Jazz & Improvisation / Avant-Garde Jazz

Among the fiercest and greatest documents of Free Jazz is a lone LP - Al-Fatihah - self-released in Ohio by Black Unity Trio in 1969, the official reissue of which stands before us now. A hard cut diamond of pure fire and artistry, it’s a good as improvised music from this era gets and absolutely not to be missed

*2023 stock* "The arrangements by Carla Bley are miracles of dynamics, rising and falling in volume and velocity and the awe-inspiring balance of collective ensembles improvising freely through swellings and contractions of individual voices entering and leaving the mysterious swirling circle of simultaneous songs as diverse as the number of performers yet never lacking in the kind of transporting telepathic unity that makes this multiplicity of musical lines such a far cry from the chaos of the…

Brandon Lopez leads his septet through an electrifying set recorded live at the Vision Festival. Mixed and mastered by David Torn and polished into a gem.

2009 release ** "When an improvised recording presents itself as a meteor, some foreign object from another civilization, like Days Are Not Days does, we should rejoice that it has entered our atmosphere and like a bolide, exploded upon contact. Okay, this recording by Portuguese saxophonist and flutist Paulo Chagas, and guitarists Samuel Hällkvist, from Sweden, and Stephan Sieben, from Denmark, isn't a bomb. It is, though, an improvised explosive device, pieced together from chamber music debri…

** Edition of 400 ** NoBusiness Records presents Creation Series by Joel Futterman. All compositions by Joel Futterman. Recording engineer Dr. Benjamin Tomassetti. Recorded at the Paradise Studio, Virginia Beach, Virginia. Each track is complete unedited first-take and is in the orderi n which it was recorded. Photos by Michael Wilderman. Mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Design by Oskaras Anosovas. Producer - Danas Mikailionis. Co-producer - Valerij Anosov. CD 1 - Recorded 16th June, 200…

*2025 stock* Beauty No Beauty is the debut of Andreas Wildhagen’s Spiralis quartet. The lineup features Kasper Værnes on alto and soprano saxophones, Anja Lauvdal on piano and synth, Adrian Myhr on bass and Andreas Wildhagen on drums and compositions. All have collaborated with Andreas in earlier projects, but this constellation is new and some of the members had never worked together prior to the recording, which was made shortly after a few days of rehearsals while everything was still fresh. …

Tip! *2025 stock* During three days in June 2021, reed players Klaus Ellerhusen Holm and Andreas Røysum recorded in three different locations in Trondheim: Vår Frues Church, Øra Studios and Bymarka. This was done in close collaboration with sound wizard Kyrre Laastad. The general idea for the record was to present the same material in three completely different acoustic settings. The music explores phenomena such as acoustic space, sound in motion and the perception of depth and dimensions in so…

*2025 stock. 300 copies limited edition* Motvind Records continues to collaborate with musician and composer Signe Emmeluth in an attempt to present art music that emphasizes deep listening, reflection and expressive emotions. Vossajazz is a really cool jazz festival, it has a rich program history and are still holding the line. They’ve commissioned many works from composing jazz musicians, and one of the more unpredictable and surprising pieces that has come in recent years was Banshee by the a…

*2025 stock. 200 copies limited edition* Joel and the Neverending Sextet, led by cellist Joel Ring and consisting of a cohesive group of musicians from Sweden and Norway, takes the listeners on a musical journey through the borderlands of avant-garde jazz. Following their critically acclaimed debut album "Pouring Textures" (2021), the sextet is now releasing their second album, "Marbled," on Motvind Records. The title Marbled evokes associations with flowing structures. Listening to the album, w…

Black vinyl Cape Town, South Africa-based drummer Asher Gamedze explores relationships of time between music and history on his new album Turbulence and Pulse, out May 5th 2023. Gamedze’s critically-acclaimed debut album Dialectic Soul was released at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in July 2020. Around the release of that record, with friend and writer Teju Adeleye he organized and participated in a joint online discussion “Poesis,” with historian Robin D.G. Kelley and others. One of the no…

