Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

Piotr Mełech and Wojtek Kurek have been a duo for over 7 years. They played dozens of concerts together, also in larger ensembles. They debuted with the album 'Split Here' (Antenna Non Grata), which referred to its jazz roots and free improv. Their s…

"The narrative has many faces, twisted, oneiric, mysterious and expressive."- Andrzej Nowak (Spontaneous Music Tribune)

“Repeated listening discovers more and more nuances in the subtle interplay and the clever and endless sonic games of these pioneers of European improvised music.” - Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

"Three musicians who seem like impressionist painters, building, stroke by stroke, on small scale, finally creating a strong statement for the fresh catalogue of the label." - Fotis Nikolakopoulos, Freejazzblog

“Brilliant drumming by two fearless artisans; hearing, resounding the real world around us. Truth is in our ears.” - Chris Searle, The Morningstar

"Fractured grooves blend into dark, cinematic ambient drones and morph into spontaneous improvisations, colored by epic electronica and ornamented with raw noises." - Eyal Hareuveni, Salt Peanuts

"It is one of the finest documents of how improvisation is made that this listener has heard, on par with the two astounding The Life of a Trio albums (by Paul Bley, Jimmy Giuffre and Steve Swallow)" - George Grella, New York City Jazz Records

“Excellent testimony to the quirky and detailed improvisation of the British where the emphasis is on dynamics, the sporadic use of silence and restricted playing with a multiplicity of playful options (…)” – Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg

2024 Repress. Masahiko Togashi was a pivotal figure in the development of the Japanese free jazz scene in late 60s. Percussionist and composer, he lost the use of the legs in an accident which nevertheless didn’t not prevent him from continuing an as…

Flesh and Bones is the latest release from drummer, composer, and poet William Hooker. The album marks his third full length effort for Org Music, following “Big Moon” (2021) and “Symphonie of Flowers” (2019). Hooker has also referred to the new work…

*2023 stock* Over 60 releases and 44 years into his career as a jazz drummer and composer, William Hooker has made (arguably) his best album yet during the pandemic in 2020, a follow up to his critically acclaimed 2019 album “Symphonie of Flowers". C…

*2023 stock* William Hooker has been recognized as one of the most innovative musicians and drummers of his generation, leading a variety of ensembles within the worlds of free jazz, experimental, and new music. Hooker's prior collaborators range fro…

Recorded live at Slim’s in San Francisco, Mindfulness is the brilliant soundscape created by drummer William Hooker, along with Glenn Spearman on tenor saxophone and DJ Olive. The five Hooker compositions flow into each other, one after another, seam…

Shamballa is the 1993 collaboration from jazz drummer William Hooker, Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth), and composer Elliott Sharp. The release features Hooker performing duets with each musician. Hooker and Moore’s performance is littered with bursts of…

John Edwards is a true virtuoso whose staggering range of techniques and boundless musical imagination have redefined the possibility of the double bass and dramatically expanded its role, whether playing solo or with others. Perpetually in demand, h…

Le Sud trio works from the concept of lower-case free music, which has been a common European currency since the mid-1970s. Despite Brexit, violist Benedict Taylor asserts himself during this continental concert by sawing, sweeping and stretching dis…

This is the memorable 10th live document of the free improvised music sessions co-organized by doubtmusic and Fulldesingn Records at Knuttel House in Iriya, recorded on multi-tracks on 5 May 2023. “mn” of Mikawa and Numata and “HRS” of Nishimura and …

The first release on Sormi Editions is an improvised acoustic album by Turku-based guitarist Topias Tiheäsalo. Full of delicate sounds, low-volume playing and beautiful overtones the CD features cover paintings and design by Pauliina Mäkelä.

