Jazz & Improvisation / Psych

Bomb! The debut recording by The Ancients, the intergenerational coalition of Isaiah Collier, William Hooker and William Parker formed by Parker to play concerts in conjunction with the Milford Graves' “A Mind-Body Deal” exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and now a working group. Across 2LPs of side-length long-form improvised sets recorded at 2220 Arts & Archives in LA and The Chapel in San Francisco, The Ancients bring the free jazz trio languages first explored by t…

Land Back! An unadulterated opening statement intoned by Saul Williams three times, as he joins Carlos Niño & Friends in sound ceremony underneath oak and black walnut trees in Coldwater Canyon Park, Los Angeles, on December 18, 2024. The performance, which was organized by Noah Klein of Living Earth on the grounds of longstanding conservationist organization TreePeople, was the first of its kind for longtime friends and collaborators Williams and Niño. The two have been in contact since 1997 an…

2025 stock 2013 repress, black vinyl. "1968 debut album from the king of the psychedelic bayou -- the hypnotic, mystical and powerful sound of the swamp coming to life. As he became Dr. John (real name Mac Rebennack), it was his LA session work with musicians like Sonny & Cher, Canned Heat, and Zappa that allowed him to start conjuring up his visions of guitar psych-pop to walk alongside his authentic New Orleans upbringing. While Gris Gris contains moments that make it a type stamped symbol of …

Founded in the vibrant musical haven of Brussels in 2015, Azmari have been crafting a truly unique tapestry of musical exploration. Melding intricate jazz textures with intoxicating oriental influences, mesmerizing ethio grooves, enigmatic dark funk, and the pulsating beats of dub music, Azmari defies conventional labels to weave a narrative of sonic innovation and artistic liberation. Influences range from an eclectic array of artists, including Okay Temiz, Heliocentrics, Whitefield Brothers, S…

Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse by Eugene McDaniels is a singular statement of early-70s soul dissent, bridging the realms of jazz, funk, and political activism. With inventive musicianship and lyrics addressing injustice, colonialism, and resistance, the album remains a powerful, relevant artifact, both musically adventurous and unflinching in its message.​

Tip! With the opening phrase of “En Tornasol,” an unseen barrier melts away to reveal an alien landscape. Early European composers felt that their work reflected in its structure the divine nature of the material world. Via tuning, form, and contrapuntal alchemy, these musicians sought to illuminate and edify the complex and perfect order of existence. The music recorded here also reflects the contours of an ordered world, but it is no place any of us has ever visited. By assembling far-flung bu…

Tip! Edition of 66 numbered copies. Straight outta Jutland comes the new album by Denmark’s Lenny Kalimba. Set your ears adrift in warm scenic sounds, and watch them dance blissfully spasmodic. Homemade flutes, carved from a sacred bamboo bush burning with playful awe, float across the sonic spheres to mind-melt with protofunkoid kalimbas. Electronic beats and acoustic drums swing each other to a higher level of groove. Recorded on tape for a warm listening pleasure, and hereby presented as a ta…

*2024 stock* A group of musicians invited by Devin Brahja Waldman and Ziad Qoulaii for a recording session in Montreal, QC. This music speaks about freedom and evolution of consciousness. The album could be categorized as improvised Gnawa Jazz Krautrock: a combination of sounds we are able to discover for the first time thanks to the artists involved.

*100 copies limited edition* "Will and I have been playing together for a very long time and in a lot of very different contexts. Our musical history goes back to playing basements and art galleries in Providence in 2008, wanders through a years-long informal residency playing as a sax and guitar duo in Bushwick and Ridgewood, and brings us up to just last week when Will joined Taper’s Choice at a sold out Brooklyn Bowl to celebrate Relix Magazine’s 50th anniversary—more on that again later. In …

An electrified meeting of minds, Candy Girl is a lost 1975 session by jazz pianist Mal Waldron, recorded in Paris with core members of the mighty Lafayette Afro Rock Band, the American funk unit who had made France their home and whose deep grooves would later be mined by generations of hip-hop producers. By 1975, Waldron was a decade into his self-imposed exile from the United States—a transformed musician who had reassembled his sound in Europe and Japan after a devastating breakdown in the ea…

