Jazz /
(Y)earbook Volume 3
1991 release ** The third in a three volume compilation (each available separately) of 114 improvisers from around the world, covering a wide variety of approaches to improvisation. "A turbid dive into new music, this release packs everything from free-form jazz-like scraw to variations in composition, structure and situation to solo exploration." Featuring Pluto, Amy Denio, Davey Williams, LaDonna Smith, Marty Walker, Crawling With Tarts, IDLH, Ed Herrmann, Andrew Voigt, Tom Nunn, Tamio Shirais…
Honig Und Asche
1998 release ** "A cosmopolitan synthesis of visionary music and outstanding poetry" is the concept and program of "Honey and Ashes," according to the press release. This claim naturally raises many questions about the work of German saxophonist Michael Riessler: Is it jazz—what constitutes "jazz"? There is little improvisation, as "Honey and Ashes" is largely through-composed. Is it contemporary classical music? Can you find pounding bass drums in classical music? "Honey and Ashes" is a speech …
Nil
1995 release **
Monumental
1991 release ** "Combining rhythic rock strength with the unrestrainable consequence of free improvisation. In the course of playing, amazingly sharp contours arise. There is no expression for style that can describe this audacious mixture of precision and imagination. Music as a celebration of the moment with the undertone of euphoria, reflection, pure desire and wild anger. Mobile architecture, movable sounds, moving and hair-raisingly beautiful. Jon Rose: Cello, Violin, Keyboards - Peter Holl…
Edifier
2001 release ** "Gravitar were an American band who appear to be influenced by K.K. Null’s work in Zeni Geva, with similar dense walls of oppresive guitar but more expansive in it's approach. Self-proclaimed as the "world's loudest Jazz band" and described by WM. Rage as "Too noise for rock, too rock for noise...". Extreme music inspired by everything from Charlie Parker to John Zorn to the sound of breaking glass. Heavy and harsh walls of psychedelic noise!!!"
Rotti Frutti
2007 release ** "Improvisations between jazz, minimalism, cosmic influences and acid rock; few are the possible comparisons, above all probably Sunburned Hand Of The Man. The music creates a decidedly hypnotic but also tribal effect, all immersed in a spatial atmosphere in which dilated and rarefied sounds are lost around percussions that oscillate between hypnosis and obsession."
Travels
Over the years, Pat Metheny Group's Grammy-winning double live album Travels has earned a singular reputation among jazz aficionados as one of the most distinctive and impeccably recorded live jazz albums of all time. Upon its initial release, it appeared on numerous year-end best-of lists, with The Wire hailing it as simply "remarkable" and "superbly recorded."
The album captures the Pat Metheny Group during their 1982 US tour, a period when Brazilian percussionist Nana Vasconcelos had become a…
Ex-perimento #5
2007 release ** "Pangolinorchestrà is a hybrid between a village band, ICP-tet, Liberation Music Orchestra, Albert Ayler Band, Jimi Hendrix Experience, N.E.E.M., Screamin Jay Hawkins, Jannacci and assorted Bennink-stuff. “Ex-perimento #5” - recorded at the “Centro Stabile di Cultura” in San Vito di Leguzzano and produced by the same Center in cooperation with Idee Nere and Stella Nera - gives a good image of a band whose forte should be the action directed from above the stage."
NatJim
Right out of the gate one feels the energy and excitement between Japanese trumpeter Natsuki Tamura and NY drummer Jim Black, each pushing the other through strong instrumental character and outrageous technique over nine Tamura compositions recorded in the studio in Switzerland, their first recording in 25 years since their 1999 Buzz Records album White and Blue.