2025 stock What Does it Mean to Be American? is the eighth solo album by Margate, UK based composer & multi-instrumentalist Robert Stillman. Performed, recorded & mixed almost entirely by Stillman, the seven tracks on What Does it Mean to Be American? are experimental in the purest sense of the word; Stillman's composition & recording techniques rely heavily on improvisation, which often sends his music in surprising directions. Elements of jazz, drone, funk, blues, psychedelia, new age & chambe…

Drawing to light rhythms, grooves and Afrocentric traditions, Hyperjazz Records takes an unprecedented dive into the incredible back catalog of the seminal Italian imprint, Soul Note, with “Hyperituals Vol. 2”. Gathering an astounding group of recordings by Sun Ra Arkestra, Archie Shepp, Karl Berger, Muhal Richard Abrams, Lester Bowie, Cecil McBee, John Carter, Joseph Jarman, Don Moye, Johnny Dyani, Don Pullen, World Saxophone Quartet, and others - many of which have never before appeared on vin…

‘Surprisingly enough, program music is not all that common in jazz. For example, unlike their classical counterparts, not many jazz composers have set out to evoke particular places. Duke Ellington’s 'Tone Parallel To Harlem' is one of the great exceptions. Britain has been even more neglected, unless you count Billy Strayhorn’s 'Chelsea Bridge', and that was about Whistler's painting rather than the actual bridge itself. But the British jazz composer Graham Collier is one who is doing something…

Recorded live on 25th February 1979, Teatro Cristallo, Milan, Italy. Second of two performances. Previously unreleased. Stereophonic sound. Elton Dean - saxophones, Keith Tippett - piano,  Harry Miller - double bass, Louis Moholo-Moholo - drums.  All tracks composed by Elton Dean. Original event organised by Riccardo Bergerone. Very special thanks to: Marino Dean, Roberto Ottaviano, Sergio Balletti, Carlo Verri, Aymeric Leroy. Executive producer: Riccardo Bergerone. Restored and produced by Matt…

2024 repress. "Mondays at The Enfield Tennis Academy, x2 LPs of long-form, lyrical, groove-based free improv by acclaimed guitarist & composer Jeff Parker's ETA IVtet, is at last here. Recorded live at ETA (referencing David Foster Wallace), a bar in LA's Highland Park neighborhood with just enough space in the back for Parker, drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Anna Butterss, & alto saxophonist Josh Johnson to convene in extraordinarily depthful & exploratory music making. Gleaned for the stoniest …

One of the most politically charged terms of the 20th century, the Iron Curtain was a metaphor for political and cultural division. In a post-war telegram Winston Churchill referred to the fault line that ran through Europe between East and West as "an Iron Curtain is drawn down upon their front. We do not know what is going on behind". In this two-part album, as far as jazz is concerned, we will showcase, describe and celebrate exactly what was 'going on behind'. We see that music is the power …

2015 release ** "The members of Nikolaus Neuser's "5tet" are new Berlin residents, some of them from the post-reunification era. The bandleader is a trumpet player in Silke Eberhard's two Eric Dolphy Project bands, and Eberhard, in turn, is the featured soloist in Neuser's ensemble, which also includes trombonist Gerhard Gschlößl, Mike Majkowski on double bass, and Bernd Oezsevim on drums. In her witty liner notes, Eberhard references the free jazz of the GDR; and the "Pink Elephant" respectfull…

2003 release **

1989 release **

2002 release ** "Inspired by Asian and African forms, Larry Ochs calls his sax and double-drum trio "Larry Ochs Sax & Drumming Core," and the minimal and unusual instrumentation is an effective vehicle for his intense improvisations. Known for his riveting work as a member of the avant-garde jazz group What We Live and the saxophone quartet Rova, Ochs' thick tone, overblowing, and forceful delivery evidence a relentless search for a sort of transcendental ecstasy fueled by the powerful strains o…

1989 release **

2009 release ** This is an amazing live record by a fabulous trio of outstanding guitar players. Vignes, unreleased live album by the Acoustic Guitar Trio. The Acoustic Guitar Trio was a beautiful improvising trio. They were guitar masters Nels Cline, Jim McAuley and the late Rod Poole. Rod Poole, an unsung and sadly quite unknown guitar player suddenly died last year under tragic circumstances. Nels Cline said about Rod: “He was a true artist, probably a genius. He had an amazing capacity as bo…

2005 release ** "Braspyreet is a Helsinki-based improv/free jazz band. “Aquatic visions of spacetime bending, this quartet chants its way through the fanciful forested heavens of the north. Bathed in blankets of shimmering white snow, Braspyreet’s manic compositions will melt the surrounding ice into a swimming hole. So many things find their way into the collective psyche, but Braspyreet will destroy them all and send you off in a jewel-encrusted golden gondola to the pastures beyond.”"

1992 release ** "Icaros was a project of the last line-up of Saxioma. A longplayer was planned but this was never realised. This recording of Icaros is based on a tape from a show in Waregem, April 1987. The variations (tracks 7 & 8) are probably recordings of rehearsals for the textile fair Made in Belgium, October 1987 (as maybe also track 9). The 'Sketchbook' are small pieces from Frits De Cauter meant as basis for compositions. The last track 'N.V. Verdriet' is the last part of an Aroma di A…

In winter 1976, a few years before Olexandr Shapoval headed up the well-known band Vodogray, a jazz band called Shapoval Sextet recorded three pieces "Kobzareva Duma" in live at the Donetsk Jazz Festival. The tape has been lost for almost 45 years, until now. The most radical, experimental and psych jazz recording from the Ukrainian Soviet-era found to date. Composed and arranged by, flutes, saxophone: Oleksandr ShapovalTrumpet: Oleg AnapolskyElectric organ, piano: Oleg KoskoGuitar, spoken words…

Spaceways features live performances by Sun Ra and his Arkestra from New York City in 1966 and 1968. Free and "spacey" as ever, the recordings capture Sun Ra in his element with over a dozen Arkestra members backing him up. The recordings were remastered for vinyl and pressed on audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group in Germany.

*2023 stock* Calling Planet Earth comes from a concert recorded at Tivoli Hall in Copenhagen, Denmark on December 5, 1971. Sun Ra and his Arkestra are captured in their prime, while exploring some of their most far out material to date. The recording received its first ever vinyl release with for Record Store Day 2015 as an exclusive color vinyl pressing. Now it will receive a wide release on black vinyl. The recording was remastered and pressed on 140gram audiophile-grade vinyl at Pallas Group …

Anchored in the idea that, despite all obstacles, the human experience casts a net of possibilities, Defiant Life – Vijay Iyer and Wadada Leo Smith second duo recording for ECM – proves a profound meditation on the human condition and both the suffering and resilience it entails. An ethereal iridescence glistens between Leo Smith’s unmistakable trumpet wail and Vijay’s textural key strokes on piano and Fender Rhodes, conjuring multi-dimensional spaces of thoughtful musical conversation. “We work…

1996 release ** "Reconstruction of Sound features Ellen Christi on vocals, Yuko Fujiyama on piano, Masahiko Kono on trombone, and Mauro Orselli on drums and cymbals. This album was recorded at Baby Monster Studio in New York City on March 30, 1993, and includes live recordings from a performance at Roulette in New York City on April 2, 1996. Ellen Christi is a prominent figure in the avant-garde jazz scene, known for her innovative vocal techniques and improvisational style. Her contributions to…

1993 release **

2025 stock We would like to introduce a new Polish- Austrian quartet led by the trumpeter and composer Piotr Damasiewicz and his Viennese connections- the meticulously passionate saxophonist Krzysztof Kasprzyk, Viennese-to-the-bone, versatile bassist Thomas Stempkowski, and the jazz and electronica drummer Alex Yannilos.The music of the quartet is best described as “(…) expressive, free though very rhythmic and melodic, manic at times, always lovingly passionate.” It goes back to dear to our hea…

1993 release ** "Those who have appreciated through the years the many talents of bassist Kent Carter (in the bands of Paul Bley, Carla Bley or Steve Lacy for instance), have secretly wished that one day he would lead his own band. Since Mister Carter has always been a very personal and inspired soloist, one would think that his conceptions ought to be extended to the size of an orchestra. With the Kent Carter String Trio, this wish comes through, and our hopes are more than satisfied. The Willi…

*2025 stock*  The first release in 24 year from Korea's foremost artist in jazz-tinged experimental / ambient music, Kim Byoung Duk!’ Kim Byong-duk is a Korean experimental / ambient musician who has paved his own artistic path by drawing on various musical styles as well as his roots in jazz and modern music. The 2018 anthology, "Experiment No. X", reaffirmed Kim’s status as one of the most progressive and unique musicians in Korea’s experimental music scene. After 24 since his 4th album "New T…

*2025 stock* The carrot root of the live music world, Sometimes a health food that young children reject,The peak of live music that becomes sweeter the more you chew, Kim Oki's [Giant Root]. Kim Okie's new album, ‘Giant Root,’ is a story of human love beyond struggle, revolution and freedom. Kim Oki is a South Korean saxophonist, and former breakdancer. He debuted in 2013 with his studio album Cherubim's Wrath (천사의 분노), and has since released numerous projects and albums. He collaborated with v…

*2025 stock*  Kim Sung-bae is a jazz bassist and the leader of Ilil Sound, a collective of jazz experimentalists. In addition to his activities with the free jazz ensemble, the Avant Trio, and as a member of saxophonist Kim Oki’s group, he has also pursued his solo work. "Ritual", recorded in 2016, is Kim Sung-bae’s second solo effort. After encountering a gut ritual performed by the manshin Kim Geum-hwa, he stayed with her in Incheon for six months preparing for this album. Recorded with a six-…

Cecil Taylor has always been considered one of the most daring and radical improvisers within the jazz genre, often pushing the boundaries with avant-garde and free jazz compositions. The Great Paris Concert is no exception Taylor's reputation. The artistic communication between the players of Taylor's quartet is second to none, and it's certainly palpable on every track of the album. Echoing each other's melodies, and 'battling' each other with solos, the group may have never sounded better. Th…

Flesh and Bones is the latest release from drummer, composer, and poet William Hooker. The album marks his third full length effort for Org Music, following “Big Moon” (2021) and “Symphonie of Flowers” (2019). Hooker has also referred to the new work as his “Black Lives Suite”, a multi-disciplinary event which uses music and poetry to address the social issues of the times. Recorded at NYU Steinhart Studios, the recording features fellow New York based players Ras Moshe, Charles Burnham, On Davi…

*2023 stock* Over 60 releases and 44 years into his career as a jazz drummer and composer, William Hooker has made (arguably) his best album yet during the pandemic in 2020, a follow up to his critically acclaimed 2019 album “Symphonie of Flowers". Clocking in at 83 minutes in total (depending on the format you’re listening to), “Big Moon” is as expansive as it is groundbreaking. With a reputation as one of the most innovative composers and drummers of his generation, for those in the know, Hook…

Shamballa is the 1993 collaboration from jazz drummer William Hooker, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), and composer Elliott Sharp. The release features Hooker performing duets with each musician. Hooker and Moore’s performance is littered with bursts of feedback and distortion, while the collaboration with Sharp is characterized by a more electronic sound, building a sense of technology. The pieces were released on vinyl for the first time as a double LP for Record Store Day 2023, limited to 1,500 …

Recorded seven years before their only duo release, Ornery People (1998), in Parlour Games we can hear the beginnings of all that would follow in the work of Tim Berne and Michael Formanek.