Jazz & Improvisation / All styles

Recorded at the legendary Atlantis Studio in Stockholm, Words Were Coming Out Our Ears captures a unique musical encounter in the moment. Pianist Johan Graden, bassists Vilhelm Bromander and Pär Ola Landin, and drummer Nils Agnas entered the studio without a fixed plan – the music emerged organically through improvisation and attentive interplay. What sets this album apart is the instrumentation. With two double bass players, the music gains an unusual depth and weight, where the bass not only s…

Adam O’Farrill - trumpet & flugelhornMary Halvorson - guitarPatricia Brennan - vibraphoneDavid Leon - alto saxophone & fluteKevin Sun - tenor saxophone & clarinetKalun Leung - trombone & euphoniumTyrone Allen II - double bassTomas Fujiwara - drums Produced by Spencer Murphy.Conducted by Eli Greenhoe.Mixed by Chris Krasnow.Recorded at The Bunker Studio by Chris Krasnow, Alex Conroy, Nicky Young.Mastered by Alex DeTurk.Artwork + design by TJ Huff (huffart.com). All works composed and arranged by A…

*100 copies limited edition* "Fathm isn’t so much an album as it is a question—a pause in the middle of a conversation no one’s having, but everyone’s pretending to understand. It asks nothing of you, but demands your presence, your ear, your breath. The flute, a tender and fragile instrument, becomes almost otherworldly—like a butterfly in another dimension with teeth, or a marsh wren that screams only in windings. It speaks in fragmented thoughts, tracing edges of longing, absence, and memory.…

The Hemphill Stringtet: Curtis Stewart - violinSam Bardfeld - violinStephanie Griffin - violaTomeka Reid - cello All music by Julius Hemphill (Subito Music Corporation).Recorded, edited, and mixed by Ryan Streber at Oktaven Audio.Mastered by Paul Zinman, Soundbyte Productions.Cover photography by Nina Contini Melis.Artwork + design by TJ Huff (huffart.com). The Hemphill Stringtet would like to thank the Aaron Copland Fund and Continuum Culture for their generous financial support. We would also …

Hard Top assembles the previously unreleased 1975 recordings of legendary South African saxophonist Kippie Moketsi (also spelled Moeketsi). The 2LP vinyl edition is presented in a gatefold sleeve featuring artwork by Mafa Ngwenya and comes from As-Shams Archive on the heels of the Tete Mbambisa's previously unreleased African Day album in 2024. By 1975, at the age of 50, saxophonist Kippie Moketsi had already earned his stripes as a South African jazz figurehead. His tenure with the Jazz Epistle…

Latin funk at its finest. A kingpin player of Miami’s Cuban music scene, Ray Fernandez, brought together his ‘court’ for this sensational Afro-Cuban funk triumph. Largely a family affair, the album features his wife, two sons and a range of other talented musicians including Rickey Washington on saxophone, father of the contemporary jazz maestro Kamasi Washington. Originally released in 1973 on Manuel J. Mato’s iconic and collectible Sound Triangle Records, Ray & His Court is a dose of Miami hea…

Buenos Aires or any city in the world. Daniel Melingo is in a rehearsal room. The musicians accompanying him have left, exhausted. The instrumentalist musician has been playing all the instruments, which for him are extensions of his body, for hours. The piano, the drums, the guitar, the bass, the xylophone, the saxophone, the bouzouki. He conducts an orchestra made up of himself. As if he was looking for the secret formula in his laboratory where every sound - even if it is not instrumental - i…

Yowzers is a new album by Chicago composer, improvisor, instrumentalist and musical folklorist Ben LaMar Gay. The twelve track collection is a leap forward in the lexicon of Gay’s recorded output, and a veritable masterwork of ancient inner-body rhythms and intuitive melodic storytelling. It’s worth mentioning that a leap forward for Gay is no small feat. The musical ground he has covered in the last decade, both as a bandleader and collaborator, is immense. His de facto debut album—the 2018 com…

