Jazz /
Diriaou
Diriaou (“Thursday” in Breton) captures the singular collaboration between Kristen Noguès-pioneering Celtic harpist and explorer of Breton tradition-and legendary British saxophonist John Surman, renowned for his atmospheric jazz on ECM. Recorded live in 1998 at the Dre Ar Wenojenn festival, this album presents the duo weaving together original compositions and traditional melodies into a tapestry of free folk, modal improvisation, and ambient soundscapes.
Noguès, deeply rooted in Breton music y…
Moonflower
2007 release ** "Moonflower, by the legendary Finnish pianist Heikki Sarmanto and his quartet, is the first "new" album on Luke Mosling's Porter label; the other two projects that make up his opening salvo are reissues of private-press recordings done by Mait Edey's Seeds imprint in the early '70s. Sarmanto is best known to American audiences for his work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer. He's recorded 25 albums as a leader, including New Hope Jazz Mass for jazz ensemble, orchestra, soprano, an…
The Ill-Tempered Piano
2008 release ** ""Nicola Cipani's "Ill-Tempered Piano" is a suprising and playful album of solo improvisations played on broken and untuned pianos. Cipani's accomplished melodic and rhythmic approach and his responsiveness to each instrument's raw potential set this project apart. The recordings were made over the span of two years in different New York City warehouses, on several keyboard instruments (among the pianos you hear also a clavichord), some of which are so damaged as to be hardly rec…
Soul Of Africa
Soul Of Africa stands as a cornerstone of the Afro-Parisian jazz scene of the 1970s and 1980s, uniting the expressive tenor sax of Hal Singer with the adventurous piano and arrangements of Jef Gilson. Recently reissued by Endless Happiness on 180g vinyl, this sought-after album brings back a key document in the fusion of African rhythms and Parisian jazz innovation. Recorded in Paris, the album features a stellar lineup: Jacky Samson (bass), Bernard Lubat (vibraphone, piano), and the “Malagasy R…
For McCoy
*2025 much needed repress!!!* Black Truffle is pleased to announce For McCoy, a new work by Eiko Ishibashi dedicated to the widely loved character of Jack McCoy, portrayed by Sam Waterston in Law & Order. Following on from Hyakki Yagyō (BT064), For McCoy finds Ishibashi further exploring the unique space she has carved out in recent years, bringing together musique concrète techniques, ECM-inspired jazz, lush layers of synths and hints of pop into immersive and affecting structures crafted in he…
Edifier
2001 release ** "Gravitar were an American band who appear to be influenced by K.K. Null’s work in Zeni Geva, with similar dense walls of oppresive guitar but more expansive in it's approach. Self-proclaimed as the "world's loudest Jazz band" and described by WM. Rage as "Too noise for rock, too rock for noise...". Extreme music inspired by everything from Charlie Parker to John Zorn to the sound of breaking glass. Heavy and harsh walls of psychedelic noise!!!"
Deathdisco2000
1998 release ** "This big band, led by T.S. Heg (alto sax & keyboards) is nominally a 'jazz outfit', but since in addition to lots of reeds, brass, bass and drums, they work with guitars, synths, sampling, etc., it's a fairly safe bet that this isn't 'just' a jazz album. Mostly structured with some very crazed, free parts, I guess you could compare them to Doctor Nerve in that regard, even though they sound nothing like Nerve."
Soul At The Hands Of The Machine
2002 release ** "Drummer Guillermo E. Brown burst onto the progressive jazz circuit via his performances and recordings with forward-thinking saxophonists David S. Ware and Rob Reddy amid various projects and sessions. His first solo release finds the artist carrying the torch for Thirsty Ear's somewhat futuristic "Blue Series." Brown, with assistance from multi-reedmen Daniel Carter and Andre Vidal, among others, delivers a decisively high-tech outing, awash with funk, trip-hop, and more. The d…
Rotti Frutti
2007 release ** "Improvisations between jazz, minimalism, cosmic influences and acid rock; few are the possible comparisons, above all probably Sunburned Hand Of The Man. The music creates a decidedly hypnotic but also tribal effect, all immersed in a spatial atmosphere in which dilated and rarefied sounds are lost around percussions that oscillate between hypnosis and obsession."
