Two western-US, like-minded sound artists and improviser who started their musical lives as drummer/percussionists, Jeph Jerman and Ted Byrnes present nine relatively succinct tracks of unusual and unidentifiable sources, typically formed around a rhythmic center and always actively engaging, finding logic in curious or even chaotic interaction.

Meeting in the Park West Studios in Brooklyn in 2022, acclaimed Norwegian free jazz multi-reedist Frode Gjerstad, here performing on alto saxophone & Bb clarinet, joins with New York pianist Matthew Shipp to record eight discerning and warmly paced improvised dialogs, each titled through a wide range of topics, including "about music"; "about equality"; "about Conspiracies"; "about peace".

Quirky in a masterful display of instrumental skill from the Swedish duo of soprano saxophonist Martin Küchen and trombonist Ola Rubin (Swedish Fix, Lazy Rude Monk), using every inch of their instruments along with mutes, percussion and percussive emanations, creating a virtual menagerie of animalistic sounds alongside dexterous lines.

The Summer 2023 issue of Canada's finest music magazine covering contemporary improvised, composed and experimental music, with Simone Schmidt's Audible Songs of Defiant Meaning on the cover, plus features on Nicole Mitchell and Coco Elysses, Levy Lorenzo, Wayne Lavallee, along with recorded & live reviews, and a 10-track CD with pieces from the artist within.

Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, returns to rhythmic electronic solo work with his fourth mini-CD release after Hinkelstap (2022), Tuimelval (2022) and Haast (2023), in this seven-part work Kadans (translating to "Cadence"), each track using a unique rhythmic foundation under warm electronics, plus a violin sample from collaborator Anne Bakker.

After working with clarinetist Monika Bugajny on his + album, composer & electronic artist Rutger Zuydervelt, aka Machinefabriek, joined again with Bugajny for a set of eight reconstructions of classical works from Debussy, Messiaen, Brahms, Stravinsky, &c., each reinterpreted work cleverly composed from Bugajny's recording of the original composition.

The other shaded region to their 2022 Penumbra album, keyboardist Stemeseder and drummer Christian Lillinger explore "utopias in sound production" through acoustic and electronic composition, creating evolving melodies and sonic tapestries in performance with Peter Evans on Piccolo trumpet, Russell Hall on bass, DoYeon Kim on Gayageum and Brandon Seabrook on banjo & guitar.

Working together many years in various formations--saxophonist Michel Doneda & drummer Roger Turner with John Russell; bassist Alexander Frangenheim & Turner in quartets with Pat Thomas or Phil Wachsman; Doneda & Frangenheim's own duo--this concert at Jazzatelier Ulrichsberg recorded during their European tour shows their incredible compatibility and seemingly telepathic conversations.

Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.

Taking what he describes as a road he's never been on, percussionist and improviser Gerry Hemingway turns in an astute album of original songs, Hemingway's voice expressive on work he explains was originally influenced by Dylan, Geeshie Wiley, Lou Reed or Monroe Brothers, the album developed over four years with a cast of collaborators including Ralph Alessi, Earl Howard, Michael Moore, &c.

A subset of the Andreas Røysum Ensemble, the trio of Norwegian clarinetist Andreas Roysum on Bb& Bass clarinets, Nakama Label leader Christian Meaas Svendsen on double bass and Danish drummer Kresten Osgood recorded these collective free improvisations on the title's date in an unnamed location, for four assertive dialogs of impressive expression.

A New York trio of musical friends from Chris Pitsiokos on alto saxophone, Luke Stewart on electric & acoustic basses and Jason Nazary on drums, an elegantly impactful album of organic free jazz expanded through electronic textures from all three members as they enthusiastically explore new approaches to energetic, creative, contemporary improvisation; extraordinary!