During a 50+ year career across the spectrum of music saxophonist Larry Stabbins has worked with most of the important figures at the cutting edge of European Jazz and Improvisation from Mike Westbrook to Keith Tippett and Tony Oxley and Germany’s Peter Brotzmann, as well as with Robert Wyatt and Jerry Dammers Spatial AKA. Alongside this he played in the seminal pop group Weekend and formed Working Week with guitarist Simon Booth, a project that took a melange of latin, soul and jazz into the wo…

This release from composer / saxophonist / poet Keith Jafrate, together with a top flight band of Discus Music regulars, is a powerful and beautiful spiritual work. Never rushing, and always deeply involving, this music creates a peaceful yet mindful vibe in the midst of troubled times. Keith’s liner notes explain how Uroboro’s 2nd double album on discus came into being: “John suggested, during our very first recording session as a quintet, in august 2022, that i should write a pamphlet entitled…

For a few fleeting moments during a sunset, the sky is cast a vivid shade of amber. A dramatic flare of colour, a moment belonging to both the day and the night. It is within this vibrant, ephemeral world, that Mongolian-born, Munich-based Enji has written her new album Sonor. Sonor is a record full of life and optimism, from an artist finding the beauty of existing between two worlds, much as a sunset does. Between the cultures of Mongolia and Germany, tradition and innovation, nostalgia and ex…

2007 release ** "Pangolinorchestrà is a hybrid between a village band, ICP-tet, Liberation Music Orchestra, Albert Ayler Band, Jimi Hendrix Experience, N.E.E.M., Screamin Jay Hawkins, Jannacci and assorted Bennink-stuff. “Ex-perimento #5” - recorded at the “Centro Stabile di Cultura” in San Vito di Leguzzano and produced by the same Center in cooperation with Idee Nere and Stella Nera - gives a good image of a band whose forte should be the action directed from above the stage."

A trio of leaders in their own right performing pianist Satoko Fujii's demanding compositions, bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura rise to the challenge in a set of six exciting works that push and pull this remarkable piano trio in unexpected directions, responding to the twists and turns of Fujii's intense and intricate directions; superlative!

Celebrating her 65th birthday with her first compositions for strings, pianist-composer Satoko Fujii writes for the specific musicians of GEN, a sextet of violin, viola, bass, piano, electronics, and drums, in a suite inspired by Nagano's mountain views, leveraging microtonal string techniques for an expressive and texturally rich sonic landscape.

Right out of the gate one feels the energy and excitement between Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and NY drummer Jim Black, each pushing the other through strong instrumental character and outrageous technique over nine Tamura compositions recorded in the studio in Switzerland, their first recording in 25 years since their 1999 Buzz Records album White and Blue.

Propelled by the confidence and intimacy that a familial relationship brings to two improvisers, imbued by each player's masterful technical skills and creative drive, the husband and wife duo of pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura expand their catalog with this set of magnificent dialogs, sometimes quirky, always powerful and implicitly lyrical.

Massacre's only album from their first period, recorded in 1981 by Fred Frith, Bill Laswell and Fred Maher. This reissue plays at the correct pitch, after decades in which it circulated at the wrong one, with six bonus tracks.

2017 release ** "Building beats and sounds with electronics is a huge part on the record. The drums and the electronics prime the whole album without being reduced to a straight beat. Patrick Schimanski moves from abstract sounds to micro rhythms to straight beats (saturated by any background you can think of) and back again. The drum sound has a percussive tone to it as well: There are bells and congas and more like it. Patrick Schimanski is working a lot with different theaters around Germany …

According to many enthusiasts and scholars, this album is among Sun Ra's most definitive studio recordings. The Magic City contains just four tracks, with the title- theme taking up the whole of the A side at a little over 27 minutes. Then on the B side comes The Shadow World, followed by Abstract Eye and Abstract I, which are two variants of the same composition. These pieces are essentially ensemble improvisations recorded live.

2025 stock On her second album Ursgal Mongolian singer Enji creates a unique blend of Jazz and Folk with the traditions of Mongolian song. Currently based in Munich, her lyrics tell personal stories about unbearable distances, the oddness of being on earth and the simple truths in life.She’s accompanied by Paul Brändle on guitar and  on double bass. Born in Ulaanbaatar, Enji grew up in a yurt to a working-class family. Having always been drawn to music, dance and literature, she initially wanted…

2025 stock  Includes the albums "Gris-Gris," "Babylon," "The Sun Moon & Herbs," "Dr. Johns Gumbo" and "In The Right Place" by Dr. John.

