Derek Bailey / John Stevens:
The Duke of Wellington (Confront)

Seminal figures in the evolution of free or nonidiomatic improvisation, guitarist Derek Bailey and percussionist/pocket trumpeter John Stevens are heard in a 1989 London performance vividly captured by Michael Gerzon at The Duke of Wellington, their restless and enthusiastic interplay shifting from angular invention to lyrical reflection in a compelling document of their remarkable rapport. ... Click to View

Natsuki Tamura / Satoko Fujii:
Ki (Libra)

The tenth duo recording from pianist Satoko Fujii and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura presents eight compositions of slow, lyrical beauty-seven by Tamura and one by Fujii-crafted with exquisite restraint and intimacy, as the long-time collaborators sustain a dignified atmosphere of quiet intensity and emotional depth, shaping silence and subtle detail into music of profound elegance. ... Click to View

Paul Dunmall:
Away With Troubles And Anxieties! (Discus)

Delivering his sixth Discus Music release in two years, saxophonist Paul Dunmall leads a dynamic nonet drawn largely from Birmingham's thriving scene, joined by guests Martin Archer, Corey Mwamba, and John Ball, their first-take performances balancing sharply honed compositions with spontaneous invention in a powerful suite that shifts between bluesy themes, lyrical reflection, and collective fire. ... Click to View

Shifa (Musson / Thomas / Sanders):
Ecliptic (Discus)

The trio of Rachel Musson on tenor saxophone, Pat Thomas on piano, and Mark Sanders on drums perform as Shifa, their 46-minute improvisation moving through fiery intensity and spacious reflection in a cohesive journey shaped by deep trust, attentive listening, and fearless exploration, captured live at London's Café Oto in 2023. ... Click to View

Thomas / Lash / Orrell:
Lifeline (Discus)

Breaking away from their acoustic trio Bleyschool, the long-standing partnership of Pat Thomas, Dominic Lash, and Tony Orrell reconfigure as Lifeline, trading piano, bass, and drums for keyboards, electroacoustic percussion, and electric guitar in a spontaneous studio performance that channels noise, dance, and rock energy into electrified free improv brimming with risk, tension, and surprise. ... Click to View

Larry Stabbins / Mark Sanders:
Cup & Ring (Discus)

Bringing together two major figures of UK improvisation, saxophonist Larry Stabbins - long associated with innovators like Mike Westbrook, Keith Tippett, and Robert Wyatt - and percussionist Mark Sanders (Paul Dunmall, John Butcher, Veryan Weston, &c) in 2024 Bristol sessions captured with stunning clarity, their 1st-take performances unfolding as thoughtful, exploratory dialogs of texture, rhythm, and timbre. ... Click to View

Borah Bergman / Anthony Braxton / Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three (Mixtery)

An extraordinary 1996 Mixtery Studio encounter between pianist Borah Bergman, Anthony Braxton on a wide range of reeds, and Peter Brötzmann on saxophones, clarinet, and tárogató, balancing ferocious torrents of free jazz interplay with moments of surprising lyricism and abstraction, as three titans of improvisation push their individual voices into a thrilling collective dialogue. ... Click to View

Evan Parker / Bill Nace:
Branches (Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL] (Open Mouth)

Meeting for the first time at Café OTO in 2024, soprano saxophonist Evan Parker and guitarist Bill Nace on electric taishogoto create an extraordinary improvised duo, Parker's circular-breathed torrents entwining with Nace's drone-soaked dynamism, from raw intensity to transcendent stillness in a performance of unbounded spirit, deep resonance, and ecstatic liberation. ... Click to View

Oren Ambarchi / Johan Berthling / Andreas Werliin:
Ghosted III [VINYL] (Drag City)

Guitarist Oren Ambarchi, bassist Johan Berthling, and drummer Andreas Werliin return for their third ghost, expanding their collective language with looser and more immediate performances, their intricate focus and rhythmic precision balanced by playful excursions through ambient neo-jazz, post-kraut, minimal funk, and prog-like energy through an ever-evolving sonic architecture. ... Click to View

Eiko Shibashi / Jim O' Rourke:
Pareidolia [VINYL] (Drag City)

The fifth collaboration between composer-performers Eiko Ishibashi and Jim O'Rourke, reshaping material from their 2023 European tour into a vivid electroacoustic dialogue, layering live improvisations, acoustic fragments, and evolving digital textures into a kaleidoscopic sound world of subtle juxtapositions and fluid, unpredictable structures of color, resonance, and playfully reimagined form. ... Click to View

