Jazz & Improvisation / Contemporary

Renowned Swedish musician Tomas Hallonsten’s debut solo recording started out as a Mark Hollis-influenced project featuring Hallonsten’s instrumental compositions sparsly performed with acoustic guitar,piano, bass and drums at its core. Gradually the music morphed and eventually it turned out as a solo album where the compositions came to life mainly via Hallonsten’s unique treatment of drum machine and synths.

Edition of 50 copies. Recorded on shitty 70s consumer tape decks, Fair Enough is a lo-fi experience you can play at your stoner parties. In an age where the dance floor is no longer the place to hook up, Fair Enough will calm your emotions, it will lower your libido, it will keep you out of trouble. This is a mixtape that features different music improvised and played by a trio already known as "The Blue Men". Nicolò Masetto on keys, Simone Coppiello on drums and A.M. Davì on bass. Working with …

2017 release ** "Sampler and Zither is a release from Difondo, the Cagliari duo of Sergio Camedda (sampler) and Giampaolo Campus (zither). The group’s name translates as “basically;” it’s a fitting name given their conceptual focus on returning sounds to the things themselves—that is, to the basic elements and materials of their instruments. The group’s specific interest lies in realizing the possibilities inherent in the divergent natures of the two instruments’ timbral profiles and properties.…

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…

Edition of 33 copies. The Jooklo Duo has transformed into an electrifying quintet, featuring Virginia Genta on saxophone, Michele Guglielmi on keyboards, Otto Willberg on bass, David Vanzan on drums, and Andrea Davì on percussion. Spontaneous tunes bursting with vibrant jazz vibes, mind-bending fusion discoveries. Recorded in Italy between october 31st and november 2nd 2023

Tzadik is proud to present Asterisms, a beautiful and exploratory instrumental project by Sean Ono Lennon, one of the most creative and versatile musician/composer/producer/songwriters working today. Sean has written countless songs, composed film scores, produced, and performed on dozens of albums-and here he steps out as the leader of an all-star band of Downtown luminaries. Years in the making, the music is powerful, trippy, and intensely imaginative, blending rock, electronics, jazz, and mor…

"Even if it doesn't sell well, let's create records that carry the scent of culture. I want you to perform Japanese jazz by Japanese people." Inspired by these words from the director, Hiroshi Matsumoto decided to record the album "Megalopolis." The concept is "Tokyo." Drawing inspiration from the rapidly changing cityscape seen from the airplane window, Matsumoto began production. Together with Hideyo Ichikawa, Kunimitsu Inaba, and Motohiko Hino, the four musicians positioned themselves in a ci…

'Strode Road' marks the debut of Japanese pianist Toshiyuki Sekine, recorded on May 3, 1978, at ARU Studio. The album presents a collection of jazz standards delivered with a vibrant and cohesive trio performance. Sekine's piano work, complemented by the rhythm section, offers a fresh take on classic compositions, reflecting the burgeoning Japanese jazz scene of the late 1970s.

The Bagatelles Vol.2: Erik Friedlander and Michael by John Zorn is a captivating album released by Tzadik, showcasing the exceptional talents of cellist Erik Friedlander and pianist Michael Nicolas. This album is a beautiful fusion of classical music with avant-garde jazz, creating a unique and mesmerizing listening experience for music enthusiasts.

Volume three of the recording of John Zorn's renowned Bagatelles, chosen from the more than 300 works that the American conductor and composer created in a span of three months at the beginning of 2015 and later compiled into a book. In this performance, the experimental band Trigger tear through fifteen of the collection's most wackiest and chaotic pieces.

SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their second album, How You Been, finds the supergroup of prolific composer/producers pushing ever further into the hyperrealist, collectivist approach to music creation nascently explored on their debut Small Medium Large, which was lauded as “awe-inspiring” by Glide, “exuberant” by the Los Angeles Times, and “an exciting milestone” by Pi…

Frostlake, the atmospheric and visionary project of musician and composer Jan Todd, unveils her new album Shattered Stone through the renowned label Discus Music. Known for her haunting soundscapes and delicate layering of sonic textures, Frostlake continues to push the boundaries between ambient, folk, and experimental music with this latest body of work.   Shattered Stone is a deeply evocative album that reflects both fragility and resilience, weaving together shimmering electronic environment…

Dunmall continues his run of very special releases on Discus Music. Working with a nine piece group centered around his Birmingham based colleagues, and which includes double keys and electronics, Dunmall delivers a swirling mix of spacey big band music which breaks down into atmospheric and exciting open ended improvisations from time to time. Paul considers this to be a milestone release, and one which is unlike anything else in his extensive discography. Edited and produced with respect, love…

Loveland Music proudly announces the release of Live at The Village Vanguard, a remarkable new recording that brings together seven of the most distinctive voices in modern jazz. Recorded in the legendary New York room that has defined generations of improvised music, this album captures the raw immediacy and atmospheric depth of a once‑in‑a‑lifetime gathering. Subtle, deeply melodic, and unhurried, Live at The Village Vanguard reveals Bro’s unique gift for creating spacious musical landscapes w…

