Jazz & Improvisation / Contemporary

*2022 stock.* Italian piano player Giovanni di Domenico and  Catalan drummer Oriol Roca, have been musical partners for fifteen years. They started playing in duo in 2010 to explore the sound possibilities of their instruments, focusing on silence, density and space in music, through improvised fragments and some original compositions. Their first studio album is now released on Belgian label Spocus Records.

*2022 stock.* Alexandra Grimal goes in her own way, elegant but robust, through the territories of jazz and improvised music over recent years. It was only natural she would meet and regularly play in duet settings with Giovanni di Domenico, as versatile an adventurer as Alexandra is, both in his musical choices and collaborations. Three years after their first recording together (2011's Ghibli on the Sans Bruit label), Chergui was recorded over two nights at the Théâtre du Châtelet (Paris, Fran…

*2022 stock.* The band consists of Italians living in Belgium - Daniele Martini and Giovanni di Domenico, as well as two Portuguese residing in Netherlands - Gonçalo Almeida & João Lobo. Tetterapadequ is a free-jazz quartet firmly rooted in the traditions of European improvised music. It is no accident, that their first album released in 2008 was pressed by Clean Feed label. On "Pangatuna" we can hear the band enlarged to an octet, which enriched their music with brand new, almost orchestral dim…

Since their meeting in the Hague in the Netherlands in 2002, Alexandra Grimal and Giovanni di Domenico have been playing together regularly. Since 2011 they have been offering several subtle and inspired tête-à-têtes: Ghibli, Chergui and Down the Hill, which was released on January 19th, 2020. Ghibli, around a repertoire composed by the Italian pianist, released on the Sans Bruit label in 2011, the music navigates on the mineral lines of Alexandra Grimal's saxophones that come to rest and intert…

** 2021 Stock. In process of stocking ** Craftman Records presents 2nd Album by Kosuke Mine Quintet. Recorded November 29 and December 2, 1970. Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone – Kosuke Mine, Art Direction – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Yoshio Suzuki, Drums – Hiroshi Murakami, Engineer [Assistant] – Kenji Kurota, Engineer [Recording] – Yoshihiko Kannari, Guitar – Yoshiaki Masuo, Liner Notes – Shoichi Yui, Producer – Takeshi "Tee" Fujii, Producer [Associate] – Kazumitsu Saga, Trombone – Takashi Imai.

** 2021 Stock. In process of stocking ** Craftman Records presents Blues For Tee by Tsuyoshi Yamamoto Trio. Recorded live in concert on December 25, 1974. Art Direction – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Akira Daiyoshi, Drums – Toshio Osumi, Mixed By – Yoshihiko Kannari, Photography By – Akira Aimi, Piano – Tsuyoshi Yamamoto, Producer – Takeshi Fujii.

*2022 stock. In process of stocking. 200 limited edition* Recorded during a month-long residency at Brooklyn art space Pioneer Works in late 2020, Cymerman’s fifth solo album is his most accessible work to date. While past releases have included extensive edits, overdubs, and effects processing to push his clarinet into the realm of abstraction, nearly each piece on Citadels & Sanctuaries was captured in a single take. “This album was recorded when playing lines and melodies were feeling really …

NYC-based electroacoustic improvisation trio Bloodmist presents Arc, their third full length album.

Craftman presents a live concert by New Direction. The album includes 2 tracks performed by Masayuki Takayanagi - Guitar, and Kaoru Abe - Alto Saxophone. The first album track: Thursday / Gradually Projection, was recorded on June 18, 1970 at Tokyo. The second one: Jha / Mass Projection was recorded on May or June, 1970 at Tokyo. Masayuki 'Jojo' Takayanagi was a Japanese jazz / free improvisational musician. He was active in the Japanese jazz scene from the late 1950s. Was one of the earliest no…

** In process of stocking ** Craftman records presents One For Duke by Masaru Imada Trio. Recorded May 27, 1975. Art Direction – Ben Nishizawa, Bass – Isoo Fukui, Drums – Tetsujiro Obara, Engineer – Yoshihiko Kannari, Piano – Masaru Imada, Producer – Takeshi Fujii.

