Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Norwegian saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist Harald Lassen returns with Rik, a vibrant and exploratory new album that picks up the threads of his acclaimed Balans - the album that earned him a Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) - and weaves them into something stranger, softer, and more surprising. “It’s the little brother,” Lassen says. “Same blood, same environment, but making different choices.” Across seven tracks, RIK builds a world that is both cinematic and deeply intimate.…

On Friday, September 5, Liv Andrea Hauge Trio releases its third album, Døgnville, on Norwegian label Hubro. The record explores the feeling of being “døgnvill” – a Norwegian term describing the sensation of being out of sync with time and reality, like during jet lag or insomnia. The music inhabits this liminal space between structure and freedom, consciousness and dream. Half of the compositions were written while pianist and composer Liv Andrea Hauge was bedridden with a high fever – in a sem…

Norwegian coastal culture meets American dreams in Trond Kallevåg’s most cinematic work yet. Imagine Ry Cooder, Daniel Lanois, and David Lynch sharing a rowboat on a misty West Norwegian morning – that’s the world of Minnesota. With Minnesota, guitarist and composer Trond Kallevåg deepens his image-rich sound – a warm, wistful universe where the atmosphere of Norway’s rugged west coast drifts seamlessly into the wide horizons of the American Midwest. Drawing inspiration from traditional music, j…

Over the past 15 years, Hanna Paulsberg has established herself as one of the most vital and heartfelt voices on the Norwegian jazz scene. A highly sought-after saxophonist, Paulsberg moves effortlessly between musical genres in her many projects — from the pop/soul/jazz trio Gurls, which she co-founded and writes for, to the quartet Flukten, whose sound blends free jazz and folk influences. She’s also part of a Dexter Gordon tribute with Karin Krog, and has contributed to numerous projects with…

*100 copies limited edition* This Molar record was created in a few stages. First it was substantial to find creative means which would spark the new material. The Polyend Tracker was perfect for that as it is both simple and surprisingly fresh. Only after that I applied my favourite environment and comfortably sat in my digital domain. The next stage was to find kindred spirits who share the same mental and musical sensibility. Michał Fetler and Jacek Prościński seemed to fit like a custom-made…

Instrumental Smoothie. What is Grid? is: sax, bass, drums. Recorded @ boto's Farm by Alberto "Boto" Dutto on August 2024.

Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse by Eugene McDaniels is a singular statement of early-70s soul dissent, bridging the realms of jazz, funk, and political activism. With inventive musicianship and lyrics addressing injustice, colonialism, and resistance, the album remains a powerful, relevant artifact, both musically adventurous and unflinching in its message.​

The Köln Concert (50th Anniversary Edition) by Keith Jarrett celebrates one of the most legendary solo piano performances in jazz history. The 2025 special release includes remastered audio on double LP, newly curated liner notes, archival and contemporary photos, and exclusive bonus materials. Marking half a century since its epochal live recording in Cologne, the edition underscores the enduring impact and emotional allure of Jarrett’s improvisatory genius.​​

This is Mr. Mat Walerian's fourth album as a leader, all on ESP-Disk'. He also appears in the Matthew Shipp Quartet on the album Sonic Fiction (ESPDISK 5018CD, 2018). Credits: Mat Walerian - alto saxophone, bass clarinet, soprano clarinet, flute; Matthew Shipp - piano; William Parker - double bass, shakuhachi; Hamid Drake - drums, percussion. Recorded May 21, 2018 at Parkwest Studios, Brooklyn, New York. Produced by Steve Holtje.

From the producer's liner notes: "It is an interesting question how old 'free jazz' is. At some point, even a theme and a plan became optional. In the ESP-Disk' catalog, 'Taneou' on the Giuseppi Logan Quartet's eponymous album sounds like this approach of complete freedom starting from scratch; it was recorded on November 11, 1964. Joe McPhee, in 1967, appeared on Clifford Thornton's album Freedom and Unity, so his recording career covers 53 of those 56 years, 95% of the approach's history. Each…

In February, 1968, as the false Spring of hope was rising in occupied Czechoslovakia, ESP instructed Karl Velebny to record his group of improvisers during their upcoming tour of Germany. In April, 1968, the clandestine project was completed. Karel survived a terrible auto crash and sent photographs to ESP, which were utilized on the LP cover as a symbolic reference to the plight of the Czech people. A must for anyone interested in European jazz and the history of its relationship with the '60s …

Recorded in Baarn, Holland on December 21st, 1966, Music From Europe was a strong statement of European free jazz from one of its first and strongest leaders, Gunter Hampel. Over the beautifully structured compositional suites are strong blowing and improvising by both reedmen (Hampel, Breuker) and the elastic rhythm section (Veening, Courbois).