P-Vine is delighted to announce the release of one of Japan's most coveted albums of the 70s, "Mangekyou" by singer-songwriter Yoshiko Sai. Produced in 1975 by Master musician Yuji Ohno, the album features Yoshiko Sai's superbly crafted songs and crystal clear voice over Ohno's lush, funky sound and breezy arrangements. A strong buzz has been growing around the album over the years and original copies now change hands for large sums of money. This is the first time "Mangekyou" is available outsi…

Matsuli Music is proud to announce the first vinyl reissue of Philip Tabane’s Sangoma ("Spiritual Healer") since its 1978 release. Remastered from the original tapes with lacquers cut by Frank Merrit and pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl at Pallas in Germany, this definitive edition re-asserts the power of one of South Africa’s landmark recordings. Featuring new liner notes by cultural critic Kwanele Sosibo and artwork restoration by Siemon Allen, Sangoma returns in full force through an extende…

Orbital is the debut album from Orbital Ensemble, a Toronto-based jazz fusion group melding psychedelic grooves, Brazilian MPB influences, and intricate improvisation. The resulting LP weaves together melodic openness, vintage moods, and crisp ensemble playing, offering an immersive sonic experience that feels both exploratory and deeply rooted.​

"Fantastic debut LP by this severely talented instrumental duo, currently based around Hampshire College unless I am much mistaken. Living Window is comprised of drummer Cameron Mitchell and guitarist Mila Dorji, who have create an album of pile-driving avant garde hunch reminiscent of pre-Mahavishnu McLaughlin’s slow-hand recordings with Tony Williams or Billy Cox. Mitchell drumming mixes rock and jazz attacks in equal measure, either drawing out rhythms or pounding them straight into pumice. A…

2024 stock. Valuable of 1975 reissue of Finnish Jazz. Day is Over, an album often credited to Esko Linnavalli Quintet but without any mention of performing group on the cover, was born during a series of Finnish Jazz Music Workshop events, led by Heikki Sarmanto and Esko Linnavalli, out which the New Music Orchestra UMO was born. A UMO-anticipating 14-headed workshop band gathered to rehearse at the rock club Tavastia in 1974. Out of that group emerged a quintet, who took a trip to Stockholm to …

Renowned Swedish musician Tomas Hallonsten’s debut solo recording started out as a Mark Hollis-influenced project featuring Hallonsten’s instrumental compositions sparsly performed with acoustic guitar,piano, bass and drums at its core. Gradually the music morphed and eventually it turned out as a solo album where the compositions came to life mainly via Hallonsten’s unique treatment of drum machine and synths.

Edition of 50 copies. Recorded on shitty 70s consumer tape decks, Fair Enough is a lo-fi experience you can play at your stoner parties. In an age where the dance floor is no longer the place to hook up, Fair Enough will calm your emotions, it will lower your libido, it will keep you out of trouble. This is a mixtape that features different music improvised and played by a trio already known as "The Blue Men". Nicolò Masetto on keys, Simone Coppiello on drums and A.M. Davì on bass. Working with …

Edition of 33 copies. The Jooklo Duo has transformed into an electrifying quintet, featuring Virginia Genta on saxophone, Michele Guglielmi on keyboards, Otto Willberg on bass, David Vanzan on drums, and Andrea Davì on percussion. Spontaneous tunes bursting with vibrant jazz vibes, mind-bending fusion discoveries. Recorded in Italy between october 31st and november 2nd 2023

New Zealand’s jazz luminaries have assembled to form an all-star cluster: The Circling Sun.

A rare album, “Fisher”, was originally released on the Nentu label in 1976. Think Grant Green meets Eddie Hazel. This LP has it all: gorgeous Soul Jazz, wahed-out fuzz rock, dirty, head-nodding funk rhythms. A monster psychedelic soul-funk instrumental album. This is less jazzy than the “Third Cup” and “The Next One Hundred Years”, released by Chicago’s Cadet label and more cosmic psych funk across both sides and gets super exploratory and trippy. Edward Thomas Fisher was born in Little Rock, Ar…

SML is the quintet of bassist Anna Butterss, synthesist Jeremiah Chiu, saxophonist Josh Johnson, percussionist Booker Stardrum, and guitarist Gregory Uhlmann. Their second album, How You Been, finds the supergroup of prolific composer/producers pushing ever further into the hyperrealist, collectivist approach to music creation nascently explored on their debut Small Medium Large, which was lauded as “awe-inspiring” by Glide, “exuberant” by the Los Angeles Times, and “an exciting milestone” by Pi…

