Performing together since the late 70s, this is the first recorded documentation of West Coast trumpeter Bobby Bradford, NY bassist Mark Dresser, and trombonist Glenn Ferris.

West Coast trombonist and electronic artist Michael Dessen's electroacoustic trio with bassist Christopher Tordini and drummer Dan Weiss, balancing detailed compositions and radically open improvisation that equally embraces groove-based improv and soundscape.

Bridging the East and West, with Miya Masaoka on koto and Xu Fengxia on guzheng representing the East, and Larry Ochs on sax, Didier Petite on cello, and Sylvain Kassap on clarinet representing the West; exhiliarating and exotic global improvisation.

17 succinct improvisations recorded in 2000 from the trio of the late and legendary German free improvising bassist Peter Kowald, West Coast bassist Damon Smith, and alto saxophonist Marco Eneidi, powerful and lyrical improv with a nod to Ayler amidst brilliant playing.

Guitarist Sandy Ewen and double bassist Damon Smith recorded these 2 extended improvsations in concert as part a "Desbordamientos" series at Cine Tonala, in Mexico City, pairing live music with screenings of Derek Bailey's 4-part series on improvisation.

Three West Coast saxophonists, Jon Raskin (Rova), Frank Gratkowsk (Zeitkratzer) and Phillip Grenlief, in a free improvising trio of highly interactive music using extended techniques to captivate and entertain the listener.

A swinging album mining earlier jazz forms from the modern jazz sextet of Ben Goldberg on clarinet, Joshua Redman on tenor sax, Ron Miles on trumpet, Devin Hoff on bass, and drummers Ches Smith and Scott Amendola.

West Coast clarinest Ben Goldberg in the 15th volume of John Zorn's Masada Book of Angels, performing with bassist Greg Cohen, pianist Jamie Saft and drummer Kenny Wollesen.

The third recording from this group of long-time collaborators, with Golia on soprano, alto and tenor sax, Bobby Bradford on cornet, Ken Filiano on bass and Alex Cline on drums in a set of Golia original compositions.

Insanely great free improvisation for the West Coast in this quartet of Vinny Golia (multi-reeds), Marco Eneidi (alto sax) Lisa Mezzacappa (bass), and Vijay Anderson (drums).

Two amazing wind players - saxophonist, clarinetist and flautist Vinny Golia and saxophonist Urs Leimgruber - in a series of free improvising duos pushing their instruments into unusual and captivating territories.

NY drummer William Hooker performing with Darius Jones and Adam Lane at The Stone in NYC, and with Aaron Bennett, Weasel Walter and Damon Smith at The Hemlock Tavern in San Francisco.

Relative Pitch Records debuts with the excellent duo of bassist Joelle Leandre and Bay Area woodwind improviser Phil Greenlief in 11 variations for contrabass and woodwinds.

Composer and double bassist Giovanni Maier creates the illusion of being everywhere at once while he plays alongside members of his quartet (Parrini, Calabrese & Amendola) as his instrument "talks" to theirs in this beautiful album.

San Francisco Bay Area bassist Lisa Mezzacappa's "garage jazz" quartet, a raw collective with an energized approach to jazz that focuses on band sound and chemistry.

Art Ensemble founder Roscoe Mitchel on reeds, winds and percussion, in an extended electroacoustic work performed with James Fei on reeds and analog electronics and William Winant on percussion; a composition/improvisation blending sound and space in creative and compelling ways.

Cellist Petit and poet Pierrepont traveled from East to West Coasts recording with various improvisers who play with Petit while Pierrepont reads one of his poems in French, and then as a non-French speaker reads the same poem.

Percussionist Robair placed an Ebow over a street-sweeper blade or a short length of guitar string, and then placed those on the head of a snare drum or floor tom, recording without effects to allow natural rhythms and harmonic modulation to come forth.

