Jazz & Improvisation / Contemporary

Connect to your favorite listening device, crank up the volume, and prepare for the ultimate avant-punk experience!  Brooklyn-based 577 Records is honored to present the Roboquarians’ first recorded album, Roboquarians, Vol. 2.  The new release comes from the hearts of up-and-coming sax talent Ayumi Ishito, lively drummer Kevin Shea, and gifted guitarist George Draguns. When Ayumi received a request from Shea and Draguns to collaborate, she became part of the intriguing backstory of this work of…

Sun & Rain is a fully collaborative quartet that thus far has practiced a painstaking process of co-composing music together. Because of this extreme sense of collaboration and only working on the music when all four members were physically together, the album Waterfall took six years to compose. Beginning in 2014 the band gathered at Laplante’s residence in Vermont for semi-annual rehearsal retreats. These were not particularly relaxing retreats, as the band held themselves to a rigorous work e…

Tip! A radiant manifesto of artistic freedom, fLuXkit Vancouver (i̶t̶s suite but sacred) brings together a composition in four movements written and performed by Jones on alto saxophone, long-time collaborator Gerald Cleaver on drums, and four Vancouver-based string musicians: violinists Jesse Zubot and Josh Zubot, cellist Peggy Lee and bassist James Meger; with original artwork by Stan Douglas and liner notes by poet Harmony Holiday. Commissioned by Western Front, an artist-run center for multi…

We Jazz Records presents the debut album of AINON, a Helsinki-based ensemble founded by cellist-composer Aino Juutilainen, released 4 September. On "Drought", the four-piece plays music influenced by jazz, contemporary music and classical music, all morphed together into a highly inspired musical vision. The music of AINON might be best described as "spiritual avantgarde jazz", with original compositions and the individual voices of the four players both playing an integral part in the music. In…

"The music is never the same. It verifies its positions and conditions, its peculiar way of listening to the cavities, the motions started, the tensions between sound and silence, tone and memory. Nature is present not only as trees and clouds, light and shadows. It is a readiness for what is constantly changing, a heightened awareness on the minimal variations in the materials and processes at hand, what it means to slowly examine a rough surface, the transformation of a rhythm, a melodic phras…

An exciting new international trio initiated by Scandinavian saxophonist Torben Snekkestad, accompanied by two esteemed international players in the field of improvised music – the Spanish pianist Agusti Fernández and the British double bass player Barry Guy. The music they create together is situated somewhere between free improvisation, free jazz, and contemporary classical music and executed with lightning fast interaction and explorative, innovative sounds and textures. Recorded by Stefan De…

* 300 copies only * Recorded live at 'Mu' Kingsland high road, Dalston. Personel: Idris Rahman - Tenor SaxophoneLeon Brichard - BassGene Calderazo - DrumsGuest: Robin Hopcraft: Trumpet

This is Mulatu Astatke’s protege and Ethiopian saxophonist and composer Jorga Mesfin’s debut album. It’s a long foray into Ethio-jazz that takes this courageous syncretism further by fusing spiritual experimentation with bits from all kinds of situations in Ethiopian music, jazz music, and specifically Ethiopian jazz music that precedes it. Jorga Mesfin is widely regarded as one of the most talented contemporary musicians and composers in Ethiopia. He started his professional career at the young…

Every working band has magical nights – nights when everything fits together and the music takes off into the stratosphere. The Masada Live series documents these unforgettable concerts recorded in venues around the world, bringing these rare special moments to you in beautiful 2 CD packages. This first set presents Masada’s historic visit to Israel, their first appearance at the world famous Jerusalem Festival. A very special moment in the life of one of the most exciting jazz groups working to…

*100 copies limited edition* The Pennsylvania improvising trio of Kevin Sims, James Searfoss, and Justin Dorsey continue to hone their fierce and potent relationship with texture, rhythm, and amorphous sound forms. This album is laced with musical paths travelled and skirted, conversant with drone, electroacoustics, and free jazz. “Glint” functions as a bit of an overture, and as “Once Threw” expands on the clatter and clamber, Dorsey’s bass becomes a focal point, taking a prominent position in …

