Jazz & Improvisation / Contemporary

Frank Lowe was a very dynamic tenor saxophonist who derived inspiration from the initial and subsequent movements of free jazz throughout the 1960s. Lowe is most known for his collaborations with drummer Rashied Ali and a few of the many albums released under his own name. Throughout his career, he has often been overshadowed by the influence of John Coltrane and Albert Ayler. He has left behind an outstanding collection of solo and leader work, including contributions to Don Cherry's Ralativity…

2024 reissue This is the legendary Krzystof Komeda Quintet caught live at the Jazz Jamboree Festival in Warsaw in 1963. A marvelous combo featuring some of the greatest Polish jazz musicians, such as Tomasz Stanko (trumpet), Michal Urbaniak (tenor sax), Maciej Suzin (bass), and Czeslaw Bartowski (drums). Komeda, Stanko, and Urbaniak were sort of pioneers who effectively opened up a way for jazz in Poland. Komeda's fluent modern jazz conception was a perfect synthesis between the American influen…

Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi and drummer Jason Nazary present their new album, here i am no i, on September 18th. The release marks their duo debut for We Jazz Records, adding to an expanding release catalog also including Nazary’s solo album Spring Collection (2021). here i am no i is a free-flowing body of work with continuous forward-motion, building on the acoustic duo setting and expands with electronics and voice landing somewhere beyond genre. Dedicated to jaimie branch, the album is a s…

*250 copies limited edition* Every Time I Feel the Spirit is a collection of piano studies, epistles, sketches, improvisations, and meditations composed, performed, and recorded by the legendary writer Ishmael Reed at his home in Oakland, California, over the past five years. After 2022's The Hands of Grace (recently re-released on vinyl by All Night Flight), we are thrilled to collaborate with Reed again to bring this extraordinarily precious music to light. Two and a half hours of music spanni…

Like a breath that expands and slowly fades away, “Del Soffio”, Aniello Perduto’s debut for Maple Death Records, takes shape as a single composition lasting just under fifty minutes, stemming from an open score performed at the prestiguous AngelicA | Music Research Center. Amid echoes of European free jazz, electroacoustic improvisation, minimalism, and contemporary music, the trio brings to life an essential and instinctive sound in which every sonic gesture is guided by mutual listening while …

On the 30th anniversary of the Victo Festival Anthony Braxton took to the stage for a magnificent solo performance on the alto sax, performing 8 spontaneous compositions and an 8+ minute version of "Body and Soul", seamlessly crossing lyrical and complex approaches to the horn using his unique intervallic, trimbral and diagrammatic language, a stunning and embraceable accomplishment.

Jean Derome and Louis Sclavis share a quartet with Bruno Chevillon on double bass and Pierre Tanguay on drums, live at Victoriaville on 19 May 2001: flutes, clarinets and saxophone on compositions by both leaders.

Two masters who rarely play together--guitarist Fred Frith and saxophonist Evan Parker--performing together as a duo at the 30th Musique Actuelle Festival in Victoriaville, Canada for an amazing exchange of ideas and intensely subtle dialog.

Boris Kovač and the Ritual Nova Ensemble from Novi Sad: saxophones, clarinets, violin, piano, bass and soprano voice in a chamber music that joins Pannonian folk memory, minimalist repetition and jazz.

François Houle, Kate Gentile and Alexander Hawkins live at Victoriaville on 21 May 2023: clarinets and electronics, drums and piano, in a set named after the medieval nonsense poem where sound leads meaning.

Vancouver's Hard Rubber Orchestra led by trumpeter John Korsrud, with guests Lori Freedman, Marilyn Lerner and Brad Turner: new big band music by Korsrud, Turner, Jean Derome, René Lussier and Ron Samworth, recorded in 2000 and 2001.

Elliott Sharp, Colin Stetson, Billy Martin and Payton MacDonald live at Victoriaville in May 2023: electric guitar and electronics, bass saxophone, drums and mallets in a heavy, groove-driven quartet.

Pino Minafra's Sud Ensemble in the studio in Milan, January 1995: trumpet, didgeridoo and ocarina with Carlo Actis Dato, Lauro Rossi and Giorgio Occhipinti, mixing southern Italian band music, free jazz and theatre.

Anthony Braxton's septet live at Victoriaville on 21 May 2011, performing Echo Echo Mirror House music, where each musician plays an iPod loaded with Braxton's recorded history alongside their instrument.

André Duchesne's large ensemble live at the 1989 Victoriaville festival: three electric guitars, saxophones, cello, piano and drums, with Yannick Rieu and Claude Lamothe, in composed Montreal musique actuelle.

Jean Derome's written music for a Montreal ensemble of flutes, clarinets and saxophones with bass, drums and percussion, recorded at Studio Victor in 1988. Composed jazz with a nod, in the title, to Japanese court music.

Rova Saxophone Quartet's studio album of compositions from 2013 to 2017, recorded in Oakland: Bruce Ackley, Steve Adams, Larry Ochs and Jon Raskin moving between written structures and group improvisation.