*2024 stock* Terje Rypdal’s Waves (recorded 1977) announced the beginning of the Norwegian guitarist’s association with Danish trumpeter Palle Mikkelborg, which continues to this day. The album also introduced one of Terje’s most enduringly popular pieces, “Per Ulv.” “Rypdal’s album is a series of sonic excursions ranging from the expressionist to the impressionist…” wrote Record World. “Rypdal’s guitar and Mikkelborg’s trumpet are well-matched, with Manfred Eicher’s typically superb production …

*2024 stock* John Abercrombie’s ECM debut Timeless (recorded 1974) has proven to be exactly that. This fiery session with Jack DeJohnette and Jan Hammer still sounds as fresh as the year it was released. “Timeless comes as a major surprise in terms of its depth, scope and inventiveness,” wrote Tim Buckley’s guitarist Lee Underwood in the L.A. Free Press. "[It] indicates that John Abercrombie is a major musical voice of tomorrow.”

The album title – Words Unspoken – alludes to the instant musical understanding found by the members of this nimble quartet assembled by great British reedman John Surman. „My idea was to put together some musical ideas that would offer a collective sense of purpose but still be open enough to allow each of us to suggest other ways of developing the material together. Everything fell into place immediately. But I soon realized it wasn‘t so much the musical ideas that made it work, it was the mus…

Eight years after Blue Maqams, Anouar Brahem returns with a poignant project, titled after a line of verse by poet Mahmoud Darwish, which asks “Where should the birds fly, after the last sky?” Graceful chamber pieces for oud, cello, piano and bass subtly address the metaphysical question and its broad resonances in a troubled time. While drawing upon the traditional modes of Arab music, Brahem has consistently sought to engage with the wider world, too, and found inspiration in many sources from…

“Destined to go down in history as a jazz classic” was the verdict with which The Guardian greeted this album on its release in 1997, saying, “Wheeler’s compositions and four of the world’s greatest improvisers make for a tranquil set that rewards with every listening. This is beautiful, golden music.” Angel Song is among the apexes of the label’s catalogue, uniting four master-improvisers – each with a unique artistic identity – in an intimate, drummer-less quartet session. Kenny Wheeler is the…

1989 release **

Believe That Was Me: An Existential Experience Starring Avant-Garde Minds, Pianist Matthew Putman, Bassist Hill Greene, and Drummer Francisco Mela

Rogueart presents "Cloud Script", a stunning new release from bassist Joshua Abrams that showcases the deep musical chemistry of one of Chicago's most compelling quartets. Recorded at the legendary Electrical Audio on September 26th, 2016, the album captures a singular moment of creative communion between four master improvisers. Abrams leads this exceptional ensemble with his characteristic blend of rhythmic sophistication and melodic invention, supported by an all-star cast: veteran saxophonis…

Thereupon is the long-anticipated return of the all-star collaborative trio Fieldwork, which has been described by NPR as a “power trio for the new century.” This long-standing collective comprises three internationally revered innovators of contemporary music: alto saxophonist-composer Steve Lehman, pianist-composer Vijay Iyer, and drummer-composer Tyshawn Sorey. In the seventeen years since their last recording, Door (Pi), all three musicians have climbed to the pinnacle of the creative music …

Listen Ship is the latest masterpiece in the ever-expanding sound world of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Henry Threadgill, whom The New York Review of Books recently described as “one of American music’s great Romantics and a lifelong seeker of the sublime.” The new work is a suite for six acoustic guitars – including individual stylists such as Bill Frisell, Miles Okazaki and Brandon Ross – and two pianos that utilize Threadgill’s unique intervallic syntax to illuminate his idiosyncratic visi…

Unclassified Affections is the entrancing new release from drummer and composer Dan Weiss that features the convergence of some of the most intriguing musicians on the scene: Peter Evans on trumpet, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The new compositions, which were written by Weiss specifically for these musicians, range from deep, meditative moments to intense, high-energy peaks, while every track unveils a new layer of exploration.   Brennan’s sonorous mallet work co…

"Ultimately, the best free improvisation performances—and the best films—are those that refuse to be bound by rigid formulas yet still adhere to a fundamental sense of logic and cohesion. They remind us that while structure is important, the real magic happens in the space between the rules." - Mark Corroto

Saxophonist, flautist, and composer Chip Wickham releases The Eternal Now, his most progressive recording to date and a heartfelt meditation on artistic practice and creative freedom. Co-produced with longtime collaborator Matthew Halsall, the album represents an expansive journey that pushes Wickham's sound into exciting new territories while maintaining the soulful grooves and heartfelt melodies that have defined his acclaimed catalog. Chip Wickham casts a formidable shadow across the UK jazz …

British South African composer & producer Galina Juritz presents 'One Weird Trick', her debut solo album on London's home for interdisciplinary oddballs, Kit Records.

