Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Flute, harp and percussion are the principal instruments on this recording, though you’d be hard pressed to identify them during the opening measures of “Hamida”, the longest track on the CD. But the buzzing, pulsing drone with which it begins gradually opens out into flute articulations that sound like jets of steam, a barrage of muffled percussion, and various harp-generated supplementary drones. The MUTA soundworld gets richer, louder and more pressurised as the track progresses, and…

Music Improvisation Company: 1968-1971 - one of the earliest recorded examples of the European school of Free ImprovisationImportante e fondamentale ristampa di uno dei primi dischi della Incus, Music Improvisation Company 1968-1971 (Incus 1971). La Company era una sorta di gruppo aperto fondato dal chitarrista Derek Bailey sul finire degli anni Sessanta. Il primo capitolo della Company, che raccoglie varie registrazioni che vanno dal 1968 al 1971, è sicuramente uno dei più rivoluzionari in sens…

Precious document of early Japanese improvised music scene. Tensional performance of heavy sounds from reeds and bass.

2024 Stock. Minor signs of wear from long-time storage. ** The late Japanese free-improvisation master Motoharu Yoshizawa was a bassist of extraordinary caliber and longstanding avatar of the Tokyo avant-garde scene. This album -- one of his many for PSF -- is a series excerpts from recordings made in New York with his avant-garde sympathizers in the land of the free. Elliott Sharp and Butch Morris contribute stunning performances, as does Tokyo ex-pat Ikue Mori, on this collection of highlights…

A staggering achievement, one is tempted to call The Hands of Caravaggio the first great piano concerto of the 21st century. The work is the brainchild of Keith Rowe, eminence grise of MIMEO and co-founder of AMM who, inspired by the recently discovered painting The Taking of Christ by Caravaggio, imagined a piece combining the mighty forces of MIMEO's electronics with the pure, gorgeous sound of John Tilbury's piano. Technically, therefore, the work is not really freely improvised, as the music…

This trio features very distinct musical personalities and caught us off guard simply by its appearance at all, but we sure did smile when we heard it as we knew it would pack the goods. Both Zach (percussion) and Doneda (reeds) lay sturdy frameworks with Ielasi (guitar) adding an almost alien warmth to the group sound. Intense sonic impact yet transparent and sparse enough to navigate with alert senses, the whole disc has an ambitious arc that one may miss when caught in the web. Doneda's comme…

'It gives me great pleasure to announce the first release of the new label 'substance over surface editions' - SoSEDITIONS - an offering of recent live and studio recordings by the improvising trio of Michel Doneda, Jack Wright, and Tatsuya Nakatani. The recording is accompanied by a poem by renowned poet Jerome Rothenberg.

Two Toronto musicians and a visitor from London formed this trio that has worked on both sides of the Atlantic. Group improvisations on acoustic guitar, alto saxophone and percussion that cover the whole gamut from dense high-energy to sparse interactions.

2025 stock A composed improvisation, or possibly the other way around – this is one way of describing the music played by Mats Gustafsson and the Nu Ensemble, a multinational group of improvisational musicians. The saxophonist Mats Gustafsson, born in 1964, became interested in improvisational music at an early age, inspired by among others the German Peter Brötzmann and the Britt Evan Parker. The Nu Ensemble was a loosely structured, irregularly convened radio and concert project built around …

What a pleasant surprise! The Swedish multi-reed maestro, he of the coruscatingly wild fluteophone attacks, turns to the relatively calm and linear world of Steve Lacy and finds a very happy medium in this solo release. While he treats Lacy's deadpan and deceptively simple melodies with clear respect, he uses them as jumping off points for his own idiosyncratic deconstructions. On "Deadline," he navigates into a territory of ultra-soft percussive clicks and taps, creating a fascinating spatial f…

Urabe is the ONLY Japanese player with the ability to soar beyond where Kaoru Abe left off, and for anyone with even the slightest interest in the possibilities of human breath and forged brass this is an essential and tremendously exciting document.

Martin Küchen: prepared and non prepared alto saxophone. David Stackens: guitar, low-budget electronics. Recorded at Fylkingen, Stockholm by Andreas Berthling, 16th of May 2004. Mastered by Andreas Berthling, David Stackens and Martin Küchen.

2006 release ** Limited edition of 500 hand-numbered copies packaged in special 7" sleeve. "Amongst English Men finds Mark Wastell alone, brooding magnificently in the bottom octave of a superbly recorded Steinway grand piano until his Tilburyesque clangs are eventually lost in a haze of tam tam harmonics and mournful strokes on a tubular bell. It’s deceptively simple to describe but remarkably subtle and compelling to listen to, impeccably mixed and mastered by Graham Halliwell."