CalArts Chamber Ensemble performs this large work from composer David Ronsemboom, a whispered chamber opera/concerto grosso for six instrumentalists, whispering voices, electronics and interactive computer software.

San Francisco' Jacob Heule (known for his work with Ettrick & Barn Owl) and Tony Dryer join Euro improvisers Havard Skaset and Guro Skumsnes Moe for seven free improvisations using extended techniques and unusual approaches to their instruments.

A trio of collective-improvisers recording in NYC's East Village in 2015 for exceptionally sympathetic dialog, instigated by electric keyboard improvisor Thollem McDonas, with Nels Cline on guitar and Charles Gayle cohort Michael Wimberly on drums; Fred Frith liner notes!

The quartet of Cosottini, Melano, Pisani, Miano (EAQuartet Electroacoustic) in compositions referring to the 4 cardinal map points using graphic scores, games, open readings, &c.

New York drummer Harris Eisenstadt's new ensemble crosses the country with Chicago flutist Nicole Mitchell, NY & West Coast bassist Mark Dresser, and NY bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck, blending orchestral instruments in chamber and improvising contexts.

The Oakland-based Ton Trio II featuring Aram Shelton on alto saxophone, Scott Brown on bass, and Alex Vittum on drums, perform avant sophisticated jazz weaving through melody, rhythm, and texture while allowing for spacious improvisations.

Between 1973 and '76 Sunday afternoons at Rudolph's Fine Art Center hosted the superb John Carter Trio with son Stanley Carter on bass and Chris Carter on cymbals; these live recordings were originally released in a limited LP in 1977, now reissued with a rare '77 radio broadcast.

San Francisco Bay Area guitarist John Schott (Junk Genius, T.J. Kirk, Tom Waits) in his 3rd release on Tzadik with his trio of Dan Seamans on bass and John Hanes on drums, 8 upbeat compositions including one for James Blood Ulmer; lyrical pieces with tight interplay.

West Coast multi-reedist and founding member of the Rova Sax Quartet Larry Ochs leads this impressive free improvising quintet patterned after the New York Contemporary Five, with the superb lineup of Nate Wooley, Harris Eisenstadt, Pascal Niggenkemper, and Ken Filiano.

Rova led by saxophonist Larry Ochs expands their translation of John Coltrane's "Ascension" in this amazing 3 disc CD/DVD/BluRay set of their cathartic performance at the 2012 Guelph Jazz Festival with a stellar lineup including Mazurek, Frith, Cline, Mori, Drake, &c &c.

West Coast cornetist Bobby Bradford captured live in 2013 for a superb set at the Center for the Arts in Los Angeles, part of the Open Gate Theatre Sunday evening concert series, in a quartet with Hafez Modirzadeh on alto sax, Mark Dresser on bass, and Alex Cline on drums.

Multi-reedist Peter Kuhn's 1st release as a leader in over 30 years, picking up from the NY loft scene after years of struggle, here in a collective free improv album with Kyle Motl on bass and Nathan Hubbard on drums, promoting spiritual values through creative music.

West Coast double bassist and composer John Lindberg's Raptor Trio with baritone saxophonist Pablo Calogero and drummer Joe LaBarbera presents music as a mystery to be left unsolved yet fully absorbed, as heard in this beguilingly lyrical and emotional album.

Downtown NY scene pioneering bassist, currently on the West Coast, Mark Dresser presents an album of original compositions performed with an amazing septet including Marty Ehrlich, Jim Black, Joshua White, Michael Dessen, David Morales Borof, and Nicole Mitchell.

The 3rd recorded trio collaboration of pianist Thollem McDonas and guitarist Nels Cline, each changing the 3rd partner, this time with legendary accordionist, conceptualist and electronic artist Pauline Oliveros in a set of beautifully intertwining conversations.

West Coast double bassist and mid-west drummer Alvin Fielder meet Norways saxophonist Frode Gjerstad at the 2016 No Idea Festival in Austin, TX, opening the festival with this remarkable display of free improvisation, a seething and burning set from these veteran players.

