Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Those looking for a comprehensive overview of Sun Ra’s celestial magic could do far worse than acquire a copy of ‘Artyard in a Box’, a collection of nine classic long players from the Sun Ra archive set across seven CDs. ‘Disco 3000’, ‘Sleeping Beauty’, ‘On Jupiter’, ‘Beyond the Purple Star Zone’, ‘Oblique Parallax’, ‘Horizon’, ‘Nidhamu’, ‘Dark Myth Equation Visitation’ and ‘The Antique Blacks’ all appear, spanning the more soulful and spiritual manifestations of his work such as on ‘The Antique…

2015 repress. In 1966, she replaced pianist McCoy Tyner in her husband John Coltrane's group. Coltrane's work became a spiritual wellspring for her, but she surely developed her own style on piano, organ, harp, and later, Indian instruments such as the tamboura. After Coltrane's death in 1967, Alice began recording under her own name for Impulse!, leading groups that included at various times saxophonists Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp, Joe Henderson, Frank Lowe, and Carlos Ward, double bass play…

** 2020 restock, nice price** Albert Ayler's trio with Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray is best known for the July 10, 1964, recording of Spiritual Unity (ESPDISK 1002CD), the album that made both Ayler and ESP-Disk' famous when it was released in 1965. A decade after that, in 1975, ESP-Disk' also released, as Prophecy(ESP-3030), the first documentation of the group, recorded a month before Spiritual Unity by Canadian poet Paul Haines at a concert at a 91st Street club. These Cellar Café recordings…

Reissue of Anthony Braxton's second album for Delmark Records, originally released in 1969. Featuring Leroy Jenkins (violin and percussion) Leo Smith (trumpet) and Richard Abrams (piano, cello, alto clarinet). "...is there a McDonalds nearby?... remember, jazz musicians have to deal with the problem of no coins. On the road you either eat well and go home broke or you eat junk food and go home sick. Sick, but solvent." -- from Forces in Motion: The Music and Thoughts of Anthony Braxton by Graham…

2016 limited repress, edition of 200. A meeting with the giant. In this live session recorded in 2014, the konstruKt quartet's basic lineup reunites again with Peter Brotzmann, with whom they recorded the amazing studio album Dolunay (rec. 2008, rel. 2011) and Eklisia Sunday (rec. 2011, rel. 2013; also with Huseyin Ertunç and Dogan Dogusel). As the title says, all are invited to listen to the message hidden in these rhapsodic vibes, where the energy of an elephant stampede is channeled into a…

Koto virtuoso Michiyo Yagi joins the longstanding Norwegian duo of drummer Paal-Nilssen-Love and electronics wizard Lasse Marhaug for a session of extended improvisations. Galvanized by Nilssen-Love’s arsenal of sounds and textures, Yagi drives the most traditional of Japanese instruments to non-idiomatic and percussive extremes while Marhaug's abstractions reach heights of surprising lyricism. A veritable atlas of strange and wonderful sonic terrain, “Angular Mass” invites the listener to an un…

A master of reeds and horns, Joe McPhee is a bonafide free jazz icon who refuses to play the elder statesman in spite of his half-century-plus career. McPhee continues to hone his improvisatory skills by venturing far from his upstate New York home to perform with cutting-edge instrumentalists the world over. The phenomenal Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love is one of McPhee's most frequent and sympathetic collaborators. The duo's timely convergence in Tokyo with Lasse Marhaug, another Norwegia…

Norwegian drummer and percussionist Paal Nilssen-Love is one of the most prolific and hard-working musicians in the field of free-jazz, improvised and experimental music of the last 20 years. With his numerous collaborations, projects and band constellations he spends most of the year on the road, and the few days at home running his PNL Records label and organizing two music festivals. His discography is immense and displays an artist intent on documenting his activities, allowing listeners to …

Infinitely inventive (and busy) drummer Chris Corsano has paired up his furious kit-exploring with Pak Yan Lau, who uses electronics and the like, but also toy pianos and a ‘typatune’ to squeeze a fresh sound into improvisations. Lots of lovely fiddly small-sound interplay going on here, and thus lots to enjoy. Asbestos & A Little Rain is out on Les Albums Claus.  Chris Corsano plays the drumsPak Yan Lau plays toy piano's, typatune, pendules and electronics. recorded, mixed and mastered by Etien…

180-gram vinyl. The legendary, rare Brötzmann album finally reissued on vinyl for the first time, with the special fold-out leporello on the front. One-time pressing of 1000. Originally released on Calig in 1969. Side A: The Peter Brötzmann Sextet: Peter Brötzmann: tenor sax; Evan Parker: tenor sax; Derek Bailey: guitar; Fred van Hove: piano; Buschi Niebergall: bass; Han Bennink: drums. Recorded at Tonstudio Bauer, Ludwigsburg, Germany, on April 18, 1969; recording engineer: Kurt Rapp. Side B: T…

