Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Solar Wind, the singular album from OM led by guitarist Seiji Hano, is widely regarded as a milestone in Japanese ethnic jazz. Recently reissued, this masterwork summons a refined blend of acoustic purity, melancholic resonance, and wabi-sabi beauty, drawing subtle influence from ECM contemporaries like Oregon and Codona while breathing unmistakable Japanese spirit. With each track, from the mesmerizing “Windmill” to the final notes, Solar Wind achieves a seamless, moving elegance - a flawless e…

2025 stock Even without an album out: they have already set the world on fire freaking out audiences all over Europe on their 2019 summer festival tour including Sines in Portugal, WOMAD in UK, Roskilde and WOMEX in Tampere. This young allstar band from Ghana brims with gifted musicians and energy on stage. The 8 piece collective is made up of a young generation of awarded musicians who have backed anyone in Ghana from Azonto sensation Sarkodie to Nigerian superstar 2 Face Idibia, but their pass…

Paris, 1978. Don Cherry walks into a French studio with a suitcase full of instruments nobody expected and meets Ustad Ahmed Latif Khan for the first time. No rehearsal, no plan, just two musicians who recognize each other immediately as kindred spirits. What happens next is one of Cherry's best efforts - an album only hardcore fans know about, recorded in Paris, released only in France in 1981, disappeared, and now back again in a special edition that demands attention. This is what "world musi…

Tip! **2025 Stock** The Chisa Years: 1965–1975 (Rare and Unreleased) gathers the most exploratory moments from a vital era in Hugh Masekela’s career, collected on BBE as part of the label’s Masterclass Series. As co-founder of Chisa Records with Stewart Levine, Masekela set out to document the crossflow between African musical idioms and the currents of soul, jazz, and R&B pulsing through the United States and beyond. The result is an archive alive with the friction and joy of experimentation—a …

Tip! 428 pages. This is exactly what we need. Big time. Johannes Rød returns with the massively expanded edition of his essential guide - a monument of discographic research spanning six decades of creative music documentation. 381 pages plus 47 unnumbered pages of label artwork. 185 labels mapped with obsessive detail and passionate advocacy. From the explosive emergence of free jazz in the mid-1960s through ESP-Disk, BYG Actuel, and Actuel, through the European improvisers' movement documented…

Ajomasé marks the influential debut of Gasper Lawal, legendary Nigerian percussionist, now presented in a vibrant reissue by Strut Records. Originally released in 1980, the album bridges Yoruba traditions and Western funk, propelled by layered drumming and energetic ensemble playing. Each track is infused with rhythmic invention and charismatic flair.​

Allen’s Soul Bag is a standout reissue from Allen Kwela Octet, capturing the spirit and sophistication of South African jazz in the early 1970s. The album, newly remastered from vinyl and pressed in a limited run, offers emotive ensemble playing and rich melodic invention, showcasing Kwela’s expressive guitar against vibrant horns, piano, and rhythm section.​

Pita Parka, Pt. II: Nim Egduf, the latest release from Dun-Dun Band, is a hypnotic excursion through polyrhythmic landscapes and global traditions. Guitarist Craig Dunsmuir leads a ten-piece ensemble in Toronto, weaving intricate ostinato riffs with jazz, Afrobeat, and ambient influences, resulting in a set of four expansive compositions that enchant and provoke.​

Everything Is Possible, the third album from Peace Flag Ensemble, pushes the boundaries of jazz improvisation and ambient experimentation. Led by Jon Neher’s lyrical piano and complemented by subtle electronic flourishes from Michael Scott Dawson, the group’s ensemble dialogue traverses gentle melodic passages and unexpected textural turns, resulting in a collection that is both introspective and quietly assertive.​

Orbital is the debut album from Orbital Ensemble, a Toronto-based jazz fusion group melding psychedelic grooves, Brazilian MPB influences, and intricate improvisation. The resulting LP weaves together melodic openness, vintage moods, and crisp ensemble playing, offering an immersive sonic experience that feels both exploratory and deeply rooted.​