Satoko Fujii's Min-Yoh Ensemble with Natsuki Tamura, Curtis Hasselbring and Andrea Parkins: trumpet, trombone, accordion and piano on Japanese folk songs and new pieces in the same spirit, recorded in New York in 2006.

René Lussier conducts Vancouver's NOW Orchestra, recorded in February 1995: guitar and daxophone with Paul Plimley, Peggy Lee, Dylan van der Schyff and a full reed and brass section, in a suite of quick-changing vignettes.

Studio Tempo, Montreal, 19 July 1996. Kenny Wheeler and Paul Bley, two Canadians who left for New York forty years earlier, in duo for the first time on record. Thirteen short pieces, seven by Wheeler and six by Bley, alternating; trumpet and flugelhorn against a piano that leaves most of the space empty.

Grand Rapids, Michigan, Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, 28 April 2003. The Billy Bang Quintet with Frank Lowe on tenor, Andrew Bemkey on piano, Todd Nicholson on bass and Tatsuya Nakatani on drums. Lowe was playing with one lung. He died that September, and this is his last recording. Bang and Lowe went back to the loft years and had made a run of duo and group records together. Justin Time, which had Bang under contract for Vietnam: The Aftermath and its sequel, released the tape in 2007…

*200 copies limited edition* "This record is the crystallization of a friendship and musical partnership that started when Sonelius and I first met in 2012, when I was making my documentary on Rahsaan Roland Kirk – The Case of the Three Sided Dream. Sonelius appears only briefly in the film, and that’s mainly because of his ethereal approach to conversation, answering questions, and life, really. He doesn’t so much answer a question, rather, his responses usually generate more questions and are …

Mountain Call by bassist Miroslav Vitous with Michel Portal, Jack DeJohnette, Esperanza Spalding, Bob Mintzer, Gary Campbell and Gerald Cleaver, recorded in Prague between 2003 and 2010. ECM, 2026.

*2026 repress* Cosmic Ear is a new group bringing together Christer Bothén, Mats Gustafsson, Goran Kajfeš, Kansan Zetterberg and Juan Romero. Their debut album Traces is released by We Jazz Records on 23rd of May, 2025. Including 6 deep cuts, Traces is an album that sees Cosmic Ear tracking down the "traces" of the legendary Don Cherry's legacy while paving their own way in contemporary creative music expression. Christer Bothén, a collaborator with Don Cherry during his Swedish period in the 19…

Fifteen years in, Joshua Abrams and his Natural Information Society have stopped trying to impress anyone and started building something genuinely necessary. Perseverance Flow strips away the expanded lineups of recent efforts, returning to the core quartet—Lisa Alvarado on harmonium, Mikel Patrick Avery on drums, Jason Stein on bass clarinet, and Abrams on guimbri—for one continuous 37-minute meditation that feels less like composed music than a natural phenomenon you've stumbled upon. This isn…

Donaueschingen, October 1979. Karl Berger brought the orchestra of his Creative Music Studio from Woodstock to the German contemporary music festival, and Südwestfunk and MPS recorded it. The roster reads like the CMS guest book: Don Cherry on trumpet and bamboo flute, Lee Konitz on alto, Oliver Lake on alto, soprano and flute, George Lewis on trombone, Leroy Jenkins on violin, Trilok Gurtu on tabla and congas, Peter Apfelbaum on drums and baritone, Ingrid Sertso singing, Berger on vibes and pia…

Chicago producer and composer Will Miller’s Resavoir has established a strong following at the intersection of jazz, electronic music, and beat-driven production, with more than 9,000 vinyl records sold and 82M+ streams across the project’s first three albums. Resavoir’s 2019 self-titled debut received an 8.2 from Pitchfork alongside broad international critical acclaim, with ongoing support from Gilles Peterson, Lefto, Anthony Valadez, Somewhere Soul, Andrew Jervis and Lovie, plus airplay on BB…

On March 19th, 1999, legendary soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy played with his working trio at The Velvet Lounge at 2128 ½ S. Indiana Avenue in Chicago. Owned and operated by tenor saxophonist Fred Anderson, The Velvet Lounge was the central hub for adventurous jazz music in Chicago from 1993 until Fred passed in 2010.  Music critic and journalist Peter Margasak previewed the concert in the alternative weekly Chicago Reader, and someone blew up a xeroxed copy of it that Lacy inscribed across the …

LP version. This album is a tribute to the person and spirit of John Coltrane. It was produced by musicians who not only admire Coltrane but embody similar values.While it’s always a good time to honor Coltrane’s memory, this particular moment seems to carry an increased urgency of remembering his message and mission.Since some owners of this amazing record may be unfamiliar with Coltrane’s character, it’s worthwhile to briefly state a few biographical details.First, Coltrane was a compassionate…