A ritualistic narrative work from multidisciplinary artist Dorian Wood and percussionist Thor Harris (Swans), with Carla Bozulich and Jarboe contributing their voices in an ensemble of contemporary and experimental arrangement, alongside guests David Coulter, Heather Trost, Jeremy Barnes, Michael Corwin, Ignacio Carvajal, Andrea Calderon, Elizabeth Warren and Patrick Shiroishi.

Once roommates in Rhode Island, guitarist Jeffrey Alexander of The Heavy Lidders, now living in Philadelphia, and guitarist/vocalist Ashley Paul, now living in London, come together again for a 3-song 7" release of idiosyncratic and informed free-form songs and instrumentals performed with a saxophone, clarinet, prepared guitar, prepared percussion, moog & electric piano.

The fourth book in New York improvising bassist William Parker's interview with other improvisers, here with 29 interviews, and 24 works of art by Jeff Schlangler; interviews include Peter Brötzmann, Darius Jones, Ava Mendoza, Zeena Parkins, Tom Rainey, Bobby Zankel, Evan Parker, James Brandon Lewis, Micheal Bisio, Mario Pavone, Taylor Ho Bynum, &c.

A collection of Sun Ra recordings from the 1970s to 80s, from a small pressings on Sun Ra's own Saturn label and now public for the first time - "Just Friends" live (alongside an unreleased, intimate living room solo recordings of the same), plus "Under the Spell of Love" from the Just Friends album, and a previously unissued and Sun Ra's only known recording of "Cherokee".

After The Work and his involvement with This Heat, guitarist Mick Hobbs formed Officer!, a shape-shifting RIO band that presented Hobb's unique, amusing and incisive songs, releasing three proper albums and, in 1989, a cassette on the Swiss label No Records that is here reissued, half of the album written for a stage play called Bandagen by Grazia Pergoletti.

Recording at London's Cafe OTO, and at the 2022 Newcastle Festival Of Jazz And Improvised Music, saxophonist and composer Martin Archer's exceptional 8-piece line up of his exuberant avant-electric jazz band blurring lines between 70's Miles and AACM abstractions, is heard across three CDs of fiery soloing, contemplative transitions, and spectacular group interplay.

Adding bassist Jon Short to their lineup, the 4th album from Das Rad continues the band's genre-merging approach of rock & improv forms rooted in prog, kosmiche, and jazz rock, this post-pandemic album bringing the band back together for live interaction, their enthusiasm evident in their energetic intercourse, particularly in the extended suite "Expergefactor".

The fourth collaboration between composer & saxophonist Ron Caines and arranger & saxophonist Martin Archer, recorded in Brighton between 2022 & 2023 with a cast of UK luminary improvisers--Charlotte Keefe, Chris Sharkey, Graham Clark, Gus Garside and Johnny Hunter--chosen for their applicability to each piece, in configurations from solo to full octet ensemble.

One of New York School minimalist composer Morton Feldman's later works, this extended composition spread across two CDs invokes waves of beautifully suspended, weaving strings from four violinists and cello, performed by the UK Apartment House ensemble violinists Mira Benjamin, Chihiro Ono, Amalia Young & Bridget Carey and cellist Anton Lukoszevieze.

Two works written for a group of Australian performers living in Berlin--Jon Heilbron, Rebecca Lane, Jess Aszodi & Sam Dunscombe--by Australian composer and pianist Anthony Pateras, A Dread Of Voids developed for a residency at the Archipel Festival in Geneva after enduring a pandemic quarantine; and Patterned Language, composed for the Astra Chamber Music Society.

Performing solo on the Hardanger fiddle, a Scottish folk instrument for which Sarah-Jane Summers holds a masters degree from the Norwegian Academy of Music, the composer and improviser entered the studio to develop these nine experimental pieces, reworking each piece into its fascinating blend of modern contemporary music that harkens back to folk tradition.

An energetic concert at Area Sismica, in Forli, Italy from the dual saxophone and dual drums Italian quartet of Marco Colonna on baritone & sopranino saxes, Edoardo Marraffa on tenor & alto saxes, Fabrizio Spera on drums, percussion & bow, and Marco Zanotti on drums, percussion & kalimba; a wonderfully explosive concert, the first live post-pandemic performance for all four.