2025 stock Dr. John has proven to be one of music’s foremost generalists, a primary-care cat whose practice extends back some 60 years. His expertise encompasses rock ’n’ roll, swamp pop, New Orleans, R&B, funk, jazz, and the Great American Songbook—and he’s made worthy contributions to recordings by the Stones, B.B. King, Van Morrison, Frank Zappa, Buddy Guy & Junior Wells, Buffalo Springfield, Gregg Allman, and others. The awards (six Grammys and counting) and accolades long ago validated the …

The Northwoods Improvisers return with a new album, Fanfares the latest effort with a quintet/sextet lineup that includes veterans Mike Johnston (bass, bass recorder, wood flutes, percussion) and Nick Ashton (drums, percussion) and reunites them with a fierce front line of saxophones with Dominic Bierenga (tenor/alto/soprano saxophones, flute, percussion) and Donovan Boxey (alto/soprano saxophone, clarinet, melodica, wood flutes, percussion) and introduces the strings of Jack O'Brien (cello, bas…

After decades in the vault, Entropy Stereo has unearthed one of the most unique and obscure Faruq Z. Bey recordings for you. It was Faruq's dying wish that these recordings become available. We are pleased to present Faruq Z. Bey's Atlan-Tan Suite featuring Faruq Z. Bey on saxophone, Jaribu Shahid on bass, Tony Holland on saxophone, Marlene Rice and Gwen Laster on violins, and Robert Allison on vibes. Meticulously recorded by Ron Decorte and mastered by Warn Defever. We made this live document a…

2025 stock This compilation documents part of an exciting, and somewhat neglected period in Australasian jazz. Recorded in Sydney (1966), we can hear Bernie McGann was already one of the great Australian jazz stylists. But at the time the only publicly available recording he made was two tracks on the JAZZ AUSTRALIA compilation (1967) (CBS BP 233450). All five tunes are also early recordings of two New Zealand greats - Kim Paterson and Andy Brown, who were living in Sydney at the time. Two years…

Recorded August 18, 1969 in Paris with Archie Shepp on soprano, Grachan Moncur III on trombone, Dave Burrell on piano, Sunny Murray on drums plus Arthur Jones, Beb Guerin and Earl Freeman. Restored & remastered from the original tapes Pressed on 180-gram black vinylInsert featuring insightful essay by author & music journalist Kevin Le GendreLP original gatefold sleeve & artwork faithfully reproduced

An essential jazz masterpiece from celebrated Canadian pianist Paul Bley, presented in a deluxe edition. Originally released in 1969 as part of the iconic Actuel series, this definitive remastered edition of Ramblin' invites listeners to experience the artistry of Paul Bley’s 1966 Rome session in unprecedented clarity. Recorded at Studio RCA in the Eternal City on July 1, 1966, Ramblin’ captures Paul Bley alongside the formidable rhythm section of double bassist Mark Levinson and drummer Barry A…

Music-lovers of all lands, rejoice! Here you have the re-release of the fourth album of the Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra recorded with the Guinean saxophonist Jo Maka. The title says it all: Vol.4: Jo Maka. But before that, a bit of history: The Intercommunal Free Dance Music Orchestra was created in 1971 by an "old hand" of French free jazz, François Tusques. "Free Jazz" was also the name of the recording made by the pianist and other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François J…

If the jazz of François Tusques is “free”, his spirit is even more so: having recorded Free Jazz with other like-minded Frenchmen (Michel Portal, François Jeanneau, Bernard Vitet, Beb Guérin and Charles Saudrais), the pianist had covered a lot of ground, with Barney Wilen (Le Nouveau Jazz) or even solo (Piano Dazibao and Dazibao N°2), so as not to repeat himself… In 1971 he founded the Inter Communal Free Dance Music Orchestra which, as the notes the this album stated, “is an interpretation of a…