Leaking Pipes
Recorded on March 14th, 2024 by Mikko Innanen in Hietsun Paviljonki, Helsinki
Maria Faust- alto saxophone
Mikko Innanen - alto, sopranino and baritone saxophones
Fredrik Ljungkvist - soprano and tenor saxophones
Liudas Mockūnas - sopranino, soprano and bass saxophones
Scenes From An Ideal Marriage
2010 release ** "The duo's music is rarefied, in the sense that it's highly personal and hardly rife with echoes of the familiar. Such is the other worldly aspect of "First Marriage" that it's barely possible to tell which instrument is responsible for what. This has the effect not merely of confounding expectations but also of establishing the territory in which both players are naturally at home. Their dialog, as is so often the case in this highly specialized form of improvisation, is as purg…
To Much Togethers
2010 release ** "over 2 years in the making, to much togethers is the follow up album to ashley paul’s 2008 ‘d.o.l’ release. patiently crafted and paced to much togethers continues on ashley’s unique path of ‘song’ style. combining clattering strings, (her custom green-box string set up), psycho acoustic sustain and decay, bowed metal, expressive saxophone, subtle and ear grabbing sense of color and distant voice all slowly creating mood and thought provoking miniatures, that succeed in fitting …
The Shadow Of Your Smile
2009 release ** "Ruby Ruby Ruby are more or less a vehicle for experimental German singer Margareth Kammerer. She has been involved in The Magic ID, a song-based project with Berlin improviser Christof Kurzmann, and also formed Ruby Ruby Ruby to pay homage to Billie Holiday and other jazz singers. This appears to have been a one-off project, there being no indication that the group (consisting of Derek Shirley and Steve Heather alongside Kammerer) has done anything else or is planning to work t…
Looking For Love
In July 1983, the Hebrew Israelite vocalist, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Margeeah Aharon recorded her debut album Looking For Love with the Kingdom Sounds community band at P.C. Studios in Tel Aviv, Israel. Fittingly - given the meaning of her Hebrew name, soothing, calm and tranquil - it’s a questing melange of devotional jazz, soul, funk and reggae. More than just that, Looking For Love is an album full of yearning and reflective songs of spirit, heart and inner solace. Thirty-six yea…
B-X0 NO-47A
A cornerstone of avant-garde jazz, B-X0 NO-47A captures Anthony Braxton at a pivotal moment in his career and in the history of the Association For The Advancement Of Creative Musicians (AACM). Recorded in Paris in 1969 and newly restored from the original master tapes, this classic session finds Braxton leading a quartet of fellow AACM visionaries: trumpeter Leo Smith (before adopting the name Wadada), violinist Leroy Jenkins, and drummer Steve McCall.
The group’s instrumentation is strikingly …
Branches (Live at Cafe OTO)
Tip on sleeves with matte varnish finish. Branches captures the electrifying first meeting of two uncompromising improvisers: Evan Parker, the legendary UK saxophonist and pioneer of multiphonic, trance-state improvisation, and Bill Nace, the American experimentalist known for his radical guitar and taishōgoto explorations. Recorded live at London’s Café OTO on May 25, 2024, this set documents the instant chemistry between two artists who had never played-or even met-before that night.
Nace, clo…
Opening
The repertoire features original compositions and Norwegian folk themes, balancing lyrical melodies with subtle harmonic exploration. Pieces such as “The Circle” and “Stream” highlight Gustavsen’s ability to let themes emerge organically, favoring patient development and deep listening over overt virtuosityWith Opening, Tord Gustavsen returns to the classic piano trio format that has defined his ECM legacy, unveiling a fresh perspective on his distinctive blend of Scandinavian folk hymns, gospel…
Isabela
2025 stock On his second release for ECM New York-based saxophonist Oded Tzur introduces a heightened sense of urgency and a conceptually augmented approach to his distinctive voice, weaving one underlying musical idea through a series of elaborate and impassioned designs. The quartet’s lineup is unchanged from 2020’s Here Be Dragons and the group’s interplay has grown even more expressive in the meantime. Throughout Isabela the saxophonist and his collaborators – pianist Nitai Hershkovits, Petr…
Once Around The Room (A Tribute To Paul Motian)
2025 stock On Once Around The Room ECM recording artists and key jazz musicians from several generations unite in a small ensemble to celebrate the musical legacy of drum icon Paul Motian in a big way. Joe Lovano and Jakob Bro lead a party of seven through fiery originals that recall the idioms and idiosyncrasies which Motian brought to light over six influential decades behind the drums. Lovano and Motian had been intimate colleagues for many years with their most notable collaboration being th…