Jazz /
Moonflower
2007 release ** "Moonflower, by the legendary Finnish pianist Heikki Sarmanto and his quartet, is the first "new" album on Luke Mosling's Porter label; the other two projects that make up his opening salvo are reissues of private-press recordings done by Mait Edey's Seeds imprint in the early '70s. Sarmanto is best known to American audiences for his work with Sonny Rollins and Art Farmer. He's recorded 25 albums as a leader, including New Hope Jazz Mass for jazz ensemble, orchestra, soprano, an…
The Poets Walk
"Friendship as a principle. A superb case, like a quiver. Inside, magnificent clarinets. That's all it took for Joe Fonda, passing through Brest, in France, to invite their owner to play with him on his next visit to the US. After all, anyone who owns these beautiful instruments ‘can really play’. And that's how New Origin began. From the very first bars of Vers le soir, the double bass leaps onto the springboard, cast by an urgent call from the drumsticks. Urgency, energy, decisiveness—it all c…
Gilles Peterson Presents International Anthem
Tip! Gilles Peterson presents International Anthem is a Deluxe Double LP compilation chronicling the infamous London-based radio host, DJ, label head, curator and cultural impresario's long-standing affinity for and interaction with artists and music from the Chicago-born record label International Anthem. The tracks on this compilation were chosen by Peterson via an extensive review of track lists from his broadcasts on BBC 6 Music, Worldwide FM, and various syndicated radio programs. The compi…
Solhverv
Bomb! Danish pianist Tom Prehn was one of the first Europeans to deeply explore free music. With his quartet featuring Fritz Krogh on tenor saxophone, Poul Ehlers on bass, and Finn Slumstrup on drums, Prehn recorded Axiom in October, 1963, for Sonet, though it went unreleased until 2015 because the band felt that their music had moved beyond it already. To hear the music they were talking about, one could only turn to two privately-made reel-to-reel tapes, Centrifuga and Sohlverv, recorded in Au…
Thinking About
2004 release ** "It is easier to say what it doesn’t mean: Intuitive means not controlled by reason, not planned, not calculating, not superficial, not egomaniacal. It may mean: Creative, organic, alive, spiritual. All this at least is the music of the duo and it even possesses this astonishing quality when it has been thus announced. It magically appears to draw directly on the inward, as well as on a system of sounds that seems to exist beyond our involvement. The trumpet player Markus Stockh…
Taking Off
1995 release ** "Taking Off was first released as an LP in 1982 and re-issued as a CD by Bleu Regard in France in 1995. Wallenstein increases the size of his jazz accompaniment/collaboration, featuring Bill Chelf on piano, Charles Tyler on saxophones, Jeremy Steig on flute, and Jeff Meyer on percussion. The opening poem "Careful Bump," begins with a jolting kick and cymbal crash leading into a bop-jazz drum beat. "The Short Life of the Five Minute Dancer," which describes action in the face of f…
Entupadas
1988 release ** "Sometimes with a touch of disdain, but it’s merely poetic, political reflection on an incomplete world—the only one we know. Beauty and cruelty, joy and sorrow. The piano, mastering every language, responds to the glowing voice of the singer: Romansh, German, English, French. Sweet, strict, harsh, thrilling, playful."
SoundScapes Festival # 4 Berlin 2023
"Finnish saxophonist Harri Sjöström has been calling Berlin home for nearly 40 years, and for over 10 of them, he has been organizing concerts at venues around the city, featuring a who-is-who of the city's rich improvisation scene and beyond, under the title "SoundScapes." Starting in 2016, he extended the concept and held the first two SoundScapes Festivals in Helsinki, followed by one in Munich, and then, finally, in his adopted hometown. SoundScapes #4 was held over two mid-autumn nights in …
Parallell Aesthethics
This year we are celebrating the 10th birthday of our label. On this occasion, we have prepared a lot of surprises and very unique musical offerings for you. Here is the first one! What you can expect from the music is perfectly reflected in the album title.