Esmeralda Sella is a young pianist from Ravenna, Italy. “Magma” is her debut album, and also a turning point. It’s the culmination of a journey that was «essential for understanding myself and the world around me» as she describes it. Sella recorded “Magma” with two key collaborators: Federico Giolito (double bass) and Giovanni Nardiello (drums), following years of mutual trust, shared musical experiences and extensive practice. «Our sound is the result of opinions, ideas, and doubts exchanged o…

RogueArt proudly presents A Near Permanent State of Wonder, the first duo recording by pianist Alexander Hawkins and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. Two of the most distinctive and restlessly inventive voices in contemporary creative music meet in an intimate, exploratory session that balances lyricism and abstraction, rigor and generosity, fragility and fire.   The album documents a rare level of rapport between the musicians. Hawkins, celebrated for his agile navigation between tradition, avant‑gar…

For whom you play, for yourselves, for the departed who live within you, for all the dilettantes who listen to you, for the young and the old, for the joyful and the sad, the melancholic of all stripes, for the innumerable, unnamed crowd that flits about on the earthly ball, these are the words of Baudelaire before he evoked the itinerant musicians, “one of the two played one of his compositions, and the other improvised beside him a variation, an accompaniment, an underscore”. I really like thi…

Almost four generations of musicians; four very strong musical personalities, four very rich musical careers and, above all, four musicians who know how much the confrontation of different ideas pushes music forward; and it is exactly what we had hoped from this band, that they find a common language richer than the sum of the individual languages of each of them, a coherent musical material that respect each personality without reducing the great diversity of their individual approaches. If the…

Imagine the world that opens up to you when you turn on the power button on your childhood keyboard. A forgotten, dreamlike, carefree, rainbow, unique world. Longing for such a world, three representatives of Polish pianism - Piotr Zabrodzki, Marcel Baliński, and Grzegorz Tarwid - come together to create a completely new sound quality from their obsolete keyboard instruments.

Rob Mazurek’s creations, dedicated to these six artists offered to Tomeka Reid, Angelica Sanchez, and Chad Taylor, to interpret freely. A foundation laid for these improvisations in the foursome’s forays into Mazurek’s music with the larger ensemble. Here something becomes distilled. Interaction is direct. The unit is unitary, the dynamics are gently modulated, the sounds are tendered with deliberation love and inter-ensemble generosity.

Trumpeter, multi-instrumentalist, improviser and theoretician, Wadada Leo Smith is one of the most important composers of our time. An original member of Chicago's AACM, his exciting pieces blending composition and mprovisation have been performed by many of the world's most important ensembles and soloists. Featuring an exotic composition for chamber ensemble and gamelan quartet, a beautiful solo piece for viola, a bass concerto written for virtuoso Bert Turetzky and two electronic pieces featu…

Wolfgang Muthspiel and his trio with Scott Colley on bass and Brian Blade on drums (“Together they have something of the empathy of the Bill Evans trio” – Downbeat) goes into its third recording-venture swinging, setting the stage for what may be the group’s most adventurous trio recording with a delicate reading of Keith Jarrett’s “Lisbon Stomp”. Throughout the album however, the Austrian guitarist and his American cohorts turn the spotlight towards Wolfgang’s captivating originals, touching on…

Recorded live in Birmingham during a Contemporary Music Network tour in 2002,  Tramonto finds UK pianist John Taylor (1942-2015)  in celebratory, outgoing mood, fronting one of his most dynamic and quick-witted groups, with US musicians Marc Johnson and Joey Baron – the energetic team that would later collaborate on the critically-lauded ECM recording Rosslyn.  Here the repertoire features the well-known Taylor tunes “Pure and Simple”,  “Between Moons” and “Ambleside” (heard in an epic 15 minute…

*2025 stock* A cross-generation and cross-genre collaboration bringing together two musicians who share a common city of origin and who find a common music thread in their distinct backgrounds. This beautifully recorded set of piano and bass duets and solos from the summer of 2023 in Athens, Greece, features a mix of original compositions and improvisations.

*2025 stock* The spark for this project was the release of the newly discovered 1965 Hasaan recording Metaphysics (Omnivore, 2021). Upon hearing these beautiful compositions by Hasaan, I immediately felt the need to transcribe and understand them. For the recording I felt compelled to present them alongside pieces by Monk and Hope, who, like Hasaan, stood out for their brilliant—yet unorthodox—writing and their highly personal approach to playing the piano. The two elder pianists also had a clos…

Over the past few months, five young musicians performing under the name Omasta have taken the Polish and European jazz scenes by storm. Having gained recognition for their intense live shows, they are now ready to deliver their debut studio effort. Jazz Report from the Hood a collectively composed album immersed in the textures of city streets and everyday urban life. The name Omasta comes from a regional Krakow dialect word meaning “fat added to food for flavor.” It’s a fitting metaphor: the g…