Jazz & Improvisation / Free Improvisation

The magical encounter of three skillful players, right before their self titled debut on ECM. On September 1, 1978, the musical trio Codona performed live in Willisau, Switzerland. This Swiss FM broadcast captured Codona in full flight, with Collin Walcott on sitar, Don Cherry on trumpet, and Nana Vasconcelos on percussion. Their performance weaved a magical web of sound. The opening track, “New Light,” is a 16-minute journey of pure joy

Tip! The trio of Japanese Saxophone legend Akira Sakata with the scandinavian rhythm section presents already his fifth album! While the trio was on a Japan tour in 2019, Sakata arranged for a handful of special collaborations, with some of Japan’s most important artistic figures. Featuring the avantgarde dancer Min Tanaka, the pianist Yuji Takahashi and a heavyweight veteran of Japanese experimental music - drummer Takeo Moriyama. Moriyama was playing with Sakata in the Yosuke Yamashita Trio an…

*2024 stock* The new ONJQ (Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet), with new members Shinpei Ruike (Tp) and Osamu Imagome (Tb), will release their first album, "Hat and Beard," featuring a selection of songs and edits from live recordings from their 2018 tour. Mixed & mastered by Soichiro Nakamura (Peace Music). Includes songs by Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, and Wayne Shorter, plus self covers and new originals, for a total of 6 songs over 70 minutes.

**50th Anniversary Edition** Quoting Dustygroove, this is an incredibly inventive album from pianist Steve Kuhn – one that takes his earlier modern style, and fuses it with a warmer sort mode for the 70s! The approach is quite unique – in that Kuhn's core trio style is augmented both by additional percussion from Airto, plus occasional string quartet backing – for a sound that's fresh and different on each new tune! Some tracks feature Fender Rhodes, but most are acoustic – and Steve even sings …

Masayuki Takayanagi, electric jazz guitar. Nobuyoshi Ino, contra bass. Hiroshi Yamazaki, drums. Recorded live at Yokohama Airegin on August 26, 1984. Remastering and remix by Yukio Kojima from Takayanagi's private tapes. Linernote (in Japanese) by Kazuo Imai.

* 2020 Stock * Not Blues is a live recording of the contemporary jazz group Masayuki Takayanagi Jazz Contemporary 4, which was formed in February 1969. It was the year when the group New Direction was formed and the first recording "Independence" under the name of New Direction was released in September the following year. In other words, this work is a record of "jazz performance" just before Masayuki Takayanagi moved to free jazz. According to the commentary by guitarist Kazuo Imai (that studi…

"In the spirit of expansive expression; deep connection to the Sea as it furthers the Sound. The rumination of consideration put forth thru a profound triumvirate of Beings, Fathers, Sons, Family Members, Loved Ones. The Most Powerful Movements of Love are Subtle. They are sublime. They are felt before and after any note  is played by the three of us. We are supportive of each other as people, in the true spirit of a Trio. Equilateral in the degrees of consideration towards each portion of our h…

Black vinyl / 505mcn paper / Hand Plasticization / PVC outers / original artwork / 250 copies edition. 1970 freeform jazz rarity. Noah Howard was born in 1943 in New Orleans and, like many of his contemporaries, first played music in church as a child. In his 2010 book, 'Music in My Soul', Howard reflected upon his childhood in New Orleans and the influence the city had on him: “Growing up in New Orleans was like receiving a steady diet of music, and my taste in music became increasingly more so…

Frank Heer about idea of triple LP At Low Noon set up by founder of Chuchchepati Orchestra, double bass player and improviser Patrick Kessler: ‘Patric Kessler is not afraid to stare death into the eyes. Twelve times in June 2020, he challenged people to a duel, although dueling has been outlawed in Switzerland since 1937.But no fear! Patrick Kessler, challenged his opponents, who arrived by train and were armed with an instrument, solely musically.When the train arrived at 12:12 noon each day, P…