Loren Connors / Alan Licht:
The Blue Hour (Otoroku)

Celebrating three decades of collaboration, Loren Connors and Alan Licht performed at Café OTO in 2023, captured in their first set with Connors on piano before shifting to guitar, their improvisation unfolding with spacious warmth, melodic restraint, and shimmering textures that evoke Rothko-like hues, blending blues abstraction and lyrical fragments into a calm, luminous dialogue. ... Click to View

Elaine Mitchener :
Solo Throat [VINYL] (Otoroku)

Recorded at Hackney Road Studios in London, vocalist, composer, and movement artist Elaine Mitchener presents her first solo LP, drawing on the works of African-American and African-Caribbean poets Edward Kamau Brathwaite, Aimé Césaire, Una Marson, and N.H. Pritchard, creating twelve vocal compositions that disrupt semantic sense through phonetic freedom, silence, and multiphonics. ... Click to View

Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In The Bonnet (Rune Grammofon)

Reuniting after four years, guitarist Hedvig Mollestad with Ellen Brekken and Ivar Loe Bjørnstad deliver six tracks that fuse hard rock riffing, progressive jazz, and psychedelic exploration, balancing raw power with nuanced improv, from searing grooves and shifting meters to poignant balladry, in seamless interplay of exhilaration and deep expression. ... Click to View

Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO:
Black Mountain Side (Rolling Heads)

With more than a hundred albums behind them, Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso UFO unleash another ecstatic journey, a studio album blending swirling psychedelia, trance-inducing drones, cosmic synths, and Kawabata Makoto's searing guitar with hurdy-gurdy textures from Tomo Katsurada, heavy bass from Taigen Kawabe and soaring vocal layers, a kaleidoscopic ritual of boundless imagination. ... Click to View

Joseph Holbrooke (w/ Derek Bailey / Gavin Bryars / Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 - In Memoriam Derek Bailey And Tony Oxley [2 CDs] (Tzadik)

The legendary trio Joseph Holbrooke — guitarist Derek Bailey, bassist Gavin Bryars, and drummer Tony Oxley — reunited after decades for one final performance in 2001, captured in this historic live recording that highlights their uncompromising commitment to free improvisation, the set resonating with both the radical spirit of their 1960s origins and the profound artistry of three pioneering voices in avant-garde music. ... Click to View

Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of The Magic Thing (Tzadik)

Harpist and composer Zeena Parkins, a defining voice in the Downtown NY experimental music scene for four decades, presents an extended work inspired by fearless Beat-era visual artist Jay DeFeo, performed with percussionist William Winant on an array of resonant bells and gongs, their collaboration weaving bold textures and hypnotic patterns into a richly expressive and deeply imaginative sound world. ... Click to View

Alexander Hawkins / Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State Of Wonder (RogueArt)

Performing two Bill Dixon works alongside pieces by pianist Alexander Hawkins, Hawkins and cornetist Taylor Ho Bynum unite in a deeply intuitive duo recorded live in New Haven, their spacious and lyrical exchange balancing improvisational freedom with structural grace as two distinct voices attuned to form, texture, and expressive subtlety. ... Click to View

Dave Douglas (Douglas / Ridout / Adewumi / Brennan / Pass / Royston):
Alloy (Greenleaf Music)

Created for the Festival of New Trumpet Music, Dave Douglas leads a sextet with a trio of trumpeters — Douglas, Alexandra Ridout & Dave Adewumi — plus Patricia Brennan on vibes, Kate Pass on bass, and Rudy Royston on drums, their collaboration unfolding from Douglas' lyrical compositions that highlight the breadth of brass voices, collective interplay, and vibrant ensemble synergy. ... Click to View

Jaap Blonk / Damon Smith / Michael Zerang:
Improvisers (Kontrans)

The first meeting as a trio between Jaap Blonk on voice, Damon Smith on bass, and Michael Zerang on percussion, captured live in Chicago and continuing the Kontrans Improvisors series, bringing together three longstanding collaborators in new formation for an inventive and uncompromising set of free improvisation that highlights their commanding spontaneity and creative rapport. ... Click to View

Matthew Putman / Hill Greene / Francisco Mela:
Believe That Was Me (577 Records)

The first collaboration between pianist Matthew Putman and drummer Francisco Mela, joined by bassist Hilliard Greene, in a trio whose remarkable chemistry balances lyrical melodies with adventurous free jazz, experimental energy, their performance radiating both spiritual intensity and the creative synergy of long-standing artistic bonds. ... Click to View

Matthew Putman / Hill Greene / Francisco Mela:
Believe That Was Me [VINYL] (577 Records)

