LP]. "Mystiphonic" is the fruit of two years of recordings at Young's Isophonic Sound Laboratory in Brooklyn, "comprovisations" which are more electronic than the previous EM releases, and yet this new CD retains Young's emotional life-long horn playing, a romance which began in …

2025 stock The reissue of Rolf & Joachim Kühn Quartet’s "Re-Union In Berlin" on b.free is a welcome resurrection of a historic German jazz masterpiece. This album, first recorded in 1965, captures the Kühn brothers at a creative peak, blending modal jazz with free improvisation in ways that still sound fresh and daring today. "Re-Union In Berlin" showcases Rolf Kühn’s virtuosic clarinet lines and Joachim Kühn’s exploratory piano, supported by Klaus Koch on bass and Reinhard Schwartz on drums. Ea…

Feelings marks Jake Henry’s long-awaited return as a leader, more than a decade after his debut with Sweet Talk Glitterbomb. This album is a deeply personal exploration of the intricate harmonic language and angular counterpoint Henry developed during his formative years as a guitarist. Drawing on the frenetic energy of math rock, raw intensity of metal, and chaotic textures of noise, Henry recontextualizes common song form into a bold, genre-defying soundscape. The quartet—featuring Brian Krock…

"In the early 1990s, trombonist Jeb Bishop became an essential part of Chicago’s musically and geographically outward-looking jazz community. His mastery of the full spectrum of trombone language, from earthy melody to abstract sound effects, made him indispensable in every band he joined—including the Vandermark 5, Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet, School Days, and Engines—and the indelible quality of his compositions made his recordings with his own bands landmarks of the era. Bishop left Chic…

First meetings are always a risk, but if the vibrations are right and the doors are open, magic will be made. When the members of Look Both Days (brought together by Chicago pianist Erez Dessel) took the stage on the opening night of the 2023 Catalytic Sound Festival, nobody knew quite what to expect. With Marvin Tate on the mic, Mai Sugimoto and Fred Jackson Jr. both on alto saxophone, Erez Dessel on piano, and Ben Hall on drums, these stalwarts of the midwestern improvised music scene were poi…

*2025 stock* Emerging from the fertile ground where language meets rhythm, Groppler Zorn proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated debut album. Conceived in the transition from spoken word to music, the project embodies the belief that the urge to speak and the impulse to dance spring from the same source. Far from being a singular vision, the album is the result of a series of creative dialogues — conversations between musicians and artists from diverse, and at times opposing, a…

*2025 stock* The acclaimed ensemble Double Helix Quartet proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated new album, an adventurous collection that redefines the boundaries between contemporary classical music, improvisation, and experimental soundscapes. With this bold statement, the quartet reaffirms its role as one of the most forward-thinking voices in today’s chamber music scene.   Fusing tradition with innovation, the album showcases the group’s signature interplay of precision an…

*2025 stock* Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ... is the debut recording by Turtle Boat, a free-jazz outfit led by Abhilasha Chebolu (Null Copula, Princsex, Gault, Ryan Jewell Quintet) featuring her compositions with additional contributions from saxophonist Alex Burgoyne (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Gault, Liver Quiver, Ryan Jewell Quintet). Joined by Dan DiPiero (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Common Things), the trio first assembled in 2015 after a decade of playing together in vari…

*2025 stock* Ism highlights the distinct qualities of each member. Fred's methodical approach to melody, Ed Wilkerson’s relentless dynamism, Jim’s uncanny ability to subvert expectations, and Avreeayl's inescapable rhythm, which weaves through the music—shaping everything from textured explorations to intense grooves to wild improvisations.

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…

Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj is thrilled to announce the release of "A Modicum Of Blues," an electrifying new album by five powerhouse improvisers: Ivo Perelman (tenor sax), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Mark Helias (bass), and Tom Rainey (drums). This recording captures the quintet in their purest element—live in the studio, free of plans or constraints, driven only by their joy of spontaneous creation. Renowned for his visionary approach, saxophonist Ivo Perelman assembles a…

Tip! This new acoustic trio is consisting of three of the most iconic players of todays European jazz, improvisation and experimental music scene. This line-up took a long birth phase, but was a logical step and basically came out of juggling the possibilities and attempts of combining the effort of two high energy noise + electro-acoustic duos: Ignaz Schick/Oliver Steidle (Ilog) and Ingebrigt-Håker-Flaten/Ignaz Schick. Both duos started in 2013 (Ilog) and 2015 (Håker Flaten/schick) and have a l…

