Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

This is a hitherto unknown recording of the influential Danish composer, pianist, and bandleader Jeppe Zeeberg, dated November 9, 1963. On this recording, Zeeberg is accompanied by a band comprised of several of his generation’s finest musicians. Inspired by the Ellington/Mingus traditions and the new sounds of free jazz emerging from overseas, Zeeberg was the rare individual who could straddle different styles in one performance – even within a single composition. This concert, recorded at Havn…

Feelings marks Jake Henry’s long-awaited return as a leader, more than a decade after his debut with Sweet Talk Glitterbomb. This album is a deeply personal exploration of the intricate harmonic language and angular counterpoint Henry developed during his formative years as a guitarist. Drawing on the frenetic energy of math rock, raw intensity of metal, and chaotic textures of noise, Henry recontextualizes common song form into a bold, genre-defying soundscape. The quartet—featuring Brian Krock…

"In the early 1990s, trombonist Jeb Bishop became an essential part of Chicago’s musically and geographically outward-looking jazz community. His mastery of the full spectrum of trombone language, from earthy melody to abstract sound effects, made him indispensable in every band he joined—including the Vandermark 5, Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet, School Days, and Engines—and the indelible quality of his compositions made his recordings with his own bands landmarks of the era. Bishop left Chic…

First meetings are always a risk, but if the vibrations are right and the doors are open, magic will be made. When the members of Look Both Days (brought together by Chicago pianist Erez Dessel) took the stage on the opening night of the 2023 Catalytic Sound Festival, nobody knew quite what to expect. With Marvin Tate on the mic, Mai Sugimoto and Fred Jackson Jr. both on alto saxophone, Erez Dessel on piano, and Ben Hall on drums, these stalwarts of the midwestern improvised music scene were poi…

*2025 stock* Emerging from the fertile ground where language meets rhythm, Groppler Zorn proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated debut album. Conceived in the transition from spoken word to music, the project embodies the belief that the urge to speak and the impulse to dance spring from the same source. Far from being a singular vision, the album is the result of a series of creative dialogues — conversations between musicians and artists from diverse, and at times opposing, a…

*2025 stock* The acclaimed ensemble Double Helix Quartet proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated new album, an adventurous collection that redefines the boundaries between contemporary classical music, improvisation, and experimental soundscapes. With this bold statement, the quartet reaffirms its role as one of the most forward-thinking voices in today’s chamber music scene.   Fusing tradition with innovation, the album showcases the group’s signature interplay of precision an…

*2025 stock* Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ... is the debut recording by Turtle Boat, a free-jazz outfit led by Abhilasha Chebolu (Null Copula, Princsex, Gault, Ryan Jewell Quintet) featuring her compositions with additional contributions from saxophonist Alex Burgoyne (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Gault, Liver Quiver, Ryan Jewell Quintet). Joined by Dan DiPiero (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Common Things), the trio first assembled in 2015 after a decade of playing together in vari…

*2025 stock* Ism highlights the distinct qualities of each member. Fred's methodical approach to melody, Ed Wilkerson’s relentless dynamism, Jim’s uncanny ability to subvert expectations, and Avreeayl's inescapable rhythm, which weaves through the music—shaping everything from textured explorations to intense grooves to wild improvisations.

Chicago Underground Duo is the long-running collaborative project of composer/trumpeter/electronicist Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Isotope 217, New Future City Radio with Damon Locks) and composer/drummer/mbiraist Chad Taylor (jaimie branch’s Fly or Die, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio). Hyperglyph is their first album in 11 years, and 8th in the absolute cabinet of wonders that is the Chicago Underground Duo. The pair have played music together in a multitude…

Tip! Tip! Tip! On their self-titled second album, The Cosmic Tones Research Trio—featuring Roman Norfleet, Harlan Silverman, and Kennedy Verrett—dives deeper into the spiritual soundscapes that first defined their genre-defying approach. Based in Portland, Oregon, the trio crafts a transcendent listening experience rooted in both meditative stillness and rhythmic propulsion. Blending cello, alto sax, piano, flutes, and an eclectic palette of textures and percussions, the album channels a sacred …