Another unmissable, scorching Matsuli revive! Tete Mbambisa and co, chasing the mbaqanga in Trane. Five originals and Love For Sale, from Johannesburg, 1969. 'Both urban Africans and urban Americans were consciously crafting 'modern' music -- and in South Africa's case, it was a modernism deliberately and defiantly set in opposition to the narrow, backwards-looking parochialism of apartheid, where some white universities did not even permit gender-mixed dancing until the 1970s. The sophisticated…

Morgan Ågren has been a drummer since age four and a Grammy winning musician on both sides of the Atlantic. Born in Umeå, Sweden in 1967, Mr. Ågren was spotted as an outstanding talent at a young age as he began performing publicly at age seven, and eventually joined forces with ten year old blind keyboardist Mats Öberg in 1981. In 1988, still around their late teens, Morgan and Mats got invited to play with Frank Zappa for a few different projects in the US - just before Zappa passed away. Whil…

"Of all the saxophones, it is our opinion that the one with the most distinctive sound, warmth and range that can reach into that of other saxophones, is the baritone sax." As composer, bandleader, and full-time member of the Sun Ra Arkestra, Pat Patrick was a visionary musician whose singular contribution to the jazz tradition has not yet been fully recognized. As well as holding down the baritone spot in the Arkestra for 35 years, Patrick played flute and alto, composed in both jazz and…

2015 restock / Recorded live at the "Donaueschingen Musiktage 1967", October 21st, 1967. "This is an exciting album. The important tenor Archie Shepp and his 1967 group -- with both Roswell Rudd and Grachan Moncur on trombones, bassist Jimmy Garrison, and drummer Beaver Harris -- romp through the continuous 43-and-a-half-minute "One for the Trane" before an enthusiastic audience at a German music festival. Although he improvises very freely and with great intensity, Shepp surprised the crowd by …

** pre-order, delayed to Jan 20th ** Who might be Rick Mason that his inner dimension is so utterly interesting people pay about 800 US$ for the sole record he and his band RARE FEELINGS produced in 1977? Well, we will now find out. He turns all of his interior inside out and gets you folks into a state of trance listening and dancing to his raging funk’n’soul music. Organ, bass guitar, rhythm guitar, drums and percussions build a simmering fundament for the eruptive yet sophisticated performanc…

This is a holy grail of an album not many people actually seem to know about. I heard about 1978 as initial release date but it could be some archive material as well because the music sounds more vintage. Strange drum patterns, cool jazzy melodies and a tenor sax going crazy make the first tune and you could imagine Miles Davis, Pharoah Sanders, John Coltrane and Herbie Hancock jamming. Suddenly this tune, “Royal walk” turns weird. A spoken word part sets in which feels like the guy (Ron Everet…

Landmark work from the Finnish scene of the 60s – one of those ultra-rare European jazz records that collectors have dug for decades! The set's got a stark, modern sort of feel – but also a nice soulful swing, too – a balance that few of the other Scandinavians hit so well at the time – as they were either hanging between farther-out progressions, or more inside, tightly arranged jazz! Drummer Christian Schwindt's vision here is exceptional – full of rich feeling, deep tone, and careful…

Fiercely beautiful Danish jazz from 1968, sworn body-and-soul to the legacy of John Coltrane, and the raw sense of music as a healing force, tearing through the cosmos — but with its own intensely compelling voice, on the line from Copenhagen, to you. So a searching, hurting version of Naima gives way to Meinert’s terrific, succinct, Lateef-flavoured tribute to Alice Coltrane  and a thrilling set of modal originals, including a tender ballad for Martin Luther King. Remastered from the ta…

** very last copies, be fast**  a very rare (only two original copies ever sold, both close to $2.000; and mysterious album: nobody knows who plays on it but most probably everybody'll agree that this it's one of the rarest (discovered only now after probably more then 35 years ?!) and koolest spiritual jazz/soul funk/rare groove album ever recorded. available here for the 1st time, check dull knife !" punzmann

"already released on vinyls in the late 80's (Naima/Serene were on a Jazzway LP and Serene/Springtime on a West Wind album) but NOT with this track sequence and i may sounds exaggerated but in this way to me it's simply Eric Dolphy's best album to date. perfect & totally in tune, you'd play this one all night & all day too... rec. with a fantastic 6et wich include the great Donald Byrd and Nathan Davis, most probably his very last live rec. since Eric left this planet on June 29, 1964 (the…