The first collaboration between pianist Matthew Putman and drummer Francisco Mela, joined by bassist Hilliard Greene, in a trio whose remarkable chemistry balances lyrical melodies with adventurous free jazz, experimental energy, their performance radiating both spiritual intensity and the creative synergy of long-standing artistic bonds. ... Click to View

Ivo Pereleman / Nate Wooley / Matt Moran / Mark Helias / Tom Rainey:
A Modicum Of the Blues (Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman joins Nate Wooley (trumpet), Matt Moran (vibes), Mark Helias (bass) and Tom Rainey (drums) in a tempered yet highly active quintet that nods to the blues, moving through free, melody-rich dialog; vibes replace piano to color the space as the group shifts from playful exchanges to surging peaks, their seemingly telepathic interplay balancing warmth and power. ... Click to View

Angles 11:
Tell Them It's The Sound Of Freedom (Fundacja Sluchaj!)

Martin Küchen's Angles returns as an 11-piece — two trumpets, expanded reeds, vibraphone and amplified violin, Fender Rhodes/synth, and a three-drummer engine — lifting songful, anthemic themes into free, melody-rich interplay and propulsive grooves, the ensemble shifting from playful exchanges to surging peaks as its close-knit rapport balances warmth, bite, and momentum. ... Click to View

Paul Rogers:
Peace And Happiness (Fundacja Sluchaj!)

On a custom 7-string double bass, Paul Rogers delivers a powerful eight-part solo recital where deeply melodic lines and harmonically rich textures meet commanding technique — bowed chords, ringing harmonics and agile counterpoint — shaping fluid narratives that balance intensity and lyricism into a remarkable, satisfying journey. ... Click to View

Marcin Halat / Maciej Garbowski:
The Dialogues [2 CDs] (Fundacja Sluchaj!)

An intimate and reflective duo album from Polish improvisers Marcin Halat on violin and Maciej Garbowski on bass, recorded in Wojkowice and exploring a conversational interplay that draws from jazz, contemporary, and classical traditions, as the long-time collaborators create spacious, subtle, and emotionally resonant dialogues marked by deep mutual understanding. ... Click to View

Extraordinary Popular Delusions (Mars Williams / Jim Baker / Ed Wilkerson / Brian Sandstrom / Steve Hunt):
The Last Quintet [2 CDs] (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

An historic document of Chicago's Extraordinary Popular Delusions in their final quintet performance with the late Mars Williams, recorded live in August 2023 at Elastic Arts Foundation, capturing Williams' fiery, life-affirming playing alongside Edward Wilkerson Jr. (tenor sax0, Jim Baker (piano & kesy), Brian Sandstrom (bass), and Steve Hunt (drums) in a two-set suite of fearless improvisation. ... Click to View

Erez Dessel:
PRO FAKE NO REJECT (Corbett vs. Dempsey)

A remarkable solo statement from Chicago pianist Erez Dessel (b.1998), whose explosive energy, intuitive form, and darkly Romantic lyricism channel influences from Cecil Taylor, Don Pullen, or even shades of Mussorgsky, while embracing playful contrarianism, captured in ten concise improvisations and presented with notes by pianist Sharon Udoh. ... Click to View

Martin Escalante :
Playing Harsh Noise on the Saxophone since 2012 (Wash and Wear Records)

An uncompromising solo debut from Mexican saxophonist Martin Escalante, recorded live in Japan and presenting an unrelenting storm of harsh acoustic noise without electronics, his ferocious technique transforming the saxophone into a raw conduit of layered textures, tones, and vocalizations for an intensely passionate and overwhelming performance. ... Click to View

Martin Escalante / Charlie Mumma / Tete Leguia:
This Molten Salt (Wash and Wear Records)

A searing trio of saxophonist Martin Escalante, bassist Tete Leguia, and drummer Charlie Mumma, captured across sessions in Nashville and Grand Rapids, unleashing an uncompromising pedal-free noise assault that fuses the extremity of free jazz with noise music intensity, their ferocious interplay creating dense, volatile structures that channel chaos into a raw, intuitive sonic onslaught. ... Click to View

Sifter (w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake / Fracture (Queen Bee Records)

A chordless Bay Area quartet with Rob Ewing on trombone, Beth Schenck on alto saxophone, Lisa Mezzacappa on acoustic bass, and Jordan Glenn on drums, performing original compositions from each member in playful, lyrical, and texturally rich improvisations that balance groove, swing, and exploratory ensemble interplay with an eclectic yet cohesive sound. ... Click to View