Influenced by noir crime novels from the 20s set in the Bay Area, bassist Mezacappa wrote these sophisticated and lyrical compositions for selected scenes or characters, performed by the superb sextet of William Winant, Tim Perkis, Aaron Benett, John Finkbeiner, & Jordan Glenn.

A live performance at Judson Church in Manhattan as part of the 20th Vision Festival from the NY/France free improvising trio of Joelle Leandre on double bass, Mat Maneri on viola, and Gerald Cleaver on drums and percussion, two tracks of steadily building, incredibly compatible dialog.

Recorded at an exhibition of visual works by Chicago trumpeter Rob Mazurek in Texas, this was the first meeting with pianist Thollem McDonas, in an ardent session of explorative improvisation using electric and analog piano, sythn, samplers, cornet, voice, bells and effects; inquisitive and cathartic music of great drive.

US West Coast multi-instrumentalist Patrick Shiroishi performs an unorthodox set at 2575 Mission in Los Angeles, California, using alto saxophone, bells, electric toothbrush, ipod, pie tin, spoons, tape player, and voice to create a yearning work expressing the frustration of longing and estrangement.

The Californian saxophone quartet composed of Bruce Ackley, Steve Adams, Larry Ochs and Jon Raskin is extended with Henry Kaiser on guitar and Kyle Bruckmann on analog synth to perform the music of saxophone legend Steve Lacy in 7 compositions, putting an eclectic spin on the iconic composer and performer's music.

Frequent collaborators, West Coast double bassist Damon Smith and AACM charter member Alvin Fielder on drums travel north to join free improv saxophone legend Joe McPhee at Roulette in New York City in 2016, recording this excellent example of informed free improvisation.

Roman philosopher Titus Lucretius Carus named "Clinamen" the unpredictable (in time and space) swerve of atoms falling in the void, which aptly describes the unexpected directions taken in subtle free improvisation from this French trio, led by bassist Louis-Michel Marion, with Jacques Di Donato on clarinet, and Philippe Berger on viola.

Live recordings at LOFT in Cologne, Germany from the trio of George Wissel on prepared saxophone, Achim Tang on doublebass, and Simon Camatta on drums & percussion, performing seven "Movements" that use prodigious technique with reserve and direction, revealing the structure of their work as the pieces build and recede in fascinating ways.

Multi-instrumentalist improviser Novak, who has worked with Tim Daisy and Tatsuya Nakatani, in an eclectic and complex solo release of colliding genres.

The Rova Saxophone Quartet performing compositions by Lindsay Cooper, Fred Frith, Barry Guy, and Larry Ochs, live in the studio in 1996.

Composer John Shiurba with an impressive West Coast octet including vocalists Lara Bruckmann & Morgan Guberman, trumpeter Tom Djll, drummer Gino Robair, and bassist Matthew Sperry, &c. conducting them through five twisted compositions.

West Coast oboist and english horn improviser composes a startlingly enjoyable work based on Matt Shears' book of recursive, encyclopedic poetry of the same name: 10 pieces colliding elements of skronk, spoken word, fried electroacoustic noise and dark prog within a Creative Music framework, with a core quartet of Aram Shelton, Jason Hoopes and Jordan Glenn, plus guest Weston Olencki and a large cast of readers.

The Montreal free improvising trio Still of Nicolas Caloia on bass, Peter Valsamis on drums, and Yves Charuest on saxophone is joined in the studio by visiting Spanish pianist Agusti Fernandez for a superb set of detailed and energetic free jazz, 6 pieces titled "(un fold)" I - VI, making an album of first rate and exciting collective music.

A sophisticated modern jazz album from alto saxophonist Gavie Templeton, music based on his grandfather's experience as an Air Corps navigator in WWII, performed in a quartet with pianist Gary Fukushima, bassist Darek Oles, and drummer Joe Labarbera.

