Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Includes liner notes by Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam, Rikki Stein and Mabinuori Kayode Idowu. Digitally remastered by Pompon (Translab Paris, Paris, France). With the inclusion of Nigerian master musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti's incendiary 1977 single, "Zombie," "Mr. Follow Follow," a typical anti-authoritarian exhortation, and a couple of hitherto-unreleased live cuts from the 1978 Berlin Jazz festival, ZOMBIE finds the iconoclastic singer and bandleader at his electrifying best. The title track, …

Personnel includes: Fela Kuti (vocals, soprano saxophone, electric piano, organ); Laspalmer Ojeah (guitar); Femi Kuti (alto saxophone); Oyinade Adeniran (tenor saxiphone); Tajudeen Amimashaun, Achampong (baritone saxophone); Moses Sobo Wale, Akameah (trumpet); Dele Soshimi (keyboards); Lamtey (drums); Benjamin (congas). Producer: Fela Kuti. Reissue producer: Jean-Pierre Haie. Recorded live in Amsterdam, The Netherlands on November 28, 1983. Includes liner notes by Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam, Ri…

This 4-CD set (4.5 hours of music) was recorded during a series of concerts in 2003 by Antony Braxton's quartet featuring Kevin O'Neil on guitar, Kevin Norton on percussion, Andy Eulau on bass and Anthony Braxton on saxophone. Here they perform standards. Personnel: Anthony Braxton (saxophone); Kevin O'Neil (guitar); Andy Eulau (bass instrument); Kevin Norton (percussion). Recording information: 2003.

Fans of the A.E.C. and cutting-edge-music rejoice! Long unavailable in this country, the Art Ensemble of Chicago's landmark album recorded in 1974 for the Atlantic label is back in print. Though not "easy listening" to be sure, the A.E.C. present challenging music that's worth the effort. Witness the relentless, Louis Jordan/Louis Prima-rooted swing of "Barnyard Scuffel Shuffel" and the sublime African/Japanese/Javanese-influenced rhythmic soundscape of "What's To Say." The eerie, pensive, breat…

Former Henry Cow guitarist Fred Frith pays homage to three giants of contemporary classical music: John Cage, Morton Feldman and Earle Brown. In his own inimitable fashion, Frith has tried to incorporate the chosen composer's own working methods into each of the three pieces that make up The Previous Evening. As he explains in the enclosed booklet regarding his John Cage homage: 'Fragments of text heard in Part 1 were taken at random from Cage's book Silence. Tape editing, the structure of the e…

Beautiful solo work from Anthony Braxton -- recorded live in Paris at the start of the 70s, and a fair bit more sensitive than some of his earlier work on that scene! Side one features a beautiful take on Duke Ellington's "Come Sunday" -- one that runs for 25 minutes, and which features Braxton blowing straight, and almost with some of those Lee Konitz-inspired modes he was using around the time. The tune's still got some of the darkness you might expect from Braxton -- but things really go out …

2024 lucky restock. A mind blowing archival double cd centred around Laurie Scott Baker, who has been involved in experimental music since he was a teenager. A pioneer of live electronics and graphic scores back in the 60s, a member of the Scratch Orchestra & Peoples Liberation Music with Cornelius Cardew, played many first performances of new music. Gracility comes out of the development of free improvisation & groups such as Scratch Orchestra etc. & the general questioning of the music establi…

Few albums have been more accurately titled. Though Kyle Bruckmann (oboe, English horn) and Ernst Karel (trumpet) come from acoustic backgrounds, analogue electronics dominate these five pieces, creating what Gino Robair termed "voltage made audible." The duo manages their modular synthesizers the old-school way—"by twisting knobs, flipping switches, yanking patch cords in and out, and sometimes using their own fingers as conductors between cables and instruments," as Bill Meyer describes in Dus…

Radical collaboration between two of European improvisation's most innovative voices, recorded in Berlin in April 2008. Annette Krebs (guitar, mixing board, tapes) and Rhodri Davies (electric harp & electronics) created hours of raw material during sessions in Krebs's apartment, which she then spent months editing and mastering into this intriguing three-part suite. Krebs - one of contemporary improvisation's most distinctive and selective voices - has built her reputation through carefully chos…

This recording is from a concert during the early 1970's. there is no further informaiton on this recording except that the original reel tape was labeled "Spacemaster Concert." June Tyson recites "The Shadows Took Shape" a Sun Ra poem never heard or seen until now.

Vol. One in Transparency's new audio series of super-high-quality live performances. This one is 3 solid hrs of the Arkestra live at Myron's Ballroom in downtown Los Angeles, April 2 1981. They hadn't played in L.A. for ten years & therefore are FIRED UP!

Lost Reel Collection Vol. 4. Recently discovered rehearsal tapes believed to have been recorded in the San Francisco area in December 1974. Identified (by ear) in the session are Sun Ra, John Gilmore, Marshall Allen, Danny Ray Thompson, James Jacson, Damon Choice, Akh Tal Ebah, Eloe Omoe, Clifford Jarvis, Dale Williams, and others.

