Jazz & Improvisation / Free Jazz

First visit live offers new mastering of the trio’s first performance at the cellar cafe, New York City 1964.

An electrifying 1st-time meeting between guitarist Keiji Haino and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, captured live at Tokyo's Shinjuku Pit Inn, where the duo shape an unpredictable set that veers from reflective stillness to wildly passionate outbursts, their extended techniques and visceral vocals — sometimes urgent, sometimes outrageous — fueling an exhilarating and uncompromising sonic adventure.

May 2015, John Zorn composed 300 new tunes that were eventually collected into a book of music he called “The Bagatelles.” After five years of performances around the world in venues large and small, the choicest ensembles have gone into the studio and the results are some of the most exciting and varied music Zorn has ever presented. This first volume features the remarkable Mary Halvorson Quartet. Dynamic, fiery and endlessly imaginative, this is a fascinating first peek into the world of Zorn…

Sun Ra's debut album, released in 1956, catapulted Sun Ra from the Chicago jazz scene to become a darling of the underground scene. This important album featured star players such as John Gilmour!

*Edition of 300 glass-mastered CDs in wallet with spine* "A trio of younger generation Chicago free improvisers from Gerrit Hatcher on tenor saxophone, Peter Maunu on guitar, violin & mandolin and Julian Kirshner on drums, performing at The Beat Kitchen as part of the Live at Splice Series, in two recordings from contemplative and darkly spacious to kinetically energetic, released in a limited edition CD." - SquidCo.com

*Edition of 100, comes in flap-sealed clear sleeve with hand-numbered insert* "Chicago-based tenor saxophonist, improviser, and composer Gerrit Hatcher (Devouring the Guilt, duos with Anton Hatwich, duos with Julian Kirshner) in a solo album of seven succinct statements, diverse expressions from scrabbling determination to pensive reflection, all informed by masterful skills that add nuance and intrigue to each track." - SquidCo.com

*Edition of 100, comes in hand-numbered jacket with bag* "The Chicago collective trio of tenor saxophonist Gerrit Hatcher, Lebanese bassist Eli Namay and drummer/percussionist Bill Harris are captured live at Chicago's The Whistler in the summer of 2019 for two extended and exploratory improvisations, showing both technical mastery and a curiosity for new modes of expression through inspired and intuitive conversation." - SquidCo.com

*Hand-numbered edition of 300. Digipak in resealable poly-bag* The Gerrit Hatcher Group—featuring Gerrit Hatcher (tenor sax), Katie Ernst (bass), Ben Lamar Gay (cornet), Keefe Jackson (tenor sax), and Julian Kirshner (drums)—delivers an electrifying blend of free improvisation and avant-garde jazz. Their latest release, The Good Instinct of the Morning, showcases their bold, spontaneous creativity and masterful technique. Hatcher and Jackson drive the melody with expressive, ever-shifting saxoph…

*Hand-numbered edition of 300. Digipak in resealable poly-bag* "Tenor saxophonist Gerrit Hatcher's latest solo recording – I believe it's his third solo document - is also the first title available from his new label, Kettle Hole. While he oversees a fairly prolific output, he's not into overkill. The CD's total time is under 30 minutes & it is limited to 300 numbered copies. Time is tight; copies are limited. Nothing is wasted. Economical and sharp." - The Free Jazz Collective

*2024 stock* ‘Live in Oslo’ is the sophomore album from Shifa, the outstanding UK trio featuring pianist extraordinaire Pat Thomas, celebrated saxophonist Rachel Musson, and sonic transcendent drummer Mark Sanders. The group derives its name from the Arabic word for healing and the music they make aspires to do just that. This album follows their acclaimed, Downbeat 4-star debut ‘Shifa Live at Cafe Oto’. Listen to ‘Shifa Live in Oslo’ and discover contemporary master musicians celebrating the mo…

Absolute K.O. bout of free jazz poetry by a spry, 85 year old Joe McPhee, adapting his renowned improvised practice to words - juxtaposed with Mats Gustafson’s sparing brass and electric gestures. It’s an utterly timeless and transfixing salvo, another shiny notch for Smalltown Supersound’s brilliant Le Jazz Non Series.

Onilu is an all-percussionist trio utilizing the extensive family of drummed and tuned percussion instruments to deliver beautifully composed, arranged and executed small ensemble music. Nothing about this all-percussion band feels rarified, or missing anything musical. To the contrary, Onilu create a soundworld where nothing is missing, and everything is musical -- defying the stereotype of modern percussion ensembles as esoteric or academic pursuits, reaffirming the powerful social and sacred …

Following the recent archival release of Primitive Art Group’s studio albums “1981-1986”, we are pleased to announce the release of this 65-minute album of live PAG performances recorded between 1981 and 1983. These recordings document the beginnings of the PAG in all its raw beauty and chronicle its development into a unique improvising unit. Made from original cassettes tapes, this fills a missing part in the story of free music and in the story of underground music from New Zealand. “Live Cut…

"This CD is a documentation of a concert which was recorded on July 21st, as one of three concerts. The reproduction of the concert is one-to-one, without cuts. On July 19th I played a duo concert in my studio with Max Arsava, on July 20th I played an identical trio concert at the Freie Musikzentrum in Munich.mMy collaboration with Gunnar Geisse goes back almost a decade. In recent years, he has discovered and developed a partly unexplored cosmos with his extended electronic techniques and sound…