Kevin LeGendre, journalist, presenter, author, fell in love with Finnish music following his many visits to the rich musical festivals of that country. It seemed a logical step to compile an album of the best Finnish music for his long-running, occasional series of albums based on the radio show that he presented some years ago. Fresh from Finland joins critically acclaimed collections of contemporary Jazz, French music and fusion sounds. Fresh from Finland is a powerful selection of music from …

Tip! Three Blind Mice revitalized the Japanese jazz scene during the 1970s and 1980s. Its initial mission was to proactively produce albums of new musicians. Another goal was to expand its fan base, which was done by releasing albums of famous musicians. Through these efforts, TBM has greatly contributed to enriching the Japanese jazz scene. Tsuyoshi Yamamoto and Isao Suzuki were two of the leading figures who gained prominence by their works on TBM. Yamamoto quickly became a star in the Japanes…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Conditions recorded at Gateway Studios Kingston-upon-Thames Surrey England 16th November 2002 and 2nd March 2003. The album includes six tracks performed by John Edwards - Double Bass, Eddie Prévost - Drums, Alex James - Piano, Nathaniel Catchpole - Tenor Saxophone, Jamie Coleman - Trumpet.

Recorded in concert at The Network Theatre, Waterloo in London, 2012, the trio of Tom Chant on saxophone, John Edwards on bass and Eddie Prevost on drums present a tour de force of modern free jazz with great technical and conversational power.

**300 copies** Strong sixth release on the very solid Signal & Sound label - this time with Sol Sol, a quartet featuring David Stackenäs, Elin Larsson, Anna Lund and Mauritz Agnas. A very consistent set throughout, with some favourites among the progressive Our Mobile Home and the beautiful Aura.David Stackenäs - guitar & composition, Mauritz Agnas - bass, Anna Lund - drums, Elin Forkelid - saxophones & composition.

100 hand numbered copies, 180 gr. vinyl LP. Solo album by Walter Prati, here back on his cello driving us through an illuminating and sublimative journey. Walter Prati’s composition for cello seems to interpret this range of facets, these transparent and elusive angles. Contemplative music, to a certain extent, but also ready to express fragments lyrically, and their rushing to compose a mosaic. For reasons I cannot explain, I catch a glimpse of several iridescent colours, between turquoise and …

"The meaning of "cadenza del crepuscolo" ("dusk cadenza") can be interpreted in a variety of ways. The most profound is the one corresponding with the implicitly slow flux of thoughts and reflections that emerge as we sense the day fading away, possibly in a moment of somewhat regretful oscillation between an unknown tomorrow, what we have already experienced and now miss, and the unexpressed potential of what we long for, but have not yet achieved (and perhaps never will). The sympathetic music…

For Anyone That Knows You, an album of mostly piano solos by Josiah Steinbrick, was recorded not for smoothness or posterity but to emphasize the piano as object, the person playing it, and the moment it sounds. On three of the pieces, the saxophone of Sam Gendel hovers over the piano like a faint change in the light, adding resonance and gentle reinforcement rather than counterpoint. Three others are delicate renditions: “Green Glass” interprets an untitled recording by Quechuan folk musicians …

2024 stock. 300 copies limited edition With roots in the '60s free jazz and contemporary improvised music, the initiative is a non-hierarchical and norm-critical collective. The music is characterised by the joy of playing and the free improvisations, placed in long-composed suite forms. Hard swing, wild improvisations and lyrical melodies melt together in unexpected combinations and give each other new colours and spiritual depth.  "The Initiative brilliant music do nod to past masters, especia…

The combination of Espen Eriksen Trio and UK saxophone giant Andy Sheppard is truly a match made in jazz heaven, and in the words of Andy: "I knew from the first time I heard the trio play that I would fit right in. I loved the melodic sense and vibe and was thrilled when I was invited to guest with the trio in London in 2016." The common conclusion drawn in reviews of their first album Perfectly Unhappy was simply "more, please," and now Rune Grammofon is delighted to introduce As Good As It Ge…