Originally released in 1972, bassist Miroslav Vitouš’s acclaimed album Mountain in the Clouds returns to the spotlight as a remixed, expanded edition of his influential 1970 debut, Infinite Search. Widely celebrated as a seminal document in the birth of jazz-fusion, this recording chronicles the early, creative explosion of a new musical era. With Mountain in the Clouds, Vitouš pushes the limits of jazz bass, blending lyrical improvisation and experimental technique to striking effect. The album…

Two decades ago, an all-star assembly of Chicago improvisers started a new band, drawing its name from an 1841 book by Charles Mackay: Extraordinary Popular Delusions. With weekly gigs at a spot in Chicago called Hotti Biscotti, Jim Baker, Mars Williams, Brian Sandstrom, and Steve Hunt honed their sound, which could be ferocious or nerdy or diffuse, as they moment required. After a couple years, the quartet moved to a regular Monday session at Beat Kitchen, where they have maintained their weekl…

The 1971 entry point into Herbie Hancock's celebrated Mwandishi trilogy, returning here on vinyl. Mwandishi opens what would become the most adventurous and freely exploratory chapter of Hancock's discography, the first record to officially document the sextet that the pianist would shape into one of the great working bands of early seventies jazz. Recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1970 and released in March 1971 on Warner Bros, the album marked Hancock's decisi…

2007 release ** ""Echoes," a 2006 live quintet featuring Olivieri alongside Innarella on saxophone, Battiston on piano, and the prodigious rhythm section of Parker and Drake. A pulsating energy that free avant-garde revisits with a distinctive, modern harmonic structure, with clear structures that allow for intense improvisational vigor. Five dense tracks of near-perfect dialogue, with Innarella and Olivieri chasing each other in a play of references underscored by Battiston's percussive touch a…

2012 release ** "Two for two, Dark Tree. Last year’s Pourtant les Cimes des Arbres was a challenging, powerful piece of music, a perfect snapshot of the bold, demanding improvisation currently being produced on the French scene. It was also a hell of a way to launch a record label. So, even after multiple listenings, it’s still a little hard to digest the fact that their follow-up—En Corps, with Eve Risser on piano, Benjamin Duboc on bass and Edward Perraud on drums—is even more challenging and …

Balance Point Acoustics proudly announces the release of "Two Felt-Tip Pens: Live At Moers," a strikingly original album recorded live at the renowned Moers Festival in Germany and dedicated to the late Hans Schneider (1951–2024). The release features the adventurous trio of German saxophonist Stefan Keune, American guitarist Sandy Ewen, and acclaimed bassist and label curator Damon Smith, three master improvisers converging in an equilateral triangle of spontaneous sonic exploration. "Two Felt-…

*2025 stock* Founded in the Winter of 2017 Adam Shead’s Adiaphora Orchestra is a large mixed chamber orchestra performing the compositions and conductions of percussionist composer, and educator Adam Shead. The Adiaphora Orchestra, located in Chicago, IL, is comprised of the cities finest rising star improvisers from a variety of performance idioms and practices. Including a full string, brass, woodwind, auxillary, and rhythm section the ensemble performs what Shead calls “indifference music”. A…

Full Cycle, Thread New. is a long form composition in three movements by Chicago multi-disciplinary artist Adam Shead. The piece focuses heavily on concepts of reformation, regeneration, non-linear time dynamics, and cyclical history. Throughout the three movements (which features Shead alongside acclaimed Chicago improvised music stalwarts Jeff Kimmel, clarinets; Ishmael Ali, cello/electronics; Matt Piet, piano; and Andrew Scott Young, double bass.) the quintet effortlessly intertwines a divers…

*2025 stock* Balance Point Acoustics proudly presents Volumes & Surfaces, a bold new statement in contemporary free jazz from the extraordinary trio of Jason Stein (bass clarinet), Damon Smith (double bass), and Adam Shead (drums). Recorded in Chicago at Elastic Arts and The Hungry Brain, this album showcases three of creative music’s most distinctive voices in full flight. Volumes & Surfaces reveals the trio’s uncanny synergy, adventurous spirit, and unyielding commitment to improvisational exp…

