Jazz /
Outspan No 1
Tip! It's hard to imagine how this record -- and it's mate, Outspan No 2 -- managed to remain more or less out of circulation from the CD era onward. Outspan No 1 is nothing less than an ideal distillation of the broad approach to sound creation utilized by the three-ring circus that is Brötzmann, Van Hove, and Bennink, here with the added bonus of Mangelsdorff. Two short numbers, two long, too perfect.
The Art of Crashing
*200 copies limited edition* “Costa and Ernsting are assertive and confident players who don’t hesitate to claim their positions, but most of all, they are keeping up with each other, using their dialogue to explore and expand. And that is what it is about, a quest for ideas and a way for them to co-exist, make sense, keep the story moving forward on all levels. And as far as the greater story is concerned: this album is another fine addition to an endlessly fascinating mosaic of sounds.” - Guy …
Am Frankfurter Tor
*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…
The Embalmer
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.
Conduits
*In process of stocking* Freely improvised music for baritone saxophone and double bass. Cath Roberts and Olie Brice found an escape from the musical isolation of lockdown with the amazing discovery that it was possible to play (and record) online in almost real time - these are the results.
Pink Pong
*In process of stocking. Limited edition of 500 copies.* German pianist Georg Gräwe, one of the most impeccable and imaginative improvisers in contemporary free music, made his debut recording, New Movements, in 1976, under the auspices of Free Music Production, the legendary Berlin-based organization run by Jost Gebers. At FMP’s Jazz Now festival, in April of that year, Gräwe presented his working band, a classic hard-bop configuration with trumpet, saxophone and rhythm section. Indeed, some ve…
Translucence
"As such, the music succeeds in maintaining a balance between cohesion and surprise, occasionally coming close to the jazz tradition, but always on its own terms. It gives the album a refreshingly unconventional approach, a counterpoint of ideas that consistently marches to the beat of a different drummer. " - Guy Peters
Vistas
"The most striking thing about it all is how these four people with four different nationalities (Kroatian, Swiss, Portuguese, Dutch) and backgrounds turn VISTAS into something wholly convincing. It is a rich, bold and rewarding statement that not only betrays a healthy disregard for genre conventions, but also creates a strikingly refreshing balancing act, and as such also offers a new shade to the steadily expanding New Wave Of Jazz-catalog, where improvisation, minimalism and various other st…
Twofold
*In process of stocking* "Onno Govaert. Now here is a guy who deserves to be in the spotlights. Verhoeven and Govaert form a beautiful musical partnership that thrives on abundant dynamics and colourful interaction. Whether it is the subtle ripostes or the unanimous cadences that develop throughout their improvisations, there is always a crisp and natural affinity at the core of their partnership. With Dirk Serries, Govaert alters his approach. The combination with the amplified acoustic guitar…
Today And All The Tomorrows
"Today and all the tomorrows is one of those releases that sounds like cinema for the ears, despite the fact that the ‘song’ order might seem random and that it might be hard to find a general arc. Verhoeven firmly stands at the center of this music, flanked by two guitarists that get caught up in six three-way conversations. There is no agreed method or set of expectations and fixed ideas, but listen carefully, and you will notice how each piece has its own characteristics and turns the combina…
Ditch School
*2022 stock* “the music has kept me at the edge of my seat each time I’ve listened.” — The Free Jazz Collective
"absorbing and vivid... guitar and piano in a beautiful collision... astonishing" — a Jazz Noise
John Russell, guitarPaul G. Smyth, piano
It's Up To You
** Limited to 300 double vinyl copies, two inlays with photos and liner notes. Originally released in 1974 on Preiser Records** »It’s Up to You« is a free sound art and performance project by sound artist and singer Limpe Fuchs, sculptor and sound artist Paul Fuchs, and pianist and recorder player Friedrich Gulda, who formed the trio Anima at the time of the recordings in 1974. As musical guests they were able to enlist the trombonist Albert Mangelsdorff, the bassist Barre Phillips, the oud play…
Bospaadje Konijnehol I
ICP presents Bospaadje Konijnehol I. Recorded live in The Netherlands, Germany and Italy in the 80s and 90s.
Can't Hide
FRIM Records presents Can't Hide. Released December 10, 2021
Gustaf Hielm, bassElin Forkelid, saxophonesErik Carlsson, drums
All music by Forkelid, Carlsson, Hielm (STIM/NCB)Produced by FRIM.Recorded March 12, 2020, at Fylkingen, Stockholm, by John Chantler.Mixed by John Chantler.Mastered by Göran Stegborn.
Jazz in der Kammer 1974
The first concert of Brötzmann / Van Hove / Bennink in East Germany – 4.11.1974, Deutsches Theater, Berlin recorded by the Radio for the series "Jazz in der Kammer" Nr 71. Linernotes by Bert Noglik, Translation by Jep Bishop.
Live
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…
Diggin'
"The master of multiphonics (playing more than one note at a time on a horn), Albert Mangelsdorff has been a giant of the European avant-garde for the past 30 years. He originally studied violin and worked as a jazz guitarist before taking up the trombone in 1948. Here he is taped live at a concert in Tokyo with what was then his regular quartet: Heinz Sauer on sax, Günter Lenz on bass, and Ralf Hübner on drums. There's a very nice blend between the leader's agile but smooth horn and the somewha…
FMP Free Music Production - The Living Music (Book)
Super Tip! * English version. 400+ pages, large-format book, very heavy * This book is dedicated to the history of the music label Free Music Production (FMP), which from 1968 to 2010 achieved incomparable things as a Berlin platform for the production, presentation and documentation of music. Based on many conversations from over thirty years with key protagonists such as Peter Brötzmann or Jost Gebers, Markus Müller tells the success story of a musicians‘ initiative that emerged in the context…
The Other Lies
“”The Other Lies is a collection of six improvised duets performed by Tom Jackson on clarinet Colin Webster on alto and baritone saxophones. Tom Jackson is very accomplished in the fields of contemporary classical music and free improvisation. He also holds a Ph.D from Canterbury Christ Church University. Colin Webster is a musician whose works I’ve reviewed here before. When one of his releases comes up on my Bandcamp feed I always take notice. He’s a prolific and under appreciated figure in th…
Volume 1. "Inhale"
“The debut record of Luft (the duo comprised of Mats Gustafsson and Erwan Keravec) - is a two volume album of exceptional explorations within the bagpipe and reed universe ——unknown music of poetic beauty and high energy cascades. Fast moving changes in texture and layers vs static repetitions and alternatives densities and melody treatments! Vol 1 - is focusing on the interaction between the two persons/ instruments - with a huge variety in extended techniques and various ways of treating the i…