Maya Recordings  presents "Harmos – Kraków" a breathtaking new release by Barry Guy with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. Capturing the creative spirit and electrifying artistry that has defined Guy’s decades-long career as a composer, director, and double bassist, this album is an essential document for contemporary jazz and improvisational music fans. Recorded live, "Harmos – Kraków" showcases Guy’s celebrated composition Harmos in one of its most compelling interpretations, performed in K…

Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj is thrilled to announce the release of "A Modicum Of Blues," an electrifying new album by five powerhouse improvisers: Ivo Perelman (tenor sax), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Mark Helias (bass), and Tom Rainey (drums). This recording captures the quintet in their purest element—live in the studio, free of plans or constraints, driven only by their joy of spontaneous creation. Renowned for his visionary approach, saxophonist Ivo Perelman assembles a…

Almost two decades have passed since Martin Kuchen, one of the brightest figures in European improvised music, founded the band Angles. Over the years, the band has evolved in terms of its membership and personnel. The Portuguese label Clean Feed has released the vast majority of the group's albums. Now it is time for the latest incarnation of Angles, this time Angles 11, featuring musicians from the core line-up and the oldest companions of musical journeys, as well as ‘fresh blood’. Those we a…

“The Dialogues” recalls the early jazz journeys of its creators, blending decades of musical growth into intimate conversations between violin and double bass. Drawing from jazz, classical, and contemporary influences, the album captures pure, wordless musical dialogue.

In the verdant countryside of Seine-et-Marne, within the exposed beams of an 18th-century farmhouse, a collection of unreleased treasures lay dormant for over two decades. Now, Trad Vibe Records presents Inedit, a remarkable testament to the creative freedom and spontaneous brilliance of Cortex, one of France's most influential jazz-funk collectives. This essential reissue illuminates a forgotten chapter in the group's history, revealing the raw genius that would later inspire hip-hop producers …

One of the great enigmatic figures of jazz, Sun Ra's persona as philosopher, showman and space enthusiast often overshadowed his purely musical accomplishments as one of the most prolific and creative composers and big band leaders in the business. The current release contains one of Sun Ra's most exceptional and highly regarded albums of the 1950s: Jazz in Silhouette. Although the exact recording dates are unknown (no details were given on the original LP back cover, which included no liner not…

Tip! This new acoustic trio is consisting of three of the most iconic players of todays European jazz, improvisation and experimental music scene. This line-up took a long birth phase, but was a logical step and basically came out of juggling the possibilities and attempts of combining the effort of two high energy noise + electro-acoustic duos: Ignaz Schick/Oliver Steidle (Ilog) and Ingebrigt-Håker-Flaten/Ignaz Schick. Both duos started in 2013 (Ilog) and 2015 (Håker Flaten/schick) and have a l…

“Extrapolation,” the debut solo album by visionary guitarist John McLaughlin, continues to stand as a landmark in the evolution of jazz fusion. Recorded in London before McLaughlin’s legendary collaborations with Miles Davis and the formation of the Mahavishnu Orchestra, this 1969 classic exemplifies a bold new direction for British jazz. A pioneering force in modern music, McLaughlin brought together an extraordinary group of musicians for “Extrapolation”: John Surman (baritone and soprano saxo…

Originally released in 1972, bassist Miroslav Vitouš’s acclaimed album Mountain in the Clouds returns to the spotlight as a remixed, expanded edition of his influential 1970 debut, Infinite Search. Widely celebrated as a seminal document in the birth of jazz-fusion, this recording chronicles the early, creative explosion of a new musical era. With Mountain in the Clouds, Vitouš pushes the limits of jazz bass, blending lyrical improvisation and experimental technique to striking effect. The album…

Orbits, the sophomore LP from The Circling Sun, channels the cosmic energy of '70s spiritual jazz, filtered through synths, layered percussion, and ethereal choirs. The Aotearoa collective expand their sonic universe with nods to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Azymuth, and ambient jazz — offering deep listening for jazz heads and newcomers alike.