Leopardo is a solo recording by the Portuguese guitarist Manuel Mota, who might best be described as a somewhat more fluidly lyrical Derek Bailey. Lovingly recorded on solid body electric guitar, his improvisations have the spiky quality associated with the elder statesman of the freely improvised guitar, but Mota's lines sound as though coated in oil, possessing a slipperiness and liquidity that peeks back at Portuguese traditions. There are very few extended effects employed, the guitar string…

The hearing continues. The playing continues. The listening continues. The music continues. The London Improvisers Orchestra (LIO) continues to play the first Sunday of every month (except December & January) at the Red Rose. Every concert is different - has its own flavour - largely due to who is performing that night, and whose pieces are performed. Some musicians have other commitments on the night. Some musicians drop out completely, others join afresh. Some are just in London for an extende…

Soprano saxophonist Lol Coxhill always sounds good regardless of what area he is playing in and who he is playing with. This present collection just features his free improvising, but with a variety of partners. The late Hugh Davies was a master instrument inventor. Guitarist John Russell is one of the major stalwarts of the London improvising scene (like Coxhill). Henry Lowther has been a much sought-after jazz trumpeter since the 1960s, but has always kept a toe in free waters. Pat Thomas is a…

Two complete solo soprano saxophone concerts, from Chicago and London, show that Coxhill is as inventive as ever some four decades after his first solo performances. In between there is a 10-minute improvisation by an impromptu 13-piece orchestra. 77 minutes -- previously unissued.

The 39 minute duet with Simon Emmerson is an early example of interactive saxophone and electronics, wherein Emmerson modifies Coxhill's sound, and Coxhill reacts accordingly, etc. The 34 minute duet with pianist Veryan Weston is an early example of their very compatible duo, which is still going strong. Reissue of Random Radar RRR 005 with extra material from the same sessions. 73 minutes.

Pascal Battus: guitar and electronics. Thierry Madiot: trombone and tubes. Seijiro Murayama: percussions and tubes.

1995 release ** New World, New World - Opperman Music Hall, Florida State University School of Music; February 4, 1994Jesse Canterbury, clarinet; Mimi Patterson, clarinet; Scott Deeter, sax; Philip Gelb, shakuhachi; Gregor Harvey, guitar; Ethan Schaffner, electric guitar; Elisabeth King, voice; Daniel Raney, trombone; David Tatro, trombone; Michael Titlebaum, alto saxConducting is no longer a mere method for an interpretation, but an actual part of the process of composition. Conduction is a mea…

1995 release **Conduction #38: in Freud's Garden: Muffathalle, Germany; December 11, 1993Myra Melford, piano; Zeena Parkins, harp; Bryan Carrott, vibes; Brandon Ross, acoustic guitar; J. A. Deane, trombone; live sampling; Motoharu Yoshizawa, electric bass; Lê Quan Ninh, percussion; Martin Schütz, electric cello; Tristan Honsinger, cello; Martine Altenburger, cello; Edgar Laubscher, electric viola; Hans Koch, clarinet, bass & contrabass clarinet, soprano & tenor saxConduction #39 & #40: Threadwax…

1995 release ** Conduction #31: Angelica Festival of International Music: Bologna, Italy; May 16, 1993 Dietmar Diesner, soprano sax; Peter Kowald, bass; Wolter Wierbos, trombone; Steve Beresford, piano; Hans Reichel, guitar; Tom Cora, cello; Han Bennink, drums; Catherine Jauniaux, voice; Ikue Mori, drum machinesConduction #35: American Connection 4: Antwerp, Belgium; May 26, 1993Conduction #36: American Connection 4: Amsterdam, Holland; May 27, 1993The Maarten Altena Ensemble: Maarten Altena, ba…

1995 release ** Conduction #28: Cherry Blossom: P3 Art and Environment, Tokyo, Japan; March 28, 1993Yukihiro Isso, nokan; Shonosuke Okura, ohtsuzumi; Makiko Sakurai, shomyo, music box; Michihiro Sato, tugaru syamisen; Kizan Daiyoshi, shakuhachi; Yuji Katsui, violin; Haruna Miyake, piano; Asuka Kaneko, voice; Shuichi Chino, computer; Koichi Makigami, voice; Yoshihide Otomo, turntables, CD player; Kazutoki Umezu, bass clarinet; Sachiko Nagata, percussion; Motoharu Yoshizawa, electric bass; Kazuo O…

1995 release ** The Akbank Conduction, Akbank IIIstanbul, Turkey; October 16 & 17, 1992The Süleyman Erguner Ensemble: Hasan Esen, kemence; Mehmet Emin Bitmez, ud; Göksel Baktagir, kanun; Süleyman Erguner, ney; Lê Quan Ninh, percussion; Bryan Carrott, vibraphone; J.A.Deane, trombone, electronics, drum machine; Elizabeth Panzer, harp; Brandon Ross, acoustic guitar; Steve Colson, piano; Hugh Ragin, pocket trumpetConducting is no longer a mere method for an interpretation, but an actual part of the …