Broken Shoes, the reissued LP from Soweto, thrives on the vibrant interplay of jazz and funk, capturing an era where rhythmic conversation takes precedence over polished surfaces. With each groove, the band conjures a sense of lived experience, reframing classic township forms in a manner both contemporary and respectful of the genre’s roots.​

Mother Africa by Byard Lancaster radiates with spiritual energy and improvisational daring, weaving together free jazz, blues, and soulful overtones. The album’s exploratory language and deep sense of groove reflect Lancaster’s boundary-pushing ethos, resulting in a vivid listening experience that braids together African themes, fluid ensemble interplay, and Lancaster’s distinctive melodic sensibility.​

Us by Byard Lancaster is a vibrant suite of improvisations driven by searching melodic motifs and propulsive rhythms. In a compact yet dynamic trio format, Lancaster’s alto saxophone and flute navigate territory mapped equally by jazz tradition and the pursuit of abstraction, making the album a crucial benchmark for fans of adventurous 1970s jazz.​

** With a 12-page 11x11" insert booklet (new for IA11, with unpublished photos and new liner notes by Alabaster DePlume), IARC 2025 obi strip and printed poly-lined printed inner-sleeve. ** In the words of Emma Warren:  Alabaster DePlume is not doing things properly, and this makes him very happy.  DePlume is a Manchester-born, London-based bandleader, composer, saxophonist, activist and orator. He’s a resident at the legendary London creative hub Total Refreshment Centre, a recording artist for…

At last, the trade edition of Schiamachy has appeared, following the test-press/tour version by more than a couple of months. The album's title is a term used to describe mock battles between warriors. It's a fair description of the music on this record, although it's safe to say the battle was a friendly one. Michael Zerang is a very well-known percussionist, composer and improviser from Chicago, with an amazing jazz-based discography. He previously appeared on the Illinois Glossalia LP (FTR 28…

**2025 Stock** Ebalunga!!! is coming back with a new long-awaited reissue of LP by the famous Hungarian guitarist, originally released in 1969.  Gabor Szabo exploded onto the American jazz scene in the early sixties. His unusual approach and unique sound brought something startling and new to jazz. With Chico Hamilton, Charles Lloyd and Gary McFarland, Szabo offered something few in jazz had ever heard before: guitarist as enchanter and conjurer and musician as storyteller and mesmerist. Once Sz…

With The Bliss of Bliss, Pat Thomas distills four decades of radical pianism into a transcendent live improvisation. Recorded in Geneva in 2024, the album transforms the solo piano into a realm of shifting densities and ecstatic form, where each note seems to create and erase the space it inhabits.

Late Autumn Sunshine by Michael Garrick, released by My Only Desire Records, gathers two rare BBC Maida Vale sessions from 1973 and 1978. With Norma Winstone’s ethereal voice and Henry Lowther’s lyrical trumpet, Garrick’s compositions glow with his characteristic blend of English pastoralism and modal jazz introspection - a rediscovery of autumnal warmth and luminous craft.

Abaete by Abaete is a cult classic and one of the rare treasures from the 1970s Bahian scene—a masterfully woven tapestry of jazz-funk samba, built by a mysterious vocal trio whose only full-length album is now finally gaining renewed attention through reissues. Recorded in 1977 and originally veiled by obscurity, the album is celebrated for its supple grooves, innovative synth lines, and a distinctly Northeastern Brazilian flavor.​

Quarteto Novo is the only album from the collective Quarteto Novo, released in 1967. Renowned for fusing northeastern Brazilian baião styles with bebop and folk, the album has earned a reputation as a masterwork that shaped Brazilian jazz’s global evolution. Its acoustic ethos and inventive arrangements forged a bridge between regional tradition and modern jazz, influencing a wide array of subsequent artists and genres.​

Music doesn't have to be self-expression, but for Ryan Power that's the only way it can be. Every note, melody, turn of phrase, and point of view in Power's carefully-crafted songs is intravenously infused with his particular way of moving through the world. It's a curious, probing, never-satisfied mode; he's always searching for the perfect combination of chords, the most precise arrangement of words, the most complete capturing of a mood. As one song on his eighth album Mind the Neighbors puts…