The baritone sax solo performance that Ryuichi Yoshida has been working on as his life's work is finally released on CD as "SAKAI-Sakai" from doubtmusic. It is based on his approach to the regular live "Sakai" that he has been performing since the su…

**English edition. 272 pp., Large format. Hardcover**  Some think Eric Dolphy was an otherworldly apparition. His stellar career lasted little more than 5 years. He was one of the most important pioneers of the jazz avant-garde of the 1960s. As a mul…

*Slightly Bumped Corner - Reduced Price* **English edition. 272 pp., Large format. Hardcover**  A catalogue book about the Wuppertal 'universal artist' Hans Reichel, the third in the triumphant marriage with Peter Brötzmann and Peter Kowald. Hans Rei…

**English/German edition. Hardcover**  With Watching with my Ears, the Wuppertal artist Jorgo Schäfer presents the works he has made over 20 years during the Vision Festival in New York. The Vision Festival is an annual world festival of free jazz (f…

Mongrels—Buck Nauseef—two creatures with no pedigree or particular style who have absorbed, mixed and amalgamated numerous pedigrees and styles during long careers working closely with leading musicians of diverse genres including: orchestral, Javane…

Following the live Kind Mind recording from 2020 that focused on the 'intimate and inventive' style of improvisation the trio had been engaged in up till that point, this new full length studio album dramatically shifts the approach. Built around 6 n…

"Dialog: Two Rooms One Vibraphone 1 to 6 & Five Interludes differs, however, from the classical Greek idea of dialectics, that of thesis-antithesis-synthesis, in one respect. There is thesis, from Armaroli, and antithesis, from Parker, but it is a th…

Tip! When Dirk Serries travelled last May to Portugal for a series of concerts with José Lencastre, he didn't know he was going to be invited to record some amazing sessions with several key players from the Portuguese impro scene.  This is one.  Liv…

"With Hawking Extended the two Berlin based musicians Ernst Bier & Ignaz Schick present their duo Hawking (formed in 2013) in addition with the Munich based composer, guitarist and live-electronics player Gunnar Geisse. While Hawking performed entire…

*2023 stock* Ignaz Schick and Oliver Steidle started collaborating as Ilog around 2013/2014 with celebrated concerts in the Berlin experimental underground. Their first album on Boomslang Records was released in 2015 and since then the two have been …

When Ballister hit the stage at the Catalytic Sound Festival in Chicago in December 2022, no one in the band was quite sure what to expect. Although they’d done a two-week tour of the US in April of that year, their first reunion following an almost …

*300 copies limited edition* The very unique Basque scene of sound experimentation has had two main hubs for more than twenty years: the highly regarded and sorely missed Larraskito in Bilbao, and the iconic and resilient Matadeixe / Matadero in Azko…

Peter Brötzmann collaborated with many artists in his career, regularly adding new compatriots into the fold, and Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love became one of his staunchest allies after the percussionist joined the Chicago Tentet in 2004. They …

Saxophonist Mats Gustafsson is notorious for his prolific nature and constantly expanding circle of collaborators, but few of his partnerships have been as powerful and profound as Gush, the Swedish trio which formed way back in 1988 and celebrates i…

This is a 2023 reissue vinyl LP pressing of Clay by Yosuke Yamashita Trio. The Japanese jazz composer and pianist originally released his live album in 1974, via Enja Records. Produced by Horst Weber, and Matthias Winckelmann, the album features live…

Carried by a blast of pure joy comes Black Sweat’s latest LP, the self-titled debut by the mysterious Milan based ensemble Fusione. Channeling free and spiritual jazz, funk, and a globally minded ear, all carried by heavy dose of druggy psychedelic e…

*2023 stock* From 1960 era, Hiroshi Yamazaki played with Masayuki Takayanagi, Kaoru Abe, Masabumi Kikuchi, and so on. He plays from standard Jazz to Freeform Improvisation by his original drum sounds and now he put the focus on this unit called Tryan…

*50 copies limited edition* Consisting of Patrick Shiroishi on saxophone, Kevin Sims on percussion, and Lucas Brode on guitar, Spherule Trio is a (somewhat) newly formed group playing free and guided improvisational music. This debut release was reco…

Berlin-based Banquet of Consequences is the new sextet led by double bassist Antonio Borghini. In addition to the valuable lesson of Charles Mingus, clear references to Dutch, Italian and South African jazz traditions are mixed in the group. The grou…

*Limited Edition* This Japanese trio session from the 70s is precisely the kind of record that has us exploring this era so fervently. Filled with warm, soulful sounds, inventive changes, and engaging rhythms, the album maintains a subtle funk underc…

*Limited Edition* Japanese guitarist Masayuki Takayanagi's performance in this set is bold and powerful, not entirely "angry" but striking nonetheless. His sharp-edged guitar work, reminiscent of Sonny Sharrock's experiments, avoids noise for its own…