Jazz /
Libres (Festival de Massy 26 Octobre 1975)
"Armonicord. In 1977 an album was released under the name of Armonicord, of which I have just found a copy through a mutual friend: Esprits de Sel. Having heard of the album's release at that time, the memory of the presence of harpsichordist Odile Bailleux and drummer Christian Lete undoubtedly made me imagine a possible sort of chamber music. In the cover, we can admire the graphic scores of baritone saxophonist Jouk Minor, all in curves and ellipses with instrument and timing indications. A m…
The Time Is Now!
Phil Ranelin's first record as a leader is worlds away from his later 1976 offering, Vibes From the Tribe. The Time Is Now is a vanguard jazz record, full of the spirit, determination, and innovation inspired by John Coltrane, Eric Dolphy, Cecil Taylor, Pharoah Sanders, and Archie Shepp. Recorded in 1973 and 1974 and released at the end of 1974, the set shows Ranelin to be an imposing composer and frightfully good trombonist. The original album contained six compositions that are a deep musical …
The Warriors
*2023 stock* Long awaited, never before published live chronicles of legendary Kondo / Chadbourne / Centazzo 1979 Italian tour. The document of the time, the music, and one of the direction of the improvised art form in late 70s. "We showed up at the train with all the equipment, 50 cases of percussion. The organizer is five hours late to meet. Then we all get searched on highway by the Italian police, looking for terrorists of the Red Brigade…" - Eugene Chadbourne
Cjant
*2023 stock* Released originally as double LP: Cjant - First Concert For Small Orchestra Based Upon Friulian Folk Songs, is Centazzo's first orchestral composition combining a string section along with the original Mitteleuropa (Free Jazz) Orchestra. The name for the ensemble came not only from the cultural background of its members but also from middle-European mold of the music written for it.
In the Mitteleuropa Orchestra, Centazzo brought together the finest artists in the field of creativ…
Moon In Winter
*2023 stock* "In February 2010 my good friend, pianist Nobu Stowe, invited me for some concerts in the Baltimore area. Since in the same period I was scheduled to perform in duo with John Zorn in New York, I gladly accepted. What thrilled me was the idea to play again with Nobu and with some terrific musicians that I never had the chance to perform with Dave Ballou, Daniel Barbiero and Achille Succi. The quintet recorded some of my compositions structured in the way to present instrumental combi…
Escape From 2012
*2023 stock* "On February 20th 2010 I had the privilege to start my musical collaboration with Don Preston, performing live a concert of improvised music at the South Pasadena Conservatory of Music. A very versatile keyboardist who deserves much greater recognition, Don is one of the few synthesizer players to develop his own sound on the instrument. Preston may be best known as the keyboardist with Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention, but is first and foremost a fine jazz pianist who has worked …
Music Of John Coltrane
*2023 stock* "There have been many tributes to the great tenor saxophonist John Coltrane since his passing, and the years have done nothing to dull the power of his music. This is a heartfelt nod to Coltrane from a collective group consisting of Dominic Duval on bass, Jimmy Halperin on tenor saxophone and Brian Willson on drums. The group plays music from each phase of Coltrane's influential career, and they make their own personal statements from these well known compositions. Opening with "Gia…
Clangs
*2023 stock* "I have a vivid memory of the time I first met Steve Lacy in Milan: I had finally the opportunity not only to know but to perform with one of the myths of the avant-garde scene of the time. As hermetic and polite as his music, Steve was the man who, with his phrase 'play what you feel' tore down the curtain that separated my technique from my creativity. Clang swas the fruit of a number of concerts and two weeks we spent together, sometimes talking, sometimes just simply in silence,…
Snowplow
*2023 stock* "hi Andrea - here it's just cold - I'd love to have some real snow here like we used to have in my childhood, even up to the 1980's! My children have never been in snow up to their knees and their knees are not that tall!"