Following NY saxophonist Michael Foster's interest in free jazz, noise and the pre-AIDS era of sexual freedom in the gay community, expressed in a sax-bass-drums trio with Philadelphia double bassist Jared Radichel and drummer Joey Sullivan, drawing on pre-composed structures, melodies, samples, and improvisation to reflect both the joy and anxiety of the queer experience.

Drawn from the same period around 1976 which produced legendary free jazz saxophonist Steve Lacy's albums Clangs and Trio Live, the collected recordings in the two volumes of Ictus Record's Archives series were recorded while touring Italy with percussionist Andrea Centazzo, this 2nd volume from a concert in Udine presenting duos with Centazzo and a trio with bassist Kent Carter.

Referencing poet Rhina P. Espaillat and her poem about the perseverance and future influence of individual art, New York trombonist Steve Swell, also performing on pocket trumpet, presents eight solo recordings of advanced techniques and unique creative power, in seven succinct expressions including a work for Walter Weirbos, and the extended improv "Hope".

Inspired by a poem Carter wrote about New York's interminable motion, the quartet of Daniel Carter on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, William Parker on bass, Gralla & Shakuhachi and Francisco Mela on drums & voice, turn in an ecstatic album of exotic collective improvisation in this first of two planned volumes from an excellent studio session.

Composed for and recorded with the International Contemporary Ensemble, NY drummer Kate Gentile's 13-movement composition biome ii integrates improvisation into a chamber music ensemble, each movement describing fictional flora or fauna from a biome of creatures as quirky and fascinating as the music Gentile has developed for this idiosyncratic and exceptional symphony.

Energetic, authoritative and unpredictable, this 2020 concert at Hyde Park Book club, in Leeds, UK from the collective free improv trio of Pat Thomas on keyboards, Chris Sharkey on electric guitar and Luke Reddin on Williams on drums, burns through an extended and far-ranging set of sonic environments and seriously exhilarating straight-on playing.

Energetic, authoritative and unpredictable, this 2020 concert at Hyde Park Book club, in Leeds, UK from the collective free improv trio of Pat Thomas on keyboards, Chris Sharkey on electric guitar and Luke Reddin on Williams on drums, burns through an extended and far-ranging set of sonic environments and seriously exhilarating straight-on playing.

While on tour in Lisbon in 2002, pedal steel & lap steel improvising guitarist Susan Alcorn was invited by alto & tenor saxophonist José Lencastre (Nau Quartet) to record in the studio with double & electric bassist Hernani Faustino (Red Trio), recording these six refined trio improvisations of both contemplative and energetic conversations.

Formed as a collective in 2016, Baraque à Free brings together young free improvisers from Toulouse, France, who leverage influences from jazz, contemporary and rock forms, creating passages that include harmonious tranquillity, noisy spaces, rhythmic rage, math rock, and hints of orchestral chamber music; a positive album of musical statement and emotional release.

Active in both contemporary music and as an improviser, Portuguese accordionist João Barradas is heard live at the 2022 Festival d'Aix-en-Provence in France, performing solo on a chromatic accordion, MIDI chromatic accordion and voice for an expansive, un-interrupted six-part improvisation that showcases both his technical skills and his emotional passion.

A wild, fun, inventive and musically impressive ride from French cellist Valentin Ceccaldi quartet with Etienne Ziemniak on drums, Fulco Ottervanger on piano & keyboards and Luis Lopes on guitar, a unique set of jazz, psychedelic and almost circus music, where the listener is never quite certain what's around the corner but constantly amazed at what they hear.

Bringing tremendous playing skill and creative intent, the Italian/Portuguese trio of Simone Quatrana on piano, Andrea Grossi on double bass and Pedro Melo Alves on drums & percussion, improvise over spontaneous compositions that flow perceptively from quick energetic moments to periods of abstract beauty, complementing each other in exquisite and dynamic ways.

