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Frode Gjerstad, Alexander von Schlippenbach, and Dag Magnus Narvesen's first trio recording is powerful convergence of avant-garde improvisation and deep jazz sensibilities. Gjerstad’s fearless saxophone work, Schlippenbach’s adventurous piano explorations and Narvesen’s dynamic drumming create spontaneous compositions that betray a deep mutual respect.
Remember Still
“Looking back I remember still” is a graffito I saw on an electrical box near my house and as I prepared for this recording I reflected on my time living in New York and my involvement in the improvised music scene there. My decision to include the standard tune Just Friends is part of looking forward with the hope of highlighting the connections between the practice of free improvisation and the creative tradition of “Great Black Music” sometimes called jazz.
Exhaust
The music of Exhaust unfolds through real-time exploration, where quick reflexes and deep listening shape each performance. Nebbia’s powerful saxophone voice drives the ensemble with intensity, while Downes reveals a side of his playing that leans into raw immediacy and unrestrained expression. Lisle acts as both a catalyst and anchor, crafting fluid rhythmic structures that support and propel the trio’s intricate interplay. Their album moves through a vast spectrum of sound, shifting between me…
Shamanism
This is free improvised music with two saxophones and two drum sets. The theme of the music is about identity that is linked to the region and culture, especially a specific folksy and indigenous characteristic in the Korean peninsula from long ago. The whole album describes a ceremony and its atmosphere and each track follows each step that is named by an ideogram.
Poiēsis
In a spontaneous studio session, alto saxophonist Tim Berne met fellow saxophonist Masayo Koketsu and percussionist Nava Dunkelman for the first time, setting the stage for an improvisational encounter full of contrasts and surprising cohesion. Berne’s rich, dynamic tone, provided a grounded foundation, while Koketsu's innovative use of extended techniques and breathy, ethereal sounds—challenged the space with a more experimental edge.
Dunkelman, with her textural percussion, wove between the tw…
El Infierno Musical II
By inevitable coincidence, a street vendor in Buenos Aires became an instrument of providence, when he compelled attention of Christof Kurzmann, sitting outside a coffeehouse. His merchandise were small books of Hispanic writers, and the chosen one that ended up in the buyer’s pocket some eighteen years ago was a collection of poems by Argentinean poet Alejandra Pizarnik. Her works abound with music and sounds or absence of it, appreciating silence. For Kurzmann, this served as a sufficient reas…
SINN/ist
The Valentin Duit Quartett consists of Robert Unterköfler on saxophones, Tobias Meissl on vibraphone, Ivar Roban Križić on double bass and Valentin Duit on drums. The quartet interprets pieces by Valentin Duit which offer space for collective and solo improvisation in different ways. It emerged from the Tobias Meissl Trio in 2023 and has existed as a collective exploratory ensemble ever since.
Valentin Duit is a Vienna-based drummer who plays with various ensembles mainly in the fields of jazz a…
Free Music (1975-1988)
Cortizona proudly unveils Cortizona Heritage, a new sublabel created in partnership with the Study Centre for Flemish Music (SVM) to revive and showcase hidden chapters of Flemish music history.The debut release sets the tone: blending the exuberance of a marching band with the unpredictability of free improvisation, WIM Fanfare brought raw, joyful musical anarchy to city squares, parades, and unsuspecting audiences.
Mystiphonic
"Mystiphonic" is the third release from Roland P. Young on EM, following "Isophonic Boogie Woogie" [EM1045CD/LP] which was originally released in 1980 and re-issued by EM in 2005, and the 2009 "Istet Serenade" [EM1087CD/LP].
"Mystiphonic" is the fruit of two years of recordings at Young's Isophonic Sound Laboratory in Brooklyn, "comprovisations" which are more electronic than the previous EM releases, and yet this new CD retains Young's emotional life-long horn playing, a romance which began in …
Re-Union In Berlin
2025 stock The reissue of Rolf & Joachim Kühn Quartet’s "Re-Union In Berlin" on b.free is a welcome resurrection of a historic German jazz masterpiece. This album, first recorded in 1965, captures the Kühn brothers at a creative peak, blending modal jazz with free improvisation in ways that still sound fresh and daring today.