Mythical River
Their previous album Arrival of The New Elders presented a more varied and reflective trio, still as groovy as ever, but more structured and less jam oriented, earning them a 9/10 review in Uncut and a spot in their albums of the year list, noting their telepathic communion and concluding with “this is an Elephant9 you´ll never forget”. Reviews in Jazzwise, Shindig, Prog, Electronic Sound, The Quietus and several others followed in the same fashion. We´re delighted to confirm that Mythical River…
Music For Umbrellas
2006 release ** "This is the 2nd album by the incredible Polish Jazz ensemble Sing Sing Penelope, led by drummer Rafal Gorzycki and also including trumpeter Wojciech Jachna, saxophonist Tomasz Glazik, keyboardist Daniel Mackiewicz and bassist Patryk Weclawek. Violinist Sebastian Gruchot guests on one track. They play all original music, composed mostly by Gorzycki and Jachna or credited to the ensemble. Stylistically this is an incredible mixture of many elements from Jazz, Rock, Ambient, RIO a…
Joy & Breath Of Eternity
2025 stock In 1976, Alf Emil Eik embarked on an extraordinary journey in a studio in Oslo. Armed with a 16-track MCI recorder and a vast array of instruments, including a couple of his precious bass guitars, he set out to create his musical masterpiece. Eik, a composer, musician, technician, and producer all in one, used the studio as his compositional playground and experimented with percussion, synthesizers, bass riffs, and tape phasing effects, pushing the boundaries of what was possible at t…
Bleak House
The 1968 debut album from Norwegian guitar legend Terje Rypdal stands as a significant entry in the late 1960s jazz landscape, exemplifying the transition from psychedelic rock to a more intricate, freeform blend of jazz elements. Collaborating with legendary musicians like Jan Garbarek, Rypdal's work on this album showcases his innovative talent.
Recorded during three sessions in Oslo in 1968, Bleak House marks Rypdal’s departure from the psychedelic group The Dream as he ventured into new musi…
Oasis
Several important jazz groups and projects emerged in the early 70s, among them were Platina, featuring Arale Kaminsky and Roman Kunsman, and Jazz Workshop. Jazz Workshop are best known for their landmark fusion of jazz, Hebrew and Arabic musical forms on the album 'Mizare Israel Yekabtzenu', released in 1972. Another key group that emerged during this crucial febrile period was Oasis, fronted by jazz guitar maestro Avery Sharon. He was joined by bass player Yossie Menachem, drummer Ickie Levy &…
Maamme Laulu
2005 release ** "Braspyreet is a Helsinki-based improv/free jazz band. “Aquatic visions of spacetime bending, this quartet chants its way through the fanciful forested heavens of the north. Bathed in blankets of shimmering white snow, Braspyreet’s manic compositions will melt the surrounding ice into a swimming hole. So many things find their way into the collective psyche, but Braspyreet will destroy them all and send you off in a jewel-encrusted golden gondola to the pastures beyond.”"
Icaros
1992 release ** "Icaros was a project of the last line-up of Saxioma. A longplayer was planned but this was never realised. This recording of Icaros is based on a tape from a show in Waregem, April 1987. The variations (tracks 7 & 8) are probably recordings of rehearsals for the textile fair Made in Belgium, October 1987 (as maybe also track 9). The 'Sketchbook' are small pieces from Frits De Cauter meant as basis for compositions. The last track 'N.V. Verdriet' is the last part of an Aroma di A…
Inside: Missing Link
A 20th Century Renaissance man, cartoonist, film director, author, radio personality, record company owner, German guitarist Volker Kriegel played an important role in the European jazz-rock and fusion movements. Co-founder of the United Jazz and Rock Ensemble, Kriegel’s own groups and collaborations with American vibraphonist Dave Pike gained him a world-wide audience, as his 14 albums for MPS as leader and 15 as sideman can attest.
Volker Kriegel assembled a band of some of the leading musical…
What Happened There?
An electrifying 1st-time meeting between guitarist Keiji Haino and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura, captured live at Tokyo's Shinjuku Pit Inn, where the duo shape an unpredictable set that veers from reflective stillness to wildly passionate outbursts, their extended techniques and visceral vocals — sometimes urgent, sometimes outrageous — fueling an exhilarating and uncompromising sonic adventure.
Four Corners & Steps Ahead
*2025 stock, few available* A reissue of the rare Jazz, Funk & Fusion Library LP “Four Corners“ by Second Direction. A project of the saxophonist and flutist Fritz Münzer, produced in 1976 by “Joy Unlimited” founder Klaus R. Nagel at Tonstudio Bauer in Ludwigsburg. The new release includes six additional recordings from the band’s second unreleased album from 1978, entitled “Steps Ahead“. A long play-CD and 2LP-Set, including the great Jazz Funk tracks “Steamer“, Steps Ahead“, “Keep Going“ plus …
Variation and Creation: The Story of PAZ
Five years in the making and representing the twenty-year story of a pioneering British jazz-rock fusion band with strong Latinesque influences… whose alumni over that period included over thirty well-known British jazz musicians… but a band you might not have heard of… or have any of their eight albums… we have finally come up with ‘Variation and Creation: The Story of PAZ’. The album was produced in cooperation with the families of Dick Crouch and Geoff Castle, the heart of the of the band ove…