Jazz /
Murasaki
A powerful intergenerational trio emerges on Murasaki, featuring Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet, Marcus Gilmore on drums, and Jakob Bro on guitar. Recorded at Power Station (formerly Avatar Studios) in New York, this exploratory session unfolded spontaneously—no retakes, no discussions, just a shared musical language rooted in intuition and trust. “It felt as though this music already existed before we started playing,” Bro reflects. Murasaki captures the creative summit of three visionary artists,…
New Morning
Collective interplay is essentially about listening and giving space. If ever there was a credo for this ensemble recording, this would be it. Sometimes the soloist or a small group steps forward, other times they play as a large unit. This collective of musicians are connected through old and new friendships, a set of relations that has been formed through two decades of co-creation on stage and in the studio, and their new recording is a reaffirmation of that with an A-side of free improvisati…
Hymn book of the anciency
2010? release (VERY RARE!) ** Faruq Z. Bey - poetry, voice, alto sax, tenor sax; Mike Carey - reeds; Skeeter Shelton - reeds; Len Bukowski - contra-alto clarinet; Mike Khoury - violin; Mike Gilmore - vibes, percussion; Mike Johnston - bass, gongs, percussion; Nick Ashton - drums, percussion.
What to do with the poetry audio album? There are many of these out there over many decades by poets both famous and not so much. In fact, many of these are recorded by poets onto their laptops and then sold…
Jetway Confidential
2012 release ** Cardboard sleeve. "On Sonic Liberation Liberation Front's fourth album for High Two, Jetway Confidential, the band mightily wields their highly honed brand of Lukumi (Afro-Cuban) meets "post-avant-garde-and-everything-else" mojo. Featuring 23 musicians working under the leadership of drummer/percussionist Kevin Diehl, SLF has expanded its sound and concept even further here. Coming on the heels of 2011's well-received document, Sonic Liberation Front Meets Sunny Murray, this new …
Half of What You See
Out Of Your Head Records announces the latest chapter in creative music: 'Half of What You See' by Wrens, a bold new contribution to the label’s tradition of boundary-pushing artistry and limited-run releases. Continuing their dedication to inventive sound and visual originality, Out Of Your Head Records—spanning Richmond and Brooklyn—invites listeners into a world where sonic textures and emotional immediacy collide.
'Half of What You See' showcases Wrens at the height of their powers, blending…
Perseverance Flow
CD Edition - Fifteen years in, Joshua Abrams and his Natural Information Society have stopped trying to impress anyone and started building something genuinely necessary. Perseverance Flow strips away the expanded lineups of recent efforts, returning to the core quartet—Lisa Alvarado on harmonium, Mikel Patrick Avery on drums, Jason Stein on bass clarinet, and Abrams on guimbri—for one continuous 37-minute meditation that feels less like composed music than a natural phenomenon you've stumbled u…
Hypomaniac
This is the debut album from that modern free jazz impro trio. Hypomaniac recorded on March 15th 2025 at Thessaloniki-Greece during ''Take 2'' festival organized by defkaz records and Mikri Skini venue. The end result is absolutely fascinating, bringing a fantastic journey that is hypnotic and build up like a sonic storm setting the house on fire. The interplay between the trio sounds organic, flowing and inventive, despite their different approaches. Collective chaos but always grooving very ha…
Giovanni Di Domenico, Akira Sakata, Paal Nilssen-Love, Giotis Damianidis, Aleksandar Skoric, Petros Damianidis, Tatsuhisa Yamamoto
HyperentasisHyperentasis is a double LP celebrating the unique connection between legendary saxophonist Akira Sakata and the city of Thessaloniki. Home to Defkaz Records and the birthplace of the Damianidis brothers, Thessaloniki has welcomed Sakata countless times. This release captures two of his landmark performances as a bandleader in the city. The first LP features the group Entasis with Giovanni Di Domenico (upright piano), Giotis Damianidis (electric guitar), Petros Damianidis (double bass), and Alek…
Believe That Was Me
Believe That Was Me: An Existential Experience Starring Avant-Garde Minds, Pianist Matthew Putman, Bassist Hill Greene, and Drummer Francisco Mela
Mean Reds
Vocalist and songwriter Laura Ann Singh presents her new album Mean Reds, a deeply personal and sonically expansive project that traverses jazz, folk, and global influences with fearless honesty. Known for her evocative voice and ability to blur genre boundaries, Singh brings listeners into an intimate conversation about vulnerability, resilience, and the beauty that can emerge from darker emotional landscapes.