Over the last half-decade Saxophonist and composer James Brandon Lewis has emerged as one of the most exciting figures in jazz and improvised music, a voracious listener who rejects stylistic hierarchies and one that has feverishly explored new ideas and embraced fresh motivations with every new project. Inspired by molecular biology, he develops a special system for a surprising and beautiful music with his Quartet with drummer Chad Taylor, pianist Aruán Ortiz, and bassist Brad Jones. He has ta…

Fundacja Sluchaj! presents a new recording by Gerard Lebik (tenor sax), John Edwards (doubke bass) and Paul Lovens (Drums), performed live on 23 of April 2015 at Lublin Jazz Festival "They are sameïliar which means each one resembles the one before as well as the consecutive one as if they were the same. Perhaps they were all the same in a utopian past, or there was even only one of them – which must have been, then, identical. The sameïliarity they show holds that the same is always different. …

First time ever on CD, never before published Cecil Taylor Quintet feat. Harri Sjostrom - sax, Tristan Honsinger - cello, Teppo Hauta-aho - bass, and Paul Lovens - drums. The legendary band recorded live at Tampere Jazz Happening 1998. Recorded October 30.1998 at Tampere Jazz Happening by the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE at Tampere Jazz Happening. Originally produced for YLE by Veli- Pekka Heinonen. Final mix by Patrick Römer and Harri Sjöström + Paul Lovens. Mastering by Patrick Römer of Un…

"Hey, there's this new guy around that plays like Herbie Hancock!!". When Chilean pianist Matías Pizarro arrived in Argentina fleeing Pinochet's dictatorship, word spread like wildfire in the local jazz scene. In the two short years that Pizarro spent in Buenos Aires, he became one third of the Viejas Raíces project alongside local jazz heroes Jorge López Ruiz and Pocho Lapouble, recorded with famed Italian trumpeter Enrico Rava and released his own solo album, Pelo de Rata ("Rat's hair"). Pizar…

Not Two presents the latest recording by The Nu Band: Thomas Heberer - trumpet, Kenny Wessel - guitar, Joe Fonda - bass, Lou Grassi - drums & percussion. May 16, 2022, at Tedesco Studios, Paramus, NJ

'Sometimes a piece of music seems to trigger a sense of déjà vu. I had that experience listening to the Nick Mazzarella Trio’s new recording. It was as if all the things that had caught my sincere attention for some years was suddenly distilled into one set of compositions. That was an illusion, as déjà vu always is; however, it was not without some substance. I heard traces of traces of Andrew Cyrille, Steve Lacy, and Fred Anderson. This recording hit me like some of those did. The beginning of…

We Are Busy Bodies reissues Sadayasu Fujii Trio's 1977 album, Like A Child. Led by pianist, Sadayasu Fujii, the album includes jazz standards "A Sleepin' Bee" and "If I Should Lose You", along with original compositions.

*In process of stocking.* The grand old man of Finnish Jazz, Eero Koivistoinen, has not kept still in his old age. Far from it, he's played with rappers from the younger generation, Argentinian tango singers, you name it. The Eero Koivistoinen Quartet, onto its 10th year in existence, is his outlet for what he knows by heart like no one else - cool quartet jazz in which Eero is aided by younger luminaries from the scene. Alexi Tuomarila is on the grand piano, Jori Huhtala on bass and Jussi Lehto…

* Contains 24 Pages Booklet-poster with photos and texts * For more than a decade, the versatile musician and composer Mirco Mariani has been pursuing a unique experimental journey on song-forms through the parallel projects he founded: Saluti da Saturno, eXtraLiscio and Fwora Jorgensen. Since 2014, AngelicA festival has produced and commissioned to Mariani several special projects of variation, extension and new arrangement of these groups’ repertoire. The record Shaloma Locomotiva Orchestra do…

*2022 stock* "Ketil Bjørnstad´s credentials are so vast, it´s impossible to fit them all on a one-sheet. Born in Oslo in 1952, he soon became a prodigy, leaving primary school to study piano in Oslo, London and Paris. He made his debut at 16, playing Bartok´s Piano Concert nr. 3 with the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra. But soon other pathways beckoned, discovering Miles Davis´s “In a Silent Way” and meeting poets, painters and jazz musicians around the creative music spot “Club 7” in Oslo. Amongst …

