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.

Free and unusual improvisation with the strange vocal stylings of Jean-Michel Van Schouwburg, bassist Demey, and percussion and bicycle pump player Vanderstraeten.

Tenor saxophonist Matthias Schubert leads a quartet with Claudio Puntin (clarinet) Carl Ludwig Hubsch (tuba), and Tom Rainey (drums), integrating New Orleans jazz forms into modern improvisation, including covering Jelly Roll Morton's "Shreveport Stomp".

Long-time collaborators and compatriots Frank Paul Schubert on soprano sax and Rudi Fischerlehner on drums and percussion recorded these intricate and engaging improvisations in their shared studio in Berlin, presented as a live album, unedited and in the order performed.

Using extended techniques and a remarkable interactive approach, trombonist Matthias Mueller and soprano saxophonist Frank Paul Schubert surprise in 9 distinctive duo recordings.

The Diabolique trio of pianist Irene Schweizer, bassist Joelle Leandre, and vocalist Maggie Nichold in their first release from 1993, three women hell-bent on modern improvisation.

Reedist Louis Sclavis' new cooperative trio with keyboardist Craig Taborn and drummer Tom Rainey in a mix of studio and live recordings from Casa da Musica, Porto.

Tim Barnes on snare drum and amplification and Mark Wastell on amplified textures, tuned metal, making small, mostly unidentifiable sounds with a Cage-style open flair.

For a decade this trio has created some of the most interesting electroacoustic improvisation, captured in a 38 minute performance at the Ear We Are Festival in Biel, Switzerland, 2007.

Book 9 of Zorn's Book of Angels, arrangements of Masada compositions by mad alchemist Trey Spruance (Secret Chiefs 3) drawing upon an astonishing array of musical styles.

The duo of Bryan Day (Eloine, Shelf Life) and instrument builder Jay Kreimer in what they describe as "confrontational gamelan theatre", a form of amplified metal/object-based improvisation.

The Portuguese trio The Selva of Ricardo Jacinto (cello), Goncalo Almeida (double bass) and Nuno Morao (drums) in an album building on world and historic music forms focused through modern improviser's ears, creating a hybrid approach that slowly reveals its jazz roots in an unhurried but cultured take on new creative music.

The sepiasonic ensemble, originally created by Claudio Puntin, Insa Rudolph and Samuel Rohrer, documented here on Arjunamusic, in improvisations, songs and soundscapes blend voice, 3 flutes, reeds, electronics and song in sublime ways.

Commissioned by BBC Radio 3 with an ensemble including Tim Berne, Joe Morris, Rhodri Davies, Jim Denley, Alex Ward & Steve Beresford, this amazing work is organized in traditional movements using a very modern and free language.

Montreal free improvisers in an album straddling improvisation, actuelle, and rock influences, with drummer Michel F. Cote, guitarist Sam Shalabi, and bass/electronicist Alexandre St-Onge.

The trio of guitarist Elliott Sharp, bassist Melvin Gibbs, & drummer Lucas Niggli met for the first time to perform live at The Stone, NYC during the two week 2012 Intakt Festival, recording this scorching album in the studio the next day.

NY saxophonist/guitarist, composer and conceptualist Elliot Sharps Trio with bassist Brad Jones and drummer Ches Smith using written scores to guide rhythmic and melodic jazz into unlikely and fascinating structures.

Studio improvisations on guitar & viola from NYC, and then live improvisations augmented by electronics in Geneva from two unique and impressive improvisers.

The 3rd Clean Feed Guitar Series brings Elliott Sharp and Scott Fields together for a mixture or conventional notation, graphic notation, and structures for improvisation.

Elliott Sharp's New York Studio zOaR was the meeting place for three New York guitarists--Sharp himself, Mary Halvorson, and Marc Ribot--who find common ground by blending a variety of approaches to the instrument in 12 excellent and generally succinct collective improvisations, stretching, bending, plucking and inexplicably effecting their guitars.

Downtown New York multi-reedist mainstay Elliott Sharp in his third Aggregat release, in a quintet with Taylor Ho Bynum on trumpet, Barry Altschul on drums, Terry L. Greene II on trombone, and Brad Jones on bass, pushing elastic limits on the concepts of jazz and free improv.

The 2nd Aggregat album expands the first release's trio of Elliott Sharp (just on reeds this time), Brad Jones (bass) and Ches Smith (drums) into a quintet with Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Terry L. Green (trombone) for an amazing set of free jazz compositions.

Downtown NY multi-instrumentalist Elliott Sharp in an absorbing set of very-electric-guitar pieces accompanied by computer, focusing on melodic and groove-based work with a broad range of influences.

Elliot Sharp takes on his own compositions, playing them on a custom-made electroacoustic guitarbass, a hollow-body guitar with 2 bass strings.

Guitarist Sharp's 2nd volume of his "Octal" project realized on a custom Koll 8-string electroacoustic guitarbass; complex solo work with amazing technique and captivating creativity.

Half of Chicago's Fast Citizens sextet, Aram Shelton (sax), Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello & electronics), and Frank Rosaly (percussion) recorded these free improvisations in the studio then post-processed them to enhance their intricate and unusual electroacoustic dialog.