*2024 stock* *180 Gram Vinyl Audiophile Remastering Recording with a sextet at the New York jazz club Sweet Basil in August 1977, McBee’s band included Chico Freeman on reeds, Dennis Moorman on piano, Joe Gardner on trumpet, Steve McCall on drums, and Famoudou Don Moye on percussion. Two complete albums of music were released by Enja Records from this engagement, the ground breaking recordings Music From the Source and Compassion. “Few groups today sound as fresh, generate as high an emotional …

*2025 stock* 'Several years ago, Anthony and I discovered our mutual (giddy) enthusiasm for the music of Richard Wagner. I feel compelled to mention this because there is a positively orchestral, if not Wagnerian, element to our recording together—a sonic Gesamtkunstwerk, if you will, representing all registers of playing. In each take, new drama unfolds, as if each were a new act in an operatic continuum. Yet the most amazing thing about the process of recording with Anthony was the vast spectr…

*2025 stock* 7-CD set of Braxton's interpretation of the music of Lennie Tristano and associated colleagues including Billy Bauer, Connie Crothers, Warne Marsh, Sal Mosca among others. Anthony Braxton: pianoEivind Opsvik: bassMike Szekely: drumsJackson Moore: alto and baritone saxophones (left channel)André Vida: tenor, sopranino, bass, contrabass, and c-melody saxophones (right channel)

*2025 stock* Recorded September 22, 2010 at Bezanson Recital Hall, Amherst MA Produced by Taylor Ho Bynum for the Tri-Centric FoundationConcert produced by Glenn Siegel for the Solo & Duos Seriesof the Fine Arts Center at the University of Massachusetts, AmherstVideo recorded, edited and directed by Dennis SteinerAssistant camera by Nick RussoAudio recorded by Jim MatusMastered by Nick Lloyd, Firehouse 12 Studios, New Haven CTGraphic design by Ben HellerThanks to WMUA 91.1, ACTV, Amherst Media, …

*2025 stock* CD version. Cafe OTO's tenth Otoroku release sees a return to the group that kick-started the label -- the veteran German reedsman and free-jazz pioneer Peter Brötzmann with the long-running London bass/drums partnership of John Edwards and Steve Noble. After the release of The Worse The Better, that group went on to play a series of devastating shows in Europe and to emerge as one of Brötzmann\'s finest working groups. Over the same period, Peter was developing a deep rapport with …

of Marteau Rouge's debut. Marteau Rouge are Jean-Marc Foussat, Jean-François Pauvros, Makoto Sato.

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.

How Many Clouds Can You See? is the second album by English saxophonist John Surman featuring  Alto Saxophone – Mike Osborne; Baritone Saxophone, Flute – John Warren; Baritone Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Bass Clarinet – John Surman; Bass – Barre Phillips, Harry Miller; Drums – Alan Jackson, Tony Oxley; Piano – John Taylor; Tenor Saxophone, Flute – Alan Skidmore; Trombone – Chris Pyne, Malcolm Griffiths; Trumpet – Dave Holdsworth; Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Harold Beckett; Tuba – George Smith. John …

Ornette! is the seventh album by Ornette Coleman as a bandleader and the second credited to his quartet (following This Is Our Music). Though considered one of his early works, by the time it was recorded on 31st January 1961, Coleman was already an established jazz legend. His reputation had been cemented by the release of ground-breaking albums such as The Shape of Jazz to Come and Free Jazz. These two albums embody the central, seemingly contrasting, elements of Coleman's early career: a meti…

A member of the radical black nationalist US Organisation, percussionist James Mtume championed the Kawaida way of life, aiming for collective creativity linked to its pan-African and Socialist ideals. With uncle Albert and father Jimmy Heath on board, Mtume cut this intense modal jazz concept album in December 1969 with Don Cherry, Herbie Hancock, Ed Blackwell and Buster Williams, yielding a masterpiece of percussion-heavy jazz, with every player on exceptional form, the five extended tracks re…

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.

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…

Mega Tip! Purple Trap, the powerful trio of Keiji Haino (voice, guitar), Bill Laswell on bass, and Rashied Ali (drums), recorded live on stage at The Stone. Recorded in December 2005, this furious live album by what can easily be called a super group remained unreleased till in 2023 Bill Laswell made it accessible in a rough-mixed digital version for his bandcamp subscribers program exclusively. For this vinyl version, the music has been newly mixed by Dirk Dresselhaus (SchneiderTM) and mastered…

Respected Swedish Drummer and Composer Dennis Egberth Introduces New Sextet in His First Album with 577 Records. If you love the era in which electronic elements began to enter contemporary jazz, you’ll LOVE what Sweden’s Dennis Egberth has been creating. The esteemed drummer/composer introduces us to his hand-chosen ensemble, The Dennis Egberth Dynasty, in the artist’s first album with 577 Records. The self-titled release highlights his creativity, painting a hypnotic soundscape that soothes th…

Phil Dawson, UK guitarist and producer, learned his trade with legends like South African jazz trumpet giant Hugh Masekela, Nigerian Afrobeat co-creator Tony Allen, Ethio- jazz pioneer Mulatu Astatke, and Ghanaian afro-rock dons Osibisa as well as a large handful of Brit Jazz and cultural fusion projects. 'Don't Waste Your Ancestors' Time'creates a new blend of Afro- and Afro-Brazilian grooves, high-level improv and dub, and boasts an array of collaborators that push the music in new directions …

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…