Jazz & Improvisation / Avant-Garde Jazz

Brian Marsella is one of the most accomplished keyboard virtuosos in the Downtown scene. A vital member of projects by Cyro Baptista and John Zorn for decades, his fluid keyboard stylings and intense energy is legendary—and Medietas is his masterwork: a sprawling three-hour long work that embraces jazz, rock, funk, classical, world music, exotica, folk, soundtrack moods, and so much more. Segueing from song to song seamlessly, this is a work that puts you into an ecstatic dream world—a psychedel…

This long-awaited third volume featuring John Zorn's newest and most exciting ensemble, New Masada Quartet was recorded live at Roulette, one of Zorn's home bases in NYC. White hot and razor sharp, an intense electricity is in the air from the very first note. Resplendent with burning solos, telepathic group interaction, heartfelt lyricism, hypnotic grooves, and of course Zorn’s ever-surprising conducting techniques, this is truly one of the most transcendent sets they have yet performed. With a…

"Duck Baker should be a national treasure. He should be an international treasure. Should be? In my book he already is. I first came across his work in the 1970s on early Kicking Mule LPs in my local library in the UK, which was his temporary base then, and is his permanent home now. Many years later I was astounded by Spinning Song, his CD of Herbie Nichols compositions. Around the same time, I made contact with him by way of thanks following a review he wrote of my work on Stuff Smith and, lat…

*Limited Edition of 100. Pink Vinyl! 2024 stock* Super groups are not a riskless endeavor—but when they’re made up of longtime friends and master improvisers, they tend to work. On their collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, up-and-coming American saxophonist John Dikeman (When The Time Is Right, 577 Records, 2021) is accompanied by a group of UK-based music masters: pianist Pat Thomas, a 577 Records mainstay (Shifa Live at Cafe Oto 2019, BleySchool 2019, Shifa Live in Oslo 2020, Educated Guess…

*2024 stock* Can music liberate us? Francisco Mela, who worked and partnered with the legendary jazz musician McCoy Tyner, believes so. On this album, the second volume of Music Frees Our Souls, Mela collaborates with pianist Cooper-Moore and bassist William Parker to build a 2-part extended track project of advanced dialogue between 3 of the genre's most important instruments. Tyner was well-known for his boundless musical talent, and perhaps best-known for playing in John Coltrane’s quartet, w…

Universe in Blue is a rarity. After-hours music, showcasing Sun Ra's twisted take on the Blues, these live recordings from 1972 provide an intriguing glimpse of the Arkestra’s repertoire and virtuosity at the close of their first decade playing in New York, and brought him to the greater attention of the New York press and helped cement his reputation for audacious showmanship. Ra and his band performed at the famed East Village Slug's almost every Monday night for several years through the late…

Perhaps there is no need to introduce this legendary recording, but few people realized that this year it will be 50 years (!) since the band secretly set foot in Hrad Houska and started recording there in the winter of 1974. And Sváťa Karásek shined a light on them.

7 years since its release; the iconic debut from Godtet gets a repress. The self-titled LP marked the inception of La Sape Records along with the genesis of Godtet. Stitched together more like a beat tape. 12 movements recorded live with no overdubs; "This record came about with no preconceived ideas of what we were making or what it would sound like". A crystallisation of Godtet which aided to form the sound of La Sape. Traversing across spiritual jazz, dub and experimental gestures. It caught …

*300 copies limited edition* The first duo recording between towering free jazz saxophonist Paul Dunmall and the highly creative saxophonist Kevin Figes, sees them perform ten improvised pieces using an assortment of instruments, including various saxophones, clarinets and flutes. With no pre-composed themes or motifs, what you hear are two master musicians in the moment of creativity. The wholly improvised conversations seem to encompass and distil the history of jazz, moving between free and c…