Mean Reds captures a spectrum of moods—from haunting ballads drenched in longing to…
Thereupon
Thereupon is the long-anticipated return of the all-star collaborative trio Fieldwork, which has been described by NPR as a “power trio for the new century.” This long-standing collective comprises three internationally revered innovators of contemporary music: alto saxophonist-composer Steve Lehman, pianist-composer Vijay Iyer, and drummer-composer Tyshawn Sorey. In the seventeen years since their last recording, Door (Pi), all three musicians have climbed to the pinnacle of the creative music …
Unclassified Affections
Unclassified Affections is the entrancing new release from drummer and composer Dan Weiss that features the convergence of some of the most intriguing musicians on the scene: Peter Evans on trumpet, Patricia Brennan on vibraphone, and Miles Okazaki on guitar. The new compositions, which were written by Weiss specifically for these musicians, range from deep, meditative moments to intense, high-energy peaks, while every track unveils a new layer of exploration.
Brennan’s sonorous mallet work co…
Climbing To Sleep
As students in the late 1980s, Julia Werntz and Pandelis Karayorgis both enrolled in Joe Maneri’s Microtonal Composition and Performance class at the New England Conservatory, beginning a formative period of mentorship and collaborations with musicians in the scene surrounding that course. During those years a special mindset was cultivated regarding rhythm and musical form, as well as the rich world of microtonal melody and harmony. We also were married during that period, but our musical paths…
Atmos
"The music of this trio, with its emphasis on phrasing, space and dialog, evokes for me the sensation of watching vapor rise and dissolve. That’s why I named the group and the album Atmos, after the Greek word for vapor. The trio has been active since 2023, especially before Brittany Karlson moved from Boston to NY, but there have been other contexts in which the three of us collaborated in different formations. There are six improvised pieces here, five originals of mine (three written specific…
Blink
"I started Blink in the summer of 2024, aiming to create a band sound where collective improvisations and responses take precedence over individual solos. The compositions are inspired by group behavioral patterns such as insect swarms and bird flocks, with their organic swells in dynamics and density. Gabe and Nate’s instruments are tuned a quarter tone sharp, giving the band a distinctive, off-balance feel – one inspired by classic African High Life bands, Indonesian Gamelan ensembles, and Del…
Beyond Scope
"Ultimately, the best free improvisation performances—and the best films—are those that refuse to be bound by rigid formulas yet still adhere to a fundamental sense of logic and cohesion. They remind us that while structure is important, the real magic happens in the space between the rules." - Mark Corroto
Further Beyond
"The history and culture of improvised music have been shaped by manifold concepts of freedom, but one in particular explains Amado’s aesthetic. It is his reference to Sam Rivers’ declaration: “Freedom does not mean unconditional renunciation of melody and rhythm, but the freedom to choose what I want to play.” It was this freedom to that led Rivers to punctuate his epic trio sets with grooves and essays on perennials like “Wheatleigh Hall.” Rivers also eschewed the labeling of his music as impr…
Magma
Esmeralda Sella is a young pianist from Ravenna, Italy. “Magma” is her debut album, and also a turning point. It’s the culmination of a journey that was «essential for understanding myself and the world around me» as she describes it. Sella recorded “Magma” with two key collaborators: Federico Giolito (double bass) and Giovanni Nardiello (drums), following years of mutual trust, shared musical experiences and extensive practice. «Our sound is the result of opinions, ideas, and doubts exchanged o…
A Near Permanent State Of Wonder
RogueArt proudly presents A Near Permanent State of Wonder, the first duo recording by pianist Alexander Hawkins and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum. Two of the most distinctive and restlessly inventive voices in contemporary creative music meet in an intimate, exploratory session that balances lyricism and abstraction, rigor and generosity, fragility and fire.
The album documents a rare level of rapport between the musicians. Hawkins, celebrated for his agile navigation between tradition, avant‑gar…
El Derecho De Vivir En Paz
The Otomo Yoshihide New Jazz Quintet (ONJQ), one of the most daring and influential ensembles in contemporary avant-garde jazz, proudly announces the release of El Derecho de Vivir en Paz. This new album embodies the group’s uncompromising vision: a deeply expressive sound that weaves together free improvisation, radical jazz traditions, and a politically charged sense of urgency.
The title, El Derecho de Vivir en Paz (“The Right to Live in Peace”), resonates with a historical and universal me…