Also part of the working group Zeuthen / Østergaard-Nielsen / Nordberg / Oswald, legendary Danish saxophonist Jesper Zeuthen of Blue Sun and pianist Margaux Oswald are heard in this 2022 performance at Koncertkirken in Copenhagen for three extended and discerning dialogs of powerfully passionate interplay and startlingly beautiful plateaus of peaceful discourse.

Named for the translation of alto saxophonist Bruno Parrinha's last name into English--"Vine Leaf"--the trio of frequent working partners Luís Lopes on electric guitar and João Valinho on drums are heard in two recordings at SMUP, in Parede, PT and one studio recording in Lisbon, for sophisticated collective improvisation that indeed flows like a beautifully intricate vine.

Spontaneous compositions with an emphasis on strings and exploratory, unusual approaches to group dynamic, from the trio of Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon on 6- and 12-string guitars, Italian violinist Emanuele Parrini and Spanish percussionist & drummer Vasco Trilla, in seven conversations of consummate skill, balancing intense concentration with vigorous and inspired exchanges.

Continuing his project dedicated to 20th century Polish composers, saxophonist Marek Pospieszalski leads his creative octet through open and collectively improvised arrangements of works from six Polish female composers — Barbara Buczek, Elżbieta Sikora, Grażyna Pstrokońska-Nawratil and Marta Ptaszyńska — in wide-ranging and often startling impressions of the original works.

The second Clean Feed release from Spanish saxophonist Liba Villavechia's trio with drummer/percussionist Vasco Trilla and double bassist Alex Reviriego, a lively working ensemble heard in three new Villavechia compositions, plus two collective improvisations, and a work from New York composer, improviser and influence on the leader, Thomas Chapin's "Anima".

Two sound works from multimedia artist John Collins McCormick (Sky Thing) recorded using a multi-channel, portable sound system that employs up to 8 subwoofers in drum stands, amplifying low frequencies and rattling odds and ends he collected over the years, creating a rolling and controlled cacophony of quick rhythms and unusual asides from objects placed on the subwoofers.

An often raucous and always informed debut from the dual reed & drums Chicago trio Near Miss of Rob Magill on tenor & soprano sax and bass clarinet, Gerrit Hatcher on tenor sax and Bill Harris on drums, Magill and Hatcher having collaborated previously on Triplet Fawns with Patrick Shiroishi, and Whole Abandoned Star, while Hatcher & Harris are a part of Devouring the Guilt.

A masterful album of collective free improvisation captured in Brooklyn's Park West Studios by Jim Clouse, of the trio of tenor saxophonist Joe McPhee, trombonist Steve Swell and drummer Chris Corsano, ten conversations of diverse approach, from reflectively abstract to uncompromisingly assertive discourse that is ultimately fueled by a joyful camaraderie.

San Francisco East Bay sonic artist and Public Eyesore/Eh? label-leader Bryan Day meets Omaha bass player and sound artist Dereck Higgins for four enveloping works of sound, sonically rich and epic journeys through terrains of identifiable musical elements and acousmatic curiosity, all with an ear to story-telling as the duo weave passages of fantastic elements.

A minimalist work in the tradition of Tony Conrad and Henry Flynt, John Cale or La Monte Young, West Coast-based composer and multi-instrumentalist John Krausbauer performing on an amplified violin and Portuguese experimental/drone artist David Maranha (Osso Exótico) performing on electric organ present two emphatic and rich compositions of interacting tone and texture.

Composed over a period of thirty years, the eleven absolutely remarkable recording from the duo of husband and wife virtuoso piano improvisers and composers Aki Takase and Alexander von Schlippenbach, performing together on two grand pianos or, as the title describes, performing with four hands, is a stunning achievement in style, complement, and nearly telepathic dialog.