Parallel aesthetics which, however, when listened to together become a new perhaps the third aesthetic!One of the most active and respected saxophonists and improvisers on the American jazz scene. An American, Brazilian-born, Jewish-born mus…
Hipp Hipp Hooray
"Remedy’s “Hipp Hipp Hooray” honors the 100th birthday of pianist and composer Jutta Hipp, born February 4th, 1925, in Leipzig, Weimar Republic. Consisting of nine compositions loosely related to Hipp’s life story and output, the goal wasn’t to emulate the sound of her day but to get to the essence of Jutta Hipp’s spirit and tell her story through our artistic lens. A multi-level pioneer, Hipp was known as “Europe’s First Lady of Jazz,” the first woman ever to record as a leader for Blue Note Re…
Assemblage
Simon Nabatov - piano, live electronicsMark Helias - bassTom Rainey - drums
All music by Simon Nabatov (GEMA) except collectively improvised tracks 4,8,10,12
To Walk On Eggshells
"Christian Weber said in an interview for “Jazz’N’More": No matter how I move along the timeline, my attention is focused on what is to come. At the same time, I always keep in mind what happened before, without analyzing. This way, I avoid the improvisation becoming arbitrary. Both arbitrary openness and narrow restriction, neither suits me." And therein lies the whole secret of this record and ultimately the definition of great art: it is the ability of a musician to have control over space an…
Music For Umbrellas
2006 release ** "This is the 2nd album by the incredible Polish Jazz ensemble Sing Sing Penelope, led by drummer Rafal Gorzycki and also including trumpeter Wojciech Jachna, saxophonist Tomasz Glazik, keyboardist Daniel Mackiewicz and bassist Patryk Weclawek. Violinist Sebastian Gruchot guests on one track. They play all original music, composed mostly by Gorzycki and Jachna or credited to the ensemble. Stylistically this is an incredible mixture of many elements from Jazz, Rock, Ambient, RIO a…
Morpeth Contemporary 2024
Exceptionally virtuosic and sensitive, South African harpist Jacqueline Kerrod is perfectly at home across multiple genres. This is her first recording with American guitar maverick Joe Morris. These are sublimely adventurous improvisations for pedal harp and guitar.
The Whole Tree Gone
2010 release ** "Firehouse 12 Records welcomes esteemed pianist/composer Myra Melford to its roster with the release of The Whole Tree Gone (FH12-04-01-012), her first recording as a bandleader since 2006. Recorded in the label's own state-of-the-art studio, this is Ms. Melford's second release featuring her eclectic ensemble, Be Bread, a longstanding collection of frequent collaborators that currently performs as an all-acoustic sextet. The Whole Tree Gone documents the latest evolution of eigh…
Rome Hills
2010 release ** "This project originates from a pleasurable Roman afternoon spent by yours truly with Hubert Bergmann, who – having known that this writer’s spouse is, in essence, an atypical songwriting specimen – thought that some experimentation using her vocalism would have constituted an intriguing attempt to do something singular. Files of Bergmann’s duets with Udo Schindler were emailed, and in a matter of several months Yellerwood recorded and “assembled” a number of parts, adapting them…
Sampler and Zither
2017 release ** "Sampler and Zither is a release from Difondo, the Cagliari duo of Sergio Camedda (sampler) and Giampaolo Campus (zither). The group’s name translates as “basically;” it’s a fitting name given their conceptual focus on returning sounds to the things themselves—that is, to the basic elements and materials of their instruments. The group’s specific interest lies in realizing the possibilities inherent in the divergent natures of the two instruments’ timbral profiles and properties.…
What Is My Heart Now
*200 copies limited edition* "What is my heart now" is the debut solo album by Ziemowit Klimek, known so far from bands such as Immortal Onion, Hania Rani, and Magda Kuraś Quintet. It is a cycle of five improvised compositions – "What," "Is," "My," "Heart," and "Now" – unified by a unique artistic concept, with each piece created in collaboration with a different musician. The creative process for each of the five duets began with a conversation between Ziemowit, the guest artist, and the video …