“When foraging for mushrooms, you never know what the forest has to offer that day – who you will meet, what will make you stop in your tracks. But with an open attitude, you will always find something interesting.” It was this mindset this album was recorded with. The Hämeenlinna-based band consists of Victor “Pascal” Tokpanou on percussion, Tuure “Baya” Tammi on keys and trumpet, Ville-Pekka “Ray” Järvinen on bass and, Juha “Murray” Sarkkola on drums. They have played together for a long time …

London-based experimentalists Kinkajous have announced their new studio album, Nothing Will Disappear, set for release on October 18th via Nottingham's Running Circle label. Maximalism at its most subtle and tender – ambient music at its most rejuvenated. There are echoes of Sam Shepherd's collaborative work with Pharoah Sanders as Floating Points, and the subtle timbre shifts of Jon Hopkins and James Holden more so than their capital-"J" jazz contemporaries. A marked step-up from their previous…

Brûlez les meubles is a dual-headed jazz project led primarily by Éric Normand (Rimouski) and Louis Beaudoin de la Sablonnière (Montreal). Born from their mutual passion for each other’s eccentric musical worlds, this duo is known for collaborating with experimental improvisers and renowned artists. Their music is abstract and meditative, both modern and simple, drawing inspiration from jazz guitar legends such as Jim Hall, Bill Frisell, René Thomas, and Brandon Ross. Their fifth album, Folio #5…

Silent, Listening is a major addition to ECM’s distinguished line of solo piano recordings, featuring one of the outstanding improvising pianists and jazz masters of our time: Fred Hersch. The album features seven original creations and a handful of well-chosen standards, including Billy Strayhorn’s “Star-Crossed Lovers”, Sigmund Romberg’s “Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise”, Alec Wilder’s “Winter Of My Discontent” and Russ Freeman’s “The Wind”, all played with the focus, sensitivity and gracefuln…

With “daring and visionary spirit”, to quote a Downbeat review from the year of this album’s release, master improvisers John Abercrombie, Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette forged a unique vision of trio interplay on their first joint effort under the Gateway moniker. The trio tackles Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnette originals with a visionary idea of what three-way conversations in jazz could sound like. As The Observer remarked in an article of the time, “the telepathic ensemble playing and per…

Charismatic trumpeter Avishai Cohen launched his exuberant, home-grown band Big Vicious six years ago, after relocating from the US to his native Israel, rounding up players to shape the music from the ground up, and co-authoring much of its newest material together with them.  The group is an association of old friends. “We’re all coming from jazz, but some of us left it earlier”, Avishai says, summing up the stylistic reach of his cohorts. “Everyone’s bringing in their backgrounds, and that be…

*2024 stock* Andy Sheppard’s quartet extends the musical explorations begun on the 2015 release Surrounded By Sea, an album praised by Télérama for its “poignant serenity.” In this new programme of compositions by Sheppard (plus the title track by Brazilian singer-songwriter Renato Teixeira), the drones and washes of Eivind Aarset’s guitar and electronics – aided by the generous acoustics of Lugano’s Auditorio Stelio Molo RSI – help to establish a climate in which improvisation can take place. T…

After critically-acclaimed ECM recordings with the Maciej Obara Quartet (Unloved, Three Crowns), Polish pianist Dominik Wania delivers a solo album recorded in November 2019 in Lugano. Wania’s sensitivity to touch, tone and texture is informed by his classical background. But he also has the in-the-moment instincts of a great improviser, acutely focused on the unfolding details of the music in the responsive interior of the Auditorio Stelio Molo studio. The balancing of influences from both disc…

"Sofa is delighted to announce the Italian musician and composer Andrea Giordano (b. 1995)’s Àlea, a suite for large mixed ensemble in which Giordano also performs as vocalist and multi-instrumentalist. Dedicated to Giordano’s friend and mentor, the Italian jazz musician and pedagogue Alessandra Giachero, who died unexpectedly in 2020, Àlea is at once a lament and testament to Giordano’s multifarious musicianship. In dense, rending orchestration, the artist shows us the multidimensionality of gr…