Moskus could be the perfect 21st century piano, bass and drums trio. Rather than fetishising about the acoustic purity of their sound, the virtuosity of their instrumental technique, or the integrity of their compositional structures, Anja Lauvdal (keys), Fredrik Luhr Deitrichson (double bass) and Hans Hulbækmo (drums/percussion) seem to improvise on ideas more than themes or tunes, and to change direction quickly and effectively as they go, abandoning one thought for another with a refreshing l…

In These Times is the new album by Chicago-based percussionist, composer, producer, and pillar of our label family, Makaya McCraven. Although this album is “new," the truth it’s something that's been in process for a very long time, since shortly after he released his International Anthem debut In The Moment in 2015. Dedicated followers may note he’s had 6 other releases in the meantime (including 2018’s widely-popular Universal Beings and 2020’s We’re New Again, his rework of Gil Scott-Heron’s …

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* This newest CD of Zorn compositions performed by the remarkable all-star guitar trio of Bill Frisell, Julian Lage and Gyan Riley is inspired by the ancient tradition of story telling as spiritual lesson. Drawing upon Sufic, Hebrew and secular traditions, “Parables” is a unique collection of compositional miniatures blending folk, classical, jazz, bluegrass, world music and more. Featuring seductive moods, driving rhythms and thought provoking twists and turn…

Astral Spirit presents A Horizon Made of Canvas by Jeremiah Cymerman and Charlie Looker. Recorded by Chris Schlarb at BIG EGO Studios, Long Beach CA, January 10th, 2020. Mixed by Jeremiah Cymerman. Mastered by James Plotkin. Artwork & Layout by Jaime Zuverza. Jeremiah Cymerman: clarinets, pedalsCharlie Looker, guitars, piano

Koma Saxo, the explosive quintet led by Berlin-based Swedish bassist/producer Petter Eldh, returns on We Jazz Records with their new album, cut live at We Jazz Festival in Helsinki, December 2019. Whereas their lauded debut was a triumph of remapping the goal posts for an acoustic jazz combo for the 2020's, "LIVE" takes you right to the heart of the actual ensemble sound, with 5 musicians tearing the place down, no post production. From the fiery opening sequence kicking off with "Euro Koma", on…

*In process of stocking.* A beautiful suite of music for late night listening, spiritual and evocative, performed by an all-star unit of four members of Zorn’s inner circle. Structured like a religious mass, these seven lovely nocturnes take you to an otherworldly space of beauty and tenderness, unlike any other Zorn compositions you have ever heard. Gorgeous and restful music from a compositional seeker who continues to defy categorization, “Perchance to Dream…” is one of the most unusual and h…

*In process of stocking.* Three very young men in their CD debut. The leader is Artur Małecki 20-year-old drummer and composer who creat music with his musical friends: Michał Aftyka on double bass and bass guitar and Przemysław Chmiel on soprano and tenor saxophones. On Widoki you have a chance to listen to the most promising and youngest generation of the Polish jazz scene.

*In process of stocking.* The second album of all-stars trio feat. Marilyn Crispell on piano, Joe Fonda on bass, and Harvey Sorgen on drums!"Through many years of touring and recording, Marilyn Crispell, Joe Fonda, and Harvey Sorgen have left indelible marks on the history of jazz and improvised music, having performed and created work with a veritable who’s who of the national and international contemporary improvised music scenes since 1978. Paul Motion, Wadada Leo Smith, Anthony Braxton, Barr…

LP version. Back in 2020, Kafé Hærverk, Oslo's live hotspot for a wide range of jazz and experimental music invited Master Oogway to do monthly concerts from August to December, bringing along a guest for each occasion. Two had to be moved to 2021 due to Covid restrictions, but the other three were recorded for possible use later. Initially, Rune Grammofon thought about doing a "best of" from all of the recordings, but after further listening it soon dawned on the label that the concert with Hen…

*2022 stock* It was a really great idea to search for pieces, with the taste of a collector, and to produce this compilation, with jazz pieces and pieces extracted from refined sound tracks which have a subtle and intelligent taste, among the production of some of the biggest Italian composers in this sector. It is a piece that has never been reedited and it is of great taste, and consequent will to give works to an audience that otherwise are difficult to discover.  And therefore has taste for …