Miles in France is the eighth installment in the celebrated Miles Davis Bootleg Series and this edition focuses on the birth of the Second Great Quintet in 1963 and 1964. The music heard here represents the sound of an end and a beginning coming through at once. The set contains 5 separate performances of the Miles Davis Quintet spread over 8 LPs or 6 CDs and the energy and depth of feeling in the transcendent playing hint at the special relationship Miles and the group had with the French natio…

A Tribute to Jack Johnson was originally conceived as the soundtrack for a documentary on the life of the first african american heavyweight boxing champion, but the album stands on its own as one of the most brilliant, compelling fusion recordings ever made. This is due in large part to the increasing influence of rock and funk on miles's aesthetic, to the superb musicians (including Davis himself - who turns in some stunningly vigorous solos), and in part to the production skills of Teo Macero…

Widely acknowledged by jazz critics and aficionados as a landmark in 'hard bop' and one of the greatest jazz albums ever, Miles Davis' 1956 Columbia Records debut showcased his first legendary quintet featuring John Coltrane.

*Very limited edition* Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album Traces is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, Traces is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the "traces" of the legendary Don Cherry's legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression. Christer Bothén, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period i…

We Jazz Magazine, Issue 14 / Spring 2025 "Cosmos" for Sun Ra. 128 pages, 170 x 240 mm in size and printed on 140g Edixion paper with laminated 300g Invercote covers. All articles presented in English. Includes a collection of Sun Ra pieces by Francis Gooding, Mats Gustafsson, Rui Miguel Abreu, Stewart Smith and Joshua Lane, rare Sun Ra Arkestra photos by Guy Stevens, Larry Stabbins by Dave Waller, Angélique Kidjo by Rob Garratt, Heli Hartikainen by Wif Stenger, Alan Wilkinson by Daniel Spicer, B…

Frozen Silence is the third ECM release from alto saxophonist Maciej Obara’s Polish-Norwegian quartet bringing the story forward from Unloved and Three Crowns – and perhaps its strongest musical statement to date. Alert interactivity is the hallmark of the group’s approach in a programme of new Obara compositions inspired by the starkly dramatic landscapes of the mountainous Karkonosze region in south-west Poland. All four players make decisive contributions to the music. The pieces optimally hi…

Pianist-composer Vijay Iyer follows his 2021 ECM disc Uneasy — the first to showcase his trio featuring bassist Linda May Han Oh and drummer Tyshawn Sorey — with Compassion, another album in league with these two gifted partners. The New York Times captured the special qualities of this group, pointing to the trio’s flair for playing “with a lithe range of motion and resplendent clarity… while stoking a kind of writhing internal tension. Crucial to that balance is their ability to connect with e…

With Call on the old Wise Nitai Hershkovits delivers an entrancing solo album. In this largely improvised solo rendering, the pianist draws from broad influences, ranging from his extensive work in jazz contexts and cutting-edge contemporary explorations to his background in classical music. This immaculate balance of idioms gives rise to an abundance of colours and timbres, explored by a pianist, who has successfully forged his very own voice as improviser and shape-designer.   With a soft tou…

*100 copies limited edition* NooPop Records is proud to present Naissoo Freeform Quintet, led by keyboard maestro Tõnu Naissoo. Recorded in a local music den on a single night in Tallinn, this electrifying LP captures the raw energy of funk and the adventurous spirit of free jazz. It’s infused with psychedelic nostalgia from the astral realms of Moog Source and Rhodes. Blending live electronics and improvisation, this release offers a bolder, wilder, and more immersive experience than their stud…

Tip! A compelling live performance from Munich's Waldkirche Planegg uniting Udo Schindler's inventive bass clarinets, Erhard Hirt's textural guitar and computer interactions, and Ove Volquartz's resonant low reeds, weaving a rich tapestry of spontaneous, intricately layered improvisations infused with subtle electronic nuances.

Jazz in Britain are pleased to announce the forthcoming release of a stunning previously unissued live recording of the legendary saxophonist Tubby Hayes and his quintet live at the Antibes Jazz Festival in July 1962. Hayes' band including trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar, pianist Gordon Beck, bassist Freddy Logan and drummer Allan Ganley were the UK's representative on a starry festival bill also featuring US stars Jimmy Smith, Dizzy Gillespie and Fats Domino, drawing rave press reviews and the admirati…