The TSIGOTI quarter brings together Italians Jacopo Andreini on guitar, Andrea Caprara on drums, and Piero Spitilli on bass with California pianist Thollem McDonas for critical avant punk with a technically brilliant flair.

A great example of traditional free improvisation spanning generations from the quartet of Danny Kamins on baritone saxophone, Damon Smith on double bass, and two drummer/percussionists--Alvin Fielder and Joe Hertenstein--for 10 tracks of swinging free music recorded in the studio in Texas, 2016, jazz with a lyrical intention and powerful rhythmic underpinnings.

Rova leader Larry Ochs takes his Sax and Drumming Core to the next level with this charged album of mind-bending free improvisation with an hallucinatory edge, joined by Libra artists Satoko Fujii on piano & synth and Natsuki Tamura on trumpet, with Scott Amendola on drums, William Winant and Matthias Bossi on a wild set of percussive instruments.

A live concert at Amherst, Massachusetts in 2016 as part of the Magical Triangle Jazz Series from the quartet of legendary cornetist Bobby Bradford, Turkish saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh on tenor, in-demand New York bassist Ken Filiano, and percussionist/drummer Royal Hartigan, the band performing two Bradford compositions, with one each from Filiano, Modirzadeh and Hartigan.

Proclaiming that he had nothing more in mind then getting together with a couple of formidable musicians, guitarist Fred Frith and Mills College alumni Jordan Glenn on drums and Jason Hoopes on electric and double bass take their listeners through 13 connected pieces that reference rock, jazz and ea-soundscape in an impressive album from a remarkable new group.

"Farhadian is an American composer and performer with a base in San Francisco and one in Berlin. Her work often is about connecting solo violin and interactive electronics. Combining her classical background as violist (Berkeley Symphon...

Dark Tree's Southern California archive series adds this phenomenal session from multi-woodwind player Vinny Golia's Wind Quartet with clarinetist John Carter, trombonist Glenn Ferris, and cornetist Bobby Bradford, recorded fairly early in their careers in 1979 live at Century City Playhouse in LA for two sets of exploratory, dexterous and astounding jazz.

Clarinetist and bass clarinetist Peter Kuhn defines his "intentions" with his trio of bassist Kyle Motl and drummer Nathan Hubbard, recording in the studio in 2017 for an album of determined, informed and demanding free improvisation, a reflection of Kuhn's life and his direction to create superb modern jazz music with power, release, and inventive joy.

Multi-reedist Peter Kuhn returned to the San Diego scene in 2013, forming the Dependent Origination band with a core of drummer Alex Cline and saxophonist Dave Sewelson, referencing the Buddhist concept of interdependent co-arising; 4 years later this album adding Dan Clucas (cornet) & Scott Walton (bass) represents the current state of this excellent collective band.

Pioneering West Coast flute improviser Robert Dick, whose command over the instrument is startlingly profound, is joined by young Bay Area drummer Tiffany Chang for nine studio recordings of brilliant interplay, from energetic interaction to introspective beauty, with unusual moments of extended flute technique, an astonishing and engaging album.

A West Coast trio of electric and acoustic jazz from Patrick Shiroishi on alto & soprano saxophones, Dylan Fujioka on drums, and Paco Casanova on keyboards and electric piano, performing live at The Museum of Contemporary Art in LA in 2017 for an extended journey, at times psychedelic and others contemporary but always serious, revelatory and commanding.

Written in 1963 for up to 15 peformers plus a conductor who may also make sound, Japanese composer and Fluxus artist Toshi Ichiyanagi's score has 16 pages marked with combinations of lines, dots and letters indicating duration, number of events, and moments of restraint, each player using a different page, with certain options of switching pages with another player during performance.

