Jazz /
Under The Surface
Julia Hülsmann’s quartet resurfaces with a fresh Norwegian voice on horn in tow and presents an attractive batch of originals that finds the group thoughtfully exploring common ground with a knack for adventure. As on past outings, each quartet member contributes music to the session, the leader herself being responsible for half the programme. Saxophonist Uli Kempendorff’s introduction to Julia’s trio on 2019’s Not Far From Here already brought a new dimension to the group’s interplay – this se…
After the Last Sky
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…
Walks The Blue Circle
*200 copies limited edition* Technicolor Band is a revolving-cast, cross-genre improv unit based in Bloomington, IN. The group, initially instigated by multi-instrumentalists David Brown and Caleb Hickman as a regular gathering to explore improvisation behind closed doors, eventually made its way into public via a residency at a 50 cap bar called Orbit Room. Over the next two years a core lineup formed around the quintet of Brown (keys, percussion, tape manipulation), Hickman (alto sax, electron…
Live
2002 release ** "Long before the Italian Instabile Orchestra, Andrea Centazzo was organizing and leading his Mitteleuropa Orchestra that focused on free improvisation, complex arrangements, and outstanding soloists. Most, although not all, of the musicians of the orchestra were Italians, and the all-star nature of the groups on this live recording make this a must-have for anyone immersed in its genre. The first four tracks -- with Enrico Rava, Franz Koglmann, Giancarlo Trovesi, and Carlos Zinga…
Jubilation
William Hooker is a musician, composer, and poet with over 70 recordings as a leader, encompassing jazz, new music, experimental music and multi-disciplinary forms of expression (e.g. dance, silent film and spoken word). He has been recognized as “an iconoclast, and one of the most innovative musicians and drummers of his generation” - The Wire, which is evident nowhere more than on his latest album, Jubilation. The new work features collaborators Matt LaVelle on trumpet, Sarah Manning on alto…
Transparent Skin
2011 release ** "Canadian drummer André Michel Arraiz-Rivas is a versatile guy, one who you find grinding out prog with Quasiviri and post-folk ghosts with Ronin, just to name a few. Then he happens to be seized by the urge for jazz, and here he is, whipping together a made in Italy quartet, calling it Mondongo – like a traditional hypercaloric South American soup – and releasing an album that will make your ears prick up. Transparent Skin – this is the title – is eight tracks plus one (ghost) i…
The Talking Bass
2010 release ** ""Giovanni Maier is an architect. No, not the traditional brick and mortar sense but a true architect of sound. With his latest CD "The talking bass" he is building musical bridges all over the map. The quartet he has assembled for the recording doesn't just glow, they shine! Crossing and blurring the boundaries of music are what these guys do best and together they seem unstoppable. There is a deep beauty and rawness in the sound of Giovanni's compositions. The bass gives us the…
AngelicA 93
1994 release ** Audience, All Dax Band, Han Bennink, Steve Beresford, Lindsay Cooper, Tom Cora, Dietmar Diesner, ensemble Eva Kant, Fred Frith, Gianni Gebbia, Lars Hollmer, Catherine Jauniaux, Peter Kowald, Ikue Mori, Butch Morris, Hans Reichel, Riciclo delle Quinte, Wolter Wierbos.
On Top Of Your Head
2002 release ** "With a curriculum vitae as one of the original New Thingers stretching back to 1960s membership in the New York Art Quartet (NYAQ) and an appearance on John Coltrane’s ASCENSION, reedman John Tchicai has never lacked for playing partners. Adapting orchestral sequencing plus variations on different ethnic musics to a formula that already reflected his Danish-Congolese background and American experience; Tchicai was a unique presence on the scene. Moving back and forth from Europe…
Stefanovich, Dell, Lillinger, Westergaard: SDLW
*2025 stock* bastille musique presents its twenty-first release »Stefanovich, Dell, Lillinger, Westergaard: SDLW« featuring world premiere recordings by Tamara Stefanovich (piano), Christopher Dell (vibraphone), Christian Lillinger (drums, percussion) and Jonas Westergaard (double bass). Produced at the Teldex Studio Berlin, the album documents the collaboration between Dell-Lillinger-Westergaard and Tamara Stefanovich for the first time.
The Walkman
1988 release ** Your Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet is a saxophone quartet based in the Boston area, from 1980 to the present, specializing in improvised music and original compositions by its members. The group recorded one LP on its own label and five CDs for the Coppens label (Amsterdam), and made nine trips to Europe to perform at clubs, concerts, and festivals, one midwestern US tour, and many appearances around New England and in New York City.
This Is Our Lunch
1996 release ** "The recording debut of Affinity finds the quartet (Joe Rosenberg on soprano, tenor saxophonist Rob Sudduth, bassist Michael Silverman and drummer Bobby Lurie) exploring nine Rosenberg originals and Eric Dolphy's "Hat & Beard." The music is essentially free bop, with strong solos from the two saxophonists, alert interplay from Silverman and Lurie, and an attractive group sound. This music rewards repeated listenings and acts as a strong beginning to this important if underrated b…
Sustain
2002 release ** "It is difficult to think of this as anything but pure joy, although in some ways it is less intense than other releases led by the remarkable violist Mat Maneri and it is stamped with a cerebral quality from the start. There is a surprisingly charming density, too, that comes through on most tracks, though as with most of his work, there are few if any melodic references but instead a focus on color and sound. Maneri carefully paces himself and the quintet so that every note cou…
Kouartéto
"We recorded this CD in May 2023 on the magical Greek island of Hydra in the Old Carpet Factory Studio. The title Kouartéto emanates from the cover image by the artist William Pownall who in the true spirit of Hydra has for many years been an important focus for visitors seeking original artistic creations. And so, in this spirit. The music on this CD reflects a multifaceted response to a multicultural and open understanding of how artists can work together.
Every project involving these four cr…
Live At Jazzdor
Jazz Festivals have often provided the opportunity for a first encounter with musicians that were “on the radar” , so to speak , but for various reasons (often geographical) never came to fruition. Jazzdor in Strasbourg was no exception, and on the 15th November 2023, at the invitation of its director Philippe Ochem, the Trio of Angelica Sanchez, Ramón López and myself performed a set that continued my lifelong association with piano trios.
Ramón is no stranger to me and we have collaborated on …
Voyage À L'Intérieur D'Une Trompe
1992 release ** "Descriptive work comparable to film music or the story of Babar... First collective composition of the Compagnie d'Eustache by Jean-François Bovard, Pierre Cochard, Philippe Genevay, Jacques Henry, Philippe Krüttli, Jean Rochat."
Sidereus Nuncius – The Starry Messenger
*2025 stock* "It was at Ramón’s suggestion that we record as a duo in the downtime of another studio session, and perhaps it was his constellation of drums and cymbals that prompted the thought of a metaphorical planetary system. So Sidereus Nuncius - The Starry Messenger the title of Galileo Galilei’s short astronomical treatise published in early 1610, did not necessarily stretch the imagination unduly – there it was in front of me!
Galilei’s telescopic observations of the moon and other celes…