Group Theory: Black Music is a stunning new statement from South African drummer and composer Tumi Mogorosi. Standing in the lineage of South African greats such as Louis Moholo-Moholo, Makaya Ntshoko and Ayanda Sikade, Mogorosi is one of the foremost drummers working anywhere in the world, with a flexible, powerful style that brings a distinctive South African inflection to the polyrhythmic tradition of Elvin Jones, Max Roach and Art Blakey. Since his international debut on Jazzman Records in 2…

Ben Stapp Launches Uzmic Ro’Samg — A Visionary Solo Album for Tuba and Sousaphone. Internationally recognized tubist and composer Ben Stapp announces the release of Uzmic Ro’Samg, his first-ever album of unaccompanied tuba and sousaphone. A daring, world-building statement, the recording blends technical mastery with storytelling rooted in Stapp’s original science fiction narrative.  Stapp has long been a distinctive voice in the avant-garde and creative music scenes. He has created and recorded…

Unstoppable Rising Pianist Eva Novoa Reunites with Bassist Drew Gress and Drummer Devin Gray to Bring Us Another Blazing Interplay Banger

A Mountain Sees a Mountain, the new duo recording by Hamid Drake and Pat Thomas, captures two master improvisers engaged in an intimate yet expansive dialogue. Released in October 2025 via Old Heaven Books, the album bridges African rhythmic philosophy and European avant-piano traditions, achieving a deep equilibrium between motion, meditation, and melodic abstraction.

On Breakthrough, Muriel Grossmann envelops her quartet in a vibrant exploration of spiritual jazz, interlacing tradition with fresh, forward momentum. The record distills Grossmann’s lyrical saxophone voice and trademark rhythmic interplay into a rich, organic sound, balancing meditative introspection and eruptive, soulful drive. Each composition furthers her pursuit of transcendence, unfolding as both a deeply personal statement and a communal celebration.​

Way To, the debut album by Eero Savela, released August 2025, marks a persuasive, understated move into the spotlight for the Helsinki trumpeter. Blending the sinuous pulse of '70s jazz-funk with a modern Scandinavian restraint, the album—clocking in at just 37 minutes—opts for dialogue over display, its six tracks assembled as layered conversations between empathetic musicians and understated lyricism.

Kadi Vija’s new album, Tiny Hands Gathering Wonder, The World Becomes Magic, is a narrative jazz suite released in October 2025 that explores the tactile, the playful, and the vividly imaginative, blending synth colors, hand claps, and intimate vocals into a singular rainbow-hued sonic journey. The album’s ten tracks move through shifting moods that conjure both childlike awe and jazz sophistication, opting for miniature landscapes over grand statements.​

From the viral Severance TV dance party to spiritual jazz explorations, this vinyl compilation spans five decades of the Poughkeepsie legend's most electrifying moments. Funky grooves, cosmic transcendence, and raw improvisation collide.

150 copies only. French saxophonist Sakina Abdou and Philadelphia guitarist Bill Nace present Rinse Cycle, a striking first encounter between two of improvised music's most uncompromising voices. Released October 15, 2025 on Open Mouth Records, this LP captures the duo's incendiary exchange recorded during a U.S. tour that included performances at Philadelphia's legendary Solar Myth. Abdou, whose searing solo work Goodbye Ground (Relative Pitch, 2022) established her as a formidable presence in …

Reissue, originally released in 1963. Lou Blackburn's debut Imperial session has to be considered mostly a bop album, even though traces of contemporary pop culture and soul are clearly an influence. The trombone player is joined by Freddie Hill (trumpet), Horace Tapscott (piano), John Duke (bass), and Leroy Henderson (drums). Blackburn was born in Rankin, Pennsylvania, during the 1950s, he played swing music with Lionel Hampton. In the early 1960s, he began performing with musicians like Cat An…