Paul Bley recorded the compositions of Carla Bley with a quintet that included Eddie Gomez, on the evening of October 20, 1964, at Mirasound Studios, with Alfy Wade as engineer. His group included Milford Graves, Marshall Allen of the Sun Ra Arkestra, and Dewey Johnson.

In Search of the Mystery, Gato Barbieri’s debut album as leader, was recorded March 15, 1967, on the heels of his work on Don Cherry’s famed Blue Note recordings: Complete Communion and Symphony for Improvisers. This avant-jazz masterpiece from the Argentine tenor saxophonist shows off his volatile, shrieking sound to full and unrelenting affect, fueled by the twin interweaving strings of cellist Calo Scott and bassist Norris Jones (Sirone) and Bobby Kapp’s impressionistic drum splatter. Recorde…

Originally released in 1966. Featured artists: Albert Ayler (tenor sax), Ed Blackwell(trumpet), Don Cherry (trumpet, cornet), Sunny Murray (drums), Gary Peacock (bass), Roswell Rudd (trombone), John Tchicai (saxophone, alto sax). Michael Snow is a Canadian national treasure, a true Renaissance man. He assembled a stellar group to improvise a sound track for his art film, titled Walking Woman, featuring a silhouette that is rumored to have been inspired by Carla Bley. Digitally remastered. Manufa…

This is the sixth album by Dorothy Ashby, a Detroit born jazz harpist who passed away in her early 50s in 1986 way before her time. She left us a rich legacy of music with this 1965 release being one of her milestones. The music is pure bright and swinging with a joyful mood. Dorothy Ashby performs her lines big time with her harp and captures your soul with the melodies she picks from its strings. She is always there upfront while the brass section mostly fills the background with colour if the…

When Ira Gitler, jazz journalist and producer at Prestige, curated this album, the term "collector" was already well-established among music enthusiasts. The pursuit of out-of-print recordings, old 78 rpm discs, and unreleased material had reached an intensity comparable to the fervor seen in the vinyl-collecting market decades later. Gitler aimed to offer jazz fans unreleased Prestige recordings while meeting expectations for the amount of music on an LP. Initially dismissed as a mere compilati…

Naissoo Freeform Quintet is a vivid exploration of jazz improvisation and collective creativity, recorded by Estonian keyboardist and composer Tõnu Naissoo and a handpicked ensemble of accomplished local musicians. Captured during two highly spontaneous sessions in Tallinn in July 2024, the album foregrounds the chemistry of the quintet - with Naissoo’s Rhodes, Moog Source, and ARP Odyssey providing the core, and enhanced by the agile bass work of Mihkel Mälgand, the resonant bass clarinet of Me…

Le Cri du Caire is a striking mosaic of Sufi poetry, jazz, and spoken word, led by the magnetic presence of Abdullah Miniawy alongside Peter Corser, Karsten Hochapfel, and Erik Truffaz. Fusing hypnotic loops with visceral strings and evocative brass, the album channels the hopes and struggles of Cairo’s youth into a transcendent musical ritual - challenging, inventive, and brimming with emotional intensity.​​

2025 stock Talibam! delights in creating music that cannot be pinned down within the safe-spaces of existing genres. With each new album, Talibam! reinvent their methodological palette in order to bolster a fresh clarity of joyous auditory surprise, something their fans have come to depend on. Talibam! focus on compositional clarity, with reverence for their diverse interest in genre. On Hard Vibe, they push the pulse of motorik rhythm through a psychedelic jazz filter. This time out, they have …

