Peter Evans (Evans / Eldh / Black):
Extra [VINYL] (We Jazz)

An exhilarating trio with bassist Petter Eldh and drummer Jim Black, recorded in Lisbon in 2023, capturing inventive synergy across eight original compositions by Peter Evans, ranging from the fiery intensity of "Freaks" and "Boom" to the surprising twists of "The Lighthouse", as their close-knit rapport fuels rhythmic depth and jaw-dropping improvisation. ... Click to View

Joe McPhee:
Straight Up, Without Wings [BOOK] (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

Joe McPhee recounts his journey from his formative years and time in the army to his evolution as a creative free jazz saxophonist and trumpeter, sharing experiences and encounters with artists such as Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Peter Brötzmann, and Pauline Oliveros; featuring a foreword by Fred Moten and an afterword by Moor Mother. ... Click to View

Duck Baker:
Breakdown Lane: Free Solos & Duos 1976-1998 (ESP)

A collection of fourteen solo guitar pieces and two duos with Eugene Chadbourne, this album features works by Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (Take the 'A' Train), Thelonious Monk (Straight, No Chaser), and Ornette Coleman (Peace), drawn from live performances and demo sessions recorded between 1976 and 1998, showcasing Baker's impressive range, unique fingerstyle, and mastery of diverse moods and styles. ... Click to View

Barry Guy / Ken Vandermark:
Occasional Poems [2 CDs] (Not Two)

Capturing an exciting and cohesive live performance at Krakow's Alchemia club, documenting the first duo encounter between Chicago reedist Ken Vandermark and UK bassist Barry Guy, in nine spontaneous duets and soliloquies; Guy's dynamic bass explorations and Vandermark's versatility converge in an inspired interplay of rhythmic energy, textural innovation, and lyrical intensity. ... Click to View

Thollem McDonas :
Infinite-Sum Game (ESP)

Recording live in Palermo, Sicilia at Sala Perriera, Thollem McDonas' performance reflects a lifelong, genre-bending exploration of music, influenced by classical training, cultural diversity, and global experiences, blending classical, jazz, and punk into an omni-idiomatic dialogue; honoring the revolutionary spirit of the past while responding to the dynamics of our time. ... Click to View

Francisco Mela and Shinya Lin:
Motions Vol. 2 (577 Records)

The second volume from extraordinary New York drummer Francisco Mela and Taiwan-born pianist Shinya Lin, now based in NY, presents Parts 3 & 4 of their extended collective improvisations, showcasing joyful interplay and complex interweaving of keys and drums, enhanced by Lin's percussive preparations and Mela's vocal exclamations, delivering an upbeat and intricately exuberant encounter. ... Click to View

Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio:
Vol.1 [VINYL] (577 Records)

Brooklyn-based Eva Novoa's new trio with sax legend Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela debuts with their first volume, featuring compositions inspired by the four elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — and a Cuban piece, blending Novoa's piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and gongs with Carter's sax and Mela's rhythms for vibrant, free-flowing interplay. ... Click to View

Philip Jeck:
rpm [2 CDs] (Touch)

Collecting work from Philip Jeck's life and collaborations, including projects with Fennesz, Jah Wobble, Faith Coloccia, Gavin Bryars and Chris Watson, including Oxmardyke completed from Watson's recordings, Jana Winderen's pilot whale track, and reflections on Jeck's groundbreaking audiovisual work Vinyl Requiem (1993), showcasing his legacy of innovation in sound and performance. ... Click to View

Rasmus Persson / Lee Noyes :
Ratios (Idealstate Recordings)

The collaboration between sound artists Lee Noyes and Rasmus initiated during their 2021 residency at Elementstudion in Göteborg, blending feedback electronics to explore balance, restraint, and precision; navigating the unpredictability of their instruments, they use improvisation, negative space and perceptual phenomena to develop these fascinating compositions. ... Click to View

Elephant9 :
Mythical River [VINYL] (Rune Grammofon)

Wearing the cloak of 60's pyschedelic organ trios modernized in approach and maturity, this is the 8th album from the Swedish improvising, prog-oriented rock band Elephant9, presenting six new compositions from keyboardist Stale Storlokken (Supersilent, Hedvig Mollestad Weejuns) performed with Nikolai Haengsle on electric bass and Torstein Lofthus on drums. ... Click to View

Moons (Berkson / Cetilia / Porter / Tavolacci):
Moons (Editions Verde)