Cello solo. Recorded on January 15, 1977. Originally released as a limited edition audio cassette (10 copies). Yves Bouliane studied double bass with Roland Desjardins at the Montreal Conservatory in the early 1970s. Not yet twenty, he had been improvising with Robert M. Lepage since 1969. Together, they formed the Trio Expansible, a group that evolved continuously in the early part of the decade (Roger Boudreau, Vincent Dionne and other improvisers succeeded one another during the few years tha…

Recently formed quartet composed of Mark Wastell, violoncello with Olie Brice and Dominic Lash, basses, and Alan Wilkinson, alto saxophone and bass clarinet. Improvisations of Huntington Ashram Monastery '(Alice Coltrane) and' Lonely Woman '(Ornette Coleman). Two interpretations and two originals. Registered in 2015.

Alan Wilkinson, saxophone, clarinet, Kim Johannesen, electric guitar, Ola Hoyer, bass, Dag Erik Andersen Knedal, battery. Live at Café Oto, London in 2014. Power and emotion of a seasoned saxophonist against routine improvisation with young musicians from the Norwegian scene already well informed on the issues of the scene!

Duo devised by the magic drummer Paolo Mongardi (ZEUS!, Fuzz Orchestra) and the Grand Master of the 6 Strings Cristian Naldi (Ronin, Myse En Amibe). After their debut on the "AGGARBATOO Vol. 1”, split-tape with Belokurov VS Marziano and the first S/T CD (which came out in an amazing packaging made of steel and wod and limited to 100 copies), they finally release a full-lenght, out on vinyl and co-produced by Lemming Records and NO=FI Recordings. This album comes as a long impro suite, divide…

First vinyl reissue of Alarm by the Peter Brötzmann Group, originally released on FMP in 1983. Harry Miller: bass; Louis Moholo: drums; Alexander von Schlippenbach: piano; Peter Brötzmann: saxophone; Frank Wright: saxophone; Willem Breuker: saxophone; Toshinori Kondo: trumpet; Alan Tomlinson: trombone; Hannes Bauer: trombone. Recorded during the 164th NDR Jazzworkshop, November 12, 1981, at the Funkhaus Hamburg. Produced by Peter Brötzmann and Jost Gebers. Cover design by Peter Brötzmann.""Any B…

To kick off their new “Jukebox Series”, Trost Records provide us with a single pairing up the jubilarian with German painter Albert Oehlen. It’s certainly a somewhat unexpected collaboration; but then again, Gustafsson is a restless soul, constantly looking for new challenges, constantly seeking to push the envelope – so why not team up with someone from the visual arts? Besides, Oehlen is no complete stranger to the world of music. In the 80’s, he was part of the Neue Wilde art movement – along…

Trost continues its Trost Jukebox Series of 7"s. Raymond Boni is a French jazz guitarist and composer. Joe McPhee (born November 3, 1939) is an American jazz multi-instrumentalist born in Miami, Florida, a player of tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone, the trumpet, flugelhorn and valve trombone. McPhee grew up in Poughkeepsie, New York, and is most notable for his free jazz work done from the late 1960s to the present day. Raymond Boni - guitar and electronics / Joe McPhee - soprano saxophone, vo…

Trost continues its Trost Jukebox Series of 7"s. Mats Gustafsson: tenor and baritone saxophones; Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: double bass; Paal Nilssen-Love: drums, percussion, and megaphone-sampler. It seemed to be a split between The Thing and Shit and Shine but instead they are playing together and make the most awful but visceral racket. Thumping hardcore repeato-punk is married to madcap electronics to well and truly cleanse your ears out once and for all. Both sides sort of sound like the Napal…

Garage is Scandinavian free jazz trio The Thing's acclaimed third album, originally released in 2004 by the Norwegian label Smalltown Superjazzz. In the wake of this album's original release, which was heralded by media outlets ranging from the BBC to Uncut to The Observer, the trio played a sold-out show in London with Four Tet and Prefuse 73 and embarked on European and American tours. Their performance at Oslo's Øya Festival with Sonic Youth's Thurston Moore as a guest guitarist was particula…

Duo of Kazuhisa Uchihashi (daxophone) and Junji Hirose (tenor saxophone) excerpt from two live performances in 2014 and 2015.Kazuhisa Uchihashi is a japanese guitarist  involved in free improvisation music. Born in 1959 in Osaka, Uchihashi began to play the guitar at age 12, playing in various rock bands, though he later studied jazz music. In 1988 he joined the band the First Edition, and in 1990 formed the band Altered States. He was also a member of Otomo Yoshihide's Ground Zero from 1994 to …

