Jazz /
Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam
"Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam is a piece in two movements for alto saxophone, upright bass, and drum set. Each movement was transmuted from a two-part poem of the same name, which was first drafted on a bus to my home of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The pang to return to where nature is abundant wasn't something I expected would be so strong when I moved to New York, but Ink Folly, Orchid Gleam is a product of those emotions. Written with my dear friends Mathias Jensen and Eliza Salem in mind, I knew I…
Un Hombre De Buenos Aires
Jazz, funk, and bossa vibes kiss each other, all wrapped up in JLR's trademark cinematic feel. In his colourful Un Hombre de Buenos Aires, recorded in 1978, JLR puts the political outcry of his early 70s works aside and focuses on his love for the city of Buenos Aires. Jorge López Ruiz gets far less credit than he deserves. His crucial role in shaping Argentina's jazz history should place him right next to Gato Barbieri and Lalo Schifrin, who found success abroad. It's an honour do dig deeper in…
Volume 2
Super groups are always risky—the potential for disappointing fans or warring musical styles is high—but when longtime friends and masterful improvisers come together, they usually work. Evident in their first collaboration, simply titled Volume 1, John Dikeman (Saxophone; When The Time Is Right, 577 Records, 2021) joined musicians Pat Thomas (Piano; Shifa Live at Cafe Oto 2019, BleySchool 2019, Shifa Live in Oslo 2020, Educated Guess 2021), John Edwards (Bass; EMPoWered. 577 Records, 2021), and…
Extensions
Pianist and composer Simon Nabatov has played with "who's who" of the jazz and improvised music community, given concerts in over 60 countries, appeared on the numerous international festivals, received prizes and documented his music on 30 CD's under his own name. His musical activities include Jazz, improvised, experimental and world music. Nabatov’s initial idea to extend his Cologne-based quartet - hence the CD title – resulted in this exciting musical document. Both tracks, while fully impr…
Basenezmen
Recorded in Royal Alzheimer Hall, Thessaloniki, Greece, January 2015, Limited release of 500 unique record covers for the 500 hand-numbered copies of the Basenezmen music project. Two of the most important musicians in Greece are currently together for the first time to present ‘basenezmen’ project. They improvise under rythmic structures in form of jazz, rock, ambient and folk music.
Something There
*2023 stock* "Almost two years of inactivity have passed. The main reason was the pandemic, of course, but there was also a second one, an eight-month period when I could not use my left arm because of a shoulder fracture. But still, on the 21st of October 2021, I performed solo at the Open Jazz events of Demetria Festival. In one of the old warehouses in the port of Thessaloniki which have been converted into cinema halls. Right across the port authority where I served for three years. The tens…
Skra’s Confession
*2023 stock* The Orange Blue Green band improvises freely in the true sense of the word. An improvisation initiating from the very first sound produced without any prior coordination regarding the style, structure or anything relating to the overall musical form. An acoustic, almost classical trio that has embraced the fundamental features of the sound of chamber music, along with the various musical idioms and experiences of the members’ multi-dimensional course. Their music features a primal e…
At Tilos, Budapest
Blurt was founded in Stroud, UK, in 1979 as part of the post-punk movement by poet, saxophonist und puppeteer Ted Milton along with Milton's brother Jake, formerly of psychedelic group Quintessence, on drums and Peter Creese on guitar. After three albums Creese left the band to be replaced by Herman Martin on synthesizers who, after a year of constant touring left the band, and was replaced by Steve Eagles, former member of Satan's Rats, The Photos and Bang Bang Machine. Shortly thereafter Jake …
Next Door
Adroit jazz guitar, prog rock fantasia, and Japanese environmental music all rest comfortably behind Leo Takami's Next Door. The follow up to the acclaimed Felis Catus & Silence, Next Door finds Takami ruminating on passages — of time, seasons, consciousness. Through music, Leo contemplates daily events and finds beauty in ordinary moments. He also seems to be questioning the value of being stuck in the world, allowing his mind to wander towards something beyond it. His music is earnest, deeply …
Wednesday Weld
Musician Paul Flaherty believes that the difference between pre-composed music and free-form improvisational music is a bifurcation of the mind, “The logical mind is reduced to a witness during free playing and the emotional mind is fully released.” Free from concept, outline or even leadership, the music is a free-form experience. This is realized on the newest release from Paul Flaherty (Tenor sax, alto sax) and his long-time collaborators Jim Matus (Electric guitar, Baritone guitar) and Larry…
What We Talk