1995 release ** Quinzaine de MontrealThe Spectrum, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; April 11, 1992Tristan Honsinger, cello; Martin Schütz, cello; Eric Longsworth, cello; Michelle Kinney, broom-cello; Ken Butler, broom-cello; Helmut Lipsky, violin; J. A. Deane, trombone, live sampling; Guillaume Dostaler, piano; Mike Milligan, bass; Pierre Dubé, vibesConducting is no longer a mere method for an interpretation, but an actual part of the process of composition. Conduction is a means by which a conductor m…

Muhal Richard Abrams: piano; Marty Ehrlich: alto saxophone, clarinet.  This disc is taken from a live recording of an open air concert which took place August 11, 1996 at the Brooklyn Museum in New York. This duet concert was, on one level, a meeting between two of the seminal jazz innovators of their respective generations. The nuanced and subtle interchange of ideas between these two great musicians-as they challenge and provoke each other to explore new musical ground-is enthralling thr…

About I n : : t e n s i o n : 'Since a very young age, I have always been attracted to journeys and traveling to places not known to me. Last year, I watched a film from Mongolia about a dog. Once the dog dies, its soul is free to travel and wonder through landscapes and memories as a disembodied spirit. Each part of I n : : t e n s i o n : . is part of a longer journey, where you can hear, sense and discover different memories that a wandering soul revisits. Percussive, intimate, visceral, ritu…

1993 release ** "Those who have appreciated through the years the many talents of bassist Kent Carter (in the bands of Paul Bley, Carla Bley or Steve Lacy for instance), have secretly wished that one day he would lead his own band. Since Mister Carter has always been a very personal and inspired soloist, one would think that his conceptions ought to be extended to the size of an orchestra. With the Kent Carter String Trio, this wish comes through, and our hopes are more than satisfied. The Willi…

ErstLive is a new series of releases from Erstwhile Records, documenting notable live sets associated with the label. The discs are designed to simulate a concert experience, each in the same template design using two colors chosen by the musicians involved, with a photo of the concert on the back cover. Each will be in an edition of 800 CDs and not reprinted. The initial releases will be chosen from the AMPLIFY 2004 festival which took place in Cologne and Berlin in May 2004. ErstLive …

A document of a performance last autumn at Parisian Improv spot Instants Chavires, in which Günter Müller is flanked by two very different but distinctive users of the electric guitar. On one side of the stage is Keith Rowe, who's worked for half a lifetime to unsettle the boundaries between music and noise. On the other is the restrained presence of Taku Sugimoto, whose crabbed phrases waft above the shifting timbral networks laid down by the other two. The trio's music is dominated by rasps an…

A couple years before this session, Rowe recorded with two soprano saxophonists, Michel Doneda and Urs Leimgruber (The Difference Between a Fish on Potlatch), a session that, while providing some interesting music, had its share of problems. Central to these was the difficulty many saxophonists have in shedding the "baggage" accumulated while playing in jazz bands as opposed to working in non-idiomatic, free improvisatory forms. For whatever reason, possibly having to do with the ability to abst…

This is the first contact of B.Phillips, maestro of improvised bass, and K.Haino! New dimentions of the shape of improvisation to come!

Hard-swinging vibraphone and percussion free jazz duets based on compositions by Berger and Don Cherry. In contrast to these largely metallic sounds, there are also two African sounding improvisations on two instruments made from wood -- a bala(fon) (African xylophone) and an osi-drum (slit drum). Reissue of Quark 9996 with an extra piece from the same concert. 61 minutes. Recorded in Albany, NY, 3/20/76.

With Gary Crosby, Ed Jones & Byron Wallen. As well as his pioneering work with the Spontaneous Music Ensemble, John Stevens continued to explore the jazz idiom. This group with three fine young musicians active on the London jazz scene, was one of his best as well as being one of his last. Byron Wallen (trumpet & flugelhorn), Ed Jones (soprano & tenor saxophones), Gary Crosby (double bass) & John Stevens (drum set) find fresh things to say in the areas associated with Ornette Coleman and John Co…

John Stevens, drums and mini trumpet; Kent Carter, bass; Derek Bailey, electric guitar. track list:   1. One time (11.560)    2. U Kent & I (14.15)    3. Without warning (14.43)    4. Along the coast (10.00)    5. Not a dry glass in the house (06.24)    6. Cheers/tears (03.29)  Recorded in Leicester, England in November 1992. Cover art (reproduced above) 'Self portrait' by John Stevens; CD booklet design by Karen Brookman.

John Russell: guitar. Ute Völker : accordion. Mathieu Werchowski : violin. A very fine acoustic (guitar, accordion and violin) improvising trio, made up of three musicians of three different ages from three different countries. Put together by a promoter for a French festival in 2001, they related so well, that they have continued to get together, whenever possible, to continue to make great music.

Acoustic guitar, cello or double bass, & percussion trio improvisations -- intended for release as the third CAW LP which never happened. Recorded 3/24/81.

2nd volume of all previously unissued recordings of solos & duets for clarinet and cornet. All of a sensational LA duo and solo performance, plus the remainder of the Worcester concert leftover from Tandem 1 -- improvisations on original compositions.