The 1st release from this collective directed by Raymond MacDonald on sax and George Burt on drums (GIO), presenting work from workshop sessions and a complete set from the 2012 Glasgow Improvisers Festival, 6 unique and sometimes eccentric works, including a piece for Lol Coxhill.

Five open improvisations from the quartet of Israeli saxophonist Ariel Shibolet, viola player Nori Jacoby, drummer Offer Bymel and double bassist Alexander Frangenheim, recording in Frangenheim's studio in Germany in 2011.

"More like un-cropped images on a contact sheet, then burned and dodged portraits, this eight-track, 33-minute CD is a literal record of an improvisational session between two sound experimenters of divergent backgrounds but shared inte...

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Soprano saxophonist Shibolet performing solo and with the Between the Strings trio (JC Jones, Daniel Hofman, Nori Jacoby) live at the Tel Aviv Museum in 2006.

The Japanese improvising rock trio of Kazuto Shimizu on keyboards, Nasyuno Mitsuru on bass, and Yoshida Tatsuya on drums performing live at Club Goodman in Akihabara, Japan, 2016 for technically superb, fast paced, turn-on-a-dime, joyful prog-oriented playing.

The creative NY jazz trio led by pianist Matthew Shipp with Rob Brown on alto sax and flute and William Parker on bass re-release and re-master their 1999 Bleu Regards album "Magnetism", a 20-part suite of concise and informed dialogs; and add a live CD of the trio recording three larger "Magnetism" improvisations captured at the Stone, 2016.

Frequent collaborators, Matthew Shipp (piano) and Michael Bisio (bass) are joined by fellow Downtown New Yorker Mat Maneri on viola create what they refer to as a chamber ensemble, performing the 15 improvised and inspired chapters of Shipp & Bisio's "Gospel".

Named after Jean Genet's infamous novel, New York pianist Matthew Shipp's quartet Declared Enemy with Sabir Mateen on tenor sax & clarinet, William Parker on double bass, and Gerald Cleaver on drums, return for a second outstanding album of dynamic and masterful jazz.

Pianist Matthew Shipp's trio with Whit Dickey on drums and Michael Bisio on bass, take on Duke's Ellington's classic compositions, adding free elements and unexpected angles without losing the melodic charm of these classic jazz standards; recommended.

Solo piano works from Matthew Shipp recorded in 2007 in NYC, 12 tracks that show the breadth style, range, technique from one of our greatest modern players.

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.

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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.

Experimental jazz vocalist and pianist Jen Shyu with her Jade Tongue band of Ambrose Akinmusire on trumpet, Mat Maneri on viola, Thomas Morgan on bass, and Dan Weiss on drums in an intimate album that incorporates world traditions, instruments and languages.

A richly refined and sophisticated album drawing on improvisation, experimenation and rock elements from the collaborative Vancouver ensemble Sick Boss of core members guitarist Cole Schmidt, bassist James Meger and drummer Daniel Gaucher, with guests including guitarist Tony Wilson, cellist Peggy Lee, trumpeter JP Carter, synth player Tyson Naylor, &c. &c.

Irish-born New York based tenor saxophonist Catherine Sikora, know for her work with Eric Mingus, Hans-earl Park and Nick Didkovsky, in her first solo album, a strong release of passionate and informed free improv, 13 pieces revealing a unique and adept approach to the horn.

These recordings of pieces by John Cage were made at a performance called Silence & Transmission led by Peter Upreth conducting an ensemble of four performers using radios and voice, held at An Lanntair Arts Centre, Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides on 20th September 2012, as part of the celebrations for Cage's centenary.

Live recordings at the 2015 Tampere Jazz Happening from the first meeting of Susana Santos Silva on trumpet, Lotte Anker on sax, Sten Sandell on piano, Torbjorn Zetterberg on bass and Jon Falt on drums, a modern supergroup of responsive and subtle collective improvisation.

Real time dark but beautiful composition from the Portugese trio of Susana Santos Silva on trumpet & flugelhorn, Torbjorn Zetterberg on double bass, and Hampus Lindwall on organ, a beautiful mix of experimental playing set against rich tonal music.

Free jazz pioneers and electronic improvisers Alan Silva and Burton Greene together playing vintage synthesizers and keyboards, exploring new sounds and pushing boundaries.

Avant jazz trumpeter and flugelhornist Susana Santos Silva and double bassist Torbjorn Zetterberg performing a set of introspective and explorative duos using impressive technique in a creative and riveting dialog.

Performing together since 2014, the free improvising trio of Yoni Silver on bass clarinet, Mark Sanders on drums, and Tom Wheatley on double bass are captured live at the Hundred Years Gallery in London, in 2015 for a dark and spacious journey in two large improvisations.

An incredible display of control and lyrical development in understated improvisation using circular breathing and extended techniques from Israeli bass clarinetist Yoni Silver.

Sim is the 3 piece electronic/rock band of Teruyuki, Yoshio & Masahiro, here with Otomo Yoshihide on turntables and synth, and amazing album of rhythms in a This Heat "Repeat" mode.