"Gorgeous quintet improv space explored at Chicago's ProMusica studios. Long-time partners Przemyslaw Drazek (trumpet, strings, percussion) and Brent Fuscaldo (voice, guitar, percussion, harmonica) join up again with Hamid's percussion, Tatsu's bass & shamisen, and Thymme's piano & various, just as they did on last year's amazing Ourania (FTR513). The sounds now are spacious, comfortable explorations of unknown sonic turf. There may be a bit less of the aggressive edge that marked their earlier …

*2025 stock* Garden of Unknowing is a work of staggering ingenuity from one of Toronto’s most talented and in demand multi-instrumentalists. Utterly on his own, Colin Fisher masterfully employs guitar, saxophone, synthesizer, drums and bass to create a shifting suite of nocturnal jazz. These are ghosts of song, which, going by the simple clear titles, emphatically question the very nature of existence. Fisher’s breath-taking technical ability to conjure whole sound worlds entirely on his own is …

An irresistible splurge of sax, krautrock grooves and heavy modular doom that should excite fans of Bent Arcana, Holden/Zimpel and The Comet is Coming.” -- Uncut "Blend of disobedient free jazz with krautrock" -- Louder Than War Kimatika, the 3rd album by the Slovenian audio-visual trio Etceteral, is a visceral plunge into the raw undercurrents of futuristic jazz, motoric propulsion, free improv and elastic compositions. A growling baritone sax weaves through pulsating electronics and restless d…

Together since 1980, Massacre is one of the world’s classic cutting edge rock guitar trios. Opening for Metallica on the stage of the Roskilde Rock festival in front of an audience of 10,000 metal heads, they break out like never before. Here Frith puts down his brushes and chains and whips out some of the greatest flatout guitar fireworks he has ever performed. Three masters of rock improvisation kick out the jams in one of the greatest performances of their nearly thirty year existence. Astoni…

Over the past few months, five young musicians performing under the name Omasta have taken the Polish and European jazz scenes by storm. Having gained recognition for their intense live shows, they are now ready to deliver their debut studio effort. Jazz Report from the Hood a collectively composed album immersed in the textures of city streets and everyday urban life. The name Omasta comes from a regional Krakow dialect word meaning “fat added to food for flavor.” It’s a fitting metaphor: the g…

Chicago Underground Duo is the long-running collaborative project of composer/trumpeter/electronicist Rob Mazurek (Exploding Star Orchestra, Isotope 217, New Future City Radio with Damon Locks) and composer/drummer/mbiraist Chad Taylor (jaimie branch’s Fly or Die, Marshall Allen’s Ghost Horizons, Luke Stewart’s Silt Trio). Hyperglyph is their first album in 11 years, and 8th in the absolute cabinet of wonders that is the Chicago Underground Duo. The pair have played music together in a multitude…

Orbits, the sophomore LP from The Circling Sun, channels the cosmic energy of '70s spiritual jazz, filtered through synths, layered percussion, and ethereal choirs. The Aotearoa collective expand their sonic universe with nods to Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Azymuth, and ambient jazz — offering deep listening for jazz heads and newcomers alike.

Kaleidoscopic Visions showcases Tom Skinner drawing together the many threads of his career as one of the UK’s most versatile and free-thinking contemporary musicians. Performing and recording with Sons of Kemet, The Smile, David Byrne, Meshell Ndegeocello, Alabaster DePlume, Floating Points and Peter Zummo as well as a wide range of collaborations across London’s vibrant improvised and electronic scene, Skinner’s diverse touchpoints are brought together in an album of quiet power and profound t…

Estrada Orchestra's self-titled debut album, released on Funk Night Records (FNR), is a 5-track LP that showcases the group's adventurous blend of jazz, funk, psychedelic, and disco influences. The Estonian-based quintet recorded the album mostly live in one day, capturing their raw improvisational energy with minimal overdubs and only a handful of microphones. Anchored by bass-driven grooves and swirls of cosmic keys, the tracks move fluidly between free funk, Afrobeat, and lo-fi psychedelic ja…