The Jazz Times has described Barrett’s style as “diced bits of Derek Bailey skronk” infused with “Delta blues twang,” and the Free Music Collective has lauded his playing as “singularly rhythmically genius.” In 2019, his first album, Cowboy Transfiguration—featuring Joe Morris on guitar and MacArthur Fellow Tyshawn Sorey on percussion—garnered critical acclaim for its distinctive sonic landscapes and virtuosity. Last few years Brad performed with jazz luminaries such as Jason Moran, Sheila Jorda…

"All lovers of free improvised music know them well saxophonist Paul Dunmall one of the fathers of the British free impro scene, Tobias Delius one of the Old Continent's most respected saxophonists and clarinetists and the marvelous rhythm section of Olie Brice double bass and Mark Sanders. Such four seasoned artists together in a recording studio guarantee great things will happen." - Fundacja Słuchaj

"Legendary saxophonist and improviser Harri Sjostrom knows how to build bands. This has certainly been the case since the Lifting The Bandstand album, but back then the great Cecil Taylor was the leader. This is certainly one of the many lessons Harri Sjostrom has learned from the brilliant pianist and leader. He has since given evidence of this an endless number of times. The latest band he has established is a quartet with Elisabeth Harnik, arguably one of the most important pianists in improv…

"The time in Porto when Barry Guy and The Blue Shroud Band recorded an album all this here would also be a time when a group of outstanding artists and warm friends also had the opportunity to spend time making music together outside the big band formula. It's not easy to bring together some of Europe's most original artists, and it's not easy to assemble such a stellar quintet with Savina Yannatou, Julius Gabriel, Agusti Fernendez, Barry Guy and Ramon Lopez. It's a great thing to be able to doc…

*Limited edition of 500 copies.* In 1966, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach assembled his first large ensemble to play his compositions “Globe Unity” and “Sun.” This 14-piece band, which brought together some of the leading figures in European improvised music, would eventually expand – incorporating not only Europeans but also American and Asian musicians – and assume its rightful name: Globe Unity Orchestra. In its nascent outing, beautifully recorded at Ariola Studio in Cologne, Schlippenba…

*the LP and 2CD contain different material.* First physical solo release from legendary vocal improvisor, dancer, and performer Maggie Nicols, and the follow up to Creative Contradiction (Takuroku 2020). While she might be best known as an improviser (most notably in Spontaneous Music Ensemble, the Feminist Improvising Group and more recently with the likes of Les Diaboliques, Maggie Nicols’ talents stretch into song, dance, poetry, performance and composition. When Cafe OTO was shut over lockdo…

*In process of stocking* The follow-up to 2018's underground jazz milestone from Los Angeles-based musicians Sam Gendel & Sam Wilkes. Music for Saxofone & Bass Guitar More Songs collects nine additional songs from the duo. Performed, recorded, mixed and produced by Sam Gendel + Sam Wilkesadditional bass by Daniel Aged

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, Javanese gamelan, jazz, Ghanaian music and dance, r&b, Hindustani classical music, free improvisation, Balinese gamelan, Turkish classical Sufi music… Recordings and performances have been with, amongst many others, The Necks, Evan Parker, Jack Bruce, Bill…

Berlin trumpeters Axel Dörner and Lina Allemano team up to create experimental improvised sonic explorations, both in duo and in larger trumpet-ensemble form. The pieces' titles reference the small lesser-known objects circling around the sun in our solar system; the album’s title Aphelia being the furthest distance away in orbit around the sun.

“Una ofrenda a la ausencia” (an offering to absence) explores in depth the rawness, harshness and roughness of sound embracing the intense and unfiltered expressions that emerges from absence.

Collaborators for two decades, Marcia Basssett (guitar) and Samara Lubelski (violin) play electric improvisation. This is their 8th duo release and first on CD and streaming.

“Primitive” is Jessen’s first full-length release. A raw solo saxophone recording born out of anger and isolation. At times, it screams violently. At others, it slowly pierces. At all times, it is a reaction to Jessen’s surroundings.