The third album from the genre-merging quintet The End of of Sofia Jernberg (vocals), Kjetil Moster (clarinet and tenor saxophone), Mats Gustafsson (flutes, baritone saxophone and electronics), Anders Hana (baritone and bass guitar) and Borge Fjordheim (drums), an experimental song-based project influenced by avant rock, jazz and soundscape in seven nuanced pieces.

Composer, poet and saxophonist David Mirarchi seeks to transform the written word into melodic, harmonic, rhythmic, and structural materials, using experimental compositional techniques, here recording in Brooklyn with trio of bassist Mathias Hojgaard Jensen and drummer Eliza Salem for a two part work transmuted from a two-part poem contrasting city life and nature.

Extending their collaborations with this project that blurs rock, experimental and improvised forms in a very Downtown NY way, Elliott Sharp performing on guitars, analog synth & drums machines joins with Eric Mingus on bass and primary vocals, with Doug McKenzie providing drums samples and loops, for a set of insightful, incisive, extraordinary songs.

Recorded live using the natural resonance of an apse in Giudecca, Venice, Sicilian-Norwegian contemporary & improvising violinist Agnese Amico performs on the Hardanger Fiddle, the traditional instrument of Norway that provides resonating strings under four violin strings, for 10 works inspired by historic popular songs while expressing a sensation of alalie.

A collection of original songs recorded in NY & Paris from vocalist Hélène Breschand, also performing on acoustic and electric harp, in a duo with Elliott Sharp, who creates grooves and instrumental environments on guitar, analog synth, bass, toy piano and drum programming; unusually structured and richly detailed, from idiosyncratic to sensuous.

A live performance in Koenji, Tokyo at the club Jirokichi in 2022 from the prog-oriented instrumental improvising power rock trio of Mitsuru Tabata on guitar, Kazuhide Yamaji on guitar and Tatsuya Yoshida on drums, Tabata & Yoshida providing vocal emphasis through the nine brisk and highly interactive tracks of great energy, psychedelic overtone and impressive technical skill.

Quick-witted and intensely detailed improvisations between Japanese drummer Tatsuya Yoshida and pianist Chihiro Owada (Karasutou!), who also performs on pianica, with both free vocalizing, in eleven recordings captured at live performances between 2021 and 2013 in Ogikubo, Maebashi and Youtsuya, Japan, plus a bonus studio composition combining unused sources.

Two New York Improvisers recording at The Pink Forest studio in Brooklyn present 18 succinct, upbeat and distinctive improvisations on drums and electric guitar, from drummer Kate Gentile (Matt Mitchell, Secret People, Gabriel Zucker & The Delegation, Dave Douglas) and guitarist Andrew Smiley (Little Women, Bloor, Chris Pitsiokis Quartet).

A meeting in Dortmund, Germany between the working trio of three masterful improvisers--New York trombonist Steve Swell, also on flute; Ukrainian double bassist Mark Tokar; and German drummer Klaus Kugel--recording 6 collective, spontaneous improvisations and Swell's "Child's Play", extending the concepts of the bass, drum and trombone trio.

The title and text drawn from Samuel Beckett's last poem and meditation on language, "what is the word" and also his "Brief Dream", plus a poem from Barra O Seaghdha and two 18th century Edo Haikus, Barry Guy's exquisite work about life in transit through eight movements is performed with a stellar ensemble including Agusti Fernandez, Maya Homburg, Lucas Niggli, Percuy Pursgolve, &c.

Originally released in 2013 on CDR, this meeting of sound artists Jeph Jerman and Aaron Dilloway show the skill, subtlety, and disruptive sonic skills of two innovators, using objects, damaged electronics, electronic loops and live acoustic sound to create large tapestries: 4 pieces that defy characterization through diverse approaches to impactful sound.

Two extended sound collages and cut-ups from field recordings and percussion recorded during tours from 2014 to 2017, the title taken from a sign in one of the hotels that Jerman & Barnes stayed at, apt for the mix of punctuating locations, dissipating noise and unusual percussive passages, a fascinating journey that expands and contracts to make captivating stories.