Over the course of five decades, the legendary Austrian free jazz collective Reform Art Unit (and their offshoot groups) have collaborated with countless musicians, including Don Cherry, Carla Bley, Evan Parker, and Jim Pepper. Documented collaborations with free jazz notables include Impressions (Kovarik's Musikothek, 1978) with Anthony Braxton and Clifford Thornton; Subway Performances (Granit, 1994) and Illumination (InRespect, 1995) with Sunny Murray; and With Milo Fine (Granit, 1999). Milo …

A punk trio that is influenced by middle eastern psych, free jazz, and improvisation. While not recorded in a traditional studio, these recordings represent the first studio-produced sounds from this group. The group is built around Joel Robinson and has had as many as eight to ten members in recordings and live performances, but more recently has been focused on a trio that composes music that challenges every notion of what rock, punk, or psych can be; however, at the same time, the music is c…

2025 stock  A harrowing layered work of solo saxophone and electronics, Descension is at once beautifully elegiac and unflinchingly primal. Patrick Shiroishi is one of the key artists to emerge from the current L.A. free improvisation avant-underground; his first vinyl release is a spiritual journey that reveals his deeply reflective and unique musical vision. Descension is a sonic meditation on the legacy of a dark history and its echoing relevance in the present era.

Debut 1969 album by New Orleans’ The Meters. Led by organist Art Neville, the quartet was rounded out by jazz-influenced guitarist Leo Nocentelli, along with the bubbling rhythm section of bassist George Porter, Jr. and drummer Joseph "Zigaboo” Modeliste. Their regional influences were a smashing together of rock n’ roll, syncopated ‘second line’ rhythms from Mardi Gras parades, and jazz improvisations that only could have come from the New Orleans music scene. The Meters helped move R&B music t…

1970 seminal second album by New Orleans’ The Meters is one of their most beloved releases. Produced by one of New Orleans’s preeminent musicians, Allen Toussaint. Between backing such names as Lee Dorsey and Betty Harris, The Meters cranked out a follow-up that was even funkier than its debut.

Selections from the Empty Bottle Jazz and Improvised Music Series (1996-2005) is a six-CD anthology that captures the vibrant, unpredictable pulse of Chicago’s improvisational scene. Meticulously compiled from over 500 performances curated by John Corbett and Ken Vandermark, this box set chronicles a crucial era with recordings from nearly 100 international artists, immersing listeners in the fearless experimentation that defined the Empty Bottle’s celebrated Wednesday nights.​

2025 stock Obliquity is a free jazz record, if you'll forgive the use of such a hoary, old fashioned phrase. Its scorching, heads-down momentum, rhythm and drive places it in direct line of descent from the fierce originators of the genre: Ayler, Sanders, Graves, Frank Wright. It also swings. At times it dances. Obliquity is a free jazz record through the prism of the improvisational movement in Europe, though. This is no attempt at polite revivalism or looking back/up to the 1960s. Wilkinson/Ed…

2025 stock The trio of Wilkinson, Edwards and Noble continue to plot their course ever outward and ever upward. These new songs, recorded in South London at that wonderful performance space - at the heart of the improve scene here at this moment - Iklectik , are the very beating heart of improvised music. It’s not that they are good, or even representative – such relative terms fail to express the continuum of which these sounds are a key part. This is music that evades the strictures of scienti…

2025 stock  Reissue of an exceptional album of improvisations, recorded when percussionist Charles K. Noyes was lured to the Bay Area in the summer of 1979 by Henry Kaiser. Noyes and Maercks had played regularly as a duo when Owen was still based in Worcester, MA. But he'd shifted his ass westward in the wake of the Teenage Sex Therapist session (FTR 153-2LP), which had been organized by Kaiser following their collaborations in the band, Monster Island. Half of the album was recorded live at Woo…

2025 stock Originally released February 12, 2022. MANAS -- otherwise known as the duo of iconoclastic guitarist Tashi Dorji and drummer extraordinaire Thom Nguyen -- have made tsunami-sized waves in the free jazz and improv scene with their numerous tape and LP releases (drawing praise and support from such luminaries and fellow-travelers as Bill Nace and Ben Chasny) and their face-melting live shows, including high profile touring with Godspeed! You Black Emperor. Back in the summer of 2019 the…

