Jazz & Improvisation / Avant-Garde Jazz

*30 copies limited edition* Physical is excited to announce the release of (music for) A Thousand Ways to Run. This sonic journey brings together the eclectic talents of pianist Ben Kujawski, drummer Abigail Smith, and guitarist/harmonicist Justin Rhody, whose collaborations coalesce in a collection that blurs the lines between avant-jazz, experimental soundscapes, and evocative improvisation. Recorded in the intimate setting of Kujawski’s home studio in 2023, the album is an invitation to liste…

From the enigmatic fringes of experimental sound comes an extraordinary split release between K/S/R and The Tulsa Ball Room Singers—a bold document of two singular live performances where music and moving image intertwine.

*100 copies limited edition* "Like the early work of fellow Midwestern experimentalists Raccoo-oo-oon, there's a calming franticness in the work of (D)(B)(H), an ever-changing group whose sound is constantly evolving. (D)(B)(H)'s "Bad For Business," captured live summer 2010, features a quartet taking the entire 21-minute side to sculpt a piece that rests somewhere between free jazz and non-idiomatic improv. The result is not unlike what the AACM captured in its 1966 'Little Suite' or what The B…

Released in 1969, 'Hum Dono' is a legendary 'lost' British jazz plate, described by Trunk as the best modern British jazz LP of all time that will set you back a good £2000 second hand - if you're lucky enough to find a copy. Its beguiling mix of East meets West rhythms, ideas and joy pits Jamaican free jazz virtuoso Joe Harriott and Indian guitarist Amancio D'Silva against some of the UK jazz elite's most essential players. Blending library-style exotica with tabla rhythms, cascading vocals and…

Tip! Archie Shepp has many made many Afrocentric statements in his long distinguished career but this meeting with Algerian and Touareg musicians in 1969 ranks among his greatest artistic achievements. The backdrop was the inaugural Pan African Festival Of Culture that took place in Algiers in July 1969 in order to promote solidarity among African nations at a time when many were emerging from the yoke of colonialism and some were still fighting for freedom. Their struggle chimed with the Black …

Composer, clarinetist, singer and spiritual jazz soothsayer Angel Bat Dawid descended on Chicago's jazz and improvised music scene just a few years ago. In very short time, the potency, prowess, spirit and charisma of her cosmic musical proselytizing has taken her from relatively unknown improviser to borderline ubiquitous performer in Chicago's avant-garde. On any given night you can find Angel adding aura to ensembles led by Ben LaMar Gay, or Damon Locks, or Jaimie Branch, or Matthew Lux, or e…

Tip! "Frequency • the rate at which a vibration occurs that constitutes a wave, either in a material (as in sound waves), or in an electromagnetic field (as in radio waves and light). Equilibrium • a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced: a calm state of mind. Koan • a paradoxical anecdote or riddle, used in Zen Buddhism to demonstrate the inadequacy of logical reasoning and to provoke enlightenment. Many, many, years ago in a once enchanted place they called The Big Apple, N…

Trost Records returns with a blasting gut-punch of an LP, with “Live at SuperDeluxe - Volume 1”, a full throttle body of improvisations from the all-star quartet of Akira Sakata, Jim O'Rourke, Mette Rasmussen, and Chris Corsano - never before captured on tape - live at legendary Tokyo venue, SuperDeluxe. Riding the wire between free jazz and noise, it's nothing short of powerful, real-time advocation of socio-political importance of free improvisation that leaves you on the edge of your seat fro…

Imagine it’s late afternoon, you’re outside by the lake, and there’s sunlight on the water. This is the peaceful and contemplative scene that Matt Gold and Resavoir set on their collaborative LP Horizon. Across 10 lush and exploratory tracks, it’s the product of two Chicago-based musicians—Will Miller, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more, and Gold, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and accomplished guitarist—effortlessly combining their distinc…

Recorded live at Chicago’s renowned listening rooms, Constellation in February 2023, and Hungry Brain in July 2023, Stinger captures an exhilarating blend of precision and spontaneity. This album showcases a band that has fine-tuned its sound while embracing the thrill of unpredictability. At the forefront of this musical conversation is Keefe Jackson, a saxophonist whose deep and resonant tones on the tenor saxophone reflect his artistry as both composer and performer. Celebrated for his abilit…

*2025 stock* Performing the compositions of band leader Adam Shead, Microplastique creates music that is both absurd in its aesthetic and serious in its execution. "blare blow bloom!" consists of 10 tracks recorded live in stereo during the ensemble’s July 2024 tour throughout the United States. Throughout the tour, the ensemble performed 10 compositions at each concert, each with vastly different approaches and outcomes. Utilizing their keen improvisational abilities and shared language to morp…

*2025 stock* Irritable Mystic Records and Balance Point Acoustics are thrilled to announce the release of Spi-raling Horn, an audacious, boundary-blurring album from a staggering quartet: bass clarinetist Jason Stein, pianist Marilyn Crispell, double bassist Damon Smith, and drummer Adam Shead.   Born from a chance collaboration rooted in a shared appreciation between Smith and Crispell for the radical visual art of Cy Twombly, Spi-raling Horn invites listeners into a sonic universe where improv…