For their second album Hi Res Heart expand from being a trio to a performing quintet with the addition of the two string players. In contrast to the first album - a very carefully conceived studio construct - Move Fast And Mend Things finds the group in live performance mode, recorded the day after their first gig as a five piece. As before, spaciousness and fire co-exist. Even when the music is at its most abstract, the spirit of the blues is never too far away. The music is direct and melodic …

A senior figure on the scene whose output shows no sign of letting up as he enters his eighth decade. As well as groups alongside his established peers, he increasingly provides great experience and opportunity for his younger colleagues. Paul Dunmall and Discus Music are clearly on a roll together as the veteran composer and improviser delivers his sixth album in two years to the label. And what is especially interesting is how each of them sits well outside Paul's free blowing music, concentra…

Two decades ago, an all-star assembly of Chicago improvisers started a new band, drawing its name from an 1841 book by Charles Mackay: Extraordinary Popular Delusions. With weekly gigs at a spot in Chicago called Hotti Biscotti, Jim Baker, Mars Williams, Brian Sandstrom, and Steve Hunt honed their sound, which could be ferocious or nerdy or diffuse, as they moment required. After a couple years, the quartet moved to a regular Monday session at Beat Kitchen, where they have maintained their weekl…

2003 release ** "This really might be the best sax-bass-drums trio of the last decade. It's that good. Tony Malaby is consistently engaging and adventurous, and Paul Motian is at his best. If I could write the Penguin Guide review of this, I just might give it a crown. At first I was really reminded of Joe Lovano (and this compares quite favorably to "Sounds of Joy", one of Joe's best), but now find Malaby a bit more nimble and adventurous. There are hints of avant, but this is totally straight,…

"Hotmosphere" is a 1976 album by iconic Brazilian percussionist and composer Dom Um Romão. Renowned for his contributions to Weather Report and collaborations with legends in the jazz fusion world, Romão brings together the best of Brazilian rhythms, jazz fusion, and funk on this vibrant, electrifying record. On "Hotmosphere," Dom Um Romão showcases his deep roots in samba and Brazilian folk traditions, while also pushing the boundaries of contemporary jazz. Listeners are treated to layers of ri…

An Introspective Masterpiece Featuring Bill Evans, Gary Peacock, and Paul Motian.

Kaleidoscopic Visions showcases Tom Skinner drawing together the many threads of his career as one of the UK’s most versatile and free-thinking contemporary musicians. Performing and recording with Sons of Kemet, The Smile, David Byrne, Meshell Ndegeocello, Alabaster DePlume, Floating Points and Peter Zummo as well as a wide range of collaborations across London’s vibrant improvised and electronic scene, Skinner’s diverse touchpoints are brought together in an album of quiet power and profound t…

The Ethio Jazz album by Mulatu Astatatke is a jewel of the modern Ethiopian music. Essential. An incredibly groovy Ethiopian record, originally from 1969-1972. Amazing orchestral 'Ethio-groove' filled with US soul, jazz, sometimes Latin and the deepest Eastern rhythms, even including some great nasty and dirty fuzz guitars. A true gem of Ethiopian modern instrumental music, which illustrates perfectly this symbiosis of strong rhythms and quality arrangements of subtle yet deep Ethiopian melodies…

The 1971 entry point into Herbie Hancock's celebrated Mwandishi trilogy, returning here on vinyl. Mwandishi opens what would become the most adventurous and freely exploratory chapter of Hancock's discography, the first record to officially document the sextet that the pianist would shape into one of the great working bands of early seventies jazz. Recorded at Wally Heider Studios in San Francisco on New Year's Eve 1970 and released in March 1971 on Warner Bros, the album marked Hancock's decisi…

Impulse! Records is proud to announce the release of “The John Coltrane Quartet Plays,” an evocative and boundary-pushing album from one of jazz’s most celebrated ensembles. Recorded in 1965, just months after the landmark “A Love Supreme,” this album captures John Coltrane and his legendary quartet—McCoy Tyner (piano), Jimmy Garrison (bass), and Elvin Jones (drums)—at a time of creative transformation and exhilarating intensity. Featuring four powerful tracks that stretch the limits of post-bop…