2014 release ** "Recorded at the Écouter pour l’Instant Festival in the summer of 2013, Sens Radiants showcases an hour-long performance of Lazro on baritone saxophone, Duboc on bass, and Lasserre on a stripped-down drum kit. In true European tradition, the trio has always presented a music that seems completely divorced from any of free improvisation’s jazz heritage. Like Portant Les Cimes Des Arbres, Sens Radiants is steeped in rhythm, though not of the toe-tapping, beat-counting sort. There’s…

Original 1987 LP on Les Disques Victo of electric guitar and soprano/alto saxophone duets by these amazing musicians recorded live at the 1986 Victoriaville Festival.

Rare 1967 original first album on ESP by German vibraphonist featuring Carlos Ward, Henry Grimes and Ed Blackwell. One of the most obscure ESP albums, never re-issued on either CD or LP.

The first 1979 LP on FMP with gatefold sleeve original innersleeve by the Orchestra featuring John Tchicai and a host of German musicians, never re-issued on either CD or LP.

Original 1981 double LP edition with gatefold sleeve on BVHaast of the Kollektief's finest album full of superb orchestrations.

Rare first and only CD re-issue of the essential early manifesto of European improvisation, featuring Brötzmann, Han Bennink, Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Fred Van Hove, Buschi Niebergall.

Very rare 1972 edition on FMP (with ”Mierendorffstrasse 19” address printed on the back cover) of one of the monuments of European free music by the Octet featuring Peter Kowald, Han Bennink, Sven-Åke Johansson, Fred Van Hove and Evan Parker a.o.. Music has rarely been as wild, energic and free as here.

Very rare 1972 edition on FMP (with ”Mierendorffstrasse 19” address printed on the back cover) of one of the monuments of European free music by the Octet featuring Peter Kowald, Han Bennink, Sven-Åke Johansson, Fred Van Hove and Evan Parker a.o.. Music has rarely been as wild, energic and free as here.

Original first edition on FMP of the 1975 album by a quartet of improvisation giants, including FMP catalogue.

Original first edition on FMP of the 1975 album by a trio of improvisation giants, including FMP catalogue.

Original double album with gatefold sleeve on FMP from 1980, with original innersleeves.

Drummer, visual artist and one of the original European free jazz players, Sven-Åke Johansson was never willing to settle for a single route of exploration. As a musician and composer he appeared on key recordings for the legendary FMP, delivered marine weather reports for Edition Telemark, crooned love songs for Ultra Eczema and was at the heart of the recent free music revival in Berlin via Umlaut alongside Joel Grip and Axel Dörner. “My work is not actually jazz, but rather the exploration of…

This music was written in a period of intense emotions, as the grief and pain of losing my father tangled and fused with horror and despair at the genocide in Palestine – but life is complicated, and the music also comes from joy and love “Listening intently to raptors” is dedicated to the great bassist John Lindberg, and the title comes from an email correspondence we had during covid lockdown. “After a break” appeared fully formed after quite a long period of composer’s block, while listening …

Original 1972 LP on the highly collectable Futura label and one of their best titles, percussive drums solo improvisations at their best.

Very rare 1971 album of experimental free music by the French master on the highly collectable Futura label.

Original edition on FMP of the first album from 1973 by 'the' free jazz big band, featuring Peter Brotzmann, Peter Kowald, Paul Lovens, Evan Parker, Alex Schlippenbach, Paul Rutherford, Kenny Wheeler and a host of others.

Original 1977 album on Po Torch with gatefold sleeve by 'the' free jazz big band, featuring Peter Brotzmann, Albert Mangelsdorff, Anthony Braxton, Peter Kowald, Paul Lovens, Evan Parker, Enrico Rava, Alex Schlippenbach and a host of others.

Original German edition on Japo of the 1978 album by 'the' free jazz big band, featuring Peter Brotzmann, Derek Bailey, Albert Mangelsdorff, Peter Kowald, Paul Lovens, Evan Parker, Tristan Honsinger, Alexander von Schlippenbach and a host of others.

Original German edition on Japo of the 1980 album by 'the' free jazz big band, featuring Steve Lacy, Albert Mangelsdorff, Paul Lovens, Evan Parker, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Kenny Wheeler, Manfred Schoof, Enrico Rava and a host of others.