** First ever standalone vinyl reissue. Carefully remastered. 4 page booklet with rare and unpublished photos. Heavyweight 180 gr. LP ** While he was working on the repertoire for the new version of his group Malagasy, with young Malagasy musicians he had met in Paris in 1972 (and who can be heard on the album "Malagasy At Newport-Paris"), Jef Gilson realised that two of his new discoveries, in addition to being established polyinstrumentalists (who both had sharpened their skills in the legenda…

The saxophonist Sakina Abdou follows up her first solo album with this trio release, which has all the freshness of a very first encounter.The album is the fruit of an improvised, closed session of several days in her home, punctuated by two concerts, and offers an arc of 60 minutes that retraces a musical itinerary that is intimate and acoustic. We have previously heard Toma Gouband with Evan Parker and the pianist Marta Warelis with Dave Douglas and Andy Moor. Sakina Abdou first played with Go…

Avant-garde bassoonist Karen Borca's first proper leader record is a series of duos with drummer Paul Murphy who she first played with in Jimmy Lyons group.

'Amiri Baraka (LeRoi Jones) spoke the truth (and the truth under his tongue was sometimes a hammer, sometimes an anvil, sometimes a sickle, sometimes just a breath or a blast). Baraka had no tongue in cheek. Sometimes he drew his language (his thought) and in the barrel of his language (his thought), there was the cartridge of criticism, the cartridge of ranting, the cartridge of analysis, the cartridge of sedition, the cartridge of poetry, the cartridge of music. Heroes Are Gang Leaders have th…

“A blissfully ecstatic sprawl of spiritual-jazz explorations of the most transcendent order” – Brooklyn Rail

2024 stock. The trio pays homage to legendary pianist Paul Bley, drawing on both his tunes and improvisational approach. Bley’s music encompassed latin-inspired grooves, deceptively simple and catchy melodies, as well as freer improvisations. His willingness to collaborate openly with European improvisers as well as being part of the American tradition was an attractive template to follow.Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash and Tony Orrell grew up in the UK with the children’s tv series Play School and whe…

*2024 stock* Matthew Putman and Michael Sarian found a home in a makeshift studio, using a borrowed 20-year-old keyboard, a good microphone, and in cramped apartment acoustics, to improvise throughout the pandemic. What they called their “weekly pilgrimages” gave them a sense of much-needed sanity, grounding their friendship and keeping them afloat, as Sarian describes, “much like a lifeboat.” The resultant project was an exploration of cadences, rhythms, and full of searching and synchronicity.…

*2024 stock* In the first lockdown, Matthew Putman (on keyboard) and Michael Sarian (on trumpet and flugelhorn) began to meet up (with precautions) for semi-regular sessions in Sarian’s makeshift home studio. The conditions were less-than-ideal—a borrowed 20-year-old keyboard, an inadequate microphone, and cramped NYC apartment acoustics—but they continued their “weekly pilgrimages, searching for [their] cadences, rhythms and melodies through the Fall.” The sessions gave them much-needed sanity,…

** 2021 Stock. In process of stocking ** Craftman Records presents Midnight Sugar by Yamamoto Tsuyoshi Trio. Bass – Isao Fukui, Drums – Tetsujiro Obara, Liner Notes – Yoshio Maki, Mixed By – Yoshihiko Kannari, Piano – Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Producer – Takeshi Fujii.

Un Drame Musical Instantané were founded in 1976, featuring Jean-Jacques Birgé, Bernard Vitet and Francis Gorgé. Their aim was to promote collective musical creation, co-signing their albums, which they consider as artworks in themselves, or their live shows which they tried to renew every time they played. Their sound was created with many influences: They borrowed their sources from rock (synthesizer player Birgé and guitarist Gorgé, both authors of the album, Défense de); jazz (trumpeter Vite…

Tip! 'Frijazz mot rasisme' or ‘Free Jazz Against Racism’, as you may have guessed, is a compilation of Norwegian contemporary and outsider music. There’s plenty to get your teeth stuck into here. Highlights include Sanskriti Shrestha & Andreas Wildhagen cut a percussive groove, there’s the strange processed sounds of Propan and the subversive Agnes Hvizdalek. Stitched and compiled by Anja Lauvdal and Tine Hvidsten, the set features 18 outsider Jazz burners centered around a varied and diverse ca…