Concord is proud to unveil Miles ’55: The Prestige Recordings, a definitive retrospective shining a spotlight on a transformative year in jazz legend Miles Davis’ career. This collection celebrates the birth of Davis’ First Great Quintet and the creative momentum leading to some of his most groundbreaking work. 1955 marked a new era for Miles Davis. That year, he assembled a soon-to-be-storied group — John Coltrane on tenor saxophone, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe J…

Blue Note Records proudly presents the reissue of Wayne Shorter’s legendary album, The Soothsayer—a vital chapter in the evolution of modern jazz and a showcase of Shorter’s compositional brilliance. Though recorded on March 4, 1965, at the iconic Van Gelder Studio, this remarkable session was not released until 1979, transforming it into one of jazz’s most revered hidden gems. Upon its eventual release, critics hailed The Soothsayer as “hard-driving and as edgy as the time at which it was made,…

Blue Note Records is proud to spotlight one of jazz trumpet legend Lee Morgan’s most exhilarating works, "The Procrastinator." Originally recorded in 1967 but first released posthumously in 1978, "The Procrastinator" captures Morgan at the height of his creative powers, leading an all-star sextet that reads like a who’s who of modern jazz: Wayne Shorter (tenor saxophone), Bobby Hutcherson (vibraphone), Herbie Hancock (piano), Ron Carter (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums). Crafted during Morgan’s …

2001 release ** Cardboard sleeve. "On his third album Pelikanismus (ICP) the brawny tenor saxophonist Tobias Delius proceeds from the edge of his seat. Over the last few years he's developed a telepathic rapport with his excellent quartet-bassist Joe Williamson and more of those damned ICPers, drummer Han Bennink and cellist Tristan Honsinger-which allows them to intuit musical choices like most people breathe air. The group employs its fondness for medleys only once here-where despite having a …

2012 release ** Recorded in Rome in 2005 for the Controindicazioni Festival, the album offers a testament to the magical inventiveness and instrumental mastery of these undisputed protagonists of contemporary music.

2007 release ** ""Echoes," a 2006 live quintet featuring Olivieri alongside Innarella on saxophone, Battiston on piano, and the prodigious rhythm section of Parker and Drake. A pulsating energy that free avant-garde revisits with a distinctive, modern harmonic structure, with clear structures that allow for intense improvisational vigor. Five dense tracks of near-perfect dialogue, with Innarella and Olivieri chasing each other in a play of references underscored by Battiston's percussive touch a…

2025 stock ** "Russian-born percussionist Vladimir Tarasov is sort of the “old man” of jazz in Lithuania – he’s called Vilnius home since 1968, and achieved international renown as an improviser with the Ganelin Trio (1971-1986). In addition to work as a sound installation artist and solo percussionist, he has also worked with American composers like Anthony Braxton and drummer Andrew Cyrille. Thinking of Khlebnikov, a dedication to Russian Futurist poet Velimir Khlebnikov, is Tarasov’s first di…

2014 release ** ""Coincidence" features a blend of world music, ambient, and jazz elements, with the duo using instruments like church organ and bagpipe. The album explores the space between composition and improvisation, creating meditative and intense musical landscapes with Oriental textures. The album's uniqueness stems from the unconventional pairing of the church organ and bagpipe, two instruments with distinct cultural backgrounds but sharing the commonality of sound generation through vi…

2006 release ** ""Remember Now" is the second release of trombonist's Steve Swell Slammin' The Infinite band, and they now sound more like a unit. Rather than two front line soloists with a rhythm section, on this release they seem like a group of four equals. The rhythm section of Matthew Heyner (who is amazing on this disc) and Klaus Kugel (ditto) has really developed into a team that is just as able to step out in front and lead the band as to drive it along from behind. And the material Swel…

2012 release ** "Two for two, Dark Tree. Last year’s Pourtant les Cimes des Arbres was a challenging, powerful piece of music, a perfect snapshot of the bold, demanding improvisation currently being produced on the French scene. It was also a hell of a way to launch a record label. So, even after multiple listenings, it’s still a little hard to digest the fact that their follow-up—En Corps, with Eve Risser on piano, Benjamin Duboc on bass and Edward Perraud on drums—is even more challenging and …