Three concerts at Vancouver's Western Front, two from 1978 and one from 1996, from the duo of West Coast free improvising guitarist Henry Kaiser and Vancouver saxophonist John Oswald, early yet mature examples of the profoundly great music each artist has gone on to create using astounding and extreme techniques.

Contrasting his concurrent piano trio album with Nate McBride and Luther Gray, "Pools", "Cliff" is a first encounter between Boston-area pianist and composer Pandelis Karayorgis and drummer Eric Rosenthal with double bassist Damon Smith, recently migrated from the West Coast, as the three present a concentrative album of collective improvisation revealing three masterful players.

An extremely unique sax and drums album, as Rova leader Larry Ochs and New York drummer Gerald Cleaver take their tenor and sopranino saxophones, and drums and percussion, into the absolute darkness and stillness of the Portel Cave in the South of France, using the resonance and inspiration of the cave to record these seven incredible improvisations.

Recording in the Bay Area at the Mills College Chapel in Oakland, the Drone Trio of Fred Frith on electric guitar, Phillip Greenlief using extended techniques on alto & tenor saxophones, and Evelyn Davis on the Chapel's pipe organ, use the natural resonance of the chapel and their masterful skills as improvisers to evolve fervid and powerfully sonorous environments.

Cornetist Bobby Bradford leads this quartet with soprano saxophonist Hafez Modirzadeh, also playing karna and khaen; bassist Roberto Miguel Miranda; and East Coast drummer Vijay Anderson, in a live concert at the Blue Whale in Los Angeles in 2017, a sophisticated avant jazz outing including a set of variations for Ornette Coleman, a great example of modern creative form.

The 3rd album from the trio of Larry Ochs (Rova Saxophone Quartet) on tenor & sopranino saxophones, Downtown NY mainstay and West Coast migrant Mark Dresser on bass, and Ganelin Trio alumnus Vladimir Tarasov on drums and percussion, in four superb examples of collective improvisation captured live in two concerts in Berkeley and San Diego, CA in 2016.

The first release from the trio of Nels Cline, Gerald Cleaver, and Larry Ochs in a 2016 concert at Gallery5 Arts, in Richmond, Virginia, captured as part of the trio's series touring around the Northeast each December since 2015, playing what Larry Ochs describes as music that "seeks sonically to soothe, to inspire, and to conspire", in three urgent and powerful improvisations.

The Oakland, CA-based Fred Frith Trio with bassist Jason Hoopes on double bass and electric, and Jordan Glenn on drums and percussion, extend their sonic excursions in this 2nd album that finds Frith on electric guitar and organ, as they evolve incredible soundscapes or shred through intense and intricate interplay; a rich album of dexterity, mood and power.

A split 7": on one side Sleepytime Gorilla Museum percussionist/drummer/composer Moe! Staiano's West Coast rotating ensemble Surplus 1980 in a teaser for an upcoming release with G.W. Sok, Kyle Bruckmann, members of Fred Frith Trio and Total Shutdown; on the other side King Champion Sounds featuring G.W. Sok, formerly of the Dutch band the Ex.

Roscoe Mitchell 25 Piece Orchestra returns with an outstanding follow-up to his 2017 release "Discussions", recorded in concert at the Littlefield Auditorium in Mills College, reworking earlier pieces that take advantages of Mitchell's systems designed to articulate and capitalize on the tensions between composition and improvisation; an impressive achievement.

Surplus 1980 Collectiv Ensembl takes the current members of drummer Moe! Staiano's Surplus 1980 along with associated musicians, including Kyle Bruckmann, John Shiurba, Vicky Grossi, Paul Costuros, &c, with vocals from Dutch vocalist G.W. Sok (The Ex), in an album of avant post-punk rock, sophisticated but determined and pointed music, an unusual hybrid of impressive styles.

Born out of Eugene Chadbourne's Twins band concepts from the 70s, which included over time saxophonist Bruce Ackley, and guitarists Henry Kaiser, and Fred Frith; fast forward to 2018 as Ackley & Frith return to the concept with Henry Kaiser and saxophonist Aram Shelton to revisit the original approach through pieces by those artists plus Steve Lacy, Eugene Chadbourne, and John Zorn.