Moons' debut album features long-time collaborators Judith Berkson, Laura Cetilia, Katie Porter, and Christine Tavolacci, each contributing a composition blending accordion, voice, cello, clarinets, and flutes, with works exploring memory through tunings, divine visions, impermanent graphic scores, and micro-intervals to create dynamic, shifting sonorities and felt-time improvisation. ... Click to View

Novoa / Carter / Mela Trio:
Vol.1 (577 Records)

Brooklyn-based Eva Novoa's new trio with sax legend Daniel Carter and drummer Francisco Mela debuts with their first volume, featuring compositions inspired by the four elements — earth, wind, fire, and water — and a Cuban piece, blending Novoa's piano, Fender Rhodes, electric harpsichord, and gongs with Carter's sax and Mela's rhythms for vibrant, free-flowing interplay. ... Click to View

Falter Bramnk:
Music for Luminous Background (Sublime Retreat)

A new solo project from French composer and improviser Falter Bramnk, exploring glass and crystal as exclusive sound sources, following his "Glassical Music" series; originally conceived for six Muzzix collective musicians, Bramnk reworked and expanded the compositions featuring glass struck, rubbed, blown, and shaken, on select tracks with contributions from Sam Bodart on Crystal Baschet. ... Click to View

Alfredo Monteiro Costa :
Transient Spaces as Impermanent Lines (Sublime Retreat)

Unfolding as a sonic drift through varied sound atmospheres, Alfredo Costa Monteiro's large sonic canvas creates a narrative akin to a psychogeographical wander that evokes emotional states of disorientation; inspired by found footage techniques in cinema, it serves as a "cinema for the ear," where found sounds stripped of context form an immersive, unpredictable auditory journey. ... Click to View

Colin Sheffield Andrew :
Moments Lost (Sublime Retreat)

Debuting at the Molten Plains Festival 2023, Colin Andrew Sheffield's work blends manipulated samples from vintage soundtrack LPs into an abstract plunderphonic symphony; using layered loops, ambient drones, and vinyl surface noise, creating a haunting sonic collage of deconstructed melodies and textures, fusing past and present in a dream-like exploration of hidden secrets and lost moments. ... Click to View

Johnathan Deasy :
Le Sacre (Sublime Retreat)

Unfolding as a deep listening experience with slowly oscillating sine waves created through SuperCollider, Jonathan Deasy's hour-long drone composition blends digital artistry with warmth, evoking orchestral textures reminiscent of processed cello or trombone with ascending and descending notes, creating a dramatic yet slow-moving, dark and spacious soundscape. ... Click to View

Perturbations:
Asymptotic Series (Evil Clown)

Evil Clown's most recent ensemble led by PEK and Joel Simches focuses on trio configurations to highlight Simches' real-time signal processing; this session features PEK, Michael Caglianone, and John Fugarino on horns, auxiliary percussion, and electronics, delivering dynamic transformations across sonorities under the influence of Simches' manipulations. ... Click to View

Turbulence:
Principles of Complementarity (Evil Clown)

Extending the horn section of the Leap of Faith Orchestra and operating independently with varied ensembles under the name Turbulence when horn players dominate, this session saw a planned 9-member Turbulence Orchestra reduced to seven, blending a large horn section, jazz-leaning bass and diverse percussion, delivering a dynamic set exemplifying Evil Clown's broad improvisational palette. ... Click to View

Simulacrum:
Replacing Reality with Representation (Evil Clown)

A Metal Chaos Ensemble offshoot featuring PEK, Eric Woods, and Bob Moores, focuses on heightened electronic elements while omitting drums, typically expanding to larger groups; this quintet session included a rhythm section using extensive instrumental doubling across brass, reeds, percussion, and electronics, resulting in a slower-moving yet richly textured exploration. ... Click to View

Barker / Parker / Irabagon:
Bakunawa [VINYL] (Out Of Your Head Records)

New York creative scene stalwarts drummer Andrew Barker, bassist William Parker, and saxophonist Jon Irabagon debut as a trio, delivering five collectively improvised explorations that emphasize call-and-response dynamics, weaving and reacting with technically impressive, extended, and unconventional techniques and expressions delivered with confident assertion. ... Click to View

Variable Geometry Orchestra:
L'Heure Derniere du Silence (Creative Sources)