Vol.1 in a new series entitled "The Lost Reel Collection." 2-CD set of the Arkestra playing live in a SF warehouse in '71, & a lecture by Ra from his legendary residency at UC Berkeley. This is a Sun Ra album like no other!

As with the transformations brought about by recording facilities,this CD features a shift of emphasis from real time performance to the consideration of various stages and assorted sources in sound  production as valid ingredients. The use of synthetic or processed fibers, thus prompts new behaviours -give, grain/counter grain- in the fabrics obtained.

Electroacoustic trio weaving sampled and live sounds as part of a single continuum, encompassing a rich range of sonorities. The outlook, featuring oriental timbres and recalling contemporary music conceptions, unfolds in slow circular sequences that, nevertheless, create a narrative thread. Their poetics proposes a deceiving play on mirrors, the instrumental roles dismantled through that very multiplying of reflections, the sound quality creating an endless kaleidoscopic impression of elusive d…

This 1998 date featured British saxophone and improvisation deity Evan Parker with Copenhagen's Ghost-in-the-Machine trio and Martin Klapper on electronics. This traditional quartet -- saxophones, bass, drums, and piano -- added Klapper to extend the sonic possibilities of all the instruments, which were amplified by microphones. The results are studies more in texture, atmospherics, and sonic constructions than they are in spontaneous composition.

American Landscapes 2 ramps up the intensity slowly and with the clear objective to display power and a thorough sense of control. The first 13 minutes come at you sounding like a forest fire churning with stored energy. Underneath this unfurling force are composed parts that are revealed through close inspection. Once the energy breaks a trombone/saxophone duo stops the presses and summons a simple chamber horn interlude with other brass walking in. The piece wanders a bit into more open free p…

American Landscapes 1 and 2 are live dates from 2006. While there have been a few personnel changes since the original line-up—trombonist Hannes Bauer replacing Jeb Bishop and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love replacing Hamid Drake—the core Tentet has remained intact. Both discs are comprised of a single track, clocking in at respectively about 44 and 52 minutes. Both discs are difficult to digest as single entities: attacking them as longer composed/improvised pieces linked by changes allows you better…

6CD set. Sun Ra & the Arkestra played every Monday night at Slug's Saloon in the Lower East Side of NYC for over 5 years, from 1966-1972. This is the 1st released documentation of this long residency, comprising 2 complete shows (6 hours total) recorded over the summer of 1972. High quality recordings that capture the Arkestra emerging from their psychedelic phase & moving back towards their jazz roots.

Thurston Moore, Jim O'Rourke and Mats Gustafsson last convened for the monumentally noisy Diskaholics Anonymous LP, Weapons of Ass Destruction. Now the trio have returned to Smalltown Superjazz for yet more sonic carnage, this time joined by ace drummer Paal Nilssen-Love, guitarist Terrie Ex and bassist Massimo Pupillo. There's a tremendous breadth to the kind of ground covered by these musicians. At no point do you feel as if the ensemble is running out of ideas or stagnating on one particular …

49 minutes of gooey new goodness spread over just three tracks! From the same tattered coven of piss drinkers who alternately refer to themselves as ANAKSIMANDROS comes this. These fumbling Finns conjure a smoky, shit-drunk forest of noise, folk & unsurpassable tribal improv.. a delicious Ya ho wha 13 soup with a spicy, burnt Amon Duul crust. Oh so highly recommended. Gueast vocals via TARA BURKE aka FURSAXA.

Reissue of Chronoscope CPE 2002-2. Originally issued on LP 19 and a limited edition cassette. Evan Parker's first solo concert on soprano saxophone. Recorded by Martin Davidson in 1975 at the Unity Theatre in London, at that time the preferred concert venue of the Musicans' Co-operative. Further solo material for the original LP release was recorded by Jost Gebers in the FMP studio in Berlin later that year.

First release on Second Layer Records. Real-time improvisations to be played at maximum volume. Recorded at Eastcote Studios, London May 2008. Mastered by Tommi Keranen. Evan Parker : tenor, soprano saxophone. John Wiese : electronics, tape, MSP. First edition of 1000 copies.

One of the finest Sun Ra recordings from his final years, this effort is particularly recommended due to the many Ra keyboard solos and John Gilmore features, the latter of which include a tenor showcase on "Opus In Springtime." Trumpeters Michael Ray and Ahmed Abdullah, altoist Marshall Allen and singer June Tyson also have their spots, and the repertoire consists of ten Ra originals (including a remake of "El Is the Sound of Joy") and three standard ballads. Overall, this is a fine all-around …

A record full of magical chants & even more magical grooves (anyone who would wish the part seven minutes into "Zombie" would end has no soul & probably does not have a soul). Fela Kuti's music transcends barriers of taste & culture, due to the inevitable desire of all human beings to throw their hands up & shake their rumps with no remorse.

At 28 minutes in length, the title track boogies from fat funk break to fat funk break as though James Brown possessed the structural ambition of Duke Ellington. Recorded when Fela's 34-piece band was at its apex, this indispensable Fela disc has it all: wavelike call-and-response blowing and singing, thundering-herd percussion, dynamic electric grooves, and potent lyrical invective. The title track excoriates a government no less corrupt today than when it was written.

In Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, Fela explains the role of the teacher in any society with the concept that all the things we consider to be problems and all that we consider to be good in life begin with what we are taught, whether it's by our mothers at home, our teachers at school, lecturers at University or the government beyond that. Who then is the governments teacher? 'Culture and Tradition' says Fela.

original, 1 copy available

Nigerian musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti specialized in the percolating jam, peppered with idiosyncratic horn stabs and political chants, underpinned with sinuous, interweaving guitar and bass lines, and propelled by Tony Allen's Afrobeat percussion, blending traditional Yoruban rhythms and contemporary James Brown beats. SHUFFERING AND SHMILING is trademark Fela, mixing several lengthy, irresistibly danceable tracks (including "Dog Eat Dog," a collaboration with Art Ensemble of Chicago trumpeter L…

His mixture of raw energy and sophistication is as remarkable today as it was when he first put it all on wax.

"Monkey Banana/Excuse O" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series. (By the way, the cover art posted on this page is that of "Upside Down" not "Monkey Banana.") It should be noted that unlike some of the other titles in this series, the song "Monkey Banana" was previously available on the original Celluloid label release of "Zombie" in the mid-1980s. Both the original "Monkey Banana" (with its b-side "Sense Wiseness") and "Excuse O" (with its b-side "Mr. Grammarticalogylisa…

It's hard to go wrong with Fela Kuti's work from the 1970s, and LIVE!, which features the Afrobeat innovator backed by his powerhouse band Africa '70 and ex-Cream drummer Ginger Baker, is no exception. Like all of Fela's recordings from the era, LIVE! consists of just a few tracks, each of which approximates or exceeds the ten minute mark. Yet the arrangements are so dynamic on these tracks, the criss-crossing polyrhythms so absorbing, and Fela's incantatory vocals so entrancing that the long ru…

"JJD/Unnecessary Begging" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series on MCA. As original LPs, "JJD (Johnny Just Drop)," recorded live at Fela's home/club/compound, Kalakuta Republic, was released in 1977, while "Unnecessary Begging" and its b-side "No Buredi (No Bread)" were issued a year earlier in 1976. These albums were part of what was arguably Fela's greatest period as he released more than a dozen albums between 1975-77! While "Zombie" and "Opposite People" are clearly …

Recorded in 1975. Includes liner notes by Jacqueline Grandchamp-Thiam, Michael A. Veal & Rikki Stein. Newcomers to the music of Fela Kuti are faced with some difficult choices since the late-1990s/early-2000s reissues of his string of classic '70s albums (the reissues put two records back-to-back). In truth, they're all good, so it is hard to go wrong picking one at random. Still, EXPENSIVE SHIT/HE MISS ROAD is arguably one of his best. In addition to its burbling percussive groove, infectious h…

"Everything Scatter/Noise for Vendor Mouth" is another gem in the Fela two-albums-on-one-CD reissue series on MCA. It should be noted that unlike some of the other titles in this series, the tracks that make up the "Everything Scatter" LP -- the title cut and "Who No Know Go Know" -- were previously available on CD on the Celluloid label in the late 80s. "Scatter" was part of the original "Zombie" disc, and "Who No Know" was on "Mr. Follow Follow." Both "Everything Scatter" and "Noise for Vendor…

Collecting two of Fela Kuti's finest mid-1970s albums onto one disc, CONFUSION/GENTLEMAN presents the revered Nigerian Afro-pop renegade in the midst of an early career stride. Released in '73, GENTLEMAN consists of the latter three out of this set's four tracks, and is particularly notable since it marks the fiery performer's studio debut on the saxophone. Never one to shy away from challenges, Kuti offers up an impassioned sax solo at the beginning of the extended title song (even though he ha…

After helping Fela Anikulapo Kuti with Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense, Wally Badarou then produced Beasts of No Nation. Another album that has been combined with this one is the 31-minute "ODOO (Overtake Don Overtake Overtake).

Fela Anikulapo Kuti, inventor of Afrobeat, is one of the greatest musicians ever to have lived. He was an innovator, musically gifted, and more important, he was the people's musician.

Richard Bamford, drums, percussion. Stuart Brown, drums, percussion. John Burgess, bass clarinet. George Burt, acoustic guitar. Matthew Cairns, trumpet. Aileen Campbell, voice. Neil Davidson, electric guitar. Nick Fells, shakuhachi. Krzysztof Hladowski, bouzouki. George Lyle, double bass. Raymond MacDonald, soprano & alto saxophones. George Murray, trombone. Peter Nicholson, cello, voice. Emma Roche, flute, baroque flute. Ernesto Rodrigues, viola. Guilherme Rodrigues, cello. Matthew Studdert-Ken…

Ursula Maehr, recorder. Carles Peris, saxophone, flute. Francis Petter, saxophone, bass clarinet. Valentin Vecellio, basset horn. Marco von Orelli, trumpet. Sabine von Werra, voice. Christoph Baumann, piano. Markus Fischer, double bass. Jacques Widmer, drums. Recorded 9-11 November 2007