Superb free improvisation from the UK trio of Nathaniel Catchpole on tenor sax, John Edwards on double bass, and Eddie Prevost on drums and bowed tam-tam, three generations of improvisers pushing the envelope of spontaneous composition in accomplished and playful dialog. " Nothing changes. However, how do we initiate or revive a sense of investigation? How do we push beyond the merely presentational? Market acceptability is surely a too limited artistic objective. Maybe, no objective a…

Matchless Recordings presents a live concert by Eddie Prévost, N.O. Moore, and Jason Yarde recorded at the Vortex Jazz Club, in London, UK, on February 22nd, 2020, by Giovanni de Rovere. The album includes four tracks performed by Eddie Prévost - Drums, N.O. Moore - Electric Guitar, Effects, Jason Yarde - Alto Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone, Electronics.

The improvisational and untraditional piano trio of Michel Wintsch (piano, synthesizers), Christian Weber (bass), and Christian Wolfart (drums) in a fantastic, live performance from Willisau.

*2022 stock. In process of stocking.* 'The bands Atomic and School Days share the same rhythm section : Ingebrigt Haker Flaten on bass and Paal Nilssen-Love on drums. Atomic further consists of Magnus Broo on trumpet, Fredrik Ljungkvist on tenor sax and Bb clarinet, and Havard Wiik on piano. School Days has Chicagoans Jeb Bishop on trombone and Ken Vandermark on baritone sax, Bb and bass clarinet and Norwegian Kjell Nordeson on vibraphone. After "Nuclear Assembly Hall" this is the second release…

Stormy Waiter is the brand new album by Giancarlo Schiaffini (trombone, electronics) and Claudio Chianura (samples, electronics), an indefinable, intense, amusing work, eleven tracks of improvisation, electronics, jazz, ambient... To be listened to in one breath

Chicago-based innovator and educator Isaiah Collier is opening up new dimensions in the jazzwise continuum. A saxophonist by trade whose multi-instrumental talents and compositional prowess have stretched the limits of the form, Parallel Universe represents a new chapter in Collier’s musical journey. Having already performed with a diverse range of musicians such as Chance The Rapper, Waddada Leo Smith, Chicago jazz royalty Angel Bat Dawid and his own band The Chosen Few, Collier’s latest work a…

** 2024 Stock. Digipack CD with 16 pages booklet inserted inside a gatefold cover ** Don Cherry lived in Sweden 1965-1985. This is a live recording made in Stockholm 1968 (and some tracks from 1971) that was supposed to be released in the beginning of the 70's but that has never been released until now! Don Cherry plays together with the best Swedish (as well as Turkish) jazz musicians from that time. World jazz or Multi Kulti, Don Cherry didn't think in genres. At Caprice Records we are very ha…

*2023 stock* Double concert of sax titan Evan Parker and Italian electronic musician Walter Prati. The first CD is a reissue of Hall of Mirrors released in 1991 on MM&T label. Digitally recorded at FX studio Milan, February 1990. The second CD, Pulse, was recorded in May 2016 at the Limonaia of Villa Strozzi, Florence, during Tempo Reale festival.

Recorded live in a French club in May 1978, this important document captures the Soft Head line up on cracking form and in quality audio crispness. The original LP was released in 1978 (OG527) and the CD reissue (OGCD013) in 1996, including two extra tracks. Please note the typo on the spine - Soft Heap - this album does not feature Pip Pyle! Hugh Hopper - bass guitarElton Dean - alto sax, saxelloAlan Gowen - electric piano, synthesiserDave Sheen - drums

ESP-Disk' present a CD reissue of Peter Lemer Quintet's Local Colour, originally released in 1968. British pianist Peter Lemer studied with Jaki Byard, Paul Bley, and Bill Dixon. His lengthy and distinguished career has found him in a wide variety of settings. As an avant-garde jazz pianist, he recorded with Spontaneous Music Ensemble; in the jazz fusion realm, he was a member of Gilgamesh and Paraphernalia; as a progressive rock keyboardist, he played with Gong, Baker Gurvitz Army, the Mike Old…