All compositions by Scott Fields. Artists: Scott Fields, guitar; Stephan Rath, theorbo. "On this recording Scott Fields plays a 1999 Robert Ruck guitar and Stephan Rath plays a 1988 Hendrik Hasenfuss 14-string theorbo, after an instrument of Tieffenbrucker/Edlinger. Our duo was formed for the 2007 Cologne Music Triennial (MusikTriennale Köln) series 'Solos for duos, improvisation from yesterday and today' (Solo für Zwei, Improvisation gestern und heute). Festival yentas matched six early music s…
Afiadacampos
"Our emphasis on composition, and specifically composition for the relatively narrow dynamic range and timbral pallet of paired steel-string, acoustic guitars, directs us away from dependence on muscle memory and set phrases. These structures focus us on interactions that grow out of our immediate reactions to how each of us is, in the moment, interpreting the material." -- Scott Fields. "With Afiadacampos, I feel that Scott and I have deepened our ability to improvise together and to orchestrat…
Donaueschinger Musiktage 2007 - War Zones
Featured works: "Ripples From The Bang" (2007) composed by Elliott Sharp. "Paranoia" (2007) composed by Bernhard Lang. Performed by: LaTasha N. Nevada Diggs, text & vocals; mixmastertodd, electronics & vocals; Philip Jeck, turntables; Hans Koch, reeds; Bernhard Lang, keyboard/electronics; Elliott Sharp, 8-string guitarbass/electronics; Fredy Studer, drums/percussion. Bernhard Lang on "Paranoia": "'Paranoia' is a sequence of eight semi-improvised blocks that were extracted from the sketches to Ac…
Harvesters
This new album was recorded in March of this year, as The Rempis Percussion Quartet made their debut in France after 15 years of touring almost everywhere else across Europe. At the generous invitation of programmer Antoine de la Ronciere at Le Petit Faucheux in Tours, the band was the test pilot for a collaborative project amongst five venerable venues for improvised music in France. In a tightly packed week-long schedule, the band performed in Tours, Poitiers, Brest, Nantes, and Lyon, while a…
Critical Mass
Critical Mass is the second album from the unique duo of Chicago reedist Mars Williams and percussionist Vasco Trilla, following his album SPIRACLE which received excellent reviews in the international press. In his second album the duo use their technical skills to pivot reflective and meditative playing around exuberant free jazz spirit, maintaining a sense of journey and sonic introspection through unusual and extended techniques; a beautifully balanced music experience.
Introducing Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet Live Featuring Hiroshi Fujii
In the finest tradition of BBE Music’s J Jazz Masterclass Series, we have a real obscurity of quality to savour. Taken from the rare 1978 private press album ‘Introducing’ by the Hideyasu Terakawa Quartet featuring Hiroshi Fujii, this private press gig recording was originally released in less than 100 copies. This BBE Music edition is the first time this very rare album has ever been reissued.
Led by saxophonist Hideyasu Terakawa alongside bassist Tetsuo Miura and drummer Aki- hiro "Thunder" Na…
Earth Mother
As part of the widely respected BBE J Jazz Masterclass Series, Koichi Matsukaze‘s incredibly rare and much sought after album Earth Mother sees a deluxe repress on BBE Music. This is the third highly anticipated release in the series. Regarded as one of the most sought-after yet elusive albums from a pivotal era in Japanese jazz, Earth Mother was originally issued in 1978 on ALM, a private label home to some of the most innovative jazz, contemporary classical and free improvisational music relea…
Flowers In Space
*300 copies limited edition* "This is the first LP (following a cassette) released under Drew Gardner’s name and it’s a doozy. Drew is a guitarist, probably best known as a founding member of Elkhorn (although his musical partnerships with Jesse Shepard go back way further than that), and his recent work with Jeffrey Alexander’s Heavy Lidders has also been noteworthy as hell. The band here is a trio with Andy Cush (Garcia Peoples) on bass, and the extremely well documented Ryan Jewell on drums. …
Plays Martin Denny
*2023 stock. 300 copies limited edition* For the kids (6+) & family play MaiTé, the girl and the bird, Bruno Vansina was inspired by the famous exotica of Martin Denny and Les Baxter. His compositions, rearranged by colleague Pierre Vervloesem, remained true to the originals, but have a very contemporary feel to them as well, and soon started to lead a life on their own. This resulted in a new band - the 7-piece Orchestra Exotica - that performs the playful and multicolored music of Denny and Ba…
We Will Intersect
Adrian Lim-Klumpes and Nick Calligeros originally met 15 years ago under the dynamic of teacher and student, respectively. After finishing school, Adrian became a mentor to Nick and 15 years on from originally teaching him the fundamentals of improvisation, they have formed this group together. This album was conceived in one take, with only one simple, predetermined structural element guiding them. Everything you hear on the album is completely improvised. Nick says: "I feel my musical approach…