I wrote these words to Andrea as we discussed our upcoming performances and recording during his visit to NYC in February 2009. As they say,"Be careful what you wish for..." So it snowed. Not a blizzard, but it was snow and it came down relentlessly. We play…
The Complete Recording Vol. 2 - Halcyon Days
*2023 stock* Having been fortunate enough to witness these three masters of improvisation reconvene after nearly thirty years of separation at the 2010 Improvisor Festival, I can say with the utmost confidence that time has not diminished the creative fire that first led them to collaborate so many years ago. Driven by the same passion and intensity for sonic shapeshifting that sparked their first European and American tours together in the late 1970's- and some of the first transcontinental int…
Concert in Vilnius
*2023 stock* This concert was recorded during the Vilnius Jazz Festival, 15th October, 2017 at Russian Drama Theater, Vilnius, Lithuania. Line-up consists of Evan Parker - soprano and tenor saxophones, Barry Guy - bass, Paul Lytton - drums and percussion. Sound Engineer: Valdas Karpuška, mixed by Evan Parker. Mastered by Arūnas Zujus at MAMAstudios. Original cover painting by Paul Lytton, design by Oskaras Anosovas.
Silent Vociferation
*2023 stock* A tandem of two ingenious personalities presents an improvised music album - French guitarist Marc Ducret and Lithuanian saxophonist Liudas Mockūnas. These musicians have collaborated for several years already - they both are featured on bands such as Toxikum and Megaphone with Stefan Pasborg and Paul Brosseu also with Copenhagen Art Ensemble.
Transcendental Numbers
*2023 stock* "Flanked by a pair of stalwarts who, in his own words, “have a history going back over thirty years”, guitarist Terrence McManus brings the right attitude and a considerable number of no-frills approaches to an instrument that, especially in jazz, has the potential to become the mother of all commonplaces. On the contrary, ever since the opening track “Written In The Cracking Of The Ice”, an unexpected subversion slashes the ears: not a clean pitch in sight, clumsily introverted str…
Channels Of Consciousness
*2023 stock* "Recorded at Roulette in New York City, Channels of Consciousness is a rollercoaster of polyrhythmic madness, which is hardly surprising regarding the fact that the rhythm section consists of Hooker on drums and voice, Sanga on percussion and Adam Lane on bass. The whole set starts with the three outlining the musical framework before Dave Ross (guitar) and Chris DiMeglio (trumpet) join the crew contributing tons of cracked solos full of fragmented and dislocated phrases. The tracks…
Live at Kerrytown House
*2023 stock* "Though modern, “avant-garde” jazz is an ensemble music often based on collective improvisation, solo performance is its own extraordinarily fruitful sub-area of investigation for the creative improviser. Without a reactive, interpretive partner (or several), the solo recital blurs the lines between composition and improvisation as the performer enters a world of unfettered development. Greene has been performing and recording solo since the 1970s, and these settings have yielded so…
Upcoming Hurricane
"I was already familiar with Pascal Niggenkemper's work as a result of the release, Klippe by Thomas Heberer, early this summer and a superb trio with Robin Verheyen and Tyshawn Sorey, PN Trio. So this was always going to be an exciting adventure to see what his new trio would put forth. And the new album, Upcoming Hurricane, pretty much says it all. This is a heavy storm of sound that comes on quietly but resonates brightly over 60+ minutes. Clean, open and improvised, Niggenkemper is a brillia…
Katarsis4
*2023 stock* Katarsis4 - saxophone quartet from Lithuania founded by Arminas Bižys, Kazimieras Jušinskas, Algirdas Janonis, and Danielius Pancerovas. Their music moves between structurally free improvisation, which makes it sound each time differently, as well as academic music and the motives of Lithuanian folk music. The saxophone quartet creatively presents the instrument itself - extending the use of saxophone by unusual methods. Also, the quartet not only uses extended techniques for extrac…
The Attic
*2023 stock* "This is a stellar freely improvised session featuring Rodrigo Amado on tenor saxophone, Goncalo Almeida on bass and Marco Franco on drums, recorded live in Portugal in December of 2015. "Shadow" opens the album with scraping bowed bass that is recorded beautifully, giving the sound a physical immediacy and presence. After the epic bowed bass opening, Amado's raw, rending saxophone and Franco's measured percussion enter, imposing their power upon the proceedings, burning a path thro…
Hydro 2
*2023 stock* Music for soprano sax and water prepared keyless overtone saxophones.
Hasparren
*2023 stock* "Recorded in Hasparren, in the French basque county, we find two of the country's most eloquent free improvisers in a fantastic duo album. Daunik Lazro is on baritone sax and Joëlle Léandre on bass. Their music is a sheer delight. It is subtle, nuanced, powerful and sensitive, flowing in the most natural kind of way, together in the same direction. [...] Beautiful, beautiful ... and rich." - Stef Gijssels