Massada is a dynamic Dutch Latin band with deep roots in the Moluccan community, renowned for their unique blend of African, Brazilian, and Balearic grooves fused with soulful world music styles. Their music is a rich tapestry of rhythms and melodies that seamlessly cross cultural boundaries, captivating audiences with its infectious energy and heartfelt emotion. Since their formation, Massada has been celebrated for their ability to innovate within the Latin and world music genres, creating sou…

Originally released in 1967, Mama Too Tight stands as one of the most daring and structurally innovative albums from Archie Shepp, a pivotal figure in the free jazz movement and African-American cultural protest of the 1960s. Distinct from his more explosive works, this album showcases a refined compositional complexity, featuring avant-garde marching-band-style arrangements, masterful horn orchestrations, and a unique blend of humor and improvisational tension. The title track, Mama Too Tight, …

Placebo's debut LP "Ball of Eyes" is a remarkably focused Soul Jazz record, without the experimentation or Free Jazz moments which were still in vogue during the first half of the '70s. Excellent covers of Marvin Gaye's "Inner City Blues" and Sam & Dave's "You Got Me Hummin'" as well as his own compositions make "Ball of Eyes" a perfect example of the genius of Marc Moulin and his incredible band.

Recorded at the legendary Van Gelder Studio in September 1965 and released on the prestigious Blue Note label, this remarkable album spotlights alto saxophone virtuoso Jackie McLean leading a powerhouse quintet through five original compositions. This recording captures a pivotal moment in post-bop jazz, highlighting McLean’s bold, expressive style and his commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre. Joining McLean are two celebrated trumpeters, Charles Tolliver and Lee Morgan, each bringi…

The killer tandem of Lee Morgan and Clifford Jordan takes center stage in these exhilarating 1960 studio sessions, delivering an unforgettable Hard Bop experience. Known for their fiery improvisations and melodic mastery, Morgan on trumpet and Jordan on tenor saxophone demonstrate their exceptional chemistry and technical brilliance throughout the recordings. These sessions are enhanced by a rotating lineup of jazz heavyweights, featuring the elegant piano stylings of Barry Harris or Wynton Kell…

Born in 1932, Ernest Ranglin stands as one of the most influential session guitarists in the history of Jamaican music. His iconic playing features on countless recordings by legends such as Alton Ellis, Jimmy Cliff, Bunny Wailer, Max Romeo, the Skatalites, the Heptones, and the Congos, among many others. Produced by Chris Blackwell and originally released in 1961 on Island Records, "Guitar in Ernest" showcases the sophisticated jazz side of Ranglin’s artistry. This exceptional album highlights …

Big tip! This is it! Chicago spiritual jazz master Kahil El'Zabar delivers one of the most powerful live recordings in recent memory! Captured over two unforgettable nights at "mu" in London - July 15th & 16th, 2024 - this is music as ancient ritual, as communion, as healing force. El'Zabar created new material specifically for these performances, alongside reimagined arrangements of classics like Wayne Shorter's "Footprints", Gershwin's "Summertime", and Duke Ellington & Juan Tizol's "Caravan".…

West and East Baying by Oakland Reductionist Orchestra investigates the porous boundaries between acoustic improvisation and electronic sound, favoring the subtle friction and microdynamics of “lowercase” performance practice. Across two extended pieces—one live, one studio-crafted—this Bay Area supergroup reveals the intricate textures, restrained intensity and deep listening that define the West Coast reductionist scene.

Seeing the Way the Mole Tunnels by James McKain, Damon Smith and Weasel Walter immerses listeners in an unmediated environment of spontaneous improvisation, where baritone saxophone, double bass and percussion fuse into a dense lattice of collision, momentum and subterranean drift. Their interplay balances volatility, swift exchange and the elusive logic of movement beneath the surface.

New Conference Call brings together Gebhard Ullmann, Uwe Oberg, Joe Fonda and Dieter Ulrich for an engaging session rooted in deep listening, spirited interplay and exploratory textures. Their varied compositional voices and dynamic rapport yield music that stretches from reflective lyricism to intricate rhythmic conversations, underscoring their ability to blend innovation with ensemble empathy.​