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* For as long as I can remember, Christian Wallumrød's piano touch has done something to me. We met early. The peculiar and surprising, but still somewhat self-evident, melodic twists. Not to mention the far above average well-weighted ornaments. He manages to create completely unique universes, either with his own ensemble or alone. In recent years, he has also returned to electronics and he treats them with a gentle rawness. There has always been something h…

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* Krympende klode is a new collaboration between two internationally recognised musicians from Bergen, Norway: music producer Jørgen Træen, who has worked with talents such as Susanne Sundfør, Thea Hjelmeland and Jazkamer, and the unique and eternally inventive guitarist Stein Urheim, whose releases include 6 albums on the Hubro label. On this album they present their personal collections of synthesisers and string instruments from all over the world, and let …

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* The new album by the partnership of guitarist Jo David Meyer Lysne (born 1994) and double bassist Mats Eilertsen (born 1975) is a remarkable document that functions simultaneously as both a calm and meditative series of chill-out soundscapes, and as a rigorously poetic evocation of mood and place that one might expect to hear more readily in an art gallery installation. It is also shockingly beautiful. The ecstatic shimmer of acoustic guitar and pedal steel …

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock.* “This album has everything. Which is why it’s not for everyone.” The statement belongs to Øyvind Skarbø; bandleader, drummer and composer. His ensemble Skarbø Skulekorps released their highly praised debut album on Hubro in 2019, universally hailed for being both catchy and unpredictable at the same time. Dugnad does the same thing, but amplified to the extreme. It marks a deeper and even more radical exploration completely outside normal paths of genre and …

*In process of stocking. 2022 stock. Limited edition of 500 copies.* The opening track of ‘Avant Folk’ is like a dream of what contemporary experimental folk-meets-jazz-meets-chamber-music might be. Composed by Frode Haltli, ‘Hug’ begins with a galumphing off-centre rhythm that could be an accompaniment to elephants waltzing before the wheezing bellows-breath of Haltli’s accordion creates delightfully airy whispers of noise that drift across the other instruments like wisps of cloud across the s…

BBE Music presents the fourth release in their acclaimed J Jazz Masterclass Series: Topology by Makoto Terashita and Harold Land. Originally released in 1984 on the cult Aketa’s Disk label, Topology captures a surprising yet fascinating and engaging collaboration between a young Japanese jazz pianist and an elder American statesman of jazz.Reissued by BBE Music for the first time since original release 36 years ago, Topology showcases the extraordinary compositional and playing skill of Makoto T…

*In process of stocking* Anna and Jan first met in 2004 when they started playing together in different combinations as the Kaluza Quartet (with trombonist Christof Thewes and drummer Kay Lübke), trios with pianst Niko Meinhold or with drummer Michael Griener and various others. In 2020 they played their first duo concert on a boat in Berlin (Hosek Contemporary) and decided to continue with their work as duo. The same year they went to Christian Betz’ studio in Friedrichshain to record their mus…

Matthew Bourne is a renowned pianist with a reputation as a fearlessly unpredictable improviser. Emil Karlsen is an independently minded drummer who plays with power and delicacy. The Embalmer documents one of Karlsen and Bourne’s first meetings. Recorded in a single session in 2020, The Embalmer sees a wide-ranging musical discourse between the two musicians unfold in its most lean form across the six improvised tracks.

Tip!  *In process of stocking* ‘Alone at night. Large church room. Lots of air. Stone. Wood. Glass. Quietness. Stillness. The dead and the alive. Surroundedness. ‘Existentialistic matters spinning. Peaceful state of mind. The dialectic equilibrium of complete stillness and deeper thoughts on contra-resistance on local and global levels. Fighting (y)our stupidities. Contra. I have never ever before gotten myself into such an unusual setting for a recording project. And yet, so simple. So naked. S…

Moskus conveys their perspective of the world with vivid improvisation in a genre-free universe.   In their In their most recent release, “Papirfuglen”, the ensemble further solidifies their position as one of the most cutting-edge and transfixing voices in the newest generation of both Norwegian and international jazz. They have a unique musical approach, with a combination of infectious playfulness and a headstrong penchant for experimentation. And with these tools Moskus takes yet another ste…