*2025 stock* Since its Fall 2022 Inception, Undisclosed Sims has quickly become one of the most creative and prolific bands working in the Chicago scene of jazz and improvised music. Simulate, the group’s first recorded material, exposes the band’s deep and diverse collective language producing an album that draws influence from ambient music, kraut rock, free jazz, and art-rock. Throughout-Wills McKenna, Luke Polipnick, Andrew Scott Young, and Adam Shead-prove again and again that they are here…

*2025 stock* Since the Stein/Smith/Shead trio's inception in the fall of 2021 they have quickly become one of the most creative and prolific bands working in the fields of jazz and improvised music. Hum see's the group moving deeper into their collective language, producing an album that is unlike any bass clarinet trio album recorded to date. Throughout this recording Jason Stein proves again and again that he is indeed the greatest living bass clarinetist working in improvised music today. Dam…

*300 copies limited edition*New release on NoBusiness from two of the best reed instruments' veterans. Mats Gustafsson – slide flute, flute, baritone sax and live electronicsLiudas Mockūnas – sopranino, soprano, reedless soprano, overtone, bass sax and contrabass clarinet

The ultimate cosmic music has arrived! Prepare to be gently led into an invigorating electronic dreamscape by a skillfully creative partnership. Despite collaborating since 2016, Endless Season is the first duo album from 577 Records Co-Creator (and legendary maestro), Daniel Carter, and rising tenor saxist Ayumi Ishito. Originally recorded as an acoustic set, the plan changed when Carter encouraged Ishito to explore audio production. Before they knew it, she had shaped beats and sounds that per…

The world is more elusive than simple cause and effect imply, more typically, life circumvents causation in favor of an unknowable correlation. It seems like the more we know, the less we know. On this first volume from Zoh Amba and Francisco Mela, the duo brings their regional traditions, from Tennessee and Cuba respectively, and musical inclinations to the cause and effect behind their own life stories. Causa y Efecto, Vol. 1 is an ode to the unknown, transporting audiences between the New Yor…

*In process of stocking* How do you welcome adventure? Longtime comrades, legendary Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver investigated this in their first album, Welcome Adventure, Vol. 1, resulting in 577 Records’ best-selling release in the 20 years we’ve been operating. Now, the group is trying the question again with their second astonishing volume, taken from the same historical recording session. Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Clarinet) has been collaborating with Will…

*2024 stock* Are you ready for magic? The master musicians Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker and Gerald Cleaver will provide access with this album, the first they have released after playing together for decades. Daniel Carter has been collaborating with William Parker since the early 70s and with Matthew Shipp starting in the mid 80s. This trio has played together on many recordings but by adding legendary drummer Gerald Cleaver to the mix they have created a masterpiece combination…

Tectonic Plates: The Highly Anticipated Album Flipping Improvised Music on its Head, Thanks to New Trio Starring Alan Niblock, John Butcher, and Mark Sanders

Tip! Across A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, DePlume’s reflections on healing, dignity, and struggle are communicated through a stirring assemblage of disparate musics: ghostly and ancient folk melodies, groove-anchored maelstroms of swirling folk-jazz, elegant string arrangements that strike a midpoint between Ravel and Gainsbourg (courtesy of Macie Stewart), disembodied voices reconfiguring into the shape of a post-modern Greek chorus, noir atmosphere, and allegoric, troubadouric song. Throug…

"Christopher Dammann Sextet is a debut record, but it’s by no means a first effort. Bassist, composer, and improviser Christopher Dammann has been making records for about fifteen years, first as a member of 3.5.7 Ensemble and more recently as the leader of Restroy. Throughout that time, he’s also gigged persistently in Chicago, notably as a regular substitute for Brian Sandstrom in the long-lived free improv collective Extraordinary Popular Delusions, and from Charlottesville, VA (between 2010-…

2024 stock. New York United is an experimental group at the musical intersection of a classic New York avant-garde scene and forward-looking electronic production. Comprised of multi-instrumentalist and 577-cofounder Daniel Carter (Saxophone, Flute, Trumpet, Clarinet), electronic producer Tobias Wilner from Blue Foundation (Synthesizers, Percussion, Vocals, Piano, Guitar), Wu-Tang Clan bass player Djibril Toure and 577’s Federico Ughi (Drums), their sound reflects their decades of collaboration.…

This is the debut album of a group dedicated to the invisible world. Some people operate invisibly by choice, some are invisible because of the nature of events in their life, some remain invisible and unknown against their will.