Not Two Records presents a live concert by Jubileum Quartet recorded at the 23rd Cekno Jazz Festival, in Cerkno, Slovenia, on May 18th, 2108, by Borut Celik. The album includes four tracks performed by Joëlle Léandre - acoustic bass, Evan Parker - tenor sax, Agustí Fernández - piano and Zlatko Kaučič - drums and objects.

Combining the beauty of art, poetry and music this beautiful package (available as compact disc or LP) makes for a fitting send off for the great bassist Sirone who passed away not long after this recording was completed. Along with Sirone’s deep and resonant bass, the musicians in this collective performance include Oluyemi Thomas on bass clarinet, flute, soprano, musette and percussion (he also composed the music) and Michael Wimberly on drums and percussion. Like the meditative poem that is i…

Recorded by Nick Symons at Summer Bummer Festival, DE Studio, Antwerp, August 26th, 2018. Rodrigo Amado - tenor saxophone, Gonçalo Almeida - double bass, Onno Govaert - drums. Festival curated by Koen Vandenhoudt & Christel Kumpen with production by Sound in Motion.

One Line, Two Views features seven compositions for nine-piece ensemble by Muhal Richard Abrams. Works range from the subtle textural and tonal explorations of “"Textures,”" “"Hydepth,"” and the title track to the hard bop revisitations of “"11 over 4"” and “"The Prism 3."” The disc is rounded out by an ebullient, joyous, and celebratory “"Tribute to Julius Hemphill and Don Pullen"” and the blues-tinged "“Ensemble Song." Abrams opts for unique instrumentation including violin, harp, and accordio…

One of the rarest albums ever from the mighty Masahiko Satoh, a composer and arranger,as well as a key figure in the avantgarde music from Japan. Originally issued on Japan Columbia in 1970, the two sides of very free piano show a sensitivity that's really amazing – still moments of freedom that reflect Satoh's connection to the avant garde of the time, interwoven with his own sense of cosmic creation, in ways that are similar to his later projects. Born in Tokyo, in 1941, Masahiko Satoh's ear…

A live recording from a piece premiered at the 2023 Cheltenham Jazz Festival, and later recorded at The Vortex. Laura Jurd was commissioned to write this piece for scored ensemble plus improvising quartet, and the resulting piece balances the composed and improvised elements beautifully in the fast moving 45 minute work which is very much in the tradition of the best British jazz. Laura writes - "I don’t think I’ll ever forget hearing Paul Dunmall play for the first time. Whilst aware of his gra…

Extremely personal and passionate, cellist Okkyung Lee recorded this album after separation from her instrument for months; the 9 pieces are layered with strings, instrument sounds, voice and with profound timing, creating an intensely beautiful album reflecting the anguish and loss of the time.

A set of  high intensity free jazz interactions captured live at The Vortex, London in early 2024. Brackenbury and Bianco have worked together as a duo for a number of years and this is their third Discus Music release, following their opening fire music statement Rising Up (112CD) and the mystical Hildegard von Bingen + Coltrane inspired Wayward Mystic (140CD). The addition of Pope and O’Gallagher expands the duo into a formidable improvising quartet. Tony Bianco writes: “In this world overwhel…

**300 copies** In its 6th release, Mr. Nakayasi Records treat us with a rich and adventurous recording by The Miracle, a group of musicians with individual and collective links to Belgium’s free-improv music scene. The Miracle is a live capture of the ensemble's epic debut at Studio Grez, Brussels in December 2018. Recalling the spirits of Mirakle, uncompromising Derek Bailey’s album with Jamaaladeen Tacuma and Calvin Weston, this release presents an inspired, innovative and immediate intersecti…