Perception is the 1973 second album by Catalyst, the Philadelphia jazz-funk quartet whose blend of soul jazz, fusion, and avant-garde set them apart as a cult phenomenon. Featuring Zuri Tyrone Brown (bass), Onaje Sherman Ferguson (drums, percussion), Nwalinu Odean Pope (tenor saxophone, flute), and Sanifu Eddie Green (electric piano), the album stretches from spacious, electric fusion to driving, groove-forward funk and episodes of free improvisation. Recently reissued to renewed acclaim, Percep…

King Of The Tenors is a landmark album by Ben Webster, recorded in 1953 and initially released as The Consummate Artistry of Ben Webster, then retitled for its classic 1957 Verve Records reissue. Webster is joined by jazz icons including the Oscar Peterson Trio throughout, as well as Benny Carter (alto saxophone) and Harry “Sweets” Edison (trumpet) on select tracks, resulting in ensemble interplay that balances lush ballads and blues with joyous swing. The program includes Webster originals like…

Flight To Jordan is a celebrated hard bop album by Duke Jordan, recorded at Van Gelder Studio in 1960 and released on Blue Note in 1961. Featuring a quintet of Duke Jordan (piano), Dizzy Reece (trumpet), Stanley Turrentine (tenor saxophone), Reggie Workman (bass), and Art Taylor (drums), the album stands out for its memorable melodies and dynamic interplay. With compositions reflecting Jordan’s lyricism and Bud Powell-influenced rhythmic sense, tracks like “Flight to Jordan,” “Star Brite,” and “…

Portrait Of Sheila is the legendary 1962 debut album by Sheila Jordan, recognized as one of the only vocal jazz albums released by Blue Note in the 1960s. Backed by Barry Galbraith (guitar), Steve Swallow (bass), and Denzil Best (drums), Jordan’s inimitable approach includes stark, intimate renditions of standards, including a celebrated voice-bass duet on Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere.” The album’s new Tone Poet Series reissue, shipping in late 2025, brings her singular artistry to new audiences wit…

By All Means is the new album from Aaron Parks due for release on November 7, 2025 via Blue Note Records, expanding the acclaimed Parks-Street-Hart jazz trio into a luminous acoustic quartet with the addition of tenor saxophonist Ben Solomon. This set of seven original compositions explores Parks’ signature mix of modern jazz innovation and tradition, highlighted by tender dedications to his wife and son and the sly, swinging lead track “Parks Lope”.​

277 pages. 196 x 268 mm. Open NOW JAZZ NOW and you're not just looking at a book - you're entering the minds of three lifelong obsessives. Byron Coley (music writer and critic), Mats Gustafsson (saxophonist, The Thing, Fire!), and Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth founder, solo artist) have spent decades accumulating, discussing, debating, and above all listening to free jazz and free improvisation. This book is the result of that shared mania. What they've created isn't a conventional history or a ra…

Misha Panfilov Septet is an Estonian ensemble led by composer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Misha Panfilov. Known for their evocative blend of psychedelic jazz, electronic lounge, and ambient exotica, the septet features a rich palette of timbres and improvisational interplay, distinctively shaped by Panfilov's lap steel guitar and space-conscious compositions. The group includes Artur Leppik (alto/baritone sax, percussion), Sasha Petrov (tenor sax, percussion), Ilja Gussarov (flute, perc…

Green Is Beautiful by Grant Green is a lively jazz-funk album recorded in 1970 at Van Gelder Studio and released on the Blue Note label. Marking a shift from his hard bop and soul jazz roots, Green embraces energetic funk grooves, supported by a stellar lineup including Blue Mitchell, Claude Bartee, Jimmy Lewis, Idris Muhammad, and organists Neal Creque and Emmanuel Riggins. The album’s five tracks, including covers of James Brown and The Beatles, showcase Green’s distinctive, melodic approach a…

Limited edition CD & download retrospective of the pianist Gordon Beck’s musical journey from the 1960s to 1985 from a trio and quintet of Beck, Dave Green and Spike Wells plus Ray Warleigh and Iain Ballamy. The single CD comes in a 6-panel digisleeve, with a 20 page booklet written by Simon Spillett, incorporating memories provided by Iain Ballamy, Dave Green, Liam Noble. The cover art for both sleeve and booklet are original drawings from the brilliant Alban Low.