Steve Lacy (soprano saxophone), Irene Aebi (voice), George Lewis (trombone), Jean-Jacques Avenel (double bass) and John Betsch (drums). After a long tour of North America, this quintet concluded by playing two concerts in Boston (March 2004) - most of the first one being included here. The material is five of the Beat poems featuring Irene Aebi, plus three instrumentals, including one (Baghdad) that has not been on record before as it had only just been written. After a lot of working together, …

An astonishing 3CD box set of new and previously unissued long-form works from world-renowned composer-bassist William Parker. This box set is comprised of four distinctly compelling long-form works -- Parker's first composition written for symphony orchestra performance; a commissioned piece for a standing new music ensemble; a 'chamber-jazz' song series for voice / soprano sax / piano / bass; a composition created specifically for a particularly diverse Parker assemblage in Universal To…

"Great Spirit again makes abundantly clear William Parker's multi-faceted talents as bassist, composer, poet, bandleader and =songwriter=. Raining On The Moon is the extraordinary group which seamlessly fuses all of these prodigious gifts: his long-standing Quartet with Hamid Drake, Rob Brown, Lewis Barnes is here exquisitely augmented by singer Leena Conquest breathing further compassion & dignity into William's lyrics, and pianist Eri Yamamoto for expert chordal support. Going back a few years…

"Birth Of A Being (Expanded) presents the essential first studio recordings by incomparable jazz saxophonist David S. Ware as a bandleader. Recorded in New York, April 1977, the first disc features material originally released on LP by the Swiss label, hat Hut Records -- out of print for over 30 years. The second disc features a full additional album of top-shelf material from those same sessions that have never been released in any form. This definitive edition was sourced from the original ana…

Different films around the work from musician and artist Sven-Ake Johansson. 'Ludwigs Besen', a portrait by Rudi Ewals (1994). 'Telefonbuchstück für zwei gelbe Seiten' (2010). 'Gesamtkatalog D' (2005 - 2008). 'Solostück für Konzertbecken' (2010). 'Grenaphon Exercises' (2006). 'Stereo für 8' (2006). 'Tüüt' (2010). 'Die neue Zeit ist pausenlos' (2008). 'Konzum'. With English subtitles. Film dokumentation by Teresa Iten. With 20 pages booklet, photos and a german/english text by Thomas Groetz.…

Superb free improvisation from the UK trio of Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass, and Eddie Prevost on drums and bowed tam-tam, three generations of improvisers pushing the envelope of spontaneous composition in accomplished and playful dialog. " Nothing changes. However, how do we initiate or revive a sense of investigation? How do we push beyond the merely presentational? Market acceptability is surely a too limited artistic objective. Maybe, no objective a…

2015 repress, originally reissued in 2001. Better sit down now, Euro-jazz fans. Here's a partial lineup from these two brilliant, previously unreleased German National Radio sessions from the dawn of the era: Gunter Hampel, Gerd Dudek,Willem Breuker, Peter Brötzmann, Manfred Schoof, Albert Mangelsdorff, Alexander von Schlippenbach, Buschi Niebergall, Peter Kowald, Jaki Liebezeit, Mani Neumeier,Sven-Åke Johansson, Evan Parker, Paul Rutherford, Arjen Gorter, Derek Bailey, Han Bennink, Paul Lovens.…

Recorded during a recent trek to the Pacific Northwest, this session is very damaged by the post-tongue explosive devices packed by each of the quartet's members. Skittering along the most devious edge of improvisational madness, Greg Kelley, Greg Campbell, Bill Nace and Mr. Shoup bring four chunks of deep underground moisture into the air for the first time. Let us make to examine them. 'Morning' greets the listener beneath a raucous grackle filled tree, mounting to a commuters' rage. The…

**Finally reissued** from last year's North American tour: Evan Parker (saxophones), Alexander Von Schlippenbach (piano), Paul Lytton (percussion) in concert recordings at the Contemporary Arts Center New Orleans and the Seattle Asian Arts Museum. " Evan Parker is a member of two long standing trios, the Evan Parker Trio with Barry Guy and Paul Lytton, and the Schlippenbach Trio with Alexander von Schlippenbach and Paul Lovens. On very rare occasions—such as Parker's 50th birthday—all five music…

Improvised pieces for tracker action organs and strings recorded in five English churches. Because these organs are entirely mechanical, there is a more direct physical relationship between the instrument and the player. When each stop is very carefully and slowly pulled while a key is pressed, a myriad of uncertain transitional stages of sound is produced. Thus organist Veryan Weston has a much wider of range of tones than he would have if he were playing a piano or electric organ. Violist Jon …