"Re-Union In Berlin" showcases Rolf Kühn’s virtuosic clarinet lines and Joachim Kühn’s exploratory piano, supported by Klaus Koch on bass and Reinhard Schwartz on drums. Ea…
Feelings
Feelings marks Jake Henry’s long-awaited return as a leader, more than a decade after his debut with Sweet Talk Glitterbomb. This album is a deeply personal exploration of the intricate harmonic language and angular counterpoint Henry developed during his formative years as a guitarist. Drawing on the frenetic energy of math rock, raw intensity of metal, and chaotic textures of noise, Henry recontextualizes common song form into a bold, genre-defying soundscape.
The quartet—featuring Brian Krock…
Of the Essence
"In the early 1990s, trombonist Jeb Bishop became an essential part of Chicago’s musically and geographically outward-looking jazz community. His mastery of the full spectrum of trombone language, from earthy melody to abstract sound effects, made him indispensable in every band he joined—including the Vandermark 5, Peter Brötzmann’s Chicago Tentet, School Days, and Engines—and the indelible quality of his compositions made his recordings with his own bands landmarks of the era. Bishop left Chic…
Look Both Days
First meetings are always a risk, but if the vibrations are right and the doors are open, magic will be made. When the members of Look Both Days (brought together by Chicago pianist Erez Dessel) took the stage on the opening night of the 2023 Catalytic Sound Festival, nobody knew quite what to expect. With Marvin Tate on the mic, Mai Sugimoto and Fred Jackson Jr. both on alto saxophone, Erez Dessel on piano, and Ben Hall on drums, these stalwarts of the midwestern improvised music scene were poi…
Groppler Zorn
*2025 stock* Emerging from the fertile ground where language meets rhythm, Groppler Zorn proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated debut album. Conceived in the transition from spoken word to music, the project embodies the belief that the urge to speak and the impulse to dance spring from the same source. Far from being a singular vision, the album is the result of a series of creative dialogues — conversations between musicians and artists from diverse, and at times opposing, a…
Double Helix Quartet
*2025 stock* The acclaimed ensemble Double Helix Quartet proudly announces the release of their highly anticipated new album, an adventurous collection that redefines the boundaries between contemporary classical music, improvisation, and experimental soundscapes. With this bold statement, the quartet reaffirms its role as one of the most forward-thinking voices in today’s chamber music scene.
Fusing tradition with innovation, the album showcases the group’s signature interplay of precision an…
Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ...
*2025 stock* Fear is Heavy, I've Got Plans ... is the debut recording by Turtle Boat, a free-jazz outfit led by Abhilasha Chebolu (Null Copula, Princsex, Gault, Ryan Jewell Quintet) featuring her compositions with additional contributions from saxophonist Alex Burgoyne (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Gault, Liver Quiver, Ryan Jewell Quintet). Joined by Dan DiPiero (Small Songs, Alex Burgoyne Quartet, Common Things), the trio first assembled in 2015 after a decade of playing together in vari…
Ism
*2025 stock* Ism highlights the distinct qualities of each member. Fred's methodical approach to melody, Ed Wilkerson’s relentless dynamism, Jim’s uncanny ability to subvert expectations, and Avreeayl's inescapable rhythm, which weaves through the music—shaping everything from textured explorations to intense grooves to wild improvisations.
Harmos – Kraków
Maya Recordings presents "Harmos – Kraków" a breathtaking new release by Barry Guy with the London Jazz Composers Orchestra. Capturing the creative spirit and electrifying artistry that has defined Guy’s decades-long career as a composer, director, and double bassist, this album is an essential document for contemporary jazz and improvisational music fans.
Recorded live, "Harmos – Kraków" showcases Guy’s celebrated composition Harmos in one of its most compelling interpretations, performed in K…
A Modicum of Blues
Polish label Fundacja Słuchaj is thrilled to announce the release of "A Modicum Of Blues," an electrifying new album by five powerhouse improvisers: Ivo Perelman (tenor sax), Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibraphone), Mark Helias (bass), and Tom Rainey (drums).
This recording captures the quintet in their purest element—live in the studio, free of plans or constraints, driven only by their joy of spontaneous creation. Renowned for his visionary approach, saxophonist Ivo Perelman assembles a…
The Cliffhanger Session
Tip! This new acoustic trio is consisting of three of the most iconic players of todays European jazz, improvisation and experimental music scene. This line-up took a long birth phase, but was a logical step and basically came out of juggling the possibilities and attempts of combining the effort of two high energy noise + electro-acoustic duos: Ignaz Schick/Oliver Steidle (Ilog) and Ingebrigt-Håker-Flaten/Ignaz Schick. Both duos started in 2013 (Ilog) and 2015 (Håker Flaten/schick) and have a l…