L'Heure Dernière du Silence stands as a testament to VGO's ongoing exploration of the interplay between silence and sound, solidifying their position as a leading force in contemporary improvised music as heard in this live recording captured during the cycle "A Hora Derradeira do Silencio" at St. George's Church, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2024. ... Click to View

Erhard Hirt / Klaus Kurvers / Dietrich Petzold:
Weiterbauen (Creative Sources)

The trio of Erhard Hirt, Klaus Kürvers, and Dietrich Petzold defies conventional norms, blending Dobro, electric guitar, double bass, violin, and rare instruments like tenor violin and bowed metal into a compelling exploration of atonality, sonic precision, and playful free improvisation, creating uniquely intricate and shifting soundscapes filled with string excitement. ... Click to View

Kevin Miller / Dan Blake:
At First Light (Creative Sources)

Brooklyn saxophonist Dan Black and guitarist Kevin Miller present a duo album featuring three improvisations using pre-conceived time-based structures, one work using a particular kind of ambience, and an abstract take on a classic jazz tune, all reflecting their years of collaboration and exploration through free improvisation based around jazz standards. ... Click to View

Metal Chaos Ensemble:
One Step Beyond Logic (Evil Clown)

Exploring chaotic metallic rhythms, this ensemble has become one of Evil Clown's most prolific groups, blending gongs, chimes, Tibetan bowls, and horns spanning a dynamic range of sounds, here in a sextet configuration with drummer Steve Niemitz and special guest Chris Alford on guitar, offering a powerful fusion of rock elements within the ensemble's electroacoustic approach. ... Click to View

Michael Attias (Attias / Leibson / Pavolka / Ferber / Hoffman):
Quartet Music Vol. I: LuMiSong (Out Of Your Head Records)

With an ear to detail, Michaël Attias spent a year mixing and refining these four tracks, recorded after a post-pandemic concert at Barbes in Brooklyn, bringing to light four intricately melodic compositions performed with Michael Attias on alto sax, Santiago Leibson on piano & Wurli, Matt Pavolka on bass, Mark Ferber on drums and Christopher Hoffman on cello. ... Click to View

Spaces Unfolding + Pierre Alexandre Tremblay:
Shadow Figures (Bead)

Performing together as Spaces Unfolding since 2021, the trio of Neil Metcalfe on flute, Philipp Wachsmann on violin, and Emil Karlsen on drums expands their initial focus on acoustic exploration, as heard on this debut album, with the addition of Pierre Alexandre Tremblay on electronics, blending acoustic and electronic elements to reflect on the evolving influence of technology in their sound. ... Click to View

Samuel Blaser / Marc Ducret / Peter Bruun:
Dark Was The Night, Cold Was The Ground [VINYL 10-inch] (Blaser Music)

Recorded during their UK tour at Steve Winwood Studio, the Samuel Blaser Trio's with guitarist Marc Ducret and drummer Peter Bruun's 2nd official release is a limited edition 10-inch blue vinyl, featuring a haunting interpretation of Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" along with original compositions by Blaser and Ducret, ending with a dynamic collective "Jam". ... Click to View

Chris Cundy:
Of All The Common Flowers (Ear To The Ground)

Renowned for his work with Another Timbre and Confront, British bass clarinetist Chris Cundy presents his third solo album, blending contemporary classical elements, improvised sketches, and rhythmic motifs in fourteen captivating vignettes inspired by wildflowers, their fragile habitats, and peripheral landscapes, showcasing a masterful and virtuosic approach. ... Click to View

Rodrigues / Torres / Hencleeday / Santos:
Synopsis (Creative Sources)

Recorded live during the Creative Sources Cycle at Lisbon's Cossoul on May 2, 2024, this collaboration brings together Ernesto Rodrigues (viola, crackle box), Nuno Torres (alto saxophone), Andre Hencleeday (piano), and Carlos Santos (modular synth) in a delicate journey of reductionist improvisation, blending acoustic and electronic textures to craft an intricate, lower-case performance of subtle sonic dialogues and dynamic restraint. ... Click to View

Leap of Faith:
Logical Consequences (Evil Clown)

Originally planned as an Axioms session, this Leap of Faith performance features PEK, Glynis Lomon, Chris Alford, Albey onBass, Vance Provey, Jose Arroyo, and Michael Knoblach, who transformed a dynamic sextet improvisation into a rich exploration of sonorities, blending wind, strings, percussion, and electronics to create a spontaneous, evolving soundscape marked by deep listening and adaptability. ... Click to View