*100 copies limited edition* "Ben Bekele does not exist. At least not the one I'm thinking of. It's a mix of memories and fantasies from the mid-80s when it was my father who visited Ethiopia, returning with two small drums, a couple of pictures and tons of tales. One of them was a story of a boy named Bekele, who taught him a traditional Ethiopian song. Father passed this song on to us, as best as he could - now I'm having doubts as to what the message is actually about - but back then I was fa…

Killer unreleased 1973 post-bop, avant jazz album from Argentina, with highly political texts. The missing link in Argentina's jazz history finally sees the light. Coraje Buenos Aires was recorded in 1973, conceived as a follow-up to the historic Bronca Buenos Aires (1971). More explicitly than its predecessor, the texts in Coraje denounced the atrocities of the military junta that ruled the country, and the album was inevitably censored before being released. The tapes, thought to have been bur…

Rob Mazurek’s 'Alternate Moon Cycles' was International Anthem's first release. The incredibly spare single-note-centered cornet, bass and organ chant was recorded to tape at pint-sized Chicago bar Curio as part of a performance series that predates any notion of our label’s existence. Documenting this performance – highly unique even within the depths of Mazurek’s vast catalog – stirred those notions, and soon talks began of releasing the recording on a fresh imprint. Performed by Mazurek with …

*100 copies limited edition* New York City ensemble Part-Time Samurai introduces Grass Is Greener, its debut album for 577 Records: a collection of music shaped by movement, uncertainty, memory, and the gradual recognition that a life in transition can also be a life taking shape. Led by saxophonist, vocalist, composer, and bandleader Noah Galbreath, Part-Time Samurai brings together trumpet, trombone, saxophone, vocals, keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums in music that moves freely between intri…

* Edition of 300. Spectacular four-panel gatefold cover * Since the early 1980s, the Nexus creature has represented one of the most interesting realities of the Italian jazz scene. Daniele Cavallanti (Aktuala) and Tiziano Tononi (Moon On The Water and D.O.M Alia Orchestra) realize a sensational mix of orchestral praxis and impro-free jazz. The strength lies in the ensemble's variety of timbres, in that precise hybrid of styles reminiscent of the cross-sectional experiences of the 1970s of Zappa,…

Cucoma Combo are back with their impetuous and political sound, an urgent need to communicate in order to awaken consciences and react to the sick immobility of our times. Captain Marco Zanotti (Classica Orchestra Afrobeat/Lolo) once again gathers his pirate crew and sets sail for new Atlantic and Caribbean adventures. From Cape Verde to Salvador de Bahia, from Haiti to Colombia, then back to Tanzania and Zimbabwe. An inspired and furious attitude incorporates disparate rhythms, languages, and s…

Walldorf Studio, near Frankfurt, 1 and 2 May 1975. Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone, Palle Danielsson on bass, Elvin Jones on drums. Seven pieces, thirty-nine minutes, released by MPS the same year. Mangelsdorff had recorded with Jones once before, on the 1968 duet album Albert Mangelsdorff and His Friends. The Wide Point is the first of his trombone-bass-drums trio records, the format that would produce Trilogue with Pastorius and Mouzon the following year and the Montreux album in 1980. The ban…

This is Texas-born tenor sax giant Billy Harper captured on tour in Europe in 1979. Mr Harper's gorgeous tone drives a highly energetic quintet featuring a young Fred Hersch on piano, Everett Hollins on trumpet, Louie "Mbiki" Spears on bass and Horace Arnold on drums. Billy Harper's seminal masterpiece, which gained more widespread recognition in the 70s, is a scorching and powerful record that exudes righteousness from start to finish. At this stage of his career, Billy has developed a strong c…

Paris, Studio Davout, 12 and 23 October 1989. Pharoah Sanders with William Henderson on piano, Stafford James on bass, Eddie Moore on drums and Cheikh Tidiane Fall on percussion. Produced by Wim Wigt for Timeless, released in 1990. The Penguin Guide called it the straightest jazz album Sanders had made for years, and heard what he was after: a hypnotic groove that lets the horn float almost at will. Steve Loewy at AllMusic writes that the results may have disappointed some fans at the time, but …

Studio 44, Monster, Holland, 11 March 1987. One day. Pharoah Sanders with John Hicks on piano, Curtis Lundy on bass and Idris Muhammad on drums, a band he kept for years. Produced by Wim Wigt for Timeless. The record is built around Coltrane. Loewy at AllMusic writes that most listeners will prefer the originals to Sanders's imitations, but calls Africa a joyous and worthy tribute. AllMusic's survey of the Timeless years is warmer: it hears the title track's highlife melody undercut by Hicks's p…

Two years after Free Action, a different record. The Oimels, MPS 1969, is the Wolfgang Dauner Quintet playing pop: Dauner on piano, organ and voice, Eberhard Weber on bass, cello and voice, Siegfried Schwab on guitar and sitar, Pierre Cavalli on guitar, and Roland Wittich on drums and voice, who also did the cover art with Dauner. The programme mixes Dauner originals with a Gershwin tune, a traditional, and a Lennon-McCartney song. A RateYourMusic listener puts it plainly: a different kind of ja…