Long-time collaborators, guitarists Henry Kaiser and Eugene Chadbourne perform the compositions of trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith, starting with their recording from 1977 of his "Wind Crystals", then improvising over 5 other Smith compositions, ending the album with an updated, 2017 version of "Wind Crystals"; an excellent refresh and retrospective from two incredible improvisers.

Roscoe Mitchell's 25 Piece Orchestra returns with an outstanding follow-up to his 2017 release "Discussions", recorded in concert at the Littlefield Auditorium in Mills College, reworking earlier pieces that take advantages of Mitchell's systems designed to articulate and capitalize on the tensions between composition and improvisation; an impressive achievement.

After introducing his new trio with pianist Paul Bley and double bassist Steve Swallow in two 1961 albums on Verve, clarinetist Jimmy Giuffre embarked on a tour of Europe, this recently discovered, well-recorded concert in Graf, Austria the perfect example of his unique concepts yielding intensely focused, harmonically challenging, rhythmically abstract, and exquisite chamber jazz.

Two drums and two saxophones merge to create this epic 2-part free jazz trek - "Right Eye Sun" and "Left Eye Moon", the album title taken from a sun deity in Kurt Vonnegut's novel "Cat's Cradle", who mated with the moon; this pairing is realized by West Coast masterful musicians Patrick Shiroishi & Vinny Golia (sax) and Dylan Fujioka and Alex Cline (drums & percussion).

The 2nd album for East/West Coast double bassist and composer Mark Dresser's Seven band, in a diverse set of lyrically intricate Dresser compositions using unusual and compelling rhythmic structures, with Nicole Mitchell on flute, Marty Ehrlich on clarinets & sax, Keir GoGwilt on violin, Michael Dessen on trombone, Joshua White on piano, and Jim Black on drums.

An absurdly paced and spectacular album of electronic improvisation, percussion and voice, as the West Coast improvising trio Monopiece of Nathan Corder on electronics, Matt Robidoux on guitar, and Timothy Russell on percussion meet legendary improvising vocalist and electronics artist Jaap Blonk, recording at The Center for Contemporary Music, at Mills College.

Recording in electric harpist Zeena Parkin's office at Mills College in Oakland with Jon Leideker, aka Wobbly, performing on mobile phones, tablets, booper, and mixer, their output run through a series of simple listening devices, machines designed to sing along with the melodies they believe themselves to be hearing, though they are often wrong; singular and surprising!

One of three releases in Rob Mazurek's Marfa Trio, recorded in Marfa, TX, using 106 distorted still images and fragmented skipping sound from video shot at Abbaye Royal de Fontevraud, France in 2005, repurposed for this intense and wild sound work which processes the images through modular synth and computer, shaped by Mazurek's unique approach to sound.

Created out of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum and drummer/percussionist Moe Staiano's Mute Socialite, this 7-piece improvising rock band turns rock on it's side in mostly instrumental, energetically complex and twisted rock pieces with acerbic social narrative, the band employing three drummers, bass & two guitars, piano and trumpet from Darren Johnston.

An excellent album of informed free improvisation in the debut of this masterful trio of legendary musicians spread across the US--Joe McPhee on soprano sax & pocket trumpet [NY], Ken Vandermark on tenor sax & clarinet [Chicago], and Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar [Texas], a profound album from assertive to introspective playing in seven captivating collective improvisations.

Burning Ghost is the West Coast rock influenced improvising quartet of Daniel Rosenboom on trumpet, guitarist Jake Vossler, Richard Giddens on double bass, and Aaron McLendon on drums, in a fiery album of heavy playing that borrows from jazz and metal rock forms, with ominious political overtones in their titles while showing articulate and impressive playing skill.