Poet John Sinclair, leader of the anti-racist White Panther Party, reads his poetry with the NYC quintet of Ras Moshe (sax), Elliott Levin (sax), Alex Obert (bass), Ander Nilssen (guitar) and Michael Wimberly (drums).

"Quell" is an aural sound journey, using music and field recordings to investigate and present a deeply emotional exploration of Sinha's second home: India.

Silom is a Slovenian creative music trio using a variety of string, percussive, and melodic percussive instruments, focused on the acoustic aspects of complex evolving works that combine composed and improvised aspects to create rich music with ancient ethnic overtones.

Waterscapes is the performing duo of New York saxophonist Blaise Siwula and guitarist Jorge Nuno, interwining distinct approaches to acoustic and electric improvisation, creating rich sound environments and rapid interaction that draws the listener in and then sweeps them off their feet with passionate, complex and informed dialog.

A live recording at Alte Feuerwache Mannheim, Germany from Skein, extending the trio of Achim Kaufmann (piano), Frank Gratkowski (reeds), and Wilbert de Joode (bass) with Okkyung Lee (cello), Richard Barrett (electronics) and Tony Buck (drums) for an amazing album of instant composition.

This laptop trio create a dense and scurrying sound world of a surprising freeform nature that avoids cliches by combining sound-generation tools for ever-shifting results.

Saxophonist Stephen Gauci, pianist Kris Davis and bassist Michael Bisio work in an entirely improvised context, referencing jazz tradition with remarkable freedom and style.

Ist gefallen in den Schnee: A piece by Swedish composer-pianist Magnus Granberg, performed with Angharad Davies, Anna Lindal, Leo Svensson Sander, John Eriksson, Erik Carlsson, Henrik Olsson, Petter Wastberg and Toshimaru Nakamura; Despairs: A beautiful extended composition exquisitely played by an ensemble of fine musicians.

A new composition by clarinetist and composer Magnus Granberg, the leader of the highly acclaimed ensemble Skogen, this time with a new, smaller group that includes percussionist Erik Carlsson, performing his beautiful, melancholic music.

Acnalbasac Noom was Slapp Happy's second LP, recorded in 1973, and engineered by Kurt Grauner in Faust's legendary Wumme Studio using Faust as the Slapphappy house band; it was originally rejected by Virgin Records, who made the group re-record the album with different musicians as Casablanca Moon, though through time Acnalbasac is still the definitive and preferred edition.

A stunningly beautiful album of langurous jazz from a sextet collective of young Portuguese musicians, self-described as a chamber band for the new century, in their 2nd album using melodic elements alongside classical contemporay music, post-rock, alternative metal, intelligent pop, free improvisation and more, creating a rich and embraceable music.

Label leader Brian John Mitchell in his first Small Life Form release, seven instrumental drone pieces ranging from contemplative to noisy and disturbed, designed so they may all be listened to simultaneously while looped.

The 2nd volume of "Music for Piano and Strings" by Morton Feldman is performed by The Smith Quartet with John Tilbury, presenting "Patterns In a Chromatic Field", and "Piano, violin, Viola, Cello", on DVD audio to allow for the length of these large works.

Recorded live at the Huddersfield Festival of Contemporary Music in 2006, this is the 3rd and final volume of works by Morton Feldman performed by the Smith Quartet with John Tilbury on piano, recorded in high quality DVD audio and with extensive liner notes by Tilbury.

Drawing from some of NYC's finest - Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Mary Halvorson and Andrea Parks - drummer Ches Smith's band takes the Downtown NY strategy to bridge experimental rock and avant jazz in unexpected and astonishing ways.

Bill Laswell on bass and drones and John Zorn on shofar and alto saxophone perform darkly evocative ambient music to readings by magus David Chaim Smith from selections of his mystical text "The Awakening Ground".

Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith's extended composition for violin and percussion in 15 parts, performed by percussionist Simon Limbrick and violinist Mira Benjamin, a unique orchestration that reveals a journey of steady pace, tension and beauty.

Ten pieces dating from 1995 to 2015 from Canadian composer Linda Catlin Smith, performed by Quatuor Bozzini and Apartment House, the first in Another Timbre's Canadian Composer series, a 2-CD release focusing on Smith's "equal and simultaneous drive toward abstraction and lyricism" in slowly developing, lush and sophisticated compositions.

Roger Smith plays extended acoustic guitar improvisations that were recorded between 1993 and 1997; with a duet with Neil Metcalfe on the flute.

An excellent collection of solo acoustic guitar improvisations by Roger Smith that were digitally recorded at home in London during January, 2002.

Originally proposed to ECM in 1979 and rejected, the duo of legendary trumpeter Smith and drummer DeJohnette pushes each other into remarkable and telepathic interplay.

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith and double bassist John Lindberg met in NYC to record this set of suites using an incredibly emotional palate of melodic, technical, and free playing, on a 2-part work for Malachi Favors, a 5-part "Celestial Weather Suite", and a 2-part "Feathers and Earth".