The Great Sun Ra’s Magic Lives On in Debut Album from Old Friends Michael Sarian, Matthew Putman, Federico Ughi, and Newcomer Ledian Mola

*2024 stock* Before any instrumentation, Francisco Mela addresses his fellow musicians, pianist Matthew Shipp and bassist William Parker, with a sense of anticipation and affirmation, “Okay guys, ready? Rolling!” The sense of camaraderie and his artist-focused approach is heard throughout the album’s majestic improvisation—as well as in its inspiration, dedicated to Mela’s longtime musical partner, the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, an…

Land Back! An unadulterated opening statement intoned by Saul Williams three times, as he joins Carlos Niño & Friends in sound ceremony underneath oak and black walnut trees in Coldwater Canyon Park, Los Angeles, on December 18, 2024. The performance, which was organized by Noah Klein of Living Earth on the grounds of longstanding conservationist organization TreePeople, was the first of its kind for longtime friends and collaborators Williams and Niño. The two have been in contact since 1997 an…

2025 stock Colin Stetson is a horn player of uncommon strength, skill and genre- defying creativity. He composes and performs otherworldly songs that combine a mastery of circular breathing technique with percussive valve- work and reed vocalisations, making a polyphonic solo music that combines influences as diverse as Bach, early metal, American pre-war Gospel, and the explorations of Jimi Hendrix, Peter Brotzman and Albert Ayler. New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges is Stetson's second solo rec…

2025 stock No better is this virtuosic ability heard than on New History Warfare, Volume 1, Colin Stetson's first full-length solo recording from Aagoo Records. On this album, the vast musical experiences that Stetson has accumulated over a short period of time have been crafted into 12 songs that defy genres, establishing a sound that is Colin Stetson in full bloom.

2025 stock The moment – hard to be in it, even harder to catch it. The Duo Ige*timer has dedicated itself absolutely to that search of the moment. Klaus Janek and Simon Berz let their music grow out of the situation surrounding them. They’ve been on a tour through the States and at the concerts in Baltimore, Philadelphia and New Orleans they switched their recorder on. The three pieces on Ice Cold Pop are a documentation of their perception of these cities. Nothing is preset and nothing ist reus…

Kaze and Koichi Makigami Unleash Musical Mayhem on New Album Shishiodoshi.

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.

"What we have here is a result of an idea ignited almost 15 years ago with its roots deep in the era of subculture 1990s, when its teenage protagonists started listening to records. But the comradeship between the three of us started in the early 2000 when I was pursuing my first Utopian idea of an art commune in the form of a counter-festival in the Southeastern Slovenian countryside on the border with Croatia. An idea from which, years later, another Utopian project was born - an international…

Acclaimed Belgian duo Poor Isa (banjoists Ruben Machtelinckx and Frederik Leroux) present their third album, evolving their minimalist style by collaborating with saxophonist Evan Parker and percussionist Ingar Zach. The result is a rich blend of introspective textures and dynamic improvisation.

Huge Tip! Commemoration Songs is a soundtrack diary from the past few years, inspired by a world where everything is being commodified at the expense of human rights and making money has become the be-all and end-all of human existence. Amidst all of this, we still commemorate the people who were instrumental in building a system that can only survive by projecting violence on us. The album consists of 8 pieces, where free jazz saxophones meet warm analog synth sequences, compelling basslines an…

*2025 stock* 'From the early years of Norwegian jazz, few albums have stood the test of time as well as the venturesome and subtly psychedelic Plastic Sun. It was the Svein Finnerud's second disc, and was released on Sonet in 1970. Inexplicably for an album of such beauty, it has been a hard-to-find collector's item for decades, having only been reissued once before, in 1998, as a CD on the Norwegian Jazz Federation's Odin label. In April 2018, Odin have reissued it again, this time on CD and in…

Some of soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy's most interesting recordings are his earliest ones. After spending periods of time playing with Dixieland groups and then with Cecil Taylor (which was quite a jump), Lacy made several recordings that displayed his love of Thelonious Monk's music plus his varied experiences. On this particular set, Lacy's soprano contrasts well with Charles Davis' baritone (they are backed by bassist John Ore and drummer Roy Haynes) on three of the most difficult Monk tunes…

* 75 copies limited edition * In times of vinyl shortage and production backlog, resourcefulness is key. In keeping with his well-established practice of replacing original materials with surrogates to generate new sonic experiences, Sven-Åke Johansson has devised a digital reinterpretation of the historic flexidisc in the shape of a 10inch rubber disc with engraved QR codes that let buyers access the music online. About the music: "The six compositions titled ‘stumps’ are based on a potential f…

Rüdiger Carl and Sven-Åke Johansson are two fellow travelers on the path of experimental music who have worked together since the late 1960s in many formations, most notably as the wild-card Fluxus pranksters on Peter Brötzmann’s legendary 1969 recording Machine Gun, and on many more recordings and stagings of sonic interventions over the decades.  In the words of Peter Margasak writing in the Chicago Reader in 2012: “Where to begin with percussionist and polymath Sven-Åke Johansson: Is he a beb…

Chicago's Black Diamond debuts on We Jazz Records with their new album Furniture Of the Mind Rearranging on 5th July. Co-led by Artie Black and Hunter Diamond (composers, saxophones, and other woodwinds), Black Diamond appears in both quartet and duo formations. The first three album sides present the quartet, complete with long standing band members Matt Ulery (double bass) and Neil Hemphill (drums), under the heading Furniture Of the Mind. The remaining two tracks on side D fall under the titl…