*2024 stock* Following the success of ‘Brink Of Extinction’ Soft Power returns with an eight track album ‘Raw Bites’. Music here is rushing forth like a fiery law - robust and flashing, sinking into psychedelic soundscapes and then ferociously breaking the waves. The band just lets the music take control leading them to express energy freely from pure creative potential, combining kinetic and crispy grooves with mysterious cinematic sonic storytelling. Soft Power delivers a mind bending musical …

Imagine it’s late afternoon, you’re outside by the lake, and there’s sunlight on the water. This is the peaceful and contemplative scene that Matt Gold and Resavoir set on their collaborative LP Horizon. Across 10 lush and exploratory tracks, it’s the product of two Chicago-based musicians—Will Miller, the acclaimed trumpeter, composer, and producer who’s worked with SZA, Whitney, and more, and Gold, a seasoned multi-instrumentalist and accomplished guitarist—effortlessly combining their distinc…

Tip! Across A Blade Because A Blade Is Whole, DePlume’s reflections on healing, dignity, and struggle are communicated through a stirring assemblage of disparate musics: ghostly and ancient folk melodies, groove-anchored maelstroms of swirling folk-jazz, elegant string arrangements that strike a midpoint between Ravel and Gainsbourg (courtesy of Macie Stewart), disembodied voices reconfiguring into the shape of a post-modern Greek chorus, noir atmosphere, and allegoric, troubadouric song. Throug…

Sound Essence is more than proud to presents a very special production from East Germany of the early 70s! One of the TOP Soul-Jazz & Beat combos in the country led by bassist and singer Horst Kruger, recorded two previously unreleased, outrageously good titles here in the newly formed septet format. "Ich will die Zeit nicht bereuen" ("I don't want to regret the time") is probably by far one of the most crispy produced German-language soul beats numbers that existed in the GDR at that time! From…

Lucifecit’s debut “Devoção” blends anthems, mantras, and hypnotic grooves—homage to a forgotten deity. Led by Lobo (bass), Pereira (drums), Almeida & Tembe (trumpets), it fuses spiritual jazz, punk-Gnawa bass, modal forms, and radiant horn improvisations.

The 2018 live performance captured on Carlos Niño & Miguel Atwood-Ferguson’s 'Chicago Waves' marked a beautiful turning point for International Anthem. The moment was recorded at our then-HQ in Chicago, Co-Prosperity, the day after Niño and Atwood-Ferguson performed as part of Makaya McCraven’s ensemble to celebrate the release of 'Universal Beings' and recreate their contributions to that album's “Los Angeles Side." The two musicians were keen to use their time in Chicago to not only support Ma…

"One of Shorter's best-selling albums from the '70s was Native Dancer, a Brazilian-oriented jazz-fusion masterpiece that boasts Herbie Hancock on acoustic piano and electric keyboards, and employs such Brazilian talent as singer Milton Nascimento (a superstar in Brazil) and percussionist Airto Moreira. Everything on this melodic, consistently lyrical effort is a jewel, and that includes Hancock's "Joanna's Theme," as well as pieces by Nascimento ("From the Lonely Afternoons" and "Ponta de Areia"…

'Formed in Bristol back in 2014 Tezeta were an experimental 8 piece instrumental group effortlessly combining Ethiopian jazz, Afrobeat, prog and improvisation. The band spawned out of the much loved Bloom Collective - a collective of musicians and friends from an experimental corner of the city’s buzzing music scene. Led by composer, pianist and bandleader Daniel Inzani (Spindle Ensemble, Cosmo Sheldrake) the band also featured tenor saxophonists Andrew Neil Hayes (Run Logan Run) and Lorenzo Pra…

Strut present the first official reissue of a landmark album in the field of African music, Mulatu Astatke’s ‘Mulatu Of Ethiopia’ from 1972.

Jeff Parker’s 2016 album The New Breed was a turning point for both Parker and International Anthem, changing the trajectory of his solo career as well as drawing an abundance of attention to our fresh imprint despite our then very limited catalog. Most importantly though, the album is the first to give voice to Parker’s wholly unique take on sample-based beat construction augmented by improvisation and live instrumentation (performed in this case by the high-level crew of Paul Bryan on bass, Jo…