*300 copies limited edition* 'Happy Apples’ presents a collection of improvised duo exchanges between legendary free jazz vocalist Julie Tippetts, whose spell-binding vocals intermingle perfectly with saxophonist Kevin Figes’ atmospheric playing. Both musicians supplement the recording with an array of percussive devices, including the quirky tinkling 1970s toy that lends the album its name. The epic opening track “The Third Harmony” sets the mood for the recording as Tippetts displays a dazzlin…

Nine previously unreleased tracks from the golden era of British jazz. Featuring the cream of players and composers from the period. Stereophonic sound.All tracks original source - public domain. These restorations and remasters by British Progressive Jazz © 2024

Seven years of effervescent activity: few free jazz groups can be proud of such longevity, especially with a line-up as stable as that of Perception. Yes, there would be several guest musicians, including Kent Carter and Jean-Charles Capon, on the second album... Yes the "existential problems" of Siegfried Kessler would necessitate him being temporarily replaced by Manuel Villaroel... But for the most part, it was the core quartet of the first album which would tour Europe, through concerts from…

Legend of e’Boi (The Hypervigilant Eye) is the powerful new work by composer & alto saxophonist Darius Jones. Both of his tremendous artistic strengths are to the fore here in a fully committed trio communion with longtime collaborator Gerald Cleaver (drums) & Chris Lightcap (bass). Five potent new Jones compositions, and a striking arrangement of “No More My Lord” (a prison song rec. by Alan Lomax at Parchman Farm). Legend of e’Boi is the 7th chapter (of 9 on completion) in Jones’ expansive Man…

Horizons Held Close is the first unadorned Trance Map release featuring only Evan Parker and Matthew Wright since their 2011 debut. The sounds are strange but utterly compelling. Parker's soprano snakes its way through Wright's turntables, software, and processing/sampling.

Federico Ughi Together with Leo Genovese and Brandon Lopez Explores the Spaceways in the New Multidimensional CD ‘Infinite Cosmos Calling You You You, Vol. 1’

SSWAN presents their first outing "Invisibility is an unnatural disaster" a raucous jaunt of free jazz on the premiere fire music label 577 Records. The music is rooted in the Black American art form of jazz, stemming into the branches of free improvisation, noise and experimentalism while pushing to the edges of each idiom. The idiosyncratic playing of guitarist Jessica Ackerley starts off the album's title track and jumps headfirst into a Hendrix-tinged duo with drummer Jason Nazary. Patrick S…

In January of 2016, Jaimie Branch launched a monthly free jazz series with a new ensemble at Brooklyn’s now debunked Manhattan Inn. Sharing the first night of her series with a trio on tour from Chicago (Nick Mazzarella, Anton Hatwich and Frank Rosaly), the trumpeter Branch assembled a quartet to match: cellist Tomeka Reid, bassist Jason Ajemian, and drummer Chad Taylor. Between visitors and expats, it was a night of performers exclusively from The Windy City. “I wanted New York to hear what Chi…

January 2nd, 2023. Aside from being the second of a new year, it was a pretty ordinary night at ETA in Los Angeles, where guitarist Jeff Parker - alongside his ETA IVtet with saxophonist Josh Johnson, bassist Anna Butterss, and drummer Jay Bellerose - had been holding down a regular Monday gig since 2016. At the time, nobody knew it was the first gig of the last year that ETA would be open for business. Over seven years of holding down that residency, Parker’s ETA ensemble evolved from a band th…

“For me this music felt like coming home. Or perhaps I should say this feels where I should really be; proud to be associated with it.” - Sam Richards

Unionen is a new quartet of four star-level Norwegian and Swedish jazz musicians. The group takes its name from the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway under a common monarch 1814-1905 and brings together Ståle Størlokken (Supersilent), Per "Texas" Johansson, Petter Eldh (Koma Saxo) and Gard Nilssen (Supersonic Orchestra). It's not hip to say "supergroup" but this sure is one super of a group, with each member contributing to the band sound that is unique in all the best possible ways. From mis…

*300 copies limited edition* Excited to unveil the self-titled debut record from a new duo of Rob Mazurek & Nick Terry - C6Fe2RN6! The Marfa-based duo's music sprouted from a mutual admiration for each other's visual art (Nick Terry primarily being known for his visual art, but get ready to hear more of his musical work) and eventually turned into regular get togethers to chat and play music. What you hear in C6Fe2RN6 is what happened in Mazurek's Marfa Experimental Studio, haunting and ephemera…

*300 copies limited edition* In honor of Marshall Allen's 100th we are pleased to present this new one from the John Blum Quartet! Enjoy!

Temporary super offer! This is Archie Shepp caught live at two important European festivals in 1973. At the head of some sort of one-off line up featuring Dave Burrell on piano, Donald Garret on bass along with her partner Zusaan Fasteau on percussion, flute and vocals, and last but not least Muhammad Ali (Rashid's brother) on drums, Shepp, heard on tenor and soprano saxes and piano, delivers a full program of hot renditions of mostly standards by the likes of Ellington, Monk and Davis, plus a c…

*100 copies limited edition* Freshly on Creative Sources is this debut duo collaboration by French 11 string guitarist Christian Vasseur and Belgium's Dirk Serries on his archtop guitar. Performed and recorded at the stunning Oude Klooster chapel in Brecht (Belgium). Both musicians met each other for the first at the Alternative Guitar Festival, organised by Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg in 2023 at Haekem Theatre (Brussels, Belgium) and immediately felt a kindred spirit for the abstract and immense…

Digipack CD edition. An unearthed treasure from the '70s Italian avant garde archives! A previously unreleased recording from the legendary Beat72 club in Rome in 1973, featuring a one-off Italian-American all-star ensemble with Roberto Laneri founding member of the experimental vocal group Prima Materia, maverick American composer Alvin Curran co-founder of Musica Elettronica Viva. Trombone specialist Giancarlo Schiaffini from the historical Gruppo di improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza. Cello vir…

"Worst Generation" is Nakama’s first fully improvised album, and was recorded as part of a live concert in studio during their first European tour. The LP version is in lenticular – the motif changes when viewed from a different angle. The CD is in English on one side and Japanese on the other with the imprint in beautiful gloss. One thing is always something different and at the same time two sides of the same coin...

Tip! *2023 stock* Everyone’s Children is the stunning debut album of spiritual avant-garde music from keyboardist, composer Surya Botofasina, out on Spiritmuse Records. The record combines deep jazz excursions with expansive synth passages and intimate piano turns to create a hypnotic, meditative and devotionally expressive suite that soothes, enriches and uplifts the soul. Botofasina’s upbringing at the Sai Anantam Ashram in the Southern Californian hills involved daily bhajans (traditional Hin…

*250 copies limited edition* Limited vinyl release on Raw Tonk Records. John Edwards : double bass Andrew Lisle : percussion Dirk Serries : acoustic guitar Colin Webster : alto sax Recorded at the Dave Hunt Studio, London on February 8th 2020. Mixed by Dave Hunt. Mastered at Sunny Side Inc. Studio. Artwork by Colin Webster. Layout by Rutger Zuydervelt

Temporary Super Offer! A couple of the pieces on Nick Fraser's If There Were No Opposites, the quartet’s fourth album, were adapted from Fraser's compositions for dance productions by Decidedly Jazz Danceworks." But while the original versions of “Shoe Dance” and “The Fashion Show” had to adhere to rigid timing requirements in order to coordinate with the rest of the stage production, the quartet lets the music flow in more free-wheeling fashion. The quartet first recorded in 2012, and its perso…

Remastered from the original analog tapes of the duet between Anthony Braxton and Gino Robair from sessions recorded on August 6th and October 9th 1987 at Cal State University, Hayward, California. This release includes all of the music from the original, limited-edition LP as well as extra tracks from the same sessions.

What becomes quickly apparent when the music ends is that the parts of the brain wired for multi-tasking and instant contextualization have been swamped by Masaoka and Braxton’s palette, their bold strokes and the vaulting arcs they form.

Evan Parker and Matthew Shipp!Two (exceptional) musicians, two backgrounds, two approaches to music, two generations, an ocean between them: at the end, only one music, unique, outstanding, made of listening and respect of each other. The purpose is not to limit themselves to what they might have in common, but to expand the realm of possibility by assimilating in the moment what the other can bring.

Jemeel Moondoc and his bandmates are masters of the terrifying art of communicating how they feel, an art which, of course, takes both great intelligence and great discipline… A fire burns in Jemeel Moondoc’s music and once it was ignited it keeps spreading; it’s the flame you can also feel in the playing of Matthew Shipp, Hilliard Greene, and Newman Taylor Baker. This quartet’s music is never easy, but it’s always truthful. Ed Hazel, excepts from the liner notes

*Limited to 50 copies* Four tone studies - each an individual note for trombone, finding (un)resonant locations of unique tonal and physical resistance.

The ECM folks do much better by Wadada Leo Smith than ever before with this solo recording, a true masterwork of its kind and one of the purest, most enlightening demonstrations of the connected natures of folk, blues, jazz, and creative music. That Smith is the man to do this is certainly no surprise; he laid it all down in print years before this release in his self-published books and liner notes. But the way he does it, with so much grace and style (and with the excellent production by Steve…

** First unedited MPS release on 7” 45 single. AAA Transfers from analogue mastertapes. Audiophile-grade vinyl – single one-off batch limited-edition pressing. New artwork authentically recreated on heavyweight gloss sleeves. Cut at Abbey Road Studios by Grammy award winning engineer, Sean Magee. Manufactured at Pallas Group GmbH, Germany. Metallic hype sticker ** For this 1969 recording Wolfgang Dauner expands beyond his more typical jazz settings, introducing psych and eastern raga touches wit…

*Edition of 300 glass-mastered CDs in wallet with spine.* "An often raucous and always informed debut from the dual reed & drums Chicago trio Near Miss of Rob Magill on tenor & soprano sax and bass clarinet, Gerrit Hatcher on tenor sax and Bill Harris on drums, Magill and Hatcher having collaborated previously on Triplet Fawns with Patrick Shiroishi, and Whole Abandoned Star, while Hatcher & Harris are a part of Devouring the Guilt." - squidco.comKettle Hole Records is a Chicago-based independen…

The second album of Ingebrigt Håker Flaten’s Knarr band is now ready for release on his own label Sonic Transmissions Records. The band that was first put together as a commissioned one-off project for the Vossa Jazz festival in 2021 has now become Håker Flaten’s main outlet as a bandleader and composer. Clearly something sparked putting the Vossa Jazz project together, and those of us who knew and had followed Håker Flaten for over three decades as a one of the finest musicians working within (…

Taking 2023’s critically-acclaimed collagist anti-opera Sovereign Bodies / Ritual Taxonomy (Diatribe Records) as its starting point, composer Jamie Thompson invited three open-eared improvisers, Stephen Davis (drums), John Pope (bass) and Sam Comerford (tenor saxophone) to join him (on piano and electronics) in entangling themselves not only with the textual and political themes of the record – migration, racist linguistic taxonomy, nationalism, Europe’s deadly borders policies – but with its po…

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The long awaited first recording by John Zorn’s newest and most exciting ensemble, the New Masada Quartet. Performing eight classic compositions from the Masada songbooks, NMQ is a tight unit of like-minded virtuosi and one of the best groups Zorn has ever had. Bristling hot guitar master Julian Lage, bass wizard Jorge Roeder and 30-year Zorn veteran Kenny Wollesen